We have sailed Royal Caribbean, Princess and NCL. We treated ourselves to a Celebrity cruise in December 2012, and were very disappointed. We eat only vegan meals. Celebrity advertises that they have a separate vegetarian menu with vegan options. On our prior Celebrity cruise, the Maitre D' told us "they don't have that anymore," and in spite of generous "pre-tips," the dining staff was simply not accommodating. We ate what we could at the buffet.

I wrote to Celebrity to complain and received apologies and vouchers for $200 each for a future cruise. Against my better judgment, we booked for 1/2/14. We knew that they finished the "Solstice" renovations last March and were interested to stay in a brand new AquaClass stateroom on the top deck. Most importantly, this would give us access to the new Blu restaurant.

What a difference a year makes! First, the cabin was brand new and everything was in great shape. While we had stayed in a concierge cabin last time, the cabin service was better in AquaClass. Second, the service and food in Blu made our trip. The Maitre D', waiters, assistant waiters, and wine stewards all worked as a team. They made sure that we had the regular menu and the vegetarian menu for the next day and helped modify dishes where necessary to make sure we could pre-order good vegan meals the next day. They often suggested additional dishes that were not on either menu. Read more