Loyal RCCL taking first X cruise any questions?

[bajathree]

Great minds think alike, I will post some pictures of it.

Thanks Sue:)

Well you are in luck as we are planning to use the gym. Hubby just lost 30 lbs and I am up to almost 40 lbs so exercising is definitely on the agenda so we can eat more things.

 

GOOD for you guys!!!

[CRUISERTN]

Please go to the Solstice Aug. 29- Sept. 5th sailing for my "mini-reivew" that is posted on the past page of that thread.

We are in our 50's, more than 70 cruises on every line from American President Lines, Paquet, Epirotiki (horrible!), Costa (horrible!), Premier, Cunard, Princess, HAL, Carnival, NCL, RCCL, and five on Celebrity and a few I have probably forgotten. All with Celebrity have been on the older ships (Horizon, Century, etc.) and with the Chef Michel Roux menus several years ago.....prior to our cruise last week on the Solstice, the Celebrity food and service has been the best we have ever had!! That was also prior to the auto-tipping added and choice of dining when you wanted to and not having specialty restaurants. We were disappointed in the main dining room menus and service. The food was OK at best and nothing out of this world. Service was awful....VERY, VERY, slow and sometimes not ever getting what you ordered, having to ask for ice tea several times every night before they brought it, etc. and made it worse after we spoke with Maitre d' and it got even worse. No visits to the table by the head waiter or maitre'd....not any personal service. Night lectures were at 10:15pm, and 3 times we had to leave the dining room early without dessert in order to attend the lecture.....dinner at 8:30 and main course not served until 10pm is a little slow!! Not what we were expecting based on our prior Celebrity cruises. We dined in Murano one night with our friends, Seatravelers, and had a wonderful meal and service!! We found the enrichment lectures (White House history, Mayan ruins) to be very well presented and informative. My husband is a Mayan history buff and loved the Mayan presentations. Each of the Mayan presentations were standing room only, so I guess others enjoyed it as well. We like late seating and the show after dinner, but all of the late seating shows (with the exception of the first formal night) were at 7pm....we also like late seating because it doesn't cut into your day if you are in port, etc. but having a 7pm early show defeated the purpose of wanting to dine late. Many cruise lines have a early show for late seating if there is ANOTHER special theme night or theme show after the late dinner, but this was every night except one night (Cirque show).....thought the dancers were a bit rusty, and then I read it was only their second or third week working together and you could tell....some looked like they were just picking up the routine and trying to stay in step....enjoyed the comedian, even though he could come accross as a bit offensive to some....loved Lindsey Hamilton....what a fabulous voice, and an extra special treat was the duet she sang with the cruise director at the show on the last night....it was worth going to the show the last night, before dinner, of course!! :)many people never bother attending the shows on the last night, but we found this one to be a little highlight of all of the entertainers and one of the best shows of the week. The ship is beautiful and has a nice layout....loved the solarium....so beautiful and peaceful!! Oceanview cafe seemed like mass chaos most of the time....food was OK at best, and a lot of variety, but the same stuff over and over every day for breakfast and lunch.... Overall, we expected much more from Celebrity and thought this one was not any different from Royal Caribbean or Princess as far as food and service, and really several steps below our previous Celebrity cruises. Wish they would return chef Michel Roux and those wonderful menus!! In my opinion, if anyone used to RCCL is expecting " a step up" on the Solstice, you will be disappointed.

[truffles2]

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and come back to tell us that everything was marvelous! We are trying Celebrity (Eclipse) for the second time next spring. Our first try--almost ten years ago--was seriously lacking in the quality we expected....couldn't wait to get back to RCI.

[Sue L]

The only question I have, is will you create a special thread with this subject when you get back? ;) I hope you do, I have no preconceptions, but will love hearing what you think. After my next cruise I'll be platinum so I would consider doing the same.

 

yes I will start a brand new thread. I plan to keep a running review up on my computer while I am on the ship, but I won't post until I get home.

[The Big Booper]

Please go to the Solstice Aug. 29- Sept. 5th sailing for my "mini-reivew" that is posted on the past page of that thread.

