Oz_Steve

We had the ultimate package on VOS and got value from it. It's not only alcohol included. Fresh squeezed juice at breakfast, lattes for morning tea, beer or soft drink for lunch, latte arvo tea, a couple of drinks with dinner, a cocktail or 2 after and a bottle of water to take back to the room at night. More than paid for it and we weren't 'drunk' a single night! I liked that I could try cocktails I normally wouldn't spend $12 on just to see what it's like, if I didn't like it, didn't matter just get something else.

 

 

This is exactly how I was justifying it, but take into account the 4 days of ports for me, the last day I won't be drinking much and that I am not a big drinker that really has to pace herself (having kids and not being able to drink much turns you into a Cadbury). The coffee, juice and water free flow was justifying it. How was the coffee? I'm going to order my usual things and see on the first day if they are decent first, no point signing up to bad coffee.

 

 

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Try a few of the free coffees first. Then the pay for coffees will taste fantastic and taste even better as the cruise goes on. I really can't stand the filtered American coffee. Think McDonalds filtered coffee but not quite as good.

One of the bartenders at the molecular bar on Solstice (who was extremely friendly and good regardless) said that he really disliked the new package system, because there is no longer an incentive to serve the customers anymore and that it's unfair because they spread it evenly regardless of how much they individually served a person.

 

Although that was his point of view, in my mind they would definitely end up with more tips overall as a result of packages.

Was that one of the Ukranian guys? They were excellent, I think their names were Andre and Sergei.

We had the premium drinks package on the Solstice last December and it was great. There was a group of 9 with the package and we got great service everywhere. If you want the good spirits etc you do have to go to the right bars. The passport and pool bars weren't much good but the Molecular, Martini, Cellar Masters and the Blu dining room were fantastic.

On the first night in Blu we ordered a bottle of La Belle Epoque as with the 30% off it was very good value and we wanted to try it. My wife tipped the Sommelier $20 as he did have to hunt it down and after that he was suggesting stuff we try (all included with the package) that wasn't necessarily available on the wine list after we had tried most of the 'standard ones'. He would have some that they used to stock but didn't put on the list anymore as they only had a few left etc.

We also frequented the Cellar Masters and were getting great service and variety from the Sommelier. As they were so many of us he did get some latitude with what we could get by the glass as we would finish the whole bottle between us and he wouldn't be stuck with half a bottle of by the glass wine that wasn't on the list so people didn't know was available.

Would I get the premium package again? In a heartbeat.

I can see the wharf from my house and there isn't a ship there. It would be a pity as it is a beautiful day in Suva at the moment. Clear sky and sun shining. The rain and cyclone alert was lifted on Friday.

There is currently very heavy rain from a tropical depression that was assessed as being a >50% chance of turning into a cyclone. It is basically over Viti Levu. Having said that the rain has eased somewhat and IMHO doesn't look likely to escalate. There is however still a cyclone alert in place. Most knowledgable locals say rainy until Sunday then back to normal. There has been quite a bit of flooding. Latest forecast says that chance of turning into a cyclone in the next 24-48 hours is moderate to high.

I was watching the ship come in this morning and saw it when I went to the market. Didn't see that many passengers wandering around. There was a lot of rain in the past 36 hours and Nadi was flooded yesterday and many roads closed. It was very wet here and was supposed to rain all day today but it stopped last night.

Voyager of the Sea was in Suva and it clogged the place up. I wasn't here but the week before there were 2 ships and it was apparently quite difficult to get a cab.

Carnival's MDR food is actually quite good. On our last cruise, most nights that the food was good enough that I would have eaten more if I was able to do so (comfortably). Even the nights where the food was not spectacular, it was better than average. I certainly never went hungry. But Carnival is previewing this "new menu" (with less choices) and its getting mixed reviews, so we will see if that becomes a regular thing.

 

But I was hoping that Celebrity's food would be a step above Carnival's, even though I think Carnival's is very good. We are AQ so we will be dining in Blu, hopefully that will push the dining experience a little more. We are paying quite a bit more for the two of us this 5 day cruise than we did for three people for 7 days on Carnival. Granted we have a premium drink package and prepaid grats (thanks to our TA) and a balcony in AQ class, so its going to be more.

 

OP I am glad to hear that you liked the production shows. Carnival's entertainment was so so to me. I am not sure how I feel about the new (playlist?) shows that they started introducing with the 2.0. The techno graphics are kind of neat, but the show itself was not as interesting. We did not even stay for the whole thing.

