Celebrity Solstice arrival

[NSWP]

SUTHO, brilliant photographs mate, thanks very much.

 

Re the other reports from those boarding today, thanks also. I would have expected boarding delays today, 1 nighter, everybody wants to get on board ASAP. Also hang out for the Concierge perks you paid for, we will on 4 March.

 

What a day for Sydney, wish I was up there.

[gbenjo]

Quite impressed with the ship but the 2 and a half hours to get one when we arrived at the right time was painful especially when general boarding passengers were on well before us. There were very few check ins bring used for priority :mad:

Persian Garden was nice until the guided tours arrived!

Interesting - there has just been an announcement about guest conduct. Maybe getting in first.

 

Today's check in was always going to be a bit of a nightmare, what with it being the one nighter and everybody wanting to board as early as they could, understandable and expected. Naturally we had the obligatory computer melt down, well more like they could not get them working properly so that they could melt down, and probably a good half to three quarters of an hour check in time was lost.Compounding the problem was the fact that celebrity use a Slightly different check in system and it took a little while for the staff to get used to the different process. The IT crew from the ship were running madly around sorting out all sorts of problems but once the bugs were ironed out it flowed pretty well. All but a hundred or so guests were checked in by about 4pm, so not too bad considering. Unfortunately the long queue is unavoidable when no one adheres to the nominated check in times but we are expecting a lot better outcome tomorrow when we have a"more experienced" type of cruiser. The IT guys said they ALWAYS have teething problems with the first turnaround in a new port and expect tomorrow to be a whole lot better...just as it was with the Voyager.. the one nighter was dogfight (cleaned that up:D )but the next day's turnaround went as smooth as silk with minimal queues and a fast check in.

[Stuartm]

A couple of shots from this morning.

 

 

 

 

Someone even brought their Xmas decorations! (halfway down on the right)

 

 

[NSWP]

Today's check in was always going to be a bit of a nightmare, what with it being the one nighter and everybody wanting to board as early as they could, understandable and expected. Naturally we had the obligatory computer melt down, well more like they could not get them working properly so that they could melt down, and probably a good half to three quarters of an hour check in time was lost.Compounding the problem was the fact that celebrity use a Slightly different check in system and it took a little while for the staff to get used to the different process. The IT crew from the ship were running madly around sorting out all sorts of problems but once the bugs were ironed out it flowed pretty well. All but a hundred or so guests were checked in by about 4pm, so not too bad considering. Unfortunately the long queue is unavoidable when no one adheres to the nominated check in times but we are expecting a lot better outcome tomorrow when we have a"more experienced" type of cruiser. The IT guys said they ALWAYS have teething problems with the first turnaround in a new port and expect tomorrow to be a whole lot better...just as it was with the Voyager.. the one nighter was dogfight (cleaned that up:D )but the next day's turnaround went as smooth as silk with minimal queues and a fast check in.

Thanks gbenjo, you are a great resource down there at OPT and also on CC. Yes things should improve at check in for RCI/Celebrity with the experienced cruisers coming on board this season, keep up the great work old son!

 

stuartm, great shots also, those aft verandah suites are awesome.

[Gaznjo]

On the Holiday inn roof top

[anandaindonesia]

Solstice in Sydney. Wow...!

Thanks for the photos.

[NSWP]

Great shot Gaz/Jo, hey someone has the light on in our cabin 1019 !

[Sutho]

[6andy6]

Nice ones of the ship at night....

[anandaindonesia]

Nice ones of the ship at night....

 

Certainly. I must remember to take a shot myself when the solstice stays overnight on March 4th.

Thanks, Sutho. Great photo!

 

Michael

[Debsta]

'Mornin! Well that was quick, home already :D

 

I'll put together a video of ship photos I was able to take (I daresay I have missed stuff) but she really is a lovely ship and I would definitely do a cruise on her. There is so much I love about this ship and her layout. I found the staff were fabulous, however, they were a pushed to the limits at all the bars last night which was no big surprise.

 

The bogan element was alive and kicking, but nowhere near as bad as the Radiance 2 nighter as they were spaced out throughout the bars in the ship and not condensed in one area.

