Review - Solstice 12Night Med Venice Cruise - Sept 20 2012 - Photos, Fun and More!

12 Night Mediterranean Venice Cruise

Celebrity Solstice

September 20th 2012

Departing from Barcelona

A glimpse of what's to come.

I know, I know, I know... I'm a little late on this review but between this and that, life just got in the way and I kept putting off writing this review of our amazing 12-Day Venice cruise aboard the Celebrity Solstice! (And as someone who spends a good amount of evenings reading CC reviews on her iPad, I couldn't wait to write my own!) We decided on a Mediterranean cruise for our honeymoon because, not only do we love that corner of the world, but a cruise offered us enough adventure, sightseeing, delicious food and relaxation! I should also mention that is our first cruise ever and, what can I say, we are hooked!

A little bit about us... we live in the NYC area and have a four-year old Boston Terrier named Hobart that we're obsessed with (in fact, leaving him with Grandma during our cruise was the hardest part of the trip). I'm an Interior Designer in Manhattan and DH works for a web company in Northern NJ. We're in our early/mid-30s and just got married on September 16th! I should also add that I'm a huge planner and in addition to planning the wedding, I was planning this trip to a T! As I mentioned, I was on CC every night researching reviews, itinerarys, ports, hotels, food - you name it - so a big THANK YOU to all who've posted reviews on here! You helped me decide on, not only Celebrity Cruise Lines, but also on my wedding date! Yes, we chose our wedding date because of the date our ship left - not gonna lie, not ashamed.!

Anyhow, I tend to babble a lot. A LOT. So, we were a bit undecided at first as to where exactly in the Med. we wanted to go. I knew I wanted Spain, Italy (especially Southern Italy), the Cote d'Azur, and Greece but the itineraries I was finding were either too long, too short, or didn't offer us enough port time as I would like. At the end, we decided to cut Greece out of the picture which actually worked out well because it's my new obsession for our NEXT cruise! The Solstice Venice cruise was perfect because it left out of Barcelona (which we wanted to spend extra time in), visited numerous Italian ports (including two days in Venice), and gave us a nice amount of Sea Days (DH's favorite)!

Our itinerary was as follows:

Barcelona

Cannes, France (we did Monaco)

Florence, Italy

Rome, Italy

Naples, Italy (we did Capri)

Sea Day

Kotor, Montenegro

Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy

Split, Croatia

Sea Day

Sea Day

Barcelona

Home :(

PRE-CRUISE - NYC

The day was finally here! As I mentioned, we had just gotten married on September 16th in Liberty State Park in New Jersey! It was everything we dreamed it would be (in retrospect, anyways LOL) and not only that, but we were about to embark on our honeymoon cruise in just a few days! Hooray! Someone pinch me.

The happy couple!

The day after the wedding, we bid farewell to my family at our hotel as they were about to head back home to my home city, Miami. I should also add that Hobart was with us and enjoyed his first night at a hotel overlooking Lower Manhattan! Not bad for a dog, huh? I told you we were obsessed. So after letting him run around my mom's suite and saying our good-byes, we packed up and drove home to our condo get Hobart ready to go to Grandma's!

Our sweet baby.

So while Mom and Dad were sailing the Mediterranean, Hobart got to spend two weeks in a lovely beach cottage with Grandma! We drove about two hours south, visited for a bit, said our good-byes, cried (mostly me), and were off again. Does anyone else cry when they leave their pets behind even for a vacation? I just can't help it! Since my family lives in Miami, I travel with him practically every other month so being away with him is just so hard! Obsessed, yes.

As I mentioned before, I'm an Interior Designer and I work for a really small company (i.e one other person). We had JUST completed a project the WEEK OF my wedding and, lo and behold, had to meet with my boss the morning DH and I were to leave for Barcelona! Not to fret though, this was to pick up a payment check so I was more than happy to ride the NYC subway that morning at 7am, meet him for coffee and donuts at Dean & Deluca, chat about the wedding, and celebrate! I always joke to him how that's one of my favorite memories - having breakfast in rainy, dreary NYC and knowing I would be on a plane, on my way to a cruise in one day. :D

So yes, another good-bye and I was off! I was back at my apartment with time to spare! Our car service came to pick us up at around 3pm and we were off to LaGuardia for our connecting flight in Philadelphia to Barcelona in no time! (Let me take this time to interject that LaGuardia has a pretty sweet gourmet food court these days! I had some of the best tacos there.) We flew US Airways which was pretty good! No delays, no worries, and the international flight from Philly to Barcelona was fantastic with TVs and comfy seats. HOWEVER (there's always a "however" with air travel), the plane connecting us from NY to Philly was minuscule and ancient. Remember the old TV show Wings? Either way, we were only on it for about 30 minutes so no point in complaining.

