Solstice - March 29th Sailing

[phiflyers]

My wife and I just got back from Sailing on the Soltice the week of March 29th. I have posted a link to my photos, celebrity today programs, and some videos from our cruise below:

 

http://albums.phanfare.com/phiflyers/3696502

 

I will post a full review at a later date.

[phiflyers]

I have posted part 1 (embarkation) of our review below:

 

EMBARKATION

 

Libby and I were looking forward to beginning our journey on the Celebrity Solstice. We had booked our cruise only a couple months in advance and were very satisfied with the price that we settled on. We booked Aqua Class cabin # 1634 which is on the starboard/aft portion of the ship. We arrived at the cruise ship terminal from our hotel after a 15 minute shared van ride from the hotel. The Solstice was the first stop on the van ride and we were anxious to begin the embarkation process. This was Libby’s first cruise and my 3rd cruise, but it had been many years since the last time I went on a cruise so it was like the 1st time again for me as well. When we arrived at the cruise ship terminal at about 11:30 am they were already boarding and we were glad that we didn’t have to wait. The whole embarkation process went by very fast and we had our sea passes in hand ready to board the ship in no time. The terminal area where you receive your sea pass was huge and there was practically no wait to get checked in. After a quick jaunt up the escalator and through a gangway onto the ship we were on-board the Solstice and ready to explore everything that the beautiful ship had to offer. The first thing that we did was to go up to our floor (deck 11) and drop off our carry-on bags in the room. We had heard in previous reviews that people had gone to their state rooms to drop off their carry-on bags so we followed-suit. It was a good idea to get rid of our personal belongings because they looked like they would have been a hassle to carry around the ship with the big crowds that you are faced with on embarkation day. We went to the Oceanview Café for lunch and were amazed by the variety and quantity of food that was offered. The crowds in the café were immense and we were fortunate that we did not have to navigate them with our carry-on luggage. The food selection in the café was almost overwhelming at first, but we eventually settled in on what we wanted for lunch. After lunch we got our bearings and explored the ship some more to see what we had not seen before smorgasbord of food that is commonly known as the Oceanview Café. We were informed by the Cruise Director Drew shortly afterward our short exploration of the ship that our rooms were ready. Being that we had already been to our room to drop off our carry-on luggage we had a sneak peek what it had to offer. The amount of storage that is offered is plentiful considering that Libby and I had 4 big checked bags amongst the 2 of us. We checked out the interactive tv and the other features of the room and were pleased with everything that we saw. We found that having a balcony on a cruise ship is great as it made for a pleasant place to go to get away from everyone else on the ship. We un-packed our carry-on luggage and settled in to come up with a game plan of what we wanted to do for the evening based on what was in the “Celebrity Today” schedule. We had pre-booked dinner reservations at Tuscan Grille for tonight and were looking forward to a good first meal. Our luggage showed up bag by bag to our room very slowly and we didn’t get our last piece of luggage until 30 minutes before our 7 PM dinner reservations. Being that the last bag to arrive contained our dinner outfits, it was a slight inconvenience to say the least. We headed down to the Tuscan Grille on level 5 for our 7 PM reservation. The view from this restaurant is incredible as it sits on the aft portion of the ship and has very enjoyable views of the wake and the setting sun. Libby ordered a filet mignon and I ordered pasta. The food was very good and we left the restaurant feeling very full. It was back to the room to finish unpacking and get situated before heading to the Solstice Theatre for tonight’s show which was “Celebrity Showtime.” The show provided and interesting mix of performances and was a definite variety show of the different types of entertainment that were to come in the following week. Overall the show was ok, but Libby and I definitely notice more of an amateurish type of quality to the performers on the ship than what you would find in a theatre back home. We went back and enjoyed the comforts of our stateroom before heading to bed on our exciting first night at sea.

[librarylady19]

Thanks for the first installment - looking forward to hearing more about your Solstice adventures.

