Live: Dec 22 2023 Solstice 12 Night Thailand & Vietnam Holiday Cruise!

mahdnc · December 21, 2023

This our last night in Singapore. I will miss the evening view that we have from our hotel room. Not the jet lag, just the view. Here are some photos of the current view:

The cruise ship in the next photo is Mein Schiff 5. She just left the pier a few minutes ago.

mahdnc · December 21, 2023

We just completed the health questionnaire on the Celebrity app so we are now ready to get on board tomorrow. I had to reload the app to get it to recognize our sailing. But everything is good now and we now have our Xpress Passes loaded in our Apple Wallet.

Solstice is scheduled to be at the pier at 7 am. Because of the amount of luggage that we have, I have reserved a larger taxi to pick us up at the JW Marriott at 10:30 am to take us to the pier. Our check in time is 11 am -11:30 am. We are ready.

Edited December 21, 2023 by mahdnc

mahdnc · December 21, 2023

I am watching Solstice docking at the pier......

Edited December 21, 2023 by mahdnc

mahdnc · December 21, 2023

Some ground transportation notes from yesterday: Our MRT subway ride to the Botanical Gardens cost only $1.98 SGD from our hotel. It involved one subway change. On the way back--mainly because we could not find the MRT subway station due to our own incompetence and partly because we were exhausted and partly because it was raining hard--we ended up taking a Grab ride back to the hotel which cost $11.50 SGD.

So apparently when you use Apple Pay (or tapping with your credit card), your entire ride tab for the day is charged to your credit card on the following morning.

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

Here is our current view of Solstice:

The photo below is supplied by @Content@Sea who is living it up at the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Her room has a balcony and so I presume this is where the photo was taken. She will be on this sailing as well.

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She pointed out that we are boarding Solstice one day after the winter solstice.....

Baynanno1 · December 22, 2023

Enjoy your cruise!

Absolutely agree, the upcharge for the Orchid Garden is definitely worth it!

Miaminice · December 22, 2023

See you later! 😁

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

9 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

See you later! 😁

See you onboard. My wife and I look forward to meeting you.

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

On 12/20/2023 at 10:30 PM, Dr. Pam said:

Thank you for your ongoing review. We will be onboard the Solstice out of Hong Kong to Singapore in February. We are also staying at the JW Marriott hotels during our stay. I am very interested in your experiences and advice that we can take forward onto our cruise!

Happy and Safe travels,

:)Pam

Here is the welcome letter from the JW Marriott: link

Here is the letter to Platinum Elite members from the JW Marriott: link

It’s hard to tell from my iPhone if I have the access rights to the documents set up correctly. If you (or anyone else for that matter) are not able to view the documents, let me know and I will correct it.

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

Here is today’s measurement of there WiFi speed here At the JW Marriott:

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

Solstice is finally boarding passengers now (11:57 am).

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

Well embarkation was quite the production today. Here were the basic sequence of events and their time stamp:

1. Our taxi van picks us up at the JW Marriott Hotel (10:32 am). The ride is uneventful.

2. We arrive at the pier at 10:48 am. There are passengers getting off Solstice who are looking for taxis. Some of them are eyeing our taxi. Light traffic, everything is pretty organized.

3. Baggage drop off (10:55 am). There is a person that checks your bags that you are going to drop off to make sure they are on the approved list. We have a soft bag (like a tote bag) with dirty clothes in it that we were told we have to take with us as our carryon luggage. I have a picture of the sign that says which bags are good and which aren't which I will post later. Again this is for bags that you are dropping off to have brought onto the ship. It does not affect bags that you carry with you.

4. Security screening (metal detectors, etc). You and your carryon bags go through the scanners. We sail through with no problems. I noticed that someone's extension cord/power strip was being confiscated.

5. There are numerous passport checks during the whole process (5 or 6). One of them is to understand your citizenship to determine which line you should go in. I believe this had to do with determining if you require a Vietnam visa. If you needed one then you were directed to #6.

6. There is a quick check performed by the waiting-line supervisor to see if you have your Vietnam visa when you get in line.

7. We then go to a desk where our Vietnam paper visa and US Passport are carefully inspected and processed (11:10am). The desk agent retains the Vietnam paper visa. We are given our passport back--for now.

8. Boarding check in (11:20 am). Our Xpress Pass is scanned.

9. Then we waited in a large hall along with a lot of other passengers (11:24 am). We had the first time slot to arrive at the pier (11am - 11:30 am). I don't know if boarding was delayed or if this is normal.

