Review: Solstice Sept 16 & Sept 22 B2B Pacific Coastal & Mexico

[Jim_Iain]

On 10/5/2022 at 12:06 PM, OrcaGirl said:

 

Do you happen to recall where specifically the shuttle picked up and dropped off? Did it require pre-booking?

 

Did you partake of any spa treatments while aboard? I'm wondering if the spa is fully restaffed or if appointments are hard to come by.

 

Thanks!

The shuttle is available just off the ship and take you to a parking lot near town.   We took it in and found that walking back to the ship was about as easy as walking back to the parking lot.   We just started at the main strip near the parking lot and walked down the ship making us much closer to the ship. 

 

One thing you will want to do is when back at the port walk down and take a look at the Sea Lions.   They are very animated and noisy but fun to watch.   They have them fenced off from the parking lot so you can get pretty close.

[Georgia_Peaches]

46 minutes ago, lovecruzin said:

Even with TSA precheck I would not risk a 10am flight.

Yes, the 10 AM flight was already giving me hives and the cruise is in March!  We opted for a 12:30 out of Long Beach.  I read the lines in that air port are reminiscent of the good ole days of flying, whatever that means.  But I took it to mean that they are not as long as LAX.

[hcat]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Yes, the 10 AM flight was already giving me hives and the cruise is in March!  We opted for a 12:30 out of Long Beach.  I read the lines in that air port are reminiscent of the good ole days of flying, whatever that means.  But I took it to mean that they are not as long as LAX.

Everytime  we booked the later flight out of Long Beach we got to the airport way early and had a long boring wait..but better safe than sorry! Missing  a flight would be bad!

 

In and out of LAX we use a limo ...just easier...no stress, no worry, no hurry!

[lauraapp]

Do you know what time shows started in theater?

[SusieV]

15 hours ago, lauraapp said:

Do you know what time shows started in theater?

 

Generally they were at 7pm and 9pm. There were a few afternoon shows and a couple late night ones as well at 10pm.

[SLOTheta]

Thanks @SusieV for this great post. I am going on my first celebrity cruise and will be on the Solstice for the 7 Night Mexican Riviera Cruise out of LA on 11/19. Which nights were the “Chic Nights” ? Did you eat in the MDR during these nights? Was the food any better on chic nights, than other nights in the MDR? We typically like to dress up for Holland America’s “gala nights” did people dress better on these nights? 
 

We also wanted to try Murano, did you eat there? Any recommendations for a first time Celebrity Cruiser? 
 

We are gamblers, did you check out the casino much? How was it? 
 

We have have a room on the 7th deck, mid ship, that seems pretty ideal. We were thinking of trying a MoveUp bid to Aqua, Retreat is sold out. Do you think it’s worth the risk? 
 

Thank you! 

Edited October 17, 2022 by SLOTheta

[Milhouse]

We're on the Nov 5 sailing. 

Looking at the menus on the app, it sure seems like Chic Nights are on nights 2 (rack of lamb, steak dianne, etc) and 6 (Beef Welly, Lobster tail, etc).

[sbcs5390]

4 hours ago, Milhouse said:

We're on the Nov 5 sailing. 

Looking at the menus on the app, it sure seems like Chic Nights are on nights 2 (rack of lamb, steak dianne, etc) and 6 (Beef Welly, Lobster tail, etc).

I'm on Solstice now - that's correct. @SLOTheta yes the menu is a bit nicer on formal nights. I did see a couple tuxedos last night, but they're relatively rare. People generally do whatever they like, but most people dress nicer on formal nights. Maybe a sports coat for men, for instance. Murano is lovely and my favorite on Celebrity. We won't bother with Tuscan Grille as we had enough of it on M-class, and Le Petit Chef is sort of "one and done" but that does mean you should give it a shot since it's new to you. You'll have a great time. 

[sbcs5390]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:18 AM, SusieV said:

I didn't check into the book, but I got an email from the Captain's Club to get a free book printed so that's why I didn't check into it further.

 

I saw a package of 10 prints for $100; I didn't notice any for $5 each. With the Captain's Club discount that's pretty close though.

 

Definitely though don't prepay for the package if you're Elite. It was a hassle to get it refunded and charged correctly.

I just wanted to come back to this for others - I wisely canceled the digital package based on your advice but got a VM from the photo gallery that the photo book I ordered was no longer available and so they were giving me a free digital package instead! Of course, that's not a great deal since I paid more for the book than the digital package costs with Elite. I went down and they're going to refund the book and I bought the digital package. But now for next week I've gone in and canceled both from my planner to avoid the hassle. Thanks again. 

