My Short March 1st Solstice Review

[pandabebe]

My quick review of my March 1, 2009 cruise on the Solstice.

Background Info: I've cruised on several cruise lines, although this is only my 2nd cruise on Celebrity (my previous Celebrity experience was on a 15 day Hawaiian cruise aboard the Summit a little over a year ago). DH and I are in our early 30s and we enjoying lounging by the pool and eating.

Embarkation: Quick and easy. We arrived around 1:30 p.m. and there were no line ups to check in.

Ship: GORGEOUS! Decor was fresh and modern...a big difference in comparison to the generally traditional decor on most cruise lines I've been on.

Cabins: BEAUTIFUL! DH especially enjoyed the large LCD interactive tv that was mounted to the wall (he was thrilled that they have ESPN and ESPN international :rolleyes:). The neutral decor colours was a nice change from the generally tacky peach, ocean blue and yellow colours that most cruise lines use. A few cruisers commented on limited storage space but DH and I didn't seem to have that issue...perhaps we're light packers. I really enjoyed the shower doors in the bathroom...I am one of those people that have a shower curtain phobia. Also liked how they had a fan above the shower that seemed to turn on whenever the shower doors were closed (the bathroom never got hot and steamy). Perhaps TMI, but I thought the toliets were especially high on this ship; I'm 5'8" and I wasn't able to flat foot the floor whenever seated :eek:. And because I asked this questions on the board perviously, the bathroom ammenities were great...shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and soap.

Main Dining Room: Decor was beautiful but food quality was just OK. DH and I definitely felt that the food was much better on the Summit (quality, variety, portion size and overall presentation). This is definitely one area where cut-backs are apparant. Lobster night was a big disappointment - I've never seen such small lobster tails in my life :( (and each order only came with 1/2 a lobster tail, though I'm sure they would bring you more if you requested it). Our sad exotic fruit appetizer consisted of watermelon, cantelope, pineapple (which were available every day in the Oceanview Cafe) and one lychee. Dessert was good, soups were salty, entrees all seemed to have a similar taste/flavour...appetizers were probably the best items on the menu. And a small note non-food related, dining room chairs are extremely heavy. I had a very difficult time getting in and out of my seat...always needed someone's assistance to pull or tuck my chair.

Murano: FANTASTIC. We really enjoyed this meal. Food was fantastic, presentation was amazing and there was so much to choose from. Definitely the best meal of the cruise and we wished we had ate here every night.

Oceanview Cafe: EXCELLENT. I had read a lot about the changes to the layout of the food stations, how Celebrity had got rid of the trays, etc...and all were great improvements. The new layout of the food stations meant there were never any lines to get food (including the yummy morning waffles), and the absence of trays prevented people from piling up 3 or 4 plates of food at a time. My only comment is that they need to have more variety in breakfast choices...they served the same food every morning.

Service: EXCELLENT. No complaints.

Pool: Definitely in agreeance with the other reviewers when they complained that there are just not enough lounge chairs. If you didn't get up at 9 a.m. to reserve a chair you were out of luck! Lounge chairs were also lined up in a row, which often made if uncomfortable to relax...you felt like you were squished beside a bunch of people you didn't care to get that close with :eek:. But we did enjoy the variety of seating/loungers available...from the cabanas, to the hammocks, to the nice "patio" furniture to the comfy loungers. The Solarium as an adult only pool was also enforced...witnessed on several occasions the pool bulter advising children and their parents that the Solarium was for 18+ only.

Disembarkation: We opted to do the express check-out, which required us to meet in the theatre with our luggage. It was extremelty crowded...not enough room in the theatre and people were piling into the hallways with their luggage. And it was frustrating that when we received the OK to disembark we had to walk to the other side of the ship with our luggage (you would have thought that they would have selected a lounge closer to the exit instead of having 200+ people move through the hallways with luggage creating a traffic jam).

