Firsthand sneak peak at Solstice (Merger of Several Threads)

[Brandis]

Added some captions to the interior photos. Please feel free to add comments.

The artwork in the public stairwells consists of different heads formed out of chicken wire, sorry I didn't take pictures of those.

There is still a lot of work to be done, the crew areas looked most finished and there are already some people living there. They got 2 more weeks until Solstice is taken down the river Ems for the Sea trials. But work will continue during the trials, which also take a couple of weeks, so they expect the ship to be ready on time.

Marc

[hcat]

Thank you for sharing your special inside look with us!

I am surprised the interior is not further along but guess they will have it done on time!

Most if it looks very appealing.....some quite futuristic-- I will be happiest with the traditional areas like Ensemble Lounge, Michaels Club--brass glas & nice wood...

I agree about the main dining room & have previously commented on the "tusk" looking wall braces-- At this point the room does look cold & somewhat like a wedding mill catering hall.

One other part that seems not so great is the encased pool lounges-- tend to look claustrophobic & block one's view outward--also hope people don't think they are bedrooms at the pool!

[chydra1]

thanks for the pictures always nice to see how ship is going together

[CaroleLee]

[quote name='Brandis']Added some captions to the interior photos. Please feel free to add comments.

The artwork in the public stairwells consists of different heads formed out of chicken wire, sorry I didn't take pictures of those.

There is still a lot of work to be done, the crew areas looked most finished and there are already some people living there. They got 2 more weeks until Solstice is taken down the river Ems for the Sea trials. But work will continue during the trials, which also take a couple of weeks, so they expect the ship to be ready on time.

Marc[/QUOTE]

DANKE DANKE
Carole

[Brandis]

[quote name='Brandis']The artwork in the public stairwells consists of different heads formed out of chicken wire, sorry I didn't take pictures of those.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I mixed up things. There was no artwork displayed in the stairwells yet (though the alcoves are already there). We visited MS Europa the day before and they had those masks in the stairwells.

[Daphna101]

Thank you so much Marc,

I love contemporary styles and will our positive attitude and imagination it wont be long!

Daphna

[ottawapuppy]

[quote name='Brandis']Sorry to have you kept waiting! I'm finally at home and could upload the photos I took.

They can be found here:

[URL]http://picasaweb.google.ch/brandis.org/CelebritySolsticeShipyardTour#[/URL][/quote]

STUNNING! Thank you so much!

Mike

[FinelyCruising]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. :)

[hylasgirl]

Yes! Thank you so much! I think it looks gorgeous!

[Sheshefran]

All I can say is WOW and add my thanks for the great pictures. It is almost here. Did you get to see any staterooms?

[jdr93]

excellent. thank you for taking the photos and thank you even more for making the extra effort to put captions on so many of them. were the guest cabins closed and off limits to cameras?

[Host Anne]

Thanks so much, Brandis, for posting the photos. We are all very appreciative!

[Brandis]

We didn't see any of the staterooms, most weren't ready yet and those that were are already in use by contract workers who live onboard now. The same is true for the crew cabins. The only thing I saw was an open double door which had doors to 2 separate cabins behind it. Apparently, those cabins can either be used separatly, then the first door just stays open or the cabins can be used by 2 parties traveling together, then they can leave their cabin doors open and only the bigger front door is closed.

[jdr93]

brandis, are you booked on solstice already?

[excitedofharpenden]

Brandis, thanks for taking the trouble to download your pictures and post them here. She's starting to take shape although I agree with hcat. I thought she'd be looking a bit more complete inside. I'm sure they'll be cracking on with things now though with the major construction complete:cool:

Phil

[jt1120]

Vielen Dank, Marc!

Those pictures really get my juices flowing for this cruise! I'm with Daphna, these contemporary styles are just awesome.

[SailAway78]

[COLOR="Navy"][quote name='Brandis']Hi all!

