One opinion about Solstice dining, April 8 cruise

[Massnatives]

Dear Judy - thanks for responding to my post to you. I don't think the flames were too high towards you - have seen much higher before.

We spend so much time planning for our vacations, and in the back of our minds we know that something could always happen. I'm sorry it happened to you.

Whether it land or sea, I hope you and your husband can enjoy a trip away together - the best to you.

[sarafinadh]

Originally Posted by gentlemancruiser

I usually enjoy a Cesar salad but this time it wasn't very enjoyable. It's a salad, how do you mess up a salad?

Bruce, I hear that hardboiled egg and tomatoes are a good start on messing up a Caeser. Was that the case?
; -D

[gentlemancruiser]

Originally Posted by sarafinadh

Bruce, I hear that hardboiled egg and tomatoes are a good start on messing up a Caeser. Was that the case?
; -D

You are not too far off.

[dorakk]

Originally Posted by gentlemancruiser

I can speak from first had expereince, I sailed on this cruise. This was my 19th cruise so I consider myelf well travelled. We are also Select Members, just one credit sort of Elite. The comments she made about the overcrowded ship with kids running wild and poorly behavied adults were completely accurate. I NEVER want to sail like that again. This cruise was more like our RCCL then any previous Celebrity cruise.
Last year I sailed over Easter on the Constellation and wow, the Solstice food was really hit and miss to say the very least. The service was OK but sometimes it was just totally off. Our assistant waiter often spilt water onto our meals when refilling the water glasses. If it wasn't spilt onto the meal it was spilt on us. Some dishes were OK, while others were horrible. Breakfast on disembarkation day we are the the Eperany and it was the worst meal I've ever had, I ordered banana pancakes and turkey sasuage and when they arrived at the table both were stone cold. I couldnt' even cut the pancake!

Hi, I was on the same sailings too. Can't agree more with the overcrowded ship. I heard that for our sailing there were 3100 guests onboard, well beyond Solstice's regular capacity of 2800 passengers.

We didn't bother going to the main pool at all due to the crowdedness, so can't comment on the kids or misbehave adults issue.

On our first at sea day, we did once got into the whirlpool in the Solarium pool area, but it was quite a scary and gross experience which officially put an end to our pool activities onboard.
However, it's nothing to blame X on, it's more of the guests not being considerate. Basically we were sharing the same whirlpool with an old lady whose body was full of unrecovered wound and blisters. While soaking in the whirlpool, she was constantly wiping out liquid from her blisters using the pool towel. OMG, this is so gross! We just can't convince ourseleves to go back to any of the pool onboard again knowing that this old lady might have got into same pool before us.

As for the food, it's a hit or miss.
We had really delicious seafood risotto one night at the MDR, but on the last night the mushroom risotto was just tasteless. The red meat from the MDR were generally okay; aside from that, we tried pork, turkey, chicken and fishes but none of them were good.

Buffet at the oceanview cafe are very ordinary buffet good, nothing impressive. I read from previous reviews that pizza on Solstice is excellent, but it was a disappointment.
One thing about Oceanview Cafe is that service there was really poor. One time I broke a glass, two servers witnessed that incident but none of them offered to help, they just pretend they did not see it and walked away.

Cafe Al Bacio & Bistro on Five served quality food though. The pastry @ Cafe Al Bacio was to died for. The crepe on Bistro on Five was really good too. Service there were also the best!

Room service breakfast was not bad too. Afternoon canepes were okay, but we got tired of it after 2 days, luckily our statement attendant were willing to switch it to shrimp cocktail or cheese & crackers for us.

Breakfast on disembarkation day at MDR was indeed a joke. Long wait, poor service and food. What an unhappy ending to our cruise.

Overall we did had a great time on Solstice. Services & food were hit or misses; some guests are snobs while some others are super nice. What's more important is that we were there on vacation, which is good enough to make our experience on Solstice enjoyable.

Btw, Judy so glad to hear that you are doing okay now.

[handsome_jay]

Originally Posted by dorakk

Btw, Judy so glad to hear that you are doing okay now.

That's by far the most important part!

I agree with the original poster about the buffet. Of course, I wasn't a fan of the food in the MDR either.

However, our waiter and assistant waiters were wonderful! Even our maitre'd in the MDR on the Equinox was good.

My only negative experience (in terms of service) was with the sommelier. Oh well.

We'd still cruise Celebrity again. In fact, we're planning either an Eastern/Southern Caribbean or a Med cruise for next year! We'll likely go AQ to get away from the food in the MDR.

[Vagabondage]

Hi again dorakk --

Hope you enjoyed your time in St. Thomas/St. John as we chatted about here on CC before the cruise!

Originally Posted by dorakk

Can't agree more with the overcrowded ship. I heard that for our sailing there were 3100 guests onboard, well beyond Solstice's regular capacity of 2800 passengers.

Sheesh!! No wonder it was so crowded. Do you know if this happens often?

Originally Posted by dorakk

On our first at sea day, we did once got into the whirlpool in the Solarium pool area, but it was quite a scary and gross experience which officially put an end to our pool activities onboard. However, it's nothing to blame X on, it's more of the guests not being considerate. Basically we were sharing the same whirlpool with an old lady whose body was full of unrecovered wound and blisters. While soaking in the whirlpool, she was constantly wiping out liquid from her blisters using the pool towel. OMG, this is so gross! We just can't convince ourseleves to go back to any of the pool onboard again knowing that this old lady might have got into same pool before us.

