Just back from Solstice 2/21-2/28

[dave93]

Just back from the Feb. 21, 2010 sailing on Solstice and would like to share my perspective after reading so many comments on this excellent board while planning our vacation.

 

Solstice is simply stunning and sophisticated, and there were many experiences throughout the ship during the week that were very impressive and I would not hesitate to return to a Solstice-class ship.

 

Over the past few years I have heard so much about the level of service and quality of a Celebrity cruise so we were very excited for our first Celebrity cruise. This was my sixth cruise, the five prior all with Royal Caribbean. My initial impression (without really having time yet to digest it all) is that I didn't get that feeling that this cruise experience was completely "starring me" or "designed for me" as others have told me I would experience. That's not to say service was lacking, quite the contrary. I just feel that we have received comparable or better service from staff on past Royal Caribbean trips, and so I expected slightly more.

 

Embarkation at Port Everglades Terminal 18 was excellent. We were asked to be seated after check-in, and within 5 minutes, we were called to board. We walked around some areas of the ship and then headed up to the Oceanview Cafe for lunch. I had heard that with 'only' 2,800 guests onboard and with the spaciousness of the ship, we would not feel crowded. However, the lunch buffet was a hectic start to what was to be a relaxing week. People pushing, shoving, cutting you off while walking around, dropping plates (which was ceramic shattering all over the floor), and most frustrating, absolutely nowhere to sit. We finally found some stools at a high top table near the entrance, with two people in our party able to be seated, while I stood at the edge of the table next to a busy service door where I kept having to move so staff could walk in and out with large trays of dirty plates and carts. I thought, this is just due to the fact that it is embarkation day, it won't be like this the rest of the week. I was wrong. In order to have a nice breakfast, we arrived very early, and were able to find nice seating on the aft deck. Lunch continued to be crowded all the time and unenjoyable. We ended up using the alternative dining venues for lunch the remainder of the week (Bistro on Five, Mast Grill, Aqua Spa Cafe).

 

Bistro on Five became a favorite of mine. It is a relaxing and tranquil place to enjoy a light meal with nice decor, a nice view of the water, excellent service and an attentive, friendly and hospitable manager.

 

Our most enjoyable dining experience was in Silk Harvest for dinner. It was a truly different experience. The staff and food were both wonderful, and I wished we didn't wait until the 5th night of the cruise to try this venue. We also ate in Tuscan Grille, and I was slightly underwhelmed there. The service was very good, however, the food seemed to be lacking slightly based on the quality and taste and flavors that I expected.

 

The most problematic issue the entire week (and I won't prolong it here) was that I was disappointed in the Grand Epernay, main dining room. We had late fixed seating (which I selected), however, at a small table near the front door, against a wall, unable to really see anything in the dining room, and with a large table of 10 or 12 next to us. Our waiter was busy with this large table, and I felt we were an afterthought. This is unacceptable. Dinner took over 2 1/2 hours on the first night, and nearly 3 hours on the second night. We voiced concern on the third night, were assured by the maitre d that it would improve, however, it did not. We were enjoying conversation with our tablemates, however, this length of time is simply too long for this type of dinner, and what was most frustrating is that we missed several activities that we wanted to attend starting in the 10:00pm hour most nights because of this. Other tables would be finished, walking out, or near finishing dessert, and we'd still be on our main course, or waiting for the main course at 9:45 or 10:00. Very disappointing. We weren't sure if the problem was with our waiter or some management-level issue. It seemed to be a combination of both. Our waiter kept saying that the lines in the galley were long, but other tables around us were being served. We would sit for long periods without any attention. Appetizers routinely took 40-45 minutes to arrive. There were prolonged periods of waiting between each course. Again, we voiced concern to the maitre d and he made a huge deal about it and assured us it would improve, but there was little improvement.

 

I know I've listed some issues above, however, there were many, many positive things about this cruise and it was really a wonderful experience! I don't want to give a negative impression. I am just trying to explain some areas of a concern that, unfortunately, initially come to mind, and would like to hear others' experiences.

