Solstice Before Dry Dock or After?

[WaveSplasher]

Anyone know what the Solstice is going to do in DryDock? Add something new? Refurbish?

 

This is going to be my first Celebrity Cruise if i do decide to book it. I'm looking at the re- positioning cruise to Singapore or the other way round. But I'm stuck not knowing whether i should go after the Dry Dock or before the Dry Dock.

 

If you can help me out, I will be really grateful.

[welove2laugh]

Price is better before if that matters. We just booked Oct 8 from Sydney to Singapore today

[floralscent]

We have taken 11 cruises on various lines with four of them being on Celebrity. All Celebrity cruises have been on the S class ships with two of them having been on the Solstice- May 2014 and December 2015.

 

In my opinion, the Solstice looks amazing and is very well kept and clean for her age. Our CC class cabin was spotless and still looked new and the ship is in great shape. Carpeting and furniture may have shown just a tad bit of age but nothing close to being repulsive and/or disappointing. "Showing age" might even be stretching it. In fact on the last day there was a man in the buffet area replacing floor tiles in a small section.

 

The Captain always mentioned "the beautiful Celebrity Solstice" in his announcements and he is spot on...she is our favorite ship and beautiful in our eyes too. We have only been off the Solstice for 13 days and miss her already.

[BecciBoo]

Well......when is her dry dock???

 

Hopefully before our Sept. cruise.:D

[WaveSplasher]

Well......when is her dry dock???

 

Hopefully before our Sept. cruise.:D

 

Yeah...Everyone will like that too...But unfortunately, the dry dock is scheduled in October. The "New" Celebrity Solstice will arrive back in Sydney on 14 November 2015

[BecciBoo]

Thx for the info. No worries here though...

[Desertbelle]

I would highly recommend that you not book the cruise immediately following the dry dock, as we have a terrible experience with that situation.

[elena7seas]

I would highly recommend that you not book the cruise immediately following the dry dock, as we have a terrible experience with that situation.

 

HI Margie:

 

We are booked on the November 14, 2016 cruise on the Solstice, which I understand is the first cruise after drydock.

 

I would appreciate it if you could share your concerns.

 

Thanks!

[jelayne]

Yeah...Everyone will like that too...But unfortunately, the dry dock is scheduled in October. The "New" Celebrity Solstice will arrive back in Sydney on 14 November 2015

 

HI Margie:

 

We are booked on the November 14, 2016 cruise on the Solstice, which I understand is the first cruise after drydock.

 

I would appreciate it if you could share your concerns.

 

Thanks!

 

Is it 2015 or 2016???

[jelayne]

Is it 2015 or 2016???

After I posted I realized Nov 2015 has passed😳

[Host Jazzbeau]

HI Margie:

 

We are booked on the November 14, 2016 cruise on the Solstice, which I understand is the first cruise after drydock.

 

I would appreciate it if you could share your concerns.

 

Thanks!

 

The cruise immediately before and the cruise immediately after a drydock are liable to be impacted by the preparations for and overrun of construction. The more extensive the planned changes, the more likely these problems.

[Desertbelle]

HI Margie:

 

We are booked on the November 14, 2016 cruise on the Solstice, which I understand is the first cruise after drydock.

 

I would appreciate it if you could share your concerns.

 

Thanks!

I am sure it depends heavily on what they do in the dry dock, but our experience was horrible. Others might have completely different experiences with post-dry dock cruises.

 

The ship we were on was having engine issues and during the dry dock an engine was replaced, and the engine had a "breaking in" period which meant the ship couldn't go top speeds for a couple of weeks. So our 10 day, 7 port cruise turned into 4 ports, and three of those were half days....we were traveling with people new to cruising and small children, so 6 sea days was a bit much for them. Also, they were still replacing pool decking, so the pool was closed a few days. We had no internet connection (which also means no TV, phone service, ATM's, etc.) until the 7th day. Because the dry dock was nearly 3 weeks long the staff and crew were a mess for the first several days....I guess a lot of time off impacts the crew. There were a few minor things, like carpet still being laid (and the smell of carpet glue was pretty obnoxious) and there were a few areas still being worked on, such as bar or two and the card room. Some passengers were so mad they were walking off with their luggage and flying home from some of the ports.

 

We stuck to it and have a lovely time....because we made the best of it and we were with family. Even a bad cruise is better than being home and at work! :)

 

This cruise was with Princess, and I feel that Princess handled it very badly. We got $100 OBC for our inconvenience. :mad: We were informed of the "possible problems" the week AFTER final payment and they wouldn't make any concessions about canceling or switching to another cruise.

 

We will never cruise on Princess again and we will never book a cruise after a dry dock again.

Edited January 1, 2016 by Desertbelle

[roquejo]

One change I think they will be doing is replacing the Molecular Bar with the World Class Bar.

 

So at least now we have a timetable to try out the Molecular Bar in Solstice before it is gone.

[Paraveina]

Have there been any announcements or rumors on what changes will happen during the dry dock? One thing I'm curious about will be whether they keep the lawn. I remember either reading here or watching on Mighty Ships that it had much more upkeep than they were anticipating, and I wonder if they'll get rid of it or reduce the area.

[Hlitner]

We also give generic warnings not to book any cruise ship the first cruise after a scheduled drydock. Too many times there are things that do not get completed on time and the work continues during the following cruise. Bottom line is that nobody can predict the future so best to avoid that first cruise. Prior to drydock has never been a problem for us.

 

Hank

[Lastdance]

I am so glad that we are on the Millie the second cruise after dry dock! This was just by chance...

:):):)