State of the Solstice

[SHIP TRAVELER]

On 9/23/2022 at 4:18 PM, Northern Aurora said:

 

Jim:  Are you referring to the breakfast options in Michael’s club?  If so the morning attendant has a small menu, you order and it is brought to you.  It is not self-service.

 

I checked two nights ago and both the MC bartender and the assistant bartender are scheduled to go on leave in November.  Both were also in MC in June when we spent two weeks onboard, and both are excellent.  I’ve seen folks go to the bar to watch the bartender mix their drinks as they state his version is one of the best they have ever had and want to see the brands of alcohol he is using.  

 

The current  hotel Director is Deborah Poortier.  She wasn’t on in June, and this is the first time I have met her.  While I realize that many folks are interested in who the cruise director is I am more interested in the hotel director.  My perception is that Deborah is running an excellent hotel operation.

 

Gerry

I was very impressed with Deborah Poortier.  She was taking questions at the life on board presentation and I can see why things are running well on the Solstice.  Giuseppe was the cruise director and he really sang her praises as a great boss.

Edited September 24, 2022 by SHIP TRAVELER

[sbcs5390]

7 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

You asked in the Solstice thread which is the reason for my answer.

FLL -

Terminal 25 Suites can arrive any time after around 11:00 -   There is a separate door to enter with no lines and they zip you through security and up to a private lounge where you sit down and they check you in.  As soon as the ship is released you are invited aboard or escorted if in an upper suite.

 

Even if you were to leave from the other terminal in FLL they have it setup so Suite Guests have no delay.

 

yes, Jim, we are on Solstice as well and looking for info now that the season is starting from there. I'm expounding upon what I said as @Georgia_Peaches requested - by "there's not a lot of history on Celebrity departures from LA" - what I mean is that there's tons of info about FLL but not much about LA! I'm good on FLL! 

[Northern Aurora]

6 minutes ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

I was very impressed with Deborah Poortier.  She was taking questions at the life on board presentation and I can see why things are running well on the Solstice.  Giuseppe was the cruise director and he really sang her praises as a great boss.

 

This is the first time we have sailed with her, and I am impressed as well.  Very visible.  We are seeing her daily.

[sbcs5390]

On 9/23/2022 at 3:25 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

What is this?

Here's more info on President/CEO cruise: https://www.celebritycruises.com/specialty-cruises/presidents-cruise

[Jim_Iain]

8 minutes ago, sbcs5390 said:

yes, Jim, we are on Solstice as well and looking for info now that the season is starting from there. I'm expounding upon what I said as @Georgia_Peaches requested - by "there's not a lot of history on Celebrity departures from LA" - what I mean is that there's tons of info about FLL but not much about LA! I'm good on FLL! 

 

I agree about LA.     I thought I would take some patience with me after viewing those videos.   Hopefully Celebrity will have control outside the terminal and only let those in withing their check-in time.    We were doing a B2B via Boston and went out for the day.   The terminal was a mess and heard many complaints that lines were so long they finally blocked more people from coming into terminal.     Even as a in-Transit we had to wait on a line of about 50 to go through security and no one knew what an In-transit was and were wanting to see our Express Pass.     We finally got through. 

[mcrcruiser]

We have B2B  cruise on her for March 11 & 18 ,2023  . Seems to me that the crew will keep her in the best shape possible   .No worries here 😁

[abbydancer2003]

56 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I've never sailed out of Port of LA either so looked at a couple YouTube Videos.  While not Celebrity I suspect it will be as chaotic.   Looks like there is no priority or checking of times to get into the terminal and the security lines but from what I could see they then have different area for different priorities and Suites.

 

I suspect that 11-11:30 will be very chaotic and then may calm down.

 

We are on a B2B so will be able to give a last minute update after we board for the 12/3 cruise.

 

 

 

And here's another

 

 

I was on the Discovery that week as week 2 of of a B2B.  The first week there were no lines.  This was easter week, so the ship was almost 100% full.  (Interesting in that there were lots of empty rooms, and lots of triples and quads).  I've also done lots of departures from both berths at Los Angeles, and never seen lines like that.

 

Also, if the Solstice is going to 46, that means it's the 3rd ship, and so there will be signage for what to do.

 

The first week of the Discovery it was at 46.  91 (I think) where it was here was empty, but they thought it was too short.  Turns out they figured out how to maneuver it, because with the full ship the second week, check in at 91 and bussing to 46, would have been a disaster.

 

I'm probably doing the Solstice in February, so I guess I'm interested too.

