Just Returned from Solstice, Feb 28...trip report

[Gracie115]

Thanks for your review.....we loved Solstice too and agree with most of what you had to say...can't comment on evening meals in the MDR since we were in Blu and loved it...

 

Funny though we thought Tuscan Grill FAR superior to Murano's. Perhaps your late evening reservation at Murano's gave you different perspective. When we were there it was completely full and felt it...we never knew who our "main" waiter was and the food was, truly, only mediocre. We've been in Celebrity's specialty restaurants on Summit and Millenium and they were both much better in our opinion. Tuscan Grill on the other hand served a great meal with great service and I do believe we had that same table looking over the wake...wonderful view. I loved the food, the veal chop was excellent. OH well...to each his own, right?

 

Glad you liked the Solstice...we loved her too and can't wait to find a date to book back on her or Equinox or Eclipse!!!

[Yeldarb]

I've seen pictures on the site of people in these big hammock looking contraptions. Looked really comfortable. Did you see those on the ship? if so where?

 

Cheers!

[Gracie115]

I've seen pictures on the site of people in these big hammock looking contraptions. Looked really comfortable. Did you see those on the ship? if so where?

 

Cheers!

 

They are on the ship, in the pool area.....very comfy!!

[clarkspond75]

Outstanding review, thanks. Going on 4/18/10, can't wait....You made us feel like we were there.

[Woodmnky]

We are considering Solstice for an upcoming cruise and really appreciate the review.

Can you, or someone who has recently sailed on Solstice, provide a little more insight into the on demand entertainment offered on the TVs? In particular is there a charge for it, if so, what is the cost and what is offered?

Thanks.

[betmust]

Thank you for your review- I enjoyed reading it.

We will be on the Solstice 4/28 and can't wait. Sounds like you really enjoyed it.

 

So now I have one question for anyone. I always get this confused. I am in 1649 on Penthouse deck - is that Starboard on Port side? Any help?

 

Thank you

Bette

[TandTinHou]

Thank you for your review- I enjoyed reading it.

We will be on the Solstice 4/28 and can't wait. Sounds like you really enjoyed it.

 

So now I have one question for anyone. I always get this confused. I am in 1649 on Penthouse deck - is that Starboard on Port side? Any help?

 

Thank you

Bette

 

 

1649 is on the left side of the ship...hence the Port side!!!!

[rigldbrg]

Thanks for the tips and well written review. You guys are OK for a couple of Buckeyes.

[TandTinHou]

We are considering Solstice for an upcoming cruise and really appreciate the review.

Can you, or someone who has recently sailed on Solstice, provide a little more insight into the on demand entertainment offered on the TVs? In particular is there a charge for it, if so, what is the cost and what is offered?

Thanks.

 

 

Well, we didn't watch THAT MUCH tv...so I may not be the best resource...but here goes...

 

The televisions were nice flat panels, BUT, the signal feed they were using was NOT High Definition, so the quality of the picture wasn't that great. It was ok, but not what you expect from "HD"...

 

In terms of "on demand" programming, there is either MOVIES or MUSIC.

 

For MUSIC, you can choose the Genre, and then the artists within that genre, and then select a specific song, or choose to play all by that artist. I was quite impressed by the extensive catalog they have to choose from, ALTHOUGH, there aren't really any "truly current" artists. It seems as if most of what I saw was at least 5 years old...but they have everything, from Classical, Jazz, Alternative, Contemporary, Pop, Rock, etc. As an aside, the volume for the music programs was quite loud. It was much louder than the television channels, so the sound quality was quite good!

 

For MOVIES, there are both FREE and PAY PER VIEW categories. I "think" the difference may be the age of the movie, but I'm not sure because I didn't study it that closely. There seemed to be an awful lot of movies in BOTH categories...and I think the cost for the PPV movies was in the 8.95-9.95 range...

[TandTinHou]

Thanks for the tips and well written review. You guys are OK for a couple of Buckeyes.

