sabrefan

Going on a 12 night cruise from Sydney to Auckland on the Solstice, does anyone know how many formal nights they will have?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Go take a visit to Pearl Harbor Memorial, run by the U.S National Park Service. A very moving experience.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Will be cruising on the Celebrity Solstice in January 2016 and will be in Akaroa on February 3, 2016. Trying to choose between two shore excursions that Celebrity offers. One is the Akaroa Harbor & Wildlife Cruise and the other is the Giants House & Lookout Panorama. The harbor and wildlife cruise has some good reviews and the Giants House and Lookout Panorama has no reviews but this may not mean that it is bad. If anyone has gone on either of these and could give me some feedback I would appreciate your input.

Dr, thank for the reply on the Serena Hotel. From reviews I have read on Trip Advisor it appears that this is a nice area of Buenos Aries and close to main points of interest and restaurants are within walking distance. I don't intend on making reservations until at least a year from now. I hope that the political and economic situation does not degrade too much more from where it is now.

Have recently booked a cruise on the Celebrity Infinity departing BA on February 28, 2016. Planning on spending at least a couple of extra days in BA before the cruise starts. Looking at hotels and would, like to stay in Recoleta district. Looked at different hotels on trip advisor, the Serena Hotel looked nice as well Mio Buenos Aires and Casasur Art Hotel. Would certainly appreciate any comments on these hotels or others in Recoleta district.

Considering doing this Machu Picchu Cruiserour in February 2016. Cruisetour land tour starts in Lima, Peru for 6 nights via Machu Picchu then pick up the cruise ship in Santiago, Chili. Then after 14 days ships departs in Buenos Aires. Has anyone done this trip before and would, be interested in hearing your experiences. The ship name is Star Princess.

Oceania Regatta has two Panama Canal cruise transits in January 2016. One goes from Los Angeles to Miami for 16 days and the other is Miami to Lima for 18 days. Both cruises have interesting stops. Just wondering about what others on to forum who may have taken these cruises think?

Has anyone who has been to Melbourne gone on this Penguin Parade Tour? If yes I would interested in hearing your thoughts regrading this tour.

Have cruised in the Caribbean on Oceania Riviera Celebrity Reflection and Celebrity Equinox. You never have to pay extra for specialty restaurants on Oceania. I will say that I feel that the specialty restaurants is just as good as Oceania. The overall cruise cost is less on Celebrity than Oceania. I do like the size of the Riviera and also like the fact that there are no formL nights on Oceania.

OzkiwiJJ,

Thank you for the additional advice. Looks like the Intimate Rotorua excursion will be the one. I do have a very nice Canon 70-300mm lens to use on this trip. Can't to go on this adventure. Will also be spending 3 days in Melbourne and 2 days in Sydney before the cruise plus 2 days in Auckland post cruise. Thanks again for your help.

OzkiwiJJ,

Thank you very much for the advice. Since Photography is a hobby of mine, which of these two excursion would you consider to show the most natural beauty, jet boat & hells gate or intimate rotorua & thermal experience? The jet boat does sound like fun but camera lenses don't always get along with spray from water.

Terry,

Thank you again for your insight. Good thought regarding two sea days to rest up after Hobart. As I am a retired Kodak employee, photography is also my hobby. Mostly interested in wildlife and landscapes. Planning on spending three days in Melbourne and two days in Sydney before the cruise leaves Sydney.

Terry, thank you very much for the detailed response and link to your blog. Certainly appreciate help from anyone in Ohio, one of my favorite states.

Will be on a Celebrity cruise visiting Tauranga, New Zealand in February 2015. Trying to decide between 3 excursions. The three choices are the following:

1. Forest Canyon Jetboat & Hella Gate Thermal Experience

2. Lake Rotoiti Hot Springs & Sailing Encounter

3. Intimate Rotorua & Thermal Experience

Would certainly appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced any of these tours through Celebrity Cruises.

Will be on Celebrity Solstice sailing from Sydney on January 27,2015. First stop is Hobart. Trying to decide between, Historic Hobart, Port Arthur & Wildlife which takes up 8 hours or Richmond & Tassie Devils which is 4 hours. Both excursions go to Bonorong Wildlife Park. Not sure if there is much to see and do in Hobart around the dock area. If there is much to do within walking distance the excursion that is 4 hours long may be more desirable. Interested in hearing from others who may have done these excursions previously.

