YvonneM1967

Hello fellow cruisers .... I haven't had a chance to read through the entirety of this thread but firstly want to thank vtcruising for the photos of the S1 aft suite 11268.  We are booked in S1 aft suite 9306 for the September 9 sailing of the mediterranean.  Our cruising buddies are booked in 10274 (directly above us) and 10267 (above and opposite corner).  I imagine the photos are a good representation of what we can expect in our suite.  I love the idea of switching that cube seat inside to become a footrest outside and it looks like the balcony will be large enough to put the rocking chair outside (will it?? does it fit through the sliding door??).  There doesnt seem to be much closet hanging space.  How is the lighting in the bathroom for makeup application etc??  Nice and bright?

We are looking forward to this trip - having booked it waaaaay back in October 2017 (en route Hawaii to Sydney on Celebrity Solstice!) and having just disembarked Solstice on 4 January (sky suite of course) and onboard her again for 4 January 2020.

Edge will be our first Celebrity cruise not onboard Solstice.

Enjoying your review and photographs.

We were on Solstice from Hawaii to Sydney arriving Sydney 20 October - we had notification on the ship about 3 days out of Sydney that Novo was on the ship so I believe that’s where it started and was a problem for several cruises thereafter. The staff were diligent in ensuring hygiene and were constantly cleaning and disinfecting - in the Buffett there was no self service and all items removed from tables (drink menu, salt and pepper etc).

We are visiting NZ in March on a cruise (not Solstice [emoji22]) and had researched Russell and Devonport as places to visit so happy to see your photographs and descriptions. It is refreshing to see photos from a tourist point of view rather than pro pics from the tour organisers - it’s more ‘real’.

We will again visit NZ on Solstice for Xmas and New Year cruise in December this year.

Keep the review and photos coming!

Great trip report - we were recently on Solstice Hawaii to Sydney in October and loved her - but alas Captain Tasos did not captain our ship - we have booked the Xmas/NY cruise for 2018 (this year!) and can’t wait - we hope that we will experience Captain Tasos and his humour - we have heard much about him!!

I just did this repositioning cruise in October this year and Moorea wasn’t on the itinerary for that sailing either.

Thank for all the responses - they hold some helpful and interesting information.

We booked this cruise as there isn’t a great deal out of Sydney that we could do for around the 10 day-ish length and the pacific islands didn’t really interest us - we have done NZ before but as it only has 2 tender ports and 2 dock ports it looked a good itinerary.

Esilef - yes her walker is a folding one which is good because as she has an inside single cabin I believe there’s not much room in there!! Good idea about letting the ground staff know about requiring assistance in advance. As hubby and I have a Grand Suite our boarding time is 11.30am but mums isn’t until 4pm - would they let her board earlier with us under these circumstances or would we have to wait until her boarding time do you think ? I suspect she will stay on the ship on tender port days.

Yuvraj - thanks for your input - 10% capacity must be a challenge. Mum has about 30-40%. As I mentioned above I think Mum will probably stay on board on tender port days but this is concerning me.

Havingfun2010 - is never thought about renting a mobility scooter ... it could be a good way for her to be able to move about the ship a bit easier - although it might take a few lessons!!

I wonder if anyone has any experience who could give some advice ... hubby and I are booked on Radiance in March 2018 Sydney - NZ - Sydney. My brother and his partner are coming along as well as my Mum. Hubby and I have a Grand Suite on deck 10. Brother and his partner have an oceanview cabin on deck 4. Mum has a single inside cabin on deck 4.

Mum had lung cancer and surgery last year which left her with only 1 lung. This has severely impacted on her ability to walk any real distance or exert herself at all. She uses a walker mostly to get around.

I was hoping that someone could tell me if there is any assistance offered in Sydney on boarding and disembarking and assistance with on and off tenders. I seem to recall that I read somewhere that to get to tenders that you have to walk down several sets of stairs on the ship before reaching the tender platform. Is There A lift down to the tender level that one can use? What about going back up? Also do staff assist getting in and off tenders and can her walker be taken on the tenders for use on shore?

Thanks in advance .... we are looking forward to this cruise but these questions are causing some anxiety not knowing how much assistance, if any, will be offered.

I too was on this cruise ... I’ll be interested to read the rest of your reviews. We found the cruise generally to be fun, informative, entertaining and a wonderful dining experience. We had use of Michaels Club where we met some wonderful people who are now our newest friends and dined in Luminae where the staff were attentive and accommodating and the food excellent - and although sometimes repetitive we didn’t mind as it was delicious - some of our favourite meals were repeat offerings.