[phiflyers]

Please see below for part 2 of our cruise journal:

 

Day 1 – at Sea

 

We got up early today to go to the gym. Libby signed up for a beginner’s yoga class and I decided to do the elliptical for a little while. Being that this was the first time we had used an exercise facility on a moving ship we found it to be a little challenging. I especially found the elliptical to be difficult while the ship was in motion and it made me a little queasy at times. This would be the only day that we exercised on board as there was constantly a crowd of people waiting for open machines. We decided to spend most of the day today exploring the ship and seeing what activities it had to offer instead of laying out in the sun. One activity that we frequented on this day was Bingo. Being that we never play bingo at home, due to the fact that we have never had an interest in it, we had a great time and Libby even won a tote bag in the raffle that they have towards the end of the bingo session. We didn’t win anything during the actual bingo game itself, but the experience was fun and the bingo host (also known as Bingo Dingo) kept you entertained during the bingo session. We decided against laying out on the deck on this day because we were already a little burnt from the 2 days that we spent in Ft. Lauderdale prior to the cruise. The pool deck was packed full of people and it would have been hard to find a chair today anyways if we did choose to lie out. We spent a lot of time relaxing and enjoying some of the activities that were on the schedule for today. You could definitely either choose to keep really busy with all of the activities that were offered on this sea day or just relax and do nothing all day. We had lunch in the Oceanview Café and it was busy as always. However, the food was good for buffet food and we were able to find a good table pretty easily. Tonight’s dinner would be our first dinner in our main dining room which was known as “Blu” and we were looking forward to meeting our wait staff. This was also the first formal night and we were looking forward to getting some good pictures of ourselves dressed up. The dinner in Blu was good and the food portions were definitely just right. We are pretty picky eaters and we found the service level to be fantastic as our waiter and assistant waiter were constantly checking to see if we enjoyed the food and if there was anything that they could do to make our dining experience more enjoyable. After dinner we headed down to the Solstice Theatre to see the 2nd production show of our cruise. Tonight’s show was “Ghost Light: The Spirit of Broadway” and we went into the theatre with no clue what to expect. The show ended up being a compilation of various Broadway hits and was once again just “good.” The songs that they chose to sing were great, but the dynamics of the actor’s voices just weren’t comparable to what you find in a Broadway play. However, we understood that this was a cruise ship and enjoyed having the frequent entertainment none the less.

[jdrez100]

Hey Phiflyers, thanks for the review so far. I am sailing the solstice soon and I wanted to see some pics, but the link you provided isnt working for me. It tells me that I need to sign in, or contact you to view any of your pictures/videos. Is there a way that I can get into the site?

 

Thanks! :)

[Susie51]

Thank you for the reviews. I hope you will be able to continue posting. I wasn't able to see the pics either.

[phiflyers]

Thank you for the reviews. I hope you will be able to continue posting. I wasn't able to see the pics either.

 

Hey Phiflyers, thanks for the review so far. I am sailing the solstice soon and I wanted to see some pics, but the link you provided isnt working for me. It tells me that I need to sign in, or contact you to view any of your pictures/videos. Is there a way that I can get into the site?

 

Thanks! :)

 

Hi Susie51 & jdrez100,

 

Please try the link again and see if it works. I didnt have the album as a public album so that was probably making you login. Please let me know if it is still not working.

 

Thanks!!

[phiflyers]

Please see below for part 3 of our cruise journal:

 

