Live from Solstice 10/1/23 Transpacific

[tigervixxxen]

Hello and welcome to my first go at starting a live thread for this upcoming cruise. I will try my best to keep it updated and my fellow shipmates are welcome to post their photos and experiences as well especially as I will likely not post too many photos. 
 

If there’s any questions I have 11 sea days worth of time to go check something out and report back. We will be primarily dining in the MDR so follow along and see if we make it through all 17 nights before burning out! A couple nights for Tuscan Grill and Murano are planned as well. 
 

This is our 20th Anniversary cruise and have been looking forward to it for a long time. We cruise about once a year and have been on three Celebrity cruises prior to this one, having never been on Solstice but familiar with S class ships. Our longest cruise was a 14 night round trip from LA to Hawaii and back so I know a little of what to expect but much of this will be a new adventure. We fly into Hawaii on Saturday and will be ready to board the ship bright and early on Sunday!

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by tigervixxxen

[Lighthousepointdream15]

Did you need a visa for the New Zealand stop and the Australia stop?

[Norwaylady]

Safe travel! 

 

Looking forward to your sailing. 

Really want to sail this route. Small islands are tempting. 

We sailed last year from Vancouver to Hawaii🥰

[cruisinsusin]

1 hour ago, Lighthousepointdream15 said:

Did you need a visa for the New Zealand stop and the Australia stop?

Not the OP but also on this cruise- yes you do

[lienf]

Looking forward to this posting as we are doing this cruise next October on the Solstice. Will definitely be following. 

[mahdnc]

Have a terrific cruise.  I will enjoy reading your posts.

[Barwick Cruiser]

I will enjoy following along as well. They’ve given you nice long port times which will be helpful for any excursions you’ve got planned. If you’ve been on Eclipse or Equinox the Solstice has a similar layout. Do you plan to do any glass blowing? So much fun! 
Have a wonderful time and I hope the skies are clear and the seas are calm! 🥂🛳️

Cathy

[Lighthousepointdream15]

2 hours ago, cruisinsusin said:

Not the OP but also on this cruise- yes you do

Thank you

[Texed]

10 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

Hello and welcome to my first go at starting a live thread for this upcoming cruise. I will try my best to keep it updated and my fellow shipmates are welcome to post their photos and experiences as well especially as I will likely not post too many photos. 

 

We have looked at this itinerary quite a few times.  So far, the air fares to/from Australia have been a deterrent .  But, looking forward to your review.  😊

[tigervixxxen]

1 hour ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

I will enjoy following along as well. They’ve given you nice long port times which will be helpful for any excursions you’ve got planned. If you’ve been on Eclipse or Equinox the Solstice has a similar layout. Do you plan to do any glass blowing? So much fun! 
Have a wonderful time and I hope the skies are clear and the seas are calm! 🥂🛳️

Cathy

Yes, we have sailed the Equinox and Silhouette. Probably won’t pay for a class but might watch someone else do the glass blowing. 
 

As mentioned yes we had to obtain Australia and New Zealand ETA, not as bad as a full blown visa process. 
 

Only having to do the flight one way was a big draw for doing this itinerary. We are taking Air Canada back through Vancouver to Denver, we’ll see if the strategy of avoiding LAX works out for us lol. 
 

Thanks all for the comments, I hope to keep updated regularly.

[JDPCruisers]

3 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

Yes, we have sailed the Equinox and Silhouette. Probably won’t pay for a class but might watch someone else do the glass blowing. 
 

As mentioned yes we had to obtain Australia and New Zealand ETA, not as bad as a full blown visa process. 
 

Only having to do the flight one way was a big draw for doing this itinerary. We are taking Air Canada back through Vancouver to Denver, we’ll see if the strategy of avoiding LAX works out for us lol. 
 

Thanks all for the comments, I hope to keep updated regularly.

We, too, are looking forward to your review and thoughts (pros and cons). We have cruised TA and are looking to plan another in 2025 (rest of 2023 and 2024 booked) depending on itineraries and I, more than my better half, am interested in TP at some point. Safe travel!

