tigervixxxen

Bring a few of your favorite sauces and seasonings from home. It actually does make a difference.

I can tell you there’s issues inside too. Paint in the ceiling of balcony is peeling and flaking off. Drawers in the room are broken. Paint and varnish chipped on balcony railings. The soft goods seem ok though, beds are fine and the crew is still constantly cleaning public surfaces. Elevators made horrible noise in the cabins until they were fixed just the other day.

If you have an excursion that leaves right at arrival time yes you will have priority. That isn’t something new.

It’s $65 for an adult. You need to be on ship wifi to see it in the app. I researched this before leaving I think the actual price is about $65 AUD.

That’s good to know because we feel like food options are starting to get limited. DH didn’t feel like chic night in the MDR so we hit the OVC. Compared to last time we skipped chic night there was less choices. One whole station was just hamburgers and hot dogs. At least two full dishes of cut carrots. Only kale at the salad bar, only fruit is melon and pineapple. I noticed tonight was the last night salmon is offered in MDR unless the menu is revised again. The pizza isn’t as good as it was on the Equinox either. I hope we get new supply in New Zealand or the last week might be rough. We have enjoyed the OVC ice cream station this cruise with a nice rotation of flavors. Tonight the lady at the station offered a cookie, I said sure. It was rock hard, seriously I had to give a bit of effort to break it in half. Maybe they were just for looks, idk. Also we had another mishap in the MDR. It was chicken and beef skewers for lunch which I enjoyed a few days ago. They served them with the chicken still raw. So overall the food is declining and so is my patience. I feel like I’ve had everything I like at least twice and am ready for something different. I did have banana pancakes at OVC for breakfast and liked that, might have been the best thing I had today. I will also say the Indian dishes have been consistently good at least. Weather was fantastic today with a gorgeous sunset. I like the little cooler temps, more like 70 degrees with nice breathable air with a slight chill. I even enjoyed the hot tub after dinner. Great temps even after sunset, completely deserted pool deck, it was perfect.

That sounds perfect, I know the weather can get volatile there too. The weather overall has been very good thus far. Dinner at Tuscan Grill was a success. The extensive menu is almost too extensive, like it could be split into two restaurants an Italian and a steakhouse. I know there’s been mixed reviews but our experience tonight matched ours from a previous sailing that we seem to favor TG over Murano. Not that anything was disappointing at Murano, we just seem to enjoy it more. DH said the filet was very good and he’s pretty picky about his steaks. Every dish we had was tasty and a clear step above the MDR. I wish I could have carried their mashed potatoes over to the MDR for the rest of the cruise lol. I had the Burrata, white flatbread, short rib pasta, pistachio crème brûlée, polenta fries, garlic mash. All very good.

Currently on a 17 night cruise I don’t think they can make it all on original provisions especially fruit and veggies but we’ll see what’s left in the coming days. They were certainly loading a lot on the ship in Tahiti.

We finally had our first bad meal. Breakfast was inedible unfortunately, the Gruyère cheese in the French omelette went bad. Service was also not great, they didn’t notice I couldn’t eat my plate and I never got my pineapple juice. Not a day ruined or anything but too bad after a couple excellent MDR breakfasts. We had lunch in the MDR because the cheese sticks were back on the menu. There’s only 5 different lunch menus so we are back to repeating. Lunch went as expected. Looking forward tonight to dinner at Tuscan. Weather has been varied today, still warm and light seas but cloudy on and off. I am expecting things to turn cool one of these days as we get further south. Still have not received our passports back yet but guest services said tomorrow. We did get our Equator Crossing certificates which were nice with the names printed and everything. Sent out a bag of laundry today so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve also booked a massage for Friday so filling up those last sea days. I’ve also found hockey on tv, the sport 24 live channel has it which is nice but not showing my team which is a bummer. It’s been a pretty quiet day on the ship overall.

Pretty sure we are getting a server from New Zealand as the ads have been from there for a few days.

I do think the particular ship matters. Each is run just a little bit differently. For example the Silhouette seems to have better food options. I’ve noticed the buffet different on each ship. Little quirks like that.

With out final port day in Raiatea the real adventure now begins as we are off to New Zealand. I enjoy the islands just fine but seeing another part of the world is the real draw of this itinerary for me. We will arrive after 4 more sea days plus a lost day to the international date line. Today we went on the Celebrity excursion called East Coast Highlights. There were three short stops but was mostly 3+ hours on the bus. The scenery was lovely and the bus was comfortable but there’s a reason why we don’t do many tour excursions. The guide didn’t speak English too well so commentary was limited. He tried his best and was a pleasant fellow but for those that enjoy lengthy tour commentary this wasn’t the tour for it. The stops were nice at a pearl farm, an overlook (was supposed to be the beach but this was fine instead) and a marae. We walked the town upon our return buying a few drinks and a cake at the patisserie which was much better than what’s on the ship. Tonight at the MDR my favorite Schnitzel was offered. The menu did not match the app tonight and I’ve noticed they have really shuffled around the menus for the back half of this cruise. The double cheeseburger appeared in the app and DH has vowed to give it a go if it’s offered. We have Tuscan Grill tomorrow night and after that we’ll see how much we end up going back to the MDR. If y’all have read this far on the thread, thank you!

Ascent easily and St Kitts is the best port on that list.

Yes they did come on the ship and had a 5 p.m. show at the pool, therefore they were able to leave the ship before we departed. Therefore I didn’t see the show, I didn’t want to sit by the pool.