Overall Experience: GREAT! We loved the ship, the decor, the service...would definitely consider going with Celebrity again. DH and I are fairly simple people...just thought I'd give you an honest review of our experience. :D

[cal101]

Pandabebe

 

Thank You for your review. It was short, sweet and to the point. Also very informative. Glad you had a good time. We will be on board in two weeks and can't wait!

[gillianrose]

Perhaps TMI, but I thought the toliets were especially high on this ship; I'm 5'8" and I wasn't able to flat foot the floor whenever seated :eek:.

 

THANK YOU for mentioning this. I'm not as tall as you, and this might be a real problem for me. Toilet HEIGHT isn't the only problem I've discovered, though.

 

Toilet SEAT design on some of the modern ships is frankly, well, a real PAIN.

 

Since the C-class (Mercury, for example) and M-class (Millennium, Summit, Infinity and Constellation) have what I would describe as comfortable "facilities," I had hoped that Solstice would, too.

 

Grand Class Princess ships and newer are very uncomfortable, and for me, the worst by far is the Vista class of ships of HAL (and other companies which use the same design). The seats remind me of accidentally sitting down on a toilet where the seat has been left up. EEK! :eek:

 

I have searched through Cruise Critic and found precious little about toilet seat comfort.

 

Maybe it deserves its own thread. What do you think, ladies?

[gopherhockey]

Overall Experience: GREAT! We loved the ship, the decor, the service...would definitely consider going with Celebrity again. DH and I are fairly simple people...just thought I'd give you an honest review of our experience. :D

 

 

Thanks for the review. My wife and I just got back from the very same boat and sailing, so I hope you don't mind me tacking on a few comments of my own. (this was our 3rd cruise, 1st Celebrity cruise, we are also in our 30s)

 

We had Aqua class cabins on the cruise, which we were real excited about. While the cabin was great, we are left wondering if Aqua Class is really worth it. There really was no clear benefits other than Blu. (see comments on Blu later) Loved the LCD TV and the interactive system for ordering food, checking our bill, etc. WORLDS ABOVE our last cruises, but makes us hesitate to get back on an older ship again. The interactive map seemed to only work half the time and some of the reaction time was sluggish so it seems they do have some work yet to do. It was nice to be able to order room service on the TV and not have to pick up the phone at all. They limited breakfast to ordering the night before which seemed unnecessary and inconvenient. Loved the size of the bathroom, the bed, and all the other things the OP said (colors etc.)

 

Note: most Aqua Class cabins are directly below the pool area. You will hear sliding chairs, carts, and even foot traffic. We seemed to get used to it as the cruise went on, but it starts up very early and is quite noticeable. Seems like a major design flaw to place the relaxation themed Aqua Class right under the pool. The 12th floor (pool) deck sticks out on the sides about 25' from the 11th floor cabins, so you will not get any sun on the Aqua class deck... which can be good or bad.

 

Persian Garden: I didn't use it, but our cruise mates told us it was not at all quiet in there. People in the steam rooms were always chatting it up, and others were coming in and out of the doors to the room which were loud. I believe there were only 8 seats in there.

 

Blu: Best services we have had on a cruise yet. Loved the smaller room, atmosphere, and individual table. We opted for the 8:30 seating and felt it was too late (for us at least). I can only remember a stand-out menu on the first and last nights. The second night was our least favorite (and have read similar comments). While we LOVE good food and we both like to try new things, we did feel something was missing from the experience in Blu. My wife felt they were being a bit too pretentious with the food and I guess thats the best I can come up with. I know it was supposed to be a lighter fare, but sometimes you just want a Caesar salad or a regular potato. I felt they over featured meats like lamb and pheasant and left a decent steak to the specialty dining areas. Not once did I find a nice pan seared scallop on the menu. (we were at least offered 2 lobsters plus more when we were finished)

 

Pool: Same thoughts as the OP. Crowded, nearly impossible to find a chair on at sea days. WHATS WITH THE F#)$(*ING RESERVING OF CHAIRS?!?!?! I know this is debated elsewhere but campers suck, period. Also.. maybe it was because of our late dinner seating but it felt like hot tubs should remain open later at night.

