Celebrity Solstice - Dry dock?

[LizzGo]

Can anyone tell me if the Solstice has been refurbished or not? I’ve been reading conflicting reports. 

[jelayne]

If you mean revolutionized with the Retreat Sun Deck, new furnishing in all cabins, etc the answer is no.   Those plans were put on hold with the pandemic and there is no timeline for them to restart.  

[Northern Aurora]

We did a pair of cruises on the Solstice in June and then another pair in September.  On the four legs we were in three different staterooms.  While the Solstice hasn't been "revolutionized" all three staterooms were in great condition with clearly some new soft goods (such as mattresses and curtains).  Other areas of the ship had new sections of carpet and so forth, but the color scheme is dated.  Since there are folks who absolutely hate the Kelly Happen color schemes and furniture selections the dated color scheme isn't a serious issue.

[NutsAboutGolf]

To oversimply it, here's why you're getting conflicting reports:

REVOLUTIONIZED = X's term that they have updated the ship

DRY DOCK = Blanket terms which could include a ship being Revolutionized or could mean little to no updates passengers will notice and was only for scheduled maintenance

[Fly and Sail]

1 hour ago, LizzGo said:

Can anyone tell me if the Solstice has been refurbished or not? I’ve been reading conflicting reports. 

 

It has not. Neither Solstice or Eclipse has received any major refurbishment as of this day. Dry dock could be simple exterior stuff like repainting the hull.

[chengkp75]

4 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

Dry dock could be simple exterior stuff like repainting the hull.

I only wish that a dry dock was just to paint the hull.  Then the Chief Engineer would not have to work 18 hour days, logging tens of miles of steps around the ship, under the ship, and up and down into the dock, every day of the docking.  Every dry dock has a massive amount of mechanical maintenance, inspection, and repair, to all the systems that make a cruise ship a ship.

Edited February 4, 2023 by chengkp75

[Chardonnay Char]

We have a Solstice cruise planned for this fall.  When I go to the Celebrity site and get into deck plans for the Solstice, it shows one picture "before May 2" and another one for "After May 3."

   Anybody know what that means?  I can't see much difference except slightly different shades of color.

[NutsAboutGolf]

38 minutes ago, Chardonnay Char said:

We have a Solstice cruise planned for this fall.  When I go to the Celebrity site and get into deck plans for the Solstice, it shows one picture "before May 2" and another one for "After May 3."

   Anybody know what that means?  I can't see much difference except slightly different shades of color.

Shuffling of the stateroom categories; I heard on here all the “family rooms” (M and S class) are turning into suites but haven’t verified that 

[Jim_Iain]

Solstice has gone through normal maintenance dry docks but has not been revolutionized.   No Retreat Sundeck and Michael's Club is still the old wooden club look.  She has had a paint job and has the Blue Hull.   Cabins are also original  colors but have new nice mattresses.

 

I was on her in December and is in beautiful condition.   Actually as good or better than ships that have gone through early revolution. 

[Jim_Iain]

48 minutes ago, Chardonnay Char said:

We have a Solstice cruise planned for this fall.  When I go to the Celebrity site and get into deck plans for the Solstice, it shows one picture "before May 2" and another one for "After May 3."

   Anybody know what that means?  I can't see much difference except slightly different shades of color.

They reclassified some cabins.    Same cabin but now a higher classification.

[Cruising89143]

5 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Solstice has gone through normal maintenance dry docks but has not been revolutionized.   No Retreat Sundeck and Michael's Club is still the old wooden club look.  She has had a paint job and has the Blue Hull.   Cabins are also original  colors but have new nice mattresses.

 

I was on her in December and is in beautiful condition.   Actually as good or better than ships that have gone through early revolution. 

Agree with Jim. We were also on board the Solstice in December and after reading some rather negative comments about the ships condition prior, I was expecting to see a dump. It was far from it. The ship looks great. Very clean with a hard working crew. We’re back on in less than two months. 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, cruisingator2 said:

Agree with Jim. We were also on board the Solstice in December and after reading some rather negative comments about the ships condition prior, I was expecting to see a dump. It was far from it. The ship looks great. Very clean with a hard working crew. We’re back on in less than two months. 

 

Since I walk 10 miles a day I did lots of laps around the ship and was looking really close and really had a hard time even finding a rust spot that wasn't touched up by the next day.   Maintenance and Cleanliness was incredible, which says a lot for the crew and their attention to detail. 

 

 

[Northern Aurora]

We spent fourteen nights on board the Solstice in June 2022 and then fifteen nights in September 2022.  While that color scheme is certainly dated that ship is incredibly clean.  Clearly some soft goods have been replaced.  And the crew and staff were simply wonderful.  The ship had a happy vibe to it.  

[LizzGo]

Thanks for the replies all. And thanks for clarifying dry dock v revolutionized.  I think I had always assumed the two went hand in hand. Glad to hear that although not revolutionized still in good repair. We’ve never sailed on Solstice but I had noticed on other Celebrity ships they did a fantastic job of up keep. 

[abbydancer2003]

I got on the Solstice today and it looks great to me.  Room is nice, and the shower not getting hot was operator (me) error.  (I did get it to hot after a few minutes).

@Jim_Iain, Mar is great, as is Anastasia.

[Mark_K]

15 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I only wish that a dry dock was just to paint the hull.  Then the Chief Engineer would not have to work 18 hour days, logging tens of miles of steps around the ship, under the ship, and up and down into the dock, every day of the docking.  Every dry dock has a massive amount of mechanical maintenance, inspection, and repair, to all the systems that make a cruise ship a ship.

It could be all that stuff, but it also could be just to scrape off the barnacles.

[lakegirl16]

We spent 15 nights on the Solstice in December.  As everyone says, ship has not been revolutionized but is a beautiful ship.  Crew was amazing.  Very friendly and attentive.  I'd read many posts mentioning  the ship looking worn.  I didn't notice anything major, of course, like anything if you want to find something wrong, you can.   

[Kevin's girl]

We have cruised on the Solstice twice before. Once in her "Inaugural Season" in 2008 and again in 2018. She is a beautiful ship and we are looking forward to being on her again in September. I have noticed that she now has a blue hull. When did that happen?

[SandraA]

We were on the Solstice in October to November last year for 15 days and were disappointed with certain aspects.  It was our third cruise on the Solstice but our last was in 2019.  Our cabin had only block out curtains (instead of the usual 2 layers) so when in port we had a choice between no natural light and privacy or natural light and no privacy.  A friend's cabin also had this.  The balcony was showing its age and was in need of maintenance.  The safe stopped working after a day or so and we were surprised to be told that a replacement might not be provided since many cabins were without one.  As it happens a replacement was found somewhere. 

Food was also disappointing both in the lack of flavour & options.  Indeed they started adding a main course option that was not on the printed menu part way through the cruise. The condition of public rooms was reasonable. Staff were great as usual.  Entertainment was average in our  view.  The itinerary was great and we still had a very enjoyable time but the ship is showing it age.   

[Cruiscs]

On 2/4/2023 at 9:00 PM, Northern Aurora said:

We did a pair of cruises on the Solstice in June and then another pair in September.  On the four legs we were in three different staterooms.  While the Solstice hasn't been "revolutionized" all three staterooms were in great condition with clearly some new soft goods (such as mattresses and curtains).  Other areas of the ship had new sections of carpet and so forth, but the color scheme is dated.  Since there are folks who absolutely hate the Kelly Happen color schemes and furniture selections the dated color scheme isn't a serious issue.

What is dated color scheme?