Solstice Review

[NutsAboutGolf]

Off the Solstice on the Feb 4th-11th sailing, we stayed in AQ and wanted to write a review, supposedly it was at 53% passenger capacity.

 

San Pedro Embarkation…Showed up at 2:05pm, porters were still there and there were no passengers to be seen either outside or at check in.  There were about half dozen people at the Xray/security line but was pretty much able to walk right on.

 

On board…Immediately completed the muster station check in, then went to the room and met our cabin steward.  We requested no canapes and to empty the mini fridge during turndown.  Our AQ fitness amenities weren’t there and she explained she’s out of most things but got us a kettle bell and dumbbell.  Love the panel shower in AQ staterooms and you receive upgraded toiletries.  Status gave us free laundry but just a FYI they offered the $49.95 laundry special on the morning Day 3.

Spa..With AQ, you get spa access.  Generally we’d go to the fitness center then visit the spa, while we’re still sweaty from the gym we hit the steam room, then shower then enjoy the loungers.  I’ll usually visit the steam room a couple more times.

 

Food venue selection, did not visit the MDR or any specialties.  Most days we ate at Blu for breakfast and dinner, we did the buffet breakfast the mornings we visited Cabo due to the early arrival and the last morning as we try to squeeze in as much sleep as possible.  We visited three ports and always ate lunch and/or dinner when in port.  If you happen to be in San Diego at 4pm Ruth Chris opens and has a great happy hour.

 

OV Buffet…Breakfast was great although it could be difficult to find an open table despite it being just over half capacity.  We did all on ship lunches in the OV café, it can be pretty chaotic and difficult to find a table, yet we learned if you show up 5mins before they open (1155am) you can get a table and some stations are open.  We did one dinner in the buffet and as already reported, they have three stations open, one being pizza and pasta, one being salad and desserts and one with the very few hot food items.

Blu…Never any issues for breakfast and for dinner service was great but the dinner menu selection and quality was pretty hit or miss and more often than not was a miss.  The filet mignons which were offered on two nights were surprisingly excellent, I’d say as good as any steak I’ve had on X including specialty restaurants like Fine Class on the E-Class.

 

Overall, it was enjoyable to get away from home and out onto the sea.
 

[sunviking90]

Thanks for your review! We are sailing on her in April in CC, and eagerly awaiting news on our upgrade bid to AQ. We love the ship and have sailed on her before but only in Aqua so 🤞🏻.

[In Toronto]

Thank you for posting.

 

Although we don't go to the buffet for dinner as a rule, after reading many reports by passengers who love going to the buffet I thought that we would try our next cruise in April.

Certainly does not sound good.  Also, having chaos when the ship is 1/4 full is certainly disappointing.  

 

Did you go to the shows?   

 

Thanks.

[zanyw]

This mirrors the experience I had on the Solstice in AQ back in January.

[LaCal]

Thx for the review

 

And review on the casino or tips? 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Appreciate the review. We board a week from Saturday. Coming from the southeast, I’m a little concerned about how to pack for the weather.  Extended forecast looks chilly.  I’m used to embarking in Florida. Did you need a jacket? Hoodie? How was the a/c in your cabin?

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Appreciate the review. We board a week from Saturday. Coming from the southeast, I’m a little concerned about how to pack for the weather.  Extended forecast looks chilly.  I’m used to embarking in Florida. Did you need a jacket? Hoodie? How was the a/c in your cabin?

 

It was rarely over 70f so I would recommend at least a hoodie and it gets colder at night.  The A/C worked perfectly

[NMTraveller]

Thanks for the review.  I was wondering if Aqua was worth the upgrade for the food.  It sounds like it is somewhat better but not an escape from the cuts.

[NutsAboutGolf]

13 hours ago, In Toronto said:

Thank you for posting.

 

Although we don't go to the buffet for dinner as a rule, after reading many reports by passengers who love going to the buffet I thought that we would try our next cruise in April.

Certainly does not sound good.  Also, having chaos when the ship is 1/4 full is certainly disappointing.  

 

Did you go to the shows?   

 

Thanks.

 

I believe the chaos was because we arrive the tender port at 7am and the "early risers" does open at 6am but the full breakfast opens at 630am funneling everyone in around 630am

 

Seen most of the shows before as X has the same production shows, like Broken Strings, Rock City, etc., fleet wide (perhaps they are different on the E-Class).  Shows were done as well as any other sailing.  There wasn't a magician on this one but believe there usually is.  We had a comedian on the first night and a musical on all other nights

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

13 hours ago, LaCal said:

Thx for the review

 

And review on the casino or tips? 

