For our 24th cruise, we selected Celebrity Solstice in the Eastern Caribbean. We were on the 5th sailing of the Solstice in January 2009 and the inaugural of the Equinox in July 2009, but since then have not been back to Celebrity (not because of a problem with Celebrity; only because we wanted to try new RCCL ships last year).

In a nutshell, this was the perfect 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. Our previous Solstice-class trips were quite good, but both were marred by service issues in the main dining room (fixed-time seating). On both of those trips, service was somewhat hit-or-miss: the waiters seemed overwhelmed, there were occasional long waits between courses, on one trip the assistant maitre d' didn't bother to check in the entire trip, and the entire dining experience (from a service perspective) wasn't up to Celebrity's standard. In addition, we always request a table for two, and on the previous Solstice trips, were were placed at a table for two with a 6-inch separation from another table for two -- meaning we were really at a table for four. An unpleasant dinner companion one trip was a major detraction for the dining experience (which is the reason we always request a table for two).

On this trip, the service issues were completely fixed: the waiters were on top of things (though, as on all ships, quite harried), the kitchen pacing was good, sommeliers and bar servers were attentive, and we had every attention we could ask for. We were also quite lucky to get a table for two that was decently separated from a large table of 6, so we didn't have to worry about what sort of interaction we might have with our tablemates. [It turns out that they were a great family, and we enjoyed talking with them after dinner -- but also we were able to enjoy our private conversations during dinner). Read more