Photo Review of Solstice November 11, 2017 New Zealand & Australia Cruise

[cruise kitty]

Day 20 continued,

 

After the Opera House tour we headed to the Botanical Gardens, which are pretty much adjacent to the Opera House. We spent a few hours here, & it's just beautiful there, with spectacular harbor views along the way.

 

There's a little train that will take you around the gardens, but we prefer walking:

 

 

 

 

 

We did a shoreside walk & headed toward our hotel, as I had forgotten my spare camera batteries, on the way we visited the State Library, (I've got a thing for libraries) which also featured a photo exhibit, we ended up spending quite a bit of time there.

 

 

[cruise kitty]

Day 20, cont.

 

After picking up the battery, we walked to the Art Gallery of NSW, you'd need more that a few hours here to do it justice, so we just picked two halls to concentrate on... by this point we were so in love with Sydney we were pretty sure we'd be returning some day.

 

In case you thought we'd lost the bunny:

 

 

sights along the way from our hotel to Mrs. Mcquires' chair outlook:

 

 

We saw this sweet newlywed couple along the way, I decided they had been childhood sweethearts who were separated somehow & were finally able to marry... sometimes I'm so sappy

 

 

The Andrew Boy Charlton Pool:

 

 

Steve, conquering the chair:

 

We walked over to the Opera Bar, shared a pitcher of Sangria, then had dinner in the Rocks area, finished the evening with another drink at the Opera Bar, then headed to the hotel to unpack a little & sleep.

[cruise kitty]

Day 21, Sydney

 

Sorry to say that I mixed up what we did on Saturday with what we did on Sunday, so actually this show you day 20, & my previous post shows day 21, but you get the gist.

Our plans today included the Pylon tower climb, & walking across the bridge... & a good deal more. Great thing about the pylon climb is that it literally cost hundreds of dollars less than the bridge climb, & you can take photos

 

 

You can make out the climbers on the bridge below us:

 

 

After the climb we crossed the bridge to Kirribilli, a cute little town on the other side, reminded me of home a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

these slightly creepy birds were everywhere:

 

[cruise kitty]

Day 21 cont., (except it was really 20, reversed days sorry)

 

We took the ferry back, & then took another ferry to Manly, beautiful scenery along the way, but a packed ferry, & it was a bit of a slow ride.

 

 

 

Manly was a cute little beach town that could have easily been back home, we did the coastal walk as far as it went, then headed back to town for some lunch

 

 

 

We decided to take the fast ferry back, even though it was not included in our Opal cards, it was about half the time, & we wanted to eat dinner & then be at the Opera Bar when the Solstice sailed away again.

 

 

we had been averaging between 8 & 10 miles walking a day, except for the Blue Mountains day when we did 15, so you can imagine we were hitting the executive lounge at the Hilton for a nightcap each night & then sleeping like babies.

[tabby50894]

Hi Tabby,

 

My hat is a Tilley TH9 hat, it's 50 SPF & I've worn it in heat & rain, it's so great I've got two of them :) it's machine washable... I think the one I took on this trip is at least 7 years old. Hope this helps. :)

 

Thanks! I definitely need sun protection and that is perfect!

[cruise kitty]

Day 22, Sydney

 

We woke to our first overcast skies & cooler weather, our plans were to take the bus to Bondi & do the coastal walk thru & past Waverly Cemetery.

 

This amazing pool is refreshed with sea water:

 

 

 

pretty sure this was a Kookaburra

 

 

If anyone knows what this little guy is I'd love to know:

 

We spent about an hour watching the dolphins play with surfers:

 

[cruise kitty]

Day 22 continued,

 

Steve, striking a pose for me:

 

 

Waverly Cemetery:

 

 

 

 

[tabby50894]

I think your cute little blue bird is a superb fairywren. I'm fascinated by all the different birds you've seen - I better pack binoculars!

