One opinion about Solstice dining, April 8 cruise

[Vagabondage]

Hi again dorakk --

 

Hope you enjoyed your time in St. Thomas/St. John as we chatted about here on CC before the cruise!

 

Can't agree more with the overcrowded ship. I heard that for our sailing there were 3100 guests onboard, well beyond Solstice's regular capacity of 2800 passengers.

 

Sheesh!! No wonder it was so crowded. Do you know if this happens often?

 

On our first at sea day, we did once got into the whirlpool in the Solarium pool area, but it was quite a scary and gross experience which officially put an end to our pool activities onboard. However, it's nothing to blame X on, it's more of the guests not being considerate. Basically we were sharing the same whirlpool with an old lady whose body was full of unrecovered wound and blisters. While soaking in the whirlpool, she was constantly wiping out liquid from her blisters using the pool towel. OMG, this is so gross! We just can't convince ourseleves to go back to any of the pool onboard again knowing that this old lady might have got into same pool before us.

 

Oh wow, that is really yukky and would be really bad news from me due to the drugs I'm on. I sympathize with this lady's sores, but what can she have been thinking about other passengers' welfare???

 

Overall we did had a great time on Solstice. Services & food were hit or misses... What's more important is that we were there on vacation, which is good enough to make our experience on Solstice enjoyable.

 

Sounds like your take on the food on this sailing was a lot like mine, even though you were aboard for the full seven days. I'm so glad to hear you had a good time. I really think we would have, too, as we weren't expecting absolute perfection. We look for and appreciate the good in everything and try not to focus overly on any negative stuff. I'd happily be sitting in Cafe al Bacio right now :).

 

IF we decide to try an anniversary cruise a third time, which right now is in considerable doubt, despite all that has happened medically and otherwise I would probably still choose Celebrity over other cruise lines. [We can't afford the Big Bucks lines with better food.] Everyone still seems to agree that though cost-cutting measures are clearly evident, X beats the other mass market lines in several areas.

 

Thanks again for your comments, Dora!!!! I'm sorry I never got to meet you or our other roll call members.

[80 Wolfpacker]

I was on the April 8th sailing of the Solstice. We ate dinner in Blu since we booked an Aqua Class suite. This was our third time to cruise on the Solstice and this was my 21st cruise. I have to tell you, our food was the best to date. We ate in the dining room at lunch. I thought all of the food was outstanding. If you look at my previous posts, you will see that I love Royal Caribbean and sailed on the Freedom of the Seas in January and could not find one good thing to say about the food. I love to cook and I am a "foodie." I thought the food on the Solstice exceeded my expectations at every meal - even room service!!!!!!

[northwoods_lady]

I was also on the April 8 2012 Celebrity Solstice cruise, and had a very different experience.

 

I had the roast beef in the Ocean View Cafe on Sunday and it was juicy and tender.

 

The canapes were very tasty, and the quantity was just fine, it was an appetizer, not a meal.

 

The sushi in Silk Harvest was amazing, as was the rest of the food there, and every part of every meal we had in Blu was outstanding.

 

We had a quiet cabin, were rocked to sleep with the sound of the waves on the bow, thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation rooms, and were never bothered with noise or crowds.

 

I hope you give Solstice another chance, I highly recommend it.

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

I think one major problem is that Celebrity has set the bar very high with respect to customer expectations. Every time I open an issue of Bon Appetit or Food And Wine there are beautiful ads tauting the wonderful cusine on Celebrity. Unfortunately, for many cruisers the actual product isn't living up to the hype. We were recently on Equinox, and while we had a wonderful vacation, the food was a disapointment. The food was in no way terrible, but it also was far from excellent. Would we cruise Celebrity again? In a heartbeat, it was a beautiful ship, a wonderful itinerary, and a excellent crew. But my SO and myself, like many others reporting on this board, were not impressed by the food.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[Bridge Maven]

Greetings

 

I think one major problem is that Celebrity has set the bar very thigh with respect to customer expectations. Every time I open an issue of Bon Appetit or Food And Wine there are beautiful ads tauting the wonderful cusine on Celebrity. Unfortunately, for many cruisers the actual product isn't living up to the hype. We were recently on Equinox, and while we had a wonderful vacation, the food was a disapointment. The food was in no way terrible, but it also was far from excellent. Would we cruise Celebrity again? In a heartbeat, it was a beautiful ship, a wonderful itinerary, and a excellent crew. But my SO and myself, like many others reporting on this board, were not impressed by the food.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

 

Tunaman - that is the point I have tried to make many times. Celebrity has a good product for a mass market cruise line. However, when posters lead people to believe that its main dining room is comparable to an upscale restaurant or much better than other mass market cruise lines, it creates unrealistic expectations that invariably lead to disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 

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[jackdiamond]

Sorry, but these posts are waaaaay too long for my attention span. :eek:

Those who are loquacious usually present paucity in the way of useful information.

[Bridge Maven]

Those who are loquacious usually present paucity in the way of useful information.

 

Jack - I enjoy your posts because they remind me of so many words that I haven't used in a long time.

 

 

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[ondeckatsea]

ditto

[jackdiamond]

Jack - I enjoy your posts because they remind me of so many words that I haven't used in a long time.

 

 

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Thank you.

[jackdiamond]

Our last three Celebrity cruises, before my wife's illness, were ten nighters on the Equinox in AQ; and, we absolutely loved the food in Blu.

[jackdiamond]

Jack - I enjoy your posts because they remind me of so many words that I haven't used in a long time.

 

 

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Again, thank you; and, I am reminded of the aphorism "brevity is the soul of wit". In this connection, I am also reminded of a trial judge before whom I appeared many years ago who told counsel before viewing their prayers for jury instructions that he would seriously consider those of four paragraphs or less on one page; and, that those which were longer he would throw against the wall, and he would grant those that stuck to the wall.