Liberty vs Solstice?

[cullinp]

Hi guys,

 

I took my first cruise last November on Liberty and fell in love with her and cruising!

 

This November my DW and I return to Florida for a week in Orlando and another cruise. I'd like to cruise Early Dec, pref the week after Thanksgiving although this isn't a deal breaker.

 

My options as I see them are, Liberty, Indy and Solstice, I don't fancy a Voyager class after already sampling the Freedom class, the Solstice intrigues me though?

 

What are your thoughts on the choice I should make? Things I enjoyed about Liberty were

• Size
  
• Beauty
  
• Activities
  
• Royal Prom
  

 

How do you think we'd fare on Solstice or should I stick to what I know on RCCL?

 

Any thoughts, commments etc welcome and appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Paul.

[cot427]

Well, you woul miss the Royal Promenade, which I personally love. Size, Celebrity Solstice is pretty big, but not as big as Liberty, I beleive 118,000 or 122,000, somewhere around there.

 

As far as beauty, have you seen pictures of the Solstice? WOW. I would say Solstice wins by far. Her pictures look so pretty, I would love to see her in person.

 

I've never been on Celebrity, so I'm not sure about activities on Celebrity.

 

I would love to try the Solstice, she looks beautiful.

[Inshape]

You did not mention any of the activities that you really enjoyed on LOS. We did LOS and loved the flowrider, but the food was just average. We also did a b2b NOS cruise to make it a 9 nighter and food the food was just average too. When talking to others, they have said that X is all about food....if you like portofino food, that is how each meal is on X. The ships are gorgous...on the line of the radiance class, and the entertainment is tops too. There are a lot of seminars and other activities but just not as many as you will find on RCI ships. There is no sport activities so if you love these, skip X . But if it is fine dining and service, pure relaxing by the pools and strolling around a beautiful ship, then you will love X. We are going to give X a try next jan or feb.

Oh and I found LOS to be my least favorite ship in terms of decorations. I did not love the art work and love the art on all the voyager class ships. I also love strolling the PR but I would give that up for other things. After 7 cruises all on Voyager and one on Freedom class, it is not a prime motivator for picking a ship. The voyager class ships are a lot nicer in decor in my opinion than the freedom class if LOS is the standard. They had mostly photography and no statues in the pr and no elaborate hangings either. MOS, NOS and EOS are all nicer ships in my opinion.

[captain bob]

We just did Liberty and next will be Solstice. Should be a little more refined, better food, white glove service on another brand new ship. Slightly older crowd. Both are great , just a bit different.

[wolfganghowell]

Solstice has not been built yet so it's hard for anyone to give you an accurate comparison. We simply don't know. However her first sailing is not until December 14th - after your preferred times. Take a look at their dedicated website http://www.cruisecelebritysolstice.com. Information is being steadily released. Having cruised both lines, X is a little more refined and cultured in their presentation but its certainly not stuffy or boring. The food on X is hands down better than RCCL - at least to us and well, everyone we know who've cruised both lines. The passenger load on X is much smaller than RCCL so even though the ship may be comparable to RCCL's ships of the same tonnage, there will definitely be fewer crowds. We're booked on her already and are very excited. By the way - we are very active 40 somethings who always have a great time on X - I've seen some people on this board refer to it as "sedate". Hasn't been my experience at all. Classy, yes. Snobby, no.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Clicking on Woldgang Howell's link to the Celebrity Solstice I was surprised to see that they will have a set of suites called "Aqua Suites" that have their own dining room "Blu" just for them. Blu has assigned seating and a specialized healthy menu for those interested in heath and fitness. I take it that no other guests on the ship will be allowed to eat at Blu. I sthe converse also true. Aqua Suites guest will not be allowed to eat in the main dining room because their tables are assigned at Blu?

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this, if indeed I understand it correctly. It seems elitist to me. Perhaps I am not fully comprehending what the Solstice information says.

 

Was interested to see that ALL suites are sold out already on early Solstice sailings.

[Ahhh]

Having not been on a Liberty Class Ship yet, I cannot speak for what it is like, as others can. My favorite RCI class is Radiance Class, which has no Royal Promenade. You did not mention what particular aspects of the Liberty that you loved (other than cruising itself).

 

I personally think the Solstice is going to be magnificent. Keep in mind that most ships take a few months to "shake out the kinks", if that is a factor for you.

 

David

[TexCruise371]

We're looking at Solstice vs. Independence in January. We loved Liberty but we've talked about trying another line "just for the heck of it". We have never been disappointed on RCCL. :) Solstice looks interesting.

[cullinp]

Thankyou to everyone who took the time to respond.

 

Some real valid points in there, the one that jumps out is that I didn't explain what activities in particular I enjoyed. Well I'm a 27 yr old semi pro soccer (football to us) player from the UK. Back home I'm awful at getting up but on the ship I was up at the crack of dawn jogging around the 12th? deck before it became to busy. Loved turning that corner at the aft of the ship and having to fight round through the wind! Not your average start to the day!

 

I also rock climed (met a nice bloke from Birmingham who was the rock climbing instructor, very helpful and up for a laugh), played a 5 a side soccer tournament against Liberty of the Seas FC. Minigolfed, had a dabble on the Flowrider and thought it amazing to be able to do it at sea, just preferred to do it from behind a real speedboat!

