Solstice 5/23 Review & Dietary Restrictions

[CruisenGoddess]

Pre-Cruise: Marriott Fairfield Inn on Griffen Road, Ft. Lauderdale

 

This is a relatively new hotel that you can leave your car while on the cruise. The hotel was very nice, room was on the small side but very comfortable and from the fourth floor you could see the cruise ships that were in port. When we booked they said transportation to the port was included but would have to pay to return. However when we checked in we found out it was $8 per person to the port and if we bought a round trip ticket return was $12.50 per person, so for two people the cost was $41 round trip. You had two departure choices either 10:00 am or noon. We chose noon.

 

Dinner, another Cruise Critic member recommended Islamorada Fish Company which is across the street from the hotel next to Bass Pro Shops. We had their Sea Scallops and they were excellent. If you show your hotel card you get an additional 15% off.

 

Breakfast: It was all pre-packaged processed food. Ace Tours provides transportation to the port about 10-15 minutes. Would definitely consider this hotel for future cruises. On debarkation they were there waiting. I would recommend their services.

 

Embarkation: WOW arrived about 12:20 virtually no lines for Concierge, Aqua Class, or Suites and onboard by 12:30. We were allowed to go our stateroom.

 

Stateroom Aqua Class 1606: Bed is in the center of the stateroom. Initially when we booked this stateroom I thought we’d like the bed closer to the balcony but found with the bed in the center of the stateroom, it appeared more spacious to us. Peaking into another stateroom with the bed near the balcony the room felt ‘stuffed’ to us, so we were very content with the arrangement. Storage is adequate; we over packed and still had plenty of room. The bathroom was a very nice size with room to move around. The shower was a nice size, comfortable and the Hans Grohe shower system was very nice. The storage drawers are quite small and don’t hold much. The side cabinets were ok, some of the tall items had to be laid down. A nice feature in the bathroom is you no longer need to carry a night-light as the light stays dim and then when you press the switch on you get full lights. Hubby uses a CPAP and the outlet in the bathroom did not work with an extension cord. Called room steward and he got us an extension cord to use with CPAP that plugged in where the vanity is.

 

The balcony is very large and the lounge chairs very comfy and a nice overhang – you won’t have any direct sun on you.

 

Although 1606 is what many say is a premium cabin because of the balcony, be aware that you will hear nighttime parties from the pool deck.

 

Room Steward Jose Ferrera was excellent and would leave as much water as you wanted, however his helper would only let you have two bottles a day. We only had to request coffee one time for morning delivery and Jose made sure everyday it was there for us. I have to say he was the best room steward we’ve ever had. You know your vacation is over Saturday night when you come into the room in the Saturday evening and see they have taken away your robes, fruit basket, tea, water and toiletries.

 

Dietary Restrictions: Gluten Free, Casein Free, severe food intolerance to many foods including olive, lemon/lime, pepper, cocoa plus much more. What makes eating out so difficult is that I can’t have any of those items or products made with them. The last seven months have been extremely difficult with being so limited to what I can have. We chose to cruise on the Solstice because of Blu, a healthier eating venue. The last cruise we were on (different line) they made safe food for me an adventure I would not like to embark on again. I literally was told in the MDR that they had no gluten free food and to go to the buffet! That cruise I literally would go to bed hungry and thought are my cruising days over. All that changed onboard the Solstice. Dining in Blu and the Aqua Spa Café – those eating venues made such a difference.

 

Blu: I can’t sing their praises high enough. After embarkation I went to Blu and gave Murathan Sonmez Maitre D’ my safe foods list he went from a smile to ashen gray in color in 2 seconds flat. He recognized they were up to a huge challenge. He took my order for the evening meal. That night the Sous Chef Shailesh M. Gupte came out and introduced himself to us and told me he would be my personal chef for the cruise and went over my food list. Chef Gupte changed my life during this cruise with the most amazing meals. On Tuesday night he gave me a Cauliflower soup that was amazing! I happened to run into the Food and Beverage Manager, Ludwig Lozano and told him about this amazing soup and the next thing I knew tears were in my eyes – yes over Cauliflower soup! The last seven months on this restricted diet have been very challenging and the food I was getting was so amazing and enjoyable and they plated it so beautifully! Ludwig Lozano said he would have Chef Gupte provide me the recipes – I look forward to receiving them. The next night the Sommelier, Napaporn Puangsuk said that the FB Manager was treating us to a bottle of our choice of wine – how nice was that! I took pictures of all the food we had during the cruise, as it was just so beautiful! Our waiter was Michael Campbell with Ozlem Akay as his assistant. The head Maitre D’, Murathan Sonmez and Assistant Maitre D’ Marjan Alekson and the entire staff of Blu – thank you!

