SusieV

They seem to have cut back quite a bit on photography, but the package is a good value especially if you get an Elite discount (40% off) but you have to buy onboard to get that.

7 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

Thanks for the review. We will be on in December for the eight night itinerary. Easy drive for us though. We just returned home last week from two nights at Disneyland and the Navigator OTS. Both of us came home sick from the cruise.Tested negative two days in a row but had the exact same symptoms that we had in July when we had Covid. Very mild. I look at it as part of everyday life now. We just stay vaxed and boosted.
 

Also, interesting that we had the same water temp issue on the NV. The water was either super cold or scalding hot and water was spraying all over the place. It was running out of the tub and soaked the floor. While showering, we could hear a “clunk” sound behind the wall and then came the scalding water. They replaced the entire faucet apparatus but it did not help. I’m sure whoever cruised after us had to deal with the issue. 
 

Glad that you had an overall nice time. We love the S class. One of our favorite ships and X is our favorite cruise line. 

It's been over two weeks since we returned home and we are still experiencing lingering covid effects. Extreme fatigue and the cough is still present. We are both relatively young so it's a little scary to think this is what we experience after vaccine + booster. Very grateful for those or this could be much worse.

17 hours ago, SLOTheta said:

Thanks @SusieV for this great post. I am going on my first celebrity cruise and will be on the Solstice for the 7 Night Mexican Riviera Cruise out of LA on 11/19. Which nights were the “Chic Nights” ? Did you eat in the MDR during these nights? Was the food any better on chic nights, than other nights in the MDR? We typically like to dress up for Holland America’s “gala nights” did people dress better on these nights? 
 

We also wanted to try Murano, did you eat there? Any recommendations for a first time Celebrity Cruiser? 
 

We are gamblers, did you check out the casino much? How was it? 
 

We have have a room on the 7th deck, mid ship, that seems pretty ideal. We were thinking of trying a MoveUp bid to Aqua, Retreat is sold out. Do you think it’s worth the risk? 
 

Thank you! 

Hi, I think I covered some of what you said? We did eat at Murano twice. There was a service issue that was resolved to our satisfaction. The food was excellent both times.

The main dining room was generally very good. Formal nights were night 2 and night 6. We dressed up and I didn't notice anyone glaringly dressed down, but it's not like it was 10 or 20 years ago. You should be able to see the menus in your Celebrity app.

Yes, I gambled in the casino, what did you want to know about it?

Personally I am not a fan of Aqua Class. Blu was underwhelming the time I tried it so now I prefer regular balcony + specialty dining. But of course, your mileage may vary.

They come in various denominations. I didn't see $1, but I didn't ask. I was given $25 and $5 denominations at different times.

They are clearly marked "promotional". You will have no trouble telling them apart from regular chips.

You don't have tp play them all at once. You can always put them in your pocket and come back later. They must be played before the end of the cruise though.

I played mine at blackjack and it was much easier to cycle them then I thought. Even when I was winning or holding around even, it's still win a hand, lose a hand, so the promo chips get replaced quickly.

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I also read recently that recently have also discontinued afternoon tea in OVC with the finger sandwiches,  scones and sweets.     I however can not personally confirm as we went to Retreat instead.

Can confirm this was not available on Solstice last month. Also disappointed.

2 hours ago, drakes2 said:

I just go there for cheese and crackers to enjoy on balcony 

That's why I was so disappointed they had only the same 4 cheeses every day and maybe 1-2 sliced cold meats. No fancy cheeses like they used to, just monterey jack, edam, swiss, and gouda.

5 hours ago, bama4cruisin said:

Last year on the Apex the OVC was amazing!  Absolutely no evidence of cutbacks at that time.  That is our only experience post-shutdown, but we’ll see again in 2 weeks when we board Beyond.

I haven't tried Edge class yet but I can tell you that the S class has gone downhill from the last time I sailed in 2017 (before Solstice last month). Fewer options and cheaper than in the past, fewer special stations, shorter hours, and reduced offerings. I was not impressed at all.

MDR was great. Oceanview was middling at best.

Honestly? I'm not a big fan of the Oceanview Cafe and the cutbacks, so I can't imagine what I'd think of Carnival!

15 hours ago, lauraapp said:

Do you know what time shows started in theater?

Generally they were at 7pm and 9pm. There were a few afternoon shows and a couple late night ones as well at 10pm.

I was in the casino quite a bit on my recent Solstice cruise, but I came home up a few dollars. I hope I start getting some offers like this!!

We booked two open bookings onboard, so I wouldn't say the sparkle is off for us! Can't wait to go aboard again (although preferably when covid has settled down a bit more now that there's basically no requirements whatsoever).

