A quick short review of Solstice Cruise 4/30/19

[Decpl]

here's a quick information about our very recent Solstice cruise Hawaii to Vancouver .

 

Sorry not a writer just some information .

 

Wife and I are not new cruisers, with 20 cruises behind us. 

1st our room, we had a great room, 12249 on 10 deck, C2 class with angled balcony Wonderful size balcony with plenty of

room for 2 chairs and ottomans and table, great to have breakfast on while it Hawaii.

Bed was near balcony and overall room and ship were in pretty good shape.

 Room attendant was just ok, never had a day that he remembered everything, No ice, couple of times forgot bath mat,  ,

no wash clothes a couple of times,  and no shower gel or shampoo a time or two. Really no big deal, he seemed over worked.

But room was in a great location, 50 feet from elevators and no noise except from balcony above who seemed to like moving

chairs and tables around in the early morning lifting and dropping them down the the deck.

 

  Dinner in Main dining room, was  in our opinion was very good, Service was good but seemed our waiter was really rushed ,

He seemed frantic at times. We missed the normal engagement we usually have with the waiters.. They have always been fun to talk to.

 

Shows, boy they have really gone down hill. It was a big conversation about lack of good shows. It seems like its been a

big cost reduction  with the entertainers. No comedians, illusionists, . We always enjoyed a late adult comedy show They had a improv

 pair that performed a couple of nights, After general chit chat with table mates and other cruisers they seemed to say it was their cup of tea to say

 and would go see them again.  . They did have a great naturist, Brent Nixon, if he's ever  on a cruise your on,

don't miss him.

We were on the Silhouette in February and the shows there were pretty weak also. Looks like Celebrity is moving toward using their house musicians

 to provide around the ship  entertainment.

 

Casino, boy never saw such a dead casino. Never more that half the tables never had players. I was playing  roulette one night and was only player ,

it seemed like I was the entertainment, had about  10 or  people watching,  even had people sitting next to me not playing, was surprised they

didn't ask them to move, but said nothing. I stopped shortly after. Craps table mostly empty, at most 2 people, don't think I ever saw that before.

 

We had to tender in 3 ports, and in Maui was very rough, I felt sorry for the mobility impaired guests, getting up and down those steps on on to

the life boats they used as tenders. It would of been nice if they gave those folks a little more room, but the seem to want to pack the boat!

 

We talked to captains club and about entertainment, on both Silhouette and Solstice. And there answer was it about the demographics of the cruisers!!!

We have a another cruise booked with Celebrity and thinking were going to cancel and try another line for a change.

 

Over all the Celebrity seemed be be trying to be the new Holland America with attracting a more mature crowd.

 

Decpl

 

 

 

 

 

wi. 

Edited May 11, 2019 by Decpl
Spelling

[CruisingChick]

Thank you so much for sharing you thoughts.  I am so sorry to hear you experienced problems with service.  

Brent Nixon was our naturalist on our 2005 Summit Alsaka cruise.  I guess he's like doing that.

[retired067]

IMHO, X entertainment has always been weak

[babydates]

We have found the newer, bigger ships have the best entertainment.  Royal Caribbean on Harmony of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas were all some of the best entertainment we have seen and we’ve been cruising for years.  We only sail on Royal and Celebrity and it is definitely a more mature group sailing on Celebrity.

[lovecruzin]

Thanks for your recap, we will be onboard in a few weeks.

 

Agree about Brent Nixon, he is amazing. Celebrity is lucky to have him. 

[keesar]

Thanks for the review.  Not surprised to hear about the entertainment.  I think it has gone in a different direction since Celebrity has gone in-house.

 

Brent Nixon was fine for one cruise --but once is enough...

 

 

[ccotting]

We were on the 2 cruises prior to this one as well as this cruise.  So 3 BtoB, of the 3, this cruise had the weakest entertainment.  However, the folks who did the entertainment in the bar/lounges were great, especially the Lighthouse String Duo.  Casino "hopped" the 2 previous cruises as well.  We met a lot of cruisers on this leg who were new to ocean cruising (Caribbean only) and found the seas rough even though as an experienced cruiser we knew they weren't (Although we had one tough evening).  It really depends on the mix of people.

[bubbachief]

We were on the same trip and agree with your write-up, especially the production shows. We have stopped going they are so bad.

[Travelexpert35]

We also were on this sailing but I found the shows were quite good. On our two day layover in Hawaii, Celebrity brought in some Polynesian dancers “Drums of Polynesia” that were excellent. We also enjoyed the Rock show, Broadway and the Broken Strings show. Very well done. We’re in our late 50’s, early 60’s. We loved the Silent disco on board as well. 

 

We did this cruise two years ago and the weather was better on this one. 