10. At 12:04 pm we are allowed to leave the waiting area to begin boarding the ship. This was done in a very orderly manner. People that entered the waiting hall first, were the first to leave to board the ship.

11. At 12:06 pm we go through the exiting process with the Singaporean authorities. It is very similar to the process that we went through at the airport. You scan your passport to get a gate to open. Then you have the camera scan your face (no glasses). If that passes, the computer instructs you to have your right thumb print read. If you passed that, the second and final gate opens which allows you to proceed. My wife ran into a problem with either the facial rec or the thumb scan. Part of the problem was when she removed her glasses to have her face scanned, she couldn't read the computerized instructions on what to do next. This forced her to go to a line where she went through the process manually with an Singaporean officer--even that took several attempts with two different officers. There were several people who were directed to the same line according to my wife. She thinks they were all wearing glasses. Although I am extremely nearsighted, I had the benefit of wearing contact lenses.

12. After that we went up a long zig-zagging gangway. Halfway up the gangway, you surrender your passport. I told my wife that the bright side of things is that they will stop asking to see it.l

13. At 12:20 pm we step onto the ship where we have to have our Xpress Pass scanned by the ship's security team to allow us on the ship. It's a shame that Celebrity did away with the Welcome Aboard champagne, because even though I am not a drinker, I might have taken one today if it were offered.

14. At 12:26 pm we are in our Aqua Class cabin. Time to drop off our stuff and head to the Oceanview Cafe for our lunch! We did our Muster Station check in after lunch--to beat the OVC crowd.

Edited December 22, 2023 by mahdnc

NMTraveller · December 22, 2023

18 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

Well embarkation was quite the production today. Here were the basic sequence of events and their time stamp:

1. Our taxi van picks us up at the JW Marriott Hotel (10:32 am). The ride is uneventful.

2. We arrive at the pier at 10:48 am. There are passengers getting off Solstice who are looking for taxis. Some of them are eyeing our taxi. Light traffic, everything is pretty organized.

3. Baggage drop off (10:55 am). There is a person that checks your bags that you are going to drop off to make sure they are on the approved list. We have a soft bag (like a tote bag) with dirty clothes in it that we were told we have to take with us as our carryon luggage. I have a picture of the sign that says which bags are good and which aren't which I will post later. Again this is for bags that you are dropping off to have brought onto the ship. It does not affect bags that you carry with you.

4. Security screening (metal detectors, etc). You and your carryon bags go through the scanners. We sail through with no problems. I noticed that someone's extension cord/power strip was being confiscated.

5. There are numerous passport checks during the whole process (5 or 6). One of them is to understand your citizenship to determine which line you should go in. I believe this had to do with determining if you require a Vietnam visa. If you needed one then you were directed to #6.

6. There is a quick check performed by the waiting-line supervisor to see if you have your Vietnam visa when you get in line.

7. We then go to a desk where our Vietnam paper visa and US Passport are carefully inspected and processed (11:10am). The desk agent retains the Vietnam paper visa. We are given our passport back--for now.

8. Boarding check in (11:20 am). Our Xpress Pass is scanned.

9. Then we waited in a large hall along with a lot of other passengers (11:24 am). We had the first time slot to arrive at the pier (11am - 11:30 am). I don't know if boarding was delayed or if this is normal.

10. At 12:04 pm we are allowed to leave the waiting area to begin boarding the ship. This was done in a very orderly manner. People that entered the waiting hall first, were the first to leave to board the ship.

11. At 12:06 pm we go through the exiting process with the Singaporean authorities. It is very similar to the process that we went through at the airport. You scan your passport to get a gate to open. Then you have the camera scan your face (no glasses). If that passes, the computer instructs you to have your right thumb print read. If you passed that, the second and final gate opens which allows you to proceed. My wife ran into a problem with either the facial rec or the thumb scan. Part of the problem was when she removed her glasses to have her face scanned, she couldn't read the computerized instructions on what to do next. This forced her to go to a line where she went through the process manually with an Singaporean officer--even that took several attempts with two different officers. There were several people who were directed to the same line according to my wife. She thinks they were all wearing glasses. Although I am extremely nearsighted, I had the benefit of wearing contact lenses.

12. After that we went up a long zig-zagging gangway. Halfway up the gangway, you surrender your passport. I told my wife that the bright side of things is that they will stop asking to see it.l

13. At 12:20 pm we step onto the ship where we have to have our Xpress Pass scanned by the ship's security team to allow us on the ship. It's a shame that Celebrity did away with the Welcome Aboard champagne, because even though I am not a drinker, I might have taken one today if it were offered.

