Solstice Vancouver to Honolulu - Quick Hits from our Cruise

[mrgabriel]

We sailed from Solstice from Vancouver to Honolulu - arriving in HNL on October 1. I'm going to write a full review soon but wanted to give a few quick comments/observations while still fresh in my mind. This was our 19th Celebrity cruise, 4th time on Solstice, 4th cruise since the restart. For a baseline, I used our last cruise (Silhouette TA in April/May this year) and last Solstice cruise (9 months ago - at Christmas).

 

• We were in an AQ cabin & normally sail in AQ
• The ship was pretty much full. Very few children. Average passenger age appeared to be a bit older. Many international guests.  
• Dinners: 4 in Blu, 2 in Murano, 2 in Tuscan, 1 in Le Petit Chef
• Breakfasts: 7 in Blu, 2 in OVC
• Lunches: 4 in MDR, 3 in OVC, 2 at Mast Grill
• Our AI package included Premium Beverage, Basic Wifi, Gratuities. We bought a 5-night Specialty Dining package. 

 

Food - The food in Blu was just as we remembered from our previous sailings since the restart with a couple of exceptions; there wasn't as much salmon on the menu, and I had one meal that was pitiful (risotto with chicken). Yes, I was able to order the 'everyday favourites' in Blu. Lunches in the MDR were pretty much exactly as on our last two cruises - same menus, same portions. The OVC had plenty of selections - with some being good and others meh. There was a 'special' lunch in OVC on maybe the last sea day? Lots of seafood around (shrimp, mussels) and a chocolate fondue. 

 

Service - these comments pertain to service in Blu. As I mentioned above, we were on this ship 9 months ago, and also did a crossing on Silhouette just 5 months ago. The first couple of days the service was bad. Like waiting 5 minutes to be acknowledged, another 5 for bread, another 5 for the waiter to take our orders, then getting cold food. Our waiter apologised at the end of our meal the first night by saying, "it's the first day". It wasn't a first day issue because it was just as bad at breakfast the next day, and only a bit better on day 2. By day 4, it improved a fair bit. When the maitre d' came by after our meal that day to ask how things were, I was truthful and related that service had been pretty pitiful for the first couple of days but it was improving. We had a good discussion and went over specific issues. By the end of the cruise, service was close to the level of our two most recent cruises but in the back of my mind I was mulling over how much extra we paid for the privilege to eat in Blu. 

 

Specialty Dining - no changes in specialty dining. Just the same as dozens of other meals we have had in Murano and Tuscan in the past. Without a doubt, Tuscan serves an excellent filet (and it's superior to Chateaubriand in Murano). We ate at Le Petit Chef for the first time and were pleasantly surprised. We had thought that it would be gimmicky with food that would appeal to children but it was a beautiful meal. 

 

We have one more cruise booked with X in an AQ cabin but think it may be our last time booking Aqua Class because we don't see the value. We'll see after our next cruise. At this time, we're not considering trying another cruise line. 

 

Happy to answer any questions. 

 

[Crazy planning mom]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[mrgabriel]

I somehow deleted one line from this … so I’ll add it here. 
 

There were terrible waits at Blu to get a table. It was either line up before 5:30 or don’t bother until well after 7:30. It’s getting a bit old. The hostess said that they seated 71 people between 5:30 and 5:40 one night. This is another reason why we’re thinking that Blu isn’t worth the extra money.

Edited October 4, 2023 by mrgabriel

[gordylad]

how was your weather?

[CruisinBanka]

Thanks for your review. We just returned from the Summit in Aqua and although we had an excellent service experience, we were totally disappointed with the new BLU menu along with the food quality. Most nights we ordered from the MDR menu in Blu and had a lot better dining experiences in Tuscan and Le Petite Chef, so we are now questioning the value of Aqua and will probably book Verandas with dining package in future. 

[mrgabriel]

10 hours ago, gordylad said:

how was your weather?

There was a massive storm off the Pacific coast so we wound up sailing close to the shore from Vancouver to about the middle of California before heading west. Those 3 days were windy, fairly rough and warm but not hot. The last couple of sea days were nice (about 78F/ 26C). Once around the Hawaiian Islands it warmed up (80-84F / 28-30C) and was sunny in the morning with clouds in the afternoon.  

[mrgabriel]

4 hours ago, CruisinBanka said:

Thanks for your review. We just returned from the Summit in Aqua and although we had an excellent service experience, we were totally disappointed with the new BLU menu along with the food quality. Most nights we ordered from the MDR menu in Blu and had a lot better dining experiences in Tuscan and Le Petite Chef, so we are now questioning the value of Aqua and will probably book Verandas with dining package in future. 

That’s about where we are, too.
 

My husband isn’t drinking alcohol these days  and I tend to have a couple of Cokes and  2-3  alcoholic drinks a day. Even if I drank great wine or big martinis, it still would be less expensive that AQ with AI. 
 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Even though you have listed some, I’d love to hear the top 5 hits and misses

[mrgabriel]

5 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Even though you have listed some, I’d love to hear the top 5 hits and misses

Hmmmm … here’s my attempt. 

 

Hit: the party band was The Cardinals and they were absolutely the best band I’ve heard on a ship. Good musicians, fabulous vocalist

Hit: I actually walked out of the casino with more money than I went in with. Granted, I only pay penny slots but still…

Hit: I thought the CD was entertaining.  His name was Eddie. 
Hit: The bartender in the Ensemble Lounge made an excellent old fashioned 

Hit: Basic wifi worked great! I was even able to watch YouTube 

Miss: The ship’s officers were MIA. They didn’t even walk around and visit at the Sr Officers Cocktail party. This was the first time that we didn’t speak to an officer at some point. The Captain’s Club Hostess wasn’t even talking to people at the coffee hour in Tuscan.

Miss: There were SO many rude passengers. People physically pushing you out of the way at the buffet, berating the staff, talking on FaceTime or speakerphone during meditation time, playing cards at big tables in the OVC over lunchtime. We wrote down a list of about 15 people who were completely over the top on this cruise. 

Miss: The ship needs maintenance. I give them a pass on this because I understand the precarious financial position that the company is in but it definitely needs attention soon.

Miss: Too many times it was hard to get a drink in the restaurants. I always eventually got what I wanted but like the table service in Blu, the service just wasn’t as attentive. 
Miss: I don’t know who decided what college and NFL games were worthy of showing …. 😝