NEXT UP, BARCELONA! Here's where the photos really begin! To give you an idea, my SD card had a total of about 3,000 of them. Oh, yes. I'm hoping to post more either later tonight or tomorrow.

Lissette

Congratulations on your wedding and a great trip. We visited most of these ports in June 2011, loving . . . BOTH . . . these great areas and the Solstice.

We are looking forward to our first “down under” visit, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, going from Australia to Auckland/NZ doing 14 days on this same ship we all have loved from past trips. Keep up the work on your sharing, pictures, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 128,673 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Terry - Thank you! This is like meeting a celebrity! I devoured your review while I was planning my trip! It is an amazing itinerary and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Stay tuned, lots more photos to come (and the actual cruise)!

Lissette

Terry - Thank you! This is like meeting a celebrity! I devoured your review while I was planning my trip! It is an amazing itinerary and would do it again in a heartbeat! Stay tuned, lots more photos to come (and the actual cruise)! Lissette

Appreciate your kind viewpoint on my pictures and past posts. I've been called lots of things in the past by others, but not a "celebrity". Glad to know you're a person of such high class, great taste and wonderful judgment to make these generous comments.

Keep it coming with your posts, pictures, likes, tips, etc.!!!

We are looking forward to our first “down under” visit, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, going from Australia to Auckland/NZ doing 14 days on this ship we loved in the Med in June 2011. Plus, doing some pre-cruise options for Cairns/Port Douglas, the Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, then Kangaroo Island near Adelaide before departing from Sidney’s scenic harbor. And, doing the mid-cruise ship over-night trip to and in Queenstown and then stopping in Hawaii on the way home to break up that long, long flight back. Hopefully, you can follow-up along when I do a live/blog on that trip and you can put that on your future "to-do" wish list. You're young and have got lots of time!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 3,731 views for this shorter version started late last week of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

First off congratulations on your marriage!!! You sure do have a beautiful family (yes, I'm including Hobart)! I'm enjoying your review, thanks for taking the time to write it.

Excellent review so far, can't wait to read the rest. :) Has me wondering if I should tackle posting a review of our 6/12 Baltic cruise.

looking forward to reading your review. I always like photo reviews, especially as we are taking our first European cruise next summer. Im especially interested in your experiences in Venice as we are doing 2 nights pre-cruise there.

Congrats on your wedding and can't wait to read more of your review!

Thanks, everyone! We just got back from a concert so it looks like I'll be doing Barcelona tomorrow morning (too tired now!)

lmags0923 - Thank you! Hobart's practically our child. LOL

wednesday - Do it!

librarylady - Ooooh, I was just looking at a Greek Isle cruise that's roundtrip to Venice so I'd love to hear more about your trip, too!

Good night!

Lissette

PRE-CRUISE BARCELONA - DAY 1

City: Barcelona

Hotel: Hotel Alexandra

If I took any advice at all from CC, it was that I absolutely had to fly into my debarkation port at least a day early! Not only was I afraid of missing the ship, but I really wanted to spend some extra time in Barcelona as I am a huge Gaudi enthusiast. We were there for approximately an entire day and a half and, while that isn't nearly enough time to see everything, we did do the top things on my list and never felt rushed. It also gave us a nice sampling of a city we know we want to go back to spend extra time in.

I will also stress again that I over-over-over-planned this trip and it worked to our advantage! I researched about a hundred hotels, their proximity to sites, their proximity to the port, where we could catch a bus, where we could eat, and practically memorized the Google Map of Barcelona! When we arrived, DH was like, "Have you lived here before!?" because I knew exactly where to go!

Our flight arrived into a very empty El Prat Airport at around 8 am, we picked up our luggage and grabbed a cab to our hotel. (I kind of wish I had taken photos of our journey and the airport because I love it when people post those! Especially the airline food!) As I mentioned, I researched many, many hotels and ended up narrowing it down to Alma Barcelona, El Palace Hotel, and Hotel Alexandra and Hotel Alexandra came out the winner! I design hotels for a living so I'm kind of a design snob and wanted to stay somewhere special. Besides, it was the first night of our honeymoon so that alone warrants something a little extra!

