I miss HAL's Rotterdam, SOLSTICE is a huge Disappointment

[pickle11]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Generally speaking, most people would want warmer water in their shower rather than cool or cold water.  Same with pool water.

Sorry you are not enjoying your cruise.  The warm/hot weather is not under Celebrity's control, so I am not sure why you have it listed under 'Negative' when you are talking about the ship. You are sailing in Mexico in September, so I am not sure what you expected for weather.   

I must have missed the thread stating the OP was not enjoying their cruise.  All I have read from the OP was observations.  And the cruises out of Florida should they all expect hurricanes?  Silly people, they should have known.

[prmssk]

13 minutes ago, pickle11 said:

And the cruises out of Florida should they all expect hurricanes?  Silly people, they should have known.

Yes, anyone cruising during hurricane season should expect that one may disrupt their vacation.

[PTC DAWG]

13 minutes ago, pickle11 said:

I must have missed the thread stating the OP was not enjoying their cruise.  All I have read from the OP was observations.  And the cruises out of Florida should they all expect hurricanes?  Silly people, they should have known.

In prime hurricane season, anything can happen.  Just off Equinox this Monday. We dodged Ian east of Cuba..glad we flew out Monday..

[Ferry_Watcher]

1 hour ago, pickle11 said:

I must have missed the thread stating the OP was not enjoying their cruise.

Maybe you are correct - it's perhaps more of a high maintenance issue, rather than a general unhappiness with the ship, amenities, climate/weather and related aspects associated with this trip.

[Veinless]

On 9/25/2022 at 6:31 PM, SunNFunCruzer said:

1) There are 2 American outlets in the room, both at the desk, none near the bed.

 

As a Canadian, I felt powerless.

[pickle11]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

Yes, anyone cruising during hurricane season should expect that one may disrupt their vacation.

Buyer beware.  A cruise subject to all defects.  Good luck to all cruising the Caribbean.

[Seniorsailors]

I appreciate all comments. Thank you so much. I have never sailed Celebrity before; November will be my first to Mexico on the Solstice. Nervous🤔 Excited🤭

[PTC DAWG]

52 minutes ago, Veinless said:

As a Canadian, I felt powerless.

LOL

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, Veinless said:

As a Canadian, I felt powerless.

Response of the day!

[SunNFunCruzer]

2 hours ago, pickle11 said:

I must have missed the thread stating the OP was not enjoying their cruise.  All I have read from the OP was observations.  And the cruises out of Florida should they all expect hurricanes?  Silly people, they should have known.

 

Thank you for this. We are enjoying the cruise, but there are disappointing aspects. We've asked fellow cruisers questions that only people onboard can answer, so this is our way to pay that back. I'm sorry if my observations are so disturbing to some; maybe they will provide incentive for Celebrity to make changes to improve the deficiencies. For example, there is no reason for all the pools to have ~85-90 degree water in an area where the real feel temps are over 100 degrees and there is an internal solarium pool and a second shallow outdoor pool. That's the perfect opportunity to keep one or two pools cool, and one heated, or two heated and one cool. And the air conditioning is struggling And the cold water shower tap in our cabin often runs warm to lukewarm not cold, cool or refreshing, so how would y'all recommend someone on the Solstice get some relief from the heat?! That's not a high maintenance request.

[pickle11]

35 minutes ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

 

Thank you for this. We are enjoying the cruise, but there are disappointing aspects. We've asked fellow cruisers questions that only people onboard can answer, so this is our way to pay that back. I'm sorry if my observations are so disturbing to some; maybe they will provide incentive for Celebrity to make changes to improve the deficiencies. For example, there is no reason for all the pools to have ~85-90 degree water in an area where the real feel temps are over 100 degrees and there is an internal solarium pool and a second shallow outdoor pool. That's the perfect opportunity to keep one or two pools cool, and one heated, or two heated and one cool. And the air conditioning is struggling And the cold water shower tap in our cabin often runs warm to lukewarm not cold, cool or refreshing, so how would y'all recommend someone on the Solstice get some relief from the heat?! That's not a high maintenance request.

Some people just do not understand.  I do not believe that you go looking for stuff.  Let's just say SHIP HAPPENS.  And you care enough to let us know on CC.   Most loyal people do not care about visible wear and tear and accept it.  But for a Five Star company with standards, problems get overlooked because of tunnel vision.  If the ship is scheduled to go into dry dock, then this thread should help.  

Only a few days left.  Have fun and stay cool.😀

[prmssk]

42 minutes ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

For example, there is no reason for all the pools to have ~85-90 degree water in an area where the real feel temps are over 100 degrees and there is an internal solarium pool and a second shallow outdoor pool. That's the perfect opportunity to keep one or two pools cool, and one heated, or two heated and one cool. And the air conditioning is struggling And the cold water shower tap in our cabin often runs warm to lukewarm not cold, cool or refreshing, so how would y'all recommend someone on the Solstice get some relief from the heat?! That's not a high maintenance request.

I'm pretty sure at least the outdoor pools are not heated and none of them have any sort of cooling mechanism.  The warm temperature you are feeling in the pools is most likely because you are in a climate that is experiencing very high heat not because Celebrity turned up the heat.

