Solstice and Other Revolutions Postponed

[cnschultzy]

I recently booked a 2022 Transpacific on Solstice. During my call with Celebrity, I asked about the ship's Revolution, which was set to take place late-2021. I wasn't surprised when the representative said that all scheduled refits have been postponed. I'm sure this isn't news to all of you - I understand that these are expensive updates during a time of uncertainty and very little revenue, but it also seems logical to take advantage of the downtime in order to complete the work. 

 

I've read quite a few recent reviews that said Solstice seems run down even though she was refurbished in 2016. I'm not a fussy traveller in general but I've only sailed on the Edge and I wonder if my husband and I have been spoiled because we thought it was an incredible ship. My booking is refundable and I have a lot of time to think on this so I'm just curious if anyone agrees with the reviewers who said Solstice was in need of work.

 

 

[Mike981]

13 minutes ago, cnschultzy said:

I understand that these are expensive updates during a time of uncertainty and very little revenue, but it also seems logical to take advantage of the downtime in order to complete the work. 

 

 

Sorry I can't answer about the quality of the ship. I don't believe there is "very little revenue", there is none and most likely going backwards. I am scheduled to go on the Constellation 1/22 and they are also due for an update. I don't expect it to happen and will be more than happy to go on her without it.

 

It's Celebrity, I'm sure it will be fantastic.

[mahdnc]

34 minutes ago, cnschultzy said:

I recently booked a 2022 Transpacific on Solstice. During my call with Celebrity, I asked about the ship's Revolution, which was set to take place late-2021. I wasn't surprised when the representative said that all scheduled refits have been postponed. I'm sure this isn't news to all of you - I understand that these are expensive updates during a time of uncertainty and very little revenue, but it also seems logical to take advantage of the downtime in order to complete the work. 

 

I've read quite a few recent reviews that said Solstice seems run down even though she was refurbished in 2016. I'm not a fussy traveller in general but I've only sailed on the Edge and I wonder if my husband and I have been spoiled because we thought it was an incredible ship. My booking is refundable and I have a lot of time to think on this so I'm just curious if anyone agrees with the reviewers who said Solstice was in need of work.

 

 

 

We sailed on Solstice in Jan of this year and we thought she was in marvelous shape.

 

Solstice in Sydney, Dec 23 2019 (2 days after the summer solstice)

Edited August 27, 2020 by mahdnc

[chemmo]

We loved our two Solstice cruises. She is the oldest of the S class ships but the lay out, lounges, space and general ambiance is not hampered by her age! Neither is the fantastic service or general Celebrity ambience...

 

If you board expecting Edge you may be disappointed, regardless of Revolution, it is a different class of ship with a totally different layout, main dining room set up etc.

 

The Revolution adds a few benefits for suite class and a few refits, it doesn’t transform the S class which many of us see as a fantastic design. Edge does have its critics in comparison to S class. I cannot comment about that as we have yet to cruise Edge...

 

Strongly suggest you YouTube some recent videos of Solstice and read more reviews. 

 

We did the TP on Solstice and it remains our favourite cruise ever...

 

Open your experience to S class ships, you may even prefer to Edge...

 

 

[cnschultzy]

21 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

 

Sorry I can't answer about the quality of the ship. I don't believe there is "very little revenue", there is none and most likely going backwards. I am scheduled to go on the Constellation 1/22 and they are also due for an update. I don't expect it to happen and will be more than happy to go on her without it.

 

It's Celebrity, I'm sure it will be fantastic.

 

I only said very little revenue instead of none because people are still paying deposits. I do agree with your point though. 

 

I also agree that Celebrity is fantastic. We fell in love with the service, experience and food and can't wait to sail again.  

Edited August 27, 2020 by cnschultzy

[cnschultzy]

14 minutes ago, chemmo said:

We loved our two Solstice cruises. She is the oldest of the S class ships but the lay out, lounges, space and general ambiance is not hampered by her age! Neither is the fantastic service or general Celebrity ambience...

 

If you board expecting Edge you may be disappointed, regardless of Revolution, it is a different class of ship with a totally different layout, main dining room set up etc.