 

 

LOL...thanks! Perhaps that's because I was born and raised in Redford!!! :D

[TandTinHou]

Thanks for your review.....we loved Solstice too and agree with most of what you had to say...can't comment on evening meals in the MDR since we were in Blu and loved it...

 

Funny though we thought Tuscan Grill FAR superior to Murano's. Perhaps your late evening reservation at Murano's gave you different perspective. When we were there it was completely full and felt it...we never knew who our "main" waiter was and the food was, truly, only mediocre. We've been in Celebrity's specialty restaurants on Summit and Millenium and they were both much better in our opinion. Tuscan Grill on the other hand served a great meal with great service and I do believe we had that same table looking over the wake...wonderful view. I loved the food, the veal chop was excellent. OH well...to each his own, right?

 

Glad you liked the Solstice...we loved her too and can't wait to find a date to book back on her or Equinox or Eclipse!!!

 

Hi Gracie! You bring up some very interesting thoughts about the restaurants that I think many us probably don't consider. We always booked late ressies, BUT...the Tuscan Grill was definitely more crowded than Murano's on our nights. The night we were at Murano's, the restaurant was probably only 70% full, which was great. Also, another interesting fun fact about our Murano's dinner. While dining, the table next to us was a party of three young ladies, 2 officers in uniform and another in a cocktail dress. During dinner, a chef kept coming to their table and chatting with them. I never thought much about it but did think it was odd that a chef in his "whites" was actually sitting with diners (although they were also employees). Well, come to find out, the chef in question was none other than the EXECUTIVE CHEF of the ship, and the lady in the cocktail dress was his girlfriend. This was his last cruise before he begins his own personal vacation! Since we were dining at the same time, I think we may have had the good fortune to have our meals prepared under his "watchful eye"...

[Woobstr112G]

Ship: Celebrity Solstice

Date: February 21-Februray 28, 2010

 

Hi everyone! We just returned from a cruise on the Celebrity Solstice, February 21-Februray 28, 2010 and wanted to provide our thoughts via a trip report.

 

First, who are we? T is 46 and an accountant. Mrs. T is an esthetician and is 33. We’ve been married for 6 years and live in Columbus, Ohio. This is our second cruise, having sailed on the Disney Wonder in December, 2008. However, we do feel we are pretty knowledgeable travelers. We vacation several times a year, including Mexico, Las Vegas, California and our annual trip to Disney World, where we are Disney Vacation Club members and stay in the various Vacation Club Villas onsite (Saratoga Springs Resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge, etc.) We also typically eat out several times a week, ranging from Olive Garden and Red Lobster, to upscale local bistros to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. We aren’t pretentious, but do expect to receive good value for the money we spend on entertainment.

 

Rather than give you a “day by day” activity log, we’re going to break up our trip report into sections.

 

EMBARKATION

 

We flew from Columbus into Fort Lauderdale on Sunday morning. We were a bit reluctant about flying in the day of our cruise based on comments we read on CC, but the flight went off without a hitch! We left Columbus at 7 AM, had a brief layover in Atlanta, and landed in Fort Lauderdale about 10 minutes early at 11:30 AM.

 

The airport at Fort Lauderdale seemed a bit hectic and unorganized. I’ll even go so far to say the airport looks a bit dumpy. However, we were fortunate enough to have our bags come off first, and were heading to the taxi line in record time. A quick 5 minute taxi ride later, and we were entering Port Everglades.

 

The embarkation process was extremely easy and efficient. They had many agents available to assist with check-in and the process only took a few minutes. There seemed to be very few people in the terminal at this time…we’re not sure if we beat the crowd, or missed the crowd…we suspect we missed the crowd, and that it was probably a lot busier an hour earlier. Needless to say, from touchdown at the airport to stepping on the ship took less than an hour!!! UNBELIEVABLE!

