Celebrity Debuts World Class Bar for S-Class Ships

The Molecular Bar on the Solstice in Australia/NZ in Feb. was terrible with surly bartenders. Now makes sense to find out they were outsourced. Hope this new venue will be an improvement.

Same experience at the Molecular Bar on Solstice in March .:(

The Molecular Bar on the Solstice in Australia/NZ in Feb. was terrible with surly bartenders. Now makes sense to find out they were outsourced. Hope this new venue will be an improvement.

Maybe surly was part of the "act"!?

Thanks Laura

The Molecular Bar on the Equinox and the Eclipse this last winter was WONDERFUL!!!!

The bartenders, Jelena, Barbara, Luca (on the Equinox) and George and Irena (on the Eclipse) were engaging and fun , the drinks were great and the bar was busy.

So sorry to see it go. :(

Hopefully, someone currently on the Eclipse will report back what this new venue is like.

I found that the Bartenders make the Venue. On our first X crusie on the Solstice we were curious about the Molcular bar. We didn't have a drink pack and I don't know if they had one. We sat down after our early dinner and had our choice of seats as the bars was empty. We asked the BT about the drinks and he said that there was a demonstration at 6:00 and we should have attended if we wanted to know about them. He then said to let him know when we wanted something. We left and never darkened that bar during the rest of the cruise.

We had the Premium pack on the Eclipse and the BTs Jelena and Stasha were the greatest. We also had the Premium pack on the next Eclipse cruise and after a few nights the drinks seemed to lose their appeal and uniqueness. We got tired of them. During both cruises it was basically the same 10 to 15 passengers every night and it got to be our regular crowd and hangout place.

The bar seemed to be too much work or labor intensive for more that a few customers and I think that is part of the problem. Most BTs didn't complain but you could sense the frustration from some of the passengers that were waiting for their drinks when sitting at a table, especially when there was a group of 4 or more.

I don't know if I will miss it as I think something different is needed.

Drink up 🍹🍸🍷🍺🍻

The Molecular Bar on the Solstice in Australia/NZ in Feb. was terrible with surly bartenders. Now makes sense to find out they were outsourced. Hope this new venue will be an improvement.

Same experience at the Molecular Bar on Solstice in March .:(

We cruised Solstice in March. Loved the Molecular menu however service was terrible. We continued to go back for the drinks however the service did leave a sour note each time we visited.

We cruised Solstice in March. Loved the Molecular menu however service was terrible. We continued to go back for the drinks however the service did leave a sour note each time we visited.

We didnt care the for drinks and only tried them as they were included in the Premium Package. We also thought the service was poor. The way they would dismiss someone that ordered a regular drink not realising they only offered their special cocktails was pretty unfriendly and somewhat snooty. We will look forward to trying its replacement on Eclipse in June.

We didnt care the for drinks and only tried them as they were included in the Premium Package. We also thought the service was poor. The way they would dismiss someone that ordered a regular drink not realising they only offered their special cocktails was pretty unfriendly and somewhat snooty. We will look forward to trying its replacement on Eclipse in June.

Ditto. As will we, on Eclipse in November.

The Molecular bartenders on the Silhouette last month acted as if they were doing us a favor. To add insult to injury, the drinks we tried were too sweet for our tastes. So we'll hope for a change for the better; failing that, I'll have a Jack on the rocks, please.

We didnt care the for drinks and only tried them as they were included in the Premium Package. We also thought the service was poor. The way they would dismiss someone that ordered a regular drink not realising they only offered their special cocktails was pretty unfriendly and somewhat snooty. We will look forward to trying its replacement on Eclipse in June.

Kevin - I'm not making an excuse for rudeness but we spent many hours sitting at the Molecular Bar :o and I got to watch a succession of people walk up and , over and over, ask for something they didn't serve.

The bartenders tried to explain that ONLY the drinks on their menus were available but many times the passengers got pretty belligerent and bordering verbally abusive.

I'm a pretty polite, non-confrontational person but I don't know how long I could have taken that abuse either.

Kevin - I'm not making an excuse for rudeness but we spent many hours sitting at the Molecular Bar :o and I got to watch a succession of people walk up and , over and over, ask for something they didn't serve.

 

The bartenders tried to explain that ONLY the drinks on their menus were available but many times the passengers got pretty belligerent and bordering verbally abusive.

 

I'm a pretty polite, non-confrontational person but I don't know how long I could have taken that abuse either.

Its a bar on a ship with many bars. Many passengers would not know the Molecular Bar offers a strictly limited number of special cocktails. There is a polite way to tell passengers and a non polite way. Im sure the 'verbally abusive' passengers were in the minority, certainly I've never seen one. If the bartenders had an issue with passengers hassling them they should have fed this back to management so they could take steps to inform passengers better. To us, however it appeared the bartenders presented an air of superiority as they had amazing unique cocktails. Even when we did try their cocktails we felt the service was below par, miserable and plodding. Each passenger has their own experiences but this has been ours on three Eclipse trips.

