Celebrity Solstice arrival

[Aussieflyer]

Can't wait to board today! Thanks for keeping us up to date.

[marinating]

Not sure if this will work, picture of Solstice reversing into Circular Quay.

[timtam2]

800 travel agents is better than 800 bogans !:p

[marinating]

Well it worked! Another picture of us arriving. Not sure how to make it bigger, any help appreciated.

[gek]

In dock this morning

 

[6andy6]

...and it answers Sutho's question.

 

The ship backs arse end in :eek: so I think from memory he might have to change cabin if he wants that Opera House view.

 

Can't wait to see his pictures....no doubt they will be as crisp and clear and detailed as always.

 

In relation to the one night cruises and cruising in general in this country. My fear for this ship and all ships in this country that market themselves as better standard than say, a Carnival or P&O Australia is that the operators really have no idea of our market...and these deep discounts will be counterproductive. They will have the tendency of possibly bringing to price so low that all the bogans that cannot control their alcohol and for whom alcohol isn't part of the evening...its the reason for the evening will line up to board. They don't care whether Cranival is mass market, Celebrity is premium etc etc. It just a booze jaunt to them. This will tend to drive away both locals looking for a more upmarket experience and it certainly won't go down with US visitors and wont take long to spread across the CC boards. They need to be careful how they market these cruises AND ensure security has sufficient balls to actually throw people in the brig and off for misbehaviour.

 

Edit: Yay just realised if it goes in stern first then our cabin will have a Opera House view - and we are on the hump.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Cruise lines are well aware of this.

It is not just in Australia that this happens. P&O cruises out of Britain , and short cruises in the States now tend to be at least a 3 day cruise.

The P&O booze cruises from Southampton have been well known and I believe are now a thing of the past.

 

The cruise lines also have to be fairly circumspect with discounting for the reasons you have outlined above. That's one reason why you some of the "top end luxury" lines would rather sail with empty cabins rather than attract the wrong kind of clientele that may put their regular cruisers off them.

 

 

[JacintaH]

800 travel agents is better than 800 bogans !:p

 

lol, you must not know many travel agents, I reckon they would be worse than bogans. I have many travel agents as clients and have lost count of the number of times they have had to cancel appointments due to being "partied out". ;)

[timtam2]

Oh I know plenty of travel agents - I work in the travel industry and whilst they may know how to party hard and some may indeed be bogans, in the end , they are professionals and know what to expect on a cruise ship -unlike some of the neanderthals that were on the VOS 1 nighter :rolleyes:

[NSWP]

lol, you must not know many travel agents, I reckon they would be worse than bogans. I have many travel agents as clients and have lost count of the number of times they have had to cancel appointments due to being "partied out". ;)

Especially when the T/A's are not paying for their drinks on the 'Go See.' (Free trip.)

 

When we were on Arcadia this year, Sydney to Southampton, quite a few agents got on and off between Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle, they appeared to enjoy a 'lemonade' or three. But they were quite orderly. Now how did I know they were T/A's? They were in bunches and about 30 or 40 years younger than most of the pax doing the whole journey. LOL. Plus they were being taken around the ship on mini tours by ship's staff.

 

Now I read and see Solstice reversed in at the OPT, our cabin is port side, I don't really care which side I am on, we are up high on Sky deck so will have a good view of most things.

 

Thanks to those who were up early on board or ashore, taking the morning photos for us. So now we await Sutho's photographic creations today, go for it son.

[gek]

...and it answers Sutho's question.

 

The ship backs arse end in :eek: so I think from memory he might have to change cabin if he wants that Opera House view.

 

 

I read somewhere that all ships over 300m in length must dock this way at the OPT due to mooring requirements.

[NSWP]

I read somewhere that all ships over 300m in length must dock this way at the OPT due to mooring requirements.

Ah, that is why. Yes, Solstice is 317 metres. Thanks for that.