 

Smoking: Best lack of smoke on a cruise yet. They *almost* got it right. (e.g. banning it entirely) We didn't smell smoke all over the ship like on our Princess cruise last year.

 

Bars: best beer selection I've yet experienced. They even had Hoegaarden which made me very happy. Celebrity has clearly recognized that there are beer lovers out there too and it doesn't have to be just all about the wine. Loved the martini bar - suggest the flight of martinis to everyone.

 

Solarium: Unlike other ships we have been on this was open to the public. I prefer when it is not, as it tended to get very crowded which then made it not so relaxing. There was no special access to the solarium being in Aqua Class... for some reason we were lead to believe there would be. The worst part was that they were actually varnishing the wood in there on 3 of the days! Varnishing with no open windows and a room full of people - are you kidding me? The cool fountain (which takes up a lot of space) wasn't operational until the last day.

 

Ports: While I personally would rather stay on the ship the only time its not so crowded, we and our cruising partners did feel the port times were rather short. Looks like they are putting in a pier at Labadee which will be nice - tendering is no fun.

 

Embarkment: Same as OP - very fast and no lines. We got there around 11:30am and being Aqua Class were allowed to pass those sitting in the waiting rooms and get on board right away. This was the biggest benefit of Aqua Class that I noticed.

 

Disembarkment: Getting off was quick and easy, but we were unable to find our bags, which are all piled together in a room next to your disembarkment number. After about an hour of searching we found them in the middle of the room where a crowd had previously been gathering. Apparently someone grabbed them thinking they were theirs (apparently the distinctive yellow tape on the handles wasn't enough to tip them off) We felt no assistance and almost felt the staff were rude to us. It was clear this happens all the time (which seems to suggest a change might be necessary) Had we been trying to get to a flight it would have been a bad situation. Nobody checks what bags you have, so like with most airports there is no way to stop someone from just walking off with your bags. It was sad to end our vacation on a note like this. (next time we might opt to take our own bags off to avoid this)

 

Ok, now its sounding like I didn't enjoy my time and I apologize for the nit picking. Honestly its easy to remember and talk about the annoyances, but this was the best cruise we have had thus far and we are already hoping to do a Med cruise in 2010 on a Solstice class ship.

 

It would be hard to go back to an older boat after experiencing the Solstice. I hope that even in this economy cruiselines will continue to upgrade their offerings. I believe Celebrity has now set the bar.

[redjoan]

Is there a charge for the Solarium pool? Is there a thallasotherapy (sp) on this ship?

Would you recommend the first floor or the second floor in the dining room?

[gopherhockey]

Is there a charge for the Solarium pool?

 

No there isn't. I felt there should be as this area gets filled up fast and quickly becomes just another pool area. It did get stuffy in there quickly though (read my comments on varnishing as well).

[New Hampshire]

I sail on March 29. I'm trying to plan my day in St. Martin and I'd like to know what time the shops are open until. We're saving shopping until the end of our day on the island, but I need to know when we should get back to town to have some time for shopping.

[hcat]

No there isn't. I felt there should be as this area gets filled up fast and quickly becomes just another pool area. It did get stuffy in there quickly though (read my comments on varnishing as well).

 

This is not a T pool so it truly is just another pool area for adults only--I would oppose this being made an extra charge area on the ship--esp since it takes the oveflow from the congested outdoor pool area.. with so many more cruisers than on M class they should have had a third pool area--maybe instead of the grassy area That;s my only real issue with this amazing ship!

 

Or maybe they could put in a T pool--for that I would pay or book AQ...