 

When we booked this cruise Celebrity had a $200 OBC for balcony or higher category. Usually I book directly with the cruise line but one of my cruising friends suggested I check out one of the sites where you get competitive bids and there was a TA that offered $250 OBC in addition to the Celebrity OBC of $200. So I thought, wow – lets see if this is too good to be true or not. The TA was very responsive to emails and phone calls and everything seemed to be in line. Initially we had $450 total in OBC. Then someone on our roll call thread mentioned there was a Captain Club coupon good for $125 and it was a combinable with the $200 OBC offer. So I called Captain’s Club and asked and was told yes, it was combinable. I then sent the coupon to the TA and asked him to also verify the coupon was combinable – yes. The $125 CC coupon was taken off of the final payment, then he reduced his OBC offer to $225, total OBC $425.

 

On 2/4/10 Celebrity had a price reduction of $100. Celebrity put as additional $100 OBC –Celebrity OBC $300 and TA reduced his amount to $200 = total OBC $500.

 

On 4/8/10 Celebrity now had a Residency rate and the TA got the reduction. Celebrity OBC $400 and TA reduced his amount to $150 = total OBC $550.

 

After embarkation (another cruise line always left info in the stateroom about OBC but we didn’t have anything in the room) so I called Guest Services to verify the OBC amount. They verified $200 OBC from Celebrity and had nothing else showing. They advised me to check the next day as sometimes it takes a while to post – ok, will do.

 

On Tuesday morning I went down to Guest Relations and took with me documentation showing that I was to have $550 OBC. I had taken the last invoice from the TA that showed $200 OBC from Celebrity and $350 from TA with an additional email from TA dated 4/8/10 showing “The rates have been updated – Celebrity have set up an additional $200 per cabin Price protection Ship board credit. Our OBC will be reduced to $350, total SBC $550 per cabin.”

 

At Guest Relations I spoke with Sara Herrera and showed her the documentation. Sara made a copy of the documents and said she would speak with her supervisor and contact corporate then get back with me and also offered to let me call the TA to expedite receiving the OBC. Well I had to leave a message (two times). Guest Relations personnel are not authorized to contact the TA directly, but because I was having such difficulty reaching the TA, an email was sent to advise the TA of the problem. The TA did respond with the SBC report was ran improperly and left out three days and the total SBC was not called in. It was at this time that I found out that when the CC coupon was applied Celebrity removed the $200 OBC. I was surprised since I was told differently before I applied the coupon and then had documentation from the TA (this is the one piece of documentation that I didn’t bring with me). Sara said they should have kept the higher amount and since they didn’t do that the Solstice would credit me an additional $75, now that was a nice surprise! The TA did mention in his email that he had credited my credit card the $150 missing OBC. I don’t know if he did or not as I have not received the statement yet. But so far he has ignored my emails and phone calls – time will tell if he is honorable or not.

 

Moral of the story is to take all documentation with you, as you may never know what will help you in these situations.

 

Sara Herrera – This individual went above and beyond the call of duty and made this situation a pleasant one. Sara is definitely an asset to Celebrity.

 

Grand Cayman reserved a car and drove to Rum Point – love that place.

Cozumel went into town, window shopped a bit and ate at Las Palmeras (downtown) they always have great food.

Costa Maya we went back to Maya Chan Beach Resort. This was our second visit and as good as our first visit. The beach sometimes in this area is not always great, but the food and service is always excellent.

Roatan we normally go over to Maya Key formerly Fins and Flipper but this time we just looked in the shops and went back to the ship.

 

The ship: This was our twenty something cruise and this ship by far is the best laid out we’ve been on. We are now sold on the Solstice Class ship. The staff on Celebrity Solstice was so amazing! It truly was the best cruise experience we’ve ever had and we are looking forward to cruising on this class of ship again.

