Solstice Review B2B - 12/11-12/26

[lakegirl16]

 

Just finished a B2B Mexican Riviera on the Solstice and wanted to share my thoughts. We did this itinerary 16 years ago on Princess. We have done land vacations to Cabo.

 

A little about us, we are in our early 60's and from Las Vegas, Nevada. We cruise on Princess or Celebrity. This is our first cruise since COVID and our 10^th cruise.

 

I was a bit nervous about cruising and COVID but I think this first cruise has helped calm my nerves. We wore masks in all public areas on the ship, all excursions, on transportation, etc. We tested after cruise 1, just to ensure we were negative. Tested again after cruise 2 when we arrived in LA. NEGATIVE! mainly because we were heading to see our grands before our drive home. There were some passengers wearing masks, not many. Very few staff wearing them.

 

I'd read a lot of comments about the condition of the ship. Yes, she has the old color scheme and is in need of an update but still a beautiful ship. Honestly, I had to really look to find areas that might need replacing or repair. Like anything, if you want to find something wrong, you usually can. The staff was fabulous, friendly and accommodating. I wouldn't hesitate to book this ship again.! We had a wonderful, relaxing vacation!!

 

PreCruise: We stayed at the Doubletree San Pedro. As many have mentioned, the hotel is VERY tired. It was clean and fine for one night. We did their cruise/park package. Included breakfast, transport to and from the port and parking. Breakfast was excellent. Transport was quick and timely. We took the 10:30 shuttle, just us in an SUV. Upon return, called them for a shuttle back to the hotel to pick up our car and waited maybe 15 minutes. When we book out of LA again, we will try the Crown Plaza, I liked that location with so many places to walk for dinner.

 

Our first time to drive to the port, loved it. No worries about luggage weight or number of bags. The only downside was our drive home yesterday. Traffic and back ups from LA to Vegas were terrible. But as we said, it was a holiday weekend and we also weren't dealing with the flight nightmares many people were, so all good!

 

Embarkation: We were assigned an 11:30 time. Arrived around 10:45. We went to the Suites line and were escorted upstairs to the lounge. We waited maybe 15 minutes and were on the ship. Our room was basically ready, we dropped off our suitcase and went to explore.

Rooms: We were in a Sky Suite both weeks. Deck 12 Aft first week and Deck 6 Corner Room Second Week.Deck 12 room was noisy, not terrible unless you were on the balcony and then the dragging of chairs from the Oceanview was pretty bad. I wouldn't book that location agin.

 

Deck 6 second week. I loved this room, one of the best we've ever had. Balcony is so private and quiet. We used it for enjoying the sun instead of going to the pool. Loved the porthole in the room. There is the dreaded pole in the middle of the room. I only walked into it once in the night. HA. Learned my lesson quickly and put my hand in front of me. I know I've read lots of comments on the pole but it would not stop me from booking this room again.

 

Butler – We don't request much of our butlers. They were both fine. First week, we were never offered afternoon canapes. Second week we were but he seemed to always deliver them very late, 4:30 – 5:00. Timeliness of ice delivery and drink replenishment was a bit off, both weeks.

 

Room Stewards – First week, he seemed to struggle with timing on cleaning our room.

 

Second week, she was on point, always appearing quickly while we were gone and room was clean when we returned. My favorite was the way she wrapped our charging cords that were in tangled mess on the dresser. 😀

 

Food:

 

Luminea: We ate almost all of our meals in Luminae. Dining in Luminae is our main reason for booking in a Sky Suite! The service, atmosphere and food were outstanding. Yes, from time to time the service was a bit slow but we're on vacation, where do we have to be? They mentioned in the mornings if we needed to be off for an excursion to tell them and they would rush our food. Our sommelier was fantastic! Entire staff friendly and so accommodating!!!

 

I'm not a big meat eater, lots of pasta and fish for me. The pastas were very good and all of the fish cooked perfectly. My husband had a couple of steaks which he said were cooked perfectly and tender.  You can order from the main dining room menu  and they are accommodating with special requests.  One night I wasn't feeling 100% and requested pasta with butter and parm, no problem!

 

Sushi on 5: We ate one lunch at Sushi on 5. It was delicious and service very good. Never seemed to be many people in this venue.

 

Tuscan Grille: We had quite a bit of OBC, so we booked one night at Tuscan Grille. It was just okay. Service was not great. Didn't receive bar service prior to the waiter coming over to take our order and then we had to ask about ordering cocktails/ wine.. Restaurant was not crowded. Food was good. I wouldn't book again unless I had OBC.

 

Oceanview Buffet: We had a couple of lunches here on port days. I've never loved the set up of Celebrity's Buffet. I always feel people are walking into you, in front of you and it's confusing to know where you've been or not been. I like the buffet set up better on Princess where there is more of a line. Food in the buffet was fine.