Will be sailing on Regatta on the June 7th cruise from Vancouver to Seattle. Just wondering walking distance from cruise port in Victoria to Butchart Gardens?

Does anyone know what company in Akaroa, New Zealand has the contract for the Harbor and Wildlife cruise for the Celebrity Solstice?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Does anyone know what company Celebrity contracts with for the Harbor and Wildlife cruise in Akaroa? This shore excursion takes 2 hours and 15 minutes according to Celebrity web site.

If on a 10 day cruise in Verandah room on the Regatta, how many nights are you allowed to eat in Toscana and Polo?

David is very easy to talk to and friendly. He is always around when in port and leaving the ship for the day. He is a true professional.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Hi Terry,

Thank you for your response. I was reading your blog as you were sending it out a few months ago. Great pictures and information, I had forgotten that you took the Tranzalpine train and the jet boat. I wonder what they do about the jet boat part if it rains? Photography is my hobby as well, how easy was it to take pictures on the jet boat? My wife and I will have to talk about the possibility of staying overnight in Queenston.

We have previously sailed twice on the Celebrity Equinox and the Reflection so we are very familiar with the cruise lines and ship layout. This cruise on 1/27/15 will be our first to Australia and New Zealand and we can't wait to go. We will be flying into Melbourne and staying 3 nights, plan to see 12 Apostles and Phillip Island Penguin tours. Next we will fly Sydney and spend 2 nights before the cruise leaves. In Sydney we plan on just seeing as much of the city as possible.

We plan on spending 2 nights in Auckland after the cruise, want to see the city and go out to Waiheke Island.

Kiwi at Sea - Alan,

Thank you for you first hand advice. Photography is my hobby and I like taking pictures of landscapes and wildlife so I am very interested in a train car that is open without glass windows to be bale to take good pictures without glass reflections.

Have you ever taken a ride on the Taieri Gorge train.

Thanks,

Sabrefan - Ron

My wife and I will be cruising on the Solstice on 1/27/15 from Sydney to Auckland. Trying to decide between two different train excursions. One is the Taieri Gorge Train out of Dunedin and the other is the Tranzalpine train excursion out of Akaroa. If we did take the Tranzalpine excursion I would want to take that with the jet boat tour back instead of just the train by itself. Looking for opinions as to which train excursion would best for seeing the nicest and most diverse landscapes.

Oceania and Celebrity are our two favorite cruises. Have taken two cruises on Equinox, both 10 and 11 day Caribbean. Just got off our second cruise on Reflection which was a 7 day, the classic beverage package was very nice to have. Have been in Aqua Class but we find the food in Blu, good but very repetitive. However, we do like Lawn Grill, Qsine and Tuscan. For the cost difference between Oceania and Celebrity you can easily pay for many dinners in the specialty restaurants. The Solstice class ships are laid out very well and as such the flow of people is much smoother. Entertainment is better, casino is much nicer and their are more ship shore excursions to choose from.

We decided to go to the Caribbean on Oceania last year, we booked a 10 day cruise for February 2013 and we were offered to take a 14 day cruise in the same cabin class, except the cruise was to depart Miami in March and it was for 14 days at no extra charge. We of course took the offer. The food is great on the Riviera in all the restaurants. The entertainment was not that bad, the age group of the passengers is slightly older on Oceania compared to Celebrity. Oceania is able to go to some different ports because their ships are smaller. We go back on a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Riviera on 2/22/14. We liked the cruise last year so much on the Riviera that we are going to Alaska on the Regatta on 6/7/14.

Good luck with your decision, if you can afford Oceania, they are better than Celebrity but if not Celebrity Solstice Class ships are not too many steps below.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

I sailed on the Riviera in March 2013 and I would rank the speciality restaurants as follows:

1. Jacques

2. Toscana

3. Red Ginger

4. Polo

Only minimal difference between 1 & 3. Polo fell short with a poor quality steak but service was still top notch. Going on Riviera again on 2/22/14 so it will be interesting to see how they rank on this upcoming cruise. The Terrace Cafe was great place to eat. A huge selection every night.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app