Oh wow, that is really yukky and would be really bad news from me due to the drugs I'm on. I sympathize with this lady's sores, but what can she have been thinking about other passengers' welfare???

Originally Posted by dorakk

Overall we did had a great time on Solstice. Services & food were hit or misses... What's more important is that we were there on vacation, which is good enough to make our experience on Solstice enjoyable.

Sounds like your take on the food on this sailing was a lot like mine, even though you were aboard for the full seven days. I'm so glad to hear you had a good time. I really think we would have, too, as we weren't expecting absolute perfection. We look for and appreciate the good in everything and try not to focus overly on any negative stuff. I'd happily be sitting in Cafe al Bacio right now .

IF we decide to try an anniversary cruise a third time, which right now is in considerable doubt, despite all that has happened medically and otherwise I would probably still choose Celebrity over other cruise lines. [We can't afford the Big Bucks lines with better food.] Everyone still seems to agree that though cost-cutting measures are clearly evident, X beats the other mass market lines in several areas.

Thanks again for your comments, Dora!!!! I'm sorry I never got to meet you or our other roll call members.

['80 Wolfpacker]

I was on the April 8th sailing of the Solstice. We ate dinner in Blu since we booked an Aqua Class suite. This was our third time to cruise on the Solstice and this was my 21st cruise. I have to tell you, our food was the best to date. We ate in the dining room at lunch. I thought all of the food was outstanding. If you look at my previous posts, you will see that I love Royal Caribbean and sailed on the Freedom of the Seas in January and could not find one good thing to say about the food. I love to cook and I am a "foodie." I thought the food on the Solstice exceeded my expectations at every meal - even room service!!!!!!

[northwoods_lady]

I was also on the April 8 2012 Celebrity Solstice cruise, and had a very different experience.

I had the roast beef in the Ocean View Cafe on Sunday and it was juicy and tender.

The canapes were very tasty, and the quantity was just fine, it was an appetizer, not a meal.

The sushi in Silk Harvest was amazing, as was the rest of the food there, and every part of every meal we had in Blu was outstanding.

We had a quiet cabin, were rocked to sleep with the sound of the waves on the bow, thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation rooms, and were never bothered with noise or crowds.

I hope you give Solstice another chance, I highly recommend it.

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

I think one major problem is that Celebrity has set the bar very high with respect to customer expectations. Every time I open an issue of Bon Appetit or Food And Wine there are beautiful ads tauting the wonderful cusine on Celebrity. Unfortunately, for many cruisers the actual product isn't living up to the hype. We were recently on Equinox, and while we had a wonderful vacation, the food was a disapointment. The food was in no way terrible, but it also was far from excellent. Would we cruise Celebrity again? In a heartbeat, it was a beautiful ship, a wonderful itinerary, and a excellent crew. But my SO and myself, like many others reporting on this board, were not impressed by the food.

Good Sailing
Tom

[Bridge Maven]

Originally Posted by tunaman2011

Greetings

I think one major problem is that Celebrity has set the bar very thigh with respect to customer expectations. Every time I open an issue of Bon Appetit or Food And Wine there are beautiful ads tauting the wonderful cusine on Celebrity. Unfortunately, for many cruisers the actual product isn't living up to the hype. We were recently on Equinox, and while we had a wonderful vacation, the food was a disapointment. The food was in no way terrible, but it also was far from excellent. Would we cruise Celebrity again? In a heartbeat, it was a beautiful ship, a wonderful itinerary, and a excellent crew. But my SO and myself, like many others reporting on this board, were not impressed by the food.

Good Sailing
Tom

Tunaman - that is the point I have tried to make many times. Celebrity has a good product for a mass market cruise line. However, when posters lead people to believe that its main dining room is comparable to an upscale restaurant or much better than other mass market cruise lines, it creates unrealistic expectations that invariably lead to disappointment.





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[jackdiamond]

Originally Posted by richsea

Sorry, but these posts are waaaaay too long for my attention span.

Those who are loquacious usually present paucity in the way of useful information.

[Bridge Maven]

Originally Posted by jackdiamond

Those who are loquacious usually present paucity in the way of useful information.

Jack - I enjoy your posts because they remind me of so many words that I haven't used in a long time.


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[ondeckatsea]

ditto

[jackdiamond]

Originally Posted by Bridge Maven

Jack - I enjoy your posts because they remind me of so many words that I haven't used in a long time.


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Thank you.

[jackdiamond]

Our last three Celebrity cruises, before my wife's illness, were ten nighters on the Equinox in AQ; and, we absolutely loved the food in Blu.

[jackdiamond]

Originally Posted by Bridge Maven

Jack - I enjoy your posts because they remind me of so many words that I haven't used in a long time.


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Again, thank you; and, I am reminded of the aphorism "brevity is the soul of wit". In this connection, I am also reminded of a trial judge before whom I appeared many years ago who told counsel before viewing their prayers for jury instructions that he would seriously consider those of four paragraphs or less on one page; and, that those which were longer he would throw against the wall, and he would grant those that stuck to the wall.