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for the review. We will be on in December for the eight night itinerary. Easy drive for us though. We just returned home last week from two nights at Disneyland and the Navigator OTS. Both of us came home sick from the cruise.Tested negative two days in a row but had the exact same symptoms that we had in July when we had Covid. Very mild. I look at it as part of everyday life now. We just stay vaxed and boosted.
 

Also, interesting that we had the same water temp issue on the NV. The water was either super cold or scalding hot and water was spraying all over the place. It was running out of the tub and soaked the floor. While showering, we could hear a “clunk” sound behind the wall and then came the scalding water. They replaced the entire faucet apparatus but it did not help. I’m sure whoever cruised after us had to deal with the issue. 
 

Glad that you had an overall nice time. We love the S class. One of our favorite ships and X is our favorite cruise line. 

[SusieV]

17 hours ago, SLOTheta said:

Thanks @SusieV for this great post. I am going on my first celebrity cruise and will be on the Solstice for the 7 Night Mexican Riviera Cruise out of LA on 11/19. Which nights were the “Chic Nights” ? Did you eat in the MDR during these nights? Was the food any better on chic nights, than other nights in the MDR? We typically like to dress up for Holland America’s “gala nights” did people dress better on these nights? 
 

We also wanted to try Murano, did you eat there? Any recommendations for a first time Celebrity Cruiser? 
 

We are gamblers, did you check out the casino much? How was it? 
 

We have have a room on the 7th deck, mid ship, that seems pretty ideal. We were thinking of trying a MoveUp bid to Aqua, Retreat is sold out. Do you think it’s worth the risk? 
 

Thank you! 

 

Hi, I think I covered some of what you said? We did eat at Murano twice. There was a service issue that was resolved to our satisfaction. The food was excellent both times.

 

The main dining room was generally very good. Formal nights were night 2 and night 6. We dressed up and I didn't notice anyone glaringly dressed down, but it's not like it was 10 or 20 years ago. You should be able to see the menus in your Celebrity app.

 

Yes, I gambled in the casino, what did you want to know about it?

Personally I am not a fan of Aqua Class. Blu was underwhelming the time I tried it so now I prefer regular balcony + specialty dining. But of course, your mileage may vary.

[SusieV]

7 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

Thanks for the review. We will be on in December for the eight night itinerary. Easy drive for us though. We just returned home last week from two nights at Disneyland and the Navigator OTS. Both of us came home sick from the cruise.Tested negative two days in a row but had the exact same symptoms that we had in July when we had Covid. Very mild. I look at it as part of everyday life now. We just stay vaxed and boosted.
 

Also, interesting that we had the same water temp issue on the NV. The water was either super cold or scalding hot and water was spraying all over the place. It was running out of the tub and soaked the floor. While showering, we could hear a “clunk” sound behind the wall and then came the scalding water. They replaced the entire faucet apparatus but it did not help. I’m sure whoever cruised after us had to deal with the issue. 
 

Glad that you had an overall nice time. We love the S class. One of our favorite ships and X is our favorite cruise line. 

 

It's been over two weeks since we returned home and we are still experiencing lingering covid effects. Extreme fatigue and the cough is still present. We are both relatively young so it's a little scary to think this is what we experience after vaccine + booster. Very grateful for those or this could be much worse.

[Wink87]

On 10/9/2022 at 11:03 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Yes, the 10 AM flight was already giving me hives and the cruise is in March!  We opted for a 12:30 out of Long Beach.  I read the lines in that air port are reminiscent of the good ole days of flying, whatever that means.  But I took it to mean that they are not as long as LAX.

We choose Long Beach airport over LAX any day! So easy.

[briguy1314]

On 10/17/2022 at 5:02 PM, SusieV said:

 

Hi, I think I covered some of what you said? We did eat at Murano twice. There was a service issue that was resolved to our satisfaction. The food was excellent both times.

 

The main dining room was generally very good. Formal nights were night 2 and night 6. We dressed up and I didn't notice anyone glaringly dressed down, but it's not like it was 10 or 20 years ago. You should be able to see the menus in your Celebrity app.

 

Yes, I gambled in the casino, what did you want to know about it?

Personally I am not a fan of Aqua Class. Blu was underwhelming the time I tried it so now I prefer regular balcony + specialty dining. But of course, your mileage may vary.

I think Aqua class is definitely a varied preference. I love it as I love to spend time in the Persian Gardens. I also love the intimacy of Blu as well as the menu (tho dammit if the menu is so repetitive. It’s time they changed them up!)

But if you don’t think you would prefer either of those perks, then I agree that a Balcony is the way to go!