Currently on board Solstice -- some interesting observations

[Wine-O]

I'd be keen to know if they have the TV sound turned off during the day at the Lawn Club where they have newly installed one?

 

Phil

 

 

I've never seen it turned on. I am told by one of the crew that it is only used for lawn club movies during the day (I assume at sea) and in the evening.

[Wine-O]

That’s good news about the Mast Grill! Are any of the tables in the shade?

 

And bad news about the measured pour for the drinks package. I hope they don’t continue that.

 

There's no shade in that area, but triple the amount of tables and chairs there.

[Wine-O]

Great observations, Wine-O, thanks! Favor -- since you're talking beverages there any chance you could find a printed breakdown of the beverage packages and what drinks and mixed drinks are included? The ones I keep seeing -- such as this one: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2491731&highlight=classic+premium -- are outdated, which is too bad as they are super helpful! I know the drink limit for Classic is $8 now, and I understand certain items have been moved to the premium package. Trying to decide if I will need to upgrade. If you could get your hands on a current one, I'd be forever indebted!

 

I would wait until you get on board before you decide to upgrade -- see if they have any specials. The MDR had an entire page of wines listed for the Classic Package, and an entire page listed as Premium. Some were at $16 a glass but still on the Premium package without an extra charge.

[Wine-O]

We saw the measuring of drinks a while back and hated the idea of it....how is AQ? It was always a nice choice, is it still in your opinion in terms of service and Dining Room as a primary amenity?

 

Blu is great, and it's a great reason to upgrade to AQ.

[Wine-O]

We returnedonFeb 2 rather than Feb 3 due to cyclone inNZ. Is it docked?

 

We boarded on the 17th and missed all the cyclones. It was a little choppy on the way to Sydney last night.

 

We have to tender in Sydney today because there is only room for one big ship at the normal cruise terminal berth, and Voyager of the Seas is taking on passengers today.

[GUT2407]

The change at the cafe must be recent.

[excitedofharpenden]

I've never seen it turned on. I am told by one of the crew that it is only used for lawn club movies during the day (I assume at sea) and in the evening.

Many thanks for finding out. Much appreciated.

 

Phil

[jelayne]

We are seeing measuring of drinks on the Infinity. A few things don’t seem to be measured but things like gin, rum, scotch Vodka, etc & a mixer are measured pours.

[jagoffee]

Mike (Wine-O), good to hear from you. Thanks for the updates and enjoy the rest of your cruise. The Solstice is the ship for our next scheduled cruise. We are cruising from Honolulu to Sydney in October. It has been a long time since we were on the Solstice.

By the way, I am still saving money using the Travel Agent you suggested to me on our last TA together. I got a lot of OBC and actually left with a credit on my January cruise.

[johno1234]

Upgrade to the Premium package from the Classic. They had a 35% discount once you board, but you have to ask for it. Most offer it for the regular fee, but we asked for a discount, so we both upgraded.

Cool - but is that just a one-off ship thing or is that available on all X cruises?

[Beanb41]

That's surprising about measuring the drinks. No one measured the drinks on Solstice when I was on her a year ago - they were all very generous with the free pouring. Hope it's not something new.

 

Why is Solstice sitting in the harbour now - was that planned?

 

The Solstice tendering into Sydney yesterday was planned. She is on a Auckland to Fremantle cruise (17 days) and Sydney in this instance is just a stopover like any other port and I am advised the OPT was in use

[Beanb41]

Regarding drinks menus of what is classic and what is Premium I wouldn't bother trying to get an updated list as it changes as much as the menu. If one wants a cocktail nearly all can be obtained on the classic package by substituting spirits from one to another. The exception being if a particular spirit necessary for that cocktail ie a liqueur then that cocktail may remain premium. Generally though to have a drink off the premium package costs only around a dollar extra , martinis excepted. When one mixes orange juice or ice mixes to a particular spirit I challenge anyone to tell the difference between the premium spirit and the classic equivalent. I was talking to a lady the other day on our recent cruise who upgraded from classic to premium for a particular brand of gin which she mixed with tonic. We did a test at the bar with her preferred brand and a well respected brand off the classic package in a blind tasting and she couldn't tell the difference. Even if she could tell the difference the difference per drink would have been $1.18 and she only drank a couple of drinks a day. $2.36 for two drinks as opposed to $11.00 per day. Before upgrading ensure that the upgrade is worth the extra money you will have to pay. Over our 14 day cruise we had to pay $11 plus gratuities for drinks not on the classic package and that's for two people. For some it is worth the extra but I wonder is it value for most. Can you tell the difference between Perrier water in the glass bottle and the plain water in the plastic bottle.?

[TeeRick]

Wine-O,

We are about to leave on Solstice next week. What bar(s) have the best wine selection? We have the premium package. Cellar Masters?

[Iamthesea]

We saw the measuring of drinks a while back and hated the idea of it....how is AQ? It was always a nice choice, is it still in your opinion in terms of service and Dining Room as a primary amenity?

 

Blu is great, and it's a great reason to upgrade to AQ.

