Solstice and Other Revolutions Postponed

[dkjretired]

57 minutes ago, Wansbrough said:

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.

We saw quite a few people that we knew but we had the advantage of being on the ship on the last Alaska cruise that year

[hcat]

We just processed  a "Lift and Shift" to Reflection for early 2022.  We were on her  a number of years ago...not our fav ship but the dates worked out.

 

How was  she looking  as of  the last sailings?  

We enjoyed BLU, carved out of the mdr,  and will now be assigned to Luminae.  Am I correct in  assuming the kitchen is sep from mdr but one can order from mdr menu due to proximity???

[wrk2cruise]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

We just processed  a "Lift and Shift" to Reflection for early 2022.  We were on her  a number of years ago...not our fav ship but the dates worked out.

 

How was  she looking  as of  the last sailings?  

We enjoyed BLU, carved out of the mdr,  and will now be assigned to Luminae.  Am I correct in  assuming the kitchen is sep from mdr but one can order from mdr menu due to proximity???

 

We were on Reflection in March prior to the shutdown in a Suite.  The ship was in fine shape.  BLU on "S" class ships are stand alone on Deck 5 down by Tuscan Grille.   Luminae is what was carved from the MDR on Deck 3 port side.  Luminae has it's own section in the MDR galley.  The Luminae waiters actually have to go through the MDR to get to the galley so we try not to have them make special trips.   Yes you can order off the MDR menu in Luminae on Reflection.   The only issue on Reflection is there are more suites than on the other S class ships and Luminae is not larger so it can be busier at peak times.

[hcat]

Thanks for info  about Reflection and Luminae,

How were the other  restaurants ?

Maybe we can also try BLU once or twice, subject to there being space available.

 

As I mentioned,  Reflection was not our fav ship due to the increased number of passengers and  some parts of the layout that were different from other S class ships,....the gym and Solarium  are on diff levels and the circular aft bar cuts the aft  area in half. Those concerns are less important now, and  the  dates worked for us.   We hope to enjoy the sea days out on our  aft balcony  and do alot of walking on outside decks.

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by hcat

[lemons]

On 8/27/2020 at 1:43 PM, 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...

 

 

Totally agree with everything you say here . Love the S class ships and the Solstice was in great shape for our TP sailing also.

[hcat]

I  enjoy S Class , esp Silhouette, and loved EDGE on our 2 cruises on her. 

 

Dh was happy to hear  we moved to Reflection from Connie...he was not a fan of EDGE. He is not excited about APEX either...

[NMTraveller]

On 8/27/2020 at 12:43 PM, 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...

 

 

We love the S class and avoid the E class.

[Wansbrough]

I've not been on here much recently, I can't bring myself to thinking about cruising. I do have a question though, are there any photos of what a Hoppenized S' class cabin looks like? I am curious to see what the difference is.

[WonderMan3]

9 hours ago, Wansbrough said:

I've not been on here much recently, I can't bring myself to thinking about cruising. I do have a question though, are there any photos of what a Hoppenized S' class cabin looks like? I am curious to see what the difference is.

 

 

[chemmo]

On 8/31/2020 at 11:42 AM, hcat said:

Thanks for info  about Reflection and Luminae,

How were the other  restaurants ?

Maybe we can also try BLU once or twice, subject to there being space available.

 

As I mentioned,  Reflection was not our fav ship due to the increased number of passengers and  some parts of the layout that were different from other S class ships,....the gym and Solarium  are on diff levels and the circular aft bar cuts the aft  area in half. Those concerns are less important now, and  the  dates worked for us.   We hope to enjoy the sea days out on our  aft balcony  and do alot of walking on outside decks.

 

 

 

When we cruised on Reflection we only noticed the extra passengers poolside and in the buffet on sea days.  On sea days we would avoid sitting by the pools. We would go for a swim in the Solarium leaving our clothes just on the side then drip dry walking to the sunset bar for a drink then go to the Porch for lunch. The Porch really was a lovely place for lunch and worth paying for. After we made the most of our balcony!

 

If you wish to dine in Blu avoid peak times and definitely pre arrange through your butler or the M’D. We mainly dined in the speciality restaurants and did see queuing at Blu 7.30ish...

[chemmo]

On 8/31/2020 at 11:42 AM, hcat said:

Thanks for info  about Reflection and Luminae,

How were the other  restaurants ?

 

 

We were in a RS so dined in the speciality restaurants multiple times. Food and service were very good. 

 

The Porch and Sushi we see as lunchtime venues or evening venues after a busy day (perhaps if you have had a large lunch on land...).

 

LPC, a bit of fun. Thoroughly enjoyed the first time, novelty not there on return visits.

