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This was the 2nd time we were on this cruise as we had to curtail in May halfway through - this time we made it to the end and enjoyed every minute of it.
We were in Aqua Class this time, basically because the cost was almost the same as a Balcony Stateroom, and we enjoyed a number of nice benefits. We hardly ever compared our previous experience as being at the front on Deck 11 made it feel like we were on a totally different ship.
I've read quite a few of the previous reviews and i honestly don't know where some of the people were coming from - this is a fantastic ship, with beautiful features and superb service everywhere, and we were royally entertained and serviced every day. We didn't want to get off the ship at all.
We flew into Barcelona from Dublin very early in the morning but by 11.30 we were on board and relaxing awaiting our bags etc..i think at 2pm we got into our stateroom and the bags turned up not too long after that. we had signed up to the roll call meet up but we were very tired at this stage and gave it a miss.
Solstice is a large ship, but has a much nicer design, in my opinion, to many of the other ships we saw docked in Livorno, Civitaveechia, Venice etc.. Our favourite place was the Cafe al Bacio and we fully made use of our drinks package there. we also loved the Persian Garden and relaxation room and i nodded off there once or twice. We hardly ever felt the movement of the ship at any time, and overall this ship is top notch.
Our Stateroom was great, port views were excellent, and the facilities great. Aquaclass perks of iced tea drinks and afternoon canapes were totally wasted on us - who drinks that stuff? But we loved the shower!! And room service breakfast on the balcony is a real treat.
We didn't do too many of the ship activities as we were on holiday! we used the gym a few times and Andrea also did a few of the classes - one was a bit much for her and had her in agony for a few days after!!
For dining, we were in Blu. We had read all the fab reviews of this so we were expecting great things - however, we were a bit disappointed with dinner on the first 2 nights so we shifted back to the MDR. Then we alternated and suited ourselves. We grew to really like Blu, especially breakfast, but we found MDR to be more sociable and we talked easily to the tables beside us.
Service everywhere was great - people who complain will always find fault but Celebrity know how to give first class service. Our room attendants weren't very chatty but they were professional and efficient and we have only praise for them. Also the dining room staff were also really good, and off course those at Cafe al Bacio.
We thought the Entertainment was first class - "handsome" Alejandro, the cruise director, was really funny, and linked everything together so well in his unique style. All the shows were great but we enjoyed the Juggler/Comedian from the UK the best especially the unicycle sketch. The funniest event of all was the Dancing competition with the staff - it was hilarious and the creativity on show was really impressive.
We did get sucked into some Spa treatments - am i going soft? They were good but Celebrity charges too much for this. They also charge too much for photos though we did get 2 of the best ones
Our disembarkment went very smoothly and we made it home with no real issues of note.
Overall, we had a great holiday, we were looked after so well and we are now planning our next cruise to the Baltic
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