Solstice Review 1/11-1/25 B2B

[ssCRUISERS]

A little background on who we are, a married couple in our mid to late 40s.This was our sixth cruise fifth one on Celebrity. We decided early on that seven days would be to short so we did our first B2B itinerary. The sailings we were on were the 11th and 18th. I will not break down each cruise although they had completely different vibes.

We stayed at the Cocobelle Resort for a few days prior to sailing. This is a no frills motel 2 blocks from the beach off A1A and Vistamar Blvd. This is a very clean and completely remodeled place to stay. (B+)

We left our hotel at 11:15 and were on the ship by 12:15 with our champagne in hand, truly the smoothest boarding we have ever experienced. Kudos to you Celebrity (A+)

After boarding we proceeded to our room to drop off our carryon's, an inside cabin 1148, that was located just forward of the aft elevators.

We had read many negative reviews regarding the closest space so were a bit nervous having packed for an 18 day vacation. Trust me, we are the classic over packers.

There was plenty of room to put everything we brought away, all in an organized manner.

We are clutter free freaks so this was an excellent finding for us.

The room as has been mentioned in many other reviews has a very nice bathroom, with a large and powerful shower. The cabin was very well appointed with a very comfy bed, that we would enjoy greatly over the next two weeks. I especially like the interactive TV. A+

Now on the food part of our cruise which is one of the main reasons we have been loyal Celebrity.

The dinning room is very elegant with very comfortable seating; our table was the last to leave many nights and my backside never felt weary This part is always tricky as food tastes are so subjective, a little background on us. My wife and I love to cook and prepare 99% of our meals at home, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We stopped paying for restaurants' years ago as we were generally disappointed.

Our feeling is the quality of food in the dinning room has been slipping since our first Celebrity cruise a few years ago.

I would say the food in the dining room was hit and miss throughout the two weeks, some dishes were very good, and others missed badly. I found the biggest drop in quality was in the fish entrees and salads. This used to be a very strong point in the dining room for us and Celebrity.

Service was very slow some nights, but I can not fault the wait staff, I believe that they are understaffed.

On our second cruise we were told by our waiter that Celebrity has complicated the dinning room by adding different plates for different dishes. The waiter can only carry like size plates from the kitchen, so multiple trips must be made by the staff. The wait staff as always was eager to please (A)

Overall food in the dining room we felt is getting on par with RCL. (B)

Another disappointment for us was the Spa Café for lunch. Gone are all those delicious plates we have grown to love on the Millennium class ships. We stopped eating there after a few try's. (C-)

Now back on the positive note, Celebrity has really upgraded there buffet food.

This is usually not our first option for dining but we felt everything we tried was very good to excellent.

They have added a stir-fry station, multiple carving stations, along with a new station layout that makes this space much more efficient than other Celebrity ship. A

We also felt that the poolside grill hit the spot on many days, many new salads here that were very tasty. (A)

(Specialty Restaurants) We were able to try all 3 and liked 2 out 3 very much. Silk Harvest (A) and Tuscan (A) stood out but we were disappointed in Murano. If you are used to the pay dinning rooms on the Millennium class ships you may be disappointed at Murano. ©

Bistro on 5 was a nice space for a quiet lunch. We both had a nice bowl of soup, lunch crepes then finished with some dessert crepes. Nice change of pace and worth the 5 bucks (B)

The ship is a very beautiful vessel which is full of quality materials with a high attention to detail.

There are many comfortable spaces located around the ship to relax and socialize.

For a large ship it is easy to get around and is organized in a very logical manner.

Someone did there homework, Great job Celebrity!!!

The pool area was crowded on sea days which are usually the case, and I presume this happens more on shorter cruise itineraries The sound system around the pool area was first class ,and was a joy for our walks in the morning.

All lounge chairs are padded on every deck, along with lots of other comfy furniture from beds to nesting type chairs. There were plenty of sun or shade spaces depending on what you were looking for.

We did like the lawn club and found this deck a nice place to get away from the crowds.

The sunset bar was one of our outside favorites to chill out at.

Entertainment was the best of any ship we have sailed. The shows, the musicians' that played throughout the ship throughout the day and night made for a very lively ship with all music tastes covered.

All bars aboard are a thing of beauty with the most notable change being the Martini bar, very loud and happening.

Not going to get into the ports as we mainly went for the ship.

Overall we had a great cruise experience and met many new friends and will defiantly sail Celebrity again. (Equinox 2010). We did not have enough time to experience everything in 14 days aboard this ship so this should give you an idea of how much this ship has to offer. Those that have sailed Celebrity before may notice the changes in the dinning room and spa café that we noticed, other first time Celebrity cruisers may not.

Not a deal breaker for us yet, but they are getting closer to the other mainstream cruise lines everyday it seems.

Hope everyone has a great year.

Happy Sailing………..

