Solstice Preview Tomorrow (July 8th) in Miami

[FitzLA]

Fitz,

 

You need to join us on Sosltice and be ahead of the fashion curve!

 

I wish I could. But I don't think I will be cruising next year until fall of 2009. But I can't wait to experience this ship. She looks GORGEOUS! Just my style! We even have some of the same chairs they use in some of the different areas onboard. I think this ship was made for me. :D

 

Edit to say, I might be able to do Equinox in November 2009!

[RodPat]

Mike and Carol, Great pics, makes me want our cruise on Nov. 30 to come quicker. Thanks all you guys for the info.

 

Pat

[CAPinBoynton]

One of the questions / comments concerned the difficulty maneuvering around the bed. The cabin will have a bow in the area where the bed is located which will allow for more room to get around the beds. The way they described it sounds like it should solve the aggravation.

 

Thanks to all who have viewed the photos.

[rolfecms]

Thanks for enlightening us!

[tromvest]

I must be blind, but I cannot find the pictures on your website. Where is it located again?

[MVPinBoynton]

When you go to the website, the top button of the reviews should say "Solstice" on it. If you click it, you will be taken to the pics. If you don't see the "Solstice" button, click on refresh, you might have gotten a cached version of the website from before the latest publishing.

[Friscorays]

Mike and I have posted our photos from today's Solstice preview event. We wanted to be able to show the menus and all of the features of this fabulous ship "to be" in a large format. You may view our effort at www.thepreismans.com and click on the Solstice.

 

Enjoy,

 

Amazing contribution! Thank you so much. For all those interested in the Solstice, there is a wealth of info in those pics (sample menus, etc) and you really should check them out.

 

I enjoyed your Infinity travel pics as well. We were on her August 2007 and also enjoyed outings with Michelle and Floyd.

[tromvest]

I found it. Thank you very much. Good pictures.

[curiouscat]

Thanks... that was some marketing junket.

 

Did anyone notice on the BLU menu the "baked Airline Chicken":confused: What's up with that... otherwise the food looks awesome.

 

CuriousCat

[MVPinBoynton]

I just had a chance to check out the menus myself. They really sound good. I know the samples from the Bistro on Five were quite delicious.

[CAPinBoynton]

Melissa, great write up! Y'all check it out at http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2677

[HollyK]

Great pics and info everyone and TY for providing it. But - what about the beds?? :D Did anyone not ask? I'd like to know which way my head is facing and whether I have to trip over my bed or not? Was no one able to provide insight on this? Food is nice but I'm going to have to eat the food anyway. Far more important to me to know whether my bed is beside the balcony or back from it. Did they give you guys any info on that? :)

[MVPinBoynton]

The question was asked about the bed placement, but Dan did not have an answer, nor could anyone else help him on it. They said that they would look into it, since Anne pointed out that people were concerned about the placement.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I apologize for being a bit late to the thread tonight. I was at the late (3pm) session. When I got back home, I was inundated with work matters.

 

It was a pleasure meeting Host Anne (and her Daughter), LoisR, and several other Cruise Critic friends. Melissa, I was disappointed that we did not get to meet. I hope we will meet in the future.

 

This was an outstanding presentation by Celebrity. It was very well planned, and I walked away with a great feeling, and anticipation of Solstice. Well, I already had great feelings about Solstice, but they are even stronger now !

 

I had the opportunity to meet Dan Hanrahan, and I was very impressed. It was a treat to see many old friends, including Simon & Nick Weir, and Dominique Gamba, who has Managed many Specialty Restaurants on Celebrity and Azamara. It will be great to see them again in November, on the Solstice Inauguaral Sailing !

 

I had a chance to sample many food items.... probably TOO MANY :), and they were all outstanding. I particularly loved the Crepes, and some of the Blu Menu items. I also tried the Pistachio Gelato, which was the best Gelato I ever tasted. I noticed that Mike & Carol posted many wonderful photos including photos of Solstice's Menus. I would like to point out that I was told those were tentative menus, and they may change somewhat over the next few weeks. I wouldnt assume all of the menu items as final. I also tried the Eureka ! <hiccup>, which I thought was quite different, and delicious.

 

I was able to demo the photo machine, which will allow you to see your photos from your stateroom, and kiosks around the ship. Your photos will be linked to your room key card. I think this is an outstanding idea. One thing I never enjoy, is searching for my photos. While you will still be able to do this, I like the electronic idea better. I was told that the Photo operations will be expanded on the Solstice Class, including a private photo studio.

 

I would like to thank everyone at Cruise Critic, and Celebrity for the wonderful opportunity to get a taste of Solstice. I feel this is going to be a very special class of ship. I can hardly wait to sail on the Inaugural sailing, and I am counting the days until November 23rd !

