Auckland to Sydney Stay and Cruise

Your journey begins tonight in Auckland.
Check into your 4-star hotel and spend your first evening exploring the city at your own pace. The Viaduct Harbour is just minutes from most central Auckland hotels — a lively stretch of waterfront bars and restaurants where the city comes alive on a warm October evening. Tomorrow, Celebrity Solstice awaits.

Time to board.
After breakfast, transfer to the terminal and embark Celebrity Solstice. Take time to explore the ship and find your favourite spots before she departs Auckland Harbour. The Sky Tower shrinks on the horizon as New Zealand’s coastline opens up ahead.

Your first full day at sea. Get to know Celebrity Solstice — book a spa treatment, settle into your favourite bar, and enjoy the award-winning dining as you sail south along the North Island coast towards Tauranga.

Known as the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga is located at the entrance to one of the largest natural harbors in New Zealand. You can take a ride on a bush jet boat, go white-water rafting on the Rangitaiki River, or dine on the freshest fish and chips you’ll ever taste, served al fresco. If you’re looking for a more exotic counter, travel to the Mount Mauganui Hot Salt Water Pools.

Napier is one of the world’s great art deco cities.
Rebuilt in just two years after a devastating 1931 earthquake, the entire city centre was redesigned in the fashionable Art Deco style of the era — and remarkably, much of it still stands. Stroll the beautifully preserved streets, join a guided art deco walk, then head into Hawke’s Bay wine country for some of New Zealand’s finest Syrah and Chardonnay. October is harvest season’s afterglow — the wineries are in excellent form.

Picton sits at the gateway to the Marlborough Sounds, one of New Zealand’s most breathtaking coastal wilderness areas, and is the launching point for the country’s most celebrated wine region.”

From the new to the old, Wellington offers a bit of everything. Locals are particularly proud of the National Museum of New Zealand – Te Papa Tongarewa. Loosely translated as “our place” from the native Maori tongue, the museum is one of the world’s largest and most progressive. A great way to explore the city is on the restored cable cars, which traverse the shopping district. And if you want to experience it all from above, take in the panoramic views from Mount Victoria.
October is a beautiful time to visit, the waterfront is buzzing, the botanic gardens above the cable car are in spring bloom and the evenings are long and warm.

Christchurch is a city reborn.
After the devastating 2011 earthquake, the people of this remarkable city rebuilt not just their streets but their entire identity. What has emerged is one of the most creative and energised urban environments in the Southern Hemisphere. Explore the Re:START container market, the stunning Cardboard Cathedral, the Te Papa Otakaro Avon River Precinct and the beautiful Botanic Gardens, all within easy walking distance of the port.

Dunedin is a city in New Zealand, at the head of Otago Harbour on the South Island’s southeast coast. It’s known for its Scottish and Maori heritage, Victorian and Edwardian architecture, and a large student population. Hiking and cycling trails crisscross the dramatic landscape of the adjoining Otago Peninsula, home to colonies of albatross, sea lions and rare yellow-eyed penguins.
October is one of the best months to visit, the Peninsula wildlife colonies are active, the hills are lush and green and the city’s celebrated café and craft beer scene is in full swing.

Today Celebrity Solstice enters Fiordland and the world changes.
The ship glides through Dusky Sound, the largest and most complex of the fjords, where steep waterfalls have carved the cliffs over centuries. Then comes Doubtful Sound with its extraordinary dual-layered freshwater and saltwater ecosystem, home to fur seals and two species of penguin. The day’s centrepiece is Milford Sound itself, a cathedral of rock and water so dramatic that even the ship feels small. Keep watch for dolphins, seal colonies and the birds wheeling on the thermals above. Stay on deck. You will not want to miss a moment of this.

Sydney Harbour, the finest arrival in the world.
As Celebrity Solstice passes through the Heads and into Sydney Harbour, take a final moment on deck. The Opera House, the Bridge, the ferry wakes and the morning light on the sandstone headlands — it is one of the great sights in travel, and the perfect way to end a voyage through some of the most beautiful places on earth.