 

The only problem we had with flying in the day of the cruise is having to deal with how tired we were in the beginning. Waking up at 3 AM to catch a 7 AM flight takes a lot out of you! In retrospect, we would probably plan on flying in the day before next time, simply to give us a chance to get situated!

 

THE SHIP

 

The ship, in one word…BEAUTIFUL! The ship is so spread out, it never seems that crowded…OK, maybe the sun decks get a bit crowded sometimes! The ship must be well designed because while the ship felt spacious, it never felt too large, or overbearing. It seemed quite easy to get from one area to another.

 

The main public areas, decks 4 and 5, are absolutely beautiful. These decks include restaurants, shops, bars, theater and the casino. Everything seemed to flow very well. The upper decks include pools, the “cafeteria”, various sundecks, several bars, the lawn club, and an indoor observation lounge. While this area was also well laid out, it did get crowded!!!

 

Our room was on Deck 10 (sky deck, I think). We were in a Concierge Class room. The room seemed well thought out and made it easy to organize your belongings. Our room was configured with the bathroom on the left as you entered the room. Beyond the entrance, was the closet, and a sofa along the left hand side of the room, and a dressing table, mini fridge (mini bar), counter and flat screen television along the right hand side of the room. The bed (configured as a queen) was against the left hand side of the room, and the sliding glass door to the balcony was just past the bed. The dressing table had a chair in front of it and there was a small cocktail table in front of the sofa (we moved the table into a corner to give us more room). There were just a few drawers below the counter, and they were relatively small (as most of the free space was taken up with the mini bar). The closet was quite large with a lot of hangers and a shelf above the hanging rod. There was also overhead storage above the bed. The bed was also high enough off the ground to accommodate your empty suitcases. The room was decorated nicely, and the flat screen television had an extensive entertainment menu (on demand movies, PPV movies and a lot of music options to choose from. The bathroom was laid out in a very efficient manner and seemed larger than it obviously was. The shower was in a corner, and curved with sliding glass doors.

 

The theater is very nice, and can be accessed from two different levels (decks 4 and 5). Likewise, the main dining room can also be accessed from two different levels (decks 3 and 4).

 

There seems to be more public spaces than you can discover in a week! There are MANY bars, shops and alcoves, both indoors and outdoors.

As mentioned above, the pool area does get crowded, and the pools themselves do seem to be a bit on the “smaller” side. We haven’t been on many cruise ships, but it seems as if the size of the pools has been compromised a bit due to the “lawn club” that is present on Solstice-class ships. The lawn club seems to take up almost half of one of the upper decks, and while a “neat” feature, it seems to us to not be the most efficient use of space on a cruise ship. I’m not complaining, but the quality of the grass isn’t what you see in the brochures or the Celebrity website…there are some brown spots. Granted, I completely understand what a difficult process it must be to maintain a lawn on a ship, I’m just saying…

 

In addition to the outdoor pools and sundecks, there is also an indoor pool area (for adults only), called the Solarium. This area is very nice, and relatively quiet, but I wish it was outdoors so you could enjoy the sunshine. Speaking of sunshine, the ship’s sundecks seem to have a LOT of obstructions blocking the sun. It seems as if you would find a nice lounge chair and just get comfortable, only to be in shade a half hour later. There were a LOT of porticos and canopies blocking the sun.

 

SERVICE

 

The service onboard the Solstice is UNBELIEVABLE. Everyone was extremely pleasant and willing to help in any way possible. The staff seemed to be enjoying their jobs, and you saw a lot of interaction between staff and management. Likewise, members of management were always willing to assist in any way needed. Service was better than any resort or restaurant we’ve ever encountered! The only exception we encountered was in the Main Dining Room on a few occasions (which we’ll explain in more detail later in the report).

 

While I’m not positive, we seemed to have both a stateroom attendant and a stateroom maid. I thought they would be one in the same, but I saw someone other than our stateroom attendant vacuuming the room one day. Needless to say, our room was always spotless, and appeared to be cared for twice a day. We would usually leave the room by 10 in the morning for a late breakfast, and the room was always cleaned when we returned in the afternoon. Likewise, turndown service was always done once we left our cabin in the evening around 8. Anytime we had a specific request, a simple note on the bed was all it took (extra ice, extra soap, etc.).