 

Cafe Al Bacio:: Staff is super friendly. Pastries and cookies delicious. The coconut macaroons are especially tasty. We did get our free scoops of gelato but honestly felt the gelato was not the great.

 

Michael's Club – We went here a few times prior to dinner. The staff is very accommodating and friendly. I like the set up in the Retreat on the Millennium where you can self serve the breakfast or evening snacks. Not sure if this is different on the Solstice because it isn't refurbished or because of COVID?

 

Entertainment: We didn't go to any of the shows the first week. The second week we went to Rock City and Uptown. Rock City was okay. I felt a couple of the singers weren't great but my husband thought it was fine and I was too critical. :-). Uptown, very talented and fun show! As I was watching the show, I said to my husband, have we seen them before? Yes, 2019 on the Millennium.

 

Spa: Using up that OBC, I enjoyed a haircut, massage and pedicure. They were all excellent. Of course, the usual push to sell products. I only bought one product. . Pretty good, I thought. 😀

 

Ports:

Normally I book independent tours but due to the amount of OBC we had I booked through Celebrity.

 

Cabo: The first week the ship had an overnight in Cabo. First day we took a water taxi to The Office. My husband needed to get a new tee shirt. This is favorite spot on our land vacations to Cabo. The second day My husband did the ATV Tour.

 

Second week we did the Todo Santos Tour. My favorite excursion of the week. I'd always wanted to visit Todo Santos, charming town and beautiful drive from the port along the ocean.

 

Cabo was very crowded due to the time of year.

 

Mazatlan – We did the city tour. It was fine, nothing special but gave a good overview of the city.

 

Puerto Vallarta – First week we did the Jeep and Hidden Villa Tour. NOT my favorite tour. I felt the tour wasn't described very well. It was very rough, very dusty over dirt roads, high up with no guardrails. The jeeps were very old, my seat belt didn't work properly. Other people on the tour loved it but not for me.

 

Second week we did whale watching. LOTS of whales. Great tour, food and drink were very good.

 

Ensenada – We had never been to this port and it ended up being our favorite stop. We did a tour through Celebrity to two wineries. Beautiful landscapes and wonderful wine.

 

Disembarkation – We were off the ship before 8:00, it was a breeze!

 

Internet---Overall very good. I worked some from the ship and had no issues! There was the occasional buffering but I get that at home, sometimes.

 

Deal or No Deal – we did this once first cruise. It was fun. We weren't chosen but you can win even if not chosen. My husband won $5.00 in casino credit. I miss BINGO (yes, perhaps I'm old, ha)

 

Casino – Did not walk away a winner but was able to cash out my remaining OBC with no issues.  Enjoyed my first ever slot pull, thank you @shiptraveler

 

Negatives are very few but here are a couple:

 

There seemed to be a challenge with picking up room service dishes in the hallway. Noticed this much more on our first week on Deck 12. Dishes sitting there all day.

 

Doorstops – the doorstops were a rag and not a doorstop. Come on Celebrity, let's use real doorstops.

 

I'm happy to answer any questions, anyone might have! On to planning the next cruise, Princess in May RT Alaska out of San Francisco!

 

[LaCal]

Thanks for the great review 

 

We’re on the Solstice in April and it’s our first Celebrity cruise 

 

We also have a Aft Sky Suite and looking forward to Luminae and the whole retreat experience 

[LaCal]

Did you have any problems asking your butler for specific things for your mini frig? 

 

Like waters, soda, beers etc 

[lakegirl16]

2 hours ago, LaCal said:

Did you have any problems asking your butler for specific things for your mini frig? 

 

Like waters, soda, beers etc 

No issues.  Typically they will meet with you on your first day and ask for your requests.

[Retired888]

Thank you for your review.  I was on your second leg, but in an Aqua class stateroom.  Unfortunately, our experience was a real letdown from pre-COVID cruises, in particular, Blu restaurant.  I won't go into it here since this thread is yours.  My husband already said that we will plan on going back to booking Sky Suites in the future because we did miss Luminae big time.  This was a free BCC cruise for us.

 

BTW, we also headed back to LV but had no issue with the traffic.  We left the ship at about 7:15am and headed straight home, as we had parked at the cruise port.  I think traffic gets bad even an hour or two later.

[LGW59]

On 12/27/2022 at 7:58 PM, lakegirl16 said:

 

Just finished a B2B Mexican Riviera on the Solstice and wanted to share my thoughts. We did this itinerary 16 years ago on Princess. We have done land vacations to Cabo.

 

A little about us, we are in our early 60's and from Las Vegas, Nevada. We cruise on Princess or Celebrity. This is our first cruise since COVID and our 10^th cruise.