 

The Revolution adds a few benefits for suite class and a few refits, it doesn’t transform the S class which many of us see as a fantastic design. Edge does have its critics in comparison to S class. I cannot comment about that as we have yet to cruise Edge...

 

Strongly suggest you YouTube some recent videos of Solstice and read more reviews. 

 

We did the TP on Solstice and it remains our favourite cruise ever...

 

Open your experience to S class ships, you may even prefer to Edge...

 

 

 

Thank you - I will continue reading reviews and looking for videos. I'm glad to hear that you had a great time on your TP! 

 

Perhaps it's about assessing Solstice for what she is rather than comparing her to a completely different style of ship. It's hard for me to imagine a Celebrity cruise ship being "run down" but I suppose it comes down to perspective. So many people seem to love the S Class ships and I think we'd miss out by booking the same ship over and over. I don't like to nit pick details, so as long as our stateroom is clean, comfortable and undamaged, I'm sure we'll be more than happy. I appreciate the feedback and advice.

Edited August 27, 2020 by cnschultzy

[jelayne]

We have cruised on the Edge & have another cruise booked on her.  There are things we like about the Edge and a number of things we don't like.  
 

We have been on the Solstice 4 times and had done multiple cruises on the Eclipse, Equinox & Reflection.  We love the S Class and the only thing we dislike is the fact there is no bs k of aft elevators.  
 

if we were offered the same itinerary at the same time on a E Class & a S Class we would choose the S Class. 

[bama4cruisin]

We have sailed on Solstice twice, once during her inaugural season in 2009 so she was brand new and obviously in wonderful shape.  The second time was a arch 2018, 9 years later.  I thought she was very well-maintained .  Was there a little wear?  Sure, but very, very little.  I would not hesitate at all to book another cruise on Solstice.  

[kevin1551]

I sailed on the solstice in the fall of 2018 and summer of 2019. In 2018 everything looked very well maintained, except the stateroom curtains had some holes. This seemed to be fixed in 2019. Consistently saw crew touching up paint and doing maintenance on port days. Very well maintained ship that didn't seem to show her age. I would happily sail again without any renovation.  The only thing that showed wear was the balcony furniture in our stateroom. 

[dkjretired]

3 hours ago, cnschultzy said:

I recently booked a 2022 Transpacific on Solstice. During my call with Celebrity, I asked about the ship's Revolution, which was set to take place late-2021. I wasn't surprised when the representative said that all scheduled refits have been postponed. I'm sure this isn't news to all of you - I understand that these are expensive updates during a time of uncertainty and very little revenue, but it also seems logical to take advantage of the downtime in order to complete the work. 

 

I've read quite a few recent reviews that said Solstice seems run down even though she was refurbished in 2016. I'm not a fussy traveller in general but I've only sailed on the Edge and I wonder if my husband and I have been spoiled because we thought it was an incredible ship. My booking is refundable and I have a lot of time to think on this so I'm just curious if anyone agrees with the reviewers who said Solstice was in need of work.

 

 

 

If you get a chance and have the availability, National Geographic has a 1 hour show filmed on the Solstice her first year in Australia.   It would be under either Might Ships or Mighty Cruise Ships series.  

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I sailed the Solstice a little over a year ago to Alaska and she was in fine shape.  I think what they mean by revolution is adding all those Kelly Hoppen vases that don't hold water but take up precious cabin space and her uncomfortable furniture.  And re-doing the Retreat (not an improvement, in my view) and adding some sort of outdoor Retreat area.  Actually, I prefer ships which have not yet been Hoppenized.  As far as soft goods go, those are updated all the time.  It doesn't take a dry dock to do that.

[bigbenboys]

Each of the Celebrity class ships have their good and bad. I like the S-class for warm and sunny areas. Spending more time onboard as the S-class is a larger class then the M-class. I enjoy the glassblowing on 3 of the 5 S-class ships. As far as I know Solstice still has glassblowing. You can watch or spend money and make a piece of glass. I made the green vase.

[Cruise a holic]

43 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

Each of the Celebrity class ships have their good and bad. I like the S-class for warm and sunny areas. Spending more time onboard as the S-class is a larger class then the M-class. I enjoy the glassblowing on 3 of the 5 S-class ships. As far as I know Solstice still has glassblowing. You can watch or spend money and make a piece of glass. I made the green vase.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I loved the glass blowing when they had the artists from the Corning Museum doing the glass blowing.  I used to spend hours watching them.