　

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Keep in mind that prior to this cruise, our only other cruise was on the Disney Wonder. That being said, we think Disney may have “spoiled” us regarding entertainment. The Solstice has three major production shows; a musical revue, a Broadway retrospective and a Cirque de Soleil-type show. Let me just say that it’s NOT Cirque de Soleil or an actual Broadway show…But, you also are not paying in excess of $150 per ticket! The production show entertainers, also known as “The Solstice Singers and Dancers” are indeed talented and do try extremely hard. After the first show, I thought to myself, “This is nowhere near the quality of entertainment that I saw on the Disney ships.” However, the more shows I saw, the more impressed I became. Some of their acrobats were actually past Olympic gymnasts! By the end of the cruise, I was actually a convert, and decided that the entertainment was actually quite good, and definitely a great value, all things considered. In addition to these production shows, there was also a singer who had previously performed on London’s West End (great voice, but unknown to me), and a magician (definitely not Lance Burton or Criss Angel but a very enjoyable show, overall.)

 

There were also several bands onboard, and they provided entertainment in various locations and lounges throughout the ship throughout the day. For the most part, the musicians were very high quality, and included everything from classical string quartets, to jazz combos to calypso groups.

 

Another entertainment topic I want to address is the subject of the Cruise Director. It seems as if Celebrity may be doing something unique in the cruise industry, in that they are not hiring typical “cruise directors” which I always thought are glorified cheerleaders. Our cruise director on the Solstice was previously an actor and a stuntman, and had a much more mature and subdued approach to managing the overall cruise experience. It as a very pleasant experience!

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

 

A lot has been written on “the boards” about just who makes up a typical Celebrity cruise. On our cruise, I estimate the breakdown as follows: 5% families traveling with small children; 10% honeymoon couples in their twenties and thirties; 25% couples in their forties; 30% couples in their fifties; and 30% couples in their sixties and above. I would also estimate that of this makeup, perhaps 20% of these travelers were in groups greater than a couple (family reunions, etc.).

 

Pool bars were always crowded, and other lounges seemed to be most active during the hour or two before dinner. Formal nights did seem to be more active, with more people mingling and wandering the ship after dinner.

 

Formal night requested dress codes seemed to be well adhered to. Overall, people looked great for formal nights, and I would guess that maybe 15% of men wore tuxes or white dinner jackets, and there were a LOT of men in dark suits.

 

That being said, the nightlife may be deemed “subdued” by many people. We’re not partiers and haven’t been to a club since the last time we went to Las Vegas, so we may not be the best source of reference regarding this. There were always plenty of options for late night entertainment, but we opted to pass on most of it.

 

DINING

 

This is probably the most difficult section of the report to write. We had read so many GREAT THINGS about dining onboard the Solstice, we had very high expectations. In retrospect, perhaps those expectations were a bit too high.

 

We opted for Select Dining, so we could choose our own time to dine each evening, and also to ensure that we would be able to dine alone at a table for two. Before our cruise, we also planned to dine one evening at the Tuscan Grill (based on the rave reviews on the boards) and also considered possibly dining at Murano’s and Silk Harvest.

 

Here’s our ranking of all of the dining establishments from BEST to WORST, and we’ll provide details below:

 

Murano's The best meal we have ever had!

Silk Harvest A hidden gem…easy to get into and wonderful food and service.

Bistro on Five Casual with great crepes. Service seemed unorganized at times.

Café al Bacio A nice coffee shop with pastries. Great, attentive service

Oceanview Café A decent and well-organized cafeteria

Main Dining Room Just So-So. Service inconsistent and food usually overcooked.

Tuscan Grill Great atmosphere, but that’s it. This is a specialty restaurant???