[ccotting]

20 minutes ago, Travelexpert35 said:

We also were on this sailing but I found the shows were quite good. On our two day layover in Hawaii, Celebrity brought in some Polynesian dancers “Drums of Polynesia” that were excellent. We also enjoyed the Rock show, Broadway and the Broken Strings show. Very well done. We’re in our late 50’s, early 60’s. We loved the Silent disco on board as well. 

 

We did this cruise two years ago and the weather was better on this one. 

 

I was sorry to miss that show but we had a luau booked.  Drums of Polynesia used to be a luau excursion too.

[GateGuardian]

I was on the same cruise as well and also sailed this itinerary in 2017. I found they offer more activities on this cruise during the sea days. The Matinee shows were great and evening shows were okay.

[Decpl]

I agree with opinion on lounge acts, they were ok,  I wouldn't call them great, but good to sit and have a drink and listen,. But not anything where we said we need to go back and watch them again. But the Main Theater shows was what

was lacking The Pianist was very good,  Brokens String wasn't very good  for our tastes, or even the Broadway Show. The last evening was probably the best of the shows we saw.But the Tenor singer and the other male singer was n't much in

our opinion. WE sat in the back and a lot of people were leaving with the 2 male singers. But after show , only real option was Silent Disco which wasn't our cup of tea or the Improv which we try once and that was surely enough. ..

They need to step up with some late night shows in the small theater , comics, or something of that nature. Especially on sea days.

 

 

[Projunior]

We were also on this cruise, our 32nd cruise over many different lines. This cruise made us Elite on Celebrity. To us, there is no such thing as a bad cruise; it's impossible. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that everyone establishes a ranking of the cruises they have taken in their own minds. This one is far from the top of the list.

 

Plenty to like, of course, including the food, a terrific cabin steward, a very good sommelier, and the witty, erudite and phenomenal Captain Tasos. 

 

Among the not so good stuff:

 

MDR service very inconsistent. As always, we opted for late seating. On our first night we arrived promptly at 8:30, placed our orders, and were served the first starter at 9:20. We chatted with the maitre d afterwards and the service improved, minimally, to the point where, at best, the first starter arrived a little after 9PM. Our waitstaff was friendly and earnest, but not especially crisp. 

 

Agree about the shows. Linda Gentille and Sean O'Shea were topnotch, but the production shows were tedious and populated by cast members of marginal ability. The one (and only) comedian was booked for one show only, 9PM, on the first night, ensuring that no one at late dinner seating could possibly attend. One of several bonehead moves by Cruise Director Lewis.

 

The bar service in every single bar was atrocious. It's as if Celebrity, realizing that so many passengers have drink packages, has concluded that the best way to preserve margins is to attempt to serve fewer drinks. We found this exact same tactic on the Equinox this past January. No servers, none, in the Sky Lounge - belly up to the bar, boys, or die of thirst. No servers in the Atrium during pre-dinner dancing. Eternal waits in the casino to place an order and then again to actually receive the order.

[Tourist1292]

We are on Solstice right now. My experience from the last three days is somewhat different from above. Our MDR dinning service is pretty efficient. With 8:30pm dinning time, we finished the entree around 9:30pm even with three starters sequentially before that. For beverages, there are long lines in the cafe but not at the bars. There were even waiters taking orders at our lounge or table for cocktails around the pool and the bar outside of MDR.

For entertainment, there was a comedian at the first night and he was good. The other two shows in the following nights are okay and not so good.

Edited May 13, 2019 by Tourist1292

[sfaaa]

Best entertainment was Captain Kafetzis off the cuff humor throughout the cruise. The Maui tender was a thrill ride on par with those you get at amusement park. 

[Jagggg]

This was our 14th cruise and first one with Celebrity, prior cruises Princess, NCL, and RCCL. Got off to a bad start when our check in time for our deck was between 12:30-1:15. We were to have lunch in the main dinning room, since we had a Concierge cabin. However, by the time we went through check in didn't get to main dinning room a little after 1:00, so we missed this perk. Also no one was there to show us where the main dinning room was located. Wouldn't pay extra for a Concierge cabin.

 

The cabin was a great balcony cabin. Best bathroom storage of any of the cruise lines, however the ship was loud with a creaking sound. Hard to sleep. Room steward was great and friendly.

 

We had the beverage package and they didn't have 3 of the beers listed for the first few days. 

 

Music entertainment was good, but really missed not having a piano player at any of the venues.

 

Food, just OK for me. We had anytime dinning and usually went around 8:15 and were always done by 9:30. The buffet area tables weren't cleaned off very well. I never had dessert at the buffet, since people cut their own cakes, and lick fingers.

 

The ship is beautiful, great fellow passengers, but overall crew, other than our steward,  just didn't seem friendly. The captain however very personal.