Celebrity Solstice Review

4.5 / 5.0
2,220 reviews

Sun shines on Solstice

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Solstice
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lysolqn
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Aug 2010
Cabin: Deluxe Veranda 2C
Traveled with children

Just returned from a great cruise on Solstice - our 50th cruise, 30+ on Celebrity but first time on a Solstice-class ship. Embarkation and disembarkation were organized and quick, and other than a quick shower as we left port in St. Thomas and another as we were leaving St. Martin, we lucked out weatherwise with sunshine, blue skies and calm seas all the way.

In a nutshell, Solstice is sleek, modern and beautiful in design, and is as elegantly and tastefully appointed as those who favor Celebrity have come to expect from X ships. Service was excellent; staff and crew were especially pleasant and eager to please. We thought X did a great job upgrading the cabins in keeping with the overall more modern design of the ship and our category 2C partially obstructed cabin was comfortable with a view from the balcony that was obstructed only when looking straight down. The bed, located closer to the balcony rather than the bathroom, was the most comfortable we've yet to have on any X ship. Relying on numerous posts here on CC, we expected to find limited storage space but were pleasantly surprised to find more than ample storage in our cabin. The flat screen TV beat out the old Sonys and the addition of free movies on demand was certainly an improvement over watching the same decades-old episodes of Ozzie and Harriet, Lucy and Red Skelton that have been playing since Noah boarded Celebrity's first ark! We had an ice bucket that was filled twice daily but missed having the pitcher of water we've become used to on Celebrity and were told by our cabin attendant pitchers were no longer available. I assume those absent pitchers are now residening in Davey Jones' locker along with the buffet trays! I'm guessing pitchers are no longer in cabins as a subtle attempt to get pax to purchase bottled water for their cabins (do I hear profit center?) but I'd like to see those pitchers return. Thought they did a nice job with the bathrooms which are substantially larger than those on C- and M-class ships and have an abundance of storage space.

Despite sailing full (or so we were told), the ship never felt crowded - with the exception of the Oceanview Cafe on embarkation day, not at all unexpected with everyone converging on the buffet at pretty much the same time. Otherwise, we never felt crowded in any of the public spaces, including at the pool on sea days. We weren't aware of any chairhog issues and were surprised that we never had difficulty finding lounges which were plentiful in both sun and shade. Unlike on many of our previous Celebrity cruises, the pool area remained sparsely occupied until late morning.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Veranda 2C

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