Celebrity Solstice Cruise Review by Delilah11

We are both 29 years old, and I would say two of what seemed like 20 people on the ship that were under 30 and weren't traveling with their parents ;) I thought this was great though, as I was certainly not looking for a party cruise and we met a lot of very nice people with a wealth of knowledge on the subject of marriage!

We flew into Rome a few days before the cruise and checked into the Best Western Art Deco hotel on via Palestro close to the Roma Termini. This hotel was recommended to me by my travel agent and was quite excellent. Clean, safe, in a great location to see the sights, it had towel warmers, free wi-fi and included breakfast. Rome is a beautiful city and we saw as many sights as possible in the two days we had. A small suggestion: if you are buying souvenirs (as I did outside the Colosseum), HAGGLE with the guy or you'll end up paying 36 Euros for a medium-sized plaster statue of Venus like I did :) Ah well, we learn as we go, yes?

We decided to take the train from the airport to the Termini (the train station is inside the airport), and also from the Termini to the port of Civitavecchia (CHEE-VEE-TA-VEK-EEE-AH). It was very inexpensive - I think it cost 9.10 Euros total for both of us to get to Civitavecchia, which was about an hour away from the Termini.

Once at the pier, the embarkation process was very fast; we arrived at about 4pm and the ship was scheduled to sail at 6 and we were the only people embarking at that moment and I'd be surprised if it took more than 5 minutes before we were walking up the gangway!

The Solstice is a beautiful ship; it is very clean and the decor is visually stimulating. The Lawn Club on the top deck was very nice; for someone like myself who is still trying to get accustomed to not seeing any land for lengthy periods of time, it is helpful to walk barefoot in some grass to get you through the sea days :) I did not watch the glass blowing show, as I have seen similar shows before in life in Venice as well as crystal blowing in Halifax. My husband watched one and said it was very interesting.

I thought the service was excellent on the Solstice; everyone was always very willing to help and we always felt welcome wherever we went. I must say I was a little put off by some of the reviews I had read before leaving. I had already booked the cruise and so you can imagine my concern when I read about how Celebrity's service has gone downhill, and how some people would never sail with them again blah blah...well perhaps these people should sail exclusively with Cunard from now on, because I'm not sure what all the fuss was about! The only thing that we had a "problem" with, was that I had pre-booked a romance day package, which was to include special breakfast in the stateroom, a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries, special robes and slippers and a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants as well as rose petals on the bed at turn-down (hee hee). The only thing they do not mention, is that you need to specify to your stateroom attendant if you want the breakfast ON the romance package day, or the following morning as you have to fill out a special breakfast card the night before. I can tell you, that little detail did not ruin my cruise :) It just seemed as though many of the older passengers had nothing good to say about anything, and as a result, the cruise line's reputation suffered. Most of the people on board were happy though!

We ate in the Grand Eparnay dining room every night except for three nights where we had reservations for specialty restaurants. I am a very picky eater and I must say that I was very happy with the meal choices. They have what I like to call the "Safety Menu" available every night, with items like Caesar salad, french onion soup, NY strip steak, glazed herb chicken & mashed, creme brulée and NY cheesecake etc. for the nights where you weren't feeling adventurous. Otherwise one could expect to see oysters, lamb, frog's legs, filet mignon, lobster ravioli, veal, venison etc etc...the right side of the menu was different every night.

Other restaurants and bars we frequented, were the sunset bar at the back of the boat - great views! Bistro on Five was totally worth the 5 dollar a person cover charge (drinks extra of course) as their crepes were AMAZING! I couldn't get past the "Italian", it's the only one I tried as it was so good! Crepe filled with bananas and topped with a squeezed pattern of nutella and crushed green pistachios with whipped cream and raspberry sauce on the side...to die for! We tried the Martini Bar once and I really wish we went more often as the flair-bartending was amazing and the martinis were excellent (I had the French, it's my favourite :)), but there is SO MUCH to do and see on the ship I feel like we will have to sail on the Solstice again, perhaps for our two year anniversary as it will be in the Caribbean as of this spring for 3 or 4 years one of the crew members was telling me. We also went to the Sky bar a couple of times for events that were occurring there (late night dessert buffet etc.) and it was very nice, right at the front of the ship. We spent many late mornings/early afternoons in Café al Bacio, as my husband is a coffee person and he really loved their cappuccinos. I would have caffe lattes or darjeeling tea and chocolate chip cookies (I may have a sweet tooth). We also had drinks in the Ensemble lounge while waiting for dinner reservations. The Oceanview Cafe (buffet) was excellent. They had your usual pizza etc. but you could also make your own fajitas and there was an "Indian Curries" section. I can't speak for their dinner selection as we were always in the Grand Eparnay or a specialty restaurant. We went to the Mast Bar once for lunch and had burgers and hot dogs with onion rings and fries as it was nice and sunny outside that day.

We tried two of the specialty restaurants, the Tuscan Grill and Murano. We went to Murano twice it was so good! I found the specialty restaurants pricey ($55 per person extra for Tuscan and $65 per person extra for Murano) compared to other cruises (as advised by my parents), but they were very nice and QUIET and relaxing. If you end up with a bottle of wine, as we did often, you could end up spending over $200 extra with tip for your meal. The food at Murano is considered "French Contemporary", and the meat was a much better quality than what you get in the Grand Eparnay...not that you notice at all until you can compare! I had filet mignon as well as lobster, and considering I don't eat seafood (I was trying to be adventurous) it was very tasty! You also get sorbet to cleanse your pallet before your entree, so if you are more accustomed to fine dining, then Murano will find you in familiar territory. Tuscan Grill was also excellent, again the meat was much more tender and that night was after the martini bar if I recall, and I couldn't decide between steak or spaghetti and so I got both :| (yes, you can order more than one entree if you like)...I have actually never been that full in my life and learned my lesson! They also had an excellent dark chocolate fondue for dessert with fruits and marshmallows etc.

Other services/activities we participated in: my husband played in a couple of Hold 'Em tournaments (video poker though) and won one of them. I shopped a little bit; the boutiques are pricey and the shops were more mainstream. They often had "sidewalk sales" with various things, watches, pashminas etc. I had my first hot stone massage in the Aqua Spa - FANTASTIC! I think I've formed a new habit with that one. We did not attend any of the nightly shows unfortunately...as it was our honeymoon we really treasured spending time outside on the decks with cocktails during the evenings, or even playing cribbage in the card room. We heard from people who sat around us at dinner that the shows were quite good.

Our stateroom was lovely, WAY bigger than the one I stayed in on the Pride of Aloha on NCL back in 2007 (which is more of what you expect on a cruise ship - tiny rooms). Plenty of space, with a nice couch and flat screen TV, the veranda was just lovely with a constant view of the sapphire waters of the Mediterranean and prime views of coming into and leaving ports. The bathroom was great as well, lots of drawers and it was always warm. The beds were very comfortable - I slept like a log. I found I spent a reasonable amount of time in the stateroom as I did not feel cramped at all (doing my nails, watching the History Channel etc.). There was only one half-day from Athens to Naples where it was rough and I found myself in bed for 5 or 6 hours during the day as I was quite ill (even after taking gravol and buying sea bands), but luckily by dinner I was okay.

All in all a fantastic trip of a lifetime! I would definitely recommend it to anyone; the Mediterranean is a beautiful area full of ancient history and rich culture and Celebrity made it a most memorable honeymoon for us :)