Live (kind of) from the Solstice 2/4-2/11

[Reisdawg]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

@abbydancer Thanks for the review!  Could you do us non-suite peasants a huge favor and look in the app, tonight's MDR menu and see if the beef wellington is gone?  Just heard one data point that tonight is Chic, there's lobster on the menu but now the wellington is gone

I am on the next sailing and I do not see Beef Wellington listed for any day on the MDR menus. 

[abbydancer2003]

6 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

@abbydancer Thanks for the review!  Could you do us non-suite peasants a huge favor and look in the app, tonight's MDR menu and see if the beef wellington is gone?  Just heard one data point that tonight is Chic, there's lobster on the menu but now the wellington is gone

No Wellington.  For what it's worth, I haven't seen Prime Rib on any menu either.

[Guindalf]

No Wellington or Prime Rib on any menus last week.

[abbydancer2003]

Today is Mazatlan, our first stop.  We woke up to coffee and tea from our butler, and got dressed in time for breakfast before heading out.

 

We were meeting a tour that I’d booked called “Bites of the Barrios”.  It met in the Plaza Machado, ie the plaza that the blue ends at.  (Yikes on that last sentence).

 

We arrived at the meeting place on time, and met a couple from the Discovery Princess there.  Two other couples and the guide, Eduardo, arrived, we signed waivers and headed to one of the ubiquitous open air taxis.  

 

From there, we drove to our first stop, a street taco stand.  

 

We were all given a choice of several toppings.  One of them was a stew called barrio.  Traditional birria is a goat meat stew, but they had beef.  Beth and I both thought it was good, and for a drink we opted for a coke.  

 

Next stop was another taco stand, but known for their seafood soup.  While most people had that, we opted for beef and potato tacos. The meat wasn’t as good as the first stop but there was a red sauce on them that was very good.

 

From there we went to a local tortilla store.  Eduardo explained how they make tortillas and explained a difference between fresh and packaged.  In fresh tortillas, the corn is mashed and made directly into dough and the tortillas are made from that, rather than corn meal.  We were each given one to try and the corn taste was very clear.  (On our previous PV tours, we visited the tortilla stores, but didn’t get a taste.  This was better).

 

From there, we went to a fresh fish store along the water.  They get the fish directly from the local fishermen who fish near the beach line.  We also learned that most smoked marlin is smoked with liquid smoke.  However, here, they smoke using a smoker.  We all got a taste, and while I don’t like fish, I did take a small piece.  It wasn’t very fishy, and the smoke flavor was good, but one taste was enough.

 

After that we went over to the shrimp market.  We’d driven by it on our city tour in December 2021. The sellers sell different shrimp depending on the season.  We went to a shop across the street that had dried shrimp and we tasted that as well.

 

From there, it was grand almost finale of the tour.  It was at a restaurant called Cenaduria Chayito.  It was a family house and they opened as a restaurant and it became very popular.  We got a platter with a dried beef dish, a pork dish, some tortilla chips with cream and some refried beens.  We also got a nice orange soda type drink.  It was all delicious.

 

 

After that, we finished with a visit to a micro brewery.  On the way, we stopped for Eduarto to get those of us who didn’t drink beer a cononut milkshake, which was good (I don’t like beer, Beth does).

The brewery was Tres Isles, and they make four brews.  Beth said it was possibly the best beer she’s ever had.

 

We were then dropped off at the Plaza.  Eduardo gave everyone advice for where they could safely walk to.  We took a group picture, and then scattered.  

 

We needed to go to the Golden Zone to meet some friends of mine from a cruise way back when at a restaurant there.  Eduardo worked out having our driver take us for 10.00.  The back of the cab seats 8 comfortably, so it was a bit of overkill for us, but it worked.

 

We drove along the water where there were lots of creative temporary statues placed along the walkway (we later learned they were for Carnival next week, which is why I don’t remember them).  It was a pretty drive, and we eventually reached the restaurant.  We quickly found my friends, and had a nice time chatting with them.  Around 3:15 we decided to take a short walk and then find a cab back.  We went into a couple of nice stores, Beth bought some vanilla, and we quickly got a smaller open air cab back.  It took about 20 minutes, including a stop by the driver to rescue a hat from the passenger in the cab ahead of us and give it to him.

