Two nights on Solstice

Hmm how do you review a two night cruise.

Let’s be frank it’s really only one day. In fact from departure to arrival is a grand total of 36 hours. Never even considered doing such a short cruise before.

So why did we?

Really two reasons to begin with, then a third came along.

1. It was the weekend before a “Special Birthday” for my darling Mrs Gut. Don’t ask which one if I told I’d be a dead man.
   
2. We got a great offer, $10 deposit, $100 six months out, balance as usual.
   
3. Then came number three, the old Gutster’s health went down hill big time, the good old doctor started saying things like “No more cruises” and “Wheelchair” and “Paralysis”.
   

Eventually it was “OK, as long as you use a wheelchair you can try the two days and see how it goes.” So we made some changes, hired a chair (we’d given one old one away the other was buggered).

Then of course Gut gets offered a weeks work and says sure before realising it was the week of the cruise. So there was question of will we even get there?

So, eventually everything falls into place and we’re off.

NOw :)when I say everything fell into place, well that might be an overstatement.

Thursday we start getting emails saying that boarding was delayed and not bother to arrive till about 5:00 pm.

There had been a GI outbreak on the cruise prior and needed deep cleaning.

Eventually we decided we’d still go down early Friday drop our bag, and get some lunch then board. Those who know told me this would work.

So we left home, arrived Sydney about mid day. Parked. Got to the terminal, dropped our bag, and said hello to a few people I was told to say hi too.

And was told to go right through to the wheelchair check in (ohh I’ll mention the wheelchair issues later).

And was on by about 1:00.

I think the fact that gbenjo wasn’t working contributed to the smooth check in, no mention of downgrades or denied boarding.

But no real spethshial treatment like I deserve either.

One real disappointment.

We received six emails in about 18 hours telling us about boarding times and that it wouldn’t start till at least 2:00 pm, but no message at all to inform that things had moved much quicker and boarding was taking place from before noon.

I know that many people were upset that they had spent a few hours “killing time” when others were permitted to board.

One real disappointment.

 

We received six emails in about 18 hours telling us about boarding times and that it wouldn’t start till at least 2:00 pm, but no message at all to inform that things had moved much quicker and boarding was taking place from before noon.

I know that many people were upset that they had spent a few hours “killing time” when others were permitted to board.

That would have been disappointing on such a short cruise.

Administration seems to be a common weak spot for cruise lines.

That would have been disappointing on such a short cruise.

 

Administration seems to be a common weak spot for cruise lines.

Which itself, in my opinion, contributed to some other problems with the cruise.

Perhaps I should mention here.

A condition of me doing this cruise was that I use a wheelchair. I ended up hiring one. It seemed great, compact both for in the car and on the ship. A small footprint.

We also changed our cabin to an accessible cabin.

Never had an accessible cabin before and I will post some photos in a short while. An incredible cabin maybe I now have some comprehension as to why some people without any disabilities try to book them.

Unfortunately the wheelchair was a bit of a let down, not keeping a charge for very long at all, it was supposed to be good for about 7km per charge (which in itself is low most giving around 20km) but in reality giving way less, on Saturday Mrs Gut’s Fitbit said she had done 8,000 steps, so (given her size and previous calculations) 5 or 6 km. I did less, but still had to charge the chair three times during the day, which took me out of action for a good chunk of time.

I think the fact that gbenjo wasn’t working contributed to the smooth check in, no mention of downgrades or denied boarding.

 

But no real spethshial treatment like I deserve either.

So ......in a roundabout way,.....through my absence .......I contributed to your smooth embarkation .....which of course was my first priority:D ....AND I had the added bonus of not having to put up with your misguided " spethsial" demands ..a win win situation:'):'):').

I do hope Mrs Gut enjoyed herself though

So ......in a roundabout way,.....through my absence .......I contributed to your smooth embarkation .....which of course was my first priority:D ....AND I had the added bonus of not having to put up with your misguided " spethsial" demands ..a win win situation:'):'):').

 

I do hope Mrs Gut enjoyed herself though

Mrs Gut said, that Yvonne from Scotland was really nice, can we have her next time instead of the bloke with the one sided smile?