So, Hotel Alexandra ended up being our choice because of it's location on the beautiful Passeig de Gracia and it's proximity to restaurants, Casa Batllo and one of the stops for those double-decker tour buses (don't laugh - those are awesome and fabulous mode of transport when you're short on time). It also had the earliest check-in time (noon) of all the hotels I researched and that was a HUGE plus! Let me also mention that the hotel is gorgeously designed and the staff is amazingly kind and helpful!

Hotel Alexandra Lobby

Hotel Alexandra Lobby

Hotel Alexandra Bar

Hotel Alexandra Lobby

Hotel Alexandra "Urban" Room

We got in at about 9:30am or so and, understandably, our room wasn't ready so they told us to come back in an hour or so. We left our bags and headed out for breakfast which, due to jet lag, felt more like dinner to us! I could've eaten an entire steak at this point! Luckily, we past Moncho's Costa Gallega on the Passeig de Gracia which delighted me for many reasons - first, it was on "My List" of nearby tapas restaurants and secondly, I'm "gallega" myself which means that my family is from the Galicia region. Our first meal in Spain consisted of "pinchos" (small sandwiches) of serrano ham, manchego cheese, and my favorite, "tortilla de papa" (potato omelette) just like my grandmother makes!

Moncho's Costa Gallega

TO BE CONTINUED... (Thanks for the 6 Image Limit!)

PRE-CRUISE - DAY 1 (CONTINUED)

After breakfast/whatever-meal-that-was, we headed back to the Alexandra and, lo and behold, our room was ready! An hour ahead of time! We had what they refer to as the "Urban" room and it was beautifully modern with Eames chairs, flatscreen TVs, hardwood floors and one of the best hotel showers I've ever encountered. Our courtyard view also offered us a glimpse of apartment balconies which was nice because it reminded us of home and made us feel as we were living there rather than staying at a hotel.

Most normal people would shower and nap at this point but since we're the exception, we unloaded our stuff and headed right back out to see something I've been wanting to see my entire life - Gaudi's Sagrada Familia! We exited the hotel, made a left, crossed the street and there was the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus just waiting for us! I had purchased our passes online weeks before so, I believe, we just handed the ticket over to the driver and we were off (if there was more too it, it was drama-free because I barely remember the interaction. LOL). We were lucky enough to get seats at the top which offered us spectacular views of the city and it's AMAZING architecture! I've seen pretty nice buildings "in my day", but I had never seen such a beautiful symphony of different styles working together so well as I did in Barcelona. There's Art Nouveau, Modernism, Classical, everything! If you're an architecture buff, this is the place to go.

It was a short ride over to the Sagrada Familia and the bus dropped us off in the Passion Facade side of the cathedral and, to our joy, a dog park! How awesome would it be to be able to take your dog to a park at the Sagrada Familia? Hobart would love that! (He's an architecture buff, too.) We made our way down, purchased tickets and visited the little museum they have which features a model of Gaudi's workroom as well as models of the cathedral and information on how designers and engineers today are working to complete it. As of now, it's slated to complete in approximately 2028 - 140 years after construction began! (Working in architecture, I am not surprised...)

The big moment was here. We made our way inside and were completely wowed and overwhelmed. Now, I've been dying to see the Sagrada Familia in person since I researched it in college but DH isn't as much of an architecture person and even he was dumbfounded! We've seen cathedrals before but never one so bright and light and modern that really transported us to another place. If the purpose of a spiritual place is to bring you closer to a Higher Power, then Gaudi did his work! Everywhere you went there was more beauty after more beauty. The columns resemble a surreal pastel forest and the ceiling an umbrella of flowers - it was spectacular. We spent quite a bit of time listening to audio tour and just taking it all in. To say I was impressed is an understatement!

After our hearts were about to explode out of our chests (OK, I'm exaggerating), we headed out to the Nativity Facade for our next WOW moment. It's not to say that we didn't love the Passion Facade, in fact, DH loved it because it was so different and modern to what you typically see in Gothic cathedrals. The Nativity Facade is just so intricate and ornate that looks as if it grew out of the ocean! Gaudi commissioned numerous sculptors to carve out the facade including Llorenc Matamala i Pinol, Carles Mani i Roig and Jaume Busquets and the detail (and height!) is incredible! Really truly amazing.

