The LAFFNVEGAS LIVE From the Celebrity Solstice

[MissWindyCity]

Lisa...

I am following along in spirit! Hope you are settling in and finding today to be more comfortable and positive.

I would settle for a small closet just to be on a cruise!

Make the best of it and have a fabulous week! :)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Monday September 13, 2010

Good Afternoon from a Sea Day heading south to reach Georgetown, Grand Caymans on the Beautiful Celebrity Solstice.

I have just returned from spending a few hours in the Persian Garden and I have about 40 minutes before I need to start getting ready for our first Formal night. It has been a full day already and fill with lots of extremely great food. We set the wake up call for 7:50 so I could get up and go down to Blu for Breakfast. Took my first shower in the rounded phone booth style shower. It is definitely larger than I remember our first cruise on the Monarch of the Seas but it has been years since we have been in a cabin that had only a shower. We had always had a bathtub/shower combo even on the NCL and Princess cruises. For those that asked about the quality of shampoo and conditioner. I have had far worse (that being Princess which wins the award for the worst) and I have had much better. The shampoo and conditioner worked fined, but I really do not like their bars of soap or the bath gel soap. I must be badly spoiled by using Elemis from HAL and NCL. It is a shame that such a high quality line like Celebrity does not have a bit better bathroom amenities.

We got down to Blu at about 8:45 and had an absolutely wonderful breadfast. Celebrity has very good coffee and the fresh squeezed juices are great. They bring around rolls and danish to your table that in all honesty are a much higher quality than what we have had on any of the other cruise lines. Tom had an omelet and I had the Swiss Muesli made table side. Oh My, was that ever good. Service is really good in Blu and being able to have breafast there is definitely a perk. What I am not sure of is Do Suite passengers have a special place to have Breafast? I know they have this Michael’s Lounge as well as that is for Elite status as well But it just seems odd that Aqua Class has this great place to dine and Suite passengers do not.

After breakfast we walked around the ship a bit, then I headed up to our cabin to get my camera to go to our CC Meet and Greet held in the Sky Observation Lounge. Not sure why on the invitation it says Sky Observation Deck 14 Midship because there is no way that is mid ship it is definitely Forward ;-) Not sure everyone that signed up came because I do not think we were close to the 98 that had signed up but Lisa the Cruise Director was there and her and I spoke and found we live fairly close to each other in Vegas. Then the Hotel Director and Guest Relations Manager were also in attendence. So a nice turn out of ship officers. It was the normal thing of offering coffee, hot tea and pastries. Nothing else special. It was good to place a face to the CC handle and name. Although I was rather surprised we had only been there about 45 minutes when they came up to one of the members and said we had to leave the room in about 10 minutes.

Afterward I headed up to our cabin to meet up with Tom since he had not joined me. We decided we wanted to check out the Sunday Sea Brunch. No those that know my cruising style know that if I have breakfast I do not have lunch or vice versa if I plan to have lunch I do not have breakfast but never ever miss dinner J

Well so far today I have broke that rule since we had a great breakfast, then went to brunch. All I can say is Oh MY, this was definitely one of the best Brunches we have been to. As I mentioned above the food quality is very good. One of the best things was the Caramel Pecan Rolls ;-)

After Brunch and talking with some other CCers we had met we took off to go checking out some of the other areas of the ship such as the Lawn Garden. We ended up watching one of the Glass Blowing shows. To my amazement I was really facinated by the whole process and definitely plan to go back and watch it a few more times.

We then headed back to the cabin so I could grab my swim suit and head to the Persian Garden. Now let me talk a bit about the Thermal Suite aka Persian Garden. Those who have followed my writings in the past know that I absolutely love Thermal Suites. I tend to just totally relax and melt away my cares sitting in the heated loungers and looking out at the ocean. I also love going into the aroma scented steam rooms. I will say that Celebrity has done a nice job setting this up with one small mistake. They really needed to have a Hydro Therapy Pool. I am not sure why they decided against having one on the S Class ships but it really is a loss. Otherwise this Thermal Suite would rate a 10 like the Thermal Suite on the NCL Pearl does. HAL also has the Hydro Therapy Pool as well but their steam and sauna rooms are not nearly as nice as both the Pearl and the Soltice plus it seems that 75% of the time on HAL they are broken.

