Celebrity SOLSTICE (Dec 7-14, 2008)

OVERVIEW My wife and I are both in our late 20s and are avid cruisers, sailing over 20 times on multiple cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Princess, Disney and Carnival. Up until this year, Royal Caribbean has been our cruise line of choice, although we are starting to branch out and try others. We've been planning to sail on the Solstice since the initial artist renderings came out and when three extra sailings were added as a result of an early completion of the Solstice, we jumped at the chance for the low rates which were, on average $400 per person less than other sailings for a balcony cabin. We came into our sailing with high expectations, having heard rave reviews of Celebrity from our friends and colleagues back home.

ACCOMMODATIONS We sailed in a Sky Suite on deck twelve, cabin 2118. The location was great, one floor below the Oceanview Cafe and located just down the hall from the pool deck and stunning solarium. The suite itself was gorgeous. An extra long couch and coffee table near the door, a 40" Samsung LCD tv, a queen bed, a nice sized desk, plenty of storage space and an oversized bathroom adorned with granite and a rainfall showerhead. The photos of these suites don't do them justice. I was initially disappointed with the room dEcor upon seeing photos from those on the inaugural sailing, but seeing it in person is a completely different experience. These cabins are gorgeous. The one negative aspect of the location of this room is that the room stewards park their trolley outside this room, so every time you walk in or out, you're in their way. Our butler Sebastian was wonderful and really took service to the next level. He ensured we had a fresh pitcher of ice water each day, setup our balcony table for breakfast, arranged a dinner in Blu, and did a fantastic job of decorating the cabin to celebrate my wife's birthday. We enjoyed each of our interactions with Sebastian, who is one of Celebrity's hardest working employees. Read more