 

Away from those energetic activities, we loved grabbing afternoon tea in Cafe Prom, sitting out on our balcony with a cold bud in those fancy aluminum cans watching the sun set (amazing), grabbing a moment alone on the helipad in the middle of the night (never seen stars so bright!).

 

I could go on but your already probably bored!!!! I think it has to be Liberty again this year for us, the dates fall so that we can cruise Western as opposed to the Eastern we did last Nov.

 

I will do X, just not yet I don't think. She is a breathtaking looking ship from the images available though isn't she!

 

2009 brings Genesis too, and I can't wait to hear what they've come up with for her!

 

Thanks again.

 

Paul.:D

[rubrrick]

Thankyou to everyone who took the time to respond.

 

Some real valid points in there, the one that jumps out is that I didn't explain what activities in particular I enjoyed. Well I'm a 27 yr old semi pro soccer (football to us) player from the UK. Back home I'm awful at getting up but on the ship I was up at the crack of dawn jogging around the 12th? deck before it became to busy. Loved turning that corner at the aft of the ship and having to fight round through the wind! Not your average start to the day!

 

I also rock climed (met a nice bloke from Birmingham who was the rock climbing instructor, very helpful and up for a laugh), played a 5 a side soccer tournament against Liberty of the Seas FC. Minigolfed, had a dabble on the Flowrider and thought it amazing to be able to do it at sea, just preferred to do it from behind a real speedboat!

 

Away from those energetic activities, we loved grabbing afternoon tea in Cafe Prom, sitting out on our balcony with a cold bud in those fancy aluminum cans watching the sun set (amazing), grabbing a moment alone on the helipad in the middle of the night (never seen stars so bright!).

 

I could go on but your already probably bored!!!! I think it has to be Liberty again this year for us, the dates fall so that we can cruise Western as opposed to the Eastern we did last Nov.

 

I will do X, just not yet I don't think. She is a breathtaking looking ship from the images available though isn't she!

 

2009 brings Genesis too, and I can't wait to hear what they've come up with for her!

 

Thanks again.

 

Paul.:D

 

Paul..........how great to be cruising at your age!! On top of that, to be thinking about different cruise lines at this point is very impressive.

 

I'm not sure that X (Celebrity) is quite right for you at your age, but without knowing exactly what you are looking for in a cruise.......it could be perfect for you!!

 

Please keep posting.......and we look forward to hearing more about your cruising experiece as time progresses.

 

Rick

[CharmedOne]

Paul,

 

We were thinking of doing Celebrity instead of RCCL. We've never cruised either line yet. So - we went with the cheaper of the two (ha ha) and picked Liberty. We're going on the LOS the week after Thanksgiving and can't wait!!!!

 

Kelly

[cullinp]

Paul..........how great to be cruising at your age!! On top of that, to be thinking about different cruise lines at this point is very impressive.

 

I'm not sure that X (Celebrity) is quite right for you at your age, but without knowing exactly what you are looking for in a cruise.......it could be perfect for you!!

 

Please keep posting.......and we look forward to hearing more about your cruising experiece as time progresses.

 

Rick

 

Hi Rick,

 

Thanks for your post, I'd done the Caribbean usual suspects on land based vacations in my early twenties, Dom Rep, St Maarten, Nassau, Grand Bahama etc. Finally I managed to talk my DW into a cruise last year as I said and I don't think I'll be able to go back to a land based vacation.

 

My best friend gets married in Cyprus in June, I'm best man and even had a dabble at getting him to change to one of the Navigator class doing the rounds in the Med!! :D

 

I totally agree with what you say about X, I wasn't sure how much more it was geared towards food and more leisurely cruising experience. I love the volume and quality of activities on RCL.

 

I have to say though that its through members of CC such as yourself that I gained so much help and information from. I look forward to sharing my cruising adventures over the coming years as well as enjoying reading about your own.

 

Cheers.

 

Paul

[cullinp]

Paul,

 

We were thinking of doing Celebrity instead of RCCL. We've never cruised either line yet. So - we went with the cheaper of the two (ha ha) and picked Liberty. We're going on the LOS the week after Thanksgiving and can't wait!!!!

 

Kelly

 

Hi Kelly,

 

Well that's great news, it'd be nice to meet up with other couples and share a couple of glasses of wine! That's a particularly good week isn't it, I remember James Andrews quoting that the Thanksgiving week they had over 1000 children on board, and the week after it was around 500.

 

I've got nothing against children (even got pulled into a treasure hunt one afternoon on my way back the cabin from the basketball court) but you know what I mean.

 

Have you joined the CruiseCritic member get together thingy?

 

Paul

[klfhngr]

Why did you have to put up a link to the Solstice!??

Now thinking of by passing the Mariner and doing the S on X instead!!

[CharmedOne]

Paul,

 

No, I haven't signed up yet but I will for the meet and greet stuff. We JUST booked the cruise (while on sale) through our TA. My sister just booked a Voyager cruise for two weeks from now and was bragging it up - but I got to then tell her HA we're going on the Libery and it's NEW. (I know, get a life - but I couldn't help myself.)

 

Is there any special thing to know about Liberty? Any secret tips? We booked an E2 but were thinking about trying to upgrade.

 

Kelly

 

PS - I've been to the UK and Italy and would love to chat about both --a Med cruise would be the ultimate.