Celebrity Solstice

We have booked a NZ cruise on 3rd November on the Solstice (we chose this cruise because we used to have a yacht of the same name).

We have cruised with Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and P & O and are trying Celebrity for the first time.

Many of the reviews give widely varying opinions and we're a bit confused about what to expect.

We are an older couple and like good food, interesting lectures, good entertainment and visiting new places. Our stateroom is a sky suite at the rear of the ship and we wondered about this situation as we are usually mid ship which is supposed to be more stable.

Any information at all would be most welcome.

Thank you in advance.

We had a wonderful cruise going AKL-SYD two years ago on Solstice. Plan on the water being a bit rough for two days in the Tasman. Otherwise it was very calm as we were near the coast, but far enough off that you couldn't distinguish much other than mountains and clouds. We love the S-class ships as there is lots to do yet many quiet areas. The ship is clean, modern and impressive. Much of the other stuff - food, entertainment, lecturers - is subjective. Have a GREAT time.

We are Elite cruisers with Princess, went on Solstice in Nov 12, then did another Princess cruise, and we (DW, DD 12 & myself) all agree we prefer Celebrity overall and are back on Solstice this year. The ship has many wow factors and in my humble opinion is far superior to the other lines you have mentioned; the food is about the same as Princess International and better than Princess Australia and the others; entertainment on our cruise was excellent and some of the best shows we have seen onboard 45 cruises. Some of the more negative comments here may be valid, some maybe not. I would suggest go with an open mind and i'm sure you really enjoy the experience.

Cheers

Ando

I have sailed Princess, NCL, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean. I vastly prefer Celebrity to any of the above. All cruise lines are changing to cut costs and increase revenue, and Celebrity is no exception. But even those of us who have noticed something of a decline over the last decade by and large would agree Celebrity is still an amazing cruise line. I myself am 60+ with preferences like yours, but that opinion is shared by many of all ages.

Wanted to address your concern about aft. I myself am very susceptible to motion sickness. The scientific facts are that the rooms in the far aft, or far forward of the ship will feel more motion than those mid-ship if there is motion to be felt. At the very rear, you may also feel a little more side to side rocking due to how ships are designed. Some people will respond that they never feel motion back there, or their cruise was smooth, or ships these days have stabilizers so you don't feel the motion, and on and on. They may be 100% correct (excepting for the latter statement) in describing how they felt. But the science is the science. If there is motion to be felt, it will be felt more far aft. That said, I had one cruise in a Sky Suite corner aft and it was absolutely the best room I have ever cruised in. We did have rough seas a couple days and there was more motion than I was comfortable with, but overall it was worth it to me.

We have booked a NZ cruise on 3rd November on the Solstice (we chose this cruise because we used to have a yacht of the same name). We have cruised with Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and P & O and are trying Celebrity for the first time. Many of the reviews give widely varying opinions and we're a bit confused about what to expect. We are an older couple and like good food, interesting lectures, good entertainment and visiting new places. Our stateroom is a sky suite at the rear of the ship and we wondered about this situation as we are usually mid ship which is supposed to be more stable. Any information at all would be most welcome. Thank you in advance.

Welcome to these Cruise Critic boards. Don't be shy!! Keep asking good questions, digging deeper. Lots of excellent people on these boards. As noted in the live/blog below, we got off of the Solstice in February. No big "problems". All worked out well. Did we see things to improve, fine-tune, etc.? Sure. But, overall things worked fine for us and the six other couples in our travel group from Central Ohio. Check out these postings for more info/background on this nice ship, its entertainment, food options, etc. Plus, lots and lots of visuals.

On food, people's opinions will vary, even at high-end, top-rated places. We had lots of good dining options. Things work out fine. Some dining dishes were better than other. BUT, that can happen anywhere There was an excellent speaker on our cruise who was very informative and entertaining. Worked well.

Below are a few of my sample visuals to illustrate what you have to look forward to on the Solstice. Let us know any added questions. Check out the full live/blog, ask any detailed questions there, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 68,042 views for this fun posting.