 

The tap water temperature also could be a ship struggling to keep up against high heat.  I live in the south and my home tap water is not all that cold in the summer.  There is only so much that can be done to cool it when temperatures get that high.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Negative: 

It has been very HOT and difficult to enjoy the outdoors. 
 

lol, I wish we had some of that on our Arctic cruise , we couldnt enjoy the pool at all 

my wife doesn’t go into a pool unless it is 90°😁

[Ferry_Watcher]

1 hour ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

I'm sorry if my observations are so disturbing to some;

My friend, the comments are not disturbing, but exhausting - therefore the high maintenance inference. 

 

 

[JLMcruise]

15 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

lol, I wish we had some of that on our Arctic cruise , we couldnt enjoy the pool at all 

my wife doesn’t go into a pool unless it is 90°😁

Your wife and I will enjoy the pool together!!

[Ferry_Watcher]

Nah, it's more like sun (and) fun cruiser isn't enjoying the sun/warm weather, nor doesn't seem to be having any fun, while blaming the cruise line/ship and making sure we all know about it.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Ferry_Watcher

[Georgia_Peaches]

8 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Nah, it's more like sun (and) fun cruiser isn't enjoying the sun/warm weather, nor doesn't seem to be having any fun, while blaming the cruise line/ship and making sure we all know about it.

I beg to differ.  Although some of the "deficiencies" pointed out by the OP are not big deals to me, the observations in no way make me think he/they aren't having fun.  I will admit that the title of this thread has sorta set the tone.  If OP had chosen a different title, perhaps there wouldn't be so much backlash.

 

I am traveling on the Solstice in March and I'm very much interested in the observations of others.  Albeit, said observations aren't going to change our plans, they may help us better prepare.  For example, I will likely bring a small fan for our stateroom..just in case.

[Ferry_Watcher]

14 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I am traveling on the Solstice in March

I will be on the Solstice in May.  :  )

[swsf99a]

My wife and I were  on the Apex in January and the Rotterdam in March. As new ships , we liked the Apex ! Did not care for the layout of the Rotterdam. The Lincoln Center was a waste of space. Both ships had about 80-90% capacity but the Rotterdam needed more staff. Some bars were not open on the Rotterdam. There was not enough entertainers on the Rotterdam to open some venues. Workers were more stressed on the Rotterdam. Other than HAL’s Eurodam, we will stick with Celebrity

[NMTraveller]

Does the new Rotterdam have a forward facing view/bar?

 

I sailed the Rotterdam about 20 years ago,  but it must have been another ship with the same name?

[Ken the cruiser]

47 minutes ago, swsf99a said:

My wife and I were  on the Apex in January and the Rotterdam in March. As new ships , we liked the Apex ! Did not care for the layout of the Rotterdam. The Lincoln Center was a waste of space. Both ships had about 80-90% capacity but the Rotterdam needed more staff. Some bars were not open on the Rotterdam. There was not enough entertainers on the Rotterdam to open some venues. Workers were more stressed on the Rotterdam. Other than HAL’s Eurodam, we will stick with Celebrity

Just curious, how were the evening shows on the Rotterdam in the main theater? Did they offer both early and late shows?

Edited September 29, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[hrhdhd]

24 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Does the new Rotterdam have a forward facing view/bar?

 

I sailed the Rotterdam about 20 years ago,  but it must have been another ship with the same name?

Yes, the old Rotterdam was sold.

[jaapie]

1 hour ago, pickle11 said:

And I will be on the Solstice Saturday.  I may need a jacket.😀

We will also be on the Solstice this Saturday. Just looked up the temps for our ports next week - in the 80s. That will be wonderful for us, we live in southeast Texas where the heat and humidity has been in the 90s and 100s since May, so the 80s will seem cool to us (we will be putting sweaters in our suitcases when we pack tomorrow). Perhaps the OP lives in a cold climate and struggles with the 80s.

[NMTraveller]

18 hours ago, the penguins said:

We have cruised both. The smaller HAL ships were perfect for some itineraries for example Rio Carnival followed by the Amazon. However for us HAL has a number of major disadvantages over X.

1) we don't drink alcohol so a great coffee shop is essential. HAL's are fine during the day as long as you don't mind the long wait for service. However at night it resembles a morgue, no atmosphere and the food is not replenished after 8.0pm. The Al Bacio has full service and food from around 8.0 am to 11.00pm

2) on the newer ships a lot (most?) have showers over the bath not shower cubicles. This makes it very difficult for anyone with mobility issues.

3) staff, we find the mix on nationalities on X makes for a more friendly, relaxed experience and there is certainly more "humour" compared to more formal style on HAL.

1.  The Beukenhorst Koffie is the best coffee that I have had at sea.  It is well worth the wait on HAL, though we normally get a cup at the Pinnacle.  S class has a nice sitting area/ coffee shop, but on E class it is always full.

[retird]

One suggestion for any future cruise critiques you may choose to do.   Always post on the cruise line forum you have something positive to say about and not on the forum you are being negative toward.    And BTW, I’ve cruised on both Celebrity and HAL and while both have their plusses and minuses, I’ve never encountered what you say you experienced on Celebrity.    I wish you happy cruising in the future