BrusselsGirl07

paulajj, jezz086, lucky cal, MilliesMom and RaiderCruiser - really glad you enjoyed my review and glad that it helped with your upcoming trips.

I am busily researching again (as I was for Alaska last year) as Bill and I are off this year on a Norwegian cruise and then a TA which takes in the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Novia Scotia. Can't wait!

We have been on 3 cruises to/around New Zealand.

In Dunedin we have used Awesome Tours and done their Royal Albatross Colony and Otago Peninsula tour. Beautiful scenery and good fun zipping around in their 8 wheels Argos vehicles on the peninsula. We saw lots of baby seals, some penguins, the beautiful albatross and lots of gorgeous scenery.

We have also used Elm Wildlife Tours for a private tour for 2 couples, had a tour of Dunedin, went to Speights brewery, visited a lookout over the city, saw more of the Otago Peninsula and this time walked along a beach to a penguin colony and saw lots of Yellow Eyed Penguins nesting as well as Hooker Sea Lions on the beach and more baby seals.

Just this Christmas we booked with 4 Nature Tours and visited a really cool Ecosanctuary, went and saw the Moeraki Boulders and then went to a lookout over a beach and saw lots of yellow eyed penguins nesting and also coming and going from the ocean.

All of the tours were really good and I would do any of them again.

In Wellington we did our own thing - walked into town from the ship, took the cable car up to the botanical gardens and walked back down, and then spent the afternoon in the Te Papa Museum. The other two times we have visited we have met up with friends who have taken us for a drive around the coast and then out to lunch. Wellington is a very easy city to explore on your own and by walking around. It has a really gorgeous waterfront that takes you into town and there are lots of things to see.

Only one of our cruises stopped in Picton. We booked a tour with Dolphin Eco Watch Tours. We had time before the tour so we visited the Edwin Fox Ship Museum which was a whole lot more interesting that I was expecting. We walked around the town and watched some locals performing - singing and dancing. The tour was very cool, we sailed to Motuara Island, a juvenile kiwi sanctuary. There are lots of birds and we walked to the top of the island to see beautiful views. We saw lots of birds, lizards and insects. We were lucky to see a large group of Hector's Dolphins and they played around our boat. We saw a lot of seals as well.

Hope that helps with your planning! Yvette

See you all there!

Another vote for the Segway Tour - lots of fun and a great way to see a lot in a short amount of time.

Attending on Saturday 14th Feb

1) Aussievisi2r - Raina

2) MicCanberra - Mic

3) RosieCanberra - Rosie

4 & 5) NSWP - Les & Mary

6 & 7) CruisinCat31 - Cathy and Andrew

8) Zoned - Judy

9) BrusselsGirl07 - Yvette (Bill will be playing cricket)

We loved sailing on Century as well, such a shame she is being sold.

Great, see you all Feb 14th. Presume it will be a casual lunch time gathering? Going out for a romantic dinner and to the theatre that night with Hubby!

Otherwise we will see you all at the next one.

Hi all - we would love to come along and meet up with everyone as well! It would be fun to meet up with other cruise obsessed people.

Yvette (and Bill)

Thanks everyone, and for the tour recommendation! Yvette

Hi, is the sky lounge exclusive for elites during cocktail hour 5-7, or can regular guests use the lounge as well ??

It depends on how many people are attending the cocktail hour - if it is a big group they would probably close it off completely. On Millennium they roped off a section so that other people could still use the lounge as it was a smaller group, but they did close the lounge completely for two invitation only events for the loyalty club members, for around 2 hours for each event.

So regards the happy hour for Elite level on Celebrity can I confirm that it is dependant on how many at that level on board or regardless of numbers you will still get some sort of drinks discount?

 

Is the discount restricted to certain types of drinks only?

 

Also, is their a loyalty members party like on Royal that we get to attend?

 

:)

Hi Avalon007 - yes, having the happy hour in a dedicated area each night is dependent on how many Elite members are on board. If there are too many, they won't have a dedicated lounge for the 2 hours, they will just give you drink vouchers to be used at various bars - 3 vouchers per person.

On our recent Alaskan cruise there were not many Elite members, and so we did have drinks in a roped off area of the Cosmos Lounge - except for formal nights, when they reverted to the voucher system. So I think each ship is slightly different depending on the staff organising the events.

When we did have the happy hour in the Cosmos Lounge, servers would bring around hot and cold hot d'oeuvres, and they had a drinks menu with about 10 different drinks you could have including red and white wine, sparkling wine and various cocktails. You were not limited to the amount you could have, and we found we had not even finished one when another would be put down in front of you! My favourite was the 'Side Car'. Not sure what it was, but it was lemony and delicious!