 

When we got back to the pier, there was a bit of confusion about the fare, but we came to an agreement, and headed back to the shuttle across the port.

 

Once on the ship, we dropped our stuff in the room and then headed to Michaels Club for afternoon tea.  We did talk to Rich and Ron again for a while, and then headed up to the helipad for sailaway.  It was more crowded than we’ve seen in a while.  

 

After the helipad we went back to the room to dress for dinner.  We decided to go to the second production show called,  Amade, described as “how Mozart and the work of classical composers inspire, evolve and connect to modern music”.  It was just kind of odd.  Beth thought the aerialists were weak, as the woman didn’t do anything, and we both thought the music was strange.  On the way to the show, we stopped for tea and latte for the show.

 

After that, it was Silent Disco in the retreat.  We enjoyed that for about a half hour, and then went to dinner.  Tonight I had burrata cheese and filet mignon.  Interesting in the the filet preparation was very similar to the NY strip from yesterday.  Aba said the filet was much better and to get it.  So I did, and he was right.

 

 

For dessert, I had a brown butter pear dessert which was OK.

 

After dinner, we did a bit of casino fun and then went to bed.  Tomorrow is Cabo, and it’s Beth’s first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[joanne59]

Thanks for all the info-hope the remainder of the cruise goes well!! We get on board the 25th, after 5 years of exclusive RCCL cruising. Happy to be back on Celebrity for a change. 

[sdnich]

We board the Solstice March 4 and Mazatlan is the only port that we have not been to. We don’t have a tour planned but look forward to just visiting the downtown and I’m going to find the microbrewery that you went to for a brew mid day. Enjoy Cabo we have been there many times so we have decided to stay on the ship and rent an alcove for the day!! 

[abbydancer2003]

Solstice Day 5

 

Today is our second (of 2) Mexican ports, Cabo San Lucas.  Which is, of course, a tender port.

 

We were up at 8 with coffee delivered perfectly from our butler.  We got dressed and arrived in Luminae with about 30 seconds to spare.  After a quick breakfast we headed to Michael’s club to get to the tender.  I ran up to the room to get my hoodie since I was cold all day yesterday ( and today, I had it tied around my waist all day).

 

We waited for Mar to get back to lead us there, but that turned out to be taking us to the elevators and pressing the button for us.  In other words, They were past tender ticket time.  (Say that 3 times fast)

 

We were on the tender pretty quickly, but we did have to wait for it to fill.  We were soon on our way.

 

We got off at the pier and walked along the water for a while.  Beth got to experience the constant sales attempt along the water.  At some point we turned inland and walked along so city streets.  The shops there had a little higher quality stuff, and Beth got a pair of earrings and a piece of art for her wall.  

 

We then stopped at a bar for a rest and had a couple of cokes and shared a churro.  

 

I noticed that Del Sol was across the street.  I love their sunglasses, and the pair I have with me broke (lens fell out), so I thought I’d get a new pair.  So after we were done with our snack, we went over and I found a nice pair. The guy working was very nice and said I could get 15% off if I got two, but I didn’t need two, nor were there two I really liked.  They do offer a lifetime guarantee, and you can order a new pair, as long as you have proof (a code on or in the box).  FYI, when I got back on the ship I fixed the other pair by popping the lense in.

 

After that, we were done.  We headed back to the tenders and took a local tender back to the ship.  Once we dropped our stuff, we headed to the buffet.  We ordered some cokes, but decided we weren’t thrilled, so we went back to the room, and thought about room service.  We didn’t like that much either, so we decided we weren’t quite hungry, so hung out for a while and then went to the buffet.  Beth had pizza and salad, I had salad and a small fajita. 

 

After lunch we went to the pool and the hot tub for a while.  We did talk to some people in the hottub.

 

We left in time to do tea in Michael’s Club.  When we got there, there was nobody there but us, so I brought down Splendor and we played it.  I have yet to win, but I’m getting closer.

 

While we were there, other people arrived, and a couple sitting near us asked about it.  We got to talking, and it turned out they had, a few months ago, sold their apartment in New York and moved to California.  We learned that they lived in the Upper East 60s and visited back often.  The woman, Eliane, told us that she’s very close to her cousin, who still lives there and is a hand surgeon.  Beth has a good friend who’s husband is a hand surgeon there, and yup, her cousin’s wife is one of Beth’s best friends.  Small world, and the old are good that Beth will see this couple again.

