mahdnc

Yes, that would be it! Nice. We will be sailing with the DaKahuna to Hawaii. Please trot on over to our roll call and announce yourselves!

We sailed in stateroom 8166 on this sailing and also on our prior Summit sailing back in 2010. In fact we have been in 8166 on Constellation, and Infinity (twice) for a total of 5 times. It's been our home away from home. The veranda is huge. It is 14 foot wide and its longest dimension is 14.7 feet for a total of 327 square feet--larger than the interior space of most cabins. Back in 2010 (first photo), the balcony floor was made of some type of synthetic rubber. The surface was slightly gritty (not smooth) to prevent slipping on it. Today (next photo) the balcony floor is made of some type of wood (or faux wood) planking. It looks much much nicer today than it did back in 2010. The deck furniture is also nicer today. Notice the white horizonal structural support bar in the upper right corner of the 2024 photo below that isn't present in the above 2010 picture. That bar is used to help support the overhead cover for the adjacent balcony. Our balcony had ample overhead coverage which came in handy during the Panama Canal crossing because of the rain. There is also plenty of space for those that want direct sunlight. The balcony has an overhead light that can be used at night. It is not visible in either photo.

Pool Deck today: and in 2010.

We just got back from our Panama Canal cruise. We took two "Small Group" shore excursions through Celebrity. In both cases, we signed up for the activity/destination and not so much because it was a small group. The first small group tour was in Costa Rica. I would say we had about 20 people or so. The second one was a sail and snorkel shore excursion. We had about 13-15 passengers in attendance.

We have been onboard Solstice 3 times--twice in a balcony cabin (not suite nor AquaClass nor Concierge Class) and most recently (Jan 2024) in an AquaClass cabin. The two balcony cabins had a shower head that mounted on the wall with no ability to adjust the height. I think that is what you will find for your Deck 3 Oceanview and Inside cabins. My wife uses a CPAP machine. The outlets are all mounted by the desk on the wall opposite from the bed. This means the extension cord will run along the floor to your nightstand. This is a pretty standard arrangement for all staterooms on Solstice except perhaps for the suites.

Here are photos of the Grand Foyer today: and in Aug 2010: If you tap/click on the photos, it will be easier to see them. What do you think of the difference between now and back then?

I would have to say that the current casino interior decoration (top photo) is better than when I saw it back in Aug 2010 (bottom photo):

That’s a shame although the original port time wasn’t that great to begin with. Sorry it worked out like that.

Bob, our next cruise is the Apr 2025 Transpacific sailing on Solstice (Sydney to Honolulu). How about you? Oh, and how is your wife's recovery coming along? David

I incorrectly captioned the first photo in the prior post as being taken from the 29th floor. Our room was on the 28th floor (Room 2810). Sorry for the confusion.

I’m sorry about your accident!

Nice! It seems like you often luck out with air fare!

Hi, Ruth! I didn't quite follow the 2nd half of your post (the part I quoted in this post). In the 2-4-2 instance, would you purchase the two outboard seats? And you would upgrade both coach seats to two coach-plus seats? Yes? And what plane these days have 2-4-2? It sounds kinda like the old 767 planes, but every time I have flown long haul on United it's either 787 or 777 which have 3 outboard seats in each row. David

Is "anti-social" not one of the reasons listed?

how does one go about buying an extra seat (e.g. middle seat) to keep it empty?