Solstice cruise Jan 11, 2009 – My observations

[snopls]

Solstice cruise Jan 11, 2009 – My observations

I should start this review by noting that this is only one person’s opinions (or actually two, because my wife’s thoughts are also included here). Others who either have been or will be cruising on this ship may have different views, so as the expression goes, “Your mileage may vary” (YMMV).

First, some positives:

· This is an absolutely beautiful ship. The quality of furnishings, décor, art, and the ship itself, are really wonderful, and celebrity can be congratulated on this fine work.

· I am a glass collector, so for me, a highlight of this ship is the Hot Glass Show which is put on by artists from Corning as well as a guest artist. All of these craftspeople (men and woman) are outstanding artists and their work as done on this ship is first class, even when done with significant crosswinds which affect their timing (but not their quality). This, which is a “first” on any cruise ship, is a not-to-be-missed show (at least for me – I saw almost all of their shows). They do not sell their works but there are frequent raffles throughout the week and if you have a winning ticket (you must be present to win), you get to take a piece home with you.

· We went to three of the extra-cost specialty restaurants – Tuscan Grill, Silk Harvest, and Murano. All were excellent and, in my opinion, worth the extra cost. Of the three we tried, we felt that Murano was the best, mainly because of the food offered and the outstanding service rendered by their staff. Again, YMMV.

· The stage show productions were very well done and, especially the first one, spectacular. It was very much like Cirque Soleil, and performed extremely well. Considering that these actors and athletes are performing on a moving, sometimes rolling ship, their work is even more commendable for its grace and apparent ease.

· Some (but not all) of the onboard entertainment offerings were excellent. We really enjoyed the jazz trio and the steel drummer. These artists were obviously professionals, and their performances showed. (I must not here that I also was a trained musician, and my comments should be read with that in mind). I only was able to catch their pianist once, and he also played extremely well.

Now for the negatives:

· Celebrity does a poor job of handling large crowds. Embarkation was not done smoothly – some of the verbal instructions given to the crowd waiting to get into the check-in area were confusing (“If you have a blue strip get in line here” – but all of the boarding passes that were printed on-line on an inkjet printer had a blue line on top and those were *not* what they meant to ask for). Another example of poor crowd management happened on that same embarkation day, when the rooms were not ready early enough so most of the passengers who were already on-board tried to get lunch in the OV cafeteria (er, I mean buffet), and there were insufficient seats to be found.

· Speaking of the OV area – Celebrity seems to have decided that most of the people they cater to travel in groups of 4 or more, so there are VERY few tables for 2 there. This makes those wishing for a modicum of privacy either uncomfortable or cringing, and sometimes leads to avoidance of this area entirely. In addition to the seating situation, I believe that Celebrity has cut some corners in food offerings and quality, and it shows here. Sometimes breads are less than fresh, there are very few toppings for ice cream (no nuts, whipped cream, cherries), and the meats offered here are adequate, but not excellent.

· This was our 5th cruise on Celebrity, and we felt that they have gone down a notch in general food quality in the OV as well as in the Grand Epernay (GE) dining room (not in the “specialty” restaurants). Yes, there were many really good meals in the GE, but only a few of the entrees offered when we ate there were what I would call “excellent”. I don’t think, for example, that their steaks were prime meat – probably choice grade at best. Comparing these meals to our previous Celebrity cruises, we perceived a difference, and it was not a good difference.

· I mentioned how much I enjoyed the Hot Glass show. Unfortunately, the seating provided there is totally inadequate not only in number of seats (maybe enough for 30-40 people) but in quality. You are sitting on a low, hard bench with no back for about 2 hours if you watch a whole show. They need to get stadium seating, preferably upholstered, and judging from the number of attendees who had to stand, probably enough to accommodate 125-150 people. We were told this was “under discussion” at the show, and that they artists thought the Equinox would make some adjustments to fix this problem. I surely hope they do – and that they will retrofit them on the Solstice.

· Onboard entertainment – earlier I mentioned some really excellent performers. Unfortunately, a couple of the others were (to my musically trained ear) really poor. There was a string quartet that rarely played together for a whole song, and often one or more of the individuals playing were out of tune and out of synch with the others. (I should have mentioned that I was a cellist and taught cello for a while as well, so I do know when I hear good, or bad, string instrument playing – and this was generally amateurish and “unlistenable-to”). There also was a young fellow who played guitar and sang. I know that there have been other reviewers who thought he was really terrific – I didn’t, as he often was singing off key. Again, YMMV – you may like him – I (and my wife) didn’t.

