Solstice review (11 July sailing)

We just arrived back home after our 7-night cruise to Alaska onboard the Solstice. I echo the sentiments of the review which said the cruise was good but not great. Having had such a blast on the Equinox in 2010, we felt a little underwhelmed by the Celebrity experience this time round.

We had booked ourselves in two Concierge class staterooms for the 5 of us as there are no AQ staterooms for 3 and we were bringing our 22-month old daughter along. The only excursions I had booked from the ship were the Tracy Arm excursion and a visit to Sidney market in Victoria - we did everything else with independents.

The good:

1) Shows / Entertainment - We really enjoyed the shows on Celebrity - they generally had very high production values and provided great entertainment. Our baby is generally very well-behaved at shows so we had no problems bringing her along and still having a great time (we had guests greeting us with skepticism as we crossed them along the row to our seats and then telling us at the end of the show what a good girl she had been!). Brent Nixon talks were also great and we liked having a female Cruise Director (our first time) - she provided a very different feel or vibe which was quite refreshing. I enjoyed the Backstage Tour which provided great insight to the professional lives of the performers - had no idea they were doing everything themselves!

2) Food - Murano was a definite highlight, both in terms of food quality and service standards - we enjoyed it so much that we booked it for lunch on the second sea day! The head waiter at Bistro on Five was very accommodating, very generous in helping us settle our specialty dining reservations on the first day while we were having lunch and just very classy. The food at the Oceanview Cafe was better than expected, and variety was wide enough to suit all our tastes. I particularly enjoyed the ice cream counter, and I was clearly not the only one as the line for that snaked all the way to the entrance at times. Our MDR sommelier Milo was helpful and always ensured our bottles of wine accompanied us wherever we dined. The assistant maitre'd was also super in ensuring that the LO had her bowl of pea/chicken/carrot/cauliflower puree every night, even on the nights when we weren't dining at the MDR.

3) Shore excursions - We tend to avoid ship excursions as they tend to be by the bus loads. However, our excursion to Sidney evening market was great fun. The driver had a great sense of humour and kept everyone is good spirits. The tour was also quite small, probably because everyone is going to Butchart Gardens instead, and this suited us very well. We had great excursions in Skagway, where we took a private tour to Emerald Lake, stopping by Caribou crossing and having a dog sled ride, and the little town of Carcross, where we stamped our passports. Weather was beautiful once we got out of Skagway - the fog was so dense that the lack of visibility was terrifying. However the fog was blown away in time for our return, and we were amazed by what we saw which was all hidden on the way up ;). We were not expecting the sun in Ketchikan to be that strong but it was a nice surprise and I really liked our one hour floatplane trip by Island Wings because visibility was so clear. The rest of our group got a little motion-sick but I was fine and managed to get some really nice photos.

4) Miscellaneous - One thing we noticed on this ship was the visibility of the officers. The new F&B Director was very friendly and always around, as was the Executive Chef. The CD also took the time to mingle with everyone; she was even present and giving out tender tickets for Juneau. Disembarkation was very efficiently handled and we got off the ship right on time.

The not-so-good:

1) Weather in Juneau - This has nothing to do with the ship. We just had the worst weather in Juneau possible and what made it an absolute bummer for us was that both our excursions planned for that day were cancelled, one of which was the highly-anticipated Tracy Arm excursion from the ship. :( The fog was so dense that the Coast Guard did not allow the small boat to approach our ship in the morning so we all woke up extremely early only to be disappointed. When we finally tendered to port, Coastal Helicoptors greeted us with a refund ticket as well, as all flights had to be cancelled due to the same fog. We appreciated that safety always comes first - it was just disappointing to have what was supposed to be the busiest day of our cruise turn into...nothing lol. We decided to take the blue bus to Mendenhall Glacier because there was nothing else left to do as all tours were either fully booked or cancelled and the weather was so bad that we never even left the bus LOL. It was funny seeing a big group of visitors get on at the Glacier saying how they had just gotten off the previous bus. The driver said that was the typical experience that day. Oh well next time! We did enjoy the King crab legs at Tracy's crab shack - pricey but oh so delicious!

2) Food - The food at the MDR was disappointing this time and a real drop from the standards and consistency that we experienced on the Equinox four years ago. We were surprised, partly because we feel the food quality on RCL has gone up in the last year or two and expected Celebrity to at least maintain its food offerings. Tuscan Grille was not great this time as well. I had a lot of meat this cruise and only once was it done to the doneness I had requested for, which is a shame as we really remembered Celebrity for its food.

3) Service standards - The main feedback from us was that service standards were very inconsistent on this cruise. Service standards at the MDR were generally ok but not particularly memorable, but we had a gem of a waiter the last time so it would be unfair to compare. Room service standards were frankly not up to scratch. Both our rooms ordered room service at least 3-4 times each (breakfast and dinner) and not once was our order delivered accurately. It was either missing something or in excess of something else. And one day it just did not turn up. We were very busy preparing our LO to get off the ship (this was our day in Juneau) so we were prepared to forego our meal. Half an hour past the time we had requested for breakfast to be delivered, we received a frantic call from room service asking if we had placed an order. We told them we had ordered but it was ok, we had to leave for our excursion at that moment and they insisted it was already on its way and would be there in two minutes. Fifteen minutes later, as we were stepping out of the door, our state room attendant (poor guy!) appears with the food and was shocked to see us stepping out. I felt sorry having to turn breakfast away but it was just impossible to eat it and be on time for the meeting time.