We were told there are no paper Attention to Detail cards on Solstice. They had us write it using the Free links on the login.com page, the Talk To Us or something like that.

We did get a reply from the hotel director to our praise of the World Class Bar staff and the bartenders told us they were getting a free steak dinner at Tuscan Grille for our comments. 

We also tipped using OBC at Guest Relations, and they asked us for the staff members' names and we provided all the info. I hope they got those tips.

On 10/7/2022 at 6:32 PM, cruzzzinma said:

I would say UBER and Taxis were a major challenge for us. We disembarked at about 9:15 and got outside quickly. It was 10:30 before we were in an Uber and driving away. .I did order an Uber XL to accommodate luggage and the rollator from #@$!!.

 

Agree with Northern Aurora, immigration was a breeze.

I'm surprised- we didn't wait longer than 10-15 minutes in the taxi line and we were able to get a van that held all six of us plus our luggage. That driver got a large tip for managing to cram all our bags in his vehicle rather than insisting we split into two taxis!

They did have a desk and someone with a clipboard asking everyone what they needed in terms of taxis.

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

@SusieV do you recall what time passengers were able to disembark when you returned to Cali?  Further, can you speak to how long it took to get through customs?  Trying to figure out if we could make a 10 AM flight out of LAX if we were among the first to leave the ship.

I would strongly advise against a 10am flight even if you're not international. We had number 5 and didn't get called until after 8am, and it's about a half hour drive at best to LAX. Customs was pretty quick though especially if you get a porter so you go to the front of the line. I didn't pass facial recognition (perhaps because non-US?) but they just wanted to see our passports and that was it.

I'd go with 11am or later unless you plan to walk off with your own luggage, and the earliest time for that was 7:30am.

You can use OBC.

We had a regular cabin and a CC cabin on Solstice. I can tell you that the CC robes were considerably larger than the standard ones. I was surprised, to be honest.

20 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

Thanks! Do you recall where in PV it dropped off? I didn't venture much beyond the immediate port area on my last stop, so I'm not sure where 'downtown shopping' would be located. 🙂

I'm sorry I can't really describe it but it wasn't too far. I was happy with the port area and Walmart but it was also 38C plus humidity that day so I didn't go out for long.

1 minute ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

Do you happen to recall where specifically the shuttle picked up and dropped off? Did it require pre-booking?

 

Did you partake of any spa treatments while aboard? I'm wondering if the spa is fully restaffed or if appointments are hard to come by.

 

Thanks!

The shuttle picked up right where you got off the ship, you can't miss it. It did not require prebooking.

There were a lot of discounts offered to use the spa during the trip, so I suspect they are up to normal staffing levels and not getting normal levels of booking. I was able to call and make an appointment to get makeup done on formal night the day before with no issues. Several times they stuck $50 coupons in our mailbox or offered multi service packages at very reasonable prices. I don't think you'll have trouble getting bookings. I can tell you that many of the spa activities in the Daily Planner like the 5 Minute Makeover had literally 1-2 attendees. It was kind of crazy.

15 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I recall post previously where individuals stated they were unable to access Cruise Critic with the basic internet.  I've never had basic, always premium, so I cannot say from personal experience.  

 

I believe I have also read that web browsing is very slow on basic but maybe someone with direct experience can comment. 

 

Just got off Solstice.  I could not access Cruise Critic on the basic internet. Anything on the web was too slow. I could use Facebook and facebook messenger and that's about it. Celebrity is definitely doing the throttling because if you used a VPN, more of the web functioned correctly.

My son had a device with premium internet that we upgraded so he could use discord and play games with his friends (it's his vacation too), and that moved better but it definitely still brought complaints from him lol.

15 minutes ago, hcat said:

Nice review....good details.  We did a similar itin years ago..it was  lots of fun but was during a period of safety  cautions in some of the ports. 

 

Did you feel safe in ports, esp where you went for local food?

How were the bands on board?

There were warnings about not venturing out of the tourist area in Ensenada except on a tour. Since you had to take a bus elsewhere to shop, this contributed to our decision to skip that port. Puerta Vallarta we felt no safety issues. There was a port shopping area with even a massage tent set up, and a free Celebrity shuttle to downtown. In Cabo we walked about 40 min and did not feel unsafe. Maybe a bit lost lol we had to keep asking people for directions as we got closer.

We enjoyed the live music, except for the parts of the ship where music competed. We like to sit at the World Class bar, so if there was music playing in the Grand Foyer it would compete with both the music from the shops and the music from the bar itself. I would say generally volume was a minor issue but that's personal preference.