[carkosh]

Pandabebe, Nice review; I like 'em short & to the point lol. Glad to hear about ESPN; DH & I were semi-worried about The Masters as this week was the only week (Apr 5-12) we could book this yr. We love The Masters & at least now, we'll get to keep up as ESPN is showing alot of it. Salty soup..oh well, I seem to be a salt-aholic; I'll probably love them lol. The toilets...glad to know that altho not much this 5'4" woman can do about it (I do remember the early yrs of our cruising "career"...they were all that way) lol. DH & I are really looking forward to our week onboard Solstice; thanks for the review!

 

Carol

[Shirley C]

Great reviews! Thanks.

[Oceangoer2]

I sail on March 29. I'm trying to plan my day in St. Martin and I'd like to know what time the shops are open until. We're saving shopping until the end of our day on the island, but I need to know when we should get back to town to have some time for shopping.

Shops in St Maarten close at 7pm; shops/casino then open on the Solstice.

[gopherhockey]

with so many more cruisers than on M class they should have had a third pool area--maybe instead of the grassy area That;s my only real issue with this amazing ship!

 

 

The grassy area.. yea, we walked over it once. A pool there would be better. Or, put an outdoor movie screen and have movies on the lawn or something.

 

It definitely felt like the ship was missing one pool area.

 

Almost forgot:

 

Workout Area: First day made the mistake of thinking I'd get a machine at 8am. By the 2nd day I didn't have any issues finding a machine - just started going a bit later. By the afternoons machine use was less than 50%. I thought it would have been nice to put an eliptical in every other spot by the window vs. having all the running machines there. Worked out every day for over an hour... still probably gained 5 lbs. ;)

[redjoan]

Does anyone remember what beers they have on tap?

[gopherhockey]

Does anyone remember what beers they have on tap?

 

Heineken and Amstel Light for taps that I saw around the pool. The rest were bottles, of which they have a fairly good assortment. I think I took a photo of the list I saw in the aqua cafe, but there were more beers than were listed.

 

I was hoping for something like a Guinness draught on tap but found none.

[willysgrandma]

I also was on the 3/1 sailing. I agree with both of you on the experiences, may I add some of my own comments?

 

I was disappointed in the food selection at the Oceanview. Trust me, I didn't starve, but for lunch, I found the selection limited if you arrived for a late lunch, which we did several times. If you showed up at 2:00 - a lot of the areas were cleaned with nothing on them. I wanted a nice snadwich - you had to make them yourselves with the cold cuts or salads available. I would have liked some small sandiwhces already made. The layout was great though and it kept lines from getting long. The waffles are to die for at breakfast and I am not a waffle fan. But the ice cream in Oceanview was great - new selections every day.

 

We ate at Silk Harvest and thought the food and service were great - the sushi was delicious.

 

I also wasn't thrilled with the entertainment. I missed headliners! The shows were either the shows production cast singers or dancers or the acts that were playing around the ship all the time. And a whole show of a xylophonist was impossible for me to sit through. He was good, but for 10 minutes I could take it, no more. I missed not having a headline singer or Comedian - I couldn't stay up until midnight to see him in Celebrity Central. Did love the Solstice show. I really felt the cutback in the shows. I traveled with a group of 44 people and they all said the same thing. I also thougth the cruise director was a bit of a drip too - not a lot of excitement, but perhaps he was perfect for this line, as it was an older crowd on the cruise.

 

Service was great, embakation and disembarkation were the best yet of a ship (luckily, we found our bags immediately at disembarkation).

 

I did love the ship and liked the cruise very much - don't take my comments wrong, but there were a few small things that could make it beter.

[hylasgirl]

This is not a T pool so it truly is just another pool area for adults only--I would oppose this being made an extra charge area on the ship--esp since it takes the oveflow from the congested outdoor pool area.. with so many more cruisers than on M class they should have had a third pool area--maybe instead of the grassy area That;s my only real issue with this amazing ship!

 

Or maybe they could put in a T pool--for that I would pay or book AQ...

