Photo Review of Solstice November 11, 2017 New Zealand & Australia Cruise

[cruise kitty]

Wellington, cont.

 

Botanical Gardens:

 

 

 

The Old Bolton Cemetery

(I've got a thing for old Cemeteries)

 

 

 

 

[cruise kitty]

Wellington, cont.

 

We walked down the the government house area, did a little walking tour out of our guidebook, & headed down towards the water after.

 

the famous "Beehive"

 

 

Parliament house:

 

 

Time for a snack:

 

 

From where we ate, we could see the Te Papa museum, but that would have to wait for another trip. We bought some wine to take on board, & then headed to the shuttle bus.

 

We ate in Sushi on 5 that night, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. Headed down to the Martini Bar, & then finished up in Cellar Masters where lovely Maria had my beer waiting & Steve's favorite glass of wine. End to another wonderful day, we'd getting up early again for Akaroa, where we had exciting plans for a sailing trip!

[Wansbrough]

I'm enjoying reading and seeing some of the places we visited last February. Nice to hear Jim Archer served you well. He is a really lovely chap (and fellow cruiser).

You were much luckier with the weather in Auckland, it poured when we were there.

[cruise kitty]

I'm enjoying reading and seeing some of the places we visited last February. Nice to hear Jim Archer served you well. He is a really lovely chap (and fellow cruiser).

You were much luckier with the weather in Auckland, it poured when we were there.

 

Thanks, your posts really helped me in planning! & Jim Archer was fantastic, it really helps that he cruises on Celebrity also & understands the importance of making the most of a port day.

[cruise kitty]

Day 12, Akaroa, tendered.

 

Akaroa is an absolutely charming little village situated in a long, protected harbor. It was home to a large French settlement. & many of the streets still have french names.

 

We were up & at um early as we wanted to get on one of the first tenders. We had a 10:30 booking with Akaroa Sailing Cruises http://www.aclasssailing.co.nz & we wanted to have time to explore the towns before the masses from the ship descended on this lovely little village. We needn't have worried, there were dozens & dozens of buses lined up, ready to whisk most of the passengers away to Christchurch, which seemed to be the biggest draw for most people.

 

In his morning greeting the captain was joking that he planned to drive one of the tenders & do donuts, funny man, Captain Tasos!

 

Well imagine my surprise when our tender driver turned out to be none but the Captain! & yes, he spun us in donuts, what fun!

 

Here's me with a ridiculous grin on my face when I realized who was manning our tender (you can see the captain behind me)

 

 

We walked into the little town, which looks like it stepped out of a fairy tale or Norman Rockwell's picture, gorgeous, gorgeous little homes, churches, & little shops & cafes.

 

 

 

 

We followed a few little hiking trails above the town, & visited a little shop where I bought the cutest little poncho, then headed back to the dock area to board our sailing boat.

 

 

headed out, here's the ship:

 

[cruise kitty]

Akaroa, cont.

 

Our hopes were to see the rare Hector's Dolphins, & penguins... the penguins never appeared as apparently it's nesting season, but the dolphins did not disappoint, & being that there was room on the boat for everyone to be at a rail, we all got a nice, close encounter! What a glorious, exhilarating experience!

 

 

 

 

 

Fur seals:

 

 

Really large bird, sorry can't remember the name:

 

[cruise kitty]

Akaroa, cont.

 

After the sailing we were actually pretty cold & hangry, so we headed back into town for some lunch, then we just walked & walked till we were ready to head back to the ship for a swim & jacuzzi.

 

Nothing like a beer with a view:

 

 

 

 

 

[felicityd]

Following along! We are doing NZ on the Solstice next year. Can't wait!

[Beejay4016]

I'm with you on how charming Akaroa is. We visited there last year - oops, no, in 2016 - while on a HAL cruise and just loved it. I think we ate lunch in the same pub.

[Keith1010]

Your photos have been stunning.

 

Keith

[Iamthesea]

cruise kitty - Could you give some more information on the tendering process? With the ship arriving at 7:00am, what time did you get off? What time were the tender tickets available, and where did you pick them up? Was there a line forming when you got off the ship? Thank you!

[cruise kitty]

Following along! We are doing NZ on the Solstice next year. Can't wait!

