LilMsFoodie

I just returned from the 11/11-14 Escape cruise. I dined at the Tapas Bar instead of a restaurant one night and the charge was $7. Nothing more.

There seem to be some problems with Bayamo. Several people left in a huff the night I was at the Tapas Bar saying they wouldn't ever try it again.

Tapas Bar was quite good but nothing spectacular.

Cafe al Bacio was by far the best coffee, but it was still weak. We had such terrific non-starbucks coffee in Seattle before boarding, we were hugely disappointed. If a ship is in a home port for sometime, you would think X might make an effort to make a nod to it's strengths, on of whom is coffee.

I found I couldn't drink the coffee in any of the dining rooms, premium or not. Very thin and probably Robusto beans not arabica.

The espresso in Tuscan Grill was horrible sludge...

what a rude welcome here from the "elite" of Celebrity! A courtesy extended to a possible new frequent cruiser should mean nothing to those who have already established themselves.

Hotels do this all the time as do airlines, or at least airlines used to do so. To snag a Viking regular is something Celebrity might like to do, as well as Seaborn (like that would happen'

re: "When I initially booked the cruise we were docked. It changed to tender a few months before we were set to sail"

My online confirmation with Solstice for 6/6 shows all ports docked. Would that be correct or is this just another online glitch with Celebrity?

We have scheduled a helicopter/sled dog tour through X for 3:15 so I hope that 2 hrs is long enough if tendering. 3000 people exiting sounds like a mess to me.

Thank you Mediaman. The most concise and useful review I have read on CC to date. I appreciate all your comments as we leave in 9 days for our Alaska cruise. Are you a writer or reporter?

While I have not cruised Celebrity yet (Sept 22,2015 10day Hawaii): what some cruisers fail to realize is that on most mass market cruise lines (Celebrity, Carnival, RCCL, HAL, & Princess) when they are serving typically 2000-3000 guests in the MDR every night, you are getting upscale banquet food, think Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott. NOT gourmet dining.

 

Agreed. These are banquet chefs, not a chef in a fine restaurant. Prep is very different. There are some top level banquet companies, Design Cuisine in DC (if they are still around) is one that comes to mind. This is an entirely different skill set from a normal restaurant.

Thank you (again) for the still, small voice of reason.

 

We ate at Tuscan on the Eclipse and had a great meal, while once again enjoying a stunning view (we always go on an evening after leaving port)

 

 

I was thinking about the view when I wanted to book Tuscan for the first night. I wouldn't order a steak there. I'm with you, I don't do steak at Italian places. I was looking at a risotto or gnocchi maybe a veal dish.

 

Do they have lovely italian wines? I am not impressed by what I read on our premium package.

 

There are great chef driven restaurants all over the country now. Quality might be uneven, but better than some sad chain like the aformentioned OG in the lead post. :)

 

I do not expect a Per Se or Le Bernardin on board a ship. I did have a meal like that a million years ago on the SS France and also the QEII. I would never expect that on Celebrity. I am cruising for the itinerary and tours, not some martini bar or special food. I expect it to be well made and edible.

I appreciate the comments here as I was planning to book Tuscan for our first night on board the Solstice. Is it possible this poor food is the chef and Solstice might still be good? Just dreaming I guess. We have AQ1 so we will do that I guess.

Olive Garden is a pox on italian food. Just grotesque portions for the overweight judging by those lined up in front in my town. AYCE overcooked pasta..yuck. I was looking to a great veal chop and maybe a brunello to go with. Think I'll go scour the ship reports for specifics on Solstice.

They need to be building a new website from scratch and migrate there once it is functional. The current one has too many disjointed parts and has to be a nightmare to update. No different than many other websites. The volume must be huge as well. High volume can cause instability. Fix the damn thing!

when I log in this morning on the X website, it says I have no cruises scheduled. I did online check in earlier this week and have all my documents but this is disconcerting, to say the least. I'll try later today to see if it shows up. Otherwise I'll be on the phone to Costco. Cruise is in 3 wks.

:eek:

We are on Solstice soon. DH is getting worked up for black jack and asked me to find the rules for the cruise line. finding a little here but from 2009.

He is curious how many decks? minimums? maximums?:eek:

I know there has to be some sort of written content out there but google is not helping much.

Conundrum is up to 14.50 I see...oh well.

Do yourself a favor and discover the understated elegance of the Pouilly Fume

Couldn't agree more. Conundrum is very overpriced. Once, when still with Caymus in their heyday, it was an intriguing wine that appealed to beginners as well as winos. It has been ultra sweet some years lately. There is nothing understated or elegant about Conundrum <

thanks so much for these scans. We are on Solstice in a few weeks and have the premium booze package. At first glance, I'd hardly call these wines premium. Nice grocery store wines basically but well known and fairly good ones. It looks to me that this is to encourage people to look for better wines and upgrade especially with a fine dinner. The reds are particularly meh. Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

I think with the economy improving and the recession being over, for all intents and purposes, all the cruise lines will be making adjustments to their pricing. I recently looked at a number of lines for future cruises and didn't see that Celebrity was out of line.

