| Solstice sails into Sydney

CELEBRITY Solstice arrived in Sydney Harbour yesterday for the first time since the vessel’s upgrades (CW 04 Mar).

The 317m ship set sail from Marina Bay in Singapore on a 14-day trip to Sydney, and is now embarking on a 16-night voyage to Honolulu, visiting New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa.

She is set to return to Sydney in Oct as part of her 110-night Grand Voyage from Alaska to Asia (CW 13 Dec 2024), calling at 55 destinations across 15 countries.

Speaking with CW, Celebrity’s vice president and managing director for Australia and APAC Tim Jones said the reason that Celebrity Solstice, along with Celebrity’s wider fleet, keeps coming back Down Under is due to Australians’ love of the line.

“Solstice was here back in 2012, so it was a long love affair with the Celebrity brand with Australian markets and audience,” he said.

“In Q4 this year, we’ll have two ships here at the same period of time, with Solstice operating in Australia and New Zealand at the same time as Edge.”

With almost 3,000 guests on board, Celebrity Solstice has returned with an abundance of new dining, entertainment and social spaces such as the Boulevarde Lounge & Bar, the upgraded Parlor sports bar, the Italian Trattoria Rossa, Fine Cut Steakhouse and the new Sunset Park on the top deck.

Celebrity Solstice has also undergone a major revamp of her staterooms, with an extra 54 rooms added, along with four new categories.

Jones said the new offerings, which are tailored to the cruise line’s most loyal travellers, have had a “sensational” reception in their first three sailings.

“Solstice has got this beautiful mix of new things, new experiences for people to do, but also their firm favourites from when they cruised on Solstice or Edge the last time.”

Jones also informed CW that Celebrity Cruises is still looking for a replacement for former director of sales Trevor Thwaites (CW 17 Mar). JB