Day 2 – San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

We tried sleeping in this morning, but were awoken by many different noises that we found would consistently occur around 7:30 am every morning. The noises sounded like someone scooping ice and someone rolling a cart, but they were definitely evident and something that woke me up every morning because I am a light sleeper. Libby was able to sleep through the noise and never noticed it throughout the cruise. There was a service door right across the hall from our room which may have contributed to the early morning noise, but I wasn’t able to confirm if the noise was coming from the service area or not. We were scheduled to dock in San Juan at 2 PM, but as it turns out the captain got us there about an hour early. The approach towards the San Juan pier was beautiful as it provides a great view of olde town San Juan. We spent most of the time watching the approach towards San Juan from the relaxation room in the front of the ship. The view from the relaxation room was incredible and must have been similar to what the captain was seeing as the ship approached San Juan. We book the “Canopy Tour” shore excursion in San Juan and were excited about flying through the rain forest canopy on a zip line. We met at our excursion bus and found out that the tour was packed with people. There were 2 buses full of people that had the same idea we did. The weather was gray and it was raining a little bit which made for an interesting experience on the 30 minute bus ride from the pier to the starting point of the “Canopy Tour.” Our bus driver was very informative in regards to giving us information about San Juan on our way to the starting point of the tour that it became obnoxious at times. Once we got to the rain forest there were some steep hills that the bus driver had to navigate which made for an interesting bus ride to say the least. The bus driver would turn the air conditioning off when we went up these hills for some reason or another. When we reached the last hill, which was very steep, the bus driver floored the bus in his attempt to get up the hill with no avail. The bus driver ended up breaking and sliding a little bit backwards down the hill which did not settle well with us and the rest of the passengers on the bus. By this point the rain was coming down hard and the road were definitely slick, but we didn’t expect to be sliding backwards in a tour bus on a steep hill. Everyone on the bus most likely assumed that this was standard route of the bus driver and that surely he had been through inclement weather situations on this route in the past. However, as it turns out everyone ended up getting out of the bus and walking up the remainder of the steep hill in the rain. It was an inconvenience that we were grateful did not turn into a disaster. If the bus would have kept sliding down the hill it would have definitely slammed into a house that was conveniently placed at the bottom of the steep hill. The rain eventually stopped and our bus eventually made it up the hill to meet us for our gratefully uneventful transfer back to the cruise ship pier. The “Canopy Tour” ended up being a fun excursion, but it took forever to get from platform to platform. There were a ton of people in front of our 2 busloads full of people that made for a lot of standing around while enjoying the presence of your friend, child, or significant other. Libby and I had done zip lining in the past so this was nothing new to us. However, this was our first time zip lining through the rain forest canopy and it was a very neat feeling to say the least. There were multiple platforms that were suspended from the rain forest that you zipped from and to. There was also 1 “staged” repel that takes you from 1 elevated platform to another. Even with the obnoxious crowd size we would have to say that we enjoyed our overall experience. We would not ever go back anytime soon as it is definitely a 1-time thing that does not need to be repeated anytime soon. After the uneventful 30 minute bus ride back to the pier it was great to be back on the beautiful Solstice. We went back to the room and showered in preparation for dinner in the Blu restaurant. We found the food to be good, but not great, in this restaurant on a nightly basis. The service on the other hand was excellent on a nightly basis and we found the waiter and assistant waiter consistently making sure that you are happy with your dining experience. We found that we became regulars of the shows that were shown in the Solstice theatre and tonight was no exception. David Meyer was on the docket for tonight’s performance and we were looking forward to something different. David Meyer is a performer who plays different variations of music on the “xylosynth” which is short for xylophone synthesizer. The performance was “ok” and we found David Meyer to be kind of corny. However, it was nice to have some form of entertainment in the evening after dinner whether or not it was good.

[jdrez100]

some of the greatest solstice photos i have ever seen! such great perspective! thanks for sharing

[tamsno]

Thank you for your in-depth review and sharing your pictures The music is perfect, the ship looks so beautiful and you are a lovely couple. Virgin Gorda is my favorite island!

[phiflyers]

some of the greatest solstice photos i have ever seen! such great perspective! thanks for sharing

 

jdrez100,

 

Thank you very much for the compliment on the photos. I tried to get as many good shots as possible. Hopefully you will find the ship to be as beautiful as my wife and I did.

[phiflyers]

Thank you for your in-depth review and sharing your pictures The music is perfect, the ship looks so beautiful and you are a lovely couple. Virgin Gorda is my favorite island!

 

Cindy,

 

Thank you for the compliment. We especially enjoyed Virgin Gorda as well and I will post about our experience their shortly. It was somewhat dissapointing that the ship left Tortola/Virgin Gorda so early, but we will keep the island on our short list of places to visit for future vacations.

