Celebrity Solstice Mar 5 , 2018 Australia & New Zealand

[Jonjonms]

Husband and I are booked on this cruise. This is our retirement cruise . We are 60. From Toronto.

Would be fun to meet others on this cruise. Martini bar !!

[kennetro]

Hi Jonjonms. You will not be alone! :) We are Ken (64) & Ray (70), and will also be on this cruise. So glad to know we'll have someone to celebrate with in "The Martini"! We, too, retired almost 9 years ago (wow, how time flies!), and have enjoyed lots & lots of travel. Ray continues to do some consulting work, but calls his own shots now, so he still really enjoys 'staying busy'. We're from Dallas, Texas. This will be our 11th cruise with Celebrity, but we've also done several cruises on Cunard, & Princess, and even a Nile River Cruise. This will also be our 2nd trip to Australia (with Celebrity), but first time to get to New Zealand. Four years ago, we climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge while there, which was a blast. But so far, the only available activities & shore excursions are seeming sort of 'ho-hum'. --- however I do still have a lot of research to do for this trip. Thanks for starting this thread! Let's stay in touch & compare notes! See ya soon.

 

Ken (& Ray)

[Jonjonms]

Hello Ken and Ray. We are John and Craig. Thanks for your reply. We are recently semi retired. Craig still works in Insurance three days per week. This will be our 5th Celebrity cruise. My 7th. I have not even started looking at the excursions yet for this cruise. It will be fun to meet up on the ship. We are flying into Brisbane first to spend some time there and then a flight to Perth a few days ahead of the sailing date. We will also spend a week in Sydney at the end of the cruise. Please stay in touch john58ms@gmail.com and craigmoore1957@gmail.com

 

Cheers John and Craig.

[SFCAcruiser]

Hello all.

We are Tom and Alson from San Francisco. We just booked this cruise a couple of days ago. Alson was not sure about getting time off, so we were unable to commit any earlier. I am retired so I have time to do research on the itinerary; still haven't yet made flight arrangements :o Thankfully the visa process was painless.

 

We had been considering a few other possible cruises, but settled on this one and are looking forward to it. I have been to Australia and NZ twice on land trips, but my most recent trip was over 25 years ago so it will be almost like visiting for the first time.

We've been on Celebrity a number of times, mostly on the M class ships with a few trips on Equinox and Silhouette, and we have a slight preference for the S Class vessels.

We look forward to seeing you on board.

Tom

[Jonjonms]

Hello Tom and Alson. Looking forward to meeting everyone and enjoying the cruise.

We should maybe try to establish a time and place to meet on the ship.

[SFCAcruiser]

Thanks for the welcome. I was a little surprised you even saw my post since this thread has been inactive for several months, Maybe that situation will change as the date draws near. Probably not ;p

 

The ship staff will post a notice for LGBT social gathering (formerly called Friends of Dorothy) on the community bulletin board near the Guest Relations desk. The staff arbitrarily selects a time and location (often the very popular martini bar) around 7 or 8 pm. But this time and location is only a suggestion. We can always make changes as needed.

 

I got around to booking flights and we arrive in Perth on Saturday 03 March. I am sure we will be in no condition to sight see in Perth until the following day, having traveled for over 24 hours. I see that there is a light rail train from downtown Perth to Fremantle, close to the cruise port. Will probably use that to get to the port.

 

Next step for me is to find hotels in Perth and Sydney for a few days after the cruise, then investigate excursions, We are usually "do it yourself" travelers, but I will see what is available.

Cheers,

Tom

[kennetro]

Thanks for the welcome. I was a little surprised you even saw my post since this thread has been inactive for several months, Maybe that situation will change as the date draws near. Probably not ;p

 

The ship staff will post a notice for LGBT social gathering (formerly called Friends of Dorothy) on the community bulletin board near the Guest Relations desk. The staff arbitrarily selects a time and location (often the very popular martini bar) around 7 or 8 pm. But this time and location is only a suggestion. We can always make changes as needed.

 

I got around to booking flights and we arrive in Perth on Saturday 03 March. I am sure we will be in no condition to sight see in Perth until the following day, having traveled for over 24 hours. I see that there is a light rail train from downtown Perth to Fremantle, close to the cruise port. Will probably use that to get to the port.

 

Next step for me is to find hotels in Perth and Sydney for a few days after the cruise, then investigate excursions, We are usually "do it yourself" travelers, but I will see what is available.

Cheers,

Tom

Hello Tom & Alson. Welcome to the Roll Call. Ray & I will be staying at the Parmelia Hilton in Perth (good rate) -- also arriving on Saturday. We haven't made arrangements to get to Freemantle yet, but are going to inquire as soon as we arrive at the Hilton. I've read on other boards that Uber is a reliable alternative in Perth, but we'll also inquire about the light rail with the hotel concierge upon arrival. Just don't want to have to schlep our luggage too far.

 

The last time we were in Sydney, we stayed at the Holiday Inn "Rocks". It was right in the center of the action, and served us well. (Nicer than most Holiday Inns.) This time, however, we're heading home as soon as we arrive in Sydney, as we pretty much "covered" everything there just 4 years ago.

 

We're usually "Martini Bar" rats, and are usually there pre-dinner every night, but we always check the boards as well.....

 

Look forward to meeting you (ALL!).

 

Ken & Ray

[Jonjonms]

Hello everyone. Craig and I have an extended holiday. This is our big (semi) retirement trip. We are travelling for

almost 6 weeks. We leave Toronto on Feb 21 flying to Brisbane for 5 days. Then on to Perth for 5 days and then one week in Sydney at then end of the cruise.

We have the late dinner sitting 8:30 pm. We also usually head to the Martini bar for a pre dinner cocktail.

Depending on the port we usually do an excursion or head out on our own.

 

Looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

Cheers

John

[SFCAcruiser]

Hello Again.

Nothing new really, just posting to push this thread up to the top in case anyone new is looking for it.

Anyone else on the Qantas flight from SYD to PER on Saturday, leaves at 10:50?

See you soon.

Tom