 

For those of you with aches, pains, and insomnia here’s some encouragement – For years on the cruises they talk about Philip Stein watches and tout it’s Oprah’s watch and they talk about the Teslar/Natural Frequency Technology – I’ve been very skeptical until now. I have severe osteoarthritis in both knees and on cruises I am limited to short walks even with pain medication. Also back pain from an injury a few years ago that has forced me not to sleep on my left side as well as insomnia. Yes, I know what a mess – If I sleep it takes me hours to fall asleep and then it’s for 3-4 hours and that is twilight sleeping. I haven’t had good nights sleep in years. Well, Friday, in Roatan we went into DI and I decided this time I was going to look at these watches – prices aren’t that bad but being skeptical I went with one of their new Fruitz collection watches. What is amazing is that all the watches have this technology so it doesn’t matter if it’s $200 or $5k – same technology. Within a half hour of putting this watch on I was able to walk up a flight of stairs without assistance from my husband. Normally it’s one step at a time and embarrassing to be so slow. I wore the watch to bed that night and have to say I slept like a baby, slept so well that I missed breakfast in Blu! It then dawned on me that I had no carpal tunnel pain during the night either – WOW – All day Saturday I was able to walk around the ship, backwards/forwards up and down all without pain or pain medication! AMAZING! By the time the Select/Elite Captains Party came around I felt like I could actually dance! I've had a few instances of sharp pain in my knees but it goes away very quickly and now even the stiffness of the arthritis is gone!

 

After two weeks I'm still doing very well with the Philip Stein Fruitz watch. It has changed my life so much. I have to say I am a new person. I definitely would recommend getting one of the Fruitz for $225 and seeing how you do. www.fruitzwatches.com.

[drd-aus]

Cindy and I want to thank you for recommending Maya Chan. We had a great time and even though some folks expressed disappointment with the runoff from the recent rains. We like the more natural and uncrowded state of Maya Chan.

 

Good to hear you had a great time and some relief from ailments.

[nps001]

Thanks for the review. Having a personal chef for a cruise makes lemonade out of lemons. It certainly sounds like you had excellent service.

[jfer8580]

Hey G,

How you doing? Great review.....how's the garden. Mine is growing, will have some squash soon!!!

[CruisenGoddess]

Hey Joe!

 

Good to hear from you! Yes, the garden is going gang busters! Just harvested some great looking zucchini's! Eggplant is getting bigger and bigger everyday. Tomatoes and yellow cherry tomatoes we've harvested some and lots more to come! Something has been nibbling on the leaves of the eggplant and zucchini - any ideas?

 

Received three recipes from Chef Gupte yesterday - hurray!

 

Also forgot to mention in review about duty in Ft. Lauderdale. If you have to pay duty make sure you have cash and/or a check, they don't have a credit card machine in terminal. Also if you buy goods from the US make sure you put "US GOODS RETURNED" on your form, you don't have to pay duty on those. IE Philip Stern and Hearts on Fire. We had to pay duty on a watch Rick bought, they don't just calculate 10% across. The first $2,000 is a flat $60 and then the remainder has a percentage based on what it is.

[DivasDare]

Your review was excellent, particularly the details about your food restrictions. It brought tears to my eyes as well when you found that they accommodated your needs, and not with bland food. I too have been attempting to live GF for months, and it is difficult with the number of products that have gluten in them. It is great to know that I can be accommodated on the ship.

 

Thank you!

[CruisenGoddess]

Divasdare - I'm glad the review inspired you. Yes, I agree it is difficult to adjust to GF and to find acceptable foods, but thankfully more is coming out - but you still need to be careful as to the "other ingredients" in processed foods. Did you know that even vanilla extract has gluten! Blows my mind. Do you have a Whole Foods near you? I drive 80 miles to one and they have great items. I just found some coconut milk products that are fabulous! Coconut milk, yogurt, kefir and if the sweet tooth arises they have a coconut milk non dairy ice cream.

[Lois R]

Divasdare - I'm glad the review inspired you. Yes, I agree it is difficult to adjust to GF and to find acceptable foods, but thankfully more is coming out - but you still need to be careful as to the "other ingredients" in processed foods. Did you know that even vanilla extract has gluten! Blows my mind. Do you have a Whole Foods near you? I drive 80 miles to one and they have great items. I just found some coconut milk products that are fabulous! Coconut milk, yogurt, kefir and if the sweet tooth arises they have a coconut milk non dairy ice cream.

 

Hi:), not sure if this is the location you are talking about but we have

a Whole Foods here in Jacksonville.

