Sydney to Singapore -- some great, some not so great

Celebrity Solstice Cruise Review to South Pacific

MNMutt

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 68

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

14 Night Australian Coast & Bali (Sydney To Singapore)

Sail date: October 08, 2016

Ship: Celebrity Solstice

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9370

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

It was an interesting itinerary, but 3 tender ports, which especially @ Bali, took forever. Therefore very ltd time in Bali which was disappointing. The two stops for the Great Barrier Reef were enjoyed by my husband snorkeling. Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth. The cabin steward was good, the ship was in pretty good shape considering it went into drydock when we arrived in Singapore.

The Main Dining Room suffers from either bland food or disjointed service, or on some nights, both. The specialty restaurants were great, esp Murano. Hefty upcharge, but on a long cruise it felt necessary. The shows were blah, the cruise director seemed a bit odd and some of his jokes seemed tasteless.

Had a wonderful massage therapist (Nun) who was fabulous. Usually the Canyon Ranch Spa is very good and it was really great on this cruise.

This is 5th Celebrity cruise in 18 months, and the cutting corners seems apparent, especially in the MDR. It was a nice cruise, but would have been much better if the tender ports were longer time to be off-ship and if the dining room would bring up the food and service qualities.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

Cabin was nice, slightly oversized balcony with a wall on one side. Bed close to the balcony, which I much prefer vs. the bed closest to the door. The steward kept it immaculate. As it is the last cabin before the back end of ship, it is a long walk (if that is a concern) from the elevators. The cabin lighting and TV and a few other small things were better on Solstice vs. Silhouette.

Ship tip

Room service for b'fast was a good way to limit eating at buffet more than necessary. Buffet was fine, but often crowded;desserts looked beautiful, but they tasted blah. Which helped to keep the calorie count down.On long cruise, strike a deal for 2-3 meals @specialty restaurants, breaks monotony

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Sydney, Australia

5 out of 5

beautiful, clean city. Opera House is stunning inside and out.

Thumbs Up 1

Brisbane, Australia

5 out of 5

Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia

3 out of 5

Whitsundays was beautiful, but murky water for snorkeling. Time would have been better spent going to the reef

Thumbs Up 0

Cairns, Australia

5 out of 5

beautiful day at reef The ship's tours go right from ship onto catamaran and no tendering.

Thumbs Up 1

Darwin, Australia

1 out of 5

Litchfield NP is 2.5 hrs each way and is not worth the long day.

Thumbs Up 0

Benoa, Bali, Indonesia

3 out of 5

Way too short of time due to long ordeal to tender. A lot of traffic, so to be cautious you can't get too far away in the limited time you have.

Thumbs Up 1

2 Comments

chrissy453 8 years ago

We have just done a back to back cruise Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. the three tender experiences in Australia were terrible. queuing for an hour to collect tickets for the tender then a two hour wait to be called. I think we had three hours ashore at one destination. never experienced anything like this on other cruise ships. the tendering situation the second cruise to nz under a new captain was perfect. the ship and staff I couldn't fault.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

carolebliermsncom 8 years ago

I couldn't disagree more. I was also on this cruise, back to back with one from Honolulu. Service was beyond outstanding and most of the shows great. Went from that to the Equinox- doesn't even compare. Very disappointed in the Equinox

Thumbs Up 2

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Great cruise

Australia and Bali