14. At 12:26 pm we are in our Aqua Class cabin. Time to drop off our stuff and head to the Oceanview Cafe for our lunch! We did our Muster Station check in after lunch--to beat the OVC crowd.

So it is easy to make it in but they don’t want you to leave??? 🤣 All thumbs myself.

Edited December 22, 2023 by NMTraveller

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

So it is easy to make it in but they don’t want you to leave??? 🤣 All thumbs myself.

Yes, it resembled a movie about escaping an East Bloc country during the Cold War. Papers and multiple checkpoints.

hcat · December 22, 2023

9 hours ago, mahdnc said:

See you onboard. My wife and I look forward to meeting you.

two great CC " bloggers" on the same ship! Should be a treat!

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

Sailawsy went well although we left a half hour late. I will post photos later tonight.

We received a message from the shore excursion department that our shorex at Ko Samui (photo) has been cancelled by the outfitter due to high waves.

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

Edited December 22, 2023 by mahdnc

mahdnc · December 22, 2023

By my count, half of the people on our roll call made he sailaway gathering (Oceanview Bar, Deck 1414 aft) which was pretty good.

Although I did not get a chance to talk to her much, it was good to see @educated palate again (we met her during our Constellation TA in Oct 2022). I also got to meet @Miaminice and his wife, Birgit for the first time.

We were scheduled to leave Singapore at 6pm but we actually left around 6:30pm. When we left, we did so under partly sunny skies.. After looking at Marina Bay Sands from one direction (from our hotel), it was interesting to see the other side of MBS from the pier.

Although Solstice was alone at the pier when she arrived at 6am this morning, Genting's Dream was parked next to her by the time we sailed away.

ela123 · December 22, 2023

Looking forward to following along. Was there a different line if you don’t need a Vietnam visa

NMTraveller · December 22, 2023

On 12/19/2023 at 8:55 AM, mahdnc said:

After taking a badly needed nap, we went to the Gardens By The Bay which is a huge nature park located near Marina Bay Sands. Much of this huge park is free and interesting and has Christmas decorations.

There were several venues in the park that have an admission fee. This included the marquee Cloud Forest and Flower Dome conservatories which were both inside their own separate greenhouse structure. In fact the Flower Dome is the largest greenhouse in the world while the Cloud Forest greenhouse has a slightly smaller footprint but is taller.

Admission to both venues can be purchased in advance by going online or in person when you get there although you may have to endure a line. We did ours online. Buying tickets was a bit confusing because of the number of options and my own lack of familiarity with the fancy sounding names of the venues. Here is a link to the official website to buy the tickets to the two venues: Cloud Forest (Avatar) + Flower Dome tickets ($53 SGD per person over 12 years old). You have to select the one hour time slot for the particular date which you would like to attend these two venues. The hourly time slots for the daytime are simply lumped together as “9 am - 4 pm” when you purchase your admission tickets online. After that your choices become 4-5pm, 5-6pm, 6-7pm, and finally 7-8pm. The admission price is the same for each time slot but the later time slots are more popular because it is cooler and many people like to stay to see the free 15 minute light show at 7:45 pm, 8:45 pm, and there is a 9:35 pm show added for the Christmas holidays. We were too tired to see it and will catch it later this week.

We selected the 5-6 pm time slot and it took us two hours to see both of them.

The entrances to the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome are next to each other so you do not have to allow for time to get to the second venue unless you spend significant time in the gift shop that each venue dumps you to as part of the exiting process. Note that both venues will exit you to the same shared gift shop.

The Cloud Forest has an Avatar movie theme with Avatar things sprinkled throughout the conservatory which gives it a Universal Studios like ambiance. Some of the Avatar stuff is interactive which was pretty good and would be especially attractive to kids.

The Cloud Forest is an architectural marvel (actually the Flower Dome is, too, but it was more apparent with the Cloud Forest). To help humidify the air inside the conservatory, the Cloud Forest houses the world’s second tallest indoor waterfalls. Apparently first place belongs to the famous Jewel at Singapore’s airport.

The walkway winds around the waterfall at various elevations. Several sections of walkway are suspended in midair allowing you views all around including Marina Bay Sands which towers nearby.

There are many interesting features including “Orchids From Machu Picchu” and quite a few flowers. throughout the conservatory.

There was an impressive set of white glass lilies in a pond made by none other than the famous Dale Chihuly.

There was an exhibit of very small flowers which had round magnifying glasses for you to see them better.

The massive Flower Dome has many themed botanical areas from all over the world with lots of Christmas displays.