[madelinerose]

Although 1606 is what many say is a premium cabin because of the balcony, be aware that you will hear nighttime parties from the pool deck.

 

 

Thank you for your review. Glad you had a great time.

 

At what time did the parties usually end?

[AviGirl]

Wonderful review, thank you. Hubby and I are in 1606 in December... how bad was the noise from above? When I researched the room everyone kept saying that they didn't hear anything from above. I found that odd but accepted it. How long did the noise last for?

[DivasDare]

Divasdare - I'm glad the review inspired you. Yes, I agree it is difficult to adjust to GF and to find acceptable foods, but thankfully more is coming out - but you still need to be careful as to the "other ingredients" in processed foods. Did you know that even vanilla extract has gluten! Blows my mind. Do you have a Whole Foods near you? I drive 80 miles to one and they have great items. I just found some coconut milk products that are fabulous! Coconut milk, yogurt, kefir and if the sweet tooth arises they have a coconut milk non dairy ice cream.

 

No I didn't realize that vanilla extract had gluten. What got me was that mustard and soy sauce does as well. But yes fortunately there are several WFs in my area. And I love kefir from Lifeway. My favorite cheater dessert at night. :D

 

Would you mind sharing the recipes with me? divasdare at YAHOO! Thank you!

[james j feller]

CRUSEN GODDESS,

 

Do you think they would help me out, i am a diabetic and it would be nice to go on a cruise but i am scared that i won't find the right foods etc,.

 

jim

[CruisenGoddess]

Usually got quiet around midnight or shortly thereafter. There were 2 10:30 pm pool party area parties on the Western Caribbean that it was louder than normal and a few other instances where you heard things, but the parties were the loudest.

 

DivasDare check your email - he sent me 3 recipes, they were wonderful.

 

Jim, on the Celebrity website there is an area for special diet requests, they have a time limit depending on what cruise area that they need to be notified at. You can see what they offer, their direct email is special_needs@celebrity.com. I have every confidence they will take good care of you on the ship. I fully understand your concern, but after my experience, I'll go with Celebrity in a heartbeat especially the ships that have Blu and the Aqua Spa Cafe. However, once you get onboard the ship, whatever dining room you are in go see the Maitre D' and tell them your concerns, most of the time they have you pre-order your meals so your tablemates won't have to wait while they prepare your food. If you choose to eat in the Buffet find one of the supervisors and tell him and they will direct you to a chef that can prepare your food. Since I have so many food intolerances I carry a list of my safe foods and gave that to the Maitre D'. The first few days I had some non-safe items on my plate, but when they got the hang of it, they were fantastic. Go and enjoy!

[CruisenGoddess]

Lois R - yep, we go to the Jacksonville store - love it!

[james j feller]

CRUISEN,

 

Thank you.

 

JIM

[Coffeequeenj]

Thank you for posting this, we have been considering switching from Princess to X, on our last cruise in the MDR-I mentioned about my shellfish allergies, I can have shrimp, crab, and lobster but absolutely nothing that resides within a shell-clams, oysters, mussels and scallops-my reactions is life threatening and servere enough to ruin a cruise-our waiters didn't seem to understand or take it seriously, it did seem like a bit of a language barrier, even though I tried to explain-I finally gave up and stayed with things I knew were safe. Not worth the risk.

 

We have been considering Aqua Class, this just helps justify my reasoning for paying the extra charge. Thank you for your review it was very helpful.:D

 

CoffeequeenJ

[CruisenGoddess]

CoffeeQueen - I had the same concerns after my ordeal on the other cruise line. I really thought my cruising days were over, but this experience on the Solstice changed all that. I have noticed that AQ usually ends up about $50 to 100 more than CC - well worth the money. Just make sure you go to the Maitre D' and have a list, you should be fine. Happy cruising!

[Kan't Wait]

Yes, I agree it is difficult to adjust to GF and to find acceptable foods, but thankfully more is coming out - but you still need to be careful as to the "other ingredients" in processed foods. Did you know that even vanilla extract has gluten! Blows my mind. Do you have a Whole Foods near you? I drive 80 miles to one and they have great items. I just found some coconut milk products that are fabulous! Coconut milk, yogurt, kefir and if the sweet tooth arises they have a coconut milk non dairy ice cream.

 

Our upcoming cruise will be our first since learning that I have Celiac. I was concerned about food.