 

There were some major issues as noted with check-in and it was obvious many of the check-in staff did not know what to do. Whatever, the computer glitch followed many onto the ship, including myself. Many cabins were unable to be accessed by cruise cards. Multiple trips to have new cards issued had the cards not work, then the cabin stewards were letting people in. The gossip estimate was 500 cabins and I don't think that's too far stretched from hearing various frustrated people. There was a wedding on board (they had it up on the lawn) and many of the wedding party were unable to access their cabins using their own cruise cards.

 

Unfortunately, this became more evident later in the evening/early hours of the morning when people were trying to get back into the cabins and couldn't :eek: I saw people sleeping in the corridors outside their cabin because the line-up at the pursers desk was long with only 1 person dealing with the mess. The poor girl had tears brimming and she said that she was unable to wake anyone...........what the!!!! If I knew where all the Celebrity heirarchy from Miami (yes they were onboard) or the Hotel Director were sleeping, I would have gone and woken them up and dragged them down to come and sort it out. There were a couple of security staff "watching" the queue LOL

 

The reason "I" am so annoyed was by 1.30 amish I decided to call it a night and try and get a few zzzzzz's. When I got back to my cabin (I hadn't been there since 6 pm) my message light was flashing. I toyed with the idea of ignoring it as I thought it might just have been one of my friends on the ship.....but I did. There was a message saying my credit card had not been accepted due to the computer glitch and to come and pay my bill! So off I went to stand in the line up with other tired and irritated passengers who got the same message and the others just trying to get into their cabins. It got heated at some points as people tried to push in. But then these people had already queued once to get into their cabins, only to be greeted by the "come back and pay your bill" message when they got into their cabins! Very bad PR!!! Very bad.

 

After paying my very large bill of $8.25 in cash I finally got back to my cabin an hour and a half later. Needless to say I've had FA sleep.

 

I just hope they get it sorted before the others get on today. There was lenghty queues at the pursers desk this morning also, so glad I did it early this morning.

 

When I dinged out my card made the not ding out sound. Then they're on the phone to check I had paid my bill.............:mad:

 

Anyway, as I said, she's a lovely ship and I would cruise again on her. I've bawked at cruising Celebrity as I thought they'd be overly stuffy, but that is definitely not the case. I had lunch in Bistro on Five which is their crepe restaurant (cover $5 pp) and you can have as much as you want :D The savoury crepes were yummo and the dessert crepes to die for, especially the banana and chocolate one....nom nom.

 

I didn't eat in the buffet, but the food looked great and people that ate there said it was good. My particular dinner meal in the main dining room was very so so, but the others on my table were happy with theirs. I had a pasta dish and the pasta was over (or under?) cooked, but the shrimp garlic sauce was good. The smoked salmon entree still had large bones in it which put me right off! Poor choice by me, which was a shame.

 

The live tree suspended in the Atrium is a nice touch :D The smell of green grass on the top deck is just amazing! All the Xmas decorations were up so she looked very pretty

 

There was so much on last night it was difficult to see it all. I think they offered lots of things for everyone as a "taster" and with the exception of the above, I think most people were very happy with the ship and service.

 

Ohhhh, and of course..............the casino rocked ;)

 

I'm going to have a nap now LOL

[Debsta]

Forgot to mention...Derryn Hinch was on board :p

[Neil R.]

I was on the overnighter this weekend with my partner. This was the best ship I have been on. I was on the Queen Elizabeth in March this year which I thought was a beautiful ship, but Solstice kicks her out of the ball park.

Boarding was tuff. We arrived at the correct time (we had a cheap inside cabin on deck 9– boarding time on our set sail pass was 12.30), and yet there was no real checking of the forms when you got to the check in tent. People all around us were on lower decks (3, 6, 7,), which showed a later boarding time. We waited 90min in the tent, and when we got ushered up the escalator into the terminal, we got pushed into the priority line by the staff in error. This was a bonus, as it then only took us another 10min to get on board. I would have through if that did not happen, it would have been at leave another 45mins. Inside the terminal there was confusion, and lot of frustrated people.

