I miss HAL's Rotterdam, SOLSTICE is a huge Disappointment

[LGW59]

42 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

i guess I don’t count repositioning cruises.  Many of were hooked on the 14 day Caribbean itineraries in the winter.   

Ahh ok, that makes sense.

[Denny01]

Always good to see posts on issues, but after 3 days of many many negatives with one or two positives, it reminds me of an article I just read “If you Focus on Problems, You’ll find More Problems”. I remember one poster who took photos of worn carpets and rust stains…..got it.

 

Personally, Ive enjoyed all cruises Ive been on, maybe not the 2N Carnival!, and identified some issues, but I don’t ever plan on spending days posting while on cruise what I find negative and how much more I like another ship. Kind of sets me up especially when comparing to another ship, isnt really of much help to others. 

 

And before someone posts, yes, I dont have to read this thread. But just call me MothMan….I get drawn to the flames, well flamings!

 

Was on Solstice early July. The ship is in good shape, but Im not someone who looks for or even ‘sees’ worn carpets, furniture and the like. Excellent service; great dining. But Solstice is doing Alaska which is very port-intensive and not sure I focus too much on the ship being perfect.

 

den

[dlh015]

Personally (the key word I suppose) I would never be posting while I'm actually on a cruise...unless it was some sort of emergency I suppose.

 

And I *definitely* wouldn't be posting/following a thread like this! My goodness, I'm there to have a good time...not do battle with loyalists/detractors. I'd rather have my mind and emotions firmly tethered to "how will I be having fun today??"

 

But I get it...it's again a personal (that word again) thing and is indeed fun for many of ya. The ol' different strokes, etc. I guess. So have at it! I don't have a horse in this race...

[laslomas]

1 hour ago, LGW59 said:

They have not been eliminated, or if they were, they forgot to tell me.  I am on a 14 nighter on Oct. 24

 

There are not many 14 nighters on Celebrity now, mainly the repositioning. For 2023 there are only 10 x 14 nighters in the whole year and another 8 longer than that. For anyone looking for 2 weeks plus holiday there is not much choice. HAL certainly offer some longer itineraries.

[bEwAbG]

X has been cutting back on the number of longer cruises for several years.  Post-pandemic, it makes even more sense that they have very few scheduled considering length of cruise was one of those things that was being scaled back due to COVID.  Also, the longer HAL cruises are often segments that can be booked independently.

 

HAL and X are very similar overall.  I think HAL does a lot of things better than X (food, service, entertainment), but X has pluses (especially in suite class) that HAL can't touch.  I find the sailing demographics to be similar, too, depending on port and time of year.  

 

The only disagreement I have with OP is the comment on smoking.  Very unusual for smoking to be worse on a Celebrity ship than HAL, in my experience, especially once you know where the smoking areas are.

[sbcs5390]

To me doing a B2B or two is more fun than a long cruise, it's a special feeling to get to stay onboard, not pack up that "last" night, enjoy a nearly-empty ship for a few hours, etc. 

[canderson]

10 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

The only disagreement I have with OP is the comment on smoking.  Very unusual for smoking to be worse on a Celebrity ship than HAL, in my experience, especially once you know where the smoking areas are.

My first thought when I read post #1 was "Is the OP posting in the right forum?"  Too many smoking areas?

 

Each X ship has 3 areas that run about 10x25 or 30' in size.  Given the square footage of public space aboard, and given that the 3 spaces are all outdoors and easily avoidable...

[the penguins]

9 minutes ago, sbcs5390 said:

To me doing a B2B or two is more fun than a long cruise, it's a special feeling to get to stay onboard, not pack up that "last" night, enjoy a nearly-empty ship for a few hours, etc. 

Totally agree - we did 5x b2b on Solstice a magical 60 days from Auckland to Seattle.

[abbydancer2003]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Question about your casino comment.  Are you saying you can't load casino $ from your account on the machine itself and then cash out. I can do that on Summit but I know it varies by ship. I was hoping to have that option as alot of obc on an upcoming Solstice cruise

I can sort of answer this.  Some ships, including the Eclipse, (I'm guessing the ships that haven't been revolutionized) they have an older system, where you can't load directly to the machine, but have to go to the cage and have them load a ticket (for lack of a better term).  This can only be in even multiples of 50.00.  You put the ticket into the machine, play and when you cash out, you get a new ticket for whatever is there (more, less whatever).  You can then play a different machine or take to the cage for cash.  