 

You're in for an amazing trip!

[cruise kitty]

I'm with you on how charming Akaroa is. We visited there last year - oops, no, in 2016 - while on a HAL cruise and just loved it. I think we ate lunch in the same pub.

 

Yes, we loved Akaroa, another port we would have happily overnighted in.

[cruise kitty]

Your photos have been stunning.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith! :)

[portcbob]

Thanks for the reply, Cruise Kitty.

Just under a weeks time now and we will be on the Solstice heading to NZ.

By the way, your photos are awesome.

 

Thankyou, Cheers Bob.:)

[cruise kitty]

cruise kitty - Could you give some more information on the tendering process? With the ship arriving at 7:00am, what time did you get off? What time were the tender tickets available, and where did you pick them up? Was there a line forming when you got off the ship? Thank you!

 

Hi, they actually changed up the procedures a bit, if you're elite & above, you used to get priority tender tickets in your cabin the night before, on this cruise, we met up with the Captains Club hostess & she escorted us down each day, even on docked days, which was very nice. She would walk us up straight to security before the gangway.

 

I believe suites get the same benefit, except the Michael's Club host escorts them.

 

So, long story short, we were always off as soon as they allowed, we were often on the very first tender along with lots of the crew which was nice for getting good directions & tips on where to eat.

 

For everyone else, there was a tender ticket system, they would announce the time & place to pick up tickets, & you would line up to pick up tickets & again when your tender number was called.

 

they did announce that only one person from each party needed to pick up tickets, so I'm sure that speeded up things.

[cruise kitty]

Day 13, Dunedin, docked

 

We awoke to overcast skies, & the sound of rain on the balcony. Fine by us, if we wanted day after day of blue skies & perfect weather we'd stay home lol (Los Angeles)

Actually the weather did change our plans a bit, if it had been fair we were planning on making our way to the Tunnel Beach & Botanical Gardens, instead we decided to take it a bit easy, two weeks of non stop go, go, go were starting to wear on us.

 

We were escorted to the gangway by Ms. Rose again, who had informed us that we'd have to pay (pay, what's that!?) $20 for Celebrity's shuttle bus. Fine by us, this was not an easy walk to Dunedin, it was a good 20 if not 25 minute ride on the bus & it was pouring rain by now. Glad we were up early & among the first off the ship because as we pulled away in the bus, we could see huge lines forming. Nice scenery along the way, pretty shoreline & little towns alongside.

 

Once we reached Dunedin, we were greeted by many helpful people with maps & directions, we headed to the nearby I-Site. I might not have mentioned these before, but each larger port had one, you can book all your last minute tours here, get directions, info, free maps, really quite nice.

 

We decided to book the Speights Brewery tour for mid day... glad we did as it sold out within a couple of hours.

 

Now we set out to walk in the rain, which actually had turned to a mild sprinkle. We knew we had a few 'must sees' such as the Cathedral, the train station, the writer's walk, etc. We also planned to do some very light shopping.. this was our last NZ port, & we had amassed a great deal of NZD, with the good exchange rate of USD I decided to buy something for our next trip, which will be very cold weather.

 

We were dropped off right in the center of the Octagon, & were pretty much surrounded by sights to see. Everything, the the Cathedral, Train Station, the Museum, Speights, Cadbury World, is easy walking distance. I honestly did not take that many photos this day, due to the rain, so here's a few random shots:

 

view from our balcony:

 

 

Lovely little shop along our walk:

 

 

The train station, (that's me, bundled up)

 

 

 

Inside the station:

 

[cruise kitty]

Dunedin, day 13 cont.

 

 

 

Steve, enjoying hot chocolate, at Cadbury World, & trying to thaw out, we didn't take a tour, but there's a little cafe & gift shop to visit, amazing hot chocolate there:

 

 

 

Be prepared to walk up hills:

 

[cruise kitty]

Dunedin, cont.

 

our tour of Speights was set for 1:00, so we headed over there. Interestingly, the brewery is built over its own water source, & that is made available free to the public, here's the water tap, & we did see people pull up with large water jugs to fill & take home.