State room services were inconsistent as well. The little dust bin in the toilet was lined one day but not the other (you notice such things when you have to throw soiled diapers in the bin on a very regular basis!). We reminded the stateroom attendant but it didn't improve. We had requested for hot water to be brought in a flask every day and this was done for two or three days and then not seen for the rest of the cruise. No biggie as we could get some any time from Oceanview Cafe but it just illustrates the inconsistency of the service we received.

Overall, we had a good holiday and enjoyed ourselves onboard the ship. It was just missing the little details that had made Celebrity such a WOW experience the last time. We did make another booking onboard using the 123Go promotion so we would do it again if the itinerary works.

Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed review. Glad to hear you enjoyed the entertainment! We have a floatplane scheduled for Juneau so we'll just keep our fingers crossed for better weather. Hope to hit Tracy's ourselves!

Hi Bertrande,

Thank you for your very informative review.

Definitely agree with you on the MDR experience. Unfortunately, Celebrity continues to cut staff in the MDR, and it's hurting the experience. Earlier this year, Celebrity unwisely opted to remove the bar servers from the MDR. Other than a dollars and cents move, I cannot see much logic in this decision, especially with most everyone being on a beverage package these days. I realize that corporate profits are important, but sometimes, management tends to look at the spreadsheet too much, at the expense of the cruise experience. Not good.

Instead of doing the next best thing, and giving the responsibilites to the Sommeliers, they gave the responsibilities to the wait staff, and it severely diminished our MDR experience on Eclipse in April, as the service was so hit and miss. I witnessed waiters and assistants breaking out in sweats, while the Sommeliers were doing virtually nothing. How's that for lousy planning ?

To be clear, I'm not complaining about the waiters or the assistants. They are simply doing as told, and it's NOT their fault. They are trying their very best, but the fact is - they are completely overwhelmed. I truly wish that Celebrity would recognize their mistake, and reinstate the bar severs in the MDR... or, at the very least, have the Sommeliers assist with bar service. IMO, if you take some of the pressure off the waiters and assistants, it should greatly improve the MDR experience.

Thank you for sharing your insights, and welcome home !

I think the drink package is one of the reasons for taking the bar servers out of the dining rooms. This way if you have to wait until dessert to get your drink you might think twice about ordering again. The people at our table on a 14 day cruise finally started bringing their drinks in with them. What made them hopping mad was we did not have the drink package and they were all over us getting our drink orders. :mad: I would have been mad too.:)

Hi Andy

I did not know they had cut bar staff but I so very much agree that the sommeliers had very little to do in the MDR while the waiters had towels at their individual counters for wiping their perspiration each time they came back with their trays of food before serving it to the guests! I can't say it was a very nice sight and it was definitely not something we had seen in our previous sailing. Poor overladen wait staff!

want2seealaska - I do hope you get great weather in Juneau. We had a great time in 3 out of the 4 ports so we can't really complain. Was just disappointed that it had to happen to the port for which we had made the most plans!

Thanks for your review.

When we were on the Century this June our waiter told us that Celebrity was eventually going to get rid of the sommeliers in the MDR and the wait staff would be responsible for all drinks. He was as concerned with this possibility as us as he wondered how they would possibly be able to serve food and drinks.


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[quote name='koolforkatz']When we were on the Century this June our waiter told us that Celebrity was eventually going to get rid of the sommeliers in the MDR and the wait staff would be responsible for all drinks. He was as concerned with this possibility as us as he wondered how they would possibly be able to serve food and drinks.


Sent from my iPad using Forums[/QUOTE]

That would be terrible - I can't see how they are going to cope. As it is, they are barely keeping up. I hope this does not come to pass.

Thanks for the report!

bertrande, any info you can provide on the condition of the ship? We have been on two other Solstice class ships when there were much newer. Is Solstice holding up well?

[quote name='Host Andy']Unfortunately, Celebrity continues to cut staff in the MDR, and it's hurting the experience. Earlier this year, Celebrity unwisely opted to remove the bar servers from the MDR. Other than a dollars and cents move, I cannot see much logic in this decision, especially with most everyone being on a beverage package these days. I realize that corporate profits are important, but sometimes, management tends to look at the spreadsheet too much, at the expense of the cruise experience. Not good.[/QUOTE]

Removing the bar servers from the MDR will certainly impact our experience; I drink a lot of soda (5-6 cans over dinner isn't unusual) and normally establish a good relationship with the bar server to keep me topped up, which normally ends with an extra tip. Can't see this working too well with the new system.

Celebrity is changing and I'm not sure I like this and other changes (we like trivia, which also seems to have been changed). We have enjoyed our cruises with Celebrity and will give them another go to assess whether the changes work for us. Edited July 23, 2014 by pward123

[quote name='Sascol']bertrande, any info you can provide on the condition of the ship? We have been on two other Solstice class ships when there were much newer. Is Solstice holding up well?[/QUOTE]

Sascol, I thought the ship was well maintained - we didn't notice anything bad about its condition. There were parts of the MDR that didn't smell too fresh (there was a whiff of stale vomit at one of the areas we sat during lunch and I was thankful I didn't have to sit there every night for my assigned table!) but I had no such problem for in both staterooms we had booked or anywhere else on the ship. The railings in the Theatre looked a little tarnished but nothing major. When we disembarked, I saw the maintenance crew had very quickly moved into some of the balconies and were fixing things like the dividers etc so I figure they must be pretty on the ball about keeping the ship in good condition.

Thank you for the balanced review.

Keith