Glad that you both made it. I agree the plethora of emails seemed like admin gone mad. We dropped our bags, took a walk and were on board by 1pm so not too bad. It was a short time but a pleasant enough Mum and DD weekend even with the less than perfect weather. Of course being a weekend cruise there were a lot of people determined to get the absolute max from their drinks package but the ship is big enough to avoid the people you would rather avoid. We enjoyed Blu, the spa, gym, indoor pool, glass blowing show, theatre shows, and the couple of times we called in to Ocean View Cafe for a snack it was good to see food and drinks being served rather than some of the 'orrible breaches of food hygiene rules you often see. Of course a weekender is not like a real cruise but time on Solstice is always a treat.

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Perhaps I should mention here.

 

A condition of me doing this cruise was that I use a wheelchair. I ended up hiring one. It seemed great, compact both for in the car and on the ship. A small footprint.

 

We also changed our cabin to an accessible cabin.

 

Never had an accessible cabin before and I will post some photos in a short while. An incredible cabin maybe I now have some comprehension as to why some people without any disabilities try to book them.

 

Unfortunately the wheelchair was a bit of a let down, not keeping a charge for very long at all, it was supposed to be good for about 7km per charge (which in itself is low most giving around 20km) but in reality giving way less, on Saturday Mrs Gut’s Fitbit said she had done 8,000 steps, so (given her size and previous calculations) 5 or 6 km. I did less, but still had to charge the chair three times during the day, which took me out of action for a good chunk of time.

Seems lie too many plumbers and. It enough electricians on this board to service your needs.

Next time a trip to Bunnings for an extra long extension cord.

Seems lie too many plumbers and. It enough electricians on this board to service your needs.

 

Next time a trip to Bunnings for an extra long extension cord.

I ended up carrying the charger around with me and just pulling in near a power point and plugging in, sitting waiting to get enough charge to move on.

Glad that you both made it. I agree the plethora of emails seemed like admin gone mad. We dropped our bags, took a walk and were on board by 1pm so not too bad. It was a short time but a pleasant enough Mum and DD weekend even with the less than perfect weather. Of course being a weekend cruise there were a lot of people determined to get the absolute max from their drinks package but the ship is big enough to avoid the people you would rather avoid. We enjoyed Blu, the spa, gym, indoor pool, glass blowing show, theatre shows, and the couple of times we called in to Ocean View Cafe for a snack it was good to see food and drinks being served rather than some of the 'orrible breaches of food hygiene rules you often see. Of course a weekender is not like a real cruise but time on Solstice is always a treat.

 

 

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Oh yeah some hitting their package pretty hard to make sure they got their dollars worth.

So once on board off to the buffet for a feed.

Found a table.

Mrs Gut went and got some. Came back and reported that they were serving you, due to the outbreak last cruise.

Positive: less worry about people with no manners or hygiene (Mrs Gut mentioned that after a trip to the bathroom she and another lady were scrubbing away and three or four just walked on out).

Negative: less control over portion sizes regardless if you wante$ just a little for a taste, or a lot for a meal, you got “their” serve size.

It was way slower.

The staff were under the pump, as all stations had to be manned with servers, that impacted on service in other areas of the ship as well, I think they were just run into the ground.

When it came time for Gut to go and get his, he was joined by a sweet young thing who said her job entailed helping those in wheelchairs get served. I explained that I was fine but apparently if a supervisor saw me unattended she or one of the others on that duty would be in trouble. For the rest of the cruise every time I saw her she went out of her way to ensure I was OK even when she wasn’t on that duty.

I was on this cruise too but couldn't join in the chatter beforehand as I had to keep it a secret from hubby. This was his birthday present. So glad that you made it on board, bummer about the chair though.

Have to agree about everyone trying to get the most out of their drink packages. No more sampler cruises for me, they really are just booze cruises. Hope you were able to enjoy the cruise, but in my humble opinion it was so very different from a regular celebrity cruise.

I was on this cruise too but couldn't join in the chatter beforehand as I had to keep it a secret from hubby. This was his birthday present. So glad that you made it on board, bummer about the chair though.

Have to agree about everyone trying to get the most out of their drink packages. No more sampler cruises for me, they really are just booze cruises. Hope you were able to enjoy the cruise, but in my humble opinion it was so very different from a regular celebrity cruise.

We knew going in that it wouldn’t be an ordinary cruise and for us it was really a little get away for Mrs Gut’s birthday and to try Solstice.

Which brings up another point, there were a lot of groups, this one’s birthday (at least five groups) another’s hens party (x4 at least) etc.

Please feel free to toss in any comments you may have in agreement with mine or contrary.

