Solstice Review - Mexico - Nov 5 - 12th

[rmalbers]

I think that you have X pretty much figured out.  The rough seas you can never really avoid but all the other comments you made pretty much fit what X is all about. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 hours ago, apierson23 said:

The people we talked to were all across the board.  Some people loved the stuff to do the boat but in general most the people we talked to that were under 50 thought the boat was pretty dull with almost no fun activities or events.  The staff was very nice and some of the most friendly I've experienced but it was just such a snooze fest that it was tough to overcome from our perspective.  I'd say this is our one and only time with Celebrity and we will concentrate on RC ships since we thought Carnival was too crazy for our taste.  Nice thing is there is a cruise company for everyone - just got to try the all.

 

It's very true, if you don't want to get drunk or read a book, you have to make your own entertainment for most of the day.  Archery can be slotted for 45mins (which is fairly boring to watch hence why it's rarely attended) can be over in 10mins.

[blackshirt]

Please don’t refer to any cruise ship as a boat, no matter how small you feel it is. 

[briguy1314]

Thanks for the review! A shame about the weather. We had a bad storm last week (well bad for so cal!) that probably contributed a tad to the seas. Usually that first day out and last day back are gloomy…

Having sailed many lines myself, I find we gravitate to celebrity due to the service and food. Pretty low key and don’t need a ton of scheduled activities so this line fits right in. But I can see how the larger ships can offer more….but after Oasis of the seas I said never again to a mega ship! 🙂

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

34 minutes ago, blackshirt said:

Please don’t refer to any cruise ship as a boat, no matter how small you feel it is. 

Isn’t exclusive to noobs or even passengers, both seasoned cruisers and the crew may call it a boat.  Someone saying that doesn’t bother me, though

[gold1953]

8 hours ago, briguy1314 said:

Thanks for the review! A shame about the weather. We had a bad storm last week (well bad for so cal!) that probably contributed a tad to the seas. Usually that first day out and last day back are gloomy…

Having sailed many lines myself, I find we gravitate to celebrity due to the service and food. Pretty low key and don’t need a ton of scheduled activities so this line fits right in. But I can see how the larger ships can offer more….but after Oasis of the seas I said never again to a mega ship! 🙂

 

We tried Oasis after Celebrity and never again!   DH called it a dam boat on day 3. The list of negatives was very long for us.

[mahdnc]

Thanks for writing your reviews, @apierson23 and @ChampagneandFanfare

[kayehall]

19 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I 100% agree and I didn't want to sound like I was bashing people older them myself.  I'm almost 50 and go to bed at 9:30 every night so I'm no spring chicken.  We met a great bunch of people of all ages on Celebrity but I think it's evident that it is geared towards the older crowd.  I don't particularly enjoy Carnival because there are too many kids and younger party crowd and Celebrity seemed to go the other way a bit too much for my taste.  I think Royal does a good job of hitting the mark between these two sides from my limited experience.

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

[kayehall]

19 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I 100% agree and I didn't want to sound like I was bashing people older them myself.  I'm almost 50 and go to bed at 9:30 every night so I'm no spring chicken.  We met a great bunch of people of all ages on Celebrity but I think it's evident that it is geared towards the older crowd.  I don't particularly enjoy Carnival because there are too many kids and younger party crowd and Celebrity seemed to go the other way a bit too much for my taste.  I think Royal does a good job of hitting the mark between these two sides from my limited experience.

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

[kayehall]

19 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I 100% agree and I didn't want to sound like I was bashing people older them myself.  I'm almost 50 and go to bed at 9:30 every night so I'm no spring chicken.  We met a great bunch of people of all ages on Celebrity but I think it's evident that it is geared towards the older crowd.  I don't particularly enjoy Carnival because there are too many kids and younger party crowd and Celebrity seemed to go the other way a bit too much for my taste.  I think Royal does a good job of hitting the mark between these two sides from my limited experience.

