Review of our totally excellent 1/17 Solstice cruise!!!

[maricruiser]

We are sailing on Solstice 2-21-10. Can those of you who have already sailed on Solstice tell me how their in-room hairdryers are? Are they very powerful? Do they have more than one setting? I have thick hair and a weak hairdryer takes forever to dry it. Just wondering if I need to bring along my own????

 

Marianne

[scrappykat]

I was on this same cruise, only not Aqua Class, and I loved every moment of it!!

 

Re: hairdryers---the one in our room (7299) wasn't v. powerful (and I have thin hair:rolleyes:) plus you had to hold down the button the whole time to keep it on :mad:. I still wouldn't have brought my own, but you might want to.

 

Re: the room attendants, ours was *always* around---I felt bad for him and told him he needed to go take a break, but he said he would do that when he went home! He seemed to work from 6am to after 8pm every day! He did say they got a break from 3-5 but still!!

 

This was a GREAT cruise (I have previously sailed on Celebrity Galaxy in 2000 and NCL in 2001)!!!

[CuriousMind]

Hi,

I enjoyed reading your review very much. Thank you for posting.

 

I have a quick question about show times...Do you think we could catch some of the shows after dinner (we have 6pm first seating)? I am really interested in watching the cirque du soleil one.

 

Thanks.

CM

[Gracie115]

Hi,

I enjoyed reading your review very much. Thank you for posting.

 

I have a quick question about show times...Do you think we could catch some of the shows after dinner (we have 6pm first seating)? I am really interested in watching the cirque du soleil one.

 

Thanks.

CM

 

You will be able to catch nearly all the shows after dinner. We attended all after dinner and we didn't even eat until 6:45-7:30PM most days. Most shows are at 9 & 11 or around those times, I believe one started at 7 once and that was for the late seating guests. The cirque shows were at 8:45 and 11PM and were excellent, we actually went to both performances!! Enjoy!

[Gracie115]

We are sailing on Solstice 2-21-10. Can those of you who have already sailed on Solstice tell me how their in-room hairdryers are? Are they very powerful? Do they have more than one setting? I have thick hair and a weak hairdryer takes forever to dry it. Just wondering if I need to bring along my own????

 

Marianne

 

 

Hair dryers are OK, better than they used to be. Top setting is 1200 Watts, which was fine for my short hair, not sure how well that would do with long, thick hair. As another poster noted you do have to keep finger pressed on the button to keep it on, a safeguard I'm sure against one left running......

[Gracie115]

Oh one last thing I forgot to mention in my reveiw....I don't know if it's just Aqua Class but the towels in the bathroom were wonderful, extra large and very plush!!

[teajak]

Most of your review and enjoyment of your cruise seems to revolve around being in Aqua-class and Blu. Would you have enjoyed your cruise and Solstice as much had you not been in Aqua-class?

We were on Solstice in March 2009 in a hump veranda cabin and again Jan 2010 in Aqua class. We love everything about the Solstice but do not feel Aqua class is worth more money. We realize we are in the minority but we did not care for Blu for several reasons that have been discussed before so I will not repeat them.To answer your question yes the Solstice is fantastic, the crew magnificent, you certainly don't need Aqua class to have a great week.JMHO

[Gracie115]

We were on Solstice in March 2009 in a hump veranda cabin and again Jan 2010 in Aqua class. We love everything about the Solstice but do not feel Aqua class is worth more money. We realize we are in the minority but we did not care for Blu for several reasons that have been discussed before so I will not repeat them.To answer your question yes the Solstice is fantastic, the crew magnificent, you certainly don't need Aqua class to have a great week.JMHO

 

 

I'm sure you're right teajak! I loved Aqua class and Blu, but feel certain we'd love about any type stateroom on this ship, it's just a great ship with a great crew!!!:)

[LeftcoastBC]

Interesting question! I actually think that Celebrity has melded the BEST that Royal had and integrated it into their line. The "stations" in the buffet area definitely come from Royal and are infinitely more preferable to the long lines I remember from the Summit & Millie. Tuscan Grill is Celebrity's answer to CHOPS on Royal and while I LOVE Chops, Tuscan Grill is definitely more upscale. One of the reasons that we stayed with Royal for so long was the friendliness of the crew, we felt that Celebrity was somewhat "stuffy" for lack of a better word. Not true anymore, smiles everywhere and an obvious enjoyment for what they are doing was evident throughout the ship. The "flexi-dining" in Blu and Celebrity Select Dining is a result of a year's testing on Royal's ships, it's called My Time Dining on Royal.

 

But don't get me wrong, these are OBVIOUSLY Celebrity ships, they only took the best of Royal. The glass of champagne on embarkation, the cool towels on returning to the ship at ports, the FAR better food, the overall elegance of the ship is all Celebrity and reminiscent of our first trip on Summit when she was only 1 month old.