We had an Aqua balcony (Room 1610) with a premium drink package on the Solstice recently (12 night cruise) and it was fantastic. Blu is great and the Molecular and Martini Bars are both great. Add in Cellar Masters, Café Baccio, the nightclub, the bar at the front (I forget its name) and one night in each of the specialty restaurants and your holiday is made.

When are you here? Bring your golf clubs, I am always looking for golf partners

I think it is the Sea Princess in the port today.

Oz_Steve I wish I know you where from Suva, as I would have picked you mind for ideas on what to do there :D :)

 

If you see the Sun Princess, give it a wave :D , as I will be on here :cool:

When are you here? Bring your golf clubs, I am always looking for golf partners

The spirit left the wharf over an hour ago but it is sitting just off shore, it has been there for about 45 minutes

Carnival Spirit is at the wharf today. I don't think they are using the container terminal for cruise ships anymore.

Lautoka is about 3 hours from Suva. You may have to find someone else!!

The Voyager of the Sea was docked at the Kings Wharf in town the other day. It is a very short walk into town from there. The container wharf would be a bit of a hike, a taxi would cost 3-4 FJD.

We were on the Solstice in December and found the Blu staff (Savu, Dijana and gedday) to be fantastic. The wine service was always spot on as well. We tried all of the specialties restaurants and they were all good. The only bar we had an issue with was slow service at the passport bar. Adrian and Sladjana (sp) were excellent in the Molecular Bar and Sergei joined later and he was ok. The Sommelier in Cellar Masters was a scream. Ian was ok as a cruise director but I can see how he might put some people off.

However all in all it was a fantastic cruise and if I made any complaints it would only have been because I was looking for something to complain about.

Yes. I would recommend looking at the Bula Shirts they are quite cheap and good quality if you look around a bit. A tip to try is when they ask if you are off the ship say 'No, I live here'. When they ask where say 'Up Tamavua, Mead road near the super fresh'. That will sound credible as many expats live in that area and it may get you the local price rather than the tourist price. Most shops are set prices but markets are a little different.

I was in 1610 and our friends were in 1608. If the numbering is the same book 608 ASAP.

Voyager of the Seas was in port today, didn't see many passengers around town but the traffic was horrendous from all the extra taxis trying to get into town.

Cool... That's kind of what we decided and we leave in less than 2 weeks on the reflection... Cabin 1618...

We had 1610 on the Solstice, it was fantastic. Blu is great.

I was fortunate enough to be on the Dec 10th sailing of this ship and it was fantastic. I never noticed loud music or that the ship overall was loud. Reading some of the reviews for this cruise I must have been on a different cruise/ship. I guess some people look for reasons to complain.

We just returned from the same trip. We were in 1610 (starboard) and it was excellent. I think it was the better side but do not sit on your balcony when going through the sound, get on one of the upper decks the view is incredible.

We dined at the Chefs table on the Solstice recently and enjoyed it. The wines that we had were fantastic (probably the main reason for the cost) and the food was a selection from the 3 specialty restaurants. It included a Galley tour during dinner service so you saw the kitchen when it was going flat out. There were 10 people attending and it was hosted by one of the senior officers. The exec chef spent a lot of time there as did other senior staff. You also got a book per couple. Whilst it was great not sure it was worth $279 per couple, I think they should have had a unique menu. We also did the chefs table on Radiance of the sea and it was significantly less expensive and overall a better experience as they did a completely unique menu.

Just a note that the higher prices (with tips included) are also used on at least the Australia/New Zealand cruises as well.

 

 

Greg

 

 

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Just got off the Solstice and the drinks at Molecular were more than $12. I had the premium package so didn't really look at many of the prices. One of our group went and upgraded theor classic to premium and were told that servings up to $15 were covered.

Reading this site some time ago I recall some posters waxing lyrical about aft cabins for Alaska itineraries. We have booked them on the Century in August next year so we are looking forward to that. We got the Century Suites so I hope they are ok.

Having stayed in the Penthouse on 2 occasions, I understand BLU is not intended for me, it's for Aqua. I find it nice that they will try to accommodate me if there is room, and have no issue paying the $5 cover/gratuity (do we know if it is cover charge or gratuity for sure? either way...) any more than paying $5 in Bistro or $45 for Tuscan or whatever.

 

I don't think that staying in the penthouse means "I own the ship anything I want is mine".

You won't get anywhere with an attitude like that. Next thing you know the Maitre d' won't want to charge you 10 dollars.