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Could have been FAB-u-lous by
Wendy V from Columbus, Ohio Sailing date: Dec 2011Pros: Quality of Food, Activites, Accomodations Cons: Loooonnnnggg Lines, badly managed The ship was really beautiful, however onboarding and offboarding were horrendous, and poorly managed by the cruise line.
To be fair to the cruise line, in terms of the onboarding - the ship came in "sick" meaning that some illness was significant on the cruise prior to ours - we were notified there would be a delay boarding - however the 3 hour long line (in the heat/rain) with no seating, food, drinks, restrooms, etc. was not ok.
As far as off boarding, we chose to "early" off board. When the ship docked at 7am, we went to the appropriate loaction, and proceeded to wait, with a crowd of angry people (e.g. there was almost a fist fight) for over an hour. Only 1 person from the ship was managing the "early" off boarding crowd - to the best of his ability - however with approximately 300 people waiting in a crowded section of the dining room - fully loaded down with all of their luggage - and personally I was hot and hungry.... it was a powder keg waiting to explode.
If you can avoid the lines - it is a good ship, and overall the crew were plesant. I would discourage purchasing the drink package - we bought the second most costly, but did not find the alcohol we wanted to drink easily avaialble...... eg. we could have any drink up to $8 in value... but the only Red Wine in the dining room for that price was approx 5 selections of Merlot....
Also - The spa was amazing in terms of service - but had VERY high pressured sales. I would avoid it all together. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodWas not as fancy as I expected, or as varied as I had hoped - unless you pay more for the "additional restaurants". Selection for room service was very poor. Stateroom QualityThe people who maintain the rooms work their tails off. Rooms are very nicely maintained Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & ActivitiesSo much to do, you couldn't do it all  9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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  A great cruise by
chuck Y from LA, CA Sailing date: Nov 2011We have wonderful experience with the celebrity solstice cruise, we had everything we expected, such as excellent service, high quality of food in variety, very nice cabin. except the on shore excursion in Athens. Ship Quality
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Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
Souda (Chania), Crete
Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy
Naples, Italy
Piraeus (Athens), GreeceWe booked on shore excursion with cruise, most of the time were on the bus, there were two stops, one stop was at Acropolis of Athens, they give us 40mins, but 4/5 of the time was bring us to the gift shop nearby. another stop was Olympic Marathon Stadium, only 10 mins, funny things was, they extended one hour to bring us to a coffee shop without telling us, most of the people stay on the bus wait for few people to go to the shop.
Valletta, Malta
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Fabulous Cruise! by
Mary Jane C. from Camarillo, California Sailing date: Oct 2011Pros: The food, staff, accommodations, entertainment and shore excursion packages! Cons: Naples Rated the best large ship for a reason.... it is! We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise, food, activities and excursions. The ports were all fabulous other than the port of Naples....however we were book on a shore excursion to Sorrento which picked up from this port and was wonderful. I see the cruise line is making some port changes coming up and includes Bari Italy, which I would have enjoyed seeing as my son in laws family originated from this city. Celebrity Solstice is a gem. The staff so welcoming and accommidating, the food, great quality and the excursions really a good value and out of the way villas arranged to show us their culture, olive oil and wine making production. Montenegro, and Croatia are beautiful as are Italy and France. I would highly recommend. We celebrated our 32 on the cruise and so enjoyed the entire adventure!
Dining/Foodgreat selection and quality Stateroom Quality1076 was our room, great location, balcony mid ship on upper deck protected from noise with staterooms above and below Ship Staff Qualitythey truly want to please....and they do! Entertainment & ActivitiesCruise avtivities Director is awesome
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Civitavecchia (Rome), ItalyTour to winery at a villa in Tuscania and beautiful views...
Don't Miss: sign up for excursions Dubrovnik, Croatiagrogrous, went on olive oil making tour at a private villa, fab!
Don't Miss: see above Kotor, MontenegroThe entry into Montenegro is not to be missed and te town and shore excursions great. The fjords are breathtaking.
