I didn't book Solstice this morning!!!

[Cathy Maneri]

I'm torn, but for the moment am sticking with the 10 day Constellation we have booked. We have two excellent aft cabins in early January 2009 on the Constellation, so can't see switching. The Spa class does sound interesting, however it looks as though the Aft cabins have probably lost the extra balcony space.

 

 

You made a good choice with the 10-night Constellation. Stick with it!

 

I did this cruise a few years back on the Summit and it's the best Caribbean cruise Celebrity offers...and I've been on many of them.

[kelmac]

My wife and I would love to sail the Solstice, but we can only cruise during holiday periods (my wife's a teacher). No way, at $1,775 per person for the lowest Cat inside cabin. We can do an 11 day cruise on the Constellation for $200 less than this 7 day cruise. (X-mas cruise 2008)

We will monitor the fares and pehaps by spring break we might consider booking this new ship?

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[wolfganghowell]

Wow - a thread of pessimists writing off the ship already. :)

 

I booked. I'm satisfied. The prices are what I expected. I'll be interested as the details are released. I promise to write a review and to encompass the good and the bad for what is a major step for X. As a shareholder, I see no problem with X changing their brand. I for one wanted a 7 day Caribbean itinerary. I actually like these ports but to me the ship is the ultimate factor.

 

I hope my fellow passengers that have booked are optimists and excited to be exploring a new cruising option.

 

Happy sailing to all of you and I hope you find a cruise that does meet your needs. No, I'm not being sarcastic. :) Differences within a brand are good for all of us.

[FinelyCruising]

I think it will be good for those who have never been on a ship larger than the M Class to wait and see as the dust settles and while some of us who are more experienced in larger sized ships come back and report and review. It will help educate those who might want to learn more about what to expect on ships this size before they leap. :)

[darrencantwait]

Wow - a thread of pessimists writing off the ship already. :)

 

I have to say, I do give kudos for the "pessimists" starting a separate thread for this, rather than coming to the "I booked Solstice this morning" thread and slamming us. Hopefully X will continue to maintain the smaller ships just as well so we all remain happy.

[Drew B]

I am not put off by the size of the ship and I'd love to try it. However, I don't think the length of the cruise or the itinerary warrants these prices. I know prices are higher because it is a new ship and a new class of ships. However, given that I've only ever sailed on 3 cruise ships in my life thus far, HUNDREDS of other ships on X and other lines are new TO ME. If I want to do a 7-day Caribbean itinerary in the Winter, I'd just as soon do it on one of those other ships at about half the cost for a comparable cabin.

 

I respect those who want to get in there, but I'd rather make my vacation dollars stretch more.

[Host Anne]

I've never been a big ship fan. We've always preferred smaller ships and really hesitated before booking Solstice this morning. But after sailing on the Libery pre-inaugural, I have to tell you that the excitement of looking forward to the launch of a new ship, especially a new class of ship, can't be beat. I learned how wonderful it is to share the excitement of a new ship with other Cruise Critic members and it's an awful lot of fun. Where the ship is going really isn't important to me in this case.

 

After being on many cruises (I should say after being very fortunate to sail on many cruises), by and large, we've enjoyed them all, even the megaships. We don't prefer them but that doesn't mean we won't sail them when the circumstances are right. Honestly, my all time worst cruise was on Zenith, the smallest ship we ever sailed on. And I've actually found that the Freedom and Liberty of the Seas actually spread out people pretty darn well so I never felt like I was in a large crowd. I don't like feeling like I'm in a floating hotel, particularly, and these ships wouldn't be my first choice, but it's not as bad as many think.

 

I'm not trying to sell anyone on trying a megaship if you don't want to and if you don't like them. That's perfectly fine. I think it will be very interesting to see what Celebrity does with this new class of ship and we're looking forward to finding out first hand.

 

By the way, I didn't find the pricing out of control for the inaugural. We booked an aft sunset veranda for $1090. I was thinking it could have been higher.

 

Happy sailing!

[caviargal]

I am not put off by the size of the ship and I'd love to try it. However, I don't think the length of the cruise or the itinerary warrants these prices. I know prices are higher because it is a new ship and a new class of ships. However, given that I've only ever sailed on 3 cruise ships in my life thus far, HUNDREDS of other ships on X and other lines are new TO ME. If I want to do a 7-day Caribbean itinerary in the Winter, I'd just as soon do it on one of those other ships at about half the cost for a comparable cabin.

 

I respect those who want to get in there, but I'd rather make my vacation dollars stretch more.

 

There were similar high prices when Freedom of the Sea debuted. Since then, things have settled down and there are some very cheap sailings on the ship, good news for those interested in a mega ship experience.

 

I daresay the same will happen with Solstice. A good strategy might be to book the cabin and sailing of choice and check often for price drops. I predict there will be plenty in the balcony category and less in Aqua as that appears to be a true departure from the norm.

[Drew B]

There were similar high prices when Freedom of the Sea debuted. Since then, things have settled down and there are some very cheap sailings on the ship, good news for those interested in a mega ship experience.

 

I daresay the same will happen with Solstice. A good strategy might be to book the cabin and sailing of choice and check often for price drops. I predict there will be plenty in the balcony category and less in Aqua as that appears to be a true departure from the norm.

 

 

You know, I thought about booking another ship in that time frame (such as Freedom OTS) thinking that a new mega ship would take the heat off. But I didn't think about Solstice's prices coming down. I feel like it's going to sell out and stay sold. I'm guessing that the first six months or so will have inflated prices until the novelty wears off. I could be wrong, though...

 

In any case, this is all hypothetical as I have NEVER booked that far out. 3 months out is a long time in my book. I have no way of knowing what will be a good time to get away workwise until I'm much closer to the date... If I booked a year or more in advance, it would have to be with the very, very, very strong possibility that I would eventually cancel...

[flagger]

Having sailed on FOS and an M-class ship, the size of Solstice is not what is pushing me away. I am really no longer interested in a Caribbean port and look forward to her hopefully sailing the Baltic or the Med. So I wait until the Spring of 2008 or earlier for itins to hit for post April 2009 and beyond.

 

I have not been able yet to display the deckplans anyway. I can log in using Firefox, but no deckplans come up. I try to get on using IE and it asks me for a username and password. I try to create one and it says I already have an account. FF only asks me for my CC number and zip code. Very frustrating.

 

Is there a website now that is showing the deck plans besides Celebrity?