I usually post on the RCL board, but I just visited Solstice this afternoon and thought you might be interested in seeing some current pictures. We dida tour of Meyer shipyard and had special permission to tour Solstice, which I understand is very hard to get. Right now we are on the way to Amsterdam and I'm posting this on my iPhone. I will upload the pictures as soon as I'm home in a couple of hours. Sorry to keep you waiting, but the roaming data would kill me.

Crew areas look pretty complete already, but was quite surprised how unfinished guest areas still looked.

Marc[/QUOTE]

After months of watching the outside construction of Solstice, how wonderful to see the inside work! Thank you so much for posting your fantastic pictures to share with us.

Bonnie

[/COLOR]

[croozin ASAP]

The CC Group from the April 19, 2009, T.A. thanks you Marc/Brandis for sharing the great photos! We are all very excited about the progress and to say we are looking forward to our cruise is quite an understatement. I'm sure you all feel the same!!

[Mammabunny]

:) [FONT=System][COLOR=royalblue]Mammabunny here -- Anybody remember from Horizon, Century, Millenium, or Constellation??? Well, get ready - Mamma plans to be on the 2/8 and 2/15 trips[COLOR=blue]...Head Bunny will only be on board for the first cruise....it's a long story. Hopefully, there will be more of the Bunny family with us; so far, it looks like daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Hopping to sea you!!!![/COLOR][/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=System][COLOR=#0000ff] (Oh, that was so bad - even for a rabbit!!) :) Mammabunny[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Mammabunny]

:D [FONT=System][COLOR=blue]Can't believe I erased my (brilliant, of course) post!! But basically I was answering JT1120's "correction" of the appellation "Michiganian"......A few years back, there was a "vote" taken, and, probably because "..ganders" would have a bad time maintaining, much less increasing, the population, the 'goosey' term lost, tho the misnomer unfortunately lives on. But back to the CONSTRUCTED sea-goers.......Head Bunny and I managed to try 12-14 lines, (yes. including RC; the first [U]BIG[/U] one - The Sovereign of the Seas) but came back to the "X" line (originally for "CHANDRIS") Our first on that - which hooked us - was "[U]THE[/U] Victoria", a real [U]lady[/U] ...as all ships are [U]supposed[/U] to be.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=System][COLOR=#0000ff]Yes, we've had a "worst" cruise - tho the 28 of us (out of 800-some) who spoke English had a great time! Of course we never would have booked the Transatlantic crossing - out of Rio - had we KNOWN it was a REFLOATED car ferry!! (Don't worry; port athorities successfully demanded it be scuttled when it had another "experience" in Venice harbor) Enough of the old - on to the NEW ----- -SOLSTICE!!!! :) Mammabunny[/COLOR][/FONT]

[elena7seas]

for taking the photos and posting them so quickly, and with captions too! You and Andreas have been sooo kind to us.

After looking at deck plans and exterior shots for so long, this was really a treat!

The Solstice is very modern, and will probably be very clean and fresh looking. I think, from what I see in the pictures, I will like some areas more than others. There is quite an extensive use of small tile work, which was very popular at the time the ship was being designed. Not a look that I love, personally--I find it very institutional. I didn't love it when it was big in the late sixties and early seventies, either.

I'm surprised at the colour of the lighting in the main dining room. Blue/purple lighting is not the best light for skin tones. Apparently, we'll all look better in the casino (warm, golden tones) LOL.

I'm dying to hear what the ship designer has to say was the reasoning for the design of the promenade deck. I think it's the single biggest missed opportunity. I love walking on the promenade deck, looking out to sea. It feels different, somehow, than walking on upper decks. I suppose that's because you're actually closer to the sea, which matters to me. Anyhow, I'm sad to see those lifeboats blocking the view and making the walkway very claustrophobic.

Do not, not, not like those lounge bed constructions on the pool deck. I'm just visualizing people clambering onto them from the bottom. Ewww.

The Solarium looks interesting. I'd sure like to see a picture of Blu. I think it might be very nice. I'm glad we booked AquaClass for our Med trip in May, but will also be glad to have the Main Dining room experience on our Caribbean look-see in December when we're booked in a 1A balcony. That trip will really be all about taking in the new ship.

Hard to believe we will be on her in 11 weeks!!