Here are two of my photo highlights from the Solstice production show called "Ghostlight--The Spirit of Broadway". Lots of great tunes, including many from the Four Seasons as done on Broadway with Jersey Boys. Other very good tunes that connected with many of the Baby Boomers (and older) on this cruise. The singers and dancers really worked hard and did a super good job. Great voices!! Lots of energy and excitement. Nice lighting, staging, sets, etc. First-class for a cruise ship. Not quite Broadway and London's West End. And, all done in less than hour. Worked extremely well for a night's entertainment either before or after dinner!!

My wife and I ordered Châteaubriand for two at Murano. Here is it being prepared table-side. The second pictures shows how it looked on my plate with its fricassée of baby vegetables. There were the options of Béarnaise & Cabernet sauce. I had to be fair and could not choose between these two great options. Solution? How to decide? Have BOTH!! Great decision.:

Here are three examples for naturalist Milos doing his speaker series presentations, including great humor with nice substance on his details for factors on the world’s creatures, how the earth was formed and evolved, etc.. :

We are also on your upcoming Australia/New Zealand Solstice cruise and could not be more excited.

Also recently sailed on Solstice in Alaska in June and this will be our 3rd cruise on this ship.

Many of the staff we met will still be onboard so I'm looking forward to re-connecting with many. The staff on Solstice is exceptional and sincere. Celebrity also does a great job with their unique and experience podium speakers, the point is they don't just stand behind the podium they also entertain and that allows you the full experience.

Do experience the specialty restaurants. Our favorites are Tuscan Grill, Bistro on 5 and Murano. The drinking venues are really good too, with Ensemble and the Martini Bar being our highlight.

The S Class Solstice is contemporary, beautiful and well designed. I feel you have found your next favorite cruise line as we did primarily coming on over from Princess.

Hope to meet you at the Cruise Critic meet and greet.

Welcome to Cruise critic, I have many childhood memories of Toukley and of Norah Head (my parents still live there).:D

I think the other posters have said most of what I wanted to say but Ando summed it up best. Have an open mind and an attitude to have a great cruise and you will.:D

Gosh we never expected to get so many replies.

Thank you to all. We are now looking forward even more to our cruise of the Celebrity Solstice.

Everything about the ship sounds great - the food, entertainment, lectures and our stateroom.

Roll on November.

Gosh we never expected to get so many replies.

Thank you to all. We are now looking forward even more to our cruise of the Celebrity Solstice.

Everything about the ship sounds great - the food, entertainment, lectures and our stateroom.

Roll on November.

Check out the rollcall (if there is one).

We did check out the roll call and there were quite a few Nov 3 cruisers on there, so thanks for that.

We did check out the roll call and there were quite a few Nov 3 cruisers on there, so thanks for that.

Great stuff, enjoy your cruise.:D

We did Solstice, Auckland to Sydney, March last year. We are early 50s, love good food, more interested in enrichment than basting in the sun.

I's a fine ship and a great itinerary. Service and all the rest is better than our experiences with Carnival or P&O (UK) and the entertainment was the best we've seen at sea. Especially the circus night. Plenty of lectures and some on deck commentaries when doing the fjords.

We did ship's tours at most stops and they were all interesting. IHobbit fans are well catered for. If you stop at Akaroa there are tours to Christchurch and the Antarctic museum, but I'd recommend staying put and doing the dolphin spotting cruise in the fjord.

The MDR food was a little disappointing in the evening, so we were frequent visitors to the speciality dining restaurants as well as Blu (which is great for breakfast). Even Bistro on Five is good, especially for lunch on port days. You may find good deals on the first day for the restaurants, I'd recommend negotiating a bit more then eating outside MDR frequently.

It's a large but roomy ship and I wouldn't be too worried about your cabin position unless it gets very rough or you are particularly sensitive. I hope your cabin is on the starboard side - it's by far the best for the arrival in Sydney, especially if your itinerary includes an extra day on ship before disembarkation. Solstice moors up at Circular Quay stern first, so you get a terrific view of the bridge when turning then the opera house and ferries when moored.

If you've not done NZ before, I'd recommend saying a couple of days in Auckland before sailing. It's a very nice city, with plenty to do and good restaurants.