 

Loving your thoughts. Agree with most. ;)

 

We were on the cruise before yours. Service in Blu was not good. We tried going at different times from 6:30pm to almost 9:00pm and on all but one evening were sent away with an electronic pager. Never experience that before! And we have dined in Blu many, many cruises. Once we did get a table, service was sporadic. We had good waiters, and we had others that were not. There were just two of us. There were many couples, nightly, that were waiting for tables. Food for the most part was pretty good...especially the appetizers. Who are the Maitre D's for your cruise?

 

Drinks - We had the Classic Package. Just a warning that the Drink of the Day is not always on the Classic Package anymore. We found that out the hard way. Many of the DOD this time were on the Premium Package.

 

To us, Premium is not worth an upgrade unless you really drink a lot, and like higher quality liquor. We started counting up what we consumed in a normal day at sea (specialty coffee's, bottled water, frozen drinks, pre-dinner drinks, and dinner wine.) Never had enough to amount to the per day cost of the Classic package. On port days in Aus/NZ, we did not come close to drinking an amount to equal the cost. Yes, a package is easier, but...should we ever lose the Classic Package offer, we could come out a lot better by paying per drink.

 

Paying an extra dollar or two for those Premium drinks was the way to go. DH had a Bailey's almost nightly. Sometimes he was charged, while other times he was not. But we never signed a slip in Blu. We had $350 in OBC that we used for the estra drink cost, and for Specialty dining.) Until DH got sick, and had to have breathing treatments in the med center, we thought we were going to have an extra $48 in OBC that we would have to use up someplace. Instead, we had a bill of over $400. :rolleyes:

 

It was nice having those extra tables at the Mast Grill. We mostly stayed on our extra long veranda on sea days, but came up for lunch. We tried the hamburger at MG. Easy to find a seat. However, after just 30 minutes, I received a sunburn on my left arm. LOL On another try to eat at the MG, most of the tables were taken by those sitting and watching the Fiords go by. Some were conversing, some playing cards, some reading, but none eating! :mad: We ending up having to go down to the bar and ate our hamburger on the pool stools. With food and a beer from the bar, it was actually a great place to watch the Fiords. Soon, we had joining us.

[harbourside]

Is it now becoming normal to have to wait for a table in Blu. The reason I would book Aqua Class is to avoid waiting. How long is the wait.

[Muffinz]

thanks for the update - as are on Solstice 30 March and have the classic beverage pkg... there's more than enough on there to keep wife & I happy :)

[Iamthesea]

Is it now becoming normal to have to wait for a table in Blu. The reason I would book Aqua Class is to avoid waiting. How long is the wait.

 

We waited anywhere from a few minutes (a walk to the Ensemble Lounge, where they send you) to 20 or so minutes sitting in the chairs that are set up in the hallway outside of Blu.

[Wine-O]

Wine-O,

We are about to leave on Solstice next week. What bar(s) have the best wine selection? We have the premium package. Cellar Masters?

The MDR & Blu have good premium wines, along with the Cellar Masters. Silk Harvest has the absolute worst, so if you are eating there, bring one from another bar.

 

I would wait until you get on board to see for yourself and then upgrade.

[Wine-O]

Is it now becoming normal to have to wait for a table in Blu. The reason I would book Aqua Class is to avoid waiting. How long is the wait.

 

If you come at 7:30 or 8:30, little to no wait. If you desire a table near the windows, you will have a wait. If you come right after the 7:00pm show, you will have to wait as that's when everyone wants to eat. :rolleyes:

[Lisah101]

Curious about the upgrade discounts. Is this something they advertise optional on the cruise or is it like the specialty dining discount, you can ask and haggle.

[Wine-O]

Curious about the upgrade discounts. Is this something they advertise optional on the cruise or is it like the specialty dining discount, you can ask and haggle.

 

This discount is not advertised, and it may not be offered on the follow-on cruise. We were on a Bermuda cruise, and they offered a 2 for 1 upgrade to the Premium package a few weeks before, but not offered on our cruise.

[Ashland]

The drink limit for the classic is $9 on most cruises (some cruises leaving from the UK it's more because they jack up the price of drinks to include the grat). I don't think there's been a change to the packages since April 2016.

Is it $9.00 because on the website looking at the classic drink perk package for an Eclipse Dublin departure it's saying $6.00 :confused:

[TFLG]

Is it $9.00 because on the website looking at the classic drink perk package for an Eclipse Dublin departure it's saying $6.00 :confused:

 

I've did 2 cruises last year, it was $9 on both of them. On the Celebrity website under "beverage packages" it says $9. https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/onboard-packages/beverage-packages/premium-classic-and-standard

[Jon StroudUK]

Is it $9.00 because on the website looking at the classic drink perk package for an Eclipse Dublin departure it's saying $6.00 :confused:

 

 

 

The $6 limit is for the Standard drinks package. I’m not sure if this is still offered as I could only see the Classic and Premium on the Celebrity website.

 

 

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[Ashland]

Well I just rechecked my sailing again (Eclipse, Dublin May 28th) and one of the two perks listed on the ongoing sale (until tomorrow) the details of the classic beverage package does show up to $6.00 per serving...:confused::confused:

 

Could there be a difference when their giving you the perk vs purchasing it outright ??