Thanks for the suggestions. I just thought Powerade was available like vitamin water is. We do have a few Mio squirt bottles but they’ll probably run out. We’ll figure it some alternatives then.

Forgot to mentioned we skipped the MDR last night, DH didn’t feel like it. He was more in the mood tonight so we went early and then watched the sail away on the front deck, was very cool. Little wind and light we saw the stars very clearly including the Milky Way. He liked the Turkey Parmesan and we both liked the butternut squash soup. Funny thing at dinner waiter asking if the dining experience would be 10/10 and I said I noticed menus had changed and he was very apologetic, said he went on vacation and came back and everything had changed. Then we walked out after the meal and some sort of supervisor intercepted us and apologized for the menus explaining covid made them change everything but they are slowly adding back the items they removed (I don’t really buy that, this 17 night cruise required them to use some axed dishes so that they could fill out a menu for that many nights and the appetizers are still non existent but sure if that’s what they think is happening). Just thought I’d share, I didn’t even really make a complaint and they seem to be very sensitive to the issue at least.

Since folks are reading this thread, do the ships carry Powerade or is that something they got rid of? I don’t want to have to make a thread to ask this question. After a week of eating on the ship it’s been fine but nothing memorable.

Can someone help me out, I don’t want to dig through threads to find it. Is Powerade offered on the ship, and if so where (such as which bar). I could have sworn it was one of the premium soft drinks you could buy. DH needs some electrolyte beverage and the Mios we brought aren’t doing the trick. I basically can’t spend any time in direct sunlight so my excursion options are limited and I will not be going on any safaris. I was already asked in the shops if I’d been swimming and no, that’s just how my body reacts to the sun. We walked the marina area in Papeete today and had a nice lunch overlooking the ship. The hull needs to be painted you can notice pretty good from distance.

If there’s only one show sometimes it’s at 8 p.m.

Moorea today was lovely. We just walked up the road some, very beautiful scenery. Cloudy in the morning which is burning off. Surprising decent enough shopping at the pier. I got a pearl bracelet. They were accepting USD in a 1/100 ratio, which I think was fair. Tenders were quick and easy, we sat on the top deck for the return trip. Whales were out in the bay in the morning. Ship is nice and quiet with so many in port, the pool is near deserted. Sat at the Mast Bar and had an after lunch drink and a nice chat with bartender Ronan. This is the view from our balcony, will make for some nice afternoon seating.

Yes they are in both but I believe dining packages are only available on the website. Look around all holidays and I’m sure Black Friday will have one.

Imo it’s not flip flops, nobody cares what shoes someone is wearing. It really just depends what you both are comfortable with.

Currently onboard Solstice I have not seen any offer for specialty dining discounts. The random flash sales often had some good deals on dining packages, I’d probably just look for that.

Sorry, don’t have any pics from it. We did not have a great spot and I’m short, there wasn’t much that I was able to see. We were supposed to get some equator certificates but haven’t yet. After our fifth sea day we are ready for some land tomorrow. I was surprised we weren’t offered to pick up tender tickets today but we’ll just wait and go ashore ourselves tomorrow anyway. We don’t have much planned and I know there isn’t a ton at Moorea. It will be nice just to get some scenery. Dinner in the MDR has been acceptable with some different options I know they axed from most menus. With 17 nights they have to pull all the options out and there might even be some repeats near the end. We had the turkey dinner last night, I enjoyed it but DH said it was dry. We had the chicken Chiquita tonight and both liked it. So far the best meal I’ve probably had was Indian lunch on the buffet, now that was outstanding, Some other thoughts and observations. There’s still little entertainment options. There have been a couple production shows but I was expecting some other options. No comedians, no Hawaiian or Polynesian dance (I’m not counting the cruise passengers’ performance as one). I’ve looked ahead to the end of the cruise and there’s one comedian and a violinist scheduled we might like to see. We are not a typical need to see something at night couple anyway but those that love ship entertainment are probably disappointed. There have been several beyond the podium talks in the day time. We went to one about sea mammals and was enjoyable, several people we’ve talked so said they are loving them so that’s good. While walking outside on deck 5 by the lifeboats this evening near the front on the starboard side we saw a bunch of broken safety glass on the ground and even on the railing. DH went inside and told someone, it’s like a whole pane of glass fell from somewhere. Kind of strange, ship is still moving so can’t be too bad. Cabin location is very good except for the constant noise I believe is from the elevator cables. It’s very very annoying. We are on the hump right behind the elevator bank by the card room. Little foot traffic noise though. Also the paint is flaking off on the ceiling of our balcony, several large sheets have fallen off today. And a few drawers are broken in the room. I’m not trying to be nit picky but the Solstice needs a little work at this point. We also frequented the spa today. DH got a shave that he enjoyed. I got a manicure that was good but a bit painful after getting aggressive with the cuticle nippers. I asked for just a polish change on my toes and they were able to fit it in which I was thankful, it’s funny they charged $29 in the salon when I paid and said the price list says $19 and they said that just what the system charges. So I went out to the main spa front desk and they fixed it, was kind of weird. I also stopped by the inch of gold to get a new bracelet as the gold plating had worn off and they actually replaced for free without my asking. That’s all for now, will check in later from Tahiti.

On longer cruises they have to bring back axed dishes in order to fill out menus for the full sailing. So a typical 7 night cruise won’t have those kind of choices.

That was my experience, after stepping on the ship we were told we should go to the muster first. It wasn’t a demand or anything but they asked us to do it.