too many sea days on Solstice:Singapore to Sydney

[C-sea]

Any thoughts on the experience of so many (eight) sea days on the Singapore to Sydney itinerary. I know it is a large coast to travel so it's probably necessary. We are a family of five with three adult sons ages 24,31 & 34. Is there enough interesting sea & shore viewing? Thanks!

[cruzzzinma]

There is no such thing as too many sea days...

[Mr. Click]

Enjoy the hot glass shows, the pools, the lounges. They usually add some things like lectures, galley tours etc on trips with a lot of sea days. Avoid the art auctions and the shops.

[Fouremco]

There is no such thing as too many sea days...

My thoughts exactly!

[eyecantwait]

My thoughts exactly!

 

Same here! 8 sea days on our transatlantic flew by!

[chemmo]

We cruised Hawaii to Sydney with lots of sea days with our son in early twenties. He, like us, had tablet loaded with films, games....He, like us, didn't need them.

 

He made several friends on board and between the pool, gym, a few organised activities and some rest to recover from busy shore excursions and late nights at the Martini bar the sea days flew by. We also booked some speciality dining some of these evenings. We also enjoyed some chess games (something we never find time to do at home)!

 

If your sons will be happy with above they will be fine! If they want to be 'entertained' they will not find masses of arranged activities. The fact there are three of them does mean they can make their own entertainment. Are they familiar with Celebrity? Have they cruised other lines? If, for example, they are used to cruising the bigger RC ships they may find Celebrity lacking, no flow rider, ice rink, climbing wall....It is important they know what to expect.

 

As I said in the heading, it depends on what your son's want out of their vacation.

[QE2_Fan]

We love our sea days! But I can appreciate it may not be everyone's cup of tea. We are not the type to look for things to do...a deckchair by the pool or even on the verandah is plenty to keep us happy! There will be pool volleyball, ping pong and of course the gym that may appeal, along with lectures, bingo and video game competitions (open to all) that may help fill in those days at sea!

We are on this cruise, and are then doing a similar itinerary in reverse next January on the new Ovation of the Seas - she has less port stops and has up to 6 days at sea between ports!! We can't wait for that one, it will be all about the ship for sure! [emoji38]

 

 

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[The_Big_M]

In answer to the above, aside from the ports there's not a lot of interesting sea/shore viewing. Often you're a fair way from land, and other times you'll see the standard coast at a distance.

 

Unlike some other parts of the world it's fairly quiet in terms of shipping as well. You'll see the occasional other ship, but it won't be heavy traffic.

 

Look to occupy yourself onboard.

[VK3DQ]

There is no such thing as too many sea days...

 

Even SEVENTEEN sea days was not enough (La Guria to Lisbon onboard Sitmar Fairsky ) too many years ago ...:D

 

 

Regards

 

John

[Keith1010]

Sea days are great with a lot of enrichment and other activities offered.

 

Keith

[C-sea]

We cruised Hawaii to Sydney with lots of sea days with our son in early twenties. He, like us, had tablet loaded with films, games....He, like us, didn't need them.

 

He made several friends on board and between the pool, gym, a few organised activities and some rest to recover from busy shore excursions and late nights at the Martini bar the sea days flew by. We also booked some speciality dining some of these evenings. We also enjoyed some chess games (something we never find time to do at home)!

 

If your sons will be happy with above they will be fine! If they want to be 'entertained' they will not find masses of arranged activities. The fact there are three of them does mean they can make their own entertainment. Are they familiar with Celebrity? Have they cruised other lines? If, for example, they are used to cruising the bigger RC ships they may find Celebrity lacking, no flow rider, ice rink, climbing wall....It is important they know what to expect.

 

As I said in the heading, it depends on what your son's want out of their vacation.

 

Thanks Chemmo for your detailed advise. Our sons have only cruised RCCL (from early childhood, multiple sailings) and for the eldest two it has been many years. We all qualify to enjoy the "Elite" status on Celebrity. DH and I have sailed as a couple with Celebrity, and completely enjoy the "S" ships, but we don't do late night ;) This trip is being offered to our sons as a "Family Trip of a Lifetime" We plan on starting in Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat and then a few days in Singapore before boarding. All three have a desire to visit Australia and New Zealand. We are scheduled to do back to back sailings, the second leg will circumvent NZ. They do enjoy pubs and live music and basically socializing at night. Is the martini bar the only option? They're casual guys.

[chemmo]

Re my previous post, although the Martini bar was I think our son's favourite I think he and his friends frequented all bars on board at some point in the cruise. They were a quite mature and civilized bunch enjoying the fine dining and wine pairing events as well as more of a pub/nightclub atmosphere.

 

They would often go where live music was, take part in a quiz, a few casino visits....We cruise on Solstice again in a couple of weeks with the same young 20/30 group getting together. We are not expecting to see much of him, maybe an occasional meal!!! Another thing our son enjoyed was accessing Persian gardens, may be worth while visiting on boarding and seeing if you can negotiate a couple of day passes.

