Everything Solstice - please

[Busy Mum]

Hi,

 

Hubby and I (well I am ;)) are planning our first cruise on the Solstice next January (South Pacific cruise) - we have only cruised on Princess so I have very limited knowledge on what's on offer and what to expect with Celebrity. Can I say, I'm very excited about cruising on the Solstice, she certainly looks like a beautiful ship.

 

A couple of questions I have are:

 

I'm assuming the ship will be in US dollars?

 

Booking tours through the Celebrity website, (should we decide to) I'm also assuming that these tours are paid for in advance? What happens should we change our mind on these tours and they have been paid for in advance, or is that not possible with Celebrity?

 

Thank you for any help that you can give me, it's very much appreciated.

 

Vicki :)

[rkmw]

Hi,

 

Hubby and I (well I am ;)) are planning our first cruise on the Solstice next January (South Pacific cruise) - we have only cruised on Princess so I have very limited knowledge on what's on offer and what to expect with Celebrity. Can I say, I'm very excited about cruising on the Solstice, she certainly looks like a beautiful ship.

 

A couple of questions I have are:

 

I'm assuming the ship will be in US dollars?

 

Booking tours through the Celebrity website, (should we decide to) I'm also assuming that these tours are paid for in advance? What happens should we change our mind on these tours and they have been paid for in advance, or is that not possible with Celebrity?

 

Thank you for any help that you can give me, it's very much appreciated.

 

Vicki :)

 

never been with Celebrity but it has good reveiws but the currency is in USD plus the gratuities are an extra

 

they have a 123 sale still going but it supposed to stop in a couple of weeks

Edited June 5, 2014 by rkmw

[Flipper133]

Yes the Solstice is a beautiful, practical sensational ship.... so far superior to the Princess Sun class ships, you will struggle to ever go back on them again.

 

We were on Solstice last year, and going on her again in December.

 

We only took one ships tour, and that was in Cairns where we figured the timing was such that it would be best to be sure than sorry. Turns out we were right as the ship was delayed getting into Cairns (due to an air evac. off Arnhem Land).

 

We had to pre book (on line) and cost was charged straight away to our CC. (which was different to the one we nominated for our cruise account). We did not have to cancell, but according to the confirmation email I got from Celebrity, if we had to change or cancel after boarding, and were within cancellation guidelines, they would credit our onboard account. (in US$ and there could be a change fee). Cancellations and changes made prior to sailing would be credited to the CC used for payment without penalty. (Which we did with a cancelled Spa treatment)

 

I hope that makes some sense

 

cheers

Edited June 5, 2014 by Flipper133

[Lanwood]

Hi Busy Mum

So many cruises and a busy mum - you should change your log-in name to Wonder Woman.:)

 

We're doing our first Celebrity cruise also soon (frequently, but not exclusively, normally cruise Princess also)....We chose to go in Aqua class so we can enjoy the Persian garden and exclusive use of the BLU restaurant. Looking very much forward to it.

I also noticed the same as you, in that advance bookings online (speciality restaurants, etc) are requiring payment up front. I've not come across that before (yet)....We've booked the Tuscan Grill, and Murano thus far.

We got the classic drinks package included in our fare, and decided to pay the difference to upgrade it to the premium drinks package, after reading so many reviews re: the limited number of options now on the classic package.

 

Enjoy....

[HelenfromMelbourne]

I think we're on the same cruise as you, busy mum:)

We have sailed on Celebrity before, but on Summit, not Solstice. We loved the Summit, and relatives that have sailed on Holland, Princess and RCI tell us that Solstice is their favourite ship-they describe it as beautiful and very stylish.

 

On our Celebrity Summit cruise, we did not book any shore excursions through the ship-they were very pricey compared to organising it yourself. We are taking the same approach this time around-we figure that small islands shouldn't be too hard to navigate on our own.

 

I would also suggest that you wait before making bookings for specialty restaurants-quite often, significant discounts are offered once on board. We had dinner at one specialty restaurant on Summit, and were immediately offered 30% off if we booked at the other one.

 

I love these photos of Solstice from Terry, a charming poster on these boards: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

 

Looking forward to a great cruise!

[Martinjjd]

Celebrity Solstice is a wonderful ship.We travelled from Sydney to NZ in March & have booked another for March 2015 to New Caledonia.Check out the Celebrity section of Cruise Critic & search Solstice as there are lots of positive posts & certainly lots of information.We found the service & staff to be excellent.MDR food was great & Murano (specialty restaurant) was top class.We are booking the three specialty restaurant package on our next cruise.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[rugbypopsie]

Solstice is a lovely ship I am elite on Princess but this if my third time on Solstice. I like pretty much everything about Solstice except having to prepay tours, no guest laundry and having to prepay gratuities if you want anytime dining. That's a pretty short list of negatives...generally you can book your tours onboard but in the Sth Pacific that's not a hassle, laundry just factor in into your costs, we prepaid the gratuities as soon as we got onboard, we were going to pay them anyway.so no difference....

 

Enjoy.

 

Sue

[MicCanberra]

Hi fellow Canberrain,

As already mentioned the Solstice is a fantastic ship, accounts are in USD and shorex are prepaid but can be cancelled with full refund within certain timings (normally 48 hours prior) depending on the tour. Enjoy.:D

[Busy Mum]

Thanks to everyone that has responded to my questions - I'm sure we are going to love the Solstice.

 

Let the 'planning and researching' continue!! :)

 

I have seen many pictures of the Solstice and she certainly does look a stunning lady and I'm sure 9 days is not going to be long enough, may have to go on her again after that!! :D

 

Thanks again.

 

Vicki.

 

p.s. please continue to let me know your thoughts, you can never have too much info :)

[Lanwood]

I would also suggest that you wait before making bookings for specialty restaurants-quite often, significant discounts are offered once on board. We had dinner at one specialty restaurant on Summit, and were immediately offered 30% off if we booked at the other one.

 

Now ya tell me.....:D

[rugbypopsie]

Bookings made in the specialty restaurants on the first night onboard are often substantially reduced..you can celebrate the first night not the last. Bookings for the last night of the cruise are heavily booked in advance...but honestly the dining room food was of an excellent standard...the scallop cerviche was absolutely yummy hope it's on the menu for my upcoming cruise.

 

Sue (ex Canberran)