 

[lakegirl16]

@Northern Aurora I will be on the Solstice in November, could you provide who the current Captain and Cruise Director are?  Thank you!

Edited September 25, 2022 by lakegirl16
wording

[Northern Aurora]

3 hours ago, lakegirl16 said:

@Northern Aurora I will be on the Solstice in November, could you provide who the current Captain and Cruise Director are?  Thank you!

I am posting from the Solstice.  We boarded on September 16th for a B2B.

 

The current captain is Captain Theo Zakkas.  We spent two weeks on the Solstice in June 2022 and he was on both weeks.  I do not know when he is scheduled to leave.

 

On the September 16th cruise Guiseppe  (sp?) was our cruise director.  As of today (September 24) Kelly Rose is now our new cruise director.  We have sailed with her before, most notably when we were on a planned B2B2B2B in Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific waters.  We had to leave the Solstice on March 20, 2020 when the Australian Border Force closed the borders.  Kelly is a lovely woman.  Seems to be very competent, and certainly is very personable.

 

The hotel director is the very visible Deborah Poortier.  She seems to be running a very well oiled hotel operation.  So far I am impressed.

 

Hope this helps.

[lakegirl16]

8 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

I am posting from the Solstice.  We boarded on September 16th for a B2B.

 

The current captain is Captain Theo Zakkas.  We spent two weeks on the Solstice in June 2022 and he was on both weeks.  I do not know when he is scheduled to leave.

 

On the September 16th cruise Guiseppe  (sp?) was our cruise director.  As of today (September 24) Kelly Rose is now our new cruise director.  We have sailed with her before, most notably when we were on a planned B2B2B2B in Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific waters.  We had to leave the Solstice on March 20, 2020 when the Australian Border Force closed the borders.  Kelly is a lovely woman.  Seems to be very competent, and certainly is very personable.

 

The hotel director is the very visible Deborah Poortier.  She seems to be running a very well oiled hotel operation.  So far I am impressed.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much!!  Enjoy your cruise!!!

[CulverCityCruisers]

Boarding in LA is a major Cluster F.  Always a mess and on our last B2B we had to get off the ship and go through customs to get back on and NOBODY knew what was going on.  It's usually a mess.  Guess we will see as we board Solstice on Saturday for a B2B to Mexico

[loerie]

My daughter is in the Equinox now and just over a 1,000 passengers.Says ship is in great shape and everything is just perfect!

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

Boarding in LA is a major Cluster F.  Always a mess and on our last B2B we had to get off the ship and go through customs to get back on and NOBODY knew what was going on.  It's usually a mess.  Guess we will see as we board Solstice on Saturday for a B2B to Mexico

Hope you come back and explain your experience.   We are on a B2B 12/3 and 12/11 would love to hear how they handle B2B processing.  Maybe they will have it down by the time we sail.

[cruzzzinma]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Hope you come back and explain your experience.   We are on a B2B 12/3 and 12/11 would love to hear how they handle B2B processing.  Maybe they will have it down by the time we sail.

Our b2b processing in LA was disorganized but we did not have to get off the ship. We went through a painless immigration between Vancouver BC and Astoria OR aboard the ship. We were already “inside the US” prior to LA arrival. The b2b process required us to all report to the Sky Lounge, scan off the ship, and receive new seapass cards. Passing out the new cards was random and very disorganized. When the ship was cleared at 10:30, we scanned onto the ship (still in the sky lounge) and were freed into the wild.

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Hope you come back and explain your experience.   We are on a B2B 12/3 and 12/11 would love to hear how they handle B2B processing.  Maybe they will have it down by the time we sail.

 

Our turnaround day was yesterday on the Solstice.  At today’s welcome toast I asked another Zenith who boarded yesterday how the boarding process went as Celebrity has not been sailing out of LA in a number of years.  That person didn’t have any issues boarding.

 

The B2B process was one of the worst, if not THE worst, I have ever experienced.  The Documentation Officer needs to do some work.   Rumor on the ship is that his superiors were not happy.

 

 At the B2B meeting the Documentation Officer’s actual presentation was very clear and concise.  He only had three questions about the process.  But they didn’t deliver the transit passes to the staterooms so folks clustered around the front of Celebrity Central to receive their passes.  That was a hint of what was to come.

