Martinjjd

We requested refund on 15 March & the refunds hit our bank account 11 May - so 8 weeks.

Pleased to say that our Celebrity refunds were deposited to our account on 11 May. That's exactly 8 weeks since I applied for refund.

Today I happened to receive a Captains Club offer of discounts for most cruises but interestingly the offer does not apply to FCC. Have not checked how good discounts are yet.

Still no refund to we Australian cruisers for our 1 April cruise from Auckland NZ.

We cancelled via the email link provided by Celebrity on 16 March but I was told yesterday that Celebrity did not start the cancellation process for us until 10 April (so 25 days without any action), with no reason given for the delay. Celebrity rep said (reading from her script) it will be 45 calendar days after their cancellation starts until our refund is paid.

That will 70 calendar days/10 weeks from when I cancelled.

We had booked direct with Celebrity.

Another two couples from Melbourne are also yet to receive refunds & none of us have ever received any written update from Celebrity.

Based on CC postings it appears that our consumer protection laws may not be as strong as some other countries given the faster speed of their refunds compared to ours.

I could rant here but suffice to say that Celebrity's total lack service & communication has destroyed the goodwill built up from our past cruises.

Our 4th Celebrity Solstice cruise was due to depart Auckland NZ on April 1,2020. After cruise was cancelled I requested our $7,060 refund via the link in their email on March 16 but in over 6 weeks I have heard nothing from Celebrity. Two weeks ago I called & was told I 'should' receive the refund by end of April but followed up today to be told that it will 'at least' another 4 weeks. That's over 10 weeks so I have gone from a Celebrity believer to a very disenchanted one.

New Zealand has banned cruise ships from their ports from midnight tonight until June 30. 

Melbourne weather is fine & generally quite clear today with no sign of smoke. Temperature over the next week will range from 25c to 35c.

Yesterday was very smokey from the bushfires but they are a long distance from the City. For example Lakes Entrance is around 350km away & major bushfires are similar distances. 

Melbourne is a beautiful city & I am sure you will have a wonderful time here.

Yes. There is a walking/jogging track on Deck 14. Can get a bit busy at times with some slow walkers if you want to run but pretty good mostly. 8 laps = 1 mile.

Very sorry that you are disappointed on your first day but please don't let it spoil your cruise.

We have ALWAYS found Celebrity great to deal with. I know the various offers can be confusing but at times we need to have a clearer understanding of what we have booked. 

To be critical of handing over our seapass card for purchases seems unreasonable as it is an excellent system which you get used to very quickly & which has been on all cruise lines for us.

We are booked on Constellation 1 October 2019 & I monitor for price drops from time to time. Yesterday I checked & found there is a new 'Summer Save' offer & that the price of our cabin has dropped so I phoned Celebrity. With our Captains Club level we are eligible for an upgrade so for a 2A cabin we paid 2B prices with Classic Beverage Packages also included as per our original booking. The saving is $358 & we retained the same cabin. Celebrity just provided a new booking number with same details & new lower price - NO FUSS & GREAT SERVICE.:D

Solstice is a wonderful ship & New Zealand is a most beautiful country & having cruised it on Solstice as well as driven the South Island I thoroughly recommend it. We have always either booked private tours or done self guided tours of New Zealand. Lots of excellent tour operators & you can use TripAdvisor comments as a guide as well as the many comments on cruisecritic. Any tours we did were 1/2 day tours anyway, which reduced risk of missing the ship, & that also allowed us to check out the port cities/towns.

We cruised from Sydney & Melbourne then had to disembark at our first port in New Zealand being Dunedin. This happened 4 years ago so perhaps 'rules' are different today. We had no cover thru Celebrity & our Travel Insurance excluded any claim because of my Mother's age. The Future Cruise Certificate provided $'s towards a future cruise and equated to our unused portion of the cruise which would have been approximately 50%.There were other ways that Celebrity helped too - booked emergency airfares, provided international phone calls, assisted with disembarkation, booked taxi, helped disembark quickly etc & the staff were most compassionate. We can only speak from experience.

We had a similar situation on Celebrity Solstice New Zealand cruise but found Celebrity to be outstanding. They did everything I could have asked for at that terrible time. Before we left the ship we requested them to cancel our bookings & we were not charged. We were given a Future Cruise Certificate for the unused portion of the Cruise. May I suggest you contact Captains Club & ask them to follow up.

I would definitely combine a cruise with a land tour of the South Island. Lots of coach tours but we chose to car hire.

We use stretch clothesline but also have hung clothes over balcony chairs & table when not in port.It’s never been a problem.Just used laundry for shirts & the like usually using obc.

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We have had two cruises in 1099 & found it perfect.

My wife & I always get a table for two and never have to wait long.We book if we can day to day.Tables are VERY close together though so impossible to have private conversation.

Holiday Inn The Rocks is two minutes walk to the Cruise Terminal, close to Circular Quay station & The Bridge & a short stroll to the Opera House.We have stayed there twice & found the service excellent. I have always booked thru their website & have found that booking early & prepaying gets me the best price. Lots of cafes & restaurants close by too.

Hi Linda, I am a big Solstice fan & looking forward to another voyage in Feb 2017. It's seems such a long time for us to wait but you have given me great enjoyment with your blog in the meantime. Certainly among the best I have read on CC. Love your passion. Congratulations. Kind Regards, Martin from Melbourne.

Nothing wrong with a change for a bit of variety.We have found Celebrity Solstice to be fantastic & have loved cruising but still like a mix of travel.They say 'a change is as good as a holiday' so a change of holiday must be good too !!! Enjoy.

We noticed that our New Caledonia cruise was far 'noisier' around the bar areas than our New Zealand cruise.Perhaps the New Caledonia/Fiji cruises attract a different age bracket & the included drinks package may also be a factor now.

Our New Caledonia was about 7 nights compared to about 14 nights to New Zealand and the 7 nighter definitely attracted a very different crowd.We still loved them both - love Solstice & are doing NZ again in 2017 - we still managed to find more peaceful areas when we wanted to.

Just wondering if whole fruit is available in any of the dining areas or buffet (as in not pre-cut.) Would I be able to get a whole banana for breakfast?

We have always managed to get whole fruit.As far as I can remember at least apples,oranges & bananas have been available but bananas did run out for a couple of days.When I asked for a banana they did get me one so perhaps they were just being rationed.There were probably other fruits as well.

Anyone know for sure if 1 Adult & 2 children are permitted in an 'N' cabin. I think they are on Decks 6 & 7. Conditions say only 2 persons permitted but wondering if this refers to adults.

Definitely not cold enough to safely store any food.You even need ice (always readily available) to get drinks cold enough to enjoy.Food is so readily available onboard you shouldn't need to consider doing this.Not worth the risk.

The Specialty Restaurants are very flexible when you order and you will never leave hungry. You can feel relaxed about talking to the waiters about their recommendations or questions if you are not sure. We love them all.

On two recent Solstice cruises we have never had a problem & never had to wait.If you want a certain time any night just call & make a reservation during that day.