Room Service Nevermind

 

Well, by now I’m sure we have opened up Pandora’s Box. What have we done…we’re “knocking” not only the Main Dining Room but also the highly revered Tuscan Grill? Oh dear!

 

First, the good news. After lackluster meals at the Main Dining Room and the Tuscan Grill, we decided to try Silk Harvest. Well, I was able to make reservations for 8:30 one evening at about 5 in the afternoon, and are we ever glad I made the ressies! Silk Harvest is a great experience. Service is top notch, and the chefs seem to be well trained in Asian cooking. While we didn’t try the sushi, the table next to us ordered a LOT of it, and they seemed to rave about it. We did try the following: Wonton Soup; Spring Rolls; Lettuce Cups; Mixed Green Salad; Kung Pao Chicken; Pepper Steak; Vegetable Fried Rice; Coconut Milk Custard, Caramelized Bananas with Coconut Ice Cream; and Japanese Ice Cream in 4 flavors! I know, I realize there was just two of us for dinner…but the servers kept recommending dishes and wanted to bring out more food for us to try, and who are we to disappoint them? Silk Harvest reminds me of an upscale, modern Asian restaurant vaguely similar to PF Chang’s. So, take PF Chang’s, multiply it by 10...and that’s how good Silk Harvest is.

 

Next is Murano’s. We read reviews of Murano’s and scanned the menu before our cruise and we weren’t convinced this was the type of restaurant we would enjoy. It seemed a bit pretentious, in all honesty based on our research. Boy, were we glad we tried it! Is it fancy…yes it is. Is it pretentious…not in our opinion. The service on the Solstice is so good and appears so genuine, that it is hard to view anything onboard as pretentious. After a great meal at Silk Harvest, we decided to try and get reservations at Murano’s. We succeeded in securing a late dinner on the last formal night, and it is the highlight of our vacation, and the best meal that either of us have ever had! We both tried things we couldn’t pronounce, and loved every minute of it!!!

 

More good news…we had several lunches at Bistro on Five and Oceanview Café, and thought they both exceeded our expectations. Our first meal ever on the Solstice was at Bistro on Five about 10 minutes after we boarded when the restaurant was completely empty, and it was a GREAT and relaxing experience. What a way to start our cruise!

 

The Oceanview Café was a pleasant surprise for breakfast and lunch. We’re not fond of buffets, but this place is bright, airy, and well organized. The food was always fresh and hot and there were a ton of choices. I will say, however, that it does get a bit chaotic during “peak” times, so plan accordingly.

 

Now for the bad news. Tuscan Grill was quite possibly the biggest disappointment of the cruise for us. The service was just average, and the food did NOT meet our expectations. We did, however, have probably the best table for two in the restaurant…against the windows overlooking the aft wake…WHAT A VIEW!!! Now, about the food. To start with we both had the Lump Crab appetizer combined with melted cheeses. That’s how the menu described it anyways. What we got looked exactly like cat food covered with mozzarella cheese. The crab mixture had been processed so finely that you couldn’t identify any crab, and the fish smell was overpowering. UGH! Next up was Tuscan Onion Soup, which is described as a “creamy onion soup”. What we got was French Onion Soup with an Italian Cheese blend on top. When we asked the waiter about it, he said that they use a blend of four different cheeses on top, and that’s what makes it so creamy….OK….next. Our main courses were OK, but NOT the caliber that we expected. I hate to say this, but I didn’t think the quality of the food was much better than the Olive Garden. The atmosphere was great, but the quality of the food fell short. OK, maybe better than the Olive Garden, but not any better than the Macaroni Grill…sorry.