How did you learn that vanilla extract has gluten? Do you have a source that you could share...I have been learning through trial and error and sometimes it's so frustrating.

Since you like coconut there is a great site that sells organic coconut flour, oil and other products. tropicaltraditions dot com

 

Thanks.

[CruisenGoddess]

Kan't Wait, I know how overwhelming this is, I've been at it since last November and find out all the time new things that have gluten in them. Processed foods have 50% more gluten in them now than they did in the 1920's, it's like a filler. Go to glutenfreefoods dot com and look through all the products. Also if there is a specific product you like go to their site and you can usually find the ingredient list. There is a lot of hidden gluten in items and that also makes it confusing. You have to really research - I used Google and found a ton of information. As they say 'knowledge is power' couldn't be more true than learning a new way of eating.

[Kan't Wait]

Kan't Wait, I know how overwhelming this is, I've been at it since last November and find out all the time new things that have gluten in them. Processed foods have 50% more gluten in them now than they did in the 1920's, it's like a filler. Go to glutenfreefoods dot com and look through all the products. Also if there is a specific product you like go to their site and you can usually find the ingredient list. There is a lot of hidden gluten in items and that also makes it confusing. You have to really research - I used Google and found a ton of information. As they say 'knowledge is power' couldn't be more true than learning a new way of eating.

 

For the last several years I have had issues but "they" never knew what until recently. I rarely eat processed food and now only if it says "certified organic and gluten free" and even then it has to be something that I really crave. In some ways I'm glad that 95% of what the grocery store sells I can't eat. But it's a challenge eating out and being invited to friends for dinner.

I have used the internet to find information and I also get a few email newsletters to help me learn different things. I just thought maybe you had stumbled onto a website that listed tons of gluten items to avoid.

 

Thanks for you time, Have a good day.

[pfisted]

Pre-Cruise: Marriott Fairfield Inn on Griffen Road, Ft. Lauderdale

 

Well, Friday, in Roatan we went into DI and I decided this time I was going to look at these watches – prices aren’t that bad but being skeptical I went with one of their new Fruitz collection watches. What is amazing is that all the watches have this technology so it doesn’t matter if it’s $200 or $5k – same technology. Within a half hour of putting this watch on I was able to walk up a flight of stairs without assistance from my husband.

 

After two weeks I'm still doing very well with the Philip Stein Fruitz watch. It has changed my life so much. I have to say I am a new person. I definitely would recommend getting one of the Fruitz for $225 and seeing how you do. www.fruitzwatches.com.

 

How much did you pay for your Fruitz at DI? I'm not seeing them any less expensive than $225 online or at stores here in the states. Also, do you remember the cost of the least expensive Stein ladies watch that was not a Fruitz? I'm not sure whether to buy one now or wait for my cruise - if I can save $$. Thanks

[CruisenGoddess]

pfisted: The Fruitz was $192, the least expensive PS was $400 and that one the straps were not interchangeable, one with the interchangeable straps was $600. When I got home I looked on the PS website for local retailers and called one of them and they just happen to have them on sale for 50% off because they were making way for new inventory and I got the small scattered diamond one with diamonds around the bezel and my husband got a chrono one. They were half off from what they show on the website. So maybe call some jewelers in your area and see if you can find a sale. IF you wait and buy one on your cruise they are duty free if you put on the customs sheet US GOODS RETURNED. Now the difference between the Fruitz and PS watches is that the Fruitz has one Natural Frequency chip and the PS has two Teslar chips but I was reading on the PS website that they were changing over to the Natural Frequency chips. The jeweler here still has some watches, if you want to email me I can give you their name and phone number. Good luck - they are worth the investment IMO.

[pfisted]

Georgene,

 

Thank you for your prompt reply! Do you find a difference between wearing the PS & the Fruitz? I'm wondering if the extra chip really changes things.

[CruisenGoddess]

I've had such remarkable results with the Fruitz, and it's not as big of an investment to see if the technology works for you. Now as the the PS with two chips, when I bought the PS watch the jeweler had said he would replace the batteries/chip when needed as he didn't know how old the batteries and chips were that are in them. When I first put it on within an hour I could tell a difference and felt that the batteries needed replacing, so it's at the jewelers now getting fresh batteries and chips. So it's hard to say right now if two chips are better than one. Another great feature of the PS watches are that the straps are interchangeable and very easy to change.