 

I don't understand what they mean by you can only cash out winnings.   One of my friends did say that he had to play all he put in, but he used OBC to buy promotional credits. (55.00 worth of credit for 50.00) - I think he had to play it all but I never did understand what he ended up with, as it was a lot of back and forth emails.

[PTC DAWG]

Does HAL allow smoking inside the ship anywhere? If so, full stop on the Celebrity and too much smoking comments.  

Edited September 27, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[Ken the cruiser]

50 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

HAL and X are very similar overall.  I think HAL does a lot of things better than X (food, service, entertainment), but X has pluses (especially in suite class) that HAL can't touch. 

You definitely perked my interests when you mentioned HAL offers better entertainment than X. This is one big reason we stopped cruising with HAL over 6 years ago. Besides the Music Walk, which is made up of lounges which offer various music venues, what type of entertainment does HAL offer across the fleet in the evening and on sea days on cruises say longer than 10 days?

[Ipeeinthepools]

53 minutes ago, sbcs5390 said:

To me doing a B2B or two is more fun than a long cruise, it's a special feeling to get to stay onboard, not pack up that "last" night, enjoy a nearly-empty ship for a few hours, etc. 

 

That’s certainly nice but you waste a couple days each trip going back to the home port that could be better spent visiting another destination.   Turnaround day is a wasted day with many services shutdown for a part of the day.  After 1 or 2 B2Bs, turnaround day gets really old for me

[bEwAbG]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

You definitely perked my interests when you mentioned HAL offers better entertainment than X. This is one big reason we stopped cruising with HAL over 6 years ago. Besides the Music Walk, which is made up of lounges which offer various music venues, what type of entertainment does HAL offer across the fleet in the evening and on sea days on cruises say longer than 10 days?

 

The Music Walk is what I'm referencing, but of course, like anything, this is a matter of opinion.  Celebrity's production shows are not very good, in my opinion.  One and done at most, and I find them to be consistently lacking in quality execution.

[prmssk]

8 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

That’s certainly nice but you waste a couple days each trip going back to the home port that could be better spent visiting another destination.   Turnaround day is a wasted day with many services shutdown for a part of the day.  After 1 or 2 B2Bs, turnaround day gets really old for me

I've only done 1 turnaround day and this is what I felt about it - a wasted day and the quiet of the ship really didn't last all that long.  We have another B2B booked because there were other things we liked about the cruises but if I have a choice over a B2B or a longer cruise, I will pick the longer cruise each time.

[PTC DAWG]

24 minutes ago, prmssk said:

I've only done 1 turnaround day and this is what I felt about it - a wasted day and the quiet of the ship really didn't last all that long.  We have another B2B booked because there were other things we liked about the cruises but if I have a choice over a B2B or a longer cruise, I will pick the longer cruise each time.

I understand this sentiment.  Just checked 125 cruises of 10 plus days showing on Celebrity website for 2023. The 18 day Australia to Hawaii looks pretty sweet. IF ONLY. 

[NMTraveller]

I just read another review where another OP sailed on Celebrity, HAL, and Princess to Alaska.  HAL won that one also.  It does not surprise me that HAL or Princess won due to the itinerary.  It did surprise me that the OP gave higher marks in restaurants and food to HAL.  Perhaps it is time again for me to try a HAL cruise.

Edited September 28, 2022 by NMTraveller

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I just read another review where another OP sailed on Celebrity, HAL, and Princess to Alaska.  HAL won that one also.  It does not surprise me that HAL or Princess won due to the itinerary.  It did surprise me that the OP gave higher marks in restaurants and food to HAL.  Perhaps it is time again for me to try a HAL cruise.

We have cruised both. The smaller HAL ships were perfect for some itineraries for example Rio Carnival followed by the Amazon. However for us HAL has a number of major disadvantages over X.

1) we don't drink alcohol so a great coffee shop is essential. HAL's are fine during the day as long as you don't mind the long wait for service. However at night it resembles a morgue, no atmosphere and the food is not replenished after 8.0pm. The Al Bacio has full service and food from around 8.0 am to 11.00pm

2) on the newer ships a lot (most?) have showers over the bath not shower cubicles. This makes it very difficult for anyone with mobility issues.

3) staff, we find the mix on nationalities on X makes for a more friendly, relaxed experience and there is certainly more "humour" compared to more formal style on HAL.

[wineoclock]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I just read another review where another OP sailed on Celebrity, HAL, and Princess to Alaska.  HAL won that one also.  It does not surprise me that HAL or Princess won due to the itinerary.  It did surprise me that the OP gave higher marks in restaurants and food to HAL.  Perhaps it is time again for me to try a HAL cruise.