We knew boarding was going to be hard – it’s a overnight cruise and everyone wants to get on. I would think however for a normal cruise it would not be so bad – but the staff at the front of the tent where you line up really need to police the boarding times better.

There was also a little drama in the dining room, passengers kept trying to swap tables to sit together with their friends. I’m sure the staff must just hate these overnighters!

Back to the ship itself, there is nothing I could really say negative except it was just too big! We must have walked miles trying to check everything out. None of the pictures I had seen of the ship can do it justice; you need to go on board to really appreciate the facilities on board. The ship is sleek, stylish, and sophisticated.

Our inside cabin was extremely functional, love the fact the main door opened outwards, the cabin did not feel claustrophobic, and the bathroom would be the largest we have in a general cabin.

We attended the main show (which was a little lame), the glass blowing demonstration, and the comedy show. We also dropped into the future cruise sales office and booked a cruise in March on the Solstice in Aqua Class. J

Next cruise is on the Spirit for NYE. Bring it on!

[Neil R.]

Forgot to mention...Derryn Hinch was on board :p

 

haha Debsta - saw Derryn on board, did a face plant with him in the hallway! Also saw you taking photos in the main

heatre before the production show. Cant wait to see your pics!

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

I was on the overnighter this weekend with my partner. This was the best ship I have been on. I was on the Queen Elizabeth in March this year which I thought was a beautiful ship, but Solstice kicks her out of the ball park.

Boarding was tuff. We arrived at the correct time (we had a cheap inside cabin on deck 9– boarding time on our set sail pass was 12.30), and yet there was no real checking of the forms when you got to the check in tent. People all around us were on lower decks (3, 6, 7,), which showed a later boarding time. We waited 90min in the tent, and when we got ushered up the escalator into the terminal, we got pushed into the priority line by the staff in error. This was a bonus, as it then only took us another 10min to get on board. I would have through if that did not happen, it would have been at leave another 45mins. Inside the terminal there was confusion, and lot of frustrated people.

We knew boarding was going to be hard – it’s a overnight cruise and everyone wants to get on. I would think however for a normal cruise it would not be so bad – but the staff at the front of the tent where you line up really need to police the boarding times better.

There was also a little drama in the dining room, passengers kept trying to swap tables to sit together with their friends. I’m sure the staff must just hate these overnighters!

Back to the ship itself, there is nothing I could really say negative except it was just too big! We must have walked miles trying to check everything out. None of the pictures I had seen of the ship can do it justice; you need to go on board to really appreciate the facilities on board. The ship is sleek, stylish, and sophisticated.

Our inside cabin was extremely functional, love the fact the main door opened outwards, the cabin did not feel claustrophobic, and the bathroom would be the largest we have in a general cabin.

We attended the main show (which was a little lame), the glass blowing demonstration, and the comedy show. We also dropped into the future cruise sales office and booked a cruise in March on the Solstice in Aqua Class. J

Next cruise is on the Spirit for NYE. Bring it on!

 

Did anyone have designated boarding times on their e-tickets? That makes boarding a very smooth operation. I see we even have a designated boarding time for our Arcadia cruise coming up, and she's a lot smaller than Solstice.

Jilly:)

[Neil R.]

Jilly – we had a check in time on our set sail pass. There were also times advertised by deck when you arrived. This was an overnighter, so everyone was going to try and board as early as they could - I totally understand that.

Just reading Debsta report I was not aware of the system meltdown. The staff was very stressed inside the terminal at the check in desks, but they were very professional, and were handling some of the more frustrated passengers very well. Im sure todays check in will be a different story…

[Debsta]

haha Debsta - saw Derryn on board, did a face plant with him in the hallway! Also saw you taking photos in the main

heatre before the production show. Cant wait to see your pics!

 

He lost his money in the casino :eek:

Derryn's just taken up a job with Channel 7 :eek:

I hope you didn't look up my skirt Neil! :eek: :p

Did you hear us singing "give us a home among the gumtrees" LOL I've seen those guys before on a cruise (which one I have no idea haha). Lame but fun. The comedian was funny!

See you at sailaway on NYE Mr Neil!