 

Not sure how review the casino, mirrored any other casino visit.  Crew/Host was friendly, it did seem a bit more dead

 

Big tip is if you want a buffet lunch, try to get there at 1150am; put something down on a window table and head to the food station as many will be just starting to open

[SbbquilterUT]

12 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Appreciate the review. We board a week from Saturday. Coming from the southeast, I’m a little concerned about how to pack for the weather.  Extended forecast looks chilly.  I’m used to embarking in Florida. Did you need a jacket? Hoodie? How was the a/c in your cabin?

Sailed her twice in January - for us a sweatshirt was plenty as it was sunny but windy much of the sail until you hit Cabo.  We were in tees and pants on Catalina and in San Diego and that was comfortable for us.  Mexican ports were shirts and tees.  The biggest issue on sea days was the wind which typically is a constant on the Pacific.  Inside the ship and the Solarium were very comfortable.  Glad you are planning for this as we heard folks complaining about the temperature and not having planned for it.......

[sdnich]

13 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Appreciate the review. We board a week from Saturday. Coming from the southeast, I’m a little concerned about how to pack for the weather.  Extended forecast looks chilly.  I’m used to embarking in Florida. Did you need a jacket? Hoodie? How was the a/c in your cabin?

We are also on the same cruise as you. We live in San Diego and will be driving up to LA . We are experiencing some of coolest February weather(for Ca.) It looks like we’ll finally get to a little warmer weather when we hit Cabo at 70°! Which to me is not too warm . Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta look very nice in the 80s. I will definitely be bringing warm weather clothes for the afternoon sail away in LA !! 

[kwokpot]

32 minutes ago, SbbquilterUT said:

Sailed her twice in January - for us a sweatshirt was plenty as it was sunny but windy much of the sail until you hit Cabo.  We were in tees and pants on Catalina and in San Diego and that was comfortable for us.  Mexican ports were shirts and tees.  The biggest issue on sea days was the wind which typically is a constant on the Pacific.  Inside the ship and the Solarium were very comfortable.  Glad you are planning for this as we heard folks complaining about the temperature and not having planned for it.......

On the Solstice right now. Very different experience this week than yours last week. Due to President's Week holiday ship is pretty full. About 2500 passengers. Ship is cold. The first several days people were wearing winter coats on the ship. Many places 9b the ship the AC Is full blast, so about 65 degrees. Casino is war. Main dining room is cold, a long with Cafe al Bacio.

Casino is packed every night. Literally packed. 

Strange vibe on this cruise, not typical Celebrity Caribbean cruise vibe. Silent Disco became a signaling event with the atrium packed and all people singing to sweet Caroline and music like that- piano bar music rather than dancing music. Never had a silent disco night on any ship like that and frankly it was annoying trying to have a nice late night tea at Cafe al Bacio and having a sing-along at top volume without the music. 

 

 

[Noskill]

Thanks for the review.  We're boarding this Saturday and was wondering how fast the tendering went in Cabo?  Capacity for our cruise looks about the same as yours and we are hoping to make a non Celebrity whale watching excursion at 9:00 when the ship gets there at 7:00.  I think that's plenty of time but would love anyone who has experienced tendering in Cabo to weigh in.  Thanks again!

[NutsAboutGolf]

48 minutes ago, Noskill said:

Thanks for the review.  We're boarding this Saturday and was wondering how fast the tendering went in Cabo?  Capacity for our cruise looks about the same as yours and we are hoping to make a non Celebrity whale watching excursion at 9:00 when the ship gets there at 7:00.  I think that's plenty of time but would love anyone who has experienced tendering in Cabo to weigh in.  Thanks again!

 

They didn't have tender tickets, both those in suites and those with CC status are escorted on. Otherwise they had a first come first serve line on deck 3 and you board the tender from deck 2.  I would imagine if you get in line at 850am you'll be on the first one.  Tender ride itself is about 10mins but it takes time to load people on and get people off

[2Long2NxtCrz]

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but does Celebrity always tender in Cabo? We did the Mexican Riviera on Princess late October last year and were docked in Cabo. For our cruise on April 15th I had just assumed we'd be docked as well, but it sounds like you're on the Solstice and were tendered in. So I'm a bit confused. But it does change things as far as shore excursion scheduling and the like. Of course we don't arrive until after noon which is also different than your experience.

[edgee]

1 hour ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but does Celebrity always tender in Cabo? We did the Mexican Riviera on Princess late October last year and were docked in Cabo. For our cruise on April 15th I had just assumed we'd be docked as well, but it sounds like you're on the Solstice and were tendered in. So I'm a bit confused. But it does change things as far as shore excursion scheduling and the like. Of course we don't arrive until after noon which is also different than your experience.