 

One of the hidden gems onboard, in my opinion, is the Galleria Tastings bar, where the bartender mixes very unique cocktails. The Martini Bar was also fun, and a favorite. Watching the guys at this bar was a lot of fun, they are very skilled with their tricks and tossing glasses and shakers and so on. The Summer Solstice martini was tasty! I loved the blueberries in it! :) The slots seemed to be loose in the casino, which had a very nice atmosphere. Unfortunately we missed the headline entertainer on the night of her show, but we saw her during the farewell show and she was awesome (her style and her voice). Can't remember her name right now, but she was on stage in London's West End. The magician was fun to watch, as well. The late night comedian they had was horrible and embarassing to watch. We walked out early (along with others) during his show and were harassed by him as were leaving. His jokes consisted of constantly yelling at and harassing people who came into the show a few minutes late, and also reading a label from a car window sun visor that said "remove before driving". Nobody was really laughing.

 

I don't have time to write a full review right now but will complete it soon. I have been lurking here for a while :) and now decided that I'd like to post and hopefully start some dialogue. I had a great time on the Solstice and can't wait to start planning the next cruise!

 

I'd also be happy to answer any questions about our experience.

 

David

[TandTinHou]

Hi David!

 

Sorry to hear about your experience in the MDR. I love a relaxing dinner...but 2.5-3 hours???? UGH

 

Our experience with Select Dining on the same cruise was almost the exact opposite. It seemed they would bring one course immediately after the picked up the plates from the previous course. We could get through a dinner in less than an hour...sometimes it seemed a bit "too quick", but that's better than the other end of the spectrum.

 

Personally, I think it comes down to a training issue with the staff.

[Onessa]

Thanks for the review.

 

As to the buffet issues and MDR issues -- we were on Solstice in Late November.

 

We really enjoyed the buffet area. Food quality and variety was great and we found little conjestion in the food "distribution" areas, but finding a table at times was a bit of a challenge.

 

I was not impressed with the service at the MDR. It was adequate but not great. We were a table of five (at an 8-top). Our waiter had responsibility for two other large tables and two 2-tops. He seemed a bit harried and we rarely saw him apart from the initial order and the dessert order. Our table was just a few steps into the MDR -- what little we could see of the rest of the MDR was not impressive -- I really felt it had none of the ambiance or views of the MDRs on the RCCI Radiance and Splendour (my two favorite MDRs).

 

We found pacing of the meals poor. Too often the early seating did not clear out and we would stand for 5-10 minutes waiting for the MDR to re-open for late seating. We had to wait for bread baskets and very often the time between placing the order and the first course coming was longer than it should have been (thank goodness DD is 14YO -- if she were a young child, I can imagine it would have been difficult to keep her interested).

 

The food in the MDR was good, but not outstanding. All the plates had been fully assembled prior to serving so even the smallest of requests could not be honored (a sauce served "on the side" for example).

 

Our cruise was wonderful, and we really loved the Solstice, but I do agree with the OP that the buffet dining area could use a bit more seating and that the MDR does need to crank-it-up an notch (not a bad experience, just not memorable!)

[dave93]

Thanks for the review.

 

As to the buffet issues and MDR issues -- we were on Solstice in Late November.

 

We really enjoyed the buffet area. Food quality and variety was great and we found little conjestion in the food "distribution" areas, but finding a table at times was a bit of a challenge.

 

I was not impressed with the service at the MDR. It was adequate but not great. We were a table of five (at an 8-top). Our waiter had responsibility for two other large tables and two 2-tops. He seemed a bit harried and we rarely saw him apart from the initial order and the dessert order. Our table was just a few steps into the MDR -- what little we could see of the rest of the MDR was not impressive -- I really felt it had none of the ambiance or views of the MDRs on the RCCI Radiance and Splendour (my two favorite MDRs).

