Solstice Preview Tomorrow (July 8th) in Miami

[CAPinBoynton]

Anne, thank you for such an organized presentation of information. Great job.

[Lois R]

Anne, thank you for such an organized presentation of information. Great job.

 

Hi Carol, I 2nd your post...Anne, thanks so much:)

and it was such a pleasure to meet you and Amanda:)

And Carol, you and Mike as well:D

[Buckeye Geo]

Host Anne----Thanks for posting all that good info.

[HollyK]

Thanks so much Anne for posting all these Q + A's. Great Ref points to save.

As to " ... they believe everyone will have a great stateroom experience regardless." It's really quite important to me. The bed near or far affects me. The DH can crash on a super highway. I like to stay up and sit on the balcony. I don't want to be tripping over him on the way to said balcony so I would really prefer my cabin to be set up in the traditional style. Some people won't care, some will be thrilled with a bed by the window and some will prefer things as I do. Please just SHOW us which is which so we can each choose accordingly. Pretty simple - X is this way & Y is that way. But that's just me. :D

 

Hope the tennis game was super relaxing!

[Glendakayself]

Thanks to all of you who attended the preview, asked questions, took pictures and posted observations on this thread. My taste buds really perked up with the wonderful pictures and descriptions! You have really given us something special to look forward to.

[cdbaum]

The only thing that seems a little contradictory is the "hump" cabin balcony statement. If you look through some of the high quality pictures of the angled portions that have been posted you can see that the "front" or railing side of the balcony is angled while the door side is parallel to the other cabins. Add this to the fact that the cabins appear to step in, based on the shadows, and the balconies would have to be larger much like a few on the M class.

 

This is the exact scenario for cabin 8045 on the M class for example (and one of the reasons that we book it). It is impractical to angle the walls of the stateroom when they are prefab units.

 

I guess I will know for sure November 30th since I have one of these on Solstice.

[Ma Bell]

Perhaps the question should be if the balconies next to the hump are larger. The balconies that are actually on the hump appear to be the same size as the others while those that are in the area that is transitioning in appear to be larger.

[Host Anne]

Well ~ tennis was cut short by a thunderstorm so we're home early !!!! and back on the boards. It was fun the five minutes it lasted! :)

 

Holly K ~ I don't think it's that easy. I'm imagining at this point in time, there are so many fine detail being ironed out and it doesn't sound like there is a simple pattern to which cabins have which configuration. While they may know which cabin will be configured which way, it probably isn't a quick tast to try and convey them on the deck plan. If you look at deck plans now, there is already so much on them (diamonds, square boxes, etc) that adding another notation could likely confuse. Think about it...they'd have to mark every cabin since it sounds as if there is no set pattern to the layouts. They did tell us that they are trying to figure a way to convey the info and keep it simple.

 

I think your best bet would be to ask your travel agent to speak with Celebrity to confirm the location of the bed in the cabin you've selected so that you can try to make a switch early if it's not the configuration you'd like.

 

By the way, I also don't think that beds by the bathroom are standard. We've had as many or more beds by the balcony door as by the bathroom. Until Celebrity announced that they'd have both I don't think I'd given a second thought to how the cabin would be laid out. I should note that they did mention that these cabins are larger than the standard M-class cabins so there should be a bit more room to navigate to the balcony door.

 

cbaum ~ I understand what you are saying but I did specifically ask about the "bump" cabins having larger balconies and was told that they'd be the same 5 meters as the others. Considering that, if you get on board and they are larger, what a pleasant surprise and you can come share the info with all of us :)

 

Off to work on photos!

[dmk]

The bartender in the photo is Togi (real name to long and difficult to pronouce so he said everyone calls him Togi). He will be in the Solstice martini bar with Sudi (who I'm dying to meet as well). I know I will be visiting them often.....Togi was a bunch of fun and I loved my Solstice martini....very smooth!

 

Off to release work frustrations on the tennis courts....I'll be back later and get those photos over to Mike!

 

Thanks, Anne. I thought it was Togi. I wanted to double check. He is fantastic. I am looking forward to seeing him again.:)

[dmk]

QUESTION FOR CELEBRITY:

 

o If the Aqua Class passengers assigned to BLU nightly wishes to dine in another specialty restaurant, is the “extra” fee waived? No. Blu will be available to AC class and suite passengers and then on an available basis by reservation to other passengers but anyone wishing to dine in specialty restaurants will pay the service charges.

 

Anne, "available by reservation" does this mean there will be no charge or a charge for others not in AC or Suites.

I am glad they included those in suites. They pay a good price for their cabins. Not that I am in one.

[CAPinBoynton]

Togi and Sudi together should be a riot of fun!

[dkjretired]

Thanks to everyone who attended for the info they have been getting out. I started a new thread and posted the latest press release on Solstice which deals with the shops on board. Here it is since it is relevent to this thread.

