Balcony furniture on Solstice class?

Hello,

We are thinking of trying Celebrity. We last cruised Princess in November and couldn't use our balcony because of smokers next door. As of January 15, Princess balconies and cabins are smoke free, but some have reported that the casino and port side promenade are now very smokey.....and this wafts into the atrium. This wouldn't be so bad, because we would be spending most of our time on the smoke-free balcony......except now Princess is changing the balcony furniture. Specifically they are removing the dining-height table and replacing it with a tiny, tiny table. Also, the chairs are being replaced with ones with even more limited recline. So ordering room service and dining on the balcony is becoming less feasible (perhaps, by design since people will spend more on drinks when they are not in their cabins and room service must be expensive to provide). Does Celebrity still have nice balcony furniture? Is dining on the balcony pleasant? Also, since there is no smoking in the casino on Celebrity, I assume the atrium does not get smokey? Is this right?

Hi Dena,

Not a great picture, but you can see the table size and chairs on a regular balcony cabin on the Equinox. Chair reclines.

Hello,

 

We are thinking of trying Celebrity. We last cruised Princess in November and couldn't use our balcony because of smokers next door. As of January 15, Princess balconies and cabins are smoke free, but some have reported that the casino and port side promenade are now very smokey.....and this wafts into the atrium. This wouldn't be so bad, because we would be spending most of our time on the smoke-free balcony......except now Princess is changing the balcony furniture. Specifically they are removing the dining-height table and replacing it with a tiny, tiny table. Also, the chairs are being replaced with ones with even more limited recline. So ordering room service and dining on the balcony is becoming less feasible (perhaps, by design since people will spend more on drinks when they are not in their cabins and room service must be expensive to provide). Does Celebrity still have nice balcony furniture? Is dining on the balcony pleasant? Also, since there is no smoking in the casino on Celebrity, I assume the atrium does not get smokey? Is this right?

Hi Dena,

Well you wouldn't be the first cruiser who has "drifted" over to Celebrity because of their smoking policy.

So let me summarize that for you...

As of January 2012, there is NO Smoking anywhere in the interiors of the ships... including Staterooms and the Casino.

And NO Outdoor Smoking (including NONE on Balconies)... except for a few designated areas... which are limited.

If you tell us which ship you are considering, then we can tell you where the outdoor smoking areas are... as they can differ a bit ship by ship (and if smoke is bothersome to you, you'll want to ensure that you pick a cabin away from those outdoor designated smoking areas)

The Balcony Furniture on Celebrity Ships is generally that which U2CRUISER has shown in their attached photo (all S-Class Ships, and the M-Class Ships that have been "solsticized")... so a good size table that is great for outdoor dining (we had several breakfasts at ours) and chairs that are comfortable, adjustable (upright or recline) and are covered in a nice breathable fabric that doesn't cling and also fast-drying.

On the S-Class Ships (Solstice - Equinox - Eclipse - Silhouette - and soon to be launched Relfection) those in Concierge Class, Aqua Class and Suites also receive matching footstools for their balconies.

I have attached a copy of a PHOTO I took on my recent balcony on a Solstice Cruise (# 1120 - Concierge Class - C2 - Oversized Balcony)

Hope this is helpful,

Cheers!

EDIT - Don't know if you've sailed with Celebrity before, but 2 more points come to mind...

1- Room Service is FREE on Celebrity... but most folks tip the delivery person a few bucks

2- On the S-Class Ships there are no outdoor balcony lights... (supposedly to make the ship "more green" and also discourage smokers)... BUT it also means that it can be pretty dark out there at night... something to take into consideration in regards to time of year (sunsetting) if you are thinking of dining out there in the evenings.

The balcony furniture is pretty nice on S-Class, and the balcony floor is nice too (teak like). If you are Concierge Class, Aqua Class or Sky Suite you will have footstools in addition to your chairs. If below Concierge Class you will have two chairs that can be set to reline. There is also a medium sized table. The table is a good size for having breakfast or snacks on, but I personally would not be comfortable having a full dinner there (though some do this). If you are not in a suite your dinner would arrive all at once (rather than served one course at a time by a butler if you are in a suite). As such if you order a large dinner there would be a lot of clutter and the later courses would become cold.

If you are a non smoker Celebrity has a great smoking policy. We have cruised both RCI and Celebrity recently. Our last cruise was on Mariner of the Seas. The first thing we noticed when we boarded was the stale tobacco smell. The casino had the worst smell. Twice when we were out on our balcony someone above and forward of our cabin was smoking a cigar and ashes came floating down to our balcony. I have to say that after a few days we did not seem to notice the smell as much. Other than that it was a great cruise and a very nice ship.

I wish more of the cruise lines would adopt the X smoking policy.

Thank you all! We are interested in Soltice class. I think having no outdoor lights is good especially for star gazing.

We have been with Princess long enough to get some nice loyalty rewards and onboard credits, but it is getting harder to deal with the smoke. I think the new policy on Princess has resulted in non-smokers spending more time in their cabins since increased smoking from the casino has fouled the atrium. And the port side promenad deck is also unusable. If people are in their cabins, they are not spending money. So maybe the move towards uncomfortable balcony furniture is a subtle attempt to drive people from their cabins as well as reduce room service orders. We are thinking of a 7 day Caribbean cruise for our first Celebrity cruise.

It sounds wonderful to have no smoking in the casino or nearly anywhere outside, this would mean the atrium and promenad decks are OK.