 

Finally, the Main Dining Room. Well, for the most part we didn’t have any problems with Select Dining, but we did always make reservations earlier in the day and usually ate around 8:30. That being said, one problem we noticed with Select Dining is the lack of establishing any rapport with your wait staff since you will not be sitting at the same table each evening. In the future, we may simply opt for the “late seating”…but we did enjoy having a table just for the two of us. At times, it did seem as if our meals were a bit rushed. Typically, meals lasted about 60 minutes. The two issues we had with the Main Dining Room were inconsistent service and overcooked food. Sometimes we got bread plates, sometimes we didn’t. Sometimes we got iced tea, sometimes we didn’t. Sometimes they brought salad dressing or cocktail sauce immediately after setting down the salads or shrimp cocktails and sometimes we waited a minute…or two…or three. Sometimes they asked us if we wanted a cocktail and sometimes we had to ask them. None of these are extremely significant, but when you add them all up, it just seemed out of place on the Solstice. Also, meals were almost always overcooked…chicken was a bit dry, Osso Bucco was braised too long, veal cordon bleu was tough. Once again, we realize you can send the food back, but that’s not the point, is it?

 

Oh, I almost forgot…room service. We started out by ordering breakfast in the morning, and we had also read great things about it on the boards…Well, it just didn’t seem like a big deal to us. We were really looking forward to the special concierge class room service breakfast menu. The execution left a bit to be desired. It always arrived ON TIME, so that’s a huge plus, BUT…the food just didn’t seem that good. The omelets were dry, the fresh-squeezed orange juice was room temperature, and the selection in the danish basket was not very imaginative. Eventually, I found it easier to simply run up to the Café and make a few trips for coffee, juice and pastries. To each, his own, we suppose.

 

PORTS OF CALL

 

Our ports were San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. We loved all of them, ESPECIALLY St. Kitts and St. Maarten. These two islands seemed to simply say “tropical island paradise”…they were great. We didn’t get much of a chance to explore San Juan as we used that day to visit family that lives on the island. However, we were curious as to why this itinerary doesn’t include another port? I mean…why leave your last port at 6 pm on Thursday, and then simply have sea days on Friday AND Saturday? Couldn’t they have planned another port stop on their private island??? Another island would have been fun, in our opinion.

 

During our port visits, we pre-arranged a beach trip in St. Kitts and a snorkel trip in St. Maarten. Both of the trips were GREAT. We arranged them directly through Celebrity. On future cruises, we may be brave enough to do our scheduling with independent operators in order to give us some more flexibility.

　

SUMMARY

 

We had a great trip! We loved the high level of service and the beautiful ship. It’s hard to compare this cruise with our only previous cruise (Disney Wonder) since the ships are SO DIFFERENT. All we will say is that we LOVE the Solstice!!!

 

TIPS AND OBSERVATIONS

 

 

In no particular order….

• *If you do select dining, make your dinner reservations ahead of time each day. That way, you will have preference IF there is ever a line.
  *Concierge Class, is it worth it? Hmmm, we liked the robes…but can’t see much else other than room location. I guess it comes down to how much more is Concierge Class over a verandah cabin. A lot of the amenities seem contrived.
  *Starboard or Port? We were Starboard and it seemed like we kept getting the short end of the stick. We saw the terminal at Port Everglades instead of the rest of the port and at other ports, we kept looking at other docked ships instead of the city or the beach.
  *Drinks seem a bit expensive, but even saying that, I don’t think any of the drink packages are worth it for the majority of people. Your mileage may vary.
  *Pictures in the photo gallery are WAY overpriced.
  *The wi-fi packages are probably NOT worth it if you plan on using your own laptop. Their wireless routers are NOT very fast, nor very reliable. If you need internet, you are better to go to their internet café, which is open 24/7. It would take web pages about a minute to load using your own laptop.
  *Cellular at Sea, while a good concept, needs to improve its technology before it is viable. We had three cell phones with two different carriers and probably only had a signal on the ship about 35% of the time. Even when we did have a signal, most of the time it was VERY WEAK.
  *You MUST visit the Martini Bar and watch the flair bartenders. They are very talented!
  *Bistro on Five for your first meal upon embarkation. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone!
  *If you personally visit the specialty restaurants in the late afternoon, you have a good chance of scoring a late dinner reservation for later that evening.
  *While the fancy wine dispensing machine is quite the novelty at Cellar Masters, at an average cost of $7 per ounce, I’ll stick to the standard glass of Malbec or Cab, thank you very much! I NEVER saw anyone ever using the dispenser.
  *Naps are good, and never considered a waste of time!
  

