I just booked Solstice!!!!

[darrencantwait]

[quote name='cdbaum']

Another point that the X rep had was that X is reaffirming their commitment to being "Green" and this ship will be the cleanest and most efficient that they can produce. Translation... Pods and probably gas turbines, IMO.[/QUOTE]

I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure they have said that they will be diesel engines. Though the gas turbines are very eco friendly, apparently the fuel is priced substantially higher. I do love that you see hardly any smoke ever coming out of the M-class stack... I guess we don't have that to look forward to.

[Schplinky]

[quote name='darrencantwait']I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure they have said that they will be diesel engines. Though the gas turbines are very eco friendly, apparently the fuel is priced substantially higher. I do love that you see hardly any smoke ever coming out of the M-class stack... I guess we don't have that to look forward to.[/quote]

Maybe they'll figure a way around the smoke. I know that when we were on the Liberty pre-inaugural, they said that engineering and ship design have come far enough in the past few years that even through Liberty is 10-15% bigger than the Voyager class, she is propelled by the same amount of fuel. I thought that was impressive. If they can figure out those sort of efficiencies, maybe they can figure out the smoke issue?

[denb]

[quote name='darrencantwait']I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure they have said that they will be diesel engines.[/quote]You probably read it in the May 21st announcement on the Meyerwerft site.

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Arial][B]Papenburg, May 21, 2007[/B] [/FONT]The vessels will be equipped with diesel engines and pod propulsion systems. The over-all output of the engines will be 67,200 kW (approx. 90[FONT=Arial],100 hp).[/FONT][/FONT]

[darrencantwait]

[quote name='denb']You probably read it in the May 21st announcement on the Meyerwerft site.

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Arial][B]Papenburg, May 21, 2007[/B] [/FONT]The vessels will be equipped with diesel engines and pod propulsion systems. The over-all output of the engines will be 67,200 kW (approx. 90[FONT=Arial],100 hp).[/FONT][/FONT][/QUOTE]

Thanks for assuring me I'm not crazy. At least...not yet. ;)

[Host Anne]

Darren ~ have a wonderful time next week on the QM2! ENJOY!

[FinelyCruising]

...oooh yes! From me too!!!

[darrencantwait]

Thanks...I'm sure I will. Very excited.

[BCHappyGal]

Would love to be on the inaugural but December just will not work for us hense we are on the Jan 11th cruise. REally looking forward to being on a brand new ship.

[Richard Stein]

I have booked her in late March and hope she lives up to the hype. I only 107 of us have booked it will not.

[Leela]

I just booked my mom & I for the week of my birthday in February 2009. We're going to give the new Aqua Class a try. I also was feeling brave and grabbed one of those odd-looking parallelogram-shaped cabins.

[KenM]

Must you book an Aqua Class room level to have access to the spa pool area????
or is that still open to all levels...

[Leela]

I don't think so! It wasn't mentioned as being a special amenity for AQ: just automatic included use of Blu, the Persian Gardens, and the "Spa Relaxation Room."

[ottawapuppy]

[quote name='Leela']I just booked my mom & I for the week of my birthday in February 2009. We're going to give the new Aqua Class a try. I also was feeling brave and grabbed one of those odd-looking parallelogram-shaped cabins.[/quote]

we're in a parallelogran, too! We might be neighbours

[MVPinBoynton]

We just booked this fine new ship for March 15, 2009. We will try out one of the aft cabins. Only 624 days to go!:D

[CAPinBoynton]

Anne,

I couldn't sign up for my Connections party. They do have Mar. 15, 2009 listed, but no Soltice yet.

That would be great to have a B2B member cruise in March '09. If you make the 15th sailing one of the weeks, we'll be there for half of the B2B. I'd love to meet you.

Mike and I just got back from a Med cruise on the Grand Princess. Since they don't have M&Ms or Connections, we organized our own and had a great group show up, 39 out of 44 were there. Two missed because they missed their connecting flight and were late getting to the ship.

We put pictures of our Cruise Critic Party in our review on our website. If you're interested, the link is below my signature.

We're on the Infinity next month. I wonder if the new chef's influence will be felt that soon. It should be interesting.