 

Chris

[phiflyers]

Please see part 4 of our cruise journal below:

 

Day 3 – St. Maarten

We woke up this morning to find the ship docked in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. We were looking forward to a day at the beach in St. Maarten with absolutely no reason to rush back to the ship due to the fact that we weren’t scheduled to leave until 11 PM. It was odd how long we were in St. Maarten, but it made sense because our next destination (Tortola) was only a little over 90 nautical miles away. We ended up renting a car for the day in St. Maarten and driving around the island. The traffic was horrendous as there were some other cruise ships in port along with the Solstice. We ended up settling on the beach where the airplanes land (Maho Bay) and found a nice set of lounge chairs with an umbrella and a small table. It was great to see large jumbo jets take off and land all day not too far above our heads. It was also quite comical to see people stand behind the jet engines when the jets took off and get their hats blown off or sand sprayed in their face. The beach itself was great and provided a nice calm bay for swimming. We stayed in Maho Bay for the majority of the day just laying out and enjoying the scene. We headed back to the cruise ship in the afternoon and found the traffic to be even worse on the way back. However, the scenery was beautiful and we passed some great lookout points on the way back to the ship. After some t-shirt shopping in the cruise ship pier area we headed back on-board the Solstice. We always found it to be very exciting to get back on board the Solstice after being off of it all day because of the luxurious environment that it provided amongst a plethora of different things to do. We went back to the room and surprisingly enough it was already time to get ready for dinner. We had the early seating for dinner, but the nice thing about being a couple and having the early seating is that you don’t have to show up right at 6 PM. After our first night of dinner in Blu we tried to change to the late seating with no avail. However, the maitre d did give us the option of showing up for dinner later than 6 PM and we took him up on the offer. As it turns out that ended up working great because we didn’t show up for dinner until 6:45 or 7 on our remaining nights in Blu. The reason why we initially chose the 6 PM seating was because we felt that 8:30 PM was just too late. However, we felt like we got the best of both worlds by not having to show up for dinner until 6:45 or 7 PM. Dinner in Blu again tonight was good with the service being impeccable as always. Tonight was an off-nite for entertainment in the Solstice theatre so we just took it easy and wandered around the ship. We stopped by the casino and spent $10 bucks on the money hungry slots losing it all in a very short amount of time. We never gamble at home or any other time we travel, so we figured that we would try our luck with no avail in the casino. We went back to our room because it was approaching 11 PM and we wanted to see the ship push off. We would be the last ship out of St. Maarten due to the very short distance to our next destination of Tortola. After watching the ship leave the pier from our balcony we went up to the pool deck to see how the “Sizzle” party was moving along and left shortly after arriving because we were pretty tired after a long and busy day. We called it a night and were excited for what was to come in our next destination of Tortola, B.V.I.

[TomCruises]

My wife and I just got back from Sailing on the Soltice the week of March 29th. I have posted a link to my photos, celebrity today programs, and some videos from our cruise below:

 

http://albums.phanfare.com/phiflyers/3696502

 

I will post a full review at a later date.

 

We did as well! Absolutely the best !!

[phiflyers]

Day 4 – Tortola, B.V.I.

 

