Pre-Cruise We just completed our sailing on the Elation for 4 days prior to this cruise. We spent one night between the two cruises at the Hotel Solamar. We enjoyed our stay at this hotel. We were upgraded to a spa suite with a bubble tub. This was one of the most comfortable beds we have had at a hotel in a long time. There was a heated swimming pool on the 4th floor with cabanas and couches. It was a pretty trendy place in the gas lamp area right by the convention center and seaport village. The taxi ride to the cruise pier was only 11 dollars. .
Embarkation We arrived at the cruise pier around 11:45 and were on the ship in less then 30 minutes. For this trip we chose balcony cabin 5135 deck 5 forward, close to an elevator and the stairway. The room had plenty of storage, a refrigerator and in room safe. We usually select a cabin towards the rear of the ship but decided to try this location as we had booked this cruise only 3 weeks prior.
Dining We selected early dinner with assigned seating and had a round table of 6. Our wait staff was excellent. We found the food to be quite good. One evening one of our table mates had asked our waiter if were going to have crème bulee' again during our cruise. He surprised the entire table with that special desert made just for us the next night. Talk about exceeding expectations.
quiet location not from elevators and stairways.