roxette

I'm considering the Sydney - Singapore cruise on the Solstice in October 2016. Can someone please help me with info about the 123 promo on that cruise? Is the promo available there? The fine print says its not available on Asian repositioning cruises. Don't know if that one is considered one of those.

Thanks.

Sometimes it pays to just read the cruise line's own web site. Here is a quote about the Classic Package

 

"Beverage packages cannot be used at the in-stateroom mini bar, through Room Service, or at the Enomatic® wine-dispensing system in Cellar Masters."

 

But you might be interested to know that even the more expensive Premium package cannot be used in Cellar Masters with the machines.

 

Hank

Kind of weird answer. Question was not if it worked in the machines.

Yes, Classic Works. You CAN order from the sommeliers. Just not usel the Machines.

I had no idea that it took them 6 hours to get off this ship and go through Immigrations. It seems that there were not enough US Customs agents available at that time. I'm sorry? 3,000 people and 2,000 are non US citizens. What was Celebrity thinking. Their day was completely ruined as was just about everyone else's on board. (I had no idea) .

Celebrity? It has the US Customs.

A taxi is the easiest. A taxi for up to four persons is about 500 sek (60-70$). No need to prebook, just make sure to get a set price. Most taxis prefer payment by card. Tipping is very rare, absolutely not excpected.

When will these changes be made? I'm on the Dubai - Singapore repo in May. Hope to see Mama Mia, and skip the extended casino...

How about those with airport transfers booked with Celebrity? Families with one cabin on deck 10 and one on deck 6?

Some people seem to think, and I'm not saying you're wrong, that it's not okay to arrive too early. But how about those who are late for their deck?

Some people will be early, some late. At the end of the day I don't think they should change too much about this.

Btw, I'm going on a b2b, first Eclipse followed by NCL EPIC. EPIC holds a lot more passengers than Eclipse. Also leaves from Miami. Weird they can handle the boarding...

CC Select benefits from Celebritys website: • Priority embarkation while boarding the ship (where available.

Perhaps something more realistic would be to ask what happens if a meteor falls out of the sky at 2:30.

 

There's more of a chance that that happens than everyone arrives at 2:30.

I know. My point was that it will take exactly the same amount of time for everyone to board, regardless of when they arrive at the pier. Since everyone has to go through the same procedure. Only difference is the time people actually are standing in line. But the time span from when the first person is checked in until the last would still be the same.

Life is not fair.

 

It would be physically impossible to board everyone if everyone showed up at 11:00. There would be traffic snarls, horrendous lines, short tempers, yada, yada. This represents Celebrity's attempt to smooth out the boarding process. There are people who will not follow the suggested boarding times. Is that fair? See above.

 

But what if everyone shows up at 2:30?

Sounds like a good change to me. A bit more upscale.

I'm talking about Celebrity giving it as a bonus during a promotion and those will end March of 2015 and I think they should stop offering it.

 

Maybe they should stop selling the package, because no one is every happy.

 

I'm sure that those that purchased it can get their money back, if they are not satisified, and that would solve their complaints. They can then purchase individual drinks.

 

It would be interesting to know how many that are complaining on here purchased their package or got it under the 123 promotion.

I booked a 17 night Panama Canal Cruise for September 2015 while on board the Solstice last month. That was only because of the package was included. But trust me. It wasn't free. Far from it.

Also have a Christmas/New Years cruise booked for this year. Also with drink package. And, actually, even less free.

I would rather pay an extra 5-10 % on the cruise fare than have a fee for more things. Unlike the Celebrity fanclub here. No names, but some are a bit too entusiastic about fees.

Hi Roxette:

 

We will be on the Solstice on May 8th. In general, how was the ship?

 

How is Solstice surviving the cutbacks in general?

 

Was the Hot Glass Show still in production? Anything new to report?

 

I appreciate anything you can share, as there has not been much posted about the Solstice lately.

 

Thanks!

Hello

The Hot Glass Show are still going strong, they had lots of shows during this cruise with a big crowd every time. Was very popular.