 

it sounds like you have an amazing family holiday planned, I hope you have a wonderful time! Just a few other points re your plans, you must have Singapore Slings in Raffles and if your son's are Lord of the Rings fans the trip to 'Hobiton' from Aukland is a must. I would also recommend the 'Hole in the rock' trip from The Bay of Islands'.

 

Have a great cruise!

[mskaufman]

Not everyone loves sea days. While I find them to be nice on last year's 12 day Baltic cruise by the 4th sea day it seemed like enough.

[QE2_Fan]

Thanks Chemmo for your detailed advise. Our sons have only cruised RCCL (from early childhood, multiple sailings) and for the eldest two it has been many years. We all qualify to enjoy the "Elite" status on Celebrity. DH and I have sailed as a couple with Celebrity, and completely enjoy the "S" ships, but we don't do late night ;) This trip is being offered to our sons as a "Family Trip of a Lifetime" We plan on starting in Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat and then a few days in Singapore before boarding. All three have a desire to visit Australia and New Zealand. We are scheduled to do back to back sailings, the second leg will circumvent NZ. They do enjoy pubs and live music and basically socializing at night. Is the martini bar the only option? They're casual guys.

 

Wow! Sounds an awesome trip of a lifetime alright. I'd be coming I'd asked :D

Martini Bar is certainly lively but they could also rustle up some action Quasar nightclub (popularity can vary based on crowd per cruise!) and also live music/dancing is also available in Sky Lounge till late. But Solstice is not known to be a late night party ship, some of venues will quiet down around 10.30pm and a few will keep going to 1am ish. Oh and whilst not lively I found the Outdoor Sunset Bar a nice place to hit for a nightcap and some late night discussions :p. No music but just a great place to chillax under the stars before hitting the hay!

[wallie5446]

Any thoughts on the experience of so many (eight) sea days on the Singapore to Sydney itinerary. I know it is a large coast to travel so it's probably necessary. We are a family of five with three adult sons ages 24,31 & 34. Is there enough interesting sea & shore viewing? Thanks!

 

On the Solstice they can always go to the aft and watch the grass grow or glass show, as there will be very hard to see the distant shore line even with a great set of binoculars.

 

Sea days are for decompressing from the stress of day to day life at home, we too love as many as we can get on a booking.

EW

[QE2_Fan]

On the Solstice they can always go to the aft and watch the grass grow

 

 

Now there's a fast paced, action packed activity I hadn't considered [emoji38]

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

There is no such thing as too many sea days...

Totally agree.

[Rob the Cruiser]

On the Solstice they can always go to the aft and watch the grass grow or glass show, as there will be very hard to see the distant shore line even with a great set of binoculars.

 

Sea days are for decompressing from the stress of day to day life at home, we too love as many as we can get on a booking.

EW

 

There are also many opportunities to watch paint dry. It's not as inspirational as watching the grass grow, I must admit. :)

[hmorrow]

There is no such thing as too many sea days...

 

 

DITTO

 

helaine

[QE2_Fan]

There are also many opportunities to watch paint dry. It's not as inspirational as watching the grass grow, I must admit. :)

 

 

I hope they add these awesome activities to the Ships daily...would hate for people to miss out. [emoji6][emoji23]

 

 

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[wallie5446]

C-sea,

Thanks for letting us have a bit of fun.

 

With the number of cruises ya'll have done, one would feel your Sons have been on a few too. There fore you know what to expect and do on sea days.

EW

[ShawninFL]

While I do cherish sea days, I do believe there can be too many. The most consecutive sea days we've had has been 5. We did this twice, once going to Hawaii and once on a transatlantic. The 5 days to Hawaii was a breeze as they had all kinds of cultural activities and lectures that occupied our days. On the transatlantic there were not many organized activities other than the normal trivia, bingo, etc and by the time we reached Boston, I was sort of ready to see land. I could easily do a few more sea days in a row, but if there isn't anything special happening on board I could also see myself getting bored/antsy after 5 days at sea.

[villauk]

Everyone is different and I know my DH was wishing for land after 3 consecutive sea days on our way over from Australia to NZ. We're a little older than your eldest son, but do prefer a mix of sea days and ports rather than so many consecutive sea days - each to their own ;).

[QE2_Fan]

I think the OP was referring to a TOTAL of 8 sea days over the whole 14 day itinerary. The most is 2 concectutive sea days between any of the five ports of call along the way.

 

Depart Singapore..2 days at sea...Bali...2 days at sea....Darwin...2 days at sea....Cairns..overnight...Airlie Beach...1 day at sea..Brisbane.. 1 day at sea ..Arrival Sydney.

 

This is where the 8 days at sea comes from. They are well broken up with port days, no different to regular round trip St Pacific cruises ex Sydney.

Edited February 25, 2016 by QE2_Fan