Pros or Cons about the Solstice

[LaCal]

It’ll be our first Celebrity cruise on the Solstice in 2023

 

Any  pros or cons you can share? 
 

Ive read the Solstice was due for a refurb but it was put off due to Covid….Any ideas when it might get done? 
 

Best Specialty Restaurants?  We upgraded to a suite so plan on dining mainly at Luminae but would like to try 1-2 specialty restaurants 

 

Hows the casino onboard? 
 

Thanks for any input 

[Guindalf]

Following. We're in a Sky Suite on the Jan 28th sailing.

[keesar]

14 minutes ago, LaCal said:

It’ll be our first Celebrity cruise on the Solstice in 2023

 

Any  pros or cons you can share? 
 

Ive read the Solstice was due for a refurb but it was put off due to Covid….Any ideas when it might get done? 
 

Best Specialty Restaurants?  We upgraded to a suite so plan on dining mainly at Luminae but would like to try 1-2 specialty restaurants 

 

Hows the casino onboard? 
 

Thanks for any input 

 

Our room was showing signs of age.  Tired look and some minor repairs needed.  However, the common areas were just fine.  

 

Our favorite Specialty  restaurant by far was Murano.  Outstanding food and service.  They also offer a lunch option there on a sea day.  We have done both lunch and dinner. Both were excellent.

[LaCal]

38 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

Our room was showing signs of age.  Tired look and some minor repairs needed.  However, the common areas were just fine.  

 

Our favorite Specialty  restaurant by far was Murano.  Outstanding food and service.  They also offer a lunch option there on a sea day.  We have done both lunch and dinner. Both were excellent.

How much was it to have lunch there?   That sounds like a good idea. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I’d love to know the pros and cons, too. 

[ela123]

I was on the Solstice just before covid hit. I thought it was a great S class ship. No lawn club or porch like the Silhouette but we loved it. Great sunset bar and ensemble lounge. 

[kwokpot]

11 minutes ago, ela123 said:

I was on the Solstice just before covid hit. I thought it was a great S class ship. No lawn club or porch like the Silhouette but we loved it. Great sunset bar and ensemble lounge. 

What do you mean by no Lawn Club?

[jelayne]

Lawn club is a restaurant on the Silhouette and Reflection.  That space on the Eclipse, Equinox and Solstice houses a Hot Glass studio.  Interesting to watch them work and even more fun to experience it and make a glass object of your own.

[kwokpot]

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Lawn club is a restaurant on the Silhouette and Reflection.  That space on the Eclipse, Equinox and Solstice houses a Hot Glass studio.  Interesting to watch them work and even more fun to experience it and make a glass object of your own.

The Lawn Club Grill is the Restaurant. The Lawn Club is the whole Grassy area which is still intact on the Solstice. 

[mauimary]

We were just on the Solstice in mid June.  She is still a very lovely and beautiful ship. Yes there are some worn carpet in places but by no means does it effect this wonderful ship. We were in an Aft Sky Suite and by no means did it look tired.  The Staff is wonderful.  
 

Now you cannot compare it with the E Class shiny new ships with all their bells and whistles.   

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, ela123 said:

I was on the Solstice just before covid hit. ........

 

I wonder if we were on the same sailing.  We boarded on March 10, 2020 and left the ship on March 20, 2020, which was the day the global suspension of cruising was implemented.  Was going to be a B2B2B2B, but we know how that ended.  

 

In any event, a few days before March 20, 2020 the remaining Zenith members of the Captain's Club (the three New Zealanders left in Dunedin as it was becoming clear that NZ was closing their border) had lunch with the hotel director, cruise director and several other senior stripes in Murano.  At the time some folks were of the opinion that the global suspension would be 30 days (Remember how confusing the situation was at the time?).  The hotel director had great plans for those proposed 30 days with no passengers on board.  The staff and crew were going to clean everything, carpets and upholstered goods were going to be shampooed, carpet was going to be delivered in Sydney and some of the public areas were going to re-carpeted.  And so forth and so forth.

 

We boarded the Solstice on June 17th and spent two weeks onboard.  The ship is extremely clean and upholstered chairs and so forth are very fresh.  We were in a Suite and while the decor was dated everything worked flawlessly.  And again, was so clean.

 

Our favorite specialty restaurant is also Murano.  Tuscan isn't a particular favorite for us, although there are some menu items we enjoy.  We also do enjoy lunch at Sushi on Five.

[harbormaster]

We returned from Solstice Alaska a week ago. The ship is in decent shape for a ship of her age. It was clean and staff for the most part was friendly. We had issues with the cabin. We had a Concierge class.   There are only two plugs in the entire cabin, at the desk by the balcony. You have to carry the hair dryer out there to use it.  They will confiscate an extension cord or multiplug. Wifi was non existent and it was almost impossible to do any business unless in port.  The distance between the foot of the bed and wall is very narrow. Two people cannot fit. The bathroom is small but does have storage. The closet is set sideways next to the bed which makes it awkward spacewise to get into it. Our refrigerator did not work. Our steward was less than adequate. We ran out of toilet paper, kleenex and had to ask three times for water. You will be charged for the Evian water on the bureau and for everything in the minibar, even soda, even if you have a drinks package. 
Our main issue was the food. We loved Celebrity food in the past.  They have gone to cheap cuts,  fewer options and we had trouble finding any entree to eat three nights.  Murano dinner first night was great. Tuscan grill the last night was dreadful. Cold entrees, except steak, which was all overcooked well done when ordered rare.  We avoided the buffets after seeing people put their hands in the salad bowl. 
There is no large gathering area except the Observation Lounge which often was packed with people during trivia, which chronically ran long into dinner hour, affecting cocktail time with no seating. 
Entertainment was good. We were interrupted every night at dinner by the photographer. 
We did not like Solstice. We may try Beyond eventually, but will not return to Solstice. 