We woke up to find the Solstice docked in Tortola. We had to get up early today because we were scheduled to go on the ship sponsored shore excursion to the island of Virgin Gorda and inevitably to the Baths. This would end up being a very quick day in Virgin Gorda as the ship was scheduled to leave at 1:00 PM. We met at the end up the pier at took a short bus ride to the ferry that would take us to Virgin Gorda. This tour seemed to be very popular with the ship and there were multiple buses full of people that were also going to Virgin Gorda. However, the tour company was on top of everything and had us on our way to Virgin Gorda in no time. After a quick 25 minute scenic ferry ride over to Virgin Gorda were were quickly transferred to another set of multiple buses. The buses then took us to an isolated beach and everyone was allowed to swim or relax for 45 minutes. We chose the later as 45 minutes didn’t seem like long enough to go swimming. It was fairly early in the morning and many people said the water was somewhat cool anyways. We felt as though they could have eliminated this stop at the beach and spent the entire time that we were on Virgin Gorda at the Baths. After everyone was rounded up and the buses were filled we were finally on our way to the main destination of the shore excursion. It was a very interesting walk down to the actual Baths themselves and took a good amount of time with all of the people that were on the tour. There were many different sized rocks and boulders that had to be navigated and many people took their time to avoid twisting an ankle or falling down. There were a couple of options once you got down to the actual baths area. You could either stay on the main beach, which was beautiful but packed, or venture through the actual baths themselves over to Devil’s Bay Beach. We chose to be adventurous and were glad we did because it was a great experience weaving through the maze of rocks that leads you through to Devil’s Bay. We were only able to spend about 25 minutes on Devil’s Bay Beach and really didn’t want to stay there much longer because the crowds were getting pretty immense. We went back through the maze of rocks to the main Bath’s beach and went back up the trail to the meeting point for the bus to the ferry. There was a little shop at the top of the trail that we stopped by to purchase a t-shirt. We found that taking the ship sponsored shore excursion was a good move due to the limited amount of time that you are given in Tortola. After a ferry ride back to Tortola from Virgin Gorda we arrived back on the Solstice and it was already time to go. We left Tortola very soon after we boarded the ship and were on our way to our final destination of Labadee, Haiti (476 nautical miles). The ship had lots of activities on the schedule for today and we kept ourselves busy with a lot of them. We went to our first hot glass show and were amazed how 2 hours really goes by fast and how talented the gaffers on the Solstice are. It was unfortunate that the gaffers were unable to sell the pieces of glass that they made, but it made since because “The Hot Glass Show” is operated by the not-for-profit Corning Museum of Glass. A few of the glass pieces were offered during the live art auction during our last day at sea. The glass pieces went for hundreds of dollars and went towards a good cause in that they supported the education of future gaffers. After another dinner in Blue it was off to the Solstice Theatre for tonight’s production “Pulse.” Pulse started out with stomp-like introductions with many cast members banging on garbage can lids and garbage cans. The show was good, but again not great. One thing that we noticed about the entertainment in the Solstice Theatre was that the shows usually didn’t last much longer than 45 minutes so if you didn’t find the entertainment to your suiting there was not a whole lot of waiting around for the show to end. The fact that the shows were condensed was great considering that most everyone had just eaten a big meal and might be subject to occasional nodding off if the shows were to run too long. After “Pulse” it was off to see “The Liar’s Club” in the Celebrity Central theatre. We got to the theatre early and were glad that we did because it filled up fast and many people were left standing. The liars club was a hilarious event that featured 3 panelists that would have to give the definition of a word that was presented by the host. The crowd would have to pick out which panelist they thought was telling the truth. It was great because they chose words that you have never heard of and the stories that the panelists made up were fantastic. It was a great event that kept you laughing all the way until the end. A little bit of comedy was a nice way to cap off a busy day and we were spent afterwards.

[Susie51]

Thank you for your review and the tip about booking the ship's shore ex.

[phiflyers]

Day 5 – Labadee, Haiti

 

 