Thanks again for posting...you made my day.

[hcat]

[quote name='elena7seas']for taking the photos and posting them so quickly, and with captions too! You and Andreas have been sooo kind to us.

After looking at deck plans and exterior shots for so long, this was really a treat!

The Solstice is very modern, and will probably be very clean and fresh looking. I think, from what I see in the pictures, I will like some areas more than others. There is quite an extensive use of small tile work, which was very popular at the time the ship was being designed. Not a look that I love, personally--I find it very institutional. I didn't love it when it was big in the late sixties and early seventies, either.

I'm surprised at the colour of the lighting in the main dining room. Blue/purple lighting is not the best light for skin tones. Apparently, we'll all look better in the casino (warm, golden tones) LOL.

I'm dying to hear what the ship designer has to say was the reasoning for the design of the promenade deck. I think it's the single biggest missed opportunity. I love walking on the promenade deck, looking out to sea. It feels different, somehow, than walking on upper decks. I suppose that's because you're actually closer to the sea, which matters to me. Anyhow, I'm sad to see those lifeboats blocking the view and making the walkway very claustrophobic.

Do not, not, not like those lounge bed constructions on the pool deck. I'm just visualizing people clambering onto them from the bottom. Ewww.

The Solarium looks interesting. I'd sure like to see a picture of Blu. I think it might be very nice. I'm glad we booked AquaClass for our Med trip in May, but will also be glad to have the Main Dining room experience on our Caribbean look-see in December when we're booked in a 1A balcony. That trip will really be all about taking in the new ship.

Hard to believe we will be on her in 11 weeks!!

Thanks again for posting...you made my day.[/QUOTE]

Please report back with reviews after each of your cruises--we follow you with a Carib cruise in her in Jan. 09 & next Sept to E Medit. Our tastes seem about the same so I will value your reactions--- some rooms are very institutional--one was like a hospital cafeteria.. Very "post- IKEA!" Other than the places you & have mentioned the rest of it looks superb!

[Brandis]

[quote name='hcat']some rooms are very institutional--one was like a hospital cafeteria.. Very "post- IKEA!"[/QUOTE]

Are you talking about the last few pictures of the dining area with the red chairs? You have to keep in mind that this is the crew mess area, so you can't hold it to the same standards, designwise, as the guest areas.

Besides, usually, you would never see those areas anyway as a guest.

[hylasgirl]

Yes, I am sure that was the crew buffet area. In fact, most of those pictures of galleys were the crew areas.

I think it looks very nice! I can't wait to see some real pictures of the cabins instead of all the renderings. The balcony furniture looks different in two different renderings. I am hoping that they stick with a dining height table and chairs. We loved that feature the best with the Century.

I am way excited for an indoor pool though, and the renderings of the Aqua Spa pool look amazing!

I remember watching a DVD about the building of the Voyager of the Seas and when it only had weeks left till the first sailing, it looked just the same. It was amazing that they had everything done. In fact, even on the way over to Miami it was still such a mess. So, I think they can really make things happen when being pushed.

I just can't figure out why Celebrity's web site only lists suites as having mini-fridges?? Weird...

[elena7seas]

[quote name='hcat']Please report back with reviews after each of your cruises--we follow you with a Carib cruise in her in Jan. 09 & next Sept to E Medit. Our tastes seem about the same so I will value your reactions--- some rooms are very institutional--one was like a hospital cafeteria.. Very "post- IKEA!" Other than the places you & have mentioned the rest of it looks superb![/quote]

I will be sure to post after both trips. If you have any particular things you'd like me to look for on our December 7th trip, I would be pleased to try and get some pictures for you.

I am travelling with my daughter on the December 7th trip. She is a commercial interior designer, and will probably like the look of the Solstice very much. She and I don't always agree on design...she is very modern...I fully appreciate good modern design, but I also think some things capture the imagination when they are new and trendy, but don't necessarily stand the test of time.

It will be fun to be on one of the first few sailings and hear what others have to say. I'll try to post from the Solstice as often as I can on that first trip.