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Yawn. No interest. There are several speciality hipster cocktail places within walking distance of my house. I like cocktails but the drinks at these places tend not to be worth the cost. This appears to be another bar fad a cruise line is trying to trade on. Can't they do something unique and different?

This thread goes to show how each passenger's experience can vary widely. We made the Molecular Bar a nightly pre-dinner gathering spot on our last three cruises on Eclipse, and service was wonderful each time.

We found the Martini Bar crowded the couponers from Elite, but for the last cruise when they were no longer accepted. Molecular was a nice and quiet change. I will miss my Scorpion Kiss, as my wife will her Lucky Cat.

That being said, let's hope the new venue is fresh, fun and inviting. It's a cruise after all.

Does anyone know the timetable for the WorldClass Bar replacement of the Molecular Bar ? We are on Reflection in September - will it just be a matter of changing the "menu" offered ?

Does anyone know the timetable for the WorldClass Bar replacement of the Molecular Bar ? We are on Reflection in September - will it just be a matter of changing the "menu" offered ?

Laura in Post #1, our community manager, placed a link within her post. It states that all ships should be changed over by the end of the Summer. Now September could be on the cusp as officially Summer does not end until Sept. 23 from my calendar.

Bye, bye, molecular bar. Won't miss you at all. Seemed to be geared to the folks that didn't particularly like real cocktails and wanted something sweet, different and that was a production to make, while others sat, watched and waited to be served. These foo foo drinks can be made at home for those that crave such things. Give me a bar where they can make a great cocktail with simple ingredients and ice, and I'm a happy camper.

Those of you saying "sweet drinks" or "foo-foo" drinks must never have tried many of the offerings at the Molecular Bar . (And now it's too late. :( )

I challenge anyone to say the Black Mamba, Mr. B or Kentucky Derby are "sweet".

Also, the ingredients are NOT easily available at home (lots of fresh spices) and the liquors used were really high end. (How many of you have Lillet in your liquor cabinet?)

I'm reserving judgement on the new bar until I experience it .........

Those of you saying "sweet drinks" or "foo-foo" drinks must never have tried many of the offerings at the Molecular Bar . (And now it's too late. :( )

I challenge anyone to say the Black Mamba, Mr. B or Kentucky Derby are "sweet".

Also, the ingredients are NOT easily available at home (lots of fresh spices) and the liquors used were really high end. (How many of you have Lillet in your liquor cabinet?)

I'm reserving judgement on the new bar until I experience it .........

Karen,

I couldn't agree more with your statement. I too will miss those wonderful cocktails but am crossing my fingers that the new bar will be up to the challenge.

Betty

I guess you have a point there about the ingredients not being readily available at home. I was referring more to the labor intensive bartending requirements to make a single drink while others just sat and watched. I guess that's why they have vanilla and chocolate in the world. No harm, no foul. Each to his or her own tastes.

Loved the Kentucky Derby. Had one almost every day on our recent 11 night cruise on Equinox. Found the staff friendly and attentive but some of the drinks do take some time to make. They all do taste very fresh but some are a bit too strong on the citrus. Can use a Kentucky Derby now!

I guess you have a point there about the ingredients not being readily available at home. I was referring more to the labor intensive bartending requirements to make a single drink while others just sat and watched. I guess that's why they have vanilla and chocolate in the world. No harm, no foul. Each to his or her own tastes.

If we were lucky to get a seat at the bar, we actually enjoyed watching them make the drinks as they were a show in itself with the liquid nitrogen, foams etc.

While we are not normally sweet drink drinkers we did enjoy trying a drink pre dinner with new flavour combinations.

The great thing about cruising is that there is something for everyone, and not everyone will like everything. Otherwise I don't know how a bar could serve 2000 passengers!

Some loved molecular, some didn't. But that's what the cruise line is counting on - to appeal to some, not to all. Especially judging by the bar size.

For us we loved the nightly tradition of hopping from molecular to martini to Cellarmasters, however we didn't have an interest in seeing any of the shows or the arranged activities onboard.

I'm looking forward to trying the new bar and menu offerings. And if it's not to our taste, we still have the martini bar and Cellarmasters. As long as we're on holidays, we're happy!

I As long as we're on holidays, we're happy!

Great post! :)

Looking forward to checking out the new menu of drinks, we loved the molecular bar and are delighted that X have chosen to stick with a similar speciality cocktail based concept. The variety of bars both in ambiance and offer is a major attraction to us, providing the potential for a variety of experiences each evening which when you are confined to a ship for 14 days is pretty essential in our view and removes one of the competitive advantages of a land based vacation.

Will the new cocktails be included in the premium package, as Molecular was one of the reasons we purchased the package.