 

Lawn Club Grill, as it says...large portions of grilled food. First visit we ordered far too much. Nice place to dine if you are overnighting in a port as there is less breeze...

 

Murano’s exactly the same as on other S class ships. Our favourite.

 

Tuscan, quieter than on other ships. I don’t know if this was just on our cruise or a general thing in that most guests perhaps only want to pay for one ‘grill’ type steak meal so on Reflection go for the novelty of Lawn Grill...

 

We pre booked all our speciality dining through the shore side concierge. We did have to make one late change mid cruise as there was a pay for ‘dine with an officer’ event in Tuscan.

 

After talking to other suite guests in Michael’s there were some issues re booking some of the speciality restaurants from about half way through the cruise as Murano’s and  Lawn Grill were fully booked. The concierge did try to get suite guests in but struggled. We also believe there were no discounts for Murano’s or Lawn Grill during the full cruise but plenty for Tuscan and Le Petit Chef...I would suggest if you plan to try the speciality restaurants to perhaps look at a 3 night package then on boarding immediately reserve Lawn Grill and Murano’s (one for one night and one for two depending on your preference). Then later in the cruise look for discounts if you wish to visit the others. Remember you can ask your butler to find out if there are any discounts.

 

Luminae is a nice restaurant and service is good. We never want to dine in the same restaurant every night of the cruise, however, so slotting in a few speciality visits can make sense. We do find the menu quite restricted. We also find the seating a bit too close if you are dining at busy times. Whilst it can be nice to chat with others while eating it is nice to have the option not to...You are used to Blu so you will understand what I mean. We did explain to the M’D that we preferred a quieter spot and he did try to accommodate, however, at peak time there isn’t really a quiet spot. We did find Luminae a bit busier on our few visits than we had on Equinox and Eclipse.

 

We really enjoyed our Reflection cruise. The additional speciality dining venues are a nice option. Issues re ‘busy’ can be resolved by considering your dining time, pool time...

 

We would have no hesitation to cruise on her again! However at the moment I would probably happily cruise in a gravy boat!

Edited September 3, 2020 by chemmo

[Wansbrough]

14 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

 

 

Thanks for the link but its all CGI and what X would like you to see, not what is there in reality. I don't actually recall seeing a Verandah cabin either.

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, Wansbrough said:

 

Thanks for the link but its all CGI and what X would like you to see, not what is there in reality. I don't actually recall seeing a Verandah cabin either.

That wasn’t CGI. That was video taken on the ship after the revolution updates.

[phoenix_dream]

16 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

When we cruised on Reflection we only noticed the extra passengers poolside and in the buffet on sea days.  On sea days we would avoid sitting by the pools. We would go for a swim in the Solarium leaving our clothes just on the side then drip dry walking to the sunset bar for a drink then go to the Porch for lunch. The Porch really was a lovely place for lunch and worth paying for. After we made the most of our balcony!

 

If you wish to dine in Blu avoid peak times and definitely pre arrange through your butler or the M’D. We mainly dined in the speciality restaurants and did see queuing at Blu 7.30ish...

We were AQ passengers and had a lot of issues getting seated in Blu.  There was rarely a time from 6:30-8:30 or so when there were fewer than 10 couples waiting in line.  It was ridiculous!  No offense meant to you as you were within guidelines, but I think on Reflection in particular they should no longer allow suite guests in.  I knew from talking to our waiter that it was the significant number of suite guests who were causing all the long lines.  Technically, it is supposed to be suite guests on a space available basis but the maitre d' at the time would never say no to the suite guests, as most Celebrity employees won't.  It's just not fair to those who booked AQ.  If they stuck to the 'space available' guidelines I couldn't care less.  But since they won't, this needs to change for Reflection and also for the revolutionized ships who added extra AQ cabins

[wrk2cruise]

I understand your frustration with Blu on Reflection.  Those suite guests were probably avoiding the same overcrowding in Luminae.    Reflection has almost double the number of suites of all other S class ships but Luminae is the same size.

[George C]

We cruised infinity this year and last and I seen a few things that would benefit from a upgrade but certainly would not stop me from cruising her again. We loved micheals and the little bar there not sure how the new retreat will be , I sure it will be ok though. Having new outside retreat area two decks above the pool doesn’t interest me much. 

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

We were AQ passengers and had a lot of issues getting seated in Blu.  There was rarely a time from 6:30-8:30 or so when there were fewer than 10 couples waiting in line.  It was ridiculous!  No offense meant to you as you were within guidelines, but I think on Reflection in particular they should no longer allow suite guests in.  I knew from talking to our waiter that it was the significant number of suite guests who were causing all the long lines.  Technically, it is supposed to be suite guests on a space available basis but the maitre d' at the time would never say no to the suite guests, as most Celebrity employees won't.  It's just not fair to those who booked AQ.  If they stuck to the 'space available' guidelines I couldn't care less.  But since they won't, this needs to change for Reflection and also for the revolutionized ships who added extra AQ cabins

 

We didn’t (and don’t ever) dine in Blu...I was advising hcat that I had seen queuing and suggested she avoided peak times and recommended that if she wished to dine there she pre arranged it rather than just turn up.