[Wandering Writer]

Sounds like it was a good time! We sail on Sunday and I hope to post with pictures on my blog http://karenrobbins.blogspot.com

 

Sad to hear your last comment about Celebrity getting closer to the other cruise lines. I wish they all would keep themselves unique and give us cruisers a choice. We like different cruise lines for different reasons--itineraries, ships, atmosphere, entertainment/education, and of course food!

 

Smiles,

Karen

[ellbon]

Scott and Sandy

 

Great Review! In Blu we had some interesting plates too. but food came out fairly fast-sometimes to fast. The soup spoon was huge. I did like Aqua cafe for lunch -i loved the salmon has they did not overcook it like in Blu.

 

Now I know why i never saw you i never went to Sunset bar except for sail aways. I was on Solatice deck during the day and at night in MC.

 

i did like the buffet when I was there but prefer room service or the mast grill for meals. if i went ot the buffet i carried back my food to the cabin or pool chair.

 

Since this was my first Celebrity cruise i was in love and will see you next Jan.

 

I also enjoyed being in AQ class in general.

[martel]

A little background on who we are, a married couple in our mid to late 40s.This was our sixth cruise fifth one on Celebrity. We decided early on that seven days would be to short so we did our first B2B itinerary. The sailings we were on were the 11th and 18th. I will not break down each cruise although they had completely different vibes.

We stayed at the Cocobelle Resort for a few days prior to sailing. This is a no frills motel 2 blocks from the beach off A1A and Vistamar Blvd. This is a very clean and completely remodeled place to stay. (B+)

 

We left our hotel at 11:15 and were on the ship by 12:15 with our champagne in hand, truly the smoothest boarding we have ever experienced. Kudos to you Celebrity (A+)

After boarding we proceeded to our room to drop off our carryon's, an inside cabin 1148, that was located just forward of the aft elevators.

We had read many negative reviews regarding the closest space so were a bit nervous having packed for an 18 day vacation. Trust me, we are the classic over packers.

There was plenty of room to put everything we brought away, all in an organized manner.

We are clutter free freaks so this was an excellent finding for us.

The room as has been mentioned in many other reviews has a very nice bathroom, with a large and powerful shower. The cabin was very well appointed with a very comfy bed, that we would enjoy greatly over the next two weeks. I especially like the interactive TV. A+

 

Now on the food part of our cruise which is one of the main reasons we have been loyal Celebrity.

The dinning room is very elegant with very comfortable seating; our table was the last to leave many nights and my backside never felt weary This part is always tricky as food tastes are so subjective, a little background on us. My wife and I love to cook and prepare 99% of our meals at home, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We stopped paying for restaurants' years ago as we were generally disappointed.

Our feeling is the quality of food in the dinning room has been slipping since our first Celebrity cruise a few years ago.

I would say the food in the dining room was hit and miss throughout the two weeks, some dishes were very good, and others missed badly. I found the biggest drop in quality was in the fish entrees and salads. This used to be a very strong point in the dining room for us and Celebrity.

Service was very slow some nights, but I can not fault the wait staff, I believe that they are understaffed.

On our second cruise we were told by our waiter that Celebrity has complicated the dinning room by adding different plates for different dishes. The waiter can only carry like size plates from the kitchen, so multiple trips must be made by the staff. The wait staff as always was eager to please (A)

Overall food in the dining room we felt is getting on par with RCL. (B)

Another disappointment for us was the Spa Café for lunch. Gone are all those delicious plates we have grown to love on the Millennium class ships. We stopped eating there after a few try's. (C-)

Now back on the positive note, Celebrity has really upgraded there buffet food.

This is usually not our first option for dining but we felt everything we tried was very good to excellent.

They have added a stir-fry station, multiple carving stations, along with a new station layout that makes this space much more efficient than other Celebrity ship. A

We also felt that the poolside grill hit the spot on many days, many new salads here that were very tasty. (A)

(Specialty Restaurants) We were able to try all 3 and liked 2 out 3 very much. Silk Harvest (A) and Tuscan (A) stood out but we were disappointed in Murano. If you are used to the pay dinning rooms on the Millennium class ships you may be disappointed at Murano. ©

Bistro on 5 was a nice space for a quiet lunch. We both had a nice bowl of soup, lunch crepes then finished with some dessert crepes. Nice change of pace and worth the 5 bucks (B)

 

The ship is a very beautiful vessel which is full of quality materials with a high attention to detail.

There are many comfortable spaces located around the ship to relax and socialize.

For a large ship it is easy to get around and is organized in a very logical manner.

Someone did there homework, Great job Celebrity!!!

 

The pool area was crowded on sea days which are usually the case, and I presume this happens more on shorter cruise itineraries The sound system around the pool area was first class ,and was a joy for our walks in the morning.

All lounge chairs are padded on every deck, along with lots of other comfy furniture from beds to nesting type chairs. There were plenty of sun or shade spaces depending on what you were looking for.

We did like the lawn club and found this deck a nice place to get away from the crowds.

The sunset bar was one of our outside favorites to chill out at.

 

Entertainment was the best of any ship we have sailed. The shows, the musicians' that played throughout the ship throughout the day and night made for a very lively ship with all music tastes covered.