 

Jilly, I didn't have a time on my boarding pass, and many others didn't either. If you were new to cruising (which a large proportion of passengers were) you probably wouldn't have known there was designated boarding times until you actually got there. I was literally one of the first on, so I have no idea what prevailed behind me. Special birthday boarding privileges for me :p

 

Seriously, what is with this weather here in Sydney!!!!

 

I saw the Costa Romantica sail in this morning too and go under the bridge with her tug boat escort water display......it is soooooooo.......ummmmmmm..........can't think of the words..........bland?

 

And I agree with Neil - the photos just don't do this ship justice.

[The_Big_M]

Only one irritant so far - we are in a concierge class cabin and they have tried to nickel and dime us. None of the promised inclusions were provided - the bathrobes, the tote bag, the canapes, the bottle of wine. I had to pressure the cabin steward to brng us bathrobes and the bag and even more pressure for the canapes. But he could not bring the wine and played dumb when I kept telling him I knew it was an inclusion. I called guest relations and I was told that 'unfortunately' the usual bottle of wine was not available on the one night cruise . Hello? I have paid for this. I pushed back quite hard on this and demanded the wine or An OBC in lieu. The bottle of wine willbe delivered shortly.

 

They can't advertise things which you pay for and then decide oh, you're only on for 1 night so nothing extra for you

 

I'm similar, was in a concierge class, but didn't get the robes or the wine. (Don't worry, you never miss much with the canapies!)

 

Wasn't happy with other elements of them coming up with charges. There were some others, but one major example was the 16.5% tax they added to purchases because we weren't sailing internationally.

 

Overall, was disappointed by this cruise. Boarding wasn't too bad for me - about 45 minutes (thanks, Intercruise!) but service on board was poor. Didn't even see the room attendant before dinner, the room wasn't set correctly, when he came and later on in the cruise, only responded after you greeted first and didn't smile. They just weren't cheerful like previous Celebrity cruises. MDR dining was also average, not to their usual standard... sommeliers took half an hour to come around then another 15 minutes before prompting a different sommelier. Oddly in line with the rest of charge related matters, the bill came very promptly though!

 

The cabin itself was tired and had a number of defects, and sleep was disrupted by them e.g. broken bed, poor comfort, it was cramped compared to other lines particularly for that grade. Came across other issues onboard, so it seems she’s needing a reno.

Compared to other lines, Celebrity's still good, but not as good as she was and can be, and there seemed to be real service issues onboard too. Basically seems to have lowered the bar from before, and increased the charges a lot!

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

I'm similar, was in a concierge class, but didn't get the robes or the wine. (Don't worry, you never miss much with the canapies!)

 

Wasn't happy with other elements of them coming up with charges. There were some others, but one major example was the 16.5% tax they added to purchases because we weren't sailing internationally.

 

Overall, was disappointed by this cruise. Boarding wasn't too bad for me - about 45 minutes (thanks, Intercruise!) but service on board was poor. Didn't even see the room attendant before dinner, the room wasn't set correctly, when he came and later on in the cruise, only responded after you greeted first and didn't smile. They just weren't cheerful like previous Celebrity cruises. MDR dining was also average, not to their usual standard... sommeliers took half an hour to come around then another 15 minutes before prompting a different sommelier. Oddly in line with the rest of charge related matters, the bill came very promptly though!

 

The cabin itself was tired and had a number of defects, and sleep was disrupted by them e.g. broken bed, poor comfort, it was cramped compared to other lines particularly for that grade. Came across other issues onboard, so it seems she’s needing a reno.

 

Compared to other lines, Celebrity's still good, but not as good as she was and can be, and there seemed to be real service issues onboard too. Basically seems to have lowered the bar from before, and increased the charges a lot!

 

To be honest I really don't think you can 'review' a ship in a 24 hour visit....

I'm thinking by what you are writing Big M that the crew weren't that impressed to have a one nighter.... it's a lot of extra work for them. I know you'll say it's their job, true, but to have a ship disembark and a full ship embark only for one night is a lot of extra work for them.

 

And I'll guarantee not many tipped for the one night either...

Jilly:)

[timtam2]

we LOVED the Solstice and can't wait for March when we are booked again.