· Earlier reviewers mentioned that they encountered a “sewage smell” at times. We also experienced that odor, but I would characterize it more as a urine smell, and would agree that it could well be from the carpet glue. It didn’t happen a lot – only occasionally, and mostly (but not only) on days when the ship was still in a port.

· At the end of the cruise, the disembarking process was marred by the fact that they apparently had not offloaded the luggage quickly enough, so there were delays of 10-20 minutes or more. This, I believe, is another example of the staff not being used to handling the large volume of luggage that comes with more passengers.

· This ship was not prepared to offer what I would call the “valet” services for disembarking which are offered by other Celebrity ships. These additional-charge services include providing you with airline boarding passes and luggage tags, and a degree of luggage handling that makes it much easier to disembark. The reason given was that they had not yet “connected up with” the airlines to provide this. I found this to be kind of a lame excuse, since all of their other ships already do this and it should have been reasonably easy to do for this one. There certainly was enough lead-time to get it done.

Several of the above negative comments can all be lumped together as poor handling of congestion. We overheard more than a few other passengers using this same terminology when they discussed how they were feeling about the crowds. I would hope that, with time and experience, this kind of problem will be overcome by Celebrity. Since RCCL owns them, I would have thought these problems wouldn’t exist, since they have other large RCCL ships. I have to wonder, if this was how several passengers felt on the Solstice, what will happen on the RCCL Oasis??!! For me and my wife, we learned that we will be looking at taking smaller ships henceforth, at least when we sail with Celebrity (which we will do, because it’s still a great cruise line).

Phil

[alishac]

I was on the 1/4 sailing and have to agree about the congestion issue. The biggest problem we encountered was during the muster drill, where they herded large groups of people into tiny spaces and did the drill on a movie screen, which no one could see unless you were in the front row. It also got very hot.

I had the same concerns about congestion on Oasis, and so we cancelled our plans to cruise Oasis next year and instead booked the Equinox for March 2010. Hopefully Celebrity will have the minor kinks that exist worked out by then.

[signman]

Thanks for posting Phil. Can you tell us what cabin you were in, the configuration of the beds, and any other impressions. Thanks.

[hcat]

How were the ports? What did you order in Tuscan? Was the pool area crowded?

 

We are sailing next week & think these alerts are helpful, Hope to avoid the congestion.. That would be a big turn off on a cruise....

[snopls]

I was on the 1/4 sailing and have to agree about the congestion issue. The biggest problem we encountered was during the muster drill, where they herded large groups of people into tiny spaces and did the drill on a movie screen, which no one could see unless you were in the front row. It also got very hot.

I had the same concerns about congestion on Oasis, and so we cancelled our plans to cruise Oasis next year and instead booked the Equinox for March 2010. Hopefully Celebrity will have the minor kinks that exist worked out by then.

 

I forgot to mention the muster drill bit, but it was exactly as you described. Anyone who wasn't already familiar with how to use a life jacked would gain absolutely no knowldge from that farce.

Phil

[snopls]

Thanks for posting Phil. Can you tell us what cabin you were in, the configuration of the beds, and any other impressions. Thanks.

 

We were in 9243 - angled balcony cabin closest to where the angle stops. Bed near window. Very slight inconvenience reaching backside of closet (which is near sofa in this room) but nothing worth complaining about. If you need to use an outlet at night while in bed a single extension cord is all you may need. I am a large person and had no trouble using shower. However, you have to be double-jointed to reach toilet paper so we just out it on the counter and it was no big deal. (Poorly designed location, though - I wonder how - or if - that panel of women that they say helped design these rooms were ever consulted about this). All in all a very nice room.

Phil

[snopls]

How were the ports? What did you order in Tuscan? Was the pool area crowded?

 

We are sailing next week & think these alerts are helpful, Hope to avoid the congestion.. That would be a big turn off on a cruise....

 

Pool area was busy but there seemed to be lounges available most of the time. I have to tell you that we did not use that area at all so my info is just an "impression" from when I passed by it or glanced at it. We only disembarked at St. Maarten - we've been to the others. Only got off for about an hour, as we didn't feel like taking a water taxi to the "real" shopping area (which is NOT where the ship docks), and it was hot.