 

We found pacing of the meals poor. Too often the early seating did not clear out and we would stand for 5-10 minutes waiting for the MDR to re-open for late seating. We had to wait for bread baskets and very often the time between placing the order and the first course coming was longer than it should have been (thank goodness DD is 14YO -- if she were a young child, I can imagine it would have been difficult to keep her interested).

 

The food in the MDR was good, but not outstanding. All the plates had been fully assembled prior to serving so even the smallest of requests could not be honored (a sauce served "on the side" for example).

 

Our cruise was wonderful, and we really loved the Solstice, but I do agree with the OP that the buffet dining area could use a bit more seating and that the MDR does need to crank-it-up an notch (not a bad experience, just not memorable!)

 

 

I agree, I was impressed with food quality, taste, and variety on Solstice vs. Royal Caribbean. I personally felt it was a definite step up. I enjoyed the breakfast buffet the most as the general taste and quality of the offerings was absolutely superior.

 

I also read a lot of discussion on this board over the past year regarding problems in the MDR on Solstice, and anticipated that after a year or so of them being able to "work out the kinks" of a new ship, that things would improve. Unfortunately, we had the same poor experience in the MDR that others have referenced, and as you said, it just wasn't impressive or memorable. It didn't ruin our time by any means, but I felt awkward that this was even an issue and that we had to bring it up with the staff on a cruise line that is supposed to be offering a certain level of refined service.

[RhondaPerr]

Hi,

 

Who was the CD on this trip? We sailed on her a year ago and will be sailing again the end of this month. I am sorry about your difficulties in the MDR. I am in Aqua Class so that is one thing I know I won't have to worry about. I guess we were lucky we never had problems finding seats for the buffets..the pool however was another story!

 

Thanks for your honest opinion!

 

Rhonda

[dave93]

Hi,

 

Who was the CD on this trip? We sailed on her a year ago and will be sailing again the end of this month. I am sorry about your difficulties in the MDR. I am in Aqua Class so that is one thing I know I won't have to worry about. I guess we were lucky we never had problems finding seats for the buffets..the pool however was another story!

 

Thanks for your honest opinion!

 

Rhonda

 

Hi Rhonda,

 

The CD was John Grantham. He was fine in my opinion. I heard others complaining that he says "Ladies & Gentleman" way too much, which is true, but at the end of the cruise, he poked a little fun at himself for it. He did a great job catering to the predominant demographic on this sailing. However, I did feel that he (and staff) could have done somewhat better at engaging some of the other age groups represented onboard as well.

 

David

[eandj]

Altho, on our early Feb Solstice, we did not experience the poor service that you did in the MDR, we found the service to be off and the coordination of the waiter and his assist. to be non existent. We have cruised X about 8 times and have never had that glitch. Even on our cruise just this last Sept on the Summit, we had fantastic service, with all the little things that make the dinner special. I am reallly concerned that X is screwing up with the select dining. Everything was great until that system started. Either they need more staff, new training or closer attention from the restuarant manager.

 

In your case, I would have made quite a stink if that level of service continued nightly. And I would have complained every night. Not once.

 

I agree that in the Epernay restaurant, if you are not sitting in the lower center of the room where the ceiling is open to the lighting, the tables are dismal. No matter if you are near a work station or kitchen door. We were not impressed with the design.

[dave93]

Altho, on our early Feb Solstice, we did not experience the poor service that you did in the MDR, we found the service to be off and the coordination of the waiter and his assist. to be non existent. We have cruised X about 8 times and have never had that glitch. Even on our cruise just this last Sept on the Summit, we had fantastic service, with all the little things that make the dinner special. I am reallly concerned that X is screwing up with the select dining. Everything was great until that system started. Either they need more staff, new training or closer attention from the restuarant manager.

 

In your case, I would have made quite a stink if that level of service continued nightly. And I would have complained every night. Not once.