[Texed]

[quote name='darrencantwait']Thanks...I'm sure I will. Very excited.[/quote]

[B][COLOR=darkred]Darren,[/COLOR][/B]
[B][COLOR=#8b0000][/COLOR][/B]
[B][COLOR=#8b0000]Have a great cruise. :) [/COLOR][/B]

[Host Anne]

Carol ~ I just read your Grand review. How wonderful and Mike's photos are fantastic. Makes me want to go back to the Med right now. Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a terrific and balanced review. Have you submitted it to the Cruise Critic Reviews section?

I just booked Solstice for the March 8 & 15, 2009 back to back's yesterday. We selected the aft sunset veranda next to the one we'll have on the inaugural because our daughter will be with us on the March 8 sailing for her spring break (her last one in college). Once they open the sailings to groups this week, Host Joe and I will be posting information on the Cruise Critic group cruise. While there won't be a difference in cabin pricing, there are some nice group benefits (usually some type of shipboard credit, CC goodies and activities/excursions planned by Joe and myself) that come along with being in a Cruise Critic group. As soon as I have all the details, I'll have them posted here on the Celebrity board.

It will be great to finally get to meet you and Mike. I can already tell we'll have a wonderful cruise together :) !

Texed ~ you haven't booked yet? I'm guessing they will have wonderful waffles! Join us!

[CAPinBoynton]

Hi Anne,

We will be on Sky Deck aft, middle. Thanks for the kind words about the review. We've never submitted one of our reviews because they are so long and have so many pictures. When I printed out this latest one, the two parts including the pictures, came to 104 pages. Doesn't CC have a limit?

One thing is for certain, after Mike has been on board the Solstice, no one will have to wonder what she looks like!! :D

[Texed]

[quote name='Host Anne']Texed ~ you haven't booked yet? I'm guessing they will have wonderful waffles! Join us![/quote]

[B][COLOR=darkred]Did someone mention waffles? :cool: [/COLOR][/B]
[B][COLOR=#8b0000][/COLOR][/B]
[B][COLOR=#8b0000]We are booked on Solstice B2B December 21st and 28th, 2008.:) [/COLOR][/B]

[darrencantwait]

Texed...you're gonna beat me to Solstice!!! ;) Thanks for the good wishes. At work now...catching a cab in 3 hours to hop on board the QM2.

[Texed]

Texed...you're gonna beat me to Solstice!!! ;) Thanks for the good wishes. At work now...catching a cab in 3 hours to hop on board the QM2.

 

Lucky duck! ;)

[4cats4me]

Did someone mention waffles? :cool:

 

We are booked on Solstice B2B December 21st and 28th, 2008.:)

 

You're going on the Solstice on the Winter Solstice!!! [12/21]

 

Hi everyone. I'm a one-time Celebrity cruiser who LOVED it, and have

gone Princess 7 times now, and want to go back to Celebrity, and

some cruise buddies have booked the Solstice for 1/11/09.

 

My question for those of you is, since there's no diagram yet, I want

to make sure I pick a cabin that is sandwiched between passenger cabins

only. Any advice? Anyone know the answer to that one yet?

I just don't want to be under Lido deck where lounge chairs can be

dragged around and/or showroom noise, et cet. I understand the

public space diagrams aren't out.

 

Also, what is sunset veranda vs. other verandas AND do you all think

I should book using the Celebrity number or wait until I talk to a TA

The quotes from Celebrity were as follows:

$880 for an inside

$1,150 for balcony cabin

$1,300 for concierge class

 

Are those fair prices in everyone's opinion?

Do these sound like promotional prices before the bookings open to the

public, and if so, should I grab one of these prices?

 

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I'm not so well-versed in the

world of Celebrity.

Oh, yes, and is Celebrity easy to deal with if I should book with them

directly or are they rather inept like the Princess people when you call them??

I've never booked directly with a cruise line before.

 

Thanks for any info.

[mutuelmanager1]

We are on the Jan 11th cruise, it will be our first on Celebrity, where can you find a roll call for that cruise ?

Mark

[ellbon]

you have to go to roll calls. thee are several who write at least once a week. BChappy is in FL and i live there in winter. I booked about a monh ago on the 1/11 cruise. i picked it becasue the price was lower for AQ that week. plus no kids as all are in school.

 

i have no clue what i paid.