We just returned from a seven day eastern Caribbean cruise departing on 2/28/10 on the Celebrity Solstice and we had a great time. I would recommend the cruise highly. This was our 9th cruise, past cruises having been 4 on Holland America, 2 on Princess, 1 on NCL, and 1 on the old Renaissance line. In the past, we have chosen cruises mainly on the itinerary, and this time, we chose based on the ship as I had read great reviews of Solstice, we wanted to try Celebrity, and we primarily wanted a warm destination and to rest and be pampered.

The Solstice has a contemporary decor, rather stark for my taste. Holland America has beautiful large flower arrangements throughout the ship which I loved and missed on this cruise as there were none on the Solstice. The art on Solstice is very modern, some of which I would not even characterize as art whereas on Holland America ships, the art is more traditional and more to my liking. So I prefer the decor of Holland America. However, as the week progressed, I loved the amenities of Solstice which made up for the decor for me.

We did not book the cruise until 9 days before departure for a quick qet away, and we booked an inside cabin this time. (We usually get an outside or balcony) I was told that the inside cabins are actually about 10 square feet larger than the outside on Solstice, so I went with the inside. Wished I had taken the balcony, as they looked lovely and I missed having a window. However, the cabin was very nice for an inside cabin. Only complaint was that there was not enough drawer space. The bed was nice, but I think the beds and linens on Holland America were better. Read more