[Fouremco]

Just now, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I loved the glass blowing when they had the artists from the Corning Museum doing the glass blowing.  I used to spend hours watching them.

As did I. It was a real shame that they were let go in favour of yet another revenue source.

[Cruise a holic]

14 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I loved the glass blowing when they had the artists from the Corning Museum doing the glass blowing.  I used to spend hours watching them.

Actually I didn’t enjoy the almost two hour show in the heat sitting on backless bleachers.  

[GottaKnowWhen]

47 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

As did I. It was a real shame that they were let go in favour of yet another revenue source.

The replacements were mostly  (all?) prior Corning employees who had moved on to their own small shops. If you visit Corning and the surround (eg Ithaca, Watkins Glen, Elmira...) you will see quite a few such establishments. I did prefer the Corning shows but the replacement wasn’t that much of a downgrade.

[Arizona Wildcat]

The good news is all the soft goods will be replaced as needed an nd there will be no list of items waiting for repair.  9 months of so will give them time to spiff up everything.

PS -we did not like the revolutionized changes on other ships.

[ericosmith]

Sailed on her last cruise before the shutdown.  No complaints about anything other than the dining room chairs.  At least the ones at our table were absolutely nasty.  Despite that, would have loved to have been able to stay on board to complete the second half of your B2B.

[ExArkie]

On 8/27/2020 at 5:54 PM, dkjretired said:

 

If you get a chance and have the availability, National Geographic has a 1 hour show filmed on the Solstice her first year in Australia.   It would be under either Might Ships or Mighty Cruise Ships series.  

Minor correction - the production isn't from National Geographic, it is a Canadian company called Exploration Production Inc. (had to look up their name). In the US, Mighty Cruise Ships (and Mighty Ships, for merchant vessels) is aired on the Smithsonian Channel.

[ipeeinthepool]

14 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

I made the green vase.  Nice job on the vase.  

 

Edited August 29, 2020 by ipeeinthepool

[dkjretired]

2 hours ago, ExArkie said:

Minor correction - the production isn't from National Geographic, it is a Canadian company called Exploration Production Inc. (had to look up their name). In the US, Mighty Cruise Ships (and Mighty Ships, for merchant vessels) is aired on the Smithsonian Channel.

 

You are correct, my mistake......Funny thing is I watch a lot of Smithsonian.  Thanks for the correction.

[RickT]

On 8/27/2020 at 6:54 PM, dkjretired said:

 

If you get a chance and have the availability, National Geographic has a 1 hour show filmed on the Solstice her first year in Australia.   It would be under either Might Ships or Mighty Cruise Ships series.  

 

2 hours ago, ExArkie said:

Minor correction - the production isn't from National Geographic, it is a Canadian company called Exploration Production Inc. (had to look up their name). In the US, Mighty Cruise Ships (and Mighty Ships, for merchant vessels) is aired on the Smithsonian Channel.

Here is a youtube link to the episode.  The only thing I don’t like about this episode (and many of the other Mighty Ship episodes) is the fake drama about passengers missing the ship and/or some possible mechanical issue with the ship.

 

[terrydtx]

We felt the same way with two cruises booked for next year on the Infinity, which was supposed to have been Revolutionized this November. This is now on hold until after 2022.  After having everything canceled this year we will be 100% happy to be on the Infinity without the update. Its all about money, the funds Celebrity had dedicated for Revolutionizing had to be spent just keeping their business afloat and doors open with this Pandemic. I would much rather be cruising than not cruising because Celebrity went out of business Revolutionizing ships this year.

Edited August 29, 2020 by terrydtx

[Wansbrough]

On 8/29/2020 at 2:03 PM, RickT said:

 

Here is a YouTube link to the episode.  The only thing I don’t like about this episode (and many of the other Mighty Ship episodes) is the fake drama about passengers missing the ship and/or some possible mechanical issue with the ship.

 

I know what you mean, always something to get anxious about.

 

Just watched it to see if I could recognise any crew but not this time. We are due to sail on her again April 2022 and were looking forward to seen the refit which now looks like it isn't happening.