Our cruise was nearing the end and today was the last port of call on our itinerary before heading back to Ft.Lauderdale. We slept in as much as we could this morning as we really had no sense of urgency to tender to Labedee. The weather was perfect and the water in Labadee was as blue as ever. After a quick breakfast in Labadee we decided to get our tender tickets and see what Labadee was all about. It was a very quick tender ride to the Royal Caribbean-owned Labadee and we were on the island in no time. Right off the bat we noticed a somewhat “Disneyland” feel to Labadee. Everything was very developed for the cruise ships and they even had trams that took you around to various parts of the island. We noticed that there were plenty of activities in Labadee to keep you busy throughout the day. Also, Labadee provided plenty of places to just lie out and enjoy the day if that is what suited you. However, if you wanted a chair with a nice spot in the shade you definitely needed to be prepared to be surrounded by a bunch of people as most of these spots were full. We also noticed that the beach attendants would set-up the chairs for you and would not allow you to set-up the chairs yourself without putting up a fight. It seemed to be typical that once bringing you a chair and setting it up, the beach attendant would not leave until you gave them some type of monetary compensation. Be prepared to tip the beach attendants if they do set-up a chair for you as they are pretty steadfast in their ways and will not leave until they are compensated accordingly. After touring everything that we wanted to see on Labadee we decided it would be best to head back to the ship. We decided that it wasn’t really worth it to fight the crowds in Labadee when we could enjoy the ship in near solitude. Returning to the ship turned out to be a great idea as it was pretty desolate and provided a nice break from the vast crowds that you are normally faced with in certain areas on-board the solstice. We had lunch at the mast bar and spent most of the afternoon lounging by the pool. We also took many of our pictures of the ship this afternoon due to the unordinary emptiness of the ship. This turned out to be a great relaxing day and we are grateful that we ended up leaving Labadee. Tonight was the 2nd and final formal night of the cruise and we were excited about getting some good pictures of ourselves taken by the cruise ship photographers. Tonight would also be our last dinner in our assigned restaurant Blu as we had dinner reservations in the specialty restaurant Murano tomorrow night. Dinner was good once again and our final dinner service in Blu was as impeccable as it was every other night. After dinner we went to “The Hot Glass Show” because we enjoyed the previous days show so much. Once again, 2 hours at “The Hot Glass Show” truly goes by in no time as it is mesmerizing to watch the Gaffers make their various glass pieces. During this particular glass show they made a fish, jug, and a mug. We skipped the early showing of “Solstice: The Show” to see the glass show and instead went to the 10:50 showing of “Solstice: The Show.” We had heard from many people that “Solstice: The Show” was the best production of the week and were excited for what was to come. The show ended up being “good” and was a definite knock-off of Cirque Du Soleil. There were many acrobatic scenes throughout the show and they used the same cast members from the other shows for the various different roles in this show. The acrobatic acts that the actors accomplished on a moving ship were great, but the fact that the show was so similar to Cirque du Soleil provided somewhat of a disappointment. Overall, the show was good but we definitely were not used to going to the late show and left a few minutes before the end to go back to our stateroom. We called it a night and were looking forward to our last full day on the Solstice.

[Susie51]

I was able to view your pics, and they are wonderful. The music you chose was very nice, also

[phiflyers]

I was able to view your pics, and they are wonderful. The music you chose was very nice, also

 

 

Thank you!!! We really had a great time and are looking forward to our next cruise vacation. The only complaint I had was that the time just went by too fast. A 10 night cruise seems like it would be more ideal.

[sealover155]

Absolutely lovely, balanced, thoughtful review. And, like everyone else, your pictures and commpanying music were appreciated. You have a great eye.

 

So glad you had a good time. I agree, 7-day cruises are just never quite long enough. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions of the cruise and the ship and of course the beautiful photos.

[phiflyers]

Absolutely lovely, balanced, thoughtful review. And, like everyone else, your pictures and commpanying music were appreciated. You have a great eye.

 

So glad you had a good time. I agree, 7-day cruises are just never quite long enough. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions of the cruise and the ship and of course the beautiful photos.

 

Sealover155,

 

Thank you for the compliment!! We are thinking of doing a Mediterranean cruise on our next vacation as everything really looks beautiful over there.

[phiflyers]

Day 6 – At Sea

 

