Thought on 2/18 Solstice sailing

[kwokpot]

Just disembarked from the Solstice (2/25) and here are some thoughts.

 

*The condition of the ship is immaculate. Any discussion about the ship looking tired and a dumpy is a red herring and a downright lie. 

 

*For our 2/18-25 sailing the ship's overall Inside temperature was COLD. I would estimate it varied from 64-68 degrees. People regularly wore their overcoats and at minimum sweatshirts and hoodies. The only area of the ship that wasn't cold was the casino and solarium.

 

*Service overall was excellent. We had Select anytime dining and we asked to sit at server LaToya's section every night. She's from Jamaica and was tp notch. She previously worked as a cook in the kitchen so she knew the menus inside out and would accurately describe each dish for you and give an honest opinion about each dish. 

All the other employees were also great. Unfortunately we had an inexperienced cabin attendant that was forgetful, didn't put out the required daily  paperwork, and just wasn't up to the usual Celebrity standards. We didn't give her any extra gratuities.

 

*The food overall was good and MDR dinner presentation and plating was attractive. We enjoyed breakfast in the MDR and it was fine. Lunches were at the buffet and there were many choices and the food quality overall was good. We didn't get to check out the buffet at dinnertime so I have no comments on that.

 

*The overall vibe of this cruise was strange. Our last Celebrity cruise was on the Beyond in October and it's as if we sailed on two different cruiselines. This cruise felt more like an old fashioned cruise and not a something targeted as Modern Luxury. The entertainment was all geared towards baby boomers. There was a band with a filipino singer who do music geared towards baby boomers. The poolside music was loud Caribbean style beats which is nothing like the low-key lounge music on all the E-Class ships. During silent disco it became not so silent as the DJ had a channel of music that was more appropriate for a baby boomer piano bar with people SHOUTING the words to Sweet Caroline and Journey. It was annoying as hell sitting in Cafe Al Bacio and 50-60 people shouting out Sweet Caroline in the Grand Foyer. I've never experienced a silent disco like that before on any cruiseship. 

 

*Due to the President's Week holiday the ship was pretty full at around 2,500 passengers and many more kids and teens than on the previous Solstice sailings. For that reason Quasar Disco became a nightly young adults hang out and was never used for any dance events for adults.

 

*The casino did have some brand new slot machines which was great to see. It was Packed every night and I can't remember any recent Celebrity cruise where the casino was as packed as on this cruise. All the slot machines were tight. The casino host was very nice. 

 

*I used the gym everyday and the gym on the S-class ships are bright and spacious. Unfortunately there were many broken treadmills and one of the two rowers didn't work very well.

 

*The entertainment was good/OK. The quality of the production shows for the E-Class ships are of a much higher standard. 

 

*Overall we had a great time. Puerto Vallarta remains our favorite port stop on this itinerary. We had perfect weather in all three Mexican ports, not hot,not cold,no humidity. It was a welcome change to the weather in LA pre and post cruise which was and is horrible.  I wish the ship was at a more comfortable average temperature so one wouldn't feel cold wearing shorts and a t-shirt and having to wear a hoodie and long pants so not to feel cold all seven days on the ship. 

[Silkroad]

Thanks so much for your review. I’ve been looking at a cruise on Solstice, and it’s been a bit disheartening to see the negative reviews. Fortunately, the positive reviews balance the negative. 
 

I guess some people missed the “silent” in Silent Disco. BTW thanks a lot for putting Sweet Caroline in my head😂 Arghhhh🙉 

 

Did you happen to learn why the ship was so cold?

[hcat]

nice review..thanks for sharing your thoughts. 

 

did u go to an specialty restaurants?

did you use the Solarium pool/ hot tubs? AQ spa cafe?

what did you do in Puerta Vallarta?

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for sharing your experience. We were on board the Solstice in early December and found the ship to be in great shape as well which surprised us as some on this board stated the opposite. We board again five weeks from today for a PCC. They were installing new slots on our last cruise and they were not activated until the next sailing so it will be nice to see them in action. 

[kwokpot]

9 minutes ago, hcat said:

nice review..thanks for sharing your thoughts. 

 

did u go to an specialty restaurants?

did you use the Solarium pool/ hot tubs? AQ spa cafe?

what did you do in Puerta Vallarta?

We didn't eat in any specialty restaurants. We were traveling with my sister and BIL so we did some things differently from our normal cruise routines. We didn't get to use the Solarium at all nor eat at the Spa Cafe. But I did use the Complimentary sauna in the spa locker rooms every afternoon and that was a nice way to warm up. 

 

We walked out of the cruise terminal at Puerto Vallarta and got an Uber to the beginning of the Malecon. It was about $5 US before tips. We walked the whole length of the Malecon and the backtracked and checked out the Church before walking back to where we started. We tried to haul another Uber but no one picked up the ride. After 15-20 minutes we gave up and hauled a cab. We didn't have any pesos so we asked what the fare was in $USD and it was $10 to the cruise terminal. The cab took us right to The terminal entrance.