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Hi Katididnt and welcome to cruise critic

I live just down the road in Terrigal, and we are doing the Celebrity Solstice Alaksa cruise in a month :) Terry in Ohio has written an excellent review which I read every word of ( Thanks Terry!). Another blog with lots of pictures and information of Celebrity Solstice Aust NZ cruise is

http://cometravellingwithus.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/celebrity-solstice-where-do-we-begin.html

I hope you will have a wonderful cruise.

Have done over 30 cruises between Carnival, and Princess one on Hal and one on RCCL before our first cruise on Celebrity that was also the Solstice.

As soon as we walked on board we went WOW. Not only becasue of the welcome aboard glass of bubbly but because of the ship.

Sailed a B2B on Carnival Dream and Ruby Princess after a few more cruises on Celebrity. Have sailed on nothing but Celebrity after those.

For us one of the nice bonus features is the very restrictive smoking policy on Celebrity. If you are a smoker you may not be happy as the smoking areas are very limited.

Cruise on 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Hi Katididnt and welcome to cruise critic

 

I live just down the road in Terrigal, and we are doing the Celebrity Solstice Alaksa cruise in a month :) Terry in Ohio has written an excellent review which I read every word of ( Thanks Terry!). Another blog with lots of pictures and information of Celebrity Solstice Aust NZ cruise is

 

http://cometravellingwithus.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/celebrity-solstice-where-do-we-begin.html

 

I hope you will have a wonderful cruise.

Terry has some absolutely wonderful pictures.:D

Hi Katididnt and welcome to cruise critic

 

I live just down the road in Terrigal, and we are doing the Celebrity Solstice Alaksa cruise in a month :) Terry in Ohio has written an excellent review which I read every word of ( Thanks Terry!). Another blog with lots of pictures and information of Celebrity Solstice Aust NZ cruise is

 

http://cometravellingwithus.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/celebrity-solstice-where-do-we-begin.html

 

I hope you will have a wonderful cruise.

Thanks for posting the link to the travel blog! Great info and pics of Solstice!

Since you're from down under, I was wondering about the weather in late Jan early Feb. It looks like it's boiling hot in Australia and a bit cool in New Zealand. Am I right?

We did Solstice, Auckland to Sydney, March last year. We are early 50s, love good food, more interested in enrichment than basting in the sun.

 

I's a fine ship and a great itinerary. Service and all the rest is better than our experiences with Carnival or P&O (UK) and the entertainment was the best we've seen at sea. Especially the circus night. Plenty of lectures and some on deck commentaries when doing the fjords.

 

We did ship's tours at most stops and they were all interesting. IHobbit fans are well catered for. If you stop at Akaroa there are tours to Christchurch and the Antarctic museum, but I'd recommend staying put and doing the dolphin spotting cruise in the fjord.

 

The MDR food was a little disappointing in the evening, so we were frequent visitors to the speciality dining restaurants as well as Blu (which is great for breakfast). Even Bistro on Five is good, especially for lunch on port days. You may find good deals on the first day for the restaurants, I'd recommend negotiating a bit more then eating outside MDR frequently.

 

It's a large but roomy ship and I wouldn't be too worried about your cabin position unless it gets very rough or you are particularly sensitive. I hope your cabin is on the starboard side - it's by far the best for the arrival in Sydney, especially if your itinerary includes an extra day on ship before disembarkation. Solstice moors up at Circular Quay stern first, so you get a terrific view of the bridge when turning then the opera house and ferries when moored.

 

If you've not done NZ before, I'd recommend saying a couple of days in Auckland before sailing. It's a very nice city, with plenty to do and good restaurants.

 

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Many thanks for your informative reply. The food bit in the MDR sounds a bit disappointing, but there are lots of other places to try by the sound of it.

Our stateroom is on the starboard side at the rear of the ship and we were worried about noise more than movement - neither of us suffer from seasickness - now we've said that there's always a first time.

We board the ship in Sydney & after a overnight set off across the Tasman the next day, and finish up in Auckland. We have booked a hotel for 3 days in Auckland & would appreciate any ideas about what to do there.