 

Following time in the lounge, I decided to go to the show, a performer named Hayden Smith, an Australian performer who plays sax, guitar and sings.  Beth decided not to go, but instead go to Al Baccio and read.  The show was about 40 minutes, but it was enjoyable.

 

I collected Beth and we went to dinner.  For dinner, I had another version of Burrata cheese, the Chili Short Ribs (only OK, but the steamed buns were good.  No good choices on main dining on that, and the coconut creameaux.  That was good, but I didn’t really taste coconut.  

 

 

We ended up chatting with some people in the restaurant and then called it a night.

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Solstice Day 6 - sea day

 

Up a bit later and leisurely coffee.  Michael’s for late breakfast.  Hung out.  Then got splendor, played until lunch.

 

On our way to lunch, we saw this sign.

 

I guess they now serve lunch in the restroom.

 

We had our last lunch in Luminae, and today was one of the days that I preferred the main menu.  We both started with the baby tomato salad (I bet you didn’t know that tomatoes had babies).  It was very good.

 

 

For a main, I had the fried chicken from the main dining.  It was good as always, and for dessert I had one of my very favorites, Key Lime Pie.

 

 

After lunch, we headed to the casino, and then to the sky lounge for Friends (TV show) trivia.  I knew about 6 and pretty much guessed everything else wrong.  

 

Following that, we decided to head back to the room to finish watching All the President’s men.  (I’ve got to start bringing my own tv entertainment.

 

This evening, the folks in Michael’s club had music (they tend to do things on formal night) so we dressed and headed down to that.  We ended up chatting with a couple that we’d previously talked to about shows while in Luminae.  We decided to go to the 7pm show together.  Tonight’s show was a musical group called the Barricade Boys.  They were a quartet of mostly Brits all of whom had been in various productions of Les Mis.  They did a range of songs, and were good.

 

After the show we decided to share a table with the couple (Kirk and Teri).  At Luminae, our server was Abdul, who was their regular server.  He also was good, and we got our usual glasses of ice water.  

 

Since it was evening Chic night, they had the usual Rack of Lamb.  For a starter, I had the Caesar salad from the main, the rack of lamb (very good, but not quite as good as on the Silhouette, though).  For dessert, I had the Daniel B dessert.  It was good as always, but a little soupy.  On the other hand, they did have raspberries, which they were out of on the Silhouette.

 

After dinner, we continued chatting with them was we walked up to deck 11 together, although after that, Beth and I went back to the casino.  There’s a priest (apparently a bishop) there, and we had a nice talk with him in the casino.

 

Tomorrow is our last day and San Diego.

 

 

 

[KellyCz]

Loving this review, @abbydancer. What is Splendor?

[abbydancer2003]

1 hour ago, KellyCz said:

Loving this review, @abbydancer. What is Splendor?

Thank you.

 

Splendor is a game that is normally for up to 4 players.  It involves collecting gems to buy mines, which have victory points.  You win when you get a certain amount of victory points.  I hope that was helpful.

 

By the way, to all you hanging in with me, thank you.  We're still dealing with trying to get my mom back on her feet (literally, not just figuratively), but I will have the last day and disembarkation posted tonight.

[abbydancer2003]

Solstice Day 7 - San Diego

 

Today is, of course, our last full day, and our last port day.  

 

Because San Diego is, of course, a US port, and our first entry after Mexico, we have to do immigration/customs here.  We were put into group 1, meaning, I guess that we’ll be first called after arrival at 9.  If we miss that, we can go at anytime after 10am.

 

Our plan is to go to the zoo and meet our friend Mike there.

 

We woke up in time for breakfast, and headed out around 9:15.  We joined the group walking down the stairs off the ship and went to the terminal.  I’d say there were about 30-40 people ahead of us, but it didn’t take very long.  We ran into a security person who, trying to be helpful, asked us where we wanted to go.  We said the zoo, and he asked how we were getting there.  We said, Uber or cab, and he said that it was very expensive, and gave us public transit directions.  Turns out it was 2 buses and a trolley.  We took note of that and then Beth looked at Uber.  10.00.  So of course we went out to the street and got an Uber.  I’m sure he meant well.

