Celebrity Solstice Review
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Ninth cruise, fourth with Celebrity, first on Solstice. Others. HAL x 2, Princess x 1, Carnival x 1, RCI x 1.
Embarkation from Seattle was reasonably smooth and quick although the queue was rather long. All our Celebrity cruise embarkations have been quick and hassle free. First impression of the ship was very favorable. Nice decor without being ostentatious or OTT, kinda classy in a way. We settled in on deck 14 with a couple of drinks then had lunch in Oceanview until our cabin was ready. The way the serving areas have been set out has eliminated the loooong queues we have previously experienced on X Millennium and X Infinity. Plenty of variety and little trouble finding somewhere to sit and eat, there was always a vacant table somewhere. We ate in oceanview for breakfast and lunch and MDR for dinner. We didn't dine in any of the specialty restaurants as we were quite happy with what was on offer in Oceanview and Grand Epernay (MDR).
Dining. As previously mentioned we had dinners in the MDR. We were allocated fixed 8.30 slot in our TA's package. This is far too late for us. We easily switched to My Time/Any Time. As we are prepared to share we never had to wait when turning up at between 6 and 6.30. We are from Australia and love to meet and get to know people from other countries - although on this cruise it was mosty with Americans, without exception, we enjoyed their company.
Cabin Review
Inside Stateroom 9
Our first time ever in an inside and hopefully our last. Inside was part of our TA's cruise tour package (which included a 10 day, 3000 mile, tour of National Parks in UT WY NV AZ) and to upgrade to OV would have been another $100 a day, each. We prefered to put that towards a couple of special excursions. Cabin size was good, not too cramped but certainly not what one would call spacious. It was well appointed with enough power outlets, nice big TV which swung out from the wall and could be easily adjusted for almost any angle (could even see it from the shower). Large sofa and one desk chair. Bathroom was roomy and modern modular design with curved, double sliding doors for the shower recess which was also roomy. Never had any plumbing problems and never ran out of hotwater. Bed was large and comfy - we are used to a much smaller double bed at home. Plenty of closet space for the two of us but Mrs C had dibs on all the drawers except one, for me. Plenty of space under our bed for suitcases.