 

Interesting that you asked about the Tuscan, because it was there that I ordered a medium rare rib-eye and my wife ordered salmon. The steak was delivered overcooked so I sent it back. Thyey took my wife's salmon back with my steak. When they delivered me a properly cooked steak, they re-delivered my wife's now-dry salmon. A fine dining restauraant would have re-cooked both but they apparently didn't - another example of cost cutting, I think. I should add that some friends we made on the ship ate there and ordered filet mignon and veal chop, and they said both were absolutely perfect. So the moral to the story is that - as I say in my review - YMMV...

[snopls]

How were the ports? What did you order in Tuscan? Was the pool area crowded?

 

We are sailing next week & think these alerts are helpful, Hope to avoid the congestion.. That would be a big turn off on a cruise....

 

 

I already answered this once but forgot to mantion another gripe we had... When the ship docks in a port, almost everything on board shuts down. Shops are closed, casino either closed or open late, most entertainment vanishes, and (worst of all) main dining room is closed for lunch! That means if you want to eat in a non-specialty place, your choices are poolside or the dreaded OV cafeteria! Again, this seems to be more cost cutting, and it does detract from the overall cruise experience in my view.

 

Phil

[signman]

And my medium rare ribeye at Tuscan came out too rare, so go figure.

[hylasgirl]

Am I the only one that thinks this new Muster Drill is crazy!!?? It is like they have forgotten the meaning of actually having one. So do a lot of the passengers. I am so amazed at how many do not want to attend... want to sit in a lounge while they do it... People do realize their purpose right?? You all go out where your life boat is for a reason. I guess we will have to be proactive on our own to find out just where we are really supposed to go if there was an emergency?? I know that there are many that have sailed countless times... but how many are first time sailors??

 

Thanks for the review. Very well written.

[Karynanne]

I already answered this once but forgot to mantion another gripe we had... When the ship docks in a port, almost everything on board shuts down. Shops are closed, casino either closed or open late, most entertainment vanishes, and (worst of all) main dining room is closed for lunch! That means if you want to eat in a non-specialty place, your choices are poolside or the dreaded OV cafeteria! Again, this seems to be more cost cutting, and it does detract from the overall cruise experience in my view.

 

Phil

 

This isn't anything new to Celebrity. Closing the MDR on port days, gives the staff some needed time off. And shops and casino have always been closed on port days.

 

On Solstice you can always have lunch at Bistro on 5, or grab a burger or hot dog at the pool grill, or visit the Aqua Spa Cafe. There are choices on port days.

[Mr Miserable]

The whole idea of a restaurant closing for lunch - Is it just me?

[hcat]

As long as we can have a spot at either pool area we'll be happy. Quite a nice break from shovelling snow!

 

Did you notice a place to buy cigars at the St Maarten pier? That's the one port I would not mind missing for a day on board--but DH would be missing the cigar stores in town....We were there recently but left the area for an excursion--didn't notice many stores right at the pier...

 

So are you Mr. Miserable over this cruise or in general?

[willysgrandma]

Can you tell me what time you arrived at the pier? Celebrity and RCL are pretty much known for now allowing anyone in their cabins before 1:00.

[Ma Bell]

I already answered this once but forgot to mantion another gripe we had... When the ship docks in a port, almost everything on board shuts down. Shops are closed, casino either closed or open late, most entertainment vanishes, and (worst of all) main dining room is closed for lunch! That means if you want to eat in a non-specialty place, your choices are poolside or the dreaded OV cafeteria! Again, this seems to be more cost cutting, and it does detract from the overall cruise experience in my view.

 

Phil

 

This has nothing to do with cost cutting. The casino and shops are not allowed to be open while in port. Most people don't even eat in the main dining room when the ship is at sea and most people go ashore when the ship is in port so there is no reason to keep the dining room open for a few people.

[Mr Miserable]

I'm pretty miserable most of the time, hence we go on cruises in the hope that some ray of happiness may enter my life. Invariably, the opposite happens - I find out that I paid more for my cruise than anybody else around the table or find they have been given free wine, free internet access or $$$ ship credit in some obscure promotion or other. I'm always the guy who finds out the coffee machine has ran out in the buffet - always, without fail. I should put money on it but I can't because I spent it on the cruise. Our cabin is the one between the family with the screaming kids and the couple who have a domestic every night they stagger back from the casino at 3am. Our cabin is below the disco and above the ships glass disposal unit. Our verandah is notable for its location next to the air conditioning exhaust outlet and the presence of a toenail clippings. Whoever it is that books their cruises a week before us and cuts their toenails on the verandah, please stop. I have deliberately stopped using the CC countdown timers in a move to outwit this person.