TO BE CONTINUED... The 6 image limit is tough!

PRE-CRUISE - BARCELONA - DAY 1 (Continued)

After a while at the Sagrada Familia we asked ourselves, "OK, what is going to top THAT!?" but nevertheless, we were off on our next Gaudi stop, Parc Guell! We hopped back on the bus and the park is a bit far from the central city but still a nice drive and opportunity to see different areas of Barcelona. We were dropped off at the bottom of the hill where the park is located and it is quite the walk but we were up for it! The walk is nicely filled with very cute gift shops and cafes and more than enough signs so you won't get lost (the giant mob of people also walking uphill is another indicator that you're going the right way).

One of the reasons I love Gaudi's work so much is that even though his buildings are relatively new, he always managed to make them feel as if they belonged in their environment and never appear out of place. In fact, sometimes they felt as if they pre-dated older buildings! With its mosaics and stone structures, Parc Guell does just that and we felt as if we were walking through something natural rather than man-made. The park is huge but we somehow managed to trek all of it and it was worth it for the views we were greeted with from the top! You could even see the port!

After some reflecting and relaxing (mostly relaxing), we made our way down and back to the bus, stopping for some snacks at one of the little cafes. The rest of the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour included a drive through the Olympic Park as well as Plaza Catalunya but we decided to enjoy those sights from the comfort of our seats atop the bus. The ride back to our stop was about an hour and a half (I think) and in this time during this particular tour route, you get to see a lot of the city and get an idea of how to map out future day trips. For example, we passed a pretty nice shopping district that I'm hoping to visit next time we're in Barcelona!

So, we're back at the Hotel Alexandra and it finally hit us - we were tired! In fact, we were so tired, we had to pass on dinner (don't worry, we enjoyed it the next day), relax, and prepare for an early morning the following day.

TO BE CONTINUED...

PRE-CRUISE BARCELONA - DAY 2

The following morning, we woke up well-rested and excited to spend our morning and afternoon in Barcelona before boarding the Solstice! We were up pretty early and most things in Barcelona open a bit later which is funny because, had we not been jet-lagged, we're usually on a more "Barcelona-esque" schedule anyways, eating meals and doing things at a later time. Either way, we managed to find a Pans and Company which was open early about a block away from Casa Batllo on Passeig de Gracia and had some serrano ham breakfast sandwiches and juice before our visit. By the time we were done, Casa Batllo was open and we were among the first group to go inside.

This was another "WOW!" moment for us! I had only seen Casa Batllo, known locally has the House of Bones, in photos prior to our visit so seeing it in person was really something else! Gaudi worked on this house as a remodel and avoided straight angles and traditional finishes almost entirely. The facade is covered in broken mosaic pieces and balconies that resemble fish skeletons. The interior of the house is mostly Art Nouveau in style and covered in mosaic and wood paneling, all along curved surfaces - really gorgeous! Our favorite part had to have been the very top that resembles a dragon's tale because, really, how often do you come across a house with a dragon's tale?

We decided to do the self-guided audio tour of the house which allowed us freedom to walk around and take our time. The house is deceivingly big with many rooms and areas to explore! Sometimes they exhibit art in certain areas so it's wise to check out the website before your visit to see if there's anything special going on. I'm seeing on their website now that they also do weddings! Oh, had I known!

After Casa Batllo, we wandered around town a bit more. At this point, I considered either going to Las Ramblas or the Gothic Quarter but decided against it since we only had an hour or so before we wanted to head to the port and we still needed to collect our bags from the hotel. "Next time!" we said. Instead, we walked around the Passeig de Gracia and it's adjoining streets and did some shopping as well as our last meal at Barcelona and, probably, one of the best ones of the whole trip! I should add that practically everything we ate on this trip was delicious so we were really impressed with these glazed ham and goat cheese pinchos from, of all places, the Lizarran on Carrer de Mallorca! What!? They have one of those in NYC! Either way, paired with some local beer (FYI I'm not even a beer drinker), these marked an amazing end to an amazing couple of days in Barcelona.

TO BE CONTINUED...

