Solstice GBR cruise 30 March - a quick review

[Muffinz]

Wow, wow,wow, wow and WOW!

Everything was 5 star on Solstice - the food, service, entertainment.... all were fantastic

 

Now this was our very first cruise, so we cannot compare it to P&O, RCL, Princess...etc... but all the people we spoke to onboard said we chose the best cruise line to cruise with - and we were not disappointed

 

the cleanliness of the ship, friendliness of the staff, quality of the food and entertainment were all top notch.... we didn't want to leave the ship!

 

We were unable to stop at the Whitsundays and tender into port because of the weather conditions - due to a tropical storm about 150 miles away, so that was disappointing - but it meant for another day aboard this beautiful ship.

 

We were wondering what there would be to do on the ship in sea days, but it turns out there is too much to do! - dancing lessons, music trivia, pub quizes, lectures and talks on various subjects.... so much to do!

 

So Thank You Celebrity - We have already booked another cruise for 2020! :D:D:D:D

[mahdnc]

I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed your first cruise! Sounds like you had a great time!! I saw that the Airlie Beach stop had to be cancelled which is too bad. But at least the rest of the cruise went well.

 

David

[Muffinz]

I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed your first cruise! Sounds like you had a great time!! I saw that the Airlie Beach stop had to be cancelled which is too bad. But at least the rest of the cruise went well.

 

David

 

Yes the captain kept us well informed and headed to Airlie Beach, but when we got there the harbour master informed him that the harbour was closed due to the weather conditions - that was the only rainy day we had the whole trip - every other day was perfect

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[TFLG]

It was nice meeting you 2 at the Martini bar and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise. We also had a fantastic time on this one. We met a lot of really fun people, danced ourselves silly and ate and drank WAY more than we should have. We also can't wait for our next one.

[Muffinz]

It was nice meeting you 2 at the Martini bar and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise. We also had a fantastic time on this one. We met a lot of really fun people, danced ourselves silly and ate and drank WAY more than we should have. We also can't wait for our next one.

 

I think I drank more on the 12 day cruise than I did for the entire 2017!!! but yes we loved every minute of it.... I think I'll need to give my liver a rest for a while... LOL!

[mahdnc]

Muffinz,

 

What 2020 sailing did you book?

[davekathy]

Muffinz...thanks for posting. Prior to your cruise you were concerned about chair hogs and not being able to get a lounger. Now that your back what were your experience(s)?

Edited April 16, 2018 by davekathy

[TFLG]

Muffinz...thanks for posting. Prior to your cruise you were concerned about chair hogs and not being able to get a lounger. Now that your back what were your experience(s)?

 

I was on the same sailing and spent a fair bit of time by the pool. We were almost always able to find a lounger near the pool even when we showed up after 10am. Some days it was very crowded and we went up to deck 14 but nothing like the crowds on a Caribbean cruise.

[Muffinz]

Muffinz,

 

What 2020 sailing did you book?

 

it's a new one Celebrity are doing starting 2019

It leaves Auckland (NZ) and goes to Bay of Islands, Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga and back to NZ over 13 nights

[Muffinz]

Muffinz...thanks for posting. Prior to your cruise you were concerned about chair hogs and not being able to get a lounger. Now that your back what were your experience(s)?

 

Never had a problem on Solstice.... the ones closest to the pools were usually all taken but there were plenty to go around

[villauk]

Glad you enjoyed your first cruise :). IMHO, each cruising region does have a different feel to it i.e. the Caribbean is totally different to cruising in Asia, Europe or ‘Downunder’, as TFLG stated above ;).

[Muffinz]

here's a couple of photos from our cruise

 

sorry can't seem to add photos from a USB stick to here as it's asking for a http:// address for the photos

[mahdnc]

Tell us how your shore excursions went......

[Muffinz]

Tell us how your shore excursions went......

 

Sure :)

 

In Newcastle we did a winery tour that was organised by another couple on the cruise and their friends (also on the cruise) they had 2 spaces left so we jumped at the chance to do it.

We went to 2 wineries, a smelly cheese shop, then to a vodka / gin distillery then another vineyard before being dropped off at the port where we were docked

 

We then had 2 days at sea, then a 3rd - as we were unable to tender into Airlie beach

 

In Cairns on day 1 we did the skyrail / kuranda tour - the skyrail is in 2 'sections' and after the 1st section we got off to be told that the 2nd section was undergoing maintenance and would be ready in about 15 minutes.... but that turned into nearly an hour - standing in the hot Queensland sun before we could continue... my wife said it was bad timing for them to do maintenance when there were hundreds of people doing the skyrail.

Kuranda was quite nice, but because of the earlier delay we didn't really have time to go to the butterfly / bird sanctuary and just browsed around the markets there before being taken back to Yorkeys knob

 

Day 2 in Cairns we did the Cairns Panorama tour - we were taken up to Palm cove where we had 30 minutes to stroll the shops / beach, but 30 minutes wasn't really long enough as we really liked Palm cove, then were taken in towards the city to the botanic gardens, where again we only had 30 minutes - we would have liked an hour here as it was a fascinating place, then we were driven into the city and shown some typical Queenslander homes vs new modern homes and saw home historical buildings and trees with bats hanging off before being taken back to Yorkeys knob

 

In Port Douglas we had nothing booked, so got off the tender boat at the marina and had a walk around. We noticed a man inside standing next to a sign that said 'Port Douglas Tours $10' (AUD) so we agreed to do that - and it was the best value ever. We were in an air conditioned mini coach and the driver took us to trinity hill lookout and drove around the area telling us all about Port Douglas - it took 45 minutes and we really enjoyed it

After the tour we decided to do some shopping, but the weather was so hot and humid - it was 32c (98.6f) and 90% humidity. We found ourselves going into shops not to browse but to get cool! we only lasted about another hour before we decided to head back to the marina to get a tender back to Solstice

 

We had another 2 sea days (via willis island) then to Brisbane.

 

We were fortunate to have a friend that had moved to Brisbane with her husband and 2 kids a few years ago, so we agreed to meet up with her in Brisbane. she picked us up at the wharf and took us into town - she works in town and has a car park so that was very handy. We got a coffee together and she told us how to get to the mall in the CBD, so we did some shopping then walked back to her work and she dropped us back off at the wharf - she could not believe the size of the ship (Solstice)

 

another day at sea before finishing in Sydney

 

We docked in Sydney about 6:30am and we were off Solstice by 8:50am - there were many people on the ship that were doing B2B cruises and getting back on for the next cruise (17 night Tahitian / Hawaiian treasures)

 

we loved the whole experience and decided pretty early on in our cruise to book another :D