We are in our 50's, more than 70 cruises on every line from American President Lines, Paquet, Epirotiki (horrible!), Costa (horrible!), Premier, Cunard, Princess, HAL, Carnival, NCL, RCCL, and five on Celebrity and a few I have probably forgotten. All with Celebrity have been on the older ships (Horizon, Century, etc.) and with the Chef Michel Roux menus several years ago.....prior to our cruise last week on the Solstice, the Celebrity food and service has been the best we have ever had!! That was also prior to the auto-tipping added and choice of dining when you wanted to and not having specialty restaurants. We were disappointed in the main dining room menus and service. The food was OK at best and nothing out of this world. Service was awful....VERY, VERY, slow and sometimes not ever getting what you ordered, having to ask for ice tea several times every night before they brought it, etc. and made it worse after we spoke with Maitre d' and it got even worse. No visits to the table by the head waiter or maitre'd....not any personal service. Night lectures were at 10:15pm, and 3 times we had to leave the dining room early without dessert in order to attend the lecture.....dinner at 8:30 and main course not served until 10pm is a little slow!! Not what we were expecting based on our prior Celebrity cruises. We dined in Murano one night with our friends, Seatravelers, and had a wonderful meal and service!! We found the enrichment lectures (White House history, Mayan ruins) to be very well presented and informative. My husband is a Mayan history buff and loved the Mayan presentations. Each of the Mayan presentations were standing room only, so I guess others enjoyed it as well. We like late seating and the show after dinner, but all of the late seating shows (with the exception of the first formal night) were at 7pm....we also like late seating because it doesn't cut into your day if you are in port, etc. but having a 7pm early show defeated the purpose of wanting to dine late. Many cruise lines have a early show for late seating if there is ANOTHER special theme night or theme show after the late dinner, but this was every night except one night (Cirque show).....thought the dancers were a bit rusty, and then I read it was only their second or third week working together and you could tell....some looked like they were just picking up the routine and trying to stay in step....enjoyed the comedian, even though he could come accross as a bit offensive to some....loved Lindsey Hamilton....what a fabulous voice, and an extra special treat was the duet she sang with the cruise director at the show on the last night....it was worth going to the show the last night, before dinner, of course!! :)many people never bother attending the shows on the last night, but we found this one to be a little highlight of all of the entertainers and one of the best shows of the week. The ship is beautiful and has a nice layout....loved the solarium....so beautiful and peaceful!! Oceanview cafe seemed like mass chaos most of the time....food was OK at best, and a lot of variety, but the same stuff over and over every day for breakfast and lunch.... Overall, we expected much more from Celebrity and thought this one was not any different from Royal Caribbean or Princess as far as food and service, and really several steps below our previous Celebrity cruises. Wish they would return chef Michel Roux and those wonderful menus!! In my opinion, if anyone used to RCCL is expecting " a step up" on the Solstice, you will be disappointed.

 

A helpful hint -- you've got to have paragraphs when you post a long answer like this. I was trying to compare your experience with ours, especially the not-so-great dining room service but couldn't get thru the one long paragraph.

[SamFritz]

Hi Sue, now that I'm diamond and have such a long way to go to D+ I've been toying with the idea of giving X a try. Let me know what you think of the value for the price, and if it feels like a significant upgrade from the Royal experience.

 

By the way. I took your advice on our Civitivacchia Cruise. Used Zelit Limo to get us back to FCO on time for a 10:00 AM flight. It was perfect. We stepped off the Navigator at 6:25. The car pulled up at 6:30 and we were in the Airport by 7:20. Thanks for the help.

[Sue L]

Hi Sue, now that I'm diamond and have such a long way to go to D+ I've been toying with the idea of giving X a try. Let me know what you think of the value for the price, and if it feels like a significant upgrade from the Royal experience.

 

By the way. I took your advice on our Civitivacchia Cruise. Used Zelit Limo to get us back to FCO on time for a 10:00 AM flight. It was perfect. We stepped off the Navigator at 6:25. The car pulled up at 6:30 and we were in the Airport by 7:20. Thanks for the help.

 

 

So glad it worked out, how did you enjoy the cruise?

 

I will definitely be comparing the two as we haven't sailed anything else besides RCCL for the last few years so it would be hard not to compare. So looking forward to "something new" though. Frankly I was getting a bit tired of practically knowing the menus by heart, lol.

[CRUISERTN]

Big Booper - I guess you managed to get through it....had a lot going on and trying to write fast and just be helpful in passing on information, but did not realize a professor would be grading my paper.:p

[Sue L]

Well here it is way too early in the morning, we will be heading the airport to fly to FLL. Luckily the airport is 7 minutes from my house.

[Bakincakes]

Congrats on your weight loss Sue!! And you are still not smoking..right?

 

I think you will like X...good to experience something different..

 

Have a great time...will look forward to your review.:)

[The Big Booper]

Big Booper - I guess you managed to get through it....had a lot going on and trying to write fast and just be helpful in passing on information, but did not realize a professor would be grading my paper.:p

 

Actually, I stopped reading 1/4th thru, since it hurt my eyes. You had some interesting things to say but the format is unreadable.

[Sue L]

Congrats on your weight loss Sue!! And you are still not smoking..right?

 

I think you will like X...good to experience something different..

 

Have a great time...will look forward to your review.:)

 

October 13 will be 3 years, smoke free, it is our 26th anniversary and hubbys 10 year cancer free. Lots of fun to celebrate this cruise

[CVU]

October 13 will be 3 years, smoke free, it is our 26th anniversary and hubbys 10 year cancer free. Lots of fun to celebrate this cruise

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)