14 Comments Celebrity Solstice Enters Service Early W/ Three New Cruises

1. thomas

   June 4th, 2008 at 7:02 am

   1

   What happens to the customers who booked the 12/7/08 cruise to be on the inagural sailing. This kind of takes the wind out of their sails, since they will now be on the 3rd sailing versus the first.

2. Anne Campbell

   June 4th, 2008 at 10:14 am

   2

   Celebrity is offering them first shot at the new itineraries, which is only fair. Actually, inaugural voyages of the first in a series of newly designed ships are rarely problem free. Solstice is a huge jump in capacity for Celebrity, which usually means the shake down period is several months.

3. Denny Lauer

   June 5th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

   3

   We’ve signed up for a Nov 09 Solistice TA Rome-FLL. The ship (10 dining rooms and the special Spa Pool we love on the M-Class) sounds great and by then, it should be rung-out. On Mercury, we sailed a month or so after her inaugural (in 1996??) and loved it. One good thing about inaugurals – the line puts their sharpest and most experienced crew aboard for shakeouts and they stay aboard for a while to train up new crew.

   Denny

4. Anne Campbell

   June 6th, 2008 at 7:39 am

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   I agree…..Celebrity has many ships to pull good staff from. I can’t wait to see this ship, I love multiple restaurants.

5. Bob Dolan

   January 10th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

   5

   I have read 25 reviews from people who sailed on early Solstice cruises. Many, many complaints on the food quality. I have 2 children going with us, not hearing much on the kid’s program either. Have sailed 50 + times, 12 times on RCCL, wonder if I should have stayed with Independence of the Seas, our original choice.

6. Anne Campbell

   January 11th, 2009 at 8:27 am

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   Any time a cruise line launches a new class of ship there is a shake-down period and I think this is what is happening with Solstice. Celebrity doesn’t have an extensive children’s program, but your children will find plenty to do. What you will find better than RCI is larger more attractive cabins, a higher level of service. Regarding food, if you don’t like it speak to the maitre ‘d in the main dining room and ask if anything can be done. In many cases it can be.

   Personally I think Royal Caribbean’s biggest flaw is the low quality of its food. Can’t imagine Celebrity’s will be this bad.

7. Stacy

   June 28th, 2009 at 5:59 am

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   Bob,

   Those reviews that you read about the food are correct. I have been on about 20 cruises in my life (I’ve been cruising since I was 8 years old) and the Solstice had the worst food in the main dining room I have ever experienced. I was extremely disappointed as I remember years ago that I loved the food on Celebrity.

   The specialty restaurants only including Tuscan Grille and the Murano were fantastic but these cost the additional 25 – 30 dollars/ person. My husband and I made the reservations here after eating in the main dining room for a week as I did not enjoy the food at all.

   Please note that I am writing this review after returning from my cruise on June 26th, so this is very recent.

8. Dana Kuehn

   March 2nd, 2010 at 9:11 am

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   I am going on the Sol in May 2010. I have four boys ages 5-10. Are they going to hate this ship?

9. Anne Campbell

   March 2nd, 2010 at 9:38 am

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   I’ve been on the ship and she’s beautiful! You will have a wonderful vacations and the boys will love it too!

10. Jeane

    March 22nd, 2010 at 10:23 am

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    We sailed on Celebrity Solstice Feb 21, 2010 and can say we will never sail on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean again. Our room had an extremely loud popping and creaking in the walls. Many calls and trips down to guest relations, numerous times maintenance was sent up. Maintenance finally told us the loud noise has been an ongoing problem for over a year. Finally, after many requests, on the fifth night at 11:30 pm, yes, PM we were offered another room, but only if we packed up everything before going to the new room….another trip down to guest relations. FYI; we were told there were no other rooms available for 5 days, but when we entered the room it was clear that the room had been available since day one as the wrapped courtesy fruit had bananas form day one, they were black and still wrapped in original wrapping, champagne in the bucket with no ice or water. Other complaints; food is mediocre at best, ate twice in the $300 a night restaurant and entrees were not much better, however, the appetizers were very good, female bartender at the pool before we sailed the first day broke a glass, a piece flew in my eye, my eye was fine the following day, never complained. Entertainment: comedian was not funny in the least, shows, not good, piano bar guy was great, pool area is so packed and the piped in music grates on you, bartenders overall were hit or miss, and our dining room server was not good, assistant waiter was very good. We have been on 20 plus cruises, 18 on Celebrity, and will never sail with Celebrity of Royal Caribbean again.

11. Anne Campbell

    March 22nd, 2010 at 11:40 am

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    Wow, I would be very upset to have these problems! I’m surprised that the purser’s office didn’t move you earlier, especially since an empty stateroom was available. I hope you and your travel agent contact Celebrity and try to get some satisfaction — since the staff told you there had been a problem with the stateroom previously the cruise line should listen to your complaint. Good luck!

12. Jeane

    March 22nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm

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    Unforunately we booked for the first time through Celebrity….thinking it would be the best way to book a good room…go figure. They’ve lost a good customer as we spend more on the ship then the actual cost of the cruise, ie: casino, drinks, spa massages, optional dining, etc.

13. ronnie giles

    July 21st, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    13

    I and my girlfriend took a cruise on the Celebrity Solstice on 7-11-10 to 7-18-10.We paid extra for the Aqua class to be able to receive upgraded meals in their specialty restaurant.I have an allergy to nuts and need extreme medical attention if ingested with them. The meals on the ship had an average of near %50 nuts in their entrees which limited my selection. On top of that they included nuts in their receipes in many situations with out listing them.Per example,waiter mentioned to me that the Pesta sauce was made with tree nuts, As a result was forced to eat my meals in the main dining room and relegated to eating only certain types of food. I complained to customer relations and was told that I should of made the cruise line aware of my problem prior to boarding. The waiters on bored tried their best but didn’t exactly have a command of the English language. I would never go on another Celebrity Cruise in my life and felt their response to be totally lacking compassion and the customer services agent to be very condescending in her response to my concerns.

14. Anne Campbell

    July 21st, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    14

    I’m surprised they weren’t able to accommodate you. Nut allergies are not uncommon and a cruise line that prides itself on outstanding cuisine should have done much better. I’m mainly glad you got back with no problems.

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