Cabin Review

Celebrity X Modern Luxury Cruise Style! This is their new motto as seen on T.V. or the internet. If you booked an inside cabin, window, we choose a balcony. Now settle for scratchy T.P. and tissues, faded small robes, and worn out towels. Gone are the luxury aquatic spa therapy items. The room attendants were working very hard and we truly appreciated both of them. They kept our worn tired room clean. No longer do they fold towels into crafty animals. In room meals varied each day and we always ordered the same. Would receive a call to see how our breakfast was that morning. No way, would I give them the truth for fear of a breakfast (it was already cold, hard fruit and super thin bacon). The menu has up charges for better selection. The breakfast buffet proved to be our best choice. Coffee on the ship was either too strong or too weak and not always hot.

The Veranda was nice size, railing window, chairs, table was dirty and large tear in the flooring could cause a problem. Veranda scheduled to be cleaned! Oops, missed our room.

The rumor on the ship was that there (many passengers sick) stabilizer problems. This was causing severe sickness/balance problems for many on these 5 days at sea. My Husband has two knee replacements; he needed a cane and my hand to steady him. Now back home his knees are back to normal. We canceled our excursion like the snorkeling on Maui. Being tendered was a scary experience with one woman falling down when entering the boat.

I tried to use the pool the first day at sea and the waves were at least 6 feet high, the water in the pool (closed) splashed out from one side to the other. No, this after 10 cruises have I never experienced this before. We cruised on the Solstice three years ago and this time was disappointing. We were celebrating our Golden anniversary. We booked this Hawaiian cruise 18 months ago, knowing it caters to older cruisers. Yes, the repositioning of the Solstice from Alaska to Australia was not a scheduled feature so no Hawaiian food, music, entertainment flowers, clothes, coffee. Gone is the famous brunch buffet appreciated by every seasoned guest on repositioning ships. Ship remains shiny, clean in common areas. The Shops were clearing out old stock.

We booked first dining at 5:30 and had the worst food experience, rude grabby plate waiter Poltan, and his assistant Latia proved to be incompetent. The waiter gave us four different menus. Poltan read off his favorite choices for the night. I asked why he didn’t mention any item on my menu. My husband was given a blank one first. The prelude of what would be many disasters. The waiter continued to serve plates to the wrong person, neglected the items ordered, minute portions and some choices were horrible. We were given a table next to a pole, we moved to the outside portion of the table. Gee whiz, you would have thought we wanted a better view. No way! that a portion of the dining room is for new Suite Class guests who will be indulged with a new and exclusive restaurant

Luminae. Luminae offers a deliciously exclusive dining experience like no other. They have you packed in like sardines on what’s left of the original dining area. One waiter bumped my chair so hard I almost fell out of it. This continued numerous times with softer bumps. It was also very loud and noisy. We went to the dining area one afternoon and met the Head Dining Manager who is not very friendly and capable of changing our dining in 3 minutes. We requested a different table. There are no tables available for early dining. Nope, late dining wasn’t our first choice but it worked. We met our new waiter Camilo and his assistant D. They were a joy. The portions are so small we ordered more soups and salads. They are following the lead on the Food Network with small portions being the in thing now.

We enjoyed the hamburgers and fries at the Mask Grill and ice cream at the buffet. Aqua Spa Café now charges for yogurt parfaits. Gone are the many choices like the nuts and dried fruits and replaced with canned fruits, small muffins and hard fresh fruit and melons! The buffet announced a Hawaiian menu. I looked around and finally asked where it was located Sweet/sour Chicken rice.

Charging for pay per view $13.00 and 18% gratuity fees, inferior entertainment, taped ballroom music, and some singers near the elevators before dining located. We located the sweet and chicken and rice.

We waited 10 days after we arrived home to contact someone about our cruise. I contacted guest relations representative: Kara Frank. The items I mentioned above were noted and she contacted me a week later to inform me these are the new company standards. The new dining guideline now represents Food Network portions. She encouraged us to take another cruise with them with absolutely no compensation. Earlier this year we sailed to Alaska on Holland America. We noticed portion sizes were smaller yet delicious all of the time. Ship was very clean, roomy placement of tables so everyone enjoyed the large windows. We enjoyed breakfast in our room everyday, wonderful service and great breakfast menu. This ship is scheduled for major remodeling soon.

The Celebrity Solstice is no longer a 5 star ship!