MISCELLANEAOUS BARCELONA PHOTOS

Old and New Architecture

Pinchos!

Our last view of Barcelona and the W Barcelona from the ship!

NEXT UP - THE SOLSTICE! My next review will be all about the ship since that is how I have my photos organized on my computer. After that, I will go port by port. Please let me know if you have any questions about Barcelona and our trip! Writing this review is so much fun as I get to re-live my honeymoon allover again! Apologies for the multiple posts, I didn't know about the 6 photo limit!

Gorgeous pics. I'm looking forward to our summer Barcelona trip even more now! What sort of camera do you use?

andrewandjoanne - I'm so glad you asked that question because I like the opportunity to brag about my camera whenever I can! I use the Olympus XZ-1 and love it! (I believe there's an XZ-2 out now.) It's really small and takes excellent pictures! I used to carry around a heavy Nikon DSLR but wanted something lightweight for this trip and the XZ-1 did the trick.

Have fun in Barcelona!

Lissette

Great review. I too am interested on Gaudi. Looks like Barcelona needs to go on my bucket list. Your pictures are fabulous!

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

Lissette, this is wonderful! We were also on the cruise and now we get to relive it thru your commentary and pictures. We also loved Barcelona, 2 days pre-cruise and 4 days after and didn't see all we wanted to see.

Looking forward to your posts!

...So, Hotel Alexandra ended up being our choice because of it's location on the beautiful Passeig de Gracia and it's proximity to restaurants, Casa Batllo and one of the stops for those double-decker tour buses (don't laugh - those are awesome and fabulous mode of transport when you're short on time). )

I love those too! I always jump on any city-tour hop-on/hop-off trolley or bus when I have the chance to visit a city. Perfect for getting a nice overview of the area and helping to get my bearings when I head out on foot.

Love the baby-dog Hobart by the way, my Libby-girl (the dorkiest of the labra-dorks) says hello!:)

K

Congrats on your wedding--we have the same anniversary date. Loving your review--so full of details. We went to Spain two years ago and can't wait to return.

Hobart is too cute! Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for all the kind replies!

Alli Cruiser - Thank you! We think he's a cutie, too. :)

Kroberst - Thank you! Isn't it tough leaving them behind for a vacation!? Oh, and I love the tour buses! We did one in London even though my husband once lived there! I always recommend them to people coming to NYC, too.

LKN-NC - That's so awesome! I was hoping this review would attract some fellow passengers! I don't think anyone else from our sail has posted a review.

Eddie's Girl - Thanks! I love Gaudi, he's probably my favorite architect and his work has to be seen to believed!

Have a good night!

Lissette

We were on this same cruise last May, a couple months before you :) I can't wait to re-live the trip through your report! By the way, your pictures are amazing! We were hoping to go back to the med. for our honeymoon but prices went way up for next year :(

Also, kinda off topic, I like your style from the one pic I saw of you. Were you worried at all about your purse? I tried to look nice and as fashionable as I could for traveling. However, I only used cross-body style bags. Did you ever feel not safe?

CruisingGatorGirl, I LOVED your review! I enjoyed it so much because I read it right before going on mine! By the way, congratulations on your engagement and I hope the wedding planning is going well! Are you guys doing another cruise? (Nevermind this question, I just saw you're doing a honeymoon cruise! Woohoo!)

Thank you for the outfit compliment! It's funny because it felt as if I had been wearing that same outfit for days! I put it on the morning before I went to meet my boss for breakfast and still had it on in Barcelona!

As for feeling unsafe, I honestly never felt unsafe anywhere we went but then again, I live in NYC and am used to being in all sorts of neighborhoods and the subway! The only place I clutched my bag a little tighter was inside St. Peter's and that's only because I overheard a tour guide tell someone there were a lot of pick pockets so I wanted to be extra cautious.

I mostly carried around that Michael Kors monogram tote in the Sagrada Familia photo which is a big open tote with a large zippered pocket inside and a smaller cross body bag in Venice (because it went with the outfit not for any other reason!). Ideally, I would've toted around my Louis Vuitton Speedy bag that I take everywhere but I knew my arm would get tired. :)

Lissette

Congratulations...you make a very attractive couple...thanks for the photo review...looking forward to more. :):):):)

I'm enjoying your review! We are cruising on the Silhouette in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing your ship photos!