Celebrity Solstice cruise from Perth to Sydney 21st February, 2014
The food and service was first class and the entertainment was also very good, with a mixture of modern and classical entertainers. The shows were also good there was an English comedian and a singer from the West End shows that did a couple of cabaret sessions. I can particularly recommend the speciality restaurants. We paid a supplement of $79US each to eat in all three speciality restaurants - Murano (superb), Tuscan Grill (Italian and steaks), East (Asian cuisine). All worth the extra supplement. We paid for the Classic Drinks package which we thought was excellent value.
Freemantle is a charming town and we had lunch at a quayside restaurant before boarding the ship. Our first port of call was Port Hedland in Western Australia. This is an iron ore mining town and had a feel of the outback with only a few shops in a small shopping centre a few cafes and bars. We did not do a tour as there was only one available visiting the iron ore mine.
Our next port was Bali in Indonesia, which is a beautiful island, if you get away from the bustling roads from the port of Benoa into Dempesar, the capital. Places of interest are the temples and rice fields and there are also some good beaches and excellent 5* hotels.
Darwin in Northern Territory was the next stop and this is a delightful small town with a tropical climate. We walked through the town and stopped on the way back at a harbour side café.
Next stop were the Whitsunday Islands. There were many excursions available including trips to Daydream Island, Hamilton Island and the Great Barrier Reef. We took an independent ferry to Daydream Island where we did a rainforest walk and had lunch.
Brisbane was the next port of call. This is a large city with a number of Victorian buildings. It seemed a prosperous city with good quality shops. There were a selection of tours from here including one to the Australia Zoo. We paid for a ship's transfer into the city as it is about 40-50 minutes’ drive from the port.
Next was Newcastle in New South Wales. Here we did a wine tour of the Hunter Valley in the morning and had a walk through the small town in the afternoon.
We finally docked at Sydney 17 days later and we did an Opera House and city tour, including a trip to Bondi Beach which was very interesting. We were dropped off at the airport for our flight home via Dubai to Manchester.
Celebrity is an excellent 5* product. The staff are very friendly and professional and we could not fault the product. The ship was spotlessly clean. The food in both the main restaurant and buffet restaurant was excellent and we particularly enjoyed the sushi served in the buffet restaurant from 5.30pm, a good finish to the day before getting ready for the evening meal.
I would recommend this particular itinerary to couples and singles but the average age was about 55+ although there were a few younger couples on-board.