 

I was a bit nervous about cruising and COVID but I think this first cruise has helped calm my nerves. We wore masks in all public areas on the ship, all excursions, on transportation, etc. We tested after cruise 1, just to ensure we were negative. Tested again after cruise 2 when we arrived in LA. NEGATIVE! mainly because we were heading to see our grands before our drive home. There were some passengers wearing masks, not many. Very few staff wearing them.

 

I'd read a lot of comments about the condition of the ship. Yes, she has the old color scheme and is in need of an update but still a beautiful ship. Honestly, I had to really look to find areas that might need replacing or repair. Like anything, if you want to find something wrong, you usually can. The staff was fabulous, friendly and accommodating. I wouldn't hesitate to book this ship again.! We had a wonderful, relaxing vacation!!

 

PreCruise: We stayed at the Doubletree San Pedro. As many have mentioned, the hotel is VERY tired. It was clean and fine for one night. We did their cruise/park package. Included breakfast, transport to and from the port and parking. Breakfast was excellent. Transport was quick and timely. We took the 10:30 shuttle, just us in an SUV. Upon return, called them for a shuttle back to the hotel to pick up our car and waited maybe 15 minutes. When we book out of LA again, we will try the Crown Plaza, I liked that location with so many places to walk for dinner.

 

Our first time to drive to the port, loved it. No worries about luggage weight or number of bags. The only downside was our drive home yesterday. Traffic and back ups from LA to Vegas were terrible. But as we said, it was a holiday weekend and we also weren't dealing with the flight nightmares many people were, so all good!

 

Embarkation: We were assigned an 11:30 time. Arrived around 10:45. We went to the Suites line and were escorted upstairs to the lounge. We waited maybe 15 minutes and were on the ship. Our room was basically ready, we dropped off our suitcase and went to explore.

Rooms: We were in a Sky Suite both weeks. Deck 12 Aft first week and Deck 6 Corner Room Second Week.Deck 12 room was noisy, not terrible unless you were on the balcony and then the dragging of chairs from the Oceanview was pretty bad. I wouldn't book that location agin.

 

Deck 6 second week. I loved this room, one of the best we've ever had. Balcony is so private and quiet. We used it for enjoying the sun instead of going to the pool. Loved the porthole in the room. There is the dreaded pole in the middle of the room. I only walked into it once in the night. HA. Learned my lesson quickly and put my hand in front of me. I know I've read lots of comments on the pole but it would not stop me from booking this room again.

 

Butler – We don't request much of our butlers. They were both fine. First week, we were never offered afternoon canapes. Second week we were but he seemed to always deliver them very late, 4:30 – 5:00. Timeliness of ice delivery and drink replenishment was a bit off, both weeks.

 

Room Stewards – First week, he seemed to struggle with timing on cleaning our room.

 

Second week, she was on point, always appearing quickly while we were gone and room was clean when we returned. My favorite was the way she wrapped our charging cords that were in tangled mess on the dresser. 😀

 

Food:

 

Luminea: We ate almost all of our meals in Luminae. Dining in Luminae is our main reason for booking in a Sky Suite! The service, atmosphere and food were outstanding. Yes, from time to time the service was a bit slow but we're on vacation, where do we have to be? They mentioned in the mornings if we needed to be off for an excursion to tell them and they would rush our food. Our sommelier was fantastic! Entire staff friendly and so accommodating!!!

 

I'm not a big meat eater, lots of pasta and fish for me. The pastas were very good and all of the fish cooked perfectly. My husband had a couple of steaks which he said were cooked perfectly and tender.  You can order from the main dining room menu  and they are accommodating with special requests.  One night I wasn't feeling 100% and requested pasta with butter and parm, no problem!

 

Sushi on 5: We ate one lunch at Sushi on 5. It was delicious and service very good. Never seemed to be many people in this venue.

 

Tuscan Grille: We had quite a bit of OBC, so we booked one night at Tuscan Grille. It was just okay. Service was not great. Didn't receive bar service prior to the waiter coming over to take our order and then we had to ask about ordering cocktails/ wine.. Restaurant was not crowded. Food was good. I wouldn't book again unless I had OBC.

 

Oceanview Buffet: We had a couple of lunches here on port days. I've never loved the set up of Celebrity's Buffet. I always feel people are walking into you, in front of you and it's confusing to know where you've been or not been. I like the buffet set up better on Princess where there is more of a line. Food in the buffet was fine.

 

Cafe Al Bacio:: Staff is super friendly. Pastries and cookies delicious. The coconut macaroons are especially tasty. We did get our free scoops of gelato but honestly felt the gelato was not the great.

 

Michael's Club – We went here a few times prior to dinner. The staff is very accommodating and friendly. I like the set up in the Retreat on the Millennium where you can self serve the breakfast or evening snacks. Not sure if this is different on the Solstice because it isn't refurbished or because of COVID?

