Review: Solstice 7/25 E. Caribbean

[inverted1]

Arrived Ft Lauderdale Saturday, stayed at Hyatt Pier 66 in the "Tower," using our Hyatt Gold Passport points. Got 2 rooms for free on the 11th floor, very nice hotel. Great view of Oasis of the Seas leaving, and woke up to the Emerald Princess, Carnival Cant-recall, and Solstice sitting in port. Beautiful!

 

After leisurely breakfast, headed for ship around 1:00. Took about 15 minutes getting through security, and then headed straight for our room. Stayed in 1116 RS, and it was really beautiful. They had a rollaway bed for one of our teenage boys, while the other slept on foldout sofa..........there was more than enough room, and it was quite comfortable.

 

Steward was fantastic, and our butler was just okay. He had a habit of not listening to questions and talking over you, so we had a few miscommunications with him, but it was no big deal. This made him seem a tad stressed, but perhaps that was just his personality.

 

In any event, whether it was extra hangers, or specialty restaurant reservations, he got the job done, so what more can you ask for?

 

We had anytime dining, and never had trouble getting a table for 4. The 1st 2 nights seemed extremely rushed though, while we never even got to know who our 2 waiters were throughout the meal (or even if we had two). Each course came immediately after the next at a rapid-fire pace, and it really wasn't enjoyable. We felt the food was only about average.

 

On the 3rd night however, we got seated at a table with a great waiter named Angelo; he and his helper did things we didn't get the previous 2 nights, like, refolding napkins while someone was in the bathroom, and pulling out the chair for my wife. Little things really, but they made you feel special, lol.

 

And the pace of the service slowed and became less frenetic, while the food improved to a level of being wonderful! On the way out of the dining room, the maitre'd asked me how we were enjoying dinner service, and I told him about our first 2 nights. He set us up with Angelo for the remainder of the cruise, and it was just fantastic all the way around. A table was waiting for us each night in his section.

 

We tried Tuscan Grill, and it was pretty good (ceaser salad was awful; bland). We also tried Silk Harvest, which was one of the most incredible meals we've had in a long time! This surprised us, as most reviews I've read have given SH a "not-so-great," but we absolutely loved the place! Food, waiter, ambiance, it was truly fantastic (it was also my son's birthday, and they made the whole evening very special for us).

 

 

Ocean View Cafe was good too. Crowded at breakfast, sometimes difficult to find a seat, but the selections were great and there was always something satisfying to stuff my face with, lol.

 

WE zip-lined in San Juan, and it was a blast. Did the segway tour in St Martin, and stand up jet skis at Orient Beach - big fun. Snorkling in St Thomas (Hawksnest and Meagans Bay for sea turtles) off a chartered sailboat that was yet another great family memory.

 

The ship itself was over-the-top. Modern and beautiful, very impressive. Everyone greated us with a smile, and I really cannot think of anything that we were truly disappointed with.

 

The shows were very good as well; Hot Glass was great, magician and musicians wonderful, and the production shows were much better than I expected (again, after reading some not-so-great reviews). We skipped the one production show.....Ghost something....as it was all old broadway stuff that didn't sound appealing to us. But the other 2 were very entertaing and the whole family loved them.

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Disembarkation was a breeze. We're Floridians and drove to the port, but for some reason they had us in the 2nd group off departing at 7:45am. I called guest relations and asked if we could hang, and they said if we wanted to get off at 9am, go ahead and do so at our leisure. We did, and it was really nice and stress free. Luggage was sitting there waiting for us.

 

One problem we did have that I forgot about; on day 2 our room reeked of sewage. We called guest relations, and there was a plumber at our door within 15 minutes. Apparently, when the ship moves and the water levels drop, the smell can waft up through the pipes into the tub or shower (at least in our room). The plumber ran water in both for 10 minutes, and the smell disappeared.

 

Our room attendant was told of the problem and was instructed to do this twice a day for the next several days, and the problem was only intermittent from then on. It never lasted as long as the water was turned on.

 

A hotel manager visited an hour later, and the head of guest relations called us daily to check on the smell. Really great service, very impressive follow up.

 

First cruise on Celebrity, and won't be our last!

[bighairtexan]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post your review. I'm looking forward to getting out of this awful Texas heat. I may melt before 67 days go by.

[Dr. Dean]

Hi,

 

We, too, were on Solstice (our first with Celebrity after 8 with RCL) and would give the ship and crew very high marks. We'd be happy to sail this ship and itinerary again (we did the ATVs in San Juan, a scuba-diving in St. Thomas and Lord Somebody tall ship in St. Martin-we would NOT recommend this excursion as there are better for the $).

 

As a comparison to RCL (Voyager and Freedom Class ships) which we liked-

 

*The crew just seemed happier, more content on Solstice

*The Oceanview Cafe layout is much better than the Windjammer

*We ate at Tuscan Grille (excellent!) and thought is was better than Chops

*We thought the food in the MDR was about the same

*The little "touches" on Celebrity/Solstice added a special welcome feeling

*Too little pool space for family and kids on Solstice though the Solarium on Solstice is WONDERFUL and an improvement over RCL.

*In terms of gimmicks - The Glass Show is a nice unique touch; the lawn a let down.

 

We hope this helps...happy cruising!

[sarplum]

Tks for thoughtful revue. We are taking this trip in December.

[inverted1]

Hi,

 

 

*In terms of gimmicks - The Glass Show is a nice unique touch; the lawn a let down.

 

 

 

Agreed. We checked out the lawn area and kept threatening to try the beanbag tossing game, but never did. It just wasn't that important to us, and we were truly not impressed with that area. I think if they used something else to occupy that space, I wouldn't be unhappy.

 

They need to make more seating for the Hot Glass Show. We made sure to bring beach towels for our rear-ends since that bench seating gets quite uncomfortable after a while, but if you don't get there at least 20 minutes early, you'll be standing.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[riandei]

thanks for posting ... sounds great

[Dr. Dean]

We didn't find the "wait for a bench seat" so bad or the seats themselves uncomfortable. Some folks always seemed to leave after a piece was completed thus openning up some seating space.

 

[And for those wondering, NO you canNOT purchase a piece of blown glass - they are given away by random raffle...something I think they should change by having a raffle for 1-3 pieces at each show]

 

As for the lawn, I think between the weather and the traffic, the grass cannot hold up.

 

We did like the many "knooks and crannies" one can find on the ship to have a private or quiet space (many more than a RCCL Voyager or Freedom Class ship).

[inverted1]

True, seats did open after each piece was done (on the first day, we saw "Don" making a shark, only to have it fall to the floor and break just prior to completion.......really sucked to have put all that work in and have it break). But we stayed for well over an hour, and my butt started to fall asleep on the wooden bench.

 

Folded pool towel to the rescue. This was like watching Discovery channel live, and we had a difficult time leaving.

 

Forgot to mention lunch at Bistro on 5; what a great restaurant! Also, we tried to get a drink at the Molecular Bar, but with only 1 (over worked and sweaty) bartender at 11pm, we told him to skip it after waiting for quite a while. He hadn't even begun our drinks yet, and there were still others ahead of us, so we decided to bag it.

 

They could use some help at that bar, unless this was simply an anomoly for that particular evening.....