[wdr59911]

We are on the Solstice Mar 11 and 18 b to b.  We were on Equinox out of FLL last month and it was our first Celebrity since COVID.  Does the Solstice have the Starlink and if so, how did it work?  On the Equinox it was just short of pathetic for speed.  Thanks for any info.....we are CC Elite+ with four hours of "high speed" internet so wondering if it is even worthwhile to trade that in for unlimited basic.  

[edgee]

3 minutes ago, wdr59911 said:

We are on the Solstice Mar 11 and 18 b to b.  We were on Equinox out of FLL last month and it was our first Celebrity since COVID.  Does the Solstice have the Starlink and if so, how did it work?  On the Equinox it was just short of pathetic for speed.  Thanks for any info.....we are CC Elite+ with four hours of "high speed" internet so wondering if it is even worthwhile to trade that in for unlimited basic.  

We just left the Solstice 4 days ago. We had Starlink and it was awesome. Very fast internet. Just like at home or in a hotel. I streamed the entire Superbowl on my computer so I could watch hi Def FOX broadcast with U.S. commercials instead of poor quality ESPN Caribbean broadcast on the ship TVs.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but does Celebrity always tender in Cabo? We did the Mexican Riviera on Princess late October last year and were docked in Cabo. For our cruise on April 15th I had just assumed we'd be docked as well, but it sounds like you're on the Solstice and were tendered in. So I'm a bit confused. But it does change things as far as shore excursion scheduling and the like. Of course we don't arrive until after noon which is also different than your experience.

 

No idea.  Perhaps only the ships that stay the night are allowed at their pier?

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, wdr59911 said:

We are on the Solstice Mar 11 and 18 b to b.  We were on Equinox out of FLL last month and it was our first Celebrity since COVID.  Does the Solstice have the Starlink and if so, how did it work?  On the Equinox it was just short of pathetic for speed.  Thanks for any info.....we are CC Elite+ with four hours of "high speed" internet so wondering if it is even worthwhile to trade that in for unlimited basic.  

 

I had premium.  It's rarely broke 3mpbs up/down but it's better in the past when it was like .5 and you couldn't do anything.  I had no problem facetiming or watching youtube videos without buffering but I didn't try down/up loading anything

[2Long2NxtCrz]

8 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

No idea.  Perhaps only the ships that stay the night are allowed at their pier?

Thanks, I'll have to see if I can find out before hand. Before I book an excursion anyway.

 

We didn't overnight on the Princess cruise, but it was a really weird day. We were only in port for like 3 hours due to a medical evacuation that forced us to turn around and backtrack for a few hours.

[SFCAcruiser]

1 hour ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

...We did the Mexican Riviera on Princess late October last year and were docked in Cabo. For our cruise on April 15th I had just assumed we'd be docked as well, but it sounds like you're on the Solstice and were tendered in....

 

This is the first report I have read about a cruise ship docking in Cabo. I am under the impression that all cruise ships anchor and use the tenders. I can't imagine where any large ship would dock in Cabo.

Are you able to provide more information about your experience, such as where the dock was located? 

[2Long2NxtCrz]

42 minutes ago, SFCAcruiser said:

 

This is the first report I have read about a cruise ship docking in Cabo. I am under the impression that all cruise ships anchor and use the tenders. I can't imagine where any large ship would dock in Cabo.

Are you able to provide more information about your experience, such as where the dock was located? 

OMG! I confused Cabo with another port... goodness, I must be cruising a lot if I blanked on the tender back to the ship!

 

LOL. I guess it wasn't all that bad, though I now remember being utterly bewildered by Princess's tender tickets which I had never heard of before and didn't get ours quick enough.

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but does Celebrity always tender in Cabo? We did the Mexican Riviera on Princess late October last year and were docked in Cabo. For our cruise on April 15th I had just assumed we'd be docked as well, but it sounds like you're on the Solstice and were tendered in. So I'm a bit confused. But it does change things as far as shore excursion scheduling and the like. Of course we don't arrive until after noon which is also different than your experience.

 

48 minutes ago, SFCAcruiser said:

 

This is the first report I have read about a cruise ship docking in Cabo. I am under the impression that all cruise ships anchor and use the tenders. I can't imagine where any large ship would dock in Cabo.

Are you able to provide more information about your experience, such as where the dock was located? 

 

Both cruisehive and whatsinport state ships will only tender while in cabo...Perhaps they made an exception due to medical emergency or you're confusing it with another port?