Well, that’s it folks…we hope this report was helpful, and feel free to ask questions! We’ll do our best to respond.

　

 

thanks for taking the time to post a great review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[librarylady19]

Very well-written and balanced report of your cruise experience. I like the fact that you provided so much background on your previous travel experiences & interests. I was somewhat surprised to hear of your less than stellar meal in TG; haven't tried it myself but was thinking about it for next cruise. Sounds like SH was more to your liking, while I wasnt overly impressed with it. To each his own. Next time, try Blu....all the great things about S-class ships & better food/service!

I do have to disagree with you about the Solarium tho. I loved the fact that it was covered. It let it plenty of sun, without being too warm...it was my favorite place on the ship.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences & insights.

[librarylady19]

Don't forget to post to to Solstice sticky too. I'm putting together an update and would like to include your comments. TIA

[LindaandJeff]

Great review. Really lets me know what to expect. The analogies were very helpful.

[Gracie115]

Hi Gracie! You bring up some very interesting thoughts about the restaurants that I think many us probably don't consider. We always booked late ressies, BUT...the Tuscan Grill was definitely more crowded than Murano's on our nights. The night we were at Murano's, the restaurant was probably only 70% full, which was great. Also, another interesting fun fact about our Murano's dinner. While dining, the table next to us was a party of three young ladies, 2 officers in uniform and another in a cocktail dress. During dinner, a chef kept coming to their table and chatting with them. I never thought much about it but did think it was odd that a chef in his "whites" was actually sitting with diners (although they were also employees). Well, come to find out, the chef in question was none other than the EXECUTIVE CHEF of the ship, and the lady in the cocktail dress was his girlfriend. This was his last cruise before he begins his own personal vacation! Since we were dining at the same time, I think we may have had the good fortune to have our meals prepared under his "watchful eye"...

 

 

Interesting....and perhaps our enjoyment at Tuscan Grill was because it was MOSTLY empty the night we went. We were shocked at how few tables...but of course that left us and the few others with exceptional service!! Glad your experience at Murano's was better than ours....and perhaps teaches me a lesson for that kind of dining experience...later is better...also sitting next to the Executive Chef can't hurt!!LOL:D

[terrierjohn]

...... We agree that the service was off in the MDR, even with our trditional seating. Too many little things like the waits for dressings, water fills or coffee. Just last Sept our service was much better on the Summit. We are thinking the select dining is messing up staffing....as well as chianing the quality of food. Could be sitting too long? YES, ....... We too had a nice mix of ages. We agree on the entertainment. It has always a hit or miss on X's stege shows.

We are also just off Solstice and like the OP were Select dining and experienced all the little faults they outlined. Interesting that you also found similar problems with traditional dining, we were wondering whether to switch back to trad. dining for our Sept. Eclipse cruise in light of this experience but, with a new ship and staff, and starting off with both types of dining, maybe they will have it all sorted out by then.

Also agree that age range was much more varied, and younger, than other posters have hinted at, and also felt that entertainment was worse than normal. But talking with Princess and Royal Carib. passengers at the airport on our return it was interesting to note that this was also a major criticism of their cruises as well. Possibly a victim of the recession?

[Huddler]

Great trip report! Thanks!

[CruisinNana]

I loved your report and found so many descriptions that will be helpful to me on my upcoming cruise. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

[Born to Cruise]

Thank you so much for the quick response to my questions. Again your review was one of the best written that I have ever seen on Cruise Critic. You have inspired me to write one after our Solstice cruise on 10/17/10. Speaking of that are we the only ones booked on that sailing? Anyone else out there? Thanks and have a great day.