 

Folks not leaving the ship for the day were to meet in the Sky Lounge at 9:30 AM.  We were there by 9:20 as were a number of others.  There were 122 B2B passengers so not an unusual amount.   We were just sitting in the Sky Lounge.  At least coffee, tea and pastries were available.  It was about 10:15 AM when we received our new seapass cards.  The envelopes with the seapass cards didn’t seem to have been organized by number or alphabetized by last name.  Some staff were walking around with a number of envelopes in their hands, walking up to folks sitting and asking their stateroom number.  If they had your envelope you received it; if not they walked up to another group of chairs.  We received our seapass cards when we did as the Captain’s Club concierge knows us and she brought our cards directly to us.

 

The process of ringing out the passengers and achieving a zero count was done at the entrance of the Sky Lounge.  After everyone received their cards we lined up and security scanned our cards and took new photos at the entrance of the Sky Lounge.  We returned directly to our stateroom and it was after 11 AM.

 

There were a number of folks working the room, so the amount of staff time wasted was substantial.  And on a day when they could have been working on embarkation.  Apologies have been issued.  

 

Since the Solstice departed at 4 PM we were asked to return to the ship by 2 PM.  My impression is that few B2B passengers left the ship, but I’ve done the B2B process with many more B2B passengers and not experienced the disorganization.

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

Our turnaround day was yesterday on the Solstice.  At today’s welcome toast I asked another Zenith who boarded yesterday how the boarding process went as Celebrity has not been sailing out of LA in a number of years.  That person didn’t have any issues boarding.

 

The B2B process was one of the worst, if not THE worst, I have ever experienced.  The Documentation Officer needs to do some work.   Rumor on the ship is that his superiors were not happy.

 

 At the B2B meeting the Documentation Officer’s actual presentation was very clear and concise.  He only had three questions about the process.  But they didn’t deliver the transit passes to the staterooms so folks clustered around the front of Celebrity Central to receive their passes.  That was a hint of what was to come.

 

Folks not leaving the ship for the day were to meet in the Sky Lounge at 9:30 AM.  We were there by 9:20 as were a number of others.  There were 122 B2B passengers so not an unusual amount.   We were just sitting in the Sky Lounge.  At least coffee, tea and pastries were available.  It was about 10:15 AM when we received our new seapass cards.  The envelopes with the seapass cards didn’t seem to have been organized by number or alphabetized by last name.  Some staff were walking around with a number of envelopes in their hands, walking up to folks sitting and asking their stateroom number.  If they had your envelope you received it; if not they walked up to another group of chairs.  We received our seapass cards when we did as the Captain’s Club concierge knows us and she brought our cards directly to us.

 

The process of ringing out the passengers and achieving a zero count was done at the entrance of the Sky Lounge.  After everyone received their cards we lined up and security scanned our cards and took new photos at the entrance of the Sky Lounge.  We returned directly to our stateroom and it was after 11 AM.

 

There were a number of folks working the room, so the amount of staff time wasted was substantial.  And on a day when they could have been working on embarkation.  Apologies have been issued.  

 

Since the Solstice departed at 4 PM we were asked to return to the ship by 2 PM.  My impression is that few B2B passengers left the ship, but I’ve done the B2B process with many more B2B passengers and not experienced the disorganization.

Wow... sounds rather disorganized.  Hopefully the Documentation Officer gets his act together.   Our last B2B's on Summit were the best we had ever had.   Similar to yours except the had the Retreat Guests meet in Retreat and when the ship was close to zeroed out and all the other B2B's had been processed they escorted us up and handed us our new card as we entered the room as we were tagged on and off at the same time  

 

The whole B2B including on-board customs took less than 20 minutes and we were released and off the ship by 10:00.  

 

The Reteat Host was really organized and on the ball.   The CC Manager shall I say was rather disorganized.

[Salt Lifer]

23 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

On the September 16th cruise Guiseppe  (sp?) was our cruise director.  As of today (September 24) Kelly Rose is now our new cruise director.  We have sailed with her before, most notably when we were on a planned B2B2B2B in Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific waters.  We had to leave the Solstice on March 20, 2020 when the Australian Border Force closed the borders.  Kelly is a lovely woman.  Seems to be very competent, and certainly is very personable.

 

 

 

Guiseppi is now heading to the Reflection.  

 

He was CD on our Apex cruise last April and I found him to be a really nice, personable guy.  His happiness was contagious.  But having two different CDs on a B2B would make for a really good, diversified experience for you, I would think.