 

We were in Concierge Class on Deck 10 - we had an issue at checkin as they could not find our seapass cards and he said he had to reprint them again ? he did also mention there was a big problem with the Deck 11 cards and this was one fo the reasons for the delays in boarding. We had joined the Q at 11.30 (our Xpress pass did not have a designated boarding time, on;ly 11.30 - 3.30) and we stepped onboard at 1.05pm - the priority Q for suite, Aqua, Concierge, Elite and select pax definitely did move faster than the general boarding Q, but was still a bot of a schmozz once inside the building - this definitely needs a bit of fine tuning.

 

The checkin/boarding was better organised than the VOS 1 nighter and having the porters and baggage collection available also made a big difference. Last time, the q was bulked up with people lugging enormous bags onboard as there was no baggage collection

 

We went straight to the Oceanview Cafe and it is beautiful - sparkly, shining, glossy and very very clean ( I had thought the VOS buffet to look a bit tired and tatty and compared to Solstice - well, it IS tired and tatty in looks and food). having been on Century, we were expecting a great variety of food and oh my, there certainly was and it was of excellent quality. The servers and waitstaff were extremely friendly and welcoming (as compared to the scared and dour looking crew on VOS)

 

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was ticked off about the 'oh sorry, no Concierge Class perks for YOU' attitude as it was only a one nighter. I fought this on principle - the nightly rate of the one nighter was higher than the nightly rate of some of the longer cruises and as these 'perks' are actually built into the cost of the cruise, we paid for it so we are entitled to it! I did have to make a follow up call and I eventually received a bottle of their best(?) Chilean chardonnay :p and a nice with compliments note.

 

Derryn Hinch was certainly Mr Everywhere last night as we ran into him twice also!

 

We particularly loved the Solarium - just beatiful and I can see us spending quite a bit of time there on our next cruise. Lovely chairs, lounges and cabanas to loll around in. We hopped into the jacuzzi for an extended spell and were chatting with various people and learned about the cabin dramas as experinced by Debsta - one woman I spoke to said that when she entered her cabin, she found people already in there, all unpacked. Guest relations said they had 'double booked' cabins and this porr woman was not going to be able to get a functioning seapass card until 9.30pm.

 

I was a little disappointed in the Persian Garden - I had loved that on Century, but Solstice's is a little smaller and the loungers are all grouped together, whereas on Century they were spaced apart, so were a little more private. The gym is very large, as is the Spa/beauty salon

 

The shops opened at 10 and it was busy but not the fiasco that happened on VOS - the range of perfume and cosmetics was definitely better on VOS adn I was not impressed either re the sales tax - not sure why Celebrity apply this and RCI did not?

 

The range of entertainment and activity options was great for a one nighter - they were straight into it with poolside games etc - VOS had not much going on in comparison. The shows were very popular and there was a comedian with 3 showtimes, but we got there too late for each session and it was full.

 

 

The dining room is very sophisticated looking but I found it a bit too dark _ I had trouble reading the menu - much prefer Century's 'traditional' dining room. But the food was great - I chose from the always available menu - shrimp cocktail, broiled salmon and a frozen yoghurt for dessert (I had eaten waaay too much at lunch) I saw the table swapping groups going on and I could see this was frustrating the crew, but they remained polite and patient throughout.

 

yes, there were bogans onboard, but as Debsta mentioned, the bars are spread out enough to dissipate their effect - this was the major problem on VOS - everything was concentrated into that Promenade area. All in all, the crowd behaved much better, and to me, were dressed up a bit more - didn't see any boardies and thongs in the dining room this time - ugh.

 

I did see and overhear one of the pursers staff talking to an older couple who were very the worse for wear. Apparently, security had highlighted this couple as troublemakers, and the staff member was telling him that as they were was being offensive and upsetting people, and for that reason,they were about to be 'escorted' to their cabin....

 

loved cafe Al Bacio - great coffe and if we had room for any more food we would've tried the Bistro. By about 12.30, we were exhausted, so we thought we'd jut have a little rest in one of the Solarium cabanas and promptly fell asleep for an hour!

 

we had breakfast in the buffet and stuffed ourselves silly again - I don't think I will be able to eat again until Friday now!!!