[Stuartm]

Have just returned from Circular Quay after greeting friends arriving on the Solstice. She is an impressive looking ship and I was very happy that she backed in as I had a perfect view of our corner aft suite. Roll on October.

 

My friends had a wonderful time. They mentioned that the weather was hot with not a lot of breeze on deck so they were happy they purchased the premium beverage pack as they reckon they got their money's worth from the amount of bottled water they drank....and of course the odd cocktail or three.

 

cheers

 

Stu

[ceejay3377]

Oh I know plenty of travel agents - I work in the travel industry and whilst they may know how to party hard and some may indeed be bogans, in the end , they are professionals and know what to expect on a cruise ship -unlike some of the neanderthals that were on the VOS 1 nighter :rolleyes:

 

That's a little unkind to Neanderthals, don't you think?!? :p

[NSWP]

That's a little unkind to Neanderthals, don't you think?!? :p

So a cruising, beer swilling, drunken bogan is related to the Neanderthal ? The British equivalent is the 'Chav' I do believe, or perhaps 'Lager Lout' although there are differences with that species, I was told by the upper class Brits on Arcadia this year.

 

One never stops learning. LOL. But oh dear, Bogans on Celebrity Solstice from this afternoon, they would never dare, or would they?

[timtam2]

This ship is GORGEOUS! The food is superb, the crew ever so friendly and we haven't even seen the cabin yet. And ......the bogans are few and far between. Forget VOS - this is the premier ship here this summer!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Oh my ... from the YHA cam she even blocks out the Opera House...:eek:

 

 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

This ship is GORGEOUS! The food is superb, the crew ever so friendly and we haven't even seen the cabin yet. And ......the bogans are few and far between. Forget VOS - this is the premier ship here this summer!

 

That sounds great

 

They reckon that when they designed the Solstice Class ships , they took all the best parts from all of the cruise ships that had gone before and rolled them all into one..:D:D

 

 

[sab01]

Welcome to Sydney

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[a1b2c3d4]

'The Age' website has a video of the Solstice arriving in Sydney.

 

-a

[timtam2]

Only one irritant so far - we are in a concierge class cabin and they have tried to nickel and dime us. None of the promised inclusions were provided - the bathrobes, the tote bag, the canapes, the bottle of wine. I had to pressure the cabin steward to brng us bathrobes and the bag and even more pressure for the canapes. But he could not bring the wine and played dumb when I kept telling him I knew it was an inclusion. I called guest relations and I was told that 'unfortunately' the usual bottle of wine was not available on the one night cruise . Hello? I have paid for this. I pushed back quite hard on this and demanded the wine or An OBC in lieu. The bottle of wine willbe delivered shortly.

 

They can't advertise things which you pay for and then decide oh, you're only on for 1 night so nothing extra for you

[Debsta]

I love this ship so far!!!! Friends of mine r in concierge class n got all their goodies???? I'm in a lowly inside lol. Doubt I will c much of it lol. Lots if activities and entertainment organized. Muster at 5pm. Until tomorrow.........

[Sutho]

Ok I am here, photo shoot done and checked into my hotel. Now awaiting dearture whatever time it will be and will get arrival tomorrow morning.

 

Please everyone keep your fingers crossed or whatever lucky charms and tricks you do to take care of the weather for me. I have a new vantage point lined up for tomorrow that will only work if it is not raining. Less wind will be ideal but it is imperative around mid day tomorrow it not be raining for my new spot.

 

Here are some photos. When I get home to Newcastle I will upload some larger ones for those who like them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sutho]

 

 

 

 

 

[Aussieflyer]

Quite impressed with the ship but the 2 and a half hours to get one when we arrived at the right time was painful especially when general boarding passengers were on well before us. There were very few check ins bring used for priority :mad:

Persian Garden was nice until the guided tours arrived!

Interesting - there has just been an announcement about guest conduct. Maybe getting in first.