We have both been to NZ before (separately), so have some idea of what to expect, but it would be nice to know what others have done..

We get on as you get off in Auckland. Also our first time on Celebrity, really looking forward to it. We were in an aft suite on VOS last Feb and honestly I didn't think the motion was any worse than anywhere else on the ship. If there's 'motion in the ocean' you will feel it wherever you are. We lived the aft so much in VOS, we've booked aft again for Solstice in Nov.

Our stateroom is on the starboard side at the rear of the ship and we were worried about noise more than movement - neither of us suffer from seasickness - now we've said that there's always a first time.

Noise shouldn't be an issue. The Solstice runs on Azipods, so the motor and propeller is outside rather than inside the ship.

Many thanks for your informative reply. The food bit in the MDR sounds a bit disappointing, but there are lots of other places to try by the sound of it.......................................

We experienced two cruises last year aboard the Equinox and the Reflection, both Solstice class ships. We are experienced cruisers and would say these ships are a cut above the competition at present. We also were concerned at MDR food quality having previously had a poor cruise aboard the HAL Noordam. We decided to try the Ultimate Dining Package cost us $696 for the 12 night cruise. It was fantastic, so good that we repeated it aboard the Reflection 3 months later which was equally 'out of this world'. (Package costs $29pp/night)

The package allows you to dine in any of the speciality restaurants every evening also you can use the Bistro with no charge. You can also take a lunch at Murano and Tuscan on one occasion during the cruise, we gave that a miss for the sake of the waistline.

Many thanks for your informative reply. The food bit in the MDR sounds a bit disappointing, but there are lots of other places to try by the sound of it.

Our stateroom is on the starboard side at the rear of the ship and we were worried about noise more than movement - neither of us suffer from seasickness - now we've said that there's always a first time.

We board the ship in Sydney & after a overnight set off across the Tasman the next day, and finish up in Auckland. We have booked a hotel for 3 days in Auckland & would appreciate any ideas about what to do there.

We have both been to NZ before (separately), so have some idea of what to expect, but it would be nice to know what others have done..

Don't read much into my comments about the food, try it yourself and see what you think. We just found it a bit underwhelming and a rather boring menu. If the occasional escargot or lobster lights your fire you'll be more than happy.

But, if you do decide to go speciality, Tuscan Grill is really good (make sure to get a window seat), Murano is excellent quality and service but a little rich to be eating there every evening and the lighting was a bit dark, like eating in a morgue. We especially enjoyed Silk Harvest - the Asian food is good and the staff couldn't possibly have been more helpful or welcoming. Speciality discounts abound if you catch them outside the door when trying to book tables up.

Anyway............ Auckland. My outlook is a bit spoilt by having some mobility problems and the roads away front the harbour are pretty steep in places. But the area around the harbour is very nice, there are excellent restaurants and at the other side of the road a maritime museum, more bars & restaurants and an Americas Cup boat hanging from a crane.

The shops and places around the financial district are pleasant for a walk around or just to crash in the oversized outdoor beanbags. A harbour cruise is good value and it might be worth taking one of the trips that drop you of at the other side of the harbour for a walk around places like Devonport. We went up Mount Victoria as well and took a drive around some of the affluent bits but unfortunately the weather wasn't the best on the day.

Up the hill in town there's plenty to do, including the Sky Tower, which they claim to be the highest structure in the southern hemisphere. The restaurant at the top is ok and not bad value or you can just visit the viewing platform and watch octogenarians throw themselves off the top on a zip line.

There are helicopter tours over town or a little further afield and we enjoyed the Sea Life Centre but if you've done the one at Darling Harbour there's no point in a repeat. At the harbour, across the road from the old mail building there's a tour office with lots of brochures for things to do.

Finally, if you're into wine there's a very well reviewed wine tours company http://www.nzwinepro.co.nz/home.aspx who do standard stuff or can fix something up specially to your taste. Unfortunately, I was a bit tardy in getting something organised so they were booked up by the time I'd made my mind up.

I'm sure you'll enjoy Solstice. Have a yodel in the fjords for me.

