Solstice to Australia for Winter 2012/2013

[Phamer55]

Australia/New Zealand cruising continues to grow, now the Solstice is heading over that way! Here's the article:

 

 

"Get ready for some company, Sydney Opera House. Another thing of beauty will share Sydney Harbour when premium cruise brand Celebrity Cruises sends its award-winning Celebrity Solstice to Australia and New Zealandfor the winter of 2012-13.

 

“Celebrity Solsticehas satisfied guests around the world since we introduced her in 2008, and the obvious next step is to send her to Australia,” said Dan Hanrahan, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. “With this move, we are delivering another way for people to have the best vacation experience possible, in one of the most stunning geographic regions of the world.”

 

Australians will enjoy the return of the Celebrity Cruises brand to the region this coming winter with the deployment of the 1,814-guest Celebrity Century. Her subsequent replacement by the 2,850-guest Celebrity Solstice is a symbol of the premium cruise brand’s ever-expanding global presence and the popularity of the service, activities, cuisine, and stylish design exemplified on its Solstice Class ships, which are frequentlyrated as the best by consumer- and travel agent-focused publications around the globe.

 

“Travelers around the world value their vacation time, and we want to give them more opportunitiesto enjoy Celebrity’s signature attributes, including the first Lawn Club and Hot Glass show at sea, more spacious staterooms, our AquaClass stateroomsgeared toward the spa enthusiast lifestyle, multiple specialty restaurants, the Celebrity iLounge and state-of-the-art entertainment, in more places. The culture and way of life in Australia and New Zealand are an idealbackdrop for our Solstice Class style and the overall onboard experience.”

 

Celebrity Solsticewill transition from a 2012 summer in the Mediterraneanto Australia/New Zealand via the Suez Canal and through Southeast Asia before arriving in Sydney, Australia in early December. The repositioning sailings will include multiple overnights in ports including Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Cochin, India.

 

Upon arriving in Australia, Celebrity Solstice will present a series of 12- and 13-night open-jaw sailings between Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand. The season also will include a circumnavigation of Australia, consisting of two open-jaw sailings between Sydney and Perth (Fremantle). Many of the itineraries include overnight stays in Sydney.

 

Celebrity Solsticewill continue a series of destination-immersive onboard activitiesthat will debut during Celebrity Century’s upcoming Australia/New Zealand season; activities include local vineyard and wine shore excursions, onboard talks by local cultural entertainers and speakers, and destination-focused food and drink menus. Some activities will be complimentary.

 

Celebrity will continue to offer its popular Australia/New Zealand cruisetourprogram geared toward guests who wish to combine a land-based vacation with a cruise. Premium concierge-style service is the hallmark of Celebrity’s four- and five-night pre- and post-cruise escorted land tour packages in Australia, which will visit destinations including Port Douglas (Great Barrier Reef), Ayers Rock (Uluru) and Sydney. A six-night pre-cruise New Zealand package will visit Auckland, Rotorua, Queenstown and Sydney. Highlights include a full-day tour over the Great Barrier Reef and a gourmet barbecue dinner under the outback sky in Ayers Rock. All of Celebrity’s cruisetours are escorted by local tour directors, and include hotel accommodations, transportation, select activities, breakfast and some additional meals."

[sab01]

This is great news for the Australian cruising population. finally we will have a true 5.5 star ship sailing on our shores. I love the Solstice and can't wait

[Dowunder]

Great news. We have just had the QM2 and QE in Sydney Harbour together and now Celebrity Solstice as well. There is lots to see Downunder!

[DiamondPlusDan]

WOW!!!!!

 

Does this mean Century will also be joining her or will she come back to the USA?

 

Also, sounds like maybe Solstice could enter the Alaskan Market for summer 2013? (not sure how the grass would do though)

[richsea]

WOW!!!!!

 

Does this mean Century will also be joining her or will she come back to the USA?

 

Also, sounds like maybe Solstice could enter the Alaskan Market for summer 2013? (not sure how the grass would do though)

 

I hope that this doesn't mean that Century is history.:( Sounds ominous for Century to me. We shall see.

[Phamer55]

If the Solstice comes to Alaska in 2013 (we are really thinking long term here, fun!), then she would do a repo cruise through Hawaii. That would be fun!!

