Solstice - South Pacific vs French Polynesia cruises

[Cruise Junky]

Hi - I'm torn for 2021.  Does anyone have a comparison between Solstice's itineraries for Fiji, Tonga, American Samoa & Samoa vs. the Transpacific Route with Papeete, Bora Bora & Moorea?  We've been to Hawaii dozens of times so I'm leaving those islands out of the equation.   The Transpacific right now is stupidly priced and of course comes with no perks but the Fiji cruise is about what I would expect and a drink package.  But they're so far away I'm trying to not let price sway me.  Any input?

 

Thanks

[StillLooking4Adventure]

I assumed when you said stupidly priced it meant cheap with no perks as it is a "re positioning" cruise. I just checked the Transpacific with Borabora and it is what I consider really expensive. $4500 for a Veranda is $250 per night. That is really high for that type of cruise. Otherwise it looks good and I am considering it since I just got off a cruise and gave a $100 deposit for any cruise from May 2020 to April 2021. Is the price likely to drop significantly?

[Cruise Junky]

oh no...by Stupidly, I meant Stupidly expensive.  like $13,000 cdn for a balcony stupidly expensive.  I think it's around $10,000 US and prices for previous itineraries are probably around $7,000.  But yes, no perks.  The South Pacific I have booked for $8,000 Cdn. has a drink package.

[Wine-O]

Stupidly priced = ridiculously high.  It's twice as expensive for their cheapest balcony as what I paid for on Radiance TP.  I think LLP must be smoking something to be asking for those prices.     an Aqua Class stateroom is $11K.  

[Cruise Junky]

2 minutes ago, Wine-O said:

Stupidly priced = ridiculously high.  It's twice as expensive for their cheapest balcony as what I paid for on Radiance TP.  I think LLP must be smoking something to be asking for those prices.     an Aqua Class stateroom is $11K.  

I'm so annoyed with the pricing. I'm trying to put together a bunch of B2Bs for a retirement cruise and had been waiting for this one to complete it.  Jeeze....if I do this one, I won't be able to do the rest!  I hadn't planned on wanting to switch ships, but $13k for a balcony and no drinks in insane.  Princess will have a couple doing that route as well as RCL.  Hopefully one of the dates work out.  Connie through the Suez may also work as an ending to the trip, coming home via Europe. 

[StillLooking4Adventure]

I assume you mean for two when you say 10K pricing even though I still consider it high. Here is what I am showing on the Celebrity website for the April 15th 18 night cruise from Sydney to Hawaii

 

INSIDE$3,299 USD

OCEAN VIEW$3,899 USD

VERANDA$4,499 USD

CONCIERGE CLASS$4,949 USD

AQUACLASS$5,499 USD

SUITES$8,699 USD

Edited November 15, 2018 by StillLooking4Adventure

[Cruise Junky]

3 minutes ago, StillLooking4Adventure said:

I assume you mean for two when you say 10K pricing even though I still consider it high. Here is what I am showing on the Celebrity website for the April 15th 18 night cruise from Sydney to Hawaii

 

INSIDE$3,299 USD

OCEAN VIEW$3,899 USD

VERANDA$4,499 USD

CONCIERGE CLASS$4,949 USD

AQUACLASS$5,499 USD

SUITES$8,699 USD

 

Correct, the $4,499 is pp for an obstructed view balcony cabin plus another $231 in taxes.   Add about $60 each for an unobstructed balcony.

[CEOofVacation]

We really like Celebrity and never thought we would even look at Royal Caribbean cruises.  Our friends only cruise on Royal Caribbean and asked us to join them for the next 3 cruises. We got an Owners Suite (almost 600 sq ft) for a 16-night FLL-Copenhagen TA next year for only $6K total without any perks or OBC.  Our travel agent did something to make the price really low but with no OBC.

 

Then for 2020 17-night TP from Sydney to Honolulu, it was only $5K and the 2nd leg 10-night HNL-Vancouver for $3.1K in a spacious balcony on aft.  

 

These are prices you cannot get on Celebrity unless possibly after final payment.

 

We plan to go back to Celebrity for a South America cruise.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by CEOofVacation

[4774Papa]

We did a great 23 day TransPacific cruise on Explorer of the Seas.  RCI's prices were better than Celebrity's.

 

RCI had two TP cruises from Australia in April going across the Pacific.

Ours, visited New Caledonia, Mystery Island *forgotten the country, Fiji, Hawaii (Oahu and Maui) ending in Seattle.

The other one had one stop in NZ then on to Bora Bora and Tahiti, ending in Hawaii.

 

Here is my detailed review of our trip to Australia and NZ and cruise.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=620702&et_cid=3065755&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

 

 

[BSinPNS]

We did a ten day Polynesian cruise on Paul Gauguin with 330 passengers and that number was about all most of the ports could handle passenger wise.  Papeete was the only non-tendered port and can easily handle more although 2,800 passengers on Solstice will strain the local resources.  Based on this alone, I would avoid the Trans-Pac with stops in Polynesia. The pricing would make it an even easier choice.  