[keesar]

15 hours ago, LaCal said:

How much was it to have lunch there?   That sounds like a good idea. 

 

The cost was $25 per person.  The menu was limited.  You had a choice of appetizer, lunch entree, and dessert.  It was relaxing with few cruisers having lunch.  

[LaCal]

4 hours ago, keesar said:

 

The cost was $25 per person.  The menu was limited.  You had a choice of appetizer, lunch entree, and dessert.  It was relaxing with few cruisers having lunch.  

Thanks we’re going to have lunch there at least once 

[CU64]

18 hours ago, harbormaster said:

We returned from Solstice Alaska a week ago. The ship is in decent shape for a ship of her age. It was clean and staff for the most part was friendly. We had issues with the cabin. We had a Concierge class.   There are only two plugs in the entire cabin, at the desk by the balcony. You have to carry the hair dryer out there to use it.  They will confiscate an extension cord or multiplug. Wifi was non existent and it was almost impossible to do any business unless in port.  The distance between the foot of the bed and wall is very narrow. Two people cannot fit. The bathroom is small but does have storage. The closet is set sideways next to the bed which makes it awkward spacewise to get into it. Our refrigerator did not work. Our steward was less than adequate. We ran out of toilet paper, kleenex and had to ask three times for water. You will be charged for the Evian water on the bureau and for everything in the minibar, even soda, even if you have a drinks package. 
Our main issue was the food. We loved Celebrity food in the past.  They have gone to cheap cuts,  fewer options and we had trouble finding any entree to eat three nights.  Murano dinner first night was great. Tuscan grill the last night was dreadful. Cold entrees, except steak, which was all overcooked well done when ordered rare.  We avoided the buffets after seeing people put their hands in the salad bowl. 
There is no large gathering area except the Observation Lounge which often was packed with people during trivia, which chronically ran long into dinner hour, affecting cocktail time with no seating. 
Entertainment was good. We were interrupted every night at dinner by the photographer. 
We did not like Solstice. We may try Beyond eventually, but will not return to Solstice. 

You sound like the complainers over on Princess. It is known that it needs the revolution, or updating. Sorry you were so miserable. Perhaps waiting a year to travel to Alaska would have been smart. 

[kwokpot]

18 hours ago, harbormaster said:

There is no large gathering area except the Observation Lounge which often was packed with people during trivia, which chronically ran long into dinner hour, affecting cocktail time with no seating. 

I'm not sure what you're looking for with this comment. That's the S-Class design in general, so it would apply to every S-Class ship. What about Quasar? 

[CU64]

The bed by the closet is not ideal, …a tight fight to use. I had this once in Aqua class traveling in Europe. Now I make certain the bed is by the balcony. It pays to do your research before going on any cruise, then you are less likely to be disappointed.

[Northern Aurora]

19 hours ago, harbormaster said:

....... You will be charged for the Evian water on the bureau and for everything in the minibar, even soda, even if you have a drinks package. 
....

 

Always interesting to read the different reactions to the same ship.

 

Regarding the mini-bar -- contents of the mini-bar have never been covered by beverage packages.  While we've had butlers tell us to consume contents of the mini-bar and they will just restock, the Celebrity policy  is that beverage packages do not include the contents of mini-bars.   

 

And our OP asked about the casino.  We don't gamble but I will note that Celebrity casinos are non-smoking.

[mahdnc]

2 of our last 3 cruises have been on Solstice although they were pre-pandemic.  I like Solstice very much.  As mentioned previously, Solstice does not have the Lawn Club Grill nor the Porch specialty restaurants.  In their place, it has the Hot Glass show.  To me that is the most significant difference between Solstice and Silhouette/Reflection--a pro or con depending on your point of view.

 

As far as the casino is concerned, it is the standard casino that you will find on all the S-class ships.  The usual table games and plenty of slot machines.  We've always enjoyed it (except for the 6:5 payout for a natural at the lower minimum tables).

 

Frivolity at the $5 Blackjack Table, Fortunes Casino, Solstice, Jan 1 2020, Middle of the Tasman Sea.

[CU64]

Harbor master.

Solstice is not in same cruising category as Oceania regarding food…..as you well know….nor is the price tag even close.

[ccqueenanne]

We really enjoyed Solstice a couple of weeks ago, and didn't find the ship in bad condition. Yes, there were only the two desk outlets, but we knew in advance and packed extension cords, which worked fine. We enjoyed the food and thought it a step up from Princess, especially the buffet which we didn't care for on Discovery and quite enjoyed on Solstice. We found the temperature in Murano unpleasantly warm, which put a bit of a damper on the meal there. Staff were friendly throughout the ship. I wouldn't hesitate to sail her again.