 

Totally understand your feelings re suite guests dining in Blu. I don’t think the issue is caused by suite guests trying to avoid queuing for Luminae, we never saw a significant queue there. I think the three reasons why suite guests sometimes want to dine in Blu are...

 

They have friends in Aqua they want to dine with. All can dine in Blu for free but Luminae has a significant charge.

 

Lack of satisfaction with the Luminae menu. Whilst some love the Luminae menu others (us included) find it limited. On nights they don’t like the Luminae menu and don’t want to simply order from the MDR menu Blu is a cost free option.

 

Suite guests may be considering booking Aqua for their next cruise and want to give Blu a try.

 

Totally understand your feeling re suite guests. Whilst I don’t generally like to see suite guests loosing ‘perks’ this is one (particularly on Reflection) that perhaps needs looking at. Perhaps it could be worded that  ‘suite guests are welcome to dine in Blu before 6.30 and after 8.30’...Alternatively it could be ‘Suite guests can dine by arrangement in Blu’ where a fixed limited number of suite bookings are agreed on. This would prevent suite guests being allowed to just turn up. The M’D could offer bookings then outside the peak times and be able to more assertively say no without risking offending a suite guest. Just a thought...

 

 

 

[Wansbrough]

On 9/3/2020 at 11:14 PM, WonderMan3 said:

That wasn’t CGI. That was video taken on the ship after the revolution updates.

 

 

Photos and details of the refit were publicly announced on the Celebrity website 17th December 2019.

 

Here's just a sneak peek of what you can expect onboard...

 

A Sneak Peek at Revolutionised Celebrity Silhouette®

 

There are some rather similar looking images to the ones in your YouTube link.......

 

Silhouette refit started in January 2020 and took 42 days finishing at the end of February.....

 

 You'll be telling me the earth is flat next. 😉

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, Wansbrough said:

 

 

Photos and details of the refit were publicly announced on the Celebrity website 17th December 2019.

 

Here's just a sneak peek of what you can expect onboard...

 

A Sneak Peek at Revolutionised Celebrity Silhouette®

 

There are some rather similar looking images to the ones in your YouTube link.......

 

Silhouette refit started in January 2020 and took 42 days finishing at the end of February.....

 

 You'll be telling me the earth is flat next. 😉

 

The video was from May. Crew members were onboard well after the final passengers left in March. You can see flags waving in the wind and a crew member moving around in one of the shots. Believe whatever you want. You seem intent on arguing so please find someone else to do that with.

[C-Dragons]

1 minute ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

The video was from May. Crew members were onboard well after the final passengers left in March. You can see flags waving in the wind and a crew member moving around in one of the shots. Believe whatever you want.

I saw the video that X released pre-revolution, and you could tell that the pictures were CGI.

The video you posted is definitely live footage. Thanks for sharing.

[bigbenboys]

I'm looking forward to seeing the changes Celebrity has made to Millie in June 2021. Thank you @WonderMan3 for the video of Silhouette. Glad to see the sky suite has a real table on the balcony and great looking bar in the Retreat. I'm going to go check out where Silhouette will be cursing fall 2021.

We have cruise on Reflection in suites and in aqua class. Never remember having to wait. When cruising and dining in Luminae or Blu we try and show up about the same time each night so we get the same table and staff each evening. If we dining else where we tell the staff so they wont save our table.

[chemmo]

19 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

I'm looking forward to seeing the changes Celebrity has made to Millie in June 2021. Thank you @WonderMan3 for the video of Silhouette. Glad to see the sky suite has a real table on the balcony and great looking bar in the Retreat. I'm going to go check out where Silhouette will be cursing fall 2021.

We have cruise on Reflection in suites and in aqua class. Never remember having to wait. When cruising and dining in Luminae or Blu we try and show up about the same time each night so we get the same table and staff each evening. If we dining else where we tell the staff so they wont save our table.

 

Silhouette is scheduled to be cruising from Southampton in  Autumn 2021, mainly in a Southerly direction (Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands). 

 

Our cruise in September 2021 now has no suite availability at all. I think lots of U.K. citizens reluctant to book flights at present have gone for an option where until final payment they do not need to commit financially to further costs (us included).

 

We are really looking forward to cruising on Silhouette (we should have been on her October this year)...We loved the extra restaurants on Reflection which Silhouette has and are also looking forward to a real retreat deck having only experienced the partially completed one on Equinox.