Celebrity Solstice Review

A Princess Devotee tries Celebrity (Solstice)

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Celebrity Solstice
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ourlol
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Aug 2009
Cabin: Deluxe Veranda 2A
Traveled with children

This review was written over the course of our Solstice cruise (7th ~ 17th August 09) and details my thoughts and experiences 'little by little' as the trip progressed. Please note these are my own 'personal' observations. In other words please do not take what I say verbatim ~ any comments expressed here are, as you would expect, open to being challenged by my fellow passengers whose views may well differ from my own.

Similarly I have not ventured into the realms of reviewing our Ports of Call and have concentrated my efforts on a critique of our onboard experience only.

You will also soon realize that I have a tendency to waffle, so please accept my apologies in advance if this review turns out to be a tome of considerable length.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Veranda 2A

Cabin 2A

Staterooms 7231 & 7235

Our cabins (we had two) were situated on Deck 7 on the "hump". In comparison to Princess, our cabins could only be described as a step up to the standard balcony cabin we would normally book. Our room had the settee near the bathroom, the bed (very comfortable) by the balcony. The sofa sat opposite a wall-mounted flat-screen TV (with interactive elements to allow you, in theory, to see your bill online, order excursions, view your photos etc). I say 'in theory' as we somehow managed to add the same photo to the basket about 19 times and then couldn't find the delete button. I wouldn't mind, but it's wasn't even a photo we particularly liked nor wanted... unless, of course, I knew how to shave about 20lb off my profile with Paintshop Pro! The wardrobe/drawer space was more than adequate with ample hangers provided.

The bathroom was, in contrast to Princess, a real success... if only for the generous size of the shower cubicle and the proper screen (as opposed to a curtain). There was more than enough storage space for your toiletries etc. The only negative here would be the size of towels. A couple of bath sheets definitely wouldn't have gone amiss and we resorted to using the beach towels that were provided instead.

Please note both of our balconies were slightly affected by the infamous X! Approximately a third of each one had a triangular shaped tinted film applied to the glass. I can honestly say this would not deter me from booking these staterooms again. For us it really wasn't a big deal or something to get worked up about. You can see through it and I suppose I would describe it as like looking through a tinted car windscreen. I might feel a bit differently about a stateroom with the entire glass tinted, but as ours was only partially obscured it was fine.

The proximity of our cabin to the bank of lifts was a great bonus and the location itself was very quiet with little or no through traffic other than from those folk in neighbouring staterooms.

That said we had families with young children on either side of our stateroom. Noise travels and we could, most evenings, hear crying through the walls. This led to the conclusion that the partition walls could be better sound proofed. Mind you I got my own back by causing my own disturbance when we finally disembarked at 6am on the 17th. Believe me there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth... such was my reluctance to get off the ship.

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