Don't Miss: Check the shore excursions, really great! Livorno (Florence & Pisa), ItalyTuscany wine tour and views... :)
Don't Miss: again the shore excursions are great a a good value! Marseille (Provence), FranceWe actually went to the nearby port of Toulon due to the high winds. This is near Marseille and offered the same shore excursions. We went to Cassis. A vacation resort that had carm
Don't Miss: The little stores had some great olive oil soap and herbs de prvence grinders that were unusual and cute. Naples, ItalyThis is not a pretty port and the crime rate can be high there also.... however we went on to the shore excursion of Sorrento which is beautiful.
Don't Miss: Sign up for a shore excursion as Naples port area in walking distance is not desirable. Venice, ItalyLots of people in St. Marks square and sopping prices better away from the square. Good food, quaint places near the square. See Trip Advisor.com
Don't Miss: Shore excursion. Murano glass. Got a great piece, beign sipped 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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What a Fantastic Voyage! by
A Traveler from Hawthorn Woods, IL Sailing date: May 2011Pros: Service, friendliness of the staff, experience of the life time! Cons: can't think of anything. Seeing is believing, must take this cruise to believe how well the ship is finished and operated. Five star is not enough to rate this experience. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodThe truth is, it is overwhelmingly too much. But - don't jump into it all - because you will miss on the masterpieces of dinners that wait for you in the evening in the dining hall. Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff QualityTo give you an answer - NO - is not an option. They stand out because hardly anybody on the street provides this type of service. Entertainment & Activities
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Kusadasi (Ephesus), TurkeyThis guide and tour were fun.
Civitavecchia (Rome), ItalyI wouldn't do it next time - guide was not carrying.
Mykonos, GreeceThis guide and tour were fun.
Santorini, GreeceThis guide and tour were fun.
Naples, ItalyThis guide and tour were fun.
Piraeus (Athens), GreeceI wouldn't do it next time - guide was not carrying.
Valletta, MaltaThis guide and tour were fun.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Great Ship and our best Cruise yet! by
Bill S. from Jackson, MS Sailing date: Apr 2011Pros: We were upgrade to a Royal Suite and the food was great! Cons: One of Orbitz shore excursions was 1 hour late. Overall, this is a very nice ship. Not as large as the newest ones, but that is fine. We go on these trips to get away from people :). For some reason we were upgrade to a Royal Suite.
We never found out why, but who cares--it was great! The food on Celebrity is the best, because we've been on most the other cruise lines. Older crowd on this ship, so it was nice and quite :) Overall great Cruise! Ship QualityVery nice ship, not Brand new but very well kept up. Easy to get around in and not get lost when I've had too many beers :) Dining/FoodGreat food. Especially the buffet is unbelievable. We don't usually eat at the buffets, but this time we did. Dinner was also great, but you need to dress fro dinner every night :) Stateroom QualityWhat can I say, we were upgrade to a royal suite--Larger than my first NYC apartment :)
Very clean! Ship Staff QualityVery friendly and very helpful! Entertainment & ActivitiesShows were good. On a smaller scale than some of the big ships. But Quality was good.
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San Juan, Puerto RicoFort is worth seeing, but PR is not great. Good coach store for the women
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.Orbitz tour guide was 1 hour late and almost didn't show up :)
Philipsburg, St. MaartenWe did the Cat 1/2 day Cat/Snorkle through orbitz--it was great!