 

http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1173343&highlight=

[stinsowm]

Thank you host Anne. I am suprised that it appears Blu will be available at no charge for suite passengers? I had thought it just for Aqua Class. We splurged with the great rates for a Sky Suite on our December 7th sailing. : )

 

Really enjoyed all your details and the pictures again were amazing. Looking forward to the additional pictures. Oh, and the crepes...I need to hit the gym now to prepare as well.

 

Walter

[evoni]

Anne, if I'm in a SS suite for example and want to eat at Aqua Blu, I'm assuming from what you posted that I won't pay the specialty restaurant fee, which is a nice perk. But did they mention if there is always availability there for the suite passengers, or do they just get put first on the wait list before the non-suite passengers?

 

Thanks,

Diana

[Host Anne]

Hi All ~ I think I fell short on getting all the details you wanted on Blu and the Specialty restaurants....I'm working on getting those finer details. If I can get answers, I'll post them as soon as I get them.

 

:)

[rolfecms]

Thank you host Anne. I am suprised that it appears Blu will be available at no charge for suite passengers? I had thought it just for Aqua Class. We splurged with the great rates for a Sky Suite on our December 7th sailing. : )

 

Really enjoyed all your details and the pictures again were amazing. Looking forward to the additional pictures. Oh, and the crepes...I need to hit the gym now to prepare as well.

 

Walter

 

There's only seating for 130 in Blu, which is equal to the number of AQ cabins. That means space for 260 AQ pax in two seatings. As such I do not think suite pax will have assigned seats there - but they may get to eat there for free on a space available basis.

[stinsowm]

There's only seating for 130 in Blu, which is equal to the number of AQ cabins. That means space for 260 AQ pax in two seatings. As such I do not think suite pax will have assigned seats there - but they may get to eat there for free on a space available basis.

 

Thanks!

[patchit]

but they may get to eat there for free on a space available basis.

 

This is exactly what I was told last August by a travel agent members of my family use. The key phrase is "space available". So its good to know the information was accurate.

 

Patsy

[madelinerose]

So, then I guess if you are in AQ and assigned spaces in Blu and choose to dine elsewhere, the Blu maitre d' or whomever should be advised so a suite passenger may be able to dine there?

 

I'm curious as to how this may be be handled. DH and I have always had a two-top in main dining rooms, therefore, if we spontaneously decided to dine in a different venue, there were no table mates to advise. If we knew the previous night that we were going to dine elsewhere, we would always tell the waitstaff.

 

I'm wondering if making the same spontaneous dining decisions when you're assigned to Blu would be the "right thing to do" if you're at a two-top? They certainly couldn't reserve suite passengers if they weren't aware a table would be free.

 

This isn't a major issue for us, so I suppose I should just wait until the AQ pax on the inaugural report back. We do plan to dine in all of the specialty restaurants and may even choose to do room service or just grab a quick, casual bite for dinner, so our Blu table may be available for several nights during our cruise. Should be interesting. ;)

[cruzmaven]

DH and I have always had a two-top in main dining rooms. ;)

 

 

Don't mean to hijack the thread but just curious. How do you manage to "always" have a two-top in the main dining room? In the past whenever I've made that kind of request its usually met with "there's no availablity". Other than requesting a table for 2 when you make your reservation, is there something else I should be doing?

[madelinerose]

We've just simply received our request or seen the restaurant manager when we boarded and begged. Guess we've been lucky. ;)

 

Don't mean to hijack the thread but just curious. How do you manage to "always" have a two-top in the main dining room? In the past whenever I've made that kind of request its usually met with "there's no availablity". Other than requesting a table for 2 when you make your reservation, is there something else I should be doing?

[cruzmaven]

We've just simply received our request or seen the restaurant manager when we boarded and begged. Guess we've been lucky. ;)

 

Thank you. Thought there may be some trick I was unaware of. Maybe if we're ever on a ship together I can get you play some slots for me. :cool:

[madelinerose]

Oh no...my name is not Lady Luck when it comes to the slots. I think the most I've ever won was $15! :D

 

Thank you. Thought there may be some trick I was unaware of. Maybe if we're ever on a ship together I can get you play some slots for me. :cool:

[patchit]

So, then I guess if you are in AQ and assigned spaces in Blu and choose to dine elsewhere, the Blu maitre d' or whomever should be advised so a suite passenger may be able to dine there? ;)

 

Yes, I believe that would be the proper way to handle dining elsewhere if an AQ pax. We are 4 couples traveling together (4 sisters and husbands). 1 couple in AQ, 2 in S1 and 1 C1 so our assigned dining is different and we do want to dine together most of the time. We were told to inform the 'Epernay maitre'd upon arrival to assign our group a table for 8 even though we would not all be present every night and to inform Blu when the assigned table there would be available for someone else to use. That's how we intend to handle it. :)

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

For those asking about Bed placement in the Cabins, I asked Celebrity about this, and recieved a reply. I have been advised that Celebrity's product marketing team is looking into this. I expect them to address it shortly. When I hear more, I will post it on this thread. Stay tuned !