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Inspired by the many others............


Wansbrough
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Its not often you get something for nothing but occasionally you get lucky and this is just happens to be one of those occasions. Let me explain a little to put you in the picture, I have been a member of another cruise forum since 27th October 2009 and have been a regular visitor over the years... http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2016/09/msc-splendida-cruise-preamble/

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​I thought a few quick lines about our journey to the airport would make an excellent start so here goes with a quick diary of our day. Because our start and finish points are not the same, the official start point being Heathrow Airport and finish being the port of Southampton a l... http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2016/09/msc-splendida-postcard-1-the-journey-to-heathrow/

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​An early morning alarm call at 4:00 started our day. From there it was just a case of getting up and checking out before making the short walk to the terminal. By 5:20 we had cleared security and were sitting in Giraffe, our favoured breakfast venue. The flight was uneventful and we a... http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2016/09/msc-splendida-postcard-2-hamburg-embarkation/

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​The groups first proper get together took place in the Purple Jazz Lounge at 7:00 last night and although I didn’t get to actually speak to everyone I can certainly now recognise them. It was a nice little social event organised by our hosts and the drinks were very plentiful and well r... http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2016/09/msc-splendida-postcard-3-a-sea-day/

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​A few of the group met up at 7:00 in the Purple Jazz Lounge prior to giving the show a go last night. At the start of which we were introduced to all the key officers along with the Captain which seemed to take forever as our cruise director did it in every conceivable language known to m... http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2016/09/msc-splendida-postcard-4-le-harve-france/

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Our last night onboard was without a doubt the best out of the 3 for us, after meeting up at the usual rendezvous point 9 of us set off at 7:15 to go and dine in the Yacht Club Restaurant. It was also White Evening onboard and it was great to see everyone making the effort. What improved the... http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2016/09/msc-splendida-postcard-5-southampton-disembarking/

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  • 5 months later...

For a number of years I have been very intrigued by a particular cruise on Celebrity Solstice that has circumnavigated Australia. It’s a much longer itinerary than we have ever done and to be honest we have never really been in the position to take the time off work required to take a cruise of... http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-b2b2b-oceania-cruise-preamble//

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​So our amazing journey has begun, after months of planning and waiting we are finally on the move. Our day started with us being picked up by step daughter and son in law at 8:30 to take us to Heathrow’s Terminal 2. Being a Sunday morning the traffic wasn’t too busy and we... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-1-the-1st-leg-heathrow-to-lax/

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​I had no trouble getting to sleep last night, it was staying asleep that was the problem. We went to bed around our normal time but I was wide awake at 3:00 so ended up filling the time doing a bit of local research on my tablet. The main thing on my mind at that time being breakfast. We... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-2-stopover-at-redondo-beach-california/

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​I was still awake at 3:00 but was able to go back to sleep for another couple of hours so things are improving. With a later start we arrived at Polly’s just after 9:00 and I treated myself to the same omelette as yesterday which was equally as good. The only thing different today... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-3-rondondo-beach-to-lax/

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​We were late leaving LA by 35 minutes due to having to wait for some non attendees. When we eventually did leave it was minus a few of them but all was not lost as we then made the time up on the flight and arrived 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. We got a big surprise with the weather... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-4-pre-cruise-in-auckland/

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​Did the rain stop? Not in the slightest so we battened down the hatches and tried to catch up with some sleep in a bed as opposed to an economy plane seat. We must have needed it because we both slept really well. Both awake at around four so just pottered about with a bit of re-ironing,... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-5-auckland-embarking/

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First a quick resume of last night’s first encounter in the dining room, we are table 150 which is set for 12 however last night only saw 6 spots occupied. Currently we have a couple from Utah and a Scottish couple now living in Australia. We seemed lost on such a big table but all managed... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-6-tauranga-new-zealand/

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I need to learn to count, there are actually 10 place settings at our table and not 12 as previously reported. Two more spaces filled last night by sisters from somewhere in the USA, they did say but I have to confess it didn’t stick so I will ask again tonight. I am finding we are needing... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-7-a-sea-day/

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Last night was Evening Chic night and from what I saw just about everybody made some sort of effort. Quite a mixture of styles but yet you were still aware it was a more dressier evening. We did stick our heads in on the production show which was called Broken Strings but didn’t stay... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-8-napier-new-zealand/

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Yesterday was a typical example of what I am now discovering with regards to doing this blog, the more you have to show and tell the less time you have to do it. When there is little to tell such as a sea day you have lots of time. Very frustrating indeed. We awoke to an amazing sunrise... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-9-wellington-new-zealand/

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Today was our 3 consecutive port in a row and the first and only tender operation on this cruise. So for the third day on the trot it was an early start so we could get breakfast before the masses and then be one of the first ashore. The sail into the channel where we dropped anchor was... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-10-akoroa-new-zealand/

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Our departure from Akaroa was delayed last night by an accident which involved some passengers returning to the ship. I’m not sure what actually happened but the captain did make an announcement over the tannoy to explain why we had not departed. He later revealed that one of the Celebrity... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-11-dunedin-new-zealand/

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This morning we woke around 7:30 to clear skies and bright sunshine. It was the first of three sea days but one with a little bit of a difference in that it wasn’t all spent on the open sea. At around 9:00 we started the sail in to Dusky Sound which was the first of three special... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-12-a-sea-day-cruising-the-sounds/

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Last night’s dinner with the officer’s in the Tuscan Grille was a really lovely evening. Along with the two officers attending we were joined by two other British couples and it was a really relaxed atmosphere with good wine flowing and some really tasty food. It was a real privilege... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-13-a-tasman-sea-day/

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So with the clocks going back another hour last night we had some more time adjusting to cope with. I’m still waking up very early and then feeling very tired come 10:00 in the evening and would love to try and rectify that and hopefully over the next week or so things will fall into... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-14-a-tasman-sea-day/

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We have now crossed what Australian’s and Kiwi’s refer to as The Ditch and are now in Australian territory for a few days. Our first stop being Hobart, Tasmania and today we had decided a little bit of adventure was in order. We docked at just before 8:00 and were given... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-15-hobart-tasmania/

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Nothing notable to mention about last night apart from we both felt really tired after the day’s activities so retired to bed around 10:00 to catch up on some sleep. I was awake about 6:00 this morning which I consider an improvement and perhaps a sign that my body clock is at last... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-16-a-sea-day/

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It’s a very strange feeling being onboard the night before 90% of the passengers are going to be disembarking the next day. On one hand you feel quite smug then on the other sad that many of your new found friends will be leaving.So at just before 6:00 this morning we eased our way into... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/02/celebrity-solstice-postcard-17-sydney-australia-end-of-cruise-one/

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This morning we disembarked the ship at approx 8:30 which felt really strange with just about everyone else lugging their cases to waiting buses and taxis. It had been pouring down prior to us getting off but as soon as we hit dry land the rain eased off and eventually stopped all... This excerpt has been cross posted from my Wordpress Blog. Should you wish to view the full post in its original format please follow this link. http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2017/03/celebrity-solstice-postcard-18-sydney-australia/

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