 

Love this ship - I have been on many ships and I think I can say this is the one that has impressed me the most - Chilean chardonnay aside!

[rkmw]

we LOVED the Solstice and can't wait for March when we are booked again.

 

We were in Concierge Class on Deck 10 - we had an issue at checkin as they could not find our seapass cards and he said he had to reprint them again ? he did also mention there was a big problem with the Deck 11 cards and this was one fo the reasons for the delays in boarding. We had joined the Q at 11.30 (our Xpress pass did not have a designated boarding time, on;ly 11.30 - 3.30) and we stepped onboard at 1.05pm - the priority Q for suite, Aqua, Concierge, Elite and select pax definitely did move faster than the general boarding Q, but was still a bot of a schmozz once inside the building - this definitely needs a bit of fine tuning.

 

The checkin/boarding was better organised than the VOS 1 nighter and having the porters and baggage collection available also made a big difference. Last time, the q was bulked up with people lugging enormous bags onboard as there was no baggage collection

 

We went straight to the Oceanview Cafe and it is beautiful - sparkly, shining, glossy and very very clean ( I had thought the VOS buffet to look a bit tired and tatty and compared to Solstice - well, it IS tired and tatty in looks and food). having been on Century, we were expecting a great variety of food and oh my, there certainly was and it was of excellent quality. The servers and waitstaff were extremely friendly and welcoming (as compared to the scared and dour looking crew on VOS)

 

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was ticked off about the 'oh sorry, no Concierge Class perks for YOU' attitude as it was only a one nighter. I fought this on principle - the nightly rate of the one nighter was higher than the nightly rate of some of the longer cruises and as these 'perks' are actually built into the cost of the cruise, we paid for it so we are entitled to it! I did have to make a follow up call and I eventually received a bottle of their best(?) Chilean chardonnay :p and a nice with compliments note.

 

Derryn Hinch was certainly Mr Everywhere last night as we ran into him twice also!

 

We particularly loved the Solarium - just beatiful and I can see us spending quite a bit of time there on our next cruise. Lovely chairs, lounges and cabanas to loll around in. We hopped into the jacuzzi for an extended spell and were chatting with various people and learned about the cabin dramas as experinced by Debsta - one woman I spoke to said that when she entered her cabin, she found people already in there, all unpacked. Guest relations said they had 'double booked' cabins and this porr woman was not going to be able to get a functioning seapass card until 9.30pm.

 

I was a little disappointed in the Persian Garden - I had loved that on Century, but Solstice's is a little smaller and the loungers are all grouped together, whereas on Century they were spaced apart, so were a little more private. The gym is very large, as is the Spa/beauty salon

 

The shops opened at 10 and it was busy but not the fiasco that happened on VOS - the range of perfume and cosmetics was definitely better on VOS adn I was not impressed either re the sales tax - not sure why Celebrity apply this and RCI did not?

 

The range of entertainment and activity options was great for a one nighter - they were straight into it with poolside games etc - VOS had not much going on in comparison. The shows were very popular and there was a comedian with 3 showtimes, but we got there too late for each session and it was full.

 

 

The dining room is very sophisticated looking but I found it a bit too dark _ I had trouble reading the menu - much prefer Century's 'traditional' dining room. But the food was great - I chose from the always available menu - shrimp cocktail, broiled salmon and a frozen yoghurt for dessert (I had eaten waaay too much at lunch) I saw the table swapping groups going on and I could see this was frustrating the crew, but they remained polite and patient throughout.

 

yes, there were bogans onboard, but as Debsta mentioned, the bars are spread out enough to dissipate their effect - this was the major problem on VOS - everything was concentrated into that Promenade area. All in all, the crowd behaved much better, and to me, were dressed up a bit more - didn't see any boardies and thongs in the dining room this time - ugh.

 

I did see and overhear one of the pursers staff talking to an older couple who were very the worse for wear. Apparently, security had highlighted this couple as troublemakers, and the staff member was telling him that as they were was being offensive and upsetting people, and for that reason,they were about to be 'escorted' to their cabin....