Past cruisers may be spoiled with deals and incentives trying to keep the ships financially afloat.

do you bring special binoculars with you? I don't want to miss things by trying to get the perfect shot on my camera. My best memories of trips exist in my mind's eye not on Facebook.

Too many people take zillions of pictures without experiencing what they are taking. This is probably my only trip to Alaska. I will be up early, naturally as I'm from the east coast US and am an early riser by nature.

Have you taken the helicopter/sled dog tour? We are booked for this in Juneau. Thanks for your intelligent advice. LilMsFoodie

information and booking on tours and excursions are on their website. You sound like you need a full service travel agent. You might like Crystal Cruise lines for your next voyage.

We are on Solstice June 6th. Know we will have a great cruise.

How you know what will be next year's amenities?

Anyway, I am looking at other cruise lines, not other Celebrity ships. We are looking at Crystal and Regent so far. They seem more appropriate for the Mediterranean.

I just cut and pasted what came up. I believe it was a pop-up while I was looking at Mediterranean cruises for 2015. I'm thinking it will be next year's amenities. We have been looking at smaller ships and I was looking to compare.

here is a cut and paste from X's website this a.m. According to this, I see that the staterooms have much fewer add on's. Am I reading incorrectly?

Stateroom:194 sq. ft. Veranda:54 sq. ft. All staterooms include:

Services

• Our signature friendly, personalized service with a guest to staff ratio of nearly 2:1
  
• Twice daily service (makeup and turndown)
  
• Daily ice service in stainless steel ice buckets
  

Dining

• 24 hour complimentary room service
  

Amenities

• Robe
  
• Complimentary tote bag
  
• Custom blended bath products (shampoo, conditioner and lotion), shower cap, cotton balls and cotton swabs
  
• Water/wine glasses
  
• Celebrity eXhale™ bedding featuring custom premium mattresses, plush duvets and pillows, and 100% cotton linens
  
• Hair dryer
  

Stateroom features

• Private mini-bar*
  
• Interactive Samsung flat-screen television system to view and select shore excursions, order room service, and watch movies*
  
• Private safe
  
• Dual voltage 110/220AC outlets
  

Note: Staterooms 1547, 1549, 1552 and 1554 have partially obstructed views.

*Additional charges apply.

All Suites Include

Services

• A Personal Spa Concierge to arrange AquaSpa® treatments
  
• Daily delivery of bottled water and tea
  
• Priority check-in
  
• Express luggage delivery
  
• Priority disembarkation based on travel needs
  
• Complimentary shoeshine service
  

Dining

• Exclusive access to Blu, a specialty restaurant featuring "clean cuisine" that also serves complimentary breakfast every day
  
• Upgraded room service menu
  

Amenities

• Complimentary access to the Persian Garden and Relaxation Room
  
• Aromatherapy diffuser
  
• Pillow menu
  
• Additional bathroom amenities, including shower gel, facial spray and lip balm
  
• Plush bathrobes
  
• Slippers
  
• On-demand wellness programming including meditation and yoga
  

Stateroom features

• Hansgrohe® shower panel
  
• Fog-free mirror
  

I've been trying to reserve a couple of activities online, namely the helicopter/dog sled tour on Mendenhall glacier for a couple of weeks and a zip line, rappelling adventure. Never seem to be able to get beyond the most basic opening screen. Today it says that I must wait until on board. The tour is going to cost $1200 for a 2+ hr trip....I thought that I could wait until 5 to 6 wks out. Have I made a big mistake? Any thoughts. We are on Solstice leaving June 6th.

We are sailing in June and know we want the premium booze package. '

Better to order online now or wait until on the Solstice?

Better to order from my TA (Costco) or Celebrity direct?

I've never seen such silliness with getting liquid refreshments...seems unnecessarily complex but I do not want to see some gargantuan bar bill at the end of our cruise.

I signed up for Cruise Critic when we started planning our Alaskan cruise for this June.

I have participated on many chat boards before and find this particular one to have a lot of very sad and angry people. Very much the glass half empty types. Most of these complaints are trivial.. a lot of times boards can take this sort of turn when they have poor moderation. I don't know if there are actually moderators here or if the board is self-moderating. Maybe that is the reason.

those prices are in line with their destination spa prices on land. I wouldn't expect them to be any less. Canyon Ranch is a luxury spa.