Today was sadly our last full day on the Solstice and we were looking forward to a very full day of activities as well as a tour of the bridge. Like the first sea day, you could either choose to be as busy or lazy as you wanted to be. We chose to stay pretty busy and take advantage of the cornucopia of activities that the ship had to offer. This first thing on our schedule was a tour of the navigational bridge. We had received an invitation the previous night asking us to meet at a certain location for a tour of the bridge. We had heard from previous people that had sailed on the Solstice to go to the guest services area on the 1st day aboard the ship and request to be put on a list for the tour of the bridge. The 1st thing that we did once we got on the Solstice was indeed request to be put on the list for the tour of the bridge and it seemingly worked out. It was very neat to see all of the navigational equipment on the bridge and we definitely found it to be well worth our time. The tour of the bridge lasted approximately 30 minutes and no cameras or video cameras were allowed for security reasons. After the tour of the bridge we meandered over to the ships t-shirt sale that they were having today up on the pool deck. The t-shirts are normally very expensive so we definitely recommend waiting until the last day at sea before purchasing a Solstice t-shirt. I believe the sale was 2 t-shirts for the price of 1, and it was a seemingly popular sale as we had to weave our way through multiple people to get the t-shirts that we wanted. After our interesting experience buying t-shirts we decided to try our luck at Bingo once again. We had tried Bingo on the previous day but had yet to win so we decided to try our luck again today since the jackpot was set to be paid out. We came close to winning in Bingo once again, but left empty handed none the less. However, the bingo jackpot was not paid out so we decided that we would come back and try our luck again in the afternoon bingo session to attempt winning the jackpot. It was already time for lunch after Bingo and we decided to try “Bistro on Five.” The Bistro charges a $5 cover charge per person, but the food was delicious and abundant like every other restaurant on the Solstice. The desert crepes in the Bistro were especially delicious and definitely worth forking over $5 for. Next, we attended the “Life at Sea – Behind the “Sea-ns” question and answer session. We were always curious as to what the life was like on-board for the various crew members and found this session to be very interesting. The cruise director and the activity director answered many questions that were posed to them and basically summed up everything that we had questions about. The employees who work on these cruise ships are truly dedicated to the work that they do and this was emphasized in this session. After the interesting behind the scenes session we decided to attend the last art auction on the ship. At the glass show that we attended on the previous day the gaffers mentioned that they would be auctioning off a few glass pieces and we were curious to see just how much they would go for. As it turns out one of the glass pieces went for $600 to our bewilderment. The proceeds from the auction went to a good cause in that they would support the education of future gaffers for future Celebrity Solstice line ships. However, we never imagined that one piece of glass that is normally given away for free in a raffle would sell at an auction for $600. We left the art auction empty handed as originally intended and headed over to the Solstice Theatre for the final jackpot bingo. The jackpot was to be paid out this afternoon and we were anxious to win it after losing at many previous sessions. Unfortunately we ended up coming 1 number away from winning the jackpot, but someone called Bingo before our final number was called. Bingo ended up being one of our favorite activities on the ship as the host did a great job of keeping you entertained even while playing a game as mundane as bingo. Today had really flown by and it was already time to got back the room and get ready for our final dinner on-board the Solstice. We had reservations in the specialty restaurant Murano and were looking forward to a delicious meal. Murano had a great vibe to it as the décor definitely made the atmosphere very elegant. There was no view of the ocean in Murano, but the atmosphere definitely made up for this single lacking feature. We both had the filet for dinner and it was definitely the most delicious filet that we had on the Solstice. The waiter prepares the filet tableside which was a nice touch. After a great dinner in Murano we moseyed down towards the Solstice Theatre for the last performance of the cruise. Tonight’s performance in the Solstice Theatre was another variety show that tied all of the week’s previous performances together. The variety show in the Solstice Theatre was a great way to cap off the weeks entertainment. After seeing all of the entertainment that was offered on the Solstice we came to the conclusion that the “Ocean’s Four: A Capella” group was the most talented. Ocean’s Four was a group of very talented singers that definitely seemed to have the most dynamic voices on-board. We headed back to the room after the variety show and were exhausted. As it turns out we were so busy throughout the day that we did not have a chance to pack. We packed everything hurriedly and went to bed as we were in for an early morning of disembarkation.

[sealover155]

Sealover155,

 

Thank you for the compliment!! We are thinking of doing a Mediterranean cruise on our next vacation as everything really looks beautiful over there.

 

You and your camera would have a fine time with the fabulous architecture, ruins, and amazing physical beauty of the Mediterranean countries. We've been on 4 Celebrity cruises to the Med and have another planned for November. If possible, try to go slightly off season, for the most relaxing time.