[SunNFunCruzer]

I am the author of the Disappointed about the Solstice thread. It's ironic, but our check-in in LA / San Pedro was smooth and efficient. We dropped our bags with a porter, tipped him, had our express pass scanned what seemed like 4 or 5 times at different choke points and boarded the ship. No complaints about check in. Both port staff and ship staff were 5 star during the check in process.... in our experience. Obviously we can't speak to the b2b process.

[inspfitz]

14 hours ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

I am the author of the Disappointed about the Solstice thread. It's ironic, but our check-in in LA / San Pedro was smooth and efficient. We dropped our bags with a porter, tipped him, had our express pass scanned what seemed like 4 or 5 times at different choke points and boarded the ship. No complaints about check in. Both port staff and ship staff were 5 star during the check in process.... in our experience. Obviously we can't speak to the b2b process.

Are they showing the NFL games on the big screens above the pool?

[ScottC4746]

On 9/20/2022 at 6:39 PM, greatestvalue said:

Ive booked a cruise on Solstice to Alaska, end of May 2023 and I am now hesitant after reading the shape of the ship.  I dont believe it is scheduled to go in for any kind of major rehabilitation before our trip. 

 

We just got of the Voyager and determined we didnt like the ship for some of the same reasons listed below - Specially review #1 

 

Can anyone on the Solstice now or within the last month, confirm if this honestly is the true state of the Solstice Ship? -

 

Review #1 - The Solstice is showing its age, as the furniture in the public areas is worn, several pieces of equipment in the gym were broken, numerous window seals were broken, and the windows were streaked and full of condensation.

 

Review #2 - Carpets were frayed and dated, furniture in lobbies were stained very dated and worn, menus for the main dinning room very severely frayed and worn, some menus had food stains.

 

 

 

 

 

To this I say BS.  I got off her in September in Alaska and while she is not a spring chicken she is still in great shape.  I did notice a little rust around the windows, seating was comfortable but do not plop into the round seats in the martini bar --- they fart.  

[SunNFunCruzer]

5 hours ago, inspfitz said:

Are they showing the NFL games on the big screens above the pool?

 

Not sure about games on the screen at the pool.... and not sure you'd want to sit out there with the heat and humidity even if they were shown, but the in-room entertainment includes ESPN and ESPN2. Tonight's game is Cowboys vs. NY Giants.

[eyecantwait]

On 9/23/2022 at 6:33 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Uncertain if you were searching on the Broken Celebrity Site - really been flaky this week but when I searched on another site  It is showing Solstice is beginning  the Alaska Season beginning June 2 -and has weekly sailing scheduled after that through the full summer season.

 

We are booked for Alaska in late August next summer so I nearly fainted when I first read about a possible gap of cruises. This is a rebooking of our August 2020 plan to celebrate my retirement. Our first cruise on the Solstice was in 2010 so really looking forward to being back on this ship again.

[crusinthrough]

On 9/21/2022 at 12:46 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I think we like the S-Class ship (with exception of Reflection) the best.    While we enjoy the M-Class the specialty restaurants selection is really limited.   

Why not Reflection?

[Jim_Iain]

5 minutes ago, crusinthrough said:

Why not Reflection?

Reflections has an additional Floor than all other S-Class ships and has approx 120-280 more passengers but they have the same number of seats in MDR, Blu and Luminae - which has caused some problems in past sailings.     My opinion is based on the fact we almost exclusively have sailed in suites and some Aqua.     After a really bad experience (the Luinae Maitr'd was out of his element) we have never sailed her again and probably will never sail her again.

 

Reflections has 111 Suites -   Vs   72 on Silhouette  (after Revolution)

 

Blu isn't as bad with  150  Aqua  Rooms vs 130 on Silhouette

 

 

[ScottC4746]

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Reflections has an additional Floor than all other S-Class ships and has approx 120-280 more passengers but they have the same number of seats in MDR, Blu and Luminae - which has caused some problems in past sailings.     My opinion is based on the fact we almost exclusively have sailed in suites and some Aqua.     After a really bad experience (the Luinae Maitr'd was out of his element) we have never sailed her again and probably will never sail her again.

 

Reflections has 111 Suites -   Vs   72 on Silhouette  (after Revolution)

 

Blu isn't as bad with  150  Aqua  Rooms vs 130 on Silhouette

 

 

Don't let the Maitr'd turn you off.  Remember they are on three month contracts (three or six), then they go home for a bit and then return on a new contract but not necessarily the exact same ship as while they are gone a new crew is in place.  If you run into him again and have the same issue, simply go to Guest Services and ask for the F & B Director.  Having access to Luminie you have a concierge I believe you can go to for assistance.