[cruise kitty]

I think your cute little blue bird is a superb fairywren. I'm fascinated by all the different birds you've seen - I better pack binoculars!

 

Hi, thanks for the info, & yes, if you're a birder, definitely bring the binoculars :)

[Wine-O]

Did you have any issues bringing a bottle of wine on board at some of the ports? I will have the beverage package, but if I find a nice wine to enjoy in my stateroom, will they confiscate it coming back on board?

[cruise kitty]

Did you have any issues bringing a bottle of wine on board at some of the ports? I will have the beverage package, but if I find a nice wine to enjoy in my stateroom, will they confiscate it coming back on board?

 

Hi Wine-O, we had no problems at all, I think that most folks had bev. pkgs., so honestly it's a savings for Celebrity. They didn't even have a table set up where you could check things in like we've seen in the past.

 

Enjoy, it's an amazing part of the world. :)

[Wine-O]

Hi Wine-O, we had no problems at all, I think that most folks had bev. pkgs., so honestly it's a savings for Celebrity. They didn't even have a table set up where you could check things in like we've seen in the past.

 

Enjoy, it's an amazing part of the world. :)

 

Thanks. Totally enjoying your review. We leave tomorrow for our journey and pre-cruise, picking up Solstice in Auckland on the 17th. :)

[cruise kitty]

Thanks. Totally enjoying your review. We leave tomorrow for our journey and pre-cruise, picking up Solstice in Auckland on the 17th. :)

 

Thanks, enjoy your cruise, & the wine ;)

[Holly2]

We left the Solstice in good shape on Feb. 3 but the Capt departed with us.

[late2cruisin]

We left the Solstice in good shape on Feb. 3 but the Capt departed with us.

 

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Bummer. Can you tell us who the new captain will be? (We are on the Feb. 17 sailing too.)

[Wansbrough]

I have thoroughly enjoyed revisiting some of the places we went to this time last year. Thanks for sharing your journey.

BTW, Tilleys's rule!!!

[Holly2]

Don’t know. It was a really good cruise. Enjoy.

[readingfast]

Hi,

We are on the Solstice for the first time soon.

Please can you give me some information as to the "pool" towels protocol?

• Are they left in your cabin when you embark?
  
• How do you change them?
  
• Can you take them on excursions off the ship?
  
• Do you just leave them in the cabin at the end?
  

Any information would be welcome.

Many thanks

[Holly2]

Towels at pool. Stateroom attendant will bring beach towels for excursions, just ask.

[zonacruiser25]

Do they still have the glass blowing on Solstice? sailing April 11 on transpacific. Thanks

[tweetylori]

What a wonderful review and terrific pics...thank you!

[cruise kitty]

I have thoroughly enjoyed revisiting some of the places we went to this time last year. Thanks for sharing your journey.

BTW, Tilleys's rule!!!

 

Thank you, your review helped me so much in my planning :) hopefully I'm paying it forward a bit. & yes, my Tilley is the one item I never cruise without. :)

[cruise kitty]

Hi,

We are on the Solstice for the first time soon.

Please can you give me some information as to the "pool" towels protocol?

• Are they left in your cabin when you embark?
  
• How do you change them?
  
• Can you take them on excursions off the ship?
  
• Do you just leave them in the cabin at the end?
  

Any information would be welcome.

Many thanks

 

Hi pool towels & nice fleece blankets are available all around the pool decks & with additional blankets wherever there were chairs (it was cold out on deck often) you just toss your used ones in the bin & grab a new one when needed. No need to check them out or keep tabs on them.

 

To take one on an excursion just ask your stateroom attendant.

[cruise kitty]

Do they still have the glass blowing on Solstice? sailing April 11 on transpacific. Thanks

 

Hi, honestly I'm not much help here, they had the glass blowing when we were on board, but I understand that's due to change sometime this year.

[cruise kitty]

What a wonderful review and terrific pics...thank you!

 

Thank you, I really enjoyed your review as well :)