The Celebrity Solestice was my second cruise with Celebrity and third cruise overall. My bf and I were wowed on our first cruise on the Celebrity Century and disappointed by our second cruise on NCL. So we decided when planning our third cruise to sail with Celebrity again. The Celebrity Solstice definitely lived up to our expectations! We sailed on the ship from Jan. 31st - Feb 7th. The design of the "beautiful" Celebrity Solestice did NOT disappoint although initially we missed the open spaces on the Century since the public areas were more long than the full width of the ship. However, we soon fell in love with all the elegant spaces on the ship. The ship had a very intimate feel and even though we had seven days to explore, I didn't feel like we got to experience all the public areas on the Solestice.

As others have mentioned, embarkation was seamless. We headed to the Port from our hotel (We stayed at the Holiday Inn) around 11AM and we were on board in what seemed like 10 minutes after we arrived at the port. My bf commented that it was a record time for us boarding a ship. After quickly orienting ourselves to the ship, we headed to the Ocean View Cafe to check out the food options and settled on the Aft Sunset Bar to take in the sights. I know there has been a lot of discussion about the lawn being a waste of space, but I truly loved it and thought it added to the beauty of the ship. Our time on board, the lawn looked beautiful and well cared for...I enjoyed sitting on the comfy chairs on the near the sunset bar and enjoying people of all ages play various games on the lawn.

CABIN: We checked out our room a little before the designated time. We were in the AquaClass - far forward on the starboard side. I was initially worried that we would hear noise from the gym above, but we never heard a sound. The room was spacious and the bathroom comfortable. My one complaint about the bathroom is a minor one - I wished the shower had a larger shelf to store toiletries and more stable. You would pick up one item and have the shampoo bottle/or body wash go flying. We were steps from the relaxation room, which we found to be a HUGE advantage. We watched a few port arrivals and sail aways from there. I highly recommend heading to the Relaxation Room to watch the sail away from Tortola, BVI - the views of all the islands was breathtaking (thanks to our wonderful host in Blu for the recommendation). PEACEFUL PUBLIC SPACES: The Solarium was one of our favorite places on the ship. In the late afternoons, we would find one of those big circular chairs and listen to an audio book or take a nap. It was a peaceful break from the main pool area. We also found the Solestice Deck another quiet spot to get some sun. Although the pools were crowded on at sea days, we never had a problem finding a spot during the trip. ROOM SERVICE: We had breakfast twice in our room. The food came on time and was still warm when it arrived. I enjoyed the fresh squeezed juices and found the food to be good. My bf found the coffee for room service to be too strong compared to the coffee that was served in the Ocean View Cafe. RESTAURANTS: Ocean View Cafe - We found a wide selection at the Ocean View Cafe and good overall. I enjoyed the carved meats and was able to get a good sample of food the times we ate there. We enjoyed the sushi in the early evenings and although the selection was limited, it was a nice late afternoon snack before dinner. Although we did miss having the sushi served from the aft bar area as was our experience on the Century. We didn't get to try the tossed salad station and the panini station which looked great. We didn't really seem to notice the lack of trays. The one thing we did run into a few times was the lack of silver ware or plates during heavy traffic - the staff wasn't able to keep up with demand. The outdoor grille - This venue served a good variety of grilled foods hamburgers, hotdogs including a nachos and chicken wings, but I was a little surprised that the turkey burgers or veggie burgers required a 15 minute wait. It was a great place to grab a quick meal without going to the Ocean View Cafe. Bistro on Five - The $5 per person charge was well worth it. We ate lunch here twice and thoroughly enjoyed the crepes both savory and sweet. The service was wonderful and the chocolate and banana dessert crepe was delicious! Blu - We opted to go with Celebrity Select Dining for this cruise and would typically have our meals between 7:45 and 8 PM. We enjoyed eating between the two main seating times. Blu was OUTSTANDING, our favorite meals were the braised short ribs and the halibut. We looked forward to our dinner there every evening and we were not tempted once to eat at the Grand Epernay. The portions were perfect - we were able to enjoy the food without feeling over full and typically skipped the salad/soup course. The staff was amazing! They created a warm and welcoming environment - although we were served by multiple people during each meal, each person took a moment to stop and chat with us and find out about our day. Our last night there, the server and host insisted we sample some of their favorite dishes and brought out an additional entrEe for each of us. My one regret is that I wish we had been able to make to Blu for breakfast. Read more