Celebrity Solstice Review

4.5 / 5.0
2,220 reviews

Good Transatlantic Despite Norovirus

Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Celebrity Solstice
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AKN
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Nov 2011
Cabin: Concierge Class 1

The most important thing to remember as you read this review is that Solstice had a norovirus outbreak some two cruises before ours and was therefore at Code Red before the ship even arrived in Barcelona to pick us up. We were apprised of the situation by a Cruise Critic member doing a back-to-back. He posted on the roll call that we would be delayed boarding and why. I am grateful for the heads up. We were able to get a late checkout from our hotel and then make our way leisurely to the pier.

Embarkation . . . we arrived to board at about 2:30 pm and dropped our bags with the porters straight away. We were in Concierge Class and went directly to check-in. We were handed a boarding card and went into Duty Free for some meandering. About the time we were finished wandering, our boarding card was called and we boarded the ship. Easy, easy, easy. One thing that got missed at the check-in was that our dining table (late seating) number was written on the little folder that they put your seapasses in. That was the only notification of our table number. More on that later. So, this was the first we noted a reduction in the use of paper, no card in the stateroom advising the dining table number. The second thing I noticed regarding paper reduction was the lack of serviettes under the glasses for wine and beer in the Ocean View Cafe and most bars. Sloppy.

Service . . . Because of the threat of norovirus, there was no self-service of ANYTHING allowed in the Ocean View Cafe. The staff poured all drinks, there were no salt and pepper shakers (they would hand you individually wrapped salt and pepper only), the staff had to squirt your ketchup or Tabasco or whatever condiment you wanted. We were chastised for reaching for utensils all nicely wrapped in linen napkins just waiting to be used. We had to wait for them to be handed to us. The lines for drinks were the worst. The serving staff didn't really have a good plan for how they would handle the orders. Was there a queue? Where was the queue? What drinks could you get from which queue? Regarding the coffee . . . It really does matter if you order regular coffee and watch the staff member draw from the decaf pot because they're out of regular. It really does matter. A simple, "We're out, come back later or go over there" would suffice, but alas, they attempted to decaffeinate us. Speaking of coffee, I don't know why there was a shortage of coffee cups, but they used disposable cups A LOT (which really made no sense when you consider the other attempts at paper use reduction) until they ran out three days before the cruise was over. They started serving hot coffee in plastic water glasses. Euw. I went to the Baccio and paid for a coffee because I couldn't stand it anymore.

Cabin Review

Concierge Class 1

Cabin C1

Spacious and sunny. No obstruction. Only problem is the soot.

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