Anyway I enjoyed a great two hours up there today and will be going back everyday. To me this is another great perk of the Aqua Class. I just wish the cabins were larger. What is funny there were several of us talking in the spa about how there is just not enough closet space, but one person said but there are lots of cubby holes and drawers. Well yes but other cruises lines have them too but I would much prefer to hang up my clothes rather than have them laying in a drawer. We did finally get more hangers (wire hangers) from Wilfred our cabin Steward so Tom could hang up the rest of his shirts.

Well it’s right about 5 and I might just try to post this now, then jump in the shower to get dressed for our first Formal Night. The Captain’s Toast is at 8:30 so we plan to go to Blu at 6 so we have enough time to get to the show room.

Yes, I am enjoying myself and there are many things I like about the Celebrity Solstice but it is just very different from any cruise line I have been on. But I will say today I feel far more favorable than last night.

Signing off from the Beautiful Celebrity Solstice.

[geocruiser]

LAFFNVEGAS,

 

Love your posts. Happy to read that you are having a good time.

 

Maria

[Janet524]

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Lovin' your "live froms" and can't wait until we're onboard!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Himself

 

P.S. We will name your ship the Solstisdam.

 

Love it! Solsticedam indeed.

 

Both lines have things they could learn from one another Too bad they don't let us design the ships. We could cherry pick the best elements from each. The small closets on the S class would be the first to go away, I have no clue what those 5 women who allegedly helped design the staterooms were thinking.

[Two@Sea]

She's coming around... one more day oughta do it! ;)

[mmp13]

well i have to say that Celebrity is our cruise line of choice I did love the cabins on HAL. It was the one place that hao really excelled!

[kelmac]

Hi Lisa,

 

Glad things are looking up on the ole Solstice! There is a storm headed your direction; I hope it doesn't intensify and cause you any problems!

 

Make sure you head over to Bistro on Five for some great crepes! Any plans to visit Muranos or the Tuscan Grill?

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

Kel:)

[takemewithyou]

She's coming around... one more day oughta do it! ;)

 

Very cute! I love it!

 

Lisa, thank you for your LIVE report!

It is a very different feel than a HAL cruise - and one that we prefer now!

Enjoy the food - especially those croissants! :D:D

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

well i have to say that Celebrity is our cruise line of choice I did love the cabins on HAL. It was the one place that hao really excelled!

 

Ditto on the HAL cabins. They definitely have Celebrity beat. About the same size but much more intelligently designed. And the beds are wonderful!

[cruisenfreak]

I strmblled across this thread and am really enjoying your writings. Thanks for sharing your cruise and your observations/opinions. It's great. Mary Jane

[kjw869]

Ditto on the HAL cabins. They definitely have Celebrity beat. About the same size but much more intelligently designed. And the beds are wonderful!

 

My wife and I have sailed HAL exclusively and saw the Solstice in San Juan in January in San Juan, PR. For the past two cruises, we've had Deluxe Suites and was looking at the Solstice Sky Suites, which is about the same size room area.

 

One of my friends and his wife sailed on the Solstice in February of this year in a Sky Suite and complained not only about the storage area, but the splashing around by the kids in the aft pool. They are in their 30s, and just wanted to get into the pool and relax and get a sun tan along the way. After three attempts, they resorted to the beaches at the port stops.

 

I suggested HAL and they booked the Eurodam on a Baltic Cruise in July and fell in love with the ship and their SA suite. The balcony is a third larger and they said the beds were wonderful. They then cancelled their January 2011 on the Equinox and booked the Nieuw Amsterdam for a 7-day cruise.

 

But, we still would like to experience the Solstice or Equinox and see for ourselves. I understand the two lines have a lot of similarity except the adult pool is in the aft.

[HeatherInFlorida]

She's coming around... one more day oughta do it! ;)

 

Too funny, Marsha!:)

 

Lisa, I'm so sorry you're obviously somewhat disappointed and I would agree with others that HAL does have Celebrity beat on the size of the cabins although I still like the Summit cabins in terms of the look of the cabin and the space to put things. But I haven't been on Solstice yet so we'll see how I feel in a few weeks.

 

I could have upgraded to SS today for $500, but have decided against it. Lots I can do with that money and it's a lot to pay for space.

 

I pack my clothes with hangars and just flip them out and hang them so the hangars won't be an issue. But it looks to me like there's very little room for stuff to hang. We'll see!!