 

We arrived at the zoo to lots of school groups, but the entrance line was short.  The San Diego Zoo is not exactly inexpensive (according to Beth it’s half the size and twice the price of the Bronx Zoo).  They did give us a slight discount for AAA.

 

We’d let Mike know we’d arrived, but he was about 50 minutes out, so we wandered around and did one of the loops, that included some monkeys.  We ended up fairly near the back of the park, and it was a bit of a walk to meet Mike up front.  We did, and then took a quick break for coffee.  

 

We did some walking, then stopped for ice cream.  Beth’s foot was starting to bother her, so we did one more major loop that included the red panda (actually part of the raccoon family).  Apparently their Giant Pandas moved back to China.  We also did polar bears, zebras, cheetahs and a few others.  We then took the shuttle bus back to the front, which let us see elephants and giraffes.

 

Here are some of the residents:

 

 

 

 

 

After that, around 3, we decided to leave.  Mike decided to go home, so we ubered back to the pier.  Next to the pier is the Port Side area, which had a couple of restaurants, but nothing appealed so we went back to the ship.  By this time, apparently they’d processed everyone, because the customs set up was gone. 

 

We ended up at the buffet with salad and pizza.  When we got there, there was no pizza, so I had to wait about 5-10 minutes.  However the pizza that arrived was hot, so that was good.

 

We decided to go to Michael’s club for our last afternoon tea after that.  We didn’t stay long but it was nice.

 

Following that, time for everyone’s least favorite thing - packing.  We (well, maybe just me) brought out the suitcase, and started loading it. 

 

We left in time for the show, which was Rock Show.  I like that show, and think it’s a little better than the Discovery Princess’s Rock Opera, which has a similar theme.  Slightly over miked as usual, but good, and once again, I google who did the song 21 guns (I keep forgetting it’s GreenDay).

 

After that we headed to dinner.  I started with the chop salad from the main dining.  Looked like a regular salad.

 

For my main, I had the beef sirloin, but with mashed potatoes instead of a cauliflower puree.  Less healthy, but I detest cauliflower.

(there is actually steak under there)

 

I finished with the green tea cake, with cucumber gelee and peach sorbet.  The sorbet was very good.

 

 

After dinner we paid our last visit to the casino, and headed back to the room to finish packing, put the bags out and then to bed.

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Solstice Day 8 - Disembarkation Day

 

Not much to tell here, compared to my last report (and my next I think - that will start in just over a week) - we woke up, packed up our carry ons - usually I have a small Sportsac bag, but this time i used the bag for my DVD set up (by the way, since I've been home I've got it all set).  We had breakfast in Luminae. 

 

Our assistant waiter Yuni wasn't there, but we said goodbye to our waiter Ada and assistant Helmi.  As we were finishing, some of the friends we met came and said goodbye.  And our way out, Yuni was in the lobby in her street clothes - she's heading home to Bali today.  

 

From there, we went to Michael's and waited until about 9:15 when Mar escorted us out of the lounge.  We said goodbye, and that we hope to meet again and walked of with no line.  We found our luggage quickly (suite tag) and left the terminal.  There was of course no customs or immigration, as we' did that yesterday.  Interesting, in that we did immigration, no customs.  Although, now that I think about it, it's been a while since I've had to do a customs declaration.

 

We waited about 20 minutes for our Opoli driver, since I'd set it for 10am based on last few disembarkations, we were off after 9:30, and in December it took almost 45 minutes to get out.  

 

He showed up a bit before 10, and we had an uneventful trip to the Renaissance hotel.  Beth flies home tomorrow, and my flights at 11 pm tonight, so we're spending the day here.  

 

And with that I will bid you all a fond farewell, and thank you for your patience with me.  My next one will be on the Infinity, probably starting around the 3rd of March.  We'll be gone about 33 days, and will do some land stuff as well (hopefully Iguazu falls).  Stay tuned.

[Viveash]

Really enjoyed following your cruise and thank you for the time you put into it.

We have done 5 pre-covid Celebrity cruises and enjoyed tham all.

We have two more booked in 2024 and so looking forward to them.

I will look out for your review next month on the Infinity.