[Crazy planning mom]

Enjoy!  Are you going to spend anytime in Australia after debarking?

[tigervixxxen]

24 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Enjoy!  Are you going to spend anytime in Australia after debarking?

Yes we are going to spend a few days in Sydney after the cruise but unfortunately can’t do much more, we aren’t retired! 

[kiwichick62]

Auckland is my home city, let me know if you have any questions on this port.  Still early spring and chilly, hopefully we can turn on some sunny weather for your arrival. 🌞

 

Looking forward to hearing about French Polynesia, I would love to visit this area.

 

[tigervixxxen]

39 minutes ago, kiwichick62 said:

Auckland is my home city, let me know if you have any questions on this port.  Still early spring and chilly, hopefully we can turn on some sunny weather for your arrival. 🌞

 

Looking forward to hearing about French Polynesia, I would love to visit this area.

 

We are going to do the excursion that visits the Kelly Tarlton’s and Sky Tower, anything I should know about either? Also, any restaurant recommendations by the pier? We might just go back on the ship but with a late departure maybe we’ll get off again later on. 
 

Ive seen some heat wave temps in Sydney, we can definitely leave the 90 degrees behind lol.

Edited September 28, 2023 by tigervixxxen

[Texed]

1 hour ago, kiwichick62 said:

Looking forward to hearing about French Polynesia, I would love to visit this area.

 

To me, about as close to paradise as you can get on earth.  😊

[kiwichick62]

1 hour ago, tigervixxxen said:

We are going to do the excursion that visits the Kelly Tarlton’s and Sky Tower, anything I should know about either? Also, any restaurant recommendations by the pier? We might just go back on the ship but with a late departure maybe we’ll get off again later on. 
 

Ive seen some heat wave temps in Sydney, we can definitely leave the 90 degrees behind lol.

 

Kelly Tarltons is an underground aquarium.  Not huge but is interesting, a must see there are the penguins.

 

Sky Tower - Nice views of Auckland from the viewing deck.  Also has a few restaurants and a casino. 

 

Cruise ships dock right in the city, there are many eateries within an easy walk.  Across the road is Commercial Bay mall with restaurants and cafes.  You can walk along the waterfront to Wynyard Quarter - more restaurants, bars etc.  Auckland is multi-cultural and you will find a wide variety of cuisines available. Have a look around and see what you fancy.

 

 

[deus]

Looking forward to reading all about your trip!  See you on board in a few days.

 

Lauren

[theopup]

Following along too. Looks like a very interesting itinerary. Enjoy!

[Jim_Iain]

Will be following along.   Looks like a nice itinerary.

[hawkesbaynz]

Following too😀.  We are on the Solstice when it arrives in Singapore in four weeks for the leg up to Hong Kong via Vietnam. I understand that some of our touring group have been on her since Vancouver (must be retired). 
 

Interested in a TP too. The airfares are the off putting aspect from the UK. Last several years we have used airpoints for Business Class for Caribbean/Med/ Far East cruises. Not an option for a TP and DW has become accustomed to them.

[Jandex]

We are on this cruise too, have done this itinerary in the opposite direction about 5 years ago. 
Am following along with you …

[wrk2cruise]

Did Auckland to Sydney the first year Celebrity did it on Mercury.  Spent a week in NZ on the South island prior to the cruise.  Loved NZ.

 

In January we are doing our first Windstar cruise on one of their motor yachts  from Auckland to Tahiti via Fiji 15 days.  We are flying to Auckland about a week before and going to spend 3 days in the Bay of Islands area which we didn't get to last time.

 

We are from the east coast so it's taken us this long to agree to the long flight again.  This time we are going to overnight in LA each direction.  With the prices could only go for premium economy and even so ouch!   Business would have been 1.5x the cruise price.

[peanut head]

What a wonderful adventure!  Thank you for sharing. Enjoy. 

[Beachlover1989]

Looking forward to following along! We are supposed to do this the opposite direction, but like so many have mentioned, airfare has us thinking twice. Business class fares are astronomical!