 

All bars aboard are a thing of beauty with the most notable change being the Martini bar, very loud and happening.

 

Not going to get into the ports as we mainly went for the ship.

 

Overall we had a great cruise experience and met many new friends and will defiantly sail Celebrity again. (Equinox 2010). We did not have enough time to experience everything in 14 days aboard this ship so this should give you an idea of how much this ship has to offer. Those that have sailed Celebrity before may notice the changes in the dinning room and spa café that we noticed, other first time Celebrity cruisers may not.

Not a deal breaker for us yet, but they are getting closer to the other mainstream cruise lines everyday it seems.

 

Hope everyone has a great year.

Happy Sailing………..

My DW and I are alo doing a B2B on Solstice on 21 Feb 2010. Did you have the same cabin for each cruise, and, if so, what happened on changeover day. We have the same cabin and hope we can leave our stuff in there. Thanks

[ssCRUISERS]

"My DW and I are alo doing a B2B on Solstice on 21 Feb 2010. Did you have the same cabin for each cruise, and, if so, what happened on changeover day. We have the same cabin and hope we can leave our stuff in there. Thanks "__________________

 

We did have the same cabin for both cruises. You can leave your cabin as is.

They had all B2Bs meet at the Bistro on 5 at 10 am to walk us thru customs.

Then we all waited for about 20 minutes together when we were let back on.

We were sitting by the pool by 11am.

 

Enjoy your cruise, Solstice is beautiful.

[ssCRUISERS]

Sounds like it was a good time! We sail on Sunday and I hope to post with pictures on my blog http://karenrobbins.blogspot.com

 

Sad to hear your last comment about Celebrity getting closer to the other cruise lines. I wish they all would keep themselves unique and give us cruisers a choice. We like different cruise lines for different reasons--itineraries, ships, atmosphere, entertainment/education, and of course food!

Smiles,

Karen

 

Look forward seeing your picture's when you get back.

Will be interested to see what you think. I agree exactly with your statement, that's what has keep us loyal to Celebrity is they were different.

 

Have a great cruise!

[ssCRUISERS]

Scott and Sandy

 

Great Review! In Blu we had some interesting plates too. but food came out fairly fast-sometimes to fast. The soup spoon was huge. I did like Aqua cafe for lunch -i loved the salmon has they did not overcook it like in Blu.

 

Now I know why i never saw you i never went to Sunset bar except for sail aways. I was on Solatice deck during the day and at night in MC.

 

i did like the buffet when I was there but prefer room service or the mast grill for meals. if i went ot the buffet i carried back my food to the cabin or pool chair.

 

Since this was my first Celebrity cruise i was in love and will see you next Jan.

 

I also enjoyed being in AQ class in general.

 

Hi Robin

 

We may try AQ on the Equinox cruise. So glad you liked Celebrity to come back again. Hopefully they are working on the menu for the Spa Cafe, we really enjoyed the food there in the past.

[ellbon]

Scott

 

i really did not love Blu and might eat some meals in the MDR. But I LOVED the ship and Celebrity to the point i might be on all 5 ships plus an Alaska cruise again. I liked it far more than princess. But i missed my internet.

 

princees gives you a computer but Ceelbrity give you a bottle of champagne and lots of bottle water. I live on water. I used the spa area a lot.

jsut watxh where the cabin is and i was near a crew door and have moved more forward. I miss my shower and my breakfast veggies. I was eating better on the ship.

 

we only have 11 months left.

[Wandering Writer]

I have been blogging about the Solstice all week while on board. Lots of pictures on my blog: Wandering Writer. We had a great time and are on our way home today ;-(

 

Karen

[Texed]

Great review SS. Great blog WW.

[lives-to-travel-er]

Gr8 review. We are looking forward to our Equinox April 2010 trip and are planning on staying pre/post at Cocobelle as well (#1 from Tripadvisor); any recommendations for restaurants in FL close to Cocobelle?

[BurgerBits]

I have been blogging about the Solstice all week while on board. Lots of pictures on my blog: Wandering Writer. We had a great time and are on our way home today ;-(

 

Karen

 

Enjoyed your blog!! Beautiful photos, too...

[mamatrouble]

I have been blogging about the Solstice all week while on board. Lots of pictures on my blog: Wandering Writer. We had a great time and are on our way home today ;-(

 

Karen

 

I just went and read some of your blogs and they are wonderful.....I just wish I could write like that.

I can't wait to be on the Equinox and you have really made it all sound so wonderful!!!

[ssCRUISERS]

Gr8 review. We are looking forward to our Equinox April 2010 trip and are planning on staying pre/post at Cocobelle as well (#1 from Tripadvisor); any recommendations for restaurants in FL close to Cocobelle?

 

We stayed at the Cocobelle for a few days before our Solstice trip.

Nice clean updated rooms with a fairly close location to the beach.

I would highly recommend Casablanca for dinning. It is within walking distance about six or so blocks south of Cocobelle on A1A.

You may want to make reservations as it is a very popular place.