Wow, this is new and a very good idea. How do you access them to download to your phone?

I just visited the photo stand on the ship and they showed me how to do use it - just your room number and a 4 digit/number code and you can access from anywhere on the ship - no need to visit the photo kiosks.

Just to update anyone interested - I'm just off Celebrity Solstice this morning. If you ore purchase photo package you can download professional photos within a few hours of them being taken to your phone. They will also email all photos taken to you about 4 days after completion of cruise. I was advised on board that a USB with photos is no longer provided but on the last morning of the cruise an envelope with all cruise photos was in my box outside my cabin. For an 18 day cruise I got about 100 photos.

Come over and join in our roll call for this sailing - there is a lot of discussion about this very topic right now!

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We were informed on our May cruise a shift was in the works for an all digital format. We were not able to pre purchase until around final payment time.

Thanks for that- I was able to book our photo package about 3 weeks ago now - our cruise in 2 October. Apparently it's about 20% cheaper to pre purchase.

I don't mind the all digital format - I'll be able to print off the sizes that I want that way.

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I booked our package April 3rd, and we set sail June 29. There is an option to leave your email with Image Group and receive an email when the cruise is available. For Silhouette I can see cruises up to early november.

I've been watching the website for several months now and none of the dates have changed - I've registered with my email address so hopefully I'll get an email when it's available.

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Just checking into this thread again ... how far out from a cruise departure do they put up the prepurchase option for photo packages - anyone know? We are 14 weeks out from our cruise and still it is not available.

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Thanks for the info - I have requested the notification for when it becomes available but thought it would be available by now --- I'll just keep checking as I'd really like to purchase a photo package. I'm happy for the pictures to be on a USB - less bulky and then I can print whatever sizes I want back home.

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Just popping back in to ask another question about photo packages .... I have been checking the link provided above but my cruise doesn't show on it yet - we have just under 4 months until our cruise - how far before a cruise do they usually put the cruise up for prepurchase does anyone know?

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I'll be cruising my first time on Solstice Hawaii to. Sydney in October this year and wondered about photo packages.... does Celebrity do photo packages? Can you pre-purchase a package? What's included in the package? Is it better to pre/purchase or just buy pictures if we like them? I've only ever bought photos on a Princess cruise I did a few years ago and on an individual basis - I don't know if they did packages or not. I'd like to get some nice professional pictures of hubby and I on our cruise as we will be having a triple celebration - my 50th, hubby's 55th and our 30th anniversary.

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Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas have singles cabins - booked one for my mum who will be travelling with hubby and I march 2018.

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That's good to know - we are also booked into a suite - I might see about late checkout from our hotel.

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I am sailing back from Honolulu to Sydney in October next year and wondered if anyone knew what the boarding time might be in Honolulu? I'll be in Hawaii in 2 weeks and plan to check out a couple of different hotels while we are there and hopefully book our next visit at that time. I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere that Solstice doesn't sail out of Honolulu until midnight- so wondered if boarding time wouldn't be until later n the afternoon/early evening. If boarding time isn't until later in the day we thought about booking an extra night in our hotel so that we could continue to use it until we pleased. Our flights into HNL arrive 6.30am so we always book the night before we arrive so our room is available on check in rather than hoping it will be ready early or waiting until 2pm - we have a 10 hour night flight from Sydney and I never sleep well so appreciate a ready room on arrival!

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I'm doing the same cruise in October 2017 from Honolulu to Sydney - my insurer has already quoted me and told me I need worldwide cover which would include airlifting me from the middle of anywhere back to Sydney - quote for my husband and myself was about $320 - we are spending 7 days in Hawaii prior to the cruise.

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What a wonderful review - I am sailing Celebrity Solstice for the first time from Hawaii to Sydney - I have loved reading your review especially about MC and the restaurants - we have booked a Sky Suite and it's nice to know that MC will be available to us - I had previously been told we would not have access to MC in a Sky Suite. You've made me even more excited to be sailing X for the first time. Thank you so much!

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I cruised Princess 2 years ago and had a mini suite for 14 days - we were very happy with it - large bathroom with separate bathtub and shower - plenty of storage space, a walk in wardrobe with hanging and drawer space, a separate bedroom and living area and 2 tv's - the balcony was also quite large. It was the first time we had had a suite and would do it again in a heart beat - our suite was right near the lifts but we never had any disturbances with noise. I can't comment on celebrity as we are taking our first cruise with them next year - we have booked a Sky Suite and quite looking forward to it!!

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