 

Entertainment: We didn't go to any of the shows the first week. The second week we went to Rock City and Uptown. Rock City was okay. I felt a couple of the singers weren't great but my husband thought it was fine and I was too critical. :-). Uptown, very talented and fun show! As I was watching the show, I said to my husband, have we seen them before? Yes, 2019 on the Millennium.

 

Spa: Using up that OBC, I enjoyed a haircut, massage and pedicure. They were all excellent. Of course, the usual push to sell products. I only bought one product. . Pretty good, I thought. 😀

 

Ports:

Normally I book independent tours but due to the amount of OBC we had I booked through Celebrity.

 

Cabo: The first week the ship had an overnight in Cabo. First day we took a water taxi to The Office. My husband needed to get a new tee shirt. This is favorite spot on our land vacations to Cabo. The second day My husband did the ATV Tour.

 

Second week we did the Todo Santos Tour. My favorite excursion of the week. I'd always wanted to visit Todo Santos, charming town and beautiful drive from the port along the ocean.

 

Cabo was very crowded due to the time of year.

 

Mazatlan – We did the city tour. It was fine, nothing special but gave a good overview of the city.

 

Puerto Vallarta – First week we did the Jeep and Hidden Villa Tour. NOT my favorite tour. I felt the tour wasn't described very well. It was very rough, very dusty over dirt roads, high up with no guardrails. The jeeps were very old, my seat belt didn't work properly. Other people on the tour loved it but not for me.

 

Second week we did whale watching. LOTS of whales. Great tour, food and drink were very good.

 

Ensenada – We had never been to this port and it ended up being our favorite stop. We did a tour through Celebrity to two wineries. Beautiful landscapes and wonderful wine.

 

Disembarkation – We were off the ship before 8:00, it was a breeze!

 

Internet---Overall very good. I worked some from the ship and had no issues! There was the occasional buffering but I get that at home, sometimes.

 

Deal or No Deal – we did this once first cruise. It was fun. We weren't chosen but you can win even if not chosen. My husband won $5.00 in casino credit. I miss BINGO (yes, perhaps I'm old, ha)

 

Casino – Did not walk away a winner but was able to cash out my remaining OBC with no issues.  Enjoyed my first ever slot pull, thank you @shiptraveler

 

Negatives are very few but here are a couple:

 

There seemed to be a challenge with picking up room service dishes in the hallway. Noticed this much more on our first week on Deck 12. Dishes sitting there all day.

 

Doorstops – the doorstops were a rag and not a doorstop. Come on Celebrity, let's use real doorstops.

 

I'm happy to answer any questions, anyone might have! On to planning the next cruise, Princess in May RT Alaska out of San Francisco!

 

We did a 12 day NCL Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Diego in 2015.  Absolutely one of the best cruises/vacations we have ever taken.  Puerto Vallarta is a special place, fortunately we did an overnight there.  Highly recommend a Mexican Riviera to anyone that might be considering. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

8 hours ago, LaCal said:

Did you have any problems asking your butler for specific things for your mini frig? 

 

Like waters, soda, beers etc 

I could be way wrong on this but I’m pretty sure the mini fridge contents are not included in suites below the RS. For this reason many people request to have their fridge emptied so that they can fill it with unopened items they’ve collected from various bars. I hope someone will chime in on this if I’m remembering incorrectly. 

[lakegirl16]

Our fridge had 4 cokes in it, which we set aside.  Other than those, it was empty.  We requested beers, red bulls and water.  No charges for any of them.

[kwokpot]

12 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I could be way wrong on this but I’m pretty sure the mini fridge contents are not included in suites below the RS. For this reason many people request to have their fridge emptied so that they can fill it with unopened items they’ve collected from various bars. I hope someone will chime in on this if I’m remembering incorrectly. 

For Sky Suites the butlers each have their own way of doing things so it's crucial that you ask yours to confirm how they want to handle it. But generally the soft drinks, all bottled water, and beer is included but NOT the wine or sprits. There is a welcome bottle of sparking wine in the room which can be switched out for red or white.

[ScubaDo]

Thank you for your review. We have a Solstice cruise in February. I was sent an email about contacting Zora as the shoreside concierge, but no response after I have sent two emails for requests. Did you have the same concierge and any issues getting responses? Thank you

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, ScubaDo said:

Thank you for your review. We have a Solstice cruise in February. I was sent an email about contacting Zora as the shoreside concierge, but no response after I have sent two emails for requests. Did you have the same concierge and any issues getting responses? Thank you

On our last Celebrity cruise the shoreside concierge wouldn’t answer our emails either. I called celebrity and was told they won’t address emails for cruised greater than 2 weeks out. Once I got in the 2 week from embarking window, sure enough, my email was answered. 

[lauraapp]

Who was the cruise director?  Did you like him?

[lakegirl16]

45 minutes ago, lauraapp said:

Who was the cruise director?  Did you like him?

Nathan was the cruise director.  Yes, I thought he did a great job!