balisong187

Here are a couple pics while I'm here in Key West (I don't have shipboard wifi). You can call the view obstructed but IMO I can see PLENTY of ocean/scenery.... I'll review more and add more pics post cruise.

Also my 1st edge class, and only 2nd celebrity cruise (third post-pandemic cruise). First was a Solstice California Coastal. Absolutely love that ship! Didn't choose this cabin on this cruise, was a guarantee cabin placement, but will definitely share my thoughts!

Well thats one crazy coincidence. In about 12 hours I'll start finding out the answer to that!

Negative

2 hours ago, Blue Lagoon said:

Yikes, I remember when the library also had writing desks and a 'librarian' (staff member (from entertainment or ?  taking on another role ) who  would sign your book out. Probably Celebrity Century class ships... sigh. 

You can still take a book to read. I don't think I even saw a list to sign. Just a sign saying to please return books by the end of the cruise. Just the honor system I guess. But yeah this is the 1st ship I've seen that doesn't have a library with a closing door. 

Am currently on the Solstice and I'd say just from memory of a quick perusal.... maybe 75 books? But it is bordering the open air atrium and can frequently hear the atrium bands/dj as well as the card game room right below. So I dunno how relaxing that is for reading.

Haha, we also went to Stearns Wharf and also were originally going to go to the Shellfish Company. But we ended up going to Harbor Restaurant. They were short staffed, so it was a bit slow, bit it was very very good. Had their garlic toast appetizer, was terrific but don't know why they served it with ranch instead of marinara. She got the fish and chips, which was very large and consisted of 2 red snappers. Very tasty without being too heavy on the batter. I neglected to get a pic of that. And I got the delicious seafood pasta. Salmon, shrimp, clam and mussel in a lobster bisque sauce. That sauce was fantastic with the garlic bread. Can definitely recommend this place to anyone here on future trips. Unfortunately we didn't get to shore til after noon, so after exploring the wharf it didn't feel like we had much time for anything else so headed back at that point.

How is the gyoza at SO5? We may be eating there once more on this cruise and like a good gyoza. Also I have no idea what cachaca is but your pic and description of it makes me think I'll be trying it!

5 minutes ago, aring75 said:

 

All of that looks so good! I wanted to try those garlic-truffle fries too. Glad to hear they were as good as they sounded. If we didn’t have reservations for dinner tonight, I definitely would have eaten more. This has been a great cruise for trying out some new restaurants. 😋

Totally agree with that! We don't normally eat often off ship, but have not regretted any of it this cruise. I'm sure we'll eat something wandering around Santa Barbara as well.

30 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Stopped for lunch near the cruise terminal at The Crab House. I saw those sourdough bread bowls yesterday and, I admit, I gave in to temptation. 
 

 

 

It has been two days of fantastic weather in San Francisco. Couldn’t have asked for much better. 
 

 

Having dinner tonight at Sushi on Five. I think we might need to do a few laps before sail away to work off some of those bread calories. 😩

Oh my God, we also had lunch there!! It was fantastic!  Also got the clam chowder with crab in a bread bowl. She's a huge fan of clam chowder and said it was among the best she's had. The garlic truffle fries appetizer was the best garlic truffle fries we've ever had. And I also got the crab fried rice. All of it was so good, and a great view. We'll definitely go back if we're ever here again.

We're on the Solstice right now and ate at Tuscan a couple nights ago. We were amazed at the 3 desserts we shared, the pistachio creme brulee, spumoni donuts, and fig gelato. Also the pork belly appetizer and garlic mashed potatoes side dish were terrific. The entrees were really nothing special though. Loved the aft view, and the service was great. So kind of a mixed bag for us. Trying Murano either tonight or tomorrow, don't remember which.

5 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Mark was looking for a good seafood place for lunch tomorrow. We really enjoyed the market, but it was a more casual type place. He wants to find some good crab. Would you recommend Scoma’s?

Yes I would! They do have some crab dishes there, but the only crab I had there was the crab cocktail and it was good. But I can't vouch for their main crab dishes. But everything else we had was terrific so I'd be surprised if their crab entrees weren't also great.