While having lunch we were chatting with the couple at the table next to us, and received a t3xt from Miss Gut to tell us that the pup was fine.

The couple we were talking to heard and asked about our boy, long story short they used to have a Schnauzer, so had a chat about dogs for a while.

Mrs Gut said, that Yvonne from Scotland was really nice, can we have her next time instead of the bloke with the one sided smile?

Yes, Yvonne is a lovely lady but sadly she does not do check in so you may still be stuck with me next time.. but hey... I am more than happy to flick you to some other poor unsuspecting check in person :eek::eek:

After lunch off for a tour of the ship. Including a visit to the MDR to make sure I can get close enough to our table to transfer. Good job we did as our allocated table was inaccessible to the wheelchair, our new table was window side so a real win-win.

Cabins not ready till about 5:00.

Chair goes flat.

Mrs G decides to ask our Steward could she get the charger out of our bag, if it has been delivered, so we can put some charge in before dinner. He says your cabin is ready bring him in.

Wow the cabin is massive, nearly double the size of a standard balcony. The door is automatic, insert your card and it swings open.

The bathroom is also massive.

I will try and post some photos.

Of course the Cabin being so big the balcony is also way wider.

Only small complaint the wall to the balcony is roughly half sliding door and half solid wall, so my view of the ocean wasn’t as good from the bed as I’m accustomed to.

Anyway, chair on to charge for an hour or so before dinner. (6:00 sitting)

Hi Mate.

How was the Solstice overall or are you getting to it soon??????

Cheers Bob.

PS. I would probably agree that this sampler would not be a true account of a longer cruise.:)

Hi Mate.

 

How was the Solstice overall or are you getting to it soon??????

 

 

Cheers Bob.

 

PS. I would probably agree that this sampler would not be a true account of a longer cruise.:)

In a nutshell Bob we’re keen to try a real cruise on her now. Allowing for the booze cruise type atmosphere, crew under stress etc, very happy, a very nice ship.

Crew were under stress for a number of reasons

1. Working extra shifts to serve in the buffet

2. Two day turnaround

3. Tips down due to less chance to form impressions on passengers

4. Two night cruise everyone wanted to try everything, thus everything was busy, bars busier than I’ve seen on any cruise, couldn’t get near the mast grill, buffet flat out each time I visited.

5. Some crew commented that they’d never worked a particular job before but got sent there with little if any instruction due to demand.

6. I was told they were still short handed because some crew were still sick and in quarantine from the last cruise.

Muster drill.

I thought was very good it was presented via a “Mission Impossible” type video. A bit of a fun way to try and get the message across.

But boy did some complain.

We were told at the start that we must remain seated until the captain dismissed us, seemed simple enough.

At the end of the video it was explained that it was available in cabin in various languages, naturally that message had to be given in each language, didn’t that rile some up.

Then they had to call through the cabins that hadn’t been marked off as being present, that was just an excuse for some to yell out.

There was then a great uproar when we were told we would be dismissed row by row.

There was one group in our section being particularly obnoxious (drunk already). One senior crew member asked a junior crew if she knew the cabin numbers, and to delay that row as the Captain was considering disembarking them before we departed.

In a nutshell Bob we’re keen to try a real cruise on her now. Allowing for the booze cruise type atmosphere, crew under stress etc, very happy, a very nice ship.

Crew were under stress for a number of reasons

1. Working extra shifts to serve in the buffet

2. Two day turnaround

3. Tips down due to less chance to form impressions on passengers

4. Two night cruise everyone wanted to try everything, thus everything was busy, bars busier than I’ve seen on any cruise, couldn’t get near the mast grill, buffet flat out each time I visited.

5. Some crew commented that they’d never worked a particular job before but got sent there with little if any instruction due to demand.

6. I was told they were still short handed because some crew were still sick and in quarantine from the last cruise.

Good news that you are keen to try a longer cruise on Solstice.

You have to feel sorry for the crew working under such difficult circumstances, with no break to look forward to at the end of the short cruise, before it all starts again.

Are tips not included on Celebrity in Australia?

Good news that you are keen to try a longer cruise on Solstice.

 

You have to feel sorry for the crew working under such difficult circumstances, with no break to look forward to at the end of the short cruise, before it all starts again.

 

Are tips not included on Celebrity in Australia?

Well sort of, but I was really talking about extra tips.

I didn’t think this cruise fell into the no added gratuities, but it did.