 

loved cafe Al Bacio - great coffe and if we had room for any more food we would've tried the Bistro. By about 12.30, we were exhausted, so we thought we'd jut have a little rest in one of the Solarium cabanas and promptly fell asleep for an hour!

 

we had breakfast in the buffet and stuffed ourselves silly again - I don't think I will be able to eat again until Friday now!!!

 

Love this ship - I have been on many ships and I think I can say this is the one that has impressed me the most - Chilean chardonnay aside!

 

glad you liked the Solstice but why would they need baggage porters for a one night cruise, surely people would only need a change of clothes which would fit in a small carry on bag that they could take on them selves

[Aussieflyer]

We had (DD & I) had a similar experience regarding the amenities - we were in AQ. I don't think any of the advertised amenities were there (except the shower) - no robes (but did not notice till this morning), no shower gel, lip balm etc, when they did turndown they took DD's wet towel but did not replace it, but again did not notice till too late, no water or tea. And can anyone explain why the minibar was locked???

I had a letter to someone else in the door. I mentioned it to staff but it stayed there and was never removed.

The ship was lovely and I agree with Debsta that the bogan element was pretty well concealed though I did see people with glass beer bottles in the hot tubs. I thought this was not allowed???

Blu had good food and service was pretty good though they were very slow seating people for dinner when it was not overly busy. It seemed many wanted to be near the windows so they were relaying tables and we had to wait.

They obviously have adjusted the menus for Australia. On other Celebrity ships I have had a price for coffee and then the 15% is added when the bill comes. On this cruise the amount on the menu had the 15% (and then some?)already rolled in. For a latte and a skim cap it was over $10.00. I am sure that on other ships I have only paid about $9.

A major annoyance was when I donned the bathers and went to the Persian Garden to relax, the spa staff suddenly started to bring in people on guided tours (who also took photos). I met a couple of travel agents in there as well and they were really annoyed by this. If there were to be guided tours they could have closed the area for a time (with a large sign to let those who wanted to use the area know) rather than having people traipsing in and out.

The AQ bathroom was great though the cabin itself was a little tired - the wardrobe door rattled continually all night which was a pain, but I could not be bothered working out a way to wedge it closed.

The cabin attendant was probably run off his feet but he was conspicuous in his absence - never came near me, except he called to me from a few cabins down that he would bring canapés. I forgot we had the Do not Disturb sign on the door so he probably went away again.

I am looking forward to the longer cruise - hopefully the bugs will be ironed out by then.

[timtam2]

I think they put the baggage poerters on because they realised, just like with VOS, quite a lot of pax had booked the one nighter AND the following cruise.

 

yes, the mini bars were all locked and we realised this morning they didn't give us the hairdryer either!

 

The other thing that was missing was the ice for the ice bucket - we got the bucket and the glasses but no ice - a lot of people we spoke to were annoyed about that as they had brought their wine onboard with them

 

Our cabin was great - everything worked fine and was well maintained but we did have to ask for soap! maybe they thought the one nighter pax were the 'great unwashed' and would steal everything they could lay their hands on!!!!

[Aussieflyer]

I think they put the baggage poerters on because they realised, just like with VOS, quite a lot of pax had booked the one nighter AND the following cruise.

We had only a carry-on each but left it at baggage drop so that we did not have to carry it round if the cabins were not ready

 

yes, the mini bars were all locked and we realised this morning they didn't give us the hairdryer either!

We had the hairdryer - it was in the cupboard above the locked minibar, not in the drawer where usually found.

 

 

Our cabin was great - everything worked fine and was well maintained but we did have to ask for soap! maybe they thought the one nighter pax were the 'great unwashed' and would steal everything they could lay their hands on!!!!

LOL - no soap??? A bit poor. Obviously things got overlooked in the rush to prepare cabins.

 

What we did get, though, was a very long, somewhat rambling message on the phone from the Captain's Club hostess saying that as it was only a one-nighter there would not be a function but rest assured that I would still receive credit points for the cruise. I would certainly hope so - as timtam (?) or was it someone else (sorry) pointed out, the cost per night was more than for longer cruises - come to think of it the cost was double per night to what our next one is.

[NukeIT]

Awesome photos of the ship... Can't wait to board her in April for my TransPacific cruise....