But as for quality? No complaints. We enjoyed sitting on the pool deck and listening to the band more than once.

7 hours ago, sbcs5390 said:

Thank you so much for your very detailed review! I'm on 10/15 and 10/22. Will probably go in and cancel my pre-purchased digital photo packages. You didn't happen to notice how much they were charging for the photo book add-on did you? The CC benefit is worded "40% discount on any digital or print photo package at the Photo Gallery" so I'd assume it doesn't apply to the book. Also, are they still doing prints for $5 ea. if you already bought digital? They did that when I was on Silhouette and my mom might like that although I'd prefer to just get printed at home. 

I didn't check into the book, but I got an email from the Captain's Club to get a free book printed so that's why I didn't check into it further.

I saw a package of 10 prints for $100; I didn't notice any for $5 each. With the Captain's Club discount that's pretty close though.

Definitely though don't prepay for the package if you're Elite. It was a hassle to get it refunded and charged correctly.

11 hours ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

 

Yes, me too! Fingers crossed. There were aspects of the cruise I enjoyed, and others I did not. My point was that our lists of pros and cons were similar. 

 

To make an analogy: imagine two diners eat a 4 course meal at a Michelin starred restaurant and find a hair in their food. One might pull out the hair, continue on, and enjoy the meal and experience. The other might immediately stop eating, say they were disappointed with the experience and head home early. The experience is the same, both diners had a meal served with a hair, but their reactions and responses differed. It's as if Solstice served us both a meal with a hair. You said "ship happens" and moved on, while I expected more from Celebrity when paying thousands of dollars for a week-long cruise.

 

I hope the rest in your party remain Covid free.

Once again I beg to differ with your analogy, but wish you happiness in future cruising. I'd rather stick with my own experiences on my review post.

7 hours ago, lexmiller said:

Was there mandatory back to back testing?  Curious, since the second cruise did not require passengers to be tested to board - following that logic, then the back to back passengers should not have had to test since the new passengers didn't have to test......

Thank you for your insights!

There was no testing for back to back guests. I think there was very little covid onboard during the first cruise.

10 hours ago, Milhouse said:

Thanks so much for posting your detailed review @SusieV!

We're on Solstice's November 5 sailing but haven't been on an X cruise in a few years too.  Looking forward to seeing what's changed too but appreciate your overview of what to possibly expect.    

 

I was kind of on the fence about paying for the hot glass activity but you might have convinced me to do it.  We've been fascinated by glass making ever since we first watched a few demonstrations on Equinox years ago.  The activity is listed as 20 minutes.  Did you/your husband feel that was a confortable enough amount of time to make the pieces you selected?

Yes, there was enough time. On the turtle, the glass artist suggested booking the last time slot before lunch or dinner so that if they needed extra time it was available. That being said, she wasn't rigid by the clock because things took as long as they took.

He had a lot of fun making the pieces!

12 minutes ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

 

Thank you for this. You have validated many of the pros and cons we mentioned in our post, below:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2883547-i-miss-hals-rotterdam-solstice-is-a-huge-disappointment/

 

 

 I wonder if you meant the 9/16 and 9/24 cruises, as we were on the Solstice 9/24 to the Mexican Riviera and agree to heat was hard to manage. 

 

I was not surprised to read about fluctuating water temperature, but was surprised to hear you ever had cold water. Our cabin almost never had cold or cool water in the shower or sink.

 

Did you catch the electric cellist? Interesting show, and being born in Ukraine, her music video was quite moving. 

 

Totally agree about the buffet and food quality. I thought a 6/7 out of 10 was generous.

 

Sorry to hear you are Covid positive and hope you recover soon. There were so many more coughers at the end of the 9/24 cruise. I am not surprised to read that cruisers are testing positive. So far, we've remained Covid negative.

 

 

Yes, my mistake I meant 9/24. I hope you continue to test negative!

I'm not sure I would agree that Solstice was a big disappointment. I enjoyed the trip, despite the issues we encountered. No cruise is perfect and most of the time by speaking up about issues, they can be resolved to one's satisfaction.

We enjoyed the pools being warm on the Pacific Coastal leg. They were a bit cooler on the Mexican Riviera leg which makes sense since the air was so hot.

Our TV didn't pull out either, and that was annoying since all the TVs have previously.

I didn't have your issue in the casino; I was handed as many promo chips as I requested. It didn't have to be in transactions of $50.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise and hope you have a better experience next time.

Overall though? We had a great cruise and I look forward to going back. I would definitely book Solstice again even in this condition.