 

I'm still hoping that in another day Lisa will be Celebrified!!! It does surprise me you find it so different from HAL because we've always thought they were comparable with the edge always going to Celebrity. On the other hand, we have never cruised in a full suite on HAL and I hear that's a whole different ball game.:)

 

Hope those winds steer clear of you or the Captain steers clear of them!

[cruisinjudy]

Lisa,

I am agreeing on most of your comparisons. I will disagree on the breakfast pastries however. I think Hal has Celebrity beat there. Maybe we are trying different pastries.

As to the size of the cabins, I think a Sky Suite on the Celebrity M class ships is equal to an SS/SY cat. on HAL Vista class. I did not actually see a Sky Suite on Celebrity S class so can't compare there.

Celebrity has a different vibe than HAL.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Monday Evening September 13, 2010

Good Evening CCers, it was our first FULL day on the Celebrity Solstice and I have to say that while I really think that Celebrity is very different from Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Princess it is growing on me. The cruises Industry basically all agrees that Celebrity and Holland America are both classified as “Premium” Cruise Lines and I agree that they definitely are of much higher quality over all from CCL, Princess, and Non Suite NCL (Suites on NCL are a whole other class of cruising that is really a class in itself) We are finding many things that Celebrity does that are superior to Holland America. Tonight’s dinner for the first Formal Night was a perfect example. First off I must say that I saw more men in Tux that I have seen in years on Holland America. Plus far more women truly dressed to the 9’s in true gowns. While there were a few stragglers in the show room this evening that managed to get in even though the signs stated Formal attire only but you could probably count on one hand how many were not following the rules. This would not have been the case on HAL. In recent years I have seen a huge decline in dressing Formal for formal night but that was not the case tonight. Now first off I too in recent years have honestly thought that I was tired of dressing Formal and that is why we really enjoy out Not Nights of Formal or Not on NCL but if a cruise line is having a Formal night we do abide by the rules of our hosts and Tom wears his Tux and I wear a formal dress.

OK off my little soap box of Formal wear ;) I just wanted to let everyone know that Celebrity Formal Nights were definitely far more formal than Hal or at least for this sailing.

On to dinner in Blu, it was great and more like a 5 star restaurant or a Speciality Restaurant on a ship. I had the Mac Nut Encrusted Scallops, with the Blue Crab Bisque and the Crab and Mushroom Rissoto. Tom and Kathy had the NY Steak and Bob had the Lamb. Before the main entrée’ they brought out the fruity sorbet to cleanse tha palet which is an extremely nice touch, and also very tasty.:D I have to say that it was almost a fashion show in Blu this evening.I honestly have never seen so many lovely dresses and gowns and when we were there about 50% of the men were in a tux. This was actually very impressive. After dinner we of course wanted to go to the Captain’s Welcome. Since we ate dinner at 6:00 we went to the 8:30 Captain’s Welcome and stayed for Solstice – The Show.

I have to say that I love Captain Dimitris Kafetzis, OMG he is just so funny in a very dry sense of humor way plus with his sense of humor he is rather cute in a Greek Way ;) (Trust me no offense here if you know the Captain’s humor you will grin) I really like the way they do the Captain’s Toast, first off they had a reception line that you great the Officers as you come into the lower level of the show room. I very much miss that on HAL and Celebrity still does it right. Secondly, they bring up on stage more of the Officers which is also quite impressive. ( and no hokey fake champagne bottle with confetti):eek:

The show, WOW it was very different compared to a HAL show or Princess for that matter. More to the calibur of NCL productions. Solstice the Show is very similar to a Cirque de Soliel show in Las Vegas with some very interested acts. I really enjoyed the show. I am normally not big on Cirque shows because I have seen my fair share of them living in Vegas but this was very unique and different for a cruise ship.

Well not that we are party poopers but we just are not ones to stay out in the lounges at night, we like to head back to our cabin for me to write up mydaily report then read for a while. Fortunately Kathy and Bob are the same way so we all went back to our cabins to crash for the night.

Tomorrow we are in Grand Caymans which is of course a tender port. The last several times in Grand Caymans I have gone swimming with the Sting rays and snorkling but this time we are just going to see what we feel like doing. We may go to 7 Mile beach, then find somewhere different than Margaritaville for lunch since that is where Tom and I ate in January when we were here and that is where Kathy and Bob ate when they were last here. So another word no big plans but I will of course let you all know tomorrow night :D

I want to finish my book I started on the plane, I am reading James Patterson, Women’s Murder Club #9 on my nook, next up will be the most recent Janet Evanvich.