The list goes on .....

[jbranch]

Did you receive onboard credit for your fuel surcharges?

[ellbon]

I just did a B2B on this ship. First of al o nthe 4th i got to the ship about 1230 and was oon a few minutes before the cabin was ready. I did ont mind the 10 minute wait to sitt down. I was in AQ and there was no line at all.

 

I spend my days at sea either o nthe Solstice deck or by the basket ball court. i had no problem but one time finding a chair. that t8ime took an extra 2 minutes.

 

I also ate in each spec resturant twice plus the crepe place twice. My favorite was Silk harvest. I was alone and had no problem taking 2 hours in all three places.

 

I felt the food and service was great. I loved being in Micheals Club. I think i was there 7 or 8 times at night. spent part of those nights dancing.

 

I got a cold from the air conditioning and was in/out of the medical center under 45 minutes.

 

he ship is great and I told Simon Weir i would be back and again in AQ class. the only way forr me to travel this ship or class of ship.

[snopls]

As long as we can have a spot at either pool area we'll be happy. Quite a nice break from shovelling snow!

 

Did you notice a place to buy cigars at the St Maarten pier? That's the one port I would not mind missing for a day on board--but DH would be missing the cigar stores in town....We were there recently but left the area for an excursion--didn't notice many stores right at the pier...

 

So are you Mr. Miserable over this cruise or in general?

 

I did see a small stall at the pier where there was a person getting tobacco leaves ready to hand-roll cigars. It was very convenient to the ship - you may want to try it.

 

Phil

[snopls]

Can you tell me what time you arrived at the pier? Celebrity and RCL are pretty much known for now allowing anyone in their cabins before 1:00.

 

We took a van from our hotel (Hampton Inn and suites) and got there around 11:15 or so. Had to wait about 45 minutes before we went through their check-in process.

 

We were on the ship well before 1pm - I think it was closer to noon.

 

Phil

[snopls]

This has nothing to do with cost cutting. The casino and shops are not allowed to be open while in port. Most people don't even eat in the main dining room when the ship is at sea and most people go ashore when the ship is in port so there is no reason to keep the dining room open for a few people.

 

I kind of thought that could play a role (not being allowed to open), but if that is the case it is not true or all ports, because in St Maarten they opened at 7pm even though we were still docked until later (I think 10 or 11 pm). Maybe it's a "daytime" restriction. I wonder if this is some kind of agreeement that the cruise lines make with the ports so that they don't "compete" for the passengers' business?

 

As for the main dining room being closed, I do understand the need to give some rest to the staff, but wonder if they could compromise and keep part of it open. We saw a pretty significant number of people remaining on the ship when in ports - not sure what percentage, but the ship sure didn't feel "empty". Another responder mentioned theat there are some other venues for lunch, and they are right. There are. Just not as nice as the main d.r. though.

[snopls]

Did you receive onboard credit for your fuel surcharges?

 

This was kind of strange, for us. Apparently we had booked so early that they never collected the charges from our TA (who did collect them from us - when they were only $5 per person per night). Our TA is refunding them to us (so he says) - but he gave us a story that Celebrity had sent a check back to the TA's company and that was the source of the refund.

 

So I have 2 differing stories - one from Celebrity and one from the TA. Frankly, as long as I get the refund, I don't much care which is the truth.

 

Unfortunately, that probably isn't going to answer your question though - sorry!!

 

Phil

[ellbon]

I knew the cabins would not be ready until 1 pm so I planned on not getting there until close to 1 pm.

 

never saw cigars anywhere but in stores in all ports. cubans can be had also.

 

Never was in the MDR as I was in AQ. As far as lunch I was very happy with AQ spa or Mast Grill.

 

cruise was wonderful and now looking at next winter over Azamara.

[Longboysfan]

The whole idea of a restaurant closing for lunch - Is it just me?

 

So the staff can catch a breather.

 

They did have brunch some days - which was fine - not excellent but fine.

 

Bistro on 5 was open just about 24 X 7.

[snopls]

I forgot to mention Bistro on 5. It was excellent, We went there three times and each time the food offerred was freshly prepared and perfect. I should have added ir in the "positives" comments - it definitely belongs there.

Phil