Live in Luxury: Solstice 1/2 - 1/7 Cabo & Ensenada Cruise

[ACorgan]

Our last night’s dinner was at Tuscan Grill and we really liked it. We were seated right at a back window, so had great views of the sail away from Ensenada 

As we were leaving dinner, several people came to talk with us including the ship’s head chef, the officer in charge of dinning, and someone else, that I’ve unfortunately forgotten already. We could honestly tell them that this trip was the best food that we’ve ever eaten on a cruise ship. We tried all of the specialty restaurants, Luminae, the gelato place, Michael’s Club, and room service. We would happily eat at any of them again

[ACorgan]

Leaving day came far too quickly 🥲 We’re heading straight to the Disneyland parks, so wanted to get off the ship as early as possible. When we got up at 6:30, we could see that we had already docked at the pier, so quickly finished getting ready and packing our last few things before heading down to Michael’s Club. A little before 7, the concierge walked us to the gangway and had us cut in front of many of the people lined up for disembarkation. It was a quick walk off the ship, down an elevator, and walk though customs/passport control (not sure which it was). Everything had Face ID, so didn’t even need to show our passports. The whole process only took a few min before we were done and outside. There weren’t any taxis yet, so grabbed an Uber that was only 5 min away.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and we will most likely sail Celebrity again

[Jim_Iain]

On 1/3/2023 at 4:24 PM, Redking said:

Emergency use? We had quite a shoogle on NZ's North Island this morning (Mag 5). I have images of you donning your pjs during an earthquake in California!

 

LOL...  If we had a good rattler the last thing I think I would be worried about is my PJ's. 

 

Saying that a couple weeks ago I was rudely awaken by a loud shrill  followed by  -  EARTHQUAKE - EARTHQUAKE - EARTHQUAKE WARNING - TAKE IMMEDIATE COVER DUCK AND COVER.      It was the new Earthquake Early Detection program and was reporting the December 20th 6.4 in Eureka Area (about 250 miles away).   Didn't feel a thing - but took me over an hour to calm enough to go back to sleep.

[Jim_Iain]

On 1/3/2023 at 10:13 PM, ACorgan said:

Luminae for dinner tonight. Amuse buche was a cauliflower purée with white chocolate and smoked salmon. It sounds off-putting, but worked out surprisingly well together

 

 

 

 

I agree the description initially made my eyebrows go up but really enjoyed it.   You really don't tasted the white chocolate

[CruiszBug]

Thank you for sharing your journey! It was a delightful read!

[Georgia_Peaches]

On 12/30/2022 at 7:11 PM, danceswithphones said:

PJ's were in a closet. I asked the butler have them monogrammed. They came back the next day. We had hang tags for room service breakfast. Butler delivered it. Wonderful!

Do you have any idea if the Pj’s are included in the RS or is it just exclusive to the PH suite?

[danceswithphones]

PJ's are RS and above.

 

[dock]

Appreciated the report and the food pics. 

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Do you have any idea if the Pj’s are included in the RS or is it just exclusive to the PH suite?

When they were offering them they were RS and above.   When on Equinox the did not have them - maybe because not revolutionized.   Also didn't get the "Retreat" chocolates on Chic nights.   Some how we survived.   LOL

[abbydancer2003]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

When they were offering them they were RS and above.   When on Equinox the did not have them - maybe because not revolutionized.   Also didn't get the "Retreat" chocolates on Chic nights.   Some how we survived.   LOL

Equinox is revolutionized, sort of.  They didn't make all the changes they did on the Silhouette - no hot tub on the retreat sundeck, and they didn't add inside cabins where the loyalty and concierges were (and move the ilouge).  

 

Hot tub on Silhouette is nice, but I'm glad that they didn't add the cabins on the Equinox.

[Wink87]

On 12/30/2022 at 11:39 AM, ACorgan said:

I pulled up the Murano menu on the Celebrity app and that goat cheese soufflé does look amazing 🤤 I didn’t see any deserts listed on the app, other than the cheese plate, so good to know there are other options. Thanks for all the advice! Looking at all these food options is making me hungry; I should probably get some brunch going. I’m definitely looking forward to someone else doing the cooking for a week! 

 

On 12/30/2022 at 10:01 AM, ACorgan said:

We’re just a few days out from boarding our ship and, as long as the internet cooperates, I’ll share our experiences as we go along.

 

This will be our first cruise with Celebrity. Most of my past cruises have been with HAL or with Viking River Cruises, so I’m looking forward to trying out a new line.

 

Initially, I was offered a free inside stateroom through MGM in Vegas and when we booked, we paid extra to upgrade to a veranda room. After several other canceled vacations in Q3/Q4 (due to conflicting work travel), we decided to upfare to a sky suite, since this is turning out to be the one big vacation for the last half of the year. We had also put in several move-up offers and to our surprise and delight, on 12/21 we were notified that our offer for the Penthouse Suite had been accepted 🎉 So now, our first experience with Celebrity is going to be in an amazing room. 
 

Our very helpful shoreside concierge contacted us on 12/27 wanting to know all our preferences. Since we’re new to the Celebrity Suite Life, we weren’t even sure what we should be asking for. In the end, we provided her with our in room alcohol choices and asked for specialty dinning on three of the nights, so that we could try Murano, Tuscan Grill, and LPC. We thought the Luminae menu looked decent, so want to dine there at least two nights and we figure we’ll catch Sushi on 5 for a lunch or two.

 

Our first night dinner is at Murano. For those of you who’ve been: any recommendations on the must tries? I think I remember someone talking about the lobster on a different thread? I’m guessing it’s just the a la carte menu that’s complimentary for upper suites and that the Five Senses would be an additional charge? 
 

Any activities that you would consider not-to-be-missed on the first day? Our daily schedule is starting to be built out on the app and I’m seeing all kinds of fun sounding trivia options through the cruise. On HAL, trivia was always one of our favorite activities, so hoping it’ll be entertaining on Celebrity too. I’ll also want to check out the casino (there’s a reason MGM offered me a free inside room 😉). Do I need to wait until we’re out in international waters for the casino to open? If so, it might be a post-dinner activity. How are the evening shows on Celebrity? We always skipped them on HAL, but can make time for them in this trip, if they’re worthwhile?

 

We finished taking down all our Christmas decorations, so now I need to switch gears and start packing for the cruise. Looking forward to it! 

In the Tuscan grill, the Pistachio Marble Creme Brulee is memorable! Delicious!!!