[NC58]

I do think that X with their E class ships go after a  younger hip crowd , where their S class ships cater to a more traditional cruise experience . We were on the Edge in 2019 and was hipster all the way . We go on Reflection on March 5th and seems to be traditional , which we much prefer . Like an upscale hotel with entertainment . Me likely !

[FlyingAnchor]

We also disembarked this morning and had a great cruise. To your point about the ship being tired/worn out, our cabin had some obvious wear and tear including broken closet door handles and the closet doors were installed incorrectly where they had their handles both on the right side of the door - it was just awkward opening them with the handles installed as they were. (And the one handle was falling off the door). We also had a broken drawer in the bathroom. At various points throughout the cruise I also experienced urinals and sinks in various public bathrooms taped off and in disrepair. The ship is not dumpy at all, but there is obvious wear and tear and I'd love to see the ship after its been fully Revolutionized like Equinox! 

I like a cold ship/cabin, so I enjoyed dressing in layers every day! But yes, I wore a light jacket or cardigan almost every day over my t-shirt or dress shirt (depending on time of day). The weather was also cool so we barely used our balcony if the ship was moving. However, I was happy to have the balcony so we could run out and see the many whales/dolphins/sea lions/etc that could be spotted on this journey! 

We found the food and service in the main dining room to be underwhelming and some nights I simply didn't eat much of what I ordered because the quality was lacking. Of all of our cruises, this particular sailing had the worst main dining room food. I was especially disappointed in the MDR experience because my Equinox sailing this past September was phenomenal in the main dining room. Service and food were both outstanding. Not sure what has happened between then and now! 

 

I saw you post about the packed casino. In my opinion, Casino Bar service was the worst of all the bars on the ship, even when not busy. Additionally, on the first sea day, we were sent on a wild goose chase trying to find bottled water. After searching three full decks and five different bars we could not find a single one with bottled water. This was a major inconvenience and should be prevented. All we wanted to do was head to bed and instead we were being passed off from bar to bar and deck to deck to find the simplest of amenities...water. 

Cafe al Bacio was the best experience we've had in all of our Celebrity cruises. The crew working here were on point and provided excellent and attentive service. In contrast to your stateroom experience, our attendant was excellent. Our stateroom shower was stocked with shampoo and two bottles of conditioner. When I asked for body wash, not only did he replace one of the conditioner bottles with shower gel, he also brought us a bottle of body wash from Aqua class. It was a nice and unexpected touch that reminded us why we choose to sail Celebrity. 

We had a cabin mid-ship on deck 6. For some reason, this ship had many late night activities scheduled from 10:15-11:15pm in the Grand Foyer. We could hear the music in our cabin and it did keep us from falling asleep some nights. I sailed in this same cabin on Equinox in September and there were no late night DJ/dance parties in the Grand Foyer or noise issues in my cabin for that matter. Not sure why they chose this venue on this Solstice sailing for these events? 

In the past, its been our ritual and something we've looked forward to that we order room service and eat it on our balcony. With the new $9.95 charge for room service (beyond continental items) we ended up eating in the MDR for breakfast every morning. The service was great at breakfast and the food was good but not great. 

Overall we had an awesome vacation! But as far as our experiences on Celebrity go, this one was a miss for some reason. To your point, we agree the vibe on this cruise was different/unique/interesting compared to past experiences. There were many high points and and low points/misses certainly won't deter us from booking future cruises on Celebrity. However, it does have us contemplating upgrading our future sailings to Aqua class to get back to eating in Blu, since the main dining room was a major source of disappointment on this particular sailing. 

[FlyingAnchor]

27 minutes ago, hcat said:

did u go to an specialty restaurants?

Due to the issues we had with MDR, we went to Tuscan one night and had the best food of the cruise! It was worth every dollar we paid for it! 

[kwokpot]

4 minutes ago, FlyingAnchor said:

Cafe al Bacio was the best experience we've had in all of our Celebrity cruises.

I have to agree with this. My sister and her husband are first time Celebrity cruisers and we all enjoyed multiple coffees,teas and sweets there. We also played cards at Al Bacio and in the Ensemble Lounge. 

[Northern Aurora]

We were actually on the Solstice for what would have been a B2B2B2B in March, 2020 when the global suspension of cruising started.  What an interesting time at the Sydney in the international air terminal.  

 

We did a B2B on the Solstice in June, 2022 and another B2B in September, 2022.  The second B2B legs were booked separately so we ended up in three staterooms.  In June we were in the same Sky Suite for both legs, and in September were in both a Sky Suite and Celebrity Suite.  Our three staterooms were in good condition, but the dated decor was interesting.  We clearly had some new soft goods such as mattresses and curtains.  

 

Our overall dining experience was very positive.