Tall trees and cut grass on the high seas
More than 2,500 people are currently circumnavigating Australia with a football field size patch of grass and a 20-foot tall tree. Kate Ferguson reports.
The view as you step off the ship in Fremantle. Photographer: Kate Ferguson
Luxury cruise ship the Celebrity Solstice docked into Fremantle this week for a day-visit on its cruise along the Western Australian coast.
“The Australian circumnavigation is a bucket list cruise for a lot of people,” said Hotel Director John-Paul Lamb on board the Solstice on Wednesday.
“We just finished the journey from Auckland to Fremantle… there are guests on board from all over the world.”
The German built, seven year old, 122,000 tonne cruise ship is the largest of the five Solstice class ships that make up Celebrity’s fleet of ten ships.
A picnic and some sea gazing from the tenth floor. Photographer: Kate Ferguson
A unique feature of Celebrity cruises is a half-acre live lawn on the tenth story of their ships, which plays host to lawn bowls, picnics and sea gazing.
Even the lawn needs some down time. Photographer: Kate Ferguson
“We actually have lawn keepers on board. That’s their full-time job. It’s exclusive to all five ships in the Solstice Class,” he said.
There are ten restaurants on board the Celebrity Solstice. Photographer: Kate Ferguson
Built for luxury, the ship’s main focus is fine dining and relaxation, with ten restaurants, a gym, a hairdresser and a wide variety of spa treatments.
Inside the exclusive spa for the AquaClass stateroom guests. Photographer: Kate Ferguson
Also on board is the Molecular bar, with drinks designed by Junior Merino, New York’s ‘Liquid Chef’, who creates cocktails with liquid nitrogen, dry ice, and liquid smoke.
“Our marketing slogan is ‘modern luxury’ and that’s really how these ships have been designed and that carries on to the guests that we are trying to attract,” he said.
900 of the ship’s guests are staying on board for the remaining 19-day circumnavigation, one of the longest cruises in the ship’s itinerary, which includes a day trip to Bali.
The next stop is Port Hedland on Sunday the 1st of March. From there the Solstice will cruise to Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane and Newcastle before arriving in Sydney on Saturday March 14th.
See the video tour of the Celebrity Solstice at the top of this page.