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Thanks for posting the link to the travel blog! Great info and pics of Solstice!

Since you're from down under, I was wondering about the weather in late Jan early Feb. It looks like it's boiling hot in Australia and a bit cool in New Zealand. Am I right?

You are most welcome! I loved reading the blog and looking at the pictures too. Yes you are right, January and February in Sydney are usually quite warm , temps often in the 30's ©, and NZ is likely to be much cooler. But overall I would say a great time to cruise. Enjoy :)

Terry in Ohio has written an excellent review which I read every word of ( Thanks Terry!).

MicCanberra: Terry has some absolutely wonderful pictures.

aussiecruzer: January and February in Sydney are usually quite warm ' date=' temps often in the 30's ©, and NZ is likely to be much cooler. But overall I would say a great time to cruise. [/quote']

 

Appreciate so much the nice comments and added mentions on my live/blog. It's scary if some folks are reading "every word". Can't get my wife to pay that much attention to what I say. BUT, she knows me better.

 

Excellent weather summary above by aussiecruzer. We had great weather during our down under adventure earlier this year. BUT, there will be a range of temperatures, especially being cooler in southern New Zealand.

You can go to

http://www.wunderground.com

and check for the very specific weather history on many of the key towns in the world for their past temperatures in that specific area for a date in the past. Just look lower left in the page for weather history area, put in your exact dates and the year prior. You will then see what last year was like, along with recent highs and lows for that date there.

 

Below is some more "eye candy" from the Solstice, what to expect and enjoy on this ship. Much more on the full live/blog.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 68,334 views for this fun posting.

 

 

Super loved it when there were times at the pool in the afternoons on the Solstice in June 2011 when the “party band” was going at it with great tunes. This added to the fun and excitement around the pool area of our ship. Just like done by some famous California pop groups, we were hearing “fun, fun, fun” underneath the sun!!:

 

 

 

The Solarium was one of our most favorite areas. Food and drinks were nearby and it was very relaxed and sophisticated. Quieter, too, as it is an adults-only area. Two hot tubs here. Not crowded, especially in the evenings. Nice art and design with this facility. Wonderful setting for relaxing and watching the outside water/shore views, enjoying subtle inside action, etc.:

 

 

 

This is a view of the library area on the tenth floor that overlooked the central, open core area of the ship. Not a great book selection here, but it is a nice-looking area with a quiet reading hideaway.:

 

 

 

On the top, back of the Solstice, here is a wider view of Corning Hot Glass show area, plus the green grass and the unique covering designs for this special area of the ship. Classy design touches and style!!:

 

 

 

For the handy and quick, especially at breakfast and lunch time, here is the Oceanview Cafe buffet on the Solstice. This visual sample shows how large and open are these various serving areas. This area includes getting items from the pizza-pasta bar area, various hot and cold items, free tea and juice machines, etc.:

 

 

 

During the galley tour, here is what can be done in an interesting way with the bread sticks. The bread options were very good on this Solstice sailing.:

 

We spent 6 weeks on the Solstice earlier this year and seeing these great photos has made me so homesick for this lovely, lovely ship and all the great people working onboard.

We crossed the Atlantic on Celebrity Eclipse (sister ship) last November, we were in a Sky Suite at the stern of the ship. The first 5 days were quite rough. There is no doubt that that there was more movement in the cabin - particularly a sort of flicking movement - we did get used to it but it was a bit disconcerting at first. Against that, the cabin was very spacious, the bed supremely comfortable and the view over the wake was wonderful. Our butler was also first class and treated us royally.

Although the ships are big, they do not feel crowded unless you are seeking a sunbed by the pool on the 1st sunny day after 6 days of grey/wet weather!

We are also foodies and thought the MDR food was palatable - although not as good as 6 years ago when we last sailed with Celebrity. The extra tarif restaurants were varied, we are English and have travelled quite extensively - we thought Murano a bit pretentious, Tuscan Grill served excellent steaks but we really enjoyed Qsine.

Anyway, it can't have been that bad because we have booked a celebrity suite on Equinox for our next cruise.

Happy sailing!