Since it was Captain's Welcome Night, this sign off is for Captain Dimitris…..

OUT!!! :D

[Jade13]

 

But, we still would like to experience the Solstice or Equinox and see for ourselves. I understand the two lines have a lot of similarity except the adult pool is in the aft.

 

The aft pool on HAL is not an Adults Only pool, or was not on our cruises on Veendam (when she had the pool) Maasdam, Eurodam, Westerdam or Noordam. It was "ages 14 and under with Adult Supervision." On Maasdam two weeks ago there was an infant in their with its parents, obviously not toilet trained...

[joanne59]

Have you been in the relaxation lounge yet? Sounds like you are having a great trip. For a seasoned cruiser, it is always fun to check out another cruise line, if only for the change of venue. Enjoy the rest of your week!

 

Happy cruising........Joanne

[Jade13]

 

Make sure you head over to Bistro on Five for some great crepes!

 

Kel:)

 

Is there an additional charge for the crepes?

[kelmac]

Is there an additional charge for the crepes?

 

 

$5 -- salads, soups, crepes, panini sandwiches, desserts..., The money is for tips; Bistro on Five is run by the staff in the Tuscan Grill.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[kjw869]

The aft pool on HAL is not an Adults Only pool, or was not on our cruises on Veendam (when she had the pool) Maasdam, Eurodam, Westerdam or Noordam. It was "ages 14 and under with Adult Supervision." On Maasdam two weeks ago there was an infant in their with its parents, obviously not toilet trained...

 

Well thank you very much Jade for pointing out that "error". When we were on the Eurodam in January this year, a young boy and his parents were seated next to us at a table by the aft pool. The father and boy were going into the pool and an HAL employee told the father the boy could only swim in the center pool. They then left for the other pool.

 

After being on the Westerdam twice in 2009 and the Oosterdam this year, I have never seen a child in the aft pool, but plenty in the center pool. My assumption was it was an adult pool especialy after the incident on the Eurodam.

 

Thanks again Jade for pointing out this error. Did you or anyone else bring this untrained toilet tot to a HAL employee?

[cruisldy]

Grand Cayman, 7 mile beach web cam, with cruise ships. Updates every 10 seconds.

 

http://www.reefgrill.net/netcam/index.html

[HeatherInFlorida]

Lisa, I'm getting excited because I can just feel how much happier you were as you wrote last night than the night before. Yes, there is a different feel to Celebrity, but I'm glad it's growing on you a bit. Another couple of days and you'll be pre-booking your next cruise!!!!:D

 

Dinner sounds amazing!!! And while Ray won't wear a tux anymore, I'll have to tell him how many there were so he'll be sure to bring his very best dark suit.

 

SS came down some more for us, but I'm leaning against it. I just looked at some video and while it's a bit bigger, not sure it's bigger enough to warrant +$500 or so.

 

I hope it just keeps getting better and better. Wishing you good time:).

[kikki21]

Hi Lisa

I am enjoying your life from reports.....

My hubby and I saw the Solstice parked up in Kusadasi last year and we both fell in love with her!

I have been on a Celebrity cruise before on the Galaxy before she became Mein Schiff..... I would love to try another Celebrity Cruise on one of the Solstice class ships so I will be reading your report with much interest! :)

[ArtM]

Lisa

 

One thing you might want to check out on whatever sea day it happens, is the elegant (high) tea.

 

On our recent HAL cruise, at the high tea all the food was served via a buffet line when we entered, and the serving of tea was rather lackadaisical.

 

On past Celebrity cruises, the waiters (in tuxes and wearing white gloves) have served everything from trays to seated attendees. They brought the tea bags in a wooden case, constantly asked if one needed more hot water, and (really cute) picked up the tea wrappers with little tongs.

 

So, is this an actual difference, or did we just run into an off-day on the Zuiderdam?

 

Art

[Jade13]

Thanks again Jade for pointing out this error. Did you or anyone else bring this untrained toilet tot to a HAL employee?

 

 

It never got to that as both pools was closed shortly thereafter and never opened again. A long story but the trip was cut short and three ports missed (Sydney, Halifax, and Bar Harbor) due to Hurrican Earl warnings. It was first shut down because we were going through a Right Whale Reserve, and than HAL used the opportunity to do maintenance and re-grout.