Did a tour of Alcatraz we just booked directly online for like $54 each I think. Fascinating tour, lot of cool stuff there. Gorgeous gardens believe it or not. 

We just had a late lunch at Scoma's in Fisherman's Wharf. Expensive but very good seafood. Dungeness crab cocktail appetizer. I got the grilled fish dish that had 3 different fish plus shrimp. She got a shrimp and scallop dish. Everything fantastic. Big restaurant with cool vibe and lots of views.

My favorite drink so far, the Elderberry Blush

Alcatraz from our balcony. Can also see Golden Gate Bridge but too far away and hazy to get a good pic with my phone.

We also had Tuscan last night. Great spot by the window looking at the aft wake. Great service too. For me the stars of the show were the desserts, pistachio creme brulee, far better than standard creme brulee in my opinion; the fig gelato was very tasty. If you like fig and gelato, don't hesitate on this one. And the spumoni donuts, Great flavor. We were also blown away by the pork belly appetizer. The garlic mashed potatoes were very good as well. She had the ribeye as well, and like yours it was fairly thin, but had ok flavor. And like you, our waiter brought a half order of the lobster rigatoni. Neither of us were too impressed with that one. I forgot the main dish I ordered but it was just ok also. We'd both be ok with just those desserts any given night though! We normally look forward to formal night (or evening chic or whatever you call it) dinners, but tonight's menu isn't very impressive on paper. Hope it turns out better than we suspect. The next formal night dinner looks much better.

And for my fellow Will Ferrell fans out there....

I'm not much of a photographer but I snagged a couple decent pics of Catalina this morning

2 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Took a walk around town after lunch.
 

 

 

You can hear the Catalina bell tower chime on every quarter hour from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. 

 

 

 

 

Didn’t tour the casino this time. But this would be a fun place to return for another visit. 
 

We walked to the casino, and it was a very pleasant scenic walk. However the casino, actually a movie theater I guess, was closed!

We walked by that restaurant a bit ago. It looked pretty much full but that food looks fantastic! 👍

14 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Mmmm…think I might try the ramen next time. Looks yummy. Is that the pork ramen?

Yes it is, and among the better Ramen dishes I've had! When we go back we're gonna try that hot pot dish that looks really good too

Sorry, previous post was the food at Sushi on 5 for lunch yesterday. 

15 hours ago, aring75 said:

Im not sure and I will try to remember to ask. But we talked to several people who were forced to park in the extended parking areas because the main parking was full. I’ll see if I can find out. 

We parked sorta far out, but before sailaway we could see our car in the parking lot and there were a ton of empty spots that weren't there when we were parking. Either way, loving how uncrowded it feels on this ship! Os that typical for this class of X ship? Had dinner in the main dining room, it was pretty good.

49 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Im not sure and I will try to remember to ask. But we talked to several people who were forced to park in the extended parking areas because the main parking was full. I’ll see if I can find out. 

We parked sorta far out, but before sailaway we could see our car in the parking lot and there were a ton of empty spots that weren't there when we were parking. Either way, loving how uncrowded it feels on this ship! Os that typical for this class of X ship? Had dinner in the main dining room, it was pretty good.

1 hour ago, aring75 said:

 

Hijack away! I love to hear about other people’s experiences onboard and I just might hear about something new! We can’t possibly get to everything so I’d love to know about all the other great stuff that’s happening. 😁
 

EDIT: And I’m glad to hear you enjoyed So5. We will be having dinner there later this week. Yum!

Haha ok, when we get to better land internet signal I'll upload a couple food pics. Really appreciative of your informative post. Also a bit ago had a terrific burger and fries at the Mast Grill. As people that don't like to be in direct sunlight too much, we're loving the amount of nice shaded seating with nice ocean views on this ship! That's something we find lacking on a lot of other ships. Especially our most recent one, the Carnival Panorama. For a ship called the Panorama the views from the ship were underwhelming. So far very impressed with the Solstice for nice seating areas, really cool bars, and so far really good food. It also so far doesn't feel very crowded at all. Does anyone know if we're full capacity?