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

[kayehall]

19 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I 100% agree and I didn't want to sound like I was bashing people older them myself.  I'm almost 50 and go to bed at 9:30 every night so I'm no spring chicken.  We met a great bunch of people of all ages on Celebrity but I think it's evident that it is geared towards the older crowd.  I don't particularly enjoy Carnival because there are too many kids and younger party crowd and Celebrity seemed to go the other way a bit too much for my taste.  I think Royal does a good job of hitting the mark between these two sides from my limited experience.

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thanks for the review. We are doing this cruise in March but we don’t go to Ensenada, it’s Mazatlan instead. Interesting you found Solstice to be small. We think it’s the perfect size. But that’s what’s great about cruising, there’s usually something for everyone. Thanks for the heads-up on the time changes.
Glad you enjoyed the food!   

[apierson23]

38 minutes ago, kayehall said:

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

You can say that again 🙂 

[Cruise a holic]

52 minutes ago, kayehall said:

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

I do not think RCCL is trying to compete with Carnival.  Carnival is a cheesy cruise line , Royal much more upscale.  I think both Celebrity and RCCL attract all age groups and if you want variety, you can find it for all.  RCCL is a great cruise for multigenerational families.  Celebrity also has amenities for kids.  The no smoking policy and limited announcement policies are great on celebrity. Royal has more bells and whistles for the young!

Edited November 16, 2022 by Cruise a holic

[kayehall]

19 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I 100% agree and I didn't want to sound like I was bashing people older them myself.  I'm almost 50 and go to bed at 9:30 every night so I'm no spring chicken.  We met a great bunch of people of all ages on Celebrity but I think it's evident that it is geared towards the older crowd.  I don't particularly enjoy Carnival because there are too many kids and younger party crowd and Celebrity seemed to go the other way a bit too much for my taste.  I think Royal does a good job of hitting the mark between these two sides from my limited experience.

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

[kwokpot]

13 minutes ago, kayehall said:

To me, it looks like RCCL is becoming like or trying to compete with Carnival.  Their new ship coming out in 2 years, looks very geared toward family with kids.  Maybe try Celebrity again doing Caribbean on Reflection or Silhouette.  We enjoyed these 2 ships and the "vibe" on the cruise.

The OP's issue with Celebrity isn't just the vibe but the whole premise of a Celebrity cruise vacation. A Celebrity cruise isn't for someone that's looking for lots of things to do and lots of energy and excitement, that's just not what a Celebrity cruise is. That's neither good or bad, right or wrong, but it is what a Celebrity cruise is. The OP's experience on the Solstice is EXACTLY what it will be on all Celebrity cruises.

 

[PTC DAWG]

A half empty ship has a different vibe for sure.  I went on the Equinox 2nd sailing back with around 1000 passengers..totally different feel than my cruises as of late.

 

Sorry your Wife got sick…that sours things for sure.  
 

How was the Sunset Bar?  My favorite hangout on Celebrity in the daytime. 
 

No mention of the Martini Bar? 
 

Silent Disco is always a hit with folks that like to party it up a bit.  Did they have that? 

[apierson23]

30 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

A half empty ship has a different vibe for sure.  I went on the Equinox 2nd sailing back with around 1000 passengers..totally different feel than my cruises as of late.

 

Sorry your Wife got sick…that sours things for sure.  
 

How was the Sunset Bar?  My favorite hangout on Celebrity in the daytime. 
 

No mention of the Martini Bar? 
 

Silent Disco is always a hit with folks that like to party it up a bit.  Did they have that? 

We did go to the Sunset Bar for a couple trivia contests and it has a nice vibe but in general people were using it for playing cards during the day and just chilling.  I never am able to stay up past 10:00 so all the after hours stuff is wasted on me including the silent disco or after hours pool party.  The Martini Bar had a few people at in and there was some ice bar that looked cool (pun intended) but in general they just looked kind of glitzy and sublime the few times I walked past after dinner.  I wasn't too upset about the night time events since I love going to a long dinner and then a show and then bed - it was the daytime activities especially by the pool that felt very lacking. 

[PTC DAWG]

No DJ during the day by the pool at times?  
 