[Cruise Junky]

1 minute ago, BSinPNS said:

We did a ten day Polynesian cruise on Paul Gauguin with 330 passengers and that number was about all most of the ports could handle passenger wise.  Papeete was the only non-tendered port and can easily handle more although 2,800 passengers on Solstice will strain the local resources.  Based on this alone, I would avoid the Trans-Pac with stops in Polynesia. The pricing would make it an even easier choice.  

I can't believe they're running Ovation of the Seas through those Islands, that's a crazy amount of people.

[CEOofVacation]

40 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

I can't believe they're running Ovation of the Seas through those Islands, that's a crazy amount of people.

We are doing Radiance and at every port, it is 2 days before Ovation gets there.

Edited November 15, 2018 by CEOofVacation

[lais]

4 hours ago, BSinPNS said:

We did a ten day Polynesian cruise on Paul Gauguin with 330 passengers and that number was about all most of the ports could handle passenger wise.  Papeete was the only non-tendered port and can easily handle more although 2,800 passengers on Solstice will strain the local resources.  Based on this alone, I would avoid the Trans-Pac with stops in Polynesia. The pricing would make it an even easier choice.  

What kind of “Strain”

[portcbob]

I'm. The transpacific cruise from Sydney to Honolulu via Tahiti on celebrity solstice is way over the top in price. We searched this cruise recently and at 6K per person for balcony without drinks package, grats and obc was definitely expensive.  Not on our watch.

[BSinPNS]

By strain, I mean available tourist infrastructure support that provides an enjoyable environment for the tourist.  Moorea has a total population of 16,000 people and there is one road that basically circles the island with a spur going to Belevedere .  While there are many great snorkeling/diving sites, local vendors to provide support are limited.  Bora Bora has a total population of 10,000.  There is a local ferry that runs between Papeete and Moorea which is capable of hauling buses, but if there is a large cruise ship in Papeete there will be none available to make the trip.  One could compare this to some of the Alaskan ports which have a very small local population, but add hundreds of employees during the summer to man the attractions and shops.  This is not the case in French Polynesia as the peak time for cruise ships transiting is only a few weeks long.  

[Yoshikitty]

The prices for the transpacific cruise usually go down 60 days before the ship leaves.

6 weeks before, guarantee balcony cabins could be had for less than $2000,--/pp in the last 2 years.

 

[Yoshikitty]

16 hours ago, BSinPNS said:

We did a ten day Polynesian cruise on Paul Gauguin with 330 passengers and that number was about all most of the ports could handle passenger wise.  Papeete was the only non-tendered port and can easily handle more although 2,800 passengers on Solstice will strain the local resources.  Based on this alone, I would avoid the Trans-Pac with stops in Polynesia. The pricing would make it an even easier choice.  

 

We've done this cruise 3 times in the last years and the number of passengers appears to divert pretty well in the tender ports.

Additionally, I am sure that lots of locals really need the money, which is comes to their island (which only happens a couple of times/year). As an example, the markets on the piers only happen when the big cruiseships are there and it seems that all the vendors are enjoying these occasions to come together.

 

[mtn_couple]

On 11/16/2018 at 4:16 AM, Cruise Junky said:

Hi - I'm torn for 2021.  Does anyone have a comparison between Solstice's itineraries for Fiji, Tonga, American Samoa & Samoa vs. the Transpacific Route with Papeete, Bora Bora & Moorea?  We've been to Hawaii dozens of times so I'm leaving those islands out of the equation.   The Transpacific right now is stupidly priced and of course comes with no perks but the Fiji cruise is about what I would expect and a drink package.  But they're so far away I'm trying to not let price sway me.  Any input?

 

Thanks

 

I will have to remember to come back and answer this after March! We did the Syd-Hawaii transpacific via Moorea, Bora Bora and Papeete in April this year and next March were on the Tonga, Fiji, Samoa out of Auckland. 

 

[Cruise Junky]

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 11:20 AM, StillLooking4Adventure said:

I assume you mean for two when you say 10K pricing even though I still consider it high. Here is what I am showing on the Celebrity website for the April 15th 18 night cruise from Sydney to Hawaii

 

INSIDE$3,299 USD

OCEAN VIEW$3,899 USD

VERANDA$4,499 USD

CONCIERGE CLASS$4,949 USD

AQUACLASS$5,499 USD

SUITES$8,699 USD

 

Just wanted to update this, they have dropped a bit....

Inside $2,149 USD

Ocean View $2,749 USD

Veranda $3,349 USD

Concierge Class $3,799 USD

AquaClass $4,349 USD

Suites $7,849 USD

 

[StillLooking4Adventure]

1 minute ago, Cruise Junky said:

 

Just wanted to update this, they have dropped a bit....

Inside $2,149 USD

Ocean View $2,749 USD

 

Veranda $3,349 USD

 

Concierge Class $3,799 USD

 

AquaClass $4,349 USD

 

Suites $7,849 USD

 

Yea, I'd say $1,100 per person drop is "a bit"

[Muffinz]

We looked at doing the Sydney - Hawaii cruise in 2020 and the price was just too much plus we'd have to add on airfares from Auckland to Sydney and Hawaii back to Auckland, so while on our cruise earlier this year we booked the South Pacific cruise to Fiji, Samoa, US Samoa, Tonga from Auckland in 2020

We got 2 perks each free and we don't have to worry about Airfares as we live in Auckland