 

JoAnne

[Linco711]

Loved the review!:) We've sailed RCCL and Disney and celebrity Solstice, and are going on the Solstice in 3 weeks. I can't say it's my favorite line, but the price was excellent. We're going Aqua class this time and hoping for a good experience. I am 60 and my husband is 61. I totally agree with your review of the ship. It is beautiful...and we had excellent service. I was disappointed with the entertainment. Our food experience in the MDR was excellent, and the food was very good, but we sailed a year ago in April. Our server at that time was very concerned that we give him a really good review at the end of the cruise. Said celebrity really takes them seriously. Sounds like things are a little different now. We're looking forward to Blu..

[TandTinHou]

Loved the review!:) We've sailed RCCL and Disney and celebrity Solstice, and are going on the Solstice in 3 weeks. I can't say it's my favorite line, but the price was excellent. We're going Aqua class this time and hoping for a good experience. I am 60 and my husband is 61. I totally agree with your review of the ship. It is beautiful...and we had excellent service. I was disappointed with the entertainment. Our food experience in the MDR was excellent, and the food was very good, but we sailed a year ago in April. Our server at that time was very concerned that we give him a really good review at the end of the cruise. Said celebrity really takes them seriously. Sounds like things are a little different now. We're looking forward to Blu..

 

You bring up a great point about the customer reviews. The only person we heard mention them all week was the Cruise Director...None of our waiters ever mentioned them at all. This is completely opposite our experience on our Disney cruise, where the wait staff went into great detail telling us how important the reviews are to them...not sure if this is a trend for Celebrity or not...

[Linco711]

Thanks for your review.....we loved Solstice too and agree with most of what you had to say...can't comment on evening meals in the MDR since we were in Blu and loved it...

 

Funny though we thought Tuscan Grill FAR superior to Murano's. Perhaps your late evening reservation at Murano's gave you different perspective. When we were there it was completely full and felt it...we never knew who our "main" waiter was and the food was, truly, only mediocre. We've been in Celebrity's specialty restaurants on Summit and Millenium and they were both much better in our opinion. Tuscan Grill on the other hand served a great meal with great service and I do believe we had that same table looking over the wake...wonderful view. I loved the food, the veal chop was excellent. OH well...to each his own, right?

 

Glad you liked the Solstice...we loved her too and can't wait to find a date to book back on her or Equinox or Eclipse!!!

 

I know this is a little off the subject, but we have done a few specialty restaurants on RCCL and we also did Palo's on the Disney Wonder. I wasn't real impressed with the specialty restaurants on RCCL, but Palo's was by far one of the best restaurants I've ever been in. The food, service, and wine selections were awesome! Has anyone out there eaten in Palo.s?

[rigldbrg]

LOL...thanks! Perhaps that's because I was born and raised in Redford!!! :D

 

Redford! Alright then, you're still a Michigan boy! In fact you may have the best of both worlds: A Michigander with an Ohio license plate. No fear of cruising the Ohio turnpike worrying about being persecuted by the Ohio State Troopers ;).

[Lilypie01]

We were also on the 2/21 Solstice, and I agree with a lot that you have all posted. It was our 7th cruise overall and the first on Celebrity. The Solstice is definitely my favorite ship so far! Our group of 6 discussed what we liked about it, and decided that the little things were what we appreciated most. The ice cold cloths after returning from the hot ports. The fact that there was only one interruption per day of announcements although the Captain was the best entertainment of the week! No theme nights in the dining room. Bingo not a huge push. We were able to relax and enjoy this cruise to the fullest on a beautiful ship. I only wish we had booked a back-to-back!

 

We ate in the dining room each night (8 top), and some nights were slower than others, but if I don't have to shop for it, prepare it or clean it up I'm not going to complain too much!

 

Anyone will have a blast on the Solstice. Just make up your mind that you are on vacation, and all the rest will take care of itself.

 

PS: The bed was really comfortable, and the TV was good -- lots of On Demand free movies and music.