[TeaBag]

This is great news. We have to save up for some of these cruises. We absolutely loved Australia/NZ on the Mercury and would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Maybe Century will replace Mercury in Baltimore when she returns from downunder?

[cruiseacecat]

This sounds very bad for Century. Please, please let me be very wrong. :(

 

Anne

[zoncom]

Phamer, What is source of news? Probably great idea. The Princess ships in rsidence are really old. Also, I did read Century is going to Baltimore. She is not coming back to Miami. I booked the last cruise out.

[Cruise Junky]

Phamer, What is source of news? Probably great idea. The Princess ships in rsidence are really old. Also, I did read Century is going to Baltimore. She is not coming back to Miami. I booked the last cruise out.

 

It's all over the cruise insiders websites today. Definitely true. Google Celebrity Solstice to Australia, you'll get a ton of hits. It's also on Celebrity's Facebook site

[FortyNinerLiz]

It's all over the cruise insiders websites today. Definitely true. Google Celebrity Solstice to Australia, you'll get a ton of hits. It's also on Celebrity's Facebook site

 

We have been waiting for this to happen before we book Australia/NZ!!!! Oh happy day!!!! I had heard this rumor on our recent cruise on Connie and so many people said, if they would move a classy ship to that market, they would book, but not on the Century. Our loyalty prayers have been answered. They need to promote this immediately!!! ( Of course, discounts for Elite members!)

[Cruise Junky]

We have been waiting for this to happen before we book Australia/NZ!!!! Oh happy day!!!! I had heard this rumor on our recent cruise on Connie and so many people said, if they would move a classy ship to that market, they would book, but not on the Century. Our loyalty prayers have been answered. They need to promote this immediately!!! ( Of course, discounts for Elite members!)

 

Actually I think 49er fans should get the bigger discounts :) I don't think the dates will work for us for 2012 but I'm soooooo going to book if it comes to Vancouver for Alaska. I'd love a Tahiti - Hawaii or Hawaii to Vancouver on Solstice in Spring 2013. Can't wait to see the dates though for 2012, but I can't see them leaving the med. until very late in the year and I need something for September.

[wineluvr]

Solstice in Australia is INCREDIBLE news!! Wonder if she'll head west for the summer of 2013 or back through the Suez Canal to Europe?

[The_Big_M]

Loving it. Was hoping this would eventuate and it has!

 

WOW!!!!!

 

Does this mean Century will also be joining her or will she come back to the USA?

 

With this announcement, Century isn't planned to return here after the upcoming season, so not sure what will happen at that time.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Fantastic news for Australia! Can't wait!!!!!

[c-legs]

I hope that this doesn't mean that Century is history.:( Sounds ominous for Century to me. We shall see.

No, imo, I don't think it does.

Century summer 2012 Alaska will be followed by a likely full canal repositionning transit back to carribean market. Remeber, ==X== will be short one '' S '' class for that market .

This might however mean Solstice might very well come back to Pacific Northwest for the Alaskan season 2013, replacing one of the three surrently assigned there ( Millie, Infy or Century ) who would then go over to Europe to cover the summer spot currently held by Soldtice.

Cheers

[dmwnc1959]

It doesn't make much sense to me to spend all that money to 'Solstice-ize' the Celebrity MILLENNIUM and after her Alaska season return her to the 4- and 5-night cruise market out of Miami. My guess is that if they don't send her Down Under, Celebrity CENTURY will either return to short-market cruising or Celebrity will realize that putting their brand new Celebrity SILHOUETTE out of Bayonne was a mistake just to compete against two NCL ships and move her to Florida replacing her with the smaller last standing member of the CENTURY-class out of NY or Baltimore, the Celebrity MILLENNIUM will go to Europe after a season back in the Caribbean doing longer 10-11 night cruises from Ft. Lauderdale.

[florisdekort]

This is one of the most exciting X announcements in years and a major surprise!With Reflection joining the fleet in Europe summer 2013, it's a safe bet Solstice will head to Hawaii and Alaska. They don't need 5 S-class ships in Europe....

[The_Big_M]

This is one of the most exciting X announcements in years and a major surprise!