Don't Miss: Cat and Snorkel 1/2 day sail 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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cruise was good but not great by
Dan C from Chicago, IL Sailing date: Mar 2011Pros: Formal Dining Room Cons: Noroviruis on the ship Ship has a nice layout and balcony rooms are very nice and spacious (for a cruise ship) Showers were very spacious as well. Ship was a nice size not to big or small. Ship Quality
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Good Cruise by
A Traveler from Rhode Island Sailing date: Feb 2011Pros: Poolside Cons: No msoking Not even Balocny rooms,Food nto good and entertainment not good Very Limited smoking area Should have at least one floor or certain rooms especially if there are balconies,Entertianment was poor and food poor Not enough choices Ship Quality
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0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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NOT a Celebrity Cruise fan... by
Nikole P from Sacramento, CA Sailing date: Nov 2010Pros: Cabin was comfortable and relaxing. Cons: customer service was HORRIBLE! The overall Solstice ship was modern, up to date feel. Classy atmosphere, comfortable overall. Ship QualityPublic access was a complete joke. There was a large group aboard that dominated public areas of the ship, meaning we were not allowed access to the only deck with pools the very first night. Dining/FoodOne of the few areas that was consistantly good. Stateroom QualityOur balcony room saved our vacation. It was our own private hideaway. Ship Staff QualityBeing our third cruise, we now explore each ship on the first night after dinner. We went to the deckre the only two pools were located. We were stopped immediately due to a "private function" of the WHOLE pool deck.
We went to customer service desk where we were told that "you have plenty of nights to observe those ares". Entertainment & ActivitiesCorning hot glass show was amazing! Talented artist, passing on informative peek at how blown glass is created. Amazing!
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San Juan, Puerto RicoDefinetly worth getting a shore excursion. Great food!
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.Snorkled with turtles, went swimming at one the most breathtaking beaches my husband and I have ever seen.
Don't Miss: Sail to Christmas and Honeymoon cove Philipsburg, St. MaartenWonderful tour of the island.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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A Great Cruise by
Denise D. from Naperville, IL Sailing date: Aug 2010Pros: A beautiful ship Cons: Pool area is smaller than we expected The Celebrity Solstice is a beautiful ship. The service was excellent. We chose the Select dining so that we could go to dinner whenever we wanted. We really liked that option. We never had to wait for a table. The food was excellent. They had 2 menus everynight, one was always the same and one was different every night, so there was always something good to choose from. The family pool area was a little small, but there was a beautiful adult pool. Ship Quality
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Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico
Cozumel, Mexico
George Town, Grand Cayman
Roatan (Isla Roatan), Bay Islands, Honduras
5 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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did not enjoy by
Barbara Wallace from Carson, Ca Sailing date: May 2010Pros: the people Cons: the fact i book a room with a balcony so i could smoke and i could not i do not feel it's right that i could not smoke on the balcony in the open air and i was told that i could not, but on other cruise lines i was told if i did not have balcony i could not smoke and i respected that so i would book balconies from then on, and the placies they had us smokeing at had no view and it was not a nice area and when it rained you got wet, and a lot of the people who did not smoke took the chairs where you were to be smoking at and they would be where you were and a lot of people complaned and they would drink and waste it all over and a lot of people don't drink but we had to deal with that and you didn't even have a place in the casino to smoke so you stayed out of the casino and other places and because of this, but you can smell all the beer and alcohal and you don't drink and that takes away our rights as a person also, plus they could have a set floor just for smoking on the balconies and one side of the ship just for smoking they could also have ships just for that and you would have a lot more satisfied customers and maybe even more people traveling and not be so inconsiderate of those who do, but they will also sell them the carton of cigarettes to take home so now just what do you think of that, so i will not go on celebrity again unless they change there rules and then i did not find out until i got there and checked in and seen the flyer lying on the counter that i had to pick up and read, now if i had not notice the flyer, then i could have been fined thinking i could smoke on the balcony and that was not right Ship Quality
Dining/Foodthe food was good but it was almost the same thing every night Stateroom Qualitywas always clean
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San Juan, Puerto Ricoonly seen shopping centers not enough places to walk and see old area
Don't Miss: only the coblestone streets Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.i would quess the shopping center
Don't Miss: don't know not much to see unless you pay a arm and leg a lot of people would rather walk like me it's much better and you can take your time Philipsburg, St. Maartenyou were able to see a little bit more but you see more from the ship then when you go to town, because they always take you straight to shopping centers
Don't Miss: pick a different places to cruise to were you can see their customs along with shopping 9 out of 24 people found this review helpful.
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