There is loyalty members party that you will be invited to - I believe we had an Elite and above cocktail event as well as another event for all loyalty members.

Hi everyone - we will be arriving in Reykjavic at 8am, overnighting, and departing at 1pm the next day.

Does anyone know how late you can stay out, and how early you can leave the ship the next morning? Just starting to look at tours and would like to take full opportunity of the time we have.

Thanks! Yvette

I hope they do replace all of the hairdryers with new ones that work! Even then I probably still would not trust them and take my own anyway. The ones I have tried are not powerful enough to even start to dry my thick, curly hair. I always take my hairdryer and straightener with me.

Hi Nick, you should receive an invite to the party in your room on the first day. If you don't get anything, ask where the party is at guest relations, and it is not uncommon for them to forget to invite a few people who had registered. Have a great cruise!

Very excited as I just booked next year's vacation! Please add Bill and I for:

22 August 2015 ... BrusselsGirl07 ... Serenade of the Seas ... 8 Night Norwegian Fjords Cruise

30 August 2015 ... BrusselsGirl07 ... Serenade of the Seas ... 16 Night Ocean Voyage - Scandinavia & Iceland Transatlantic to New York

28 December 2015 ... BrusselsGirl07 ... Celebrity Solstice ... 8 Night South Pacific NYE Cruise

I'm glad also that you bumped it up. I really enjoyed your review and photos. You dined at some of the same restaurants that we have eaten on our trips to Alaska. We stayed at the same cabins in Healy as you and we thought they were great. We haven't been to Alaska in two years so looking at the photos brought back plenty of fond memories. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Hi themerle - I was glad to bring back some happy memories! The cabins in Healy were nice to stay at. Yvette

I am so glad you did! I'm starting to really get busy planning for our Alaska adventure next July, and your review has so much GREAT information. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences and fantastic photos. My son wants to go to Anan Creek based on your photos alone! :)

 

Ruth

Hi Ruth, glad I could help. If you are thinking of going to Anan Creek, you would need to contact the companies offering the flights as soon as possible and try and book your seats - they do book out very quickly! Have a wonderful time, Yvette

Sorry for bumping this up :o - my mum is having trouble finding it, so moving it to the front so she can see it. A bit embarrassed for putting it back on the first page - sorry!

Oh, no! Cruise AND Croissant withdrawal!!! You know the only cure is to book another!! :D

The almond croissants are my favourite! My lovely husband sneaks out of the cabin in the morning and gets me a coffee from the coffee shop and one of the almond croissants and brings them back to wake me up! It is extra sweet as he does not drink coffee or like the almond croissants! One morning I commented on how they were so delicious I wish I had another one to eat, and the next morning he brought two back. I am very spoilt.

Thanks for the great review, it brought back lots of memories of our Galapagos adventure a few years back before it was split into the two itineraries. We loved it so much that we will be going back in 2016 to see the albatross, as we missed them the first time.

We combined our first trip with 2 weeks of driving around Ecuador, which was fantastic. In 2016 we will be visiting Macchu Picchu afterwards, but not with Celebrity.

Too bad about the smokers on your trip, I don't remember anyone smoking on our trip. We also did not have a problem with the food at all, so maybe it depends who is working the kitchens at the time. I also don't remember the dining room being especially noisy but we ended up making friends with 3 other couples - we sat together every night and had great conversations at dinner, so maybe we contributed to the noise!

Your photos are just like mine, can't wait to see the iguanas again!

We took the bus that Ashland has provided the link for as well. Very quick and economical. We did the non-stop Seward to Anchorage, and it was narrated along the way which was interesting. The bus was comfortable and clean.

Solstice has been sailing in Australia for a few years, and is the only ship scheduled for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 season so far except for a quick visit from Millennium in 2016 going Singapore to Sydney then Sydney to Honolulu.

The company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. owns both Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International.

With Century going, Celebrity will only have 10 ships, so can probably only afford to send one here (Solstice) with the other 9 covering other locations.

But Royal Caribbean International has over 20 ships and will have 3 ships sailing here for the 2014-2015 season (Voyager, Radiance and Rhapsody) and Explorer and Legend will join Voyager and Radiance in 2015-2016.

I would like to see more Celebrity ships sailing here, hopefully in the future.

Hi David - looking at that list, there are so many great cruises to go on!

Can you please add Bill and I:

21 Dec 2014 ... BrusselsGirl07 ... Celebrity Solstice ... 14 nights Sydney to Auckland

Thank you! Yvette

Hi Beth, I am glad you enjoyed my review - you will have such a great time next year, Alaska is really beautiful.

Africa is incredible, our month there and in Rwanda took up two photo books!

Because I did this review, I have not started my Alaska photo book, but will start it soon. I love it when the final result arrives at your door and you can relive all of your adventures again.