Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Solstice, Caribbean

We sailed from Fort Lauderdale on 1 Feb 2009 for a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. We had cruised the previous year with Celebrity on the Summit in Concierge Class so had a fair idea of what to expect. However the Solstice was a new ship and we were booked into Aquaclass which is a level higher than concierge so our expectations were high. Embarkation was amazingly efficient and we were onboard around noon. The ship itself is outstanding. Beautiful and elegant in style with a sumptuous feel. Nice touches such as a real grass lawn on the outside deck with a lawn club and rattan furniture with thick cushions with footstools and an array of single and double day beds and other very modern outside furniture as well as more traditional sunbeds. One of the benefits of Aquaclass is the use of the spa facilities whenever you wish i.e sauna, steam room, relaxation room etc. In reality, we did not use it as much as we thought we would. The so called relaxation room was anything but that! On one of the two occasions I went in there, two American couples decided to hold a very loud conversation together for around 30 mins and had the cheek to remark that they didn't find the room relaxing at all! The fact that it was meant to be a place of quiet, calm and serenity (i.e speaking only in hushed tones if at all) seemed to be lost on them. The gym was a large spacious room with lots of equipment for those inclined that way! Aquaclass has its own dining room - The Blu Restaurant on Deck 5 - for breakfast and dinner if you wish to dine there. This was a small, classy and intimate experience and the choice and quality of food was excellent. The service was good and nothing was too much trouble. Guests not travelling in Aquaclass can eat in Blu, subject to availability. The experience of the Oceanview Cafe on Deck 14 was nothing other than a bun fight! Crowded and stressful and I'm not sure the layout of the food counters helped. Celebrity have done away with trays in the self service eateries so if you want to get all your food in one go - you can't - you have to make several trips. I think this is a good idea as battling crowds of people is bad enough but battling them all with large trays is even more difficult. There are three speciality restaurants on board and we tried the Tuscan Grille which was disastrous! We were travelling with friends and had a table for 10 but none of the courses arrived at the same time so we were all eating different courses at different times - some eating while others sat and waited for 10-15 mins. The quality of the food was mediocre. The cover charge of $30 per head is ludicrous for what is just quite basic Italian food. Suffice to say, as our experience was so poor, the cover charge was waived. Celebrity are excellent at trying to put things right when a complaint is made and we made several during our trip. We ordered breakfast in our room one day , which didn't turn up on time and when it did, no cutlery was provided so we had to wait again. As we were going on an early tour, this proved a problem and we only had time to eat a few mouthfuls of cereal befor we had to leave. The main restaurant is the Grand Epernay which is very grand in decor and furnishing but we ate there just once , which was fine. The Aquaclass staterooms are compact, well equipped, and elegantly furnished with a reasonably spacious balcony. In the bathroom, there is a shower cubicle with a multi jet shower (ours wasn't working properly) and sliding doors rather than a shower curtain which is a huge improvement. The bed is also huge and very comfortable and the wardrobe space is good with loads of hangers - hooray! The staff in all areas are very polite and helpful but the feel is very much that they are a work in progress. Some lacked the warmth and friendliness that we have experienced on other ships but the overall feel is that they are not yet working as a team. Many other guests also said they felt the same way. This is perhaps unsurprising for a ship launched just a few months ago. The shows in the theatre were a major disappointment. The Solstice singers and dancers were mediocre with only one girl who had decent vocal ability and even at times she was off key. The acrobats were amazing though and one of the shows is on a theme of 'Cirque du Soleil' with wires carrying dancers above the audience and around the theatre. One of our ports of call was Labadee, Haiti - which is a resort owned by Royal Caribbean. This, in our opinion was a complete waste of time. Food and drink is tendered ashore from the ship and the resort is a small beach area with a flea market selling local crafts, artwork, etc with extremely pushy salespeople which was very offputting and it made many people just leave empty handed, within a few seconds of entering the market. It was impossible to look at anything properly because you were pounced upon on approaching the stalls and pressurised into buying something. I know Haiti is one of the poorest areas in the world and the people are desperate but visitors would be more inclined to stop and buy if this was better organised. The queues for food were so long, it was quicker to tender back to the ship and eat on board. The other ports of call were good although some of the tours were not worth the money paid for them. All in all, we had a great time and at least we escaped the winter bashing the UK had while we were away. I would sail on the Solstice again but perhaps in a year or two when all the small things that need time to sort out will have hopefully been done.