My wife and I are retired and have been on 15 cruises. My daughter was with us as well and has also cruised many times. We like meeting and keeping a competent wait staff for the cruise and feel the dining experience is an important part of cruising. We also enjoy the social interaction at the dinner table.
We did a 15 night transatlantic on the Constellation in May and had a great experience: food, rooms, wait staff, room steward, and officers. The Constellation Captain seemed to be everywhere, always talking to passengers. The Executive Chef was also everywhere. We saw the Maiter D and Assistant Maitre D every evening at dinner. We thought the Solstice would equal or exceed our experience. Too bad the Solstice fails in most of these areas.
I have always read negative reviews with a “grain of salt” as you will. I am batting .500 with Celebrity this year. I may cruise with them again as we have October 2015 reservations??? We cancelled our December 2014 cruise.
The room was nicely laid out with great visibility. Our only complaint was the noise from the elevators and the bands playing on deck 3. Perhaps the solo performer after 10 would be a better choice.