Celebrity Solstice Review
First Time Cruiser- Celebrity Solstice after Norovirus
Rating by category
Additional details
My husband and I are both in our 30's (30 and 33)This was my first cruise experience ever so I don't have anything to compare it to. Although some things definitely did not go according to plan I was not as upset as those who knew better. But let me start from the begining:
A few days before we were to set sail, I received an email from Celebrity Cruise line that the ship had an outbreak of the norovirus and that they were taking extra precautions to clean and disinfect the ship so boarding on sail date would be later than usual. That's fine, I didn't mind. They gave the option of rescheduling but I didn't want to cancel my vacation plans as this was my one and only big vacation for the year.
So we fly in to Ft. Lauderdale the night before and stay at the Hyatt Place South near the airport. It had a free shuttle that picked us up and dropped us to the hotel. The hotel was a perfectly fine 3 star hotel- no complaints. Perfect for short stay the night before the cruise. In short walking distance were a couple of fast food places, KMart, BJ's Wholesale, etc.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Veranda 1B
We had room 9123. When first walking in to the room I was very pleased but my husband (tall guy) thought the room was small. Maybe all in the perception of things but I thought it was perfect.
Bathroom: Right when you walk in there's a bathroom to the right which was more spacious then I thought it would be. Nice cabinets and shelves for toiletries. Nice shower with good water pressure and the water gets super hot!. . .Shampoo, soap, etc are provided just like in a hotel but I like to bring my own.
Room: We had two twin beds pushed together that made a queen sized bed. It was perfectly adequate. The bed was firm but soft (I don't know how else to describe it!). There was a tv we didn't turn on until probably the 2nd day. You can order room service 24hr items and breakfast items during certain evening hours for the next day. Room service was very slow- I'd give it over an hour. Most items were included/free. There was a minibar in the room (we did not use)-a long couch that could probably double as a bed for a small teenager. Vanity and small drawers. Lots of storage under the beds for suitcases. Closets average size with a few shelves and lots of hangers. These rooms are not big enough for 3 people in my opinion.
Balcony: Perfect! Absolutely unobstructed views- I think each port but one we pulled up on our side, the left side so we had a great views of each port as we were docked. We could also see part of the captain's bridge.
Great room- I would definitely want to stay in it or similar room again. We did feel some rough waters- but it seemed that way in different parts of the ship at different times. It wasn't like that at all times.