 

It's not a surprise if you've monitored the strength of the Australian market. It's been the stand-out growth sector for all the cruise lines, where other regions have been struggling.

 

Of course, things will change at some time in the future but the move has been under planning for some time and makes a lot of sense at the moment.

[C-Dragons]

I hope that this doesn't mean that Century is history.:( Sounds ominous for Century to me. We shall see.

 

IMO, Dan Hanrahan's remarks about the Century last month (he would like to see her leave the fleet ASAP) spoke volumes, so pulling her out of Australia is no surprise. Sadly, I think it's the beginning of the end for her.

[C-Dragons]

Of course, things will change at some time in the future but the move has been under planning for some time and makes a lot of sense at the moment.

 

Yes, Solstice is a much better choice for that market. Quite frankly, I could not understand why X chose to put Century down under in the first place.

[C-Dragons]

Just ran across this article in Sea Trade. There's no way the Century could have competed with the 2 HAL ships. Moving Solstice down under was a stategic move by X .

 

HAL ups the ante in Australia with more berths, own office

 

Tuesday, 01 March 2011 18:37

On the same day Celebrity Cruises announced it will send Celebrity Solstice to Australia in late 2012, Holland America Line said it will deepen its commitment to the market with the Vista-class Oosterdam and the opening of a dedicated sales, marketing and reservations office in Sydney. The deployment of the Oosterdam to the South Pacific for the 2012/13 season will boost HAL’s capacity in the region by almost 25%.

The news follows an earlier announcement marking the 2011/12 season as the first time the line will have two ships sailing a series of itineraries in the region simultaneously.

The 1,926-passenger Oosterdam will join Volendam, replacing the 1,432-passenger Zaandam in 2012/13.

Ten- to 25-day itineraries will be introduced in and around Australia and New Zealand, with details to come later this year.

HAL said it will work directly with Australian travel sellers, transitioning from a general sales agent arrangement with Travel the World.

The Holland America Line Australia organization will reside at the offices of sister brand Carnival Australia and will include an independent sales team as well as marketing, reservations and administrative support for agents.

The transition period is expected to be completed by December this year. All current contracts and groups will remain in effect.

‘Our relationship with Travel the World has been one of our longest and most successful GSA partnerships. Andrew Millmore, his family and staff have done a superlative job for us and for that we are extremely grateful,’ said HAL’s Rick Meadows, evp marketing, sales and guest programs.

Meadows called the establishment of HAL’s own office ‘a natural next step in our strategy to expand our premium brand internationally.’ He added: ‘We are inspired by the continued demand for cruising in Australia and are confident this model—similar to what we have in Europe—will be successful in supporting our growth [in Australia].’

[Allis154]

Fabulous news!

 

We booked Century for next year, but have to put that off by a year. Love Solstice class (mostly), and will diffently rebook as soon as the schedule is out!

[richsea]

IMO, Dan Hanrahan's remarks about the Century last month (he would like to see her leave the fleet ASAP) spoke volumes, so pulling her out of Australia is no surprise. Sadly, I think it's the beginning of the end for her.

 

When did he say this? Do you have a link?

[C-Dragons]

When did he say this? Do you have a link?

 

 

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/2011/02/why-celebrity-cruises-will-not.html

 

An excerpt from the article:

 

In a few weeks' time the 1997-built Celebrity Mercury is to be transferred to Germany's TUI Cruises, a joint venture operation part-owned by Celebrity's parent company Royal Caribbean. From May the 1,800-passenger ship will be sailing as Mein Schiff 2.

 

It was apparent that Hanrahan would be happy to see the 16-year-old Celebrity Century taken off his hands to become Mein Schiff 3, but it does not appear to be an option in the immediate future.

 

Later this year it will begin a season of cruises based in Australia, before returning to Alaska in summer 2012.

 

Hanrahan was quick to stress that the ship remains popular, has some of the line's best crew on board, and was still benefitting from investment in maintenance. But there are no plans to Solsticise the vessel and his pledge that it would be part of the Celebrity fleet "for the foreseeable future" hinted that he would welcome an approach from anyone with a fat cheque book prepared to take it off his hands.