 

Time for me to get back to work. I hope you enjoyed reading my update. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I will try my best to answer.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Mike and I have posted our photos from today's Solstice preview event. We wanted to be able to show the menus and all of the features of this fabulous ship "to be" in a large format. You may view our effort at www.thepreismans.com and click on the Solstice.

 

Enjoy,

 

Awesome job on the pictures! Thanks.

[BellKat]

Thanks guys for all of your hard work! Everything looks wonderful! Can't wait to actually board her in March.

 

We moved my daughter and son-in-law today as I got out of jury duty at 9:30 am. Just got home 45 minutes ago and we're exhausted. I'm sure Jim will email you tomorrow.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

One additional item.... I know that many of us have been wondering if/when Celebrity will update Captains Club. I can share with you, that it is now on the front burner. While I do not have any details as to what will be added, and when we can expect the changes, I have a feeling we will be hearing about it sooner, rather than later.

 

I am very happy to hear that Celebrity is listening to us, and I am hopeful we will be happy with the new improvements. Stay tuned !

[MVPinBoynton]

Andy, I am with you on the Pistachio gelato. It was awesome. I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it. :o

[gkm]

I loved the pictures! Thanks for posting them.

 

Andy, that's great to know that Dominique will be on the Solstice this fall. I really did enjoy cruising with him on Azamara.

 

Wow, my cruise can't get here soon enough!:D

 

Garry

[Andy]

I loved the pictures! Thanks for posting them.

 

Andy, that's great to know that Dominique will be on the Solstice this fall. I really did enjoy cruising with him on Azamara.

 

Wow, my cruise can't get here soon enough!:D

 

Garry

 

Hi Garry !

 

How are you ? I hope all is well !

 

I agree with you about Dominique. It is great to know that Dominique will be on Solstice for her first sailings, though I am not sure if he will be on there indefinitely. I suspect he will be on Solstice for a month or 2, then probably start to get ready for Equinox.

[Texed]

, and Dominique Gamba, who has Managed many Specialty Restaurants on Celebrity and Azamara. I hope you enjoyed reading my update.

 

Thanks for the update, and you are correct, Dominique is a very good restaurant manager, and a nice man.

[Host Anne]

Hello all ~ we just got home (had another event to attend to this evening when we arrived back on the west side of Florida so I'm just now logging on) so I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to post this evening. It's been a long day (up early and back late with eight hours on the road) but DEFINITELY worth it. I do have my list of questions and got answers to many of them (not all :( ) but I need to type them up for you and won't get a chance to do that this evening. But I'll get them up tomorrow.

 

It was terrific to meet new Cruise Critic friends and the wonderful staff at Celebrity. I am absolutely certain that Celebrity will be delivering an outstanding product with Solstice and her sister ships. November can't get here soon enough.

 

Mike and Carol ~ AWESOME photos!!!!! I'll have to go through mine (haven't done that yet) to see if there are any that you haven't already posted. If it's OK, I'll email them to you and you can add them....but I think you about covered everything so well, I may not have any to add.

 

I will give you one answer to a question before I call it a night: There are NO plans for "anytime dining" in the main dining room on Solstice. As Dominque told us, there are ten outlets on the ship for dining. With so many choices, they are leaving the main dining room as two set dining times for guests to choose from. I was personally glad to hear that!

 

More tomorrow (I have to read Melissa's article before shutting down :D ).

 

Thanks to Cruise Critic and Celebrity for this lovely opportunity!

[CAPinBoynton]

Anne, it was so nice to meet you today. Of course I will add any pics that you want to email to me.

 

I have just added closeups of the Tuscan and Murano menus. Unfortunately, I didn't have clear shots of them; so the blowups aren't very clear.

 

If anyone who was there today has a good closeup of the Murano menu, please email it to me at full resolution to cbpreisman@comcast.net

 

Thanks,

[ItaliaBella]

Hi Everyone !

 

One additional item.... I know that many of us have been wondering if/when Celebrity will update Captains Club. I can share with you, that it is now on the front burner. While I do not have any details as to what will be added, and when we can expect the changes, I have a feeling we will be hearing about it sooner, rather than later.

 

I am very happy to hear that Celebrity is listening to us, and I am hopeful we will be happy with the new improvements. Stay tuned !

 

Speaking of Captain's Club memberships... I'm wondering about how many points do you receive if you sail on 12 days or more cruises. From what I can see on Celebrity's website, you only get 1 sailing credit for your first cruise regardless of the # of days and then on your second cruise - you get 1 credit plus 3 additional credits for sailing on a 12 day cruise. So that means that after my 12 day cruise, I should have 5 sailing credits and move up to the Select level. Am I getting this correct?

[Buckeye Geo]

Carol....Thanks for post those awesome photos.