The main pools are in need of some paintwork, aome sofas in the buffet are a bit torn. Otherwise the ship is in top shape. And the small issues are nothing else than small issues. If you're not looking for something bad, you will not find a lot.

The staff were among the best I have ever experienced. The cabin attendant, the waiters, the sommeliers, the bartenders, all of them were super firendly and really made the trip.

They know you by name on day three. All of them. It is amazing.

I'm not really a theatre kind of guy, but many of the guests were a bit dissapointed with the shows in the theatre. Although I believe it's hard for Celebrity to get guest entertainers onboard an 18 day cruise with almost only seadays that starts and ends on two different continents.

Food was as good as ever. Murano, wonderful. They had a few nights when they had discounts in the specialty restaurants, they don't make it public tough, so to speak. But their waiters walks around in the buffet and such and offers it to guests. We had 30% off in Murano on the third night.

The food in the Oceanview Cafe was the best buffet food I have ever had on a ship.

They also had quite a few activities on the lawn.

Lots of live music all around the ship all the time. From a String trio in the Ensemble lounge or Cellar Masters to the "house band" in the Grand Foyer to an accoustic trio on the pool deck. And lots of other live acts. So, if you like live music you're in for a treat.

Yes. I miss it.

Just of the Solstice this morning and they had a really sad excuse for brunch in buffet one day. With shrimps, chocolate fountain and pretty much standard lunch. Sad, indeed

Same thing with no cheese in the Cellar Masters. Sad.

Just back this morning from the Solstice Sydney - Honolulu cruise.

On this particular cruise the Cellar Masters ws, as usual, quite empty, in the beggining of the cruise. But as the cruise went by, more and more found it. D once someone got there, they seemed to come back and back again. Great service, lovely location. The last few nights it was almost full.

No cheese in the Cellar Masters this time though. Such a sad cost cutter.

I was there every night.

Bistro on 5 though, only saw officers dine in there. Such a shame on such a lovely location.

And this cruise, the Molecular Bar was very empty many nights. Not a lot of aussies had the package though, and 13,75 might be a bit much for a drink. I don't know. I had the premium and I loved the drinks there

We carry our passports while on foreign soil. You need them to fly back to the USA if you miss the ship.

Don' t do that. If you miss the ship the security staff will empty your safe in your stateroom and give your passport and such to the port agent. So, best thing is to keep passport in the safe, and bring dl on shore.

I live close to Malmö, 40 minutes north of the city. The easiest way to get to Malmö is to fly to Copenhagen. Copenhagen Airport is actually much closer to Malmö than Malmö Airport is. From Copenhagen it's a short train ride over the bridge to Malmö where the port is very close to the train station. The ride takes about 20 minutes.

I recomend spending time in Copenhagen before and/or after the cruise. Trains are departing at least three times per hour between Copenhagen and Malmö. During rush hours it has more departures.

 

To other members, if premium is important to you, I highly recommend upgrading prior to boarding the ship. I hope this helps !

Good evening,

According to my (swedish) TA who has been in contact with Celebrity it's not possible (for me) to upgrade to premium prior to departure. But, according to the TA it's possible to upgrade onboard. And also according to the representative on Cruisecritic. So, it shouldn't be a problem to upgrade onboard. Or...?

Hi roxette

 

Would you mind letting me know how you managed to get this amended as notice you're based in Sweden and I was told by Celebrity it's USA only bookings? I'm still waiting for Celebrity to come back to me after I emailed them a screen print of their offer and NOWHERE does it states USA only.

 

Many Thanks

There is a huge promotion in Sweden, all the travel agents who sell cruises has it right now. It's The classic package deal and if you're booking any Med cruise this summer you get a free upgrade to balcony if you book an outside.

I have a 14 day caribbean cruise on the eclipse booked for christmas. I changed my booking yesterday to to get the classic package. I want to upgrade to the premium. Do I have to do it before jan. 27?

Thank you in advance from Sweden

The current captain is Eric Bredhe, from Helsingborg, Sweden.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhd.se%2Fhelsingborg%2Fkryssloggen%2F2011%2F07%2F03%2Fnagra-fragor-till-kapten-pa-the-world%2F&sl=sv&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8