When we were looking to book our Norway cruise HAL definitely had the better itinerary but decided to stick with X purely because of other reviews & the indoor smoking. Also a friend has been on HAL & was never again! She said to stick with X. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

A question for those experienced cruisers that have sailed HAL,  Can the TA’s offer group rates on HAL similar to the group rates that are often available on Celebrity?  If so, how much of an additional savings should I expect?  Can you expect additional OBC from the TA’s when daily on HAL?

 

TIA

[SunNFunCruzer]

Solstice update: the internet has been terrible. Even Premium. Impossible to work yesterday in Puerto Vallarta, had to use mobile data. Even now, early morning, it took over an hour of attempts to get stable enough just to post this and load CNN.

 

Also, at the ramp threshold last evening at the back of deck 14 (Ocean view cafe) we heard a commotion and saw a man in his 70's almost face plant as he tripped coming outside. Then we saw a younger woman stumble at the same place. I stand by my assessment that this ship probably has a higher accident rate.

 

Oh, and as the sea's swells increase, the ship's creaks are LOUD.

 

Positives: the bartenders @ the Martini Bar are putting on quite a show. Very talented.

 

There are large wooden deck chairs on the outdoor deck below the lifeboats, I believe deck 5. It does not fully wrap around the ship, but newer ships are just adding a few stationary benches, so having movable deck chairs lower down and outdoors is nice (although its HOT).

 

Negative: 

It has been very HOT and difficult to enjoy the outdoors. They really need to fix the hot pool water problem, at times even the cold water in the shower is warm. It's been hard to catch a break from the heat.

 

Our thoughts are with those in Ian's path.

 

[SunNFunCruzer]

I forgot to add in post 106, every in room TV news channel is either frozen or saying "no signal" as we're docked in Cabo, so cellular data is the only reliable way to communicate.

[dlh015]

10 minutes ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

I forgot to add in post 106, every in room TV news channel is either frozen or saying "no signal" as we're docked in Cabo, so cellular data is the only reliable way to communicate.

Your posts beg the question:

 

Have you found anything at all positive about the Solstice??

 

Perhaps I missed them in the previous posts...

[Ferry_Watcher]

3 hours ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

Negative: 

It has been very HOT and difficult to enjoy the outdoors. They really need to fix the hot pool water problem, at times even the cold water in the shower is warm. It's been hard to catch a break from the heat.

Generally speaking, most people would want warmer water in their shower rather than cool or cold water.  Same with pool water.

Sorry you are not enjoying your cruise.  The warm/hot weather is not under Celebrity's control, so I am not sure why you have it listed under 'Negative' when you are talking about the ship. You are sailing in Mexico in September, so I am not sure what you expected for weather.   

[MarkWiltonM]

On 9/25/2022 at 7:56 PM, deliver42 said:

I love when someone compares the newest ship on one line with an older ship on another. My suggestion would be enjoy your HAL. I'll stick to Celebrity.

 

Not sure this is fair unless the older ship is less expensive compared to the newer ship. Plus, some people like older ships better (such as Celebrity's Millennium-class ships) and dislike new ships for various reasons (cf., Celebrity's Edge-class ships and their notorious sliding windows pretending to be verandas). 

 

We sailed on both Equinox (third time) and Rotterdam recently. We enjoyed both, but Equinox looked pretty dowdy in comparison, especially in the stateroom. Celebrity didn't give Equinox the same level of refurbishment as with some other Solstice-class ships, including Silhouette, which we sailed on prior to our last Equinox cruise and which was sparkling.

 

As for price, our cruise on the brand-new Rotterdam was significantly less expensive than our cruise on Equinox (both were Caribbean cruises with similar itineraries and similarly sized veranda staterooms). That said, the food and service in the MDR on Equinox was better than on Rotterdam, but the buffet on Rotterdam was MUCH BETTER than on Equinox. Nami Sushi on Rotterdam was also very good while the sushi restaurant on Equinox was scary-bad (us being the only ones there should have been a clue--never again).

 

We are currently booked for an Edge-class ship for the first time but snagged a Sunset Veranda because my spouse will not tolerate the sliding-glass window grandiosely and ambitiously referred to as an "infinite" veranda.

 

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I appreciate you sharing your experience; I’ll be going on the Solstice in the spring after a very mediocre experience on Celebrity a few years ago so understand your food rating. Hope the rest of your cruise improves!