 

I agree that in the Epernay restaurant, if you are not sitting in the lower center of the room where the ceiling is open to the lighting, the tables are dismal. No matter if you are near a work station or kitchen door. We were not impressed with the design.

 

Thanks for validating my concerns. The MDR is absolutely an issue on Solstice, however, I only complained once because I did not want to spend my precious vacation time teaching them how to provide the guest service they are supposed to provide, and being upset over something that I felt was not going to be resolved. I knew it was a larger problem that wouldn't get fixed on our cruise when, the night after I voiced my complaint, our waiter asked us immediately when we sat down, "do you want quick service or regular service?" Clearly, they don't get it. There is some disconnect somewhere there. We didn't want quick service, and we didn't want prolonged, inattentive service either.

 

We were told at the end how very important those comment cards are that they pass out, and so I rated the MDR "poor". Since there are only 4 choices on the rating scale, "poor" should make a statement. I didn't rate anything else poor. As a matter of fact, most of my ratings for our experience on the ship fell into the excellent or good categories.

 

Like you said, dinner is supposed to be a special time, and they really should get this in order.

[cruzmaven]

I was on the 3rd or 4th sailing of the Solstice in December '09 and had virtually the same experience in the MDR as the OP. At the time I wrote it off to a new crew learning a new system on a new class of ship. Yet here we are over a year later and the same problems persist.

 

That's a shame because the Solstice is a beautiful ship. If I sail on a Solstice class ship again, I'd opt for Aqua Class to try Blu and see how that is.

[Illinisue]

We were on the same cruise with the late seating. Our waiters (Joseph and Manuel) were exceptional even offering to take us on a tour of the wine storage area - two levels and very interesting. We were at a 4-top with another couple (whom we did not know) and there was a huge party all around us. Probably 30-ish people at 4 tables, including children. We were always taken care of and with the exception of one night, the courses came out well paced. The food ranged from excellent (DH Lamb) to OK (one filet dish that I had which was overcooked. I probably should have sent it back). I ordered many special treatments due to shellfish and other allergies and was always accommodated with changes or "on the side" with both entrees and desserts with no complaint. We were in the lower ceiling area as well and think it would probably have been nicer to be in the open area. I really hope we're not the exception, because we're sailing on the Eclipse next year!

 

We, too, found seating at lunch problematic at the Ocean View. One time, I just carried it down to our room and ate on the Veranda. We were Concierge Class and had most of our breakfasts on the veranda...one morning with Ocean View breakfast crowds confirmed we'd made the right choice. The food was good, just finding a place to sit and eat it was crazy.

[Texed]

Dave,

Thanks for posting. :)

[FTLcruisers]

We were on the 2/14 sailing and I agree that seating in the buffet was often a challenge although I was impressed by the variety of selections, especially at lunch. I thought service was exceptional - if we asked for anything, the person would either go get it or walk you to the item, never would they just point it out and expect you to find it. Service in the MDR was not bad - but definetely not great. We intially had a problem with our waiter serving our food way too fast until I told him we weren't in a rush to get out of the dining room. The matre d' spent all her time catering to a table of 10 next to us - I'm not sure if the man was someone "important" or just one of those guests that demands special treatment but each night the MD would go to him and he would place his dinner order for his family of 10 for the next evening. We had a table of 6 and except for introducing herself one night, she never visited our table again. I also loved Bistro on Five - had the yummiest Italian crepe for dessert!!

 

I'm not sure if we had the same comedian (I assume we did) but I could not believe he did the exact same show 4 nights - and, yes, he made fun of us when we left after realizing we were hearing the exact same jokes as we had heard the night before. I liked the CD - John seemed very genuine. We had an awesome cruise and loved the Solstice. I especially liked all the seating in the public areas - great to kill a little time before dinner or to people watch. I also liked not having to make my way through the casino to get to another part of the ship and also the fact that the casino was non-smoking. The few issues we experienced did not diminish our cruise experience at all.

 

Marianne