 

 

 

Inside the brewery, these are supposed to be the paw prints of the owners cat, who walked too soon on fresh cement:

 

 

 

Fun, & interesting tour! & basically, all the beer you want to drink after, included:

 

 

We bought a few souvenirs here, some nice coasters, & an assortment of beers (in bottles ) for our son in law, we managed to carry these on board & get them safely home to Los Angeles several weeks later, un broken!

 

[cruise kitty]

Dunedin, cont.

 

Catherdral:

 

 

Along the writer's walk:

 

 

That bunny is relentless, lol

 

 

The sun came out, & we did some more walking, & we visited a shop similar to our REI stores at home, we spent some of the last of our NZD there, I bought a nice super lightweight water proof vest with wool lining, perfect for our next trip.

 

Queen Victoria:

 

 

After a quick stop to buy some wine (we had 3 consecutive sea days coming up) we headed to the shuttle bus & rebounded the ship. Changed into swim suits & headed to the pool deck, there was a band getting ready to play to celebrate the beginning of our long journey across the Tasman sea, with a stop along the way to visit the Sounds. It was a very festive mood that night, I believe we ate in Tuscan again, which had been consistently excellent!

 

We headed to the Casino, hoping spend (& win back) some of our on board credit, but it was closed...& would be the next night also.

 

A view of lumber on the dock, ready to be shipped to China:

 

 

Land's end, as we exit the harbour, (actually we'd be hugging the coast line, which is why the casino was closed)

 

 

After dinner we decided to hang out at the Sunset Bar for a bit. It was cold & windy, but being that it basically stayed light until around 10:30 at night, it was easy to do. Afterwards, we stopped in Cellar Masters to chat with Maria, & have our wine & beer.

 

Tomorrow, we would be cruising the Sounds, an absolute highlight of this trip, & an experience I'll never forget !

[Lastdance]

Great review...we actually hiked the Milford Tract to the one of the sounds; best hike of my career. Milford Sound was at the end of the hike...I cannot wait to cruise it.

 

Thanks for posting...we did all of South Island...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Iamthesea]

Hi, they actually changed up the procedures a bit, if you're elite & above, you used to get priority tender tickets in your cabin the night before, on this cruise, we met up with the Captains Club hostess & she escorted us down each day, even on docked days, which was very nice. She would walk us up straight to security before the gangway.

 

I believe suites get the same benefit, except the Michael's Club host escorts them.

 

So, long story short, we were always off as soon as they allowed, we were often on the very first tender along with lots of the crew which was nice for getting good directions & tips on where to eat.

 

For everyone else, there was a tender ticket system, they would announce the time & place to pick up tickets, & you would line up to pick up tickets & again when your tender number was called.

 

they did announce that only one person from each party needed to pick up tickets, so I'm sure that speeded up things.

 

Thanks! We have a private tour set up for a group of 6. One of the couples is not an Elite or in a Suite. I was hoping to get some information about the tinder ticket procedures for them...particularly the times to line up. If they could get their tickets early, then they could get off about the same time that the rest of us do. ;)

[cruise kitty]

Thanks! We have a private tour set up for a group of 6. One of the couples is not an Elite or in a Suite. I was hoping to get some information about the tinder ticket procedures for them...particularly the times to line up. If they could get their tickets early, then they could get off about the same time that the rest of us do. ;)

 

You're allowed to have tag alongs ;)

 

One of the couples in our group for Tauranga was not elite, but it was no problem including them when we were escorted off. Last year in Livorno port same thing, a member of our private tour group was in a suite, (we were definitely not in a suite :)) & the Michaels Club host escorted all of us down.

[late2cruisin]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but just a quick FYI- when we did this cruise a few years ago on Solstice, we found there was a city bus right around the corner from where the ship docks that went into Dunedin and cost only a few dollars. (Got this info from the library, which BTW has free wifi :) )

[Iamthesea]

That's a great tip! :)

 

You're allowed to have tag alongs ;)

 

One of the couples in our group for Tauranga was not elite, but it was no problem including them when we were escorted off. Last year in Livorno port same thing, a member of our private tour group was in a suite, (we were definitely not in a suite :)) & the Michaels Club host escorted all of us down.

 

Thumbs up! I'll pass along the good news. :)

 

So enjoying this review!