 

It felt to us that Celebrity had improved immensely in many ways, not to mention the FAR better benefits of the Captain's Club vs. the C & A of Royal, while Royal, in our opinion anyway has not improved over the years but gone backwards. YES, they have bigger ships with rock climbing walls and all the bells & whistles that "bigger" brings but it has NOT improved the overall cruise experience in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blasting Royal, it's just that after this cruise on Solstice the difference in the two lines was painfully evident as far as overall quality is concerned. I always prefer quality over quantity...in other words bigger isn't always better!!!:)

 

Thanks for the answer. I asked because it has been years since we were on RCL and when we got on the Solstice felt that it was more of an UPSCALE rcl ship rather than the older =X=. Certainly agree on the ship itself. Just plain outstanding but we did find it to busy and big. Did like the new Buffet set up but the music was too loud there and also in the martini bar. (Didn't like the music either :) ) Found the rooms also to be vastly improved and unlike others here on CC didn't mind the storage at all. We were in a 2B.

Loved the lawn and that whole deck just for watching everything or nothing go by. :)

Good thread everybody...

[Gracie115]

Loved the lawn and that whole deck just for watching everything or nothing go by. :)

 

 

So did I....interesting experiment on X's part....some have criticized the effort but what the heck you don't know unless you try!!!

[maricruiser]

Ok, I've got another question, Do any of you know or remember how much a bottled water or a soda is if you do not have the water or soda package? We are just trying to figure out if it's worth getting a package or not.

 

I am loving reading this thread. So much useful information. Thanks to all of you.

 

Marianne

[Gracie115]

Ok, I've got another question, Do any of you know or remember how much a bottled water or a soda is if you do not have the water or soda package? We are just trying to figure out if it's worth getting a package or not.

 

I am loving reading this thread. So much useful information. Thanks to all of you.

 

Marianne

 

 

I have no idea about bottled water as we got that as a perk in Aqua Class, the cokes I believe were $4.00 each but not sure as I only ordered one at dinner once. Am sure someone else will answer that. I do know if you are a heavy soda drinker the package probably is worth your while, at least that's what I was told by someone who drinks soda like water!!

[scrappykat]

Ok, I've got another question, Do any of you know or remember how much a bottled water or a soda is if you do not have the water or soda package? We are just trying to figure out if it's worth getting a package or not.

 

I am loving reading this thread. So much useful information. Thanks to all of you.

 

Marianne

 

Sodas were $2.00 from the room fridge.

[Gracie115]

Sodas were $2.00 from the room fridge.

 

 

AH...I forgot about the room frig....probably the best deal on the ship!!!:D

[Gracie115]

but we did find it to busy and big....

 

 

The ONLY time all week that it seemed too busy was in the buffet area on embarkation day....other than that I thought they handled crowds extremely well.....I never felt like I was on one of those "other" ships with shopping malls in the middle, which I really dislike...

[teajak]

Sodas were $2.00 from the room fridge.

Don't forget a 15% gratuity on anything you use from the mini-bar.

[Gracie115]

Don't forget a 15% gratuity on anything you use from the mini-bar.

 

Makes it $2.30....still a good deal, comparatively speaking....

[teajak]

Makes it $2.30....still a good deal, comparatively speaking....

It is a good deal but a lot of people don't know about that gratuity. I had a good laugh at my DH when he saw it added to his beer.I know they say it is for restocking and not a deal breaker.

[LeftcoastBC]

The ONLY time all week that it seemed too busy was in the buffet area on embarkation day....other than that I thought they handled crowds extremely well.....I never felt like I was on one of those "other" ships with shopping malls in the middle, which I really dislike...

 

Never been one of those "other" ships with shopping malls in the middle :) so maybe our perception was due to it being the biggest ship we had ever been on and a very full pax load in a time period that would have caught some spring breakers. Seriously the pool deck on a sea day was just crowded and the pool...you needed to use lotion to get into the pool :) well I do exaggerate a bit but it was sure crowded.

[Gracie115]

Never been one of those "other" ships with shopping malls in the middle :) so maybe our perception was due to it being the biggest ship we had ever been on and a very full pax load in a time period that would have caught some spring breakers. Seriously the pool deck on a sea day was just crowded and the pool...you needed to use lotion to get into the pool :) well I do exaggerate a bit but it was sure crowded.

 

AH...I see.. almost all my cruises have been in early December or mid-January. These are generally smaller crowds although the ship is technically "full" with all cabins occupied. Most are occupied with just two persons rather than whole families which I know you run into at Christmas, spring break, summer. Our 1st cruise was over Thanksgiving...and it was TOO busy for us so we avoid those times as much as possible. The pool area on Solstice was busy last week on sea days, but there were always lounges available and don't think they had to use any extra grease to "slide" into an open space in the pool:eek:, although I love your analogy!!:DHope you can try sometime during the quieter periods!!!