 

 

I agree... Not even the other ships charge for T pools. That would be a crazy thing to do... charge for the Solarium pool. Not one of Royal's ships charge for the Solarium pool. It's a great adult area.

[JudyOh]

redjoan - we were on the upper floor in the dining room and thought it was nice till one day we went to a wine tasting on the lower floor and boy you get a whole different feel. We missed a great view on the upper floor. If I were going again I would difinetly request lower floor.

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

I was on the same cruise.

Embarkation was awesome! It was such a breeze. We were literally on the ship within 10 minutes from coming in the door. Celebrity has this organized very good.

The solarium was for 16+ years old. I read the sign in the solarium next to the pool several times. It should be 18+ though. Yup, chair hogs were out in full force as usual. Lots of people were saving the big couches next to the solarium. We went to sit down and there was a newspaper. The people were having breakfast next to it and said it was theirs. There was lots of savings. I wonder if half of the people were even around because the solarium was mostly empty.

 

Disembarkation was kinda unorganized. Yup, people were all standing and crowding the halls. I was standing by the elevators. I'd like to see them organize disembarkation better. But, I know disembarkation is never fun on any cruise.

 

I realize I should probably write my own review now. ;)

[cml3]

Hi

Leaving Sun on Solstice.

Quick question-have they put clocks in the cabins? Always bring my own but was hoping the new ship would have them.

Also, is there more than 1 plug at the desk?

Thanks

[Tomato53]

Hi

Leaving Sun on Solstice.

Quick question-have they put clocks in the cabins? Always bring my own but was hoping the new ship would have them.

Also, is there more than 1 plug at the desk?

Thanks

 

cml - I was on the 3/1 also...there is not a separate clock in the cabin but the phone displays ship's time and has an easy to use wake up call feature. The interactive TV also displays the time when you change channels or volume. There were two plugs at the desk area.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[gillianrose]

Solarium: Unlike other ships we have been on this was open to the public. I prefer when it is not, as it tended to get very crowded which then made it not so relaxing. There was no special access to the solarium being in Aqua Class... for some reason we were lead to believe there would be..

 

You aren't alone, there. I haven't been keeping close tabs on this issue anymore, but I recall reading that was supposed to be one of the benefits of booking Aqua class.

 

The worst part was that they were actually varnishing the wood in there on 3 of the days! Varnishing with no open windows and a room full of people - are you kidding me?

 

That's horrible. :mad:

 

... did you speak to anyone in the hotel department about this? If so, what did they say? What did they do?

[Solstice23]

great Review,

 

Poll chairs,,we have had that time and time again on every ship ...from the Mariner of the Seas, princess...all of them

 

I am sure the food is suffering a bit with people paying lower fares and with the economy, Great review though thanks...We are on the Solstice March 14th 2010 and again for July 5th 2010

[TomCruises]

I sail on March 29. I'm trying to plan my day in St. Martin and I'd like to know what time the shops are open until. We're saving shopping until the end of our day on the island, but I need to know when we should get back to town to have some time for shopping.

 

We have to return to the ship by 10:00p-10:30p. Shops should stay open till 8:00p-9:00p! Only a couple of weeks to go :)

[gopherhockey]

You aren't alone, there. I haven't been keeping close tabs on this issue anymore, but I recall reading that was supposed to be one of the benefits of booking Aqua class.

 

Yea, we were fooled into thinking it was a benefit - just misread the marketing material I guess. Last cruise had a more private pool. I can understand the comments from others about not wanting to change it as it really is one of only two pools. I just felt with Aqua Class there should be more benefits than Blu and a really loud relaxation room.

 

That's horrible. :mad:

 

... did you speak to anyone in the hotel department about this? If so, what did they say? What did they do?

 

Well I failed to really speak up about it and let it force me out of the Solarium instead. :o Next time I promise to speak up. I did at least mention it on the comment card - I hope they read it because there was a whole lot left to be stained in that room and I'm sure others will be dealing with the same.