I’m 59, just hitting my stride at 10 PM.  🙂

 

I sort of see your point about Royal for day time shenanigans,  I found the music by the pool on Allure to be non existent during the day. 
 

Honestly, you might really enjoy NCL…I like them when I cruise with my Son and Daughter in Law..they are 30. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[Jim_Iain]

Enjoyed reading your review.   S-Class ships are my favorites in the Celebrity Fleet.   If the OP thinks Solstice is small they should definitely stay away from the M-Class which are even smaller.

 

I respect your opinion would suggest that possibly Celebrity is not the cruise line for you.  I on the other hand love all their ships and can't imaging the MegaShips of RCL and Carnival.   We sail about 3 months out of the year and have never been bored but don't want or expect solid activities, roller coaster, slides etc etc.  

 

The beautiful thing about cruising is the choices are out there for almost all tastes. 

[fatewemake]

5 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

 

Silent Disco is always a hit with folks that like to party it up a bit.  Did they have that? 

 

We were on the same cruise and yes they had the Silent Disco.  We went two times on the cruise and it was popular both times we went.

 

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, fatewemake said:

 

We were on the same cruise and yes they had the Silent Disco.  We went two times on the cruise and it was popular both times we went.

 

👍

[Sea_Princess]

Thanks for the honest review.  We are on this same cruise 11/26.  This will be our 3rd time on the Solstice but the last time was 2018.

 

I love the Silent Disco!!!

Edited November 17, 2022 by Sea_Princess

[apierson23]

On 11/17/2022 at 5:27 PM, Sea_Princess said:

Thanks for the honest review.  We are on this same cruise 11/26.  This will be our 3rd time on the Solstice but the last time was 2018.

 

I love the Silent Disco!!!

How was your cruise?

[leo72976]

On 11/15/2022 at 3:56 PM, ChampagneandFanfare said:

We were on this cruise too. For what it is worth I will give my take.

 

We didn't find it rocking much - we have cruised many times and did find the first couple days a bit rougher but IMO hardly "hitting the walls" level. We were also on Deck 12 which tends to feel the movement more than lower.  

Crew told us someone made an error with the time setup on the first time change, so the ship clocks didn't update when they were supposed to and most of the crew was late for work that day. Our room clock got the right time around noon I think - so it was confusing but I knew of the daylight saving time change that was also happening (we came from Vancouver, Canada) so I adjusted my phone manually to what we were told was going to be the time and didn't have an issue.

Since boat was 40%, there was lots of room in the specialty restaurants and in Luminea, where we ate many nights. The food there was great and service across the board was really great. Having been on the sister ship in April where it was also about 50% - but suffering from lack of staff, this cruise definitely made up for it. Since we have cruised on Celebrity a lot, we know that the S-sized ships are pretty big - not Oasis of the Sea big, but bigger than a lot of ships and we prefer smaller ships (i.e. 750 - 1200 people, this one was 2400-ish) since we aren't into games, contests or listening to line dancing music while we sit by the pool. (My hubby is the one wearing headphones at the pool, and I like to read but can't take a lot of sun so I am finding cosy places on the ship).  

We did a cooking class in Puerto Vallarta, and learned a secret to making the tortillas, which we do at home! It also included the tequila tasting - pretty much done for every tour in Mexico. We did the camel ride (and tequila tasting) in Cabo, which was really fun and educational too. In Ensenada we did the ATV (booked through Celebrity) and it was fun. It included a wine tasting (my first Mexican wines) and a tequila tasting. Guides on all the Celebrity sponsored tours were great! Overall we had a great cruise, got exactly what we expected, and put down our deposits (usable within a year!) for next time. 

 

Thanks for your review.  We were on the cruise prior to your, leaving the ship on the 5th.  Our experience was similar to yours.  We had a wonderful and relaxing time!  We are in our early 40’s and have been on 50+ cruises and find S class to be some of our favorites.  For us, the size, entertainment options, service and food are some of the reasons we love Celebrity.  We did the same ATV tour in Ensenada and enjoyed it too.  We too booked a similar cruise for next year.  Bring on the overnight in Cabo!