GGC2009 - Celebrity Solstice group cruise review

The GGC2009 was on the Solstice sailing Feb 8, 2009. This was the 11th GGC
and we had 80 group members. We chose the Solstice because 1) it is a new
ship and 2) we hadn't done a Celebrity GGC in quite a while. Since the
Solstice was a completely new design, we decided to give her a try.

Here are some thoughts in no particular order... a kind of hodge-podge of
what I thought about the ship and the cruise.


PRE-CRUISE - With hotel prices in a state of flux, we did not have a group
hotel. It is harder and harder to find a hotel that will offer group rates
that are better than what is available online. The night before the cruise,
many of the group met at the Bahia Cabana dock-side bar and restaurant. We
chose this place for many reasons, among them the fact that this was the
place we used the night before the very first GGC back in December, 1998.
Even thought it was a chilly night, over 50 of our group showed up at
various times fo the evening. In addition, it was good to see some of the
past GGC'ers who live locally who came over to join the Bon Voyage
celebration. We had dinner with Barbara and Ron... Steve S. was there as
well as Dan H. You don't expect great food at a bar, but the Bahia Cabana's
dishes are done well and maybe a cut above average.

EMBARKATION - Simply put, it was a breeze. We got to the port at around
noon and even though we went through a special check-in, there was no line
for the regular check-in. We spent more time gabbing with the check-in
people than actually getting checked in (there wasn't anyone waiting so we
weren't holding up the line). On the ship, dump the bags in the cabin and
head to lunch. A+ for embarkation.

BUFFET - OK, we found out why there were no lines at check-in. Everyone was
already on board and trying to have lunch at the same time in the buffet.
Since many cabins weren't going to be ready until 1 PM, people would eat and
sit and wait. Meanwhile, there were no places left for other people to sit.
It was crowded and the layout was confusing since you were always bumping
into someone.

But... once the first day confusion passes, the buffet is pretty neat. They
have "stations" spread out in the center of the area and you can come and go
as you please. There were two omelet stations for breakfast and I never had
to wait more than a few minutes for that. At dinner the choices are
somewhat limited compared to other cruise lines, but still plenty to eat.

A big plus - they have a Sushi station in the buffet every night. Many
people from second seating would go up there for some sushi between 6 and 7
PM.

Overall, I think the food quality was above average and the selection was
very good. Add a few more tables somewhere and the occasional crowding
would disappear. I rate the buffet a solid B+.... way above average.

THE CABIN - We had a balcony cabin and I was impressed with the design and
layout, although a lot of people disagree with me. Some people have the
opinion that there isn't enough storage space but I didn't find that to be
true at all. There were some drawers in the cabin and the usual closet and
some storage area above the bed in a cabinet. The bathroom had a few tiny
drawers and plenty of other spaces for storage. It was laid out very well.
There is a large flat-screen TV that is interactive and while a bit slow at
time, it worked pretty well. One other point... the cabins are very quiet.
I never once heard any of my neighbors or their TV's or even the flushing
toilets.

I give the cabins an A. I liked them a lot.

THE SHIP - OK, I'll start off by saying that Celebrity isn't my favorite
cruise line and the pictures I saw of the Solstice had me prepared for
another "cold" Celebrity ship. I was very wrong. With one exception, the
Solstice is warm and inviting. The ship is broken up into small, intimate
areas that give it the feel of a much smaller ship. For the most part,
traffic flows well around the ship. Whomever came up with the design that
has a hallway going past the casino instead of through it should be given a
medal. Excellent idea.

The one exception in my opinion was the main dining room. White and chrome,
it didn't give me the warm fuzzy feeling. I thought it was almost
antiseptic. Again, not many people agreed with me.

One area where people do agree with me is that the lawn area is a total
waste of space. Part of it faces the Corning Glass making demonstration
area and you can see that the over-flow crowds have already caused Celebrity
to re-sod areas due to wear. My thought is that they should rip up the
grass, expand the seating for the glass show and use the rest of the areas
for some loungers and hot tubs (more about hot tubs in a second). There is
a definite need for more loungers on this ship as the pool area seems to
always be crowded.

The Solarium was my favorite area of the ship. The pool is heated and the
area has enough loungers except on the really busiest of times. The only
flaw is the hot tubs. There are only two of them, they are very shallow and
very small. For a ship this size, that is a huge mistake. We were parked
next to the Freedom of the Seas and I recalled the hot-tubs on that ship
that would hold 15 people and compared that to the 5 person tubs on the
Solstice.

While the Solstice doesn't have all he bells and whistles that it's distant
cousins at Royal Caribbean have, I found it to be a very comfortable ship
and I rate it an A- overall.

SUPPERTIME - While food may be subjective, for the most part, service is not
and in this case, we came up a winner. Our waiter was among the best we
have had in over 60 cruises. Didn't matter what you asked or what request
you made, he didn't know the word "no". One night I had dinner at another
table and he even came over to see how I was doing and deliver something
that I usually had every night.

Celebrity has improved greatly in the quality of their dishes......
especially their beef dishes. When you are feeding 2800+ people within 4
hours, you can't expect gourmet quality, but Celebrity did an above average
job of providing high quality dinners. Funny how it wasn't until after they
got rid of Michael Roux that the quality improved. I have absolutely no
complaints about the food or service in the dining room. A++

MINOR ANNOYANCES - 1) Just once, I would like to do a group cruise where
the cruise line doesn't screw up the dining requests. Three tables were
messed up... including mine. In the Grand Scheme Of Things, this isn't all
that much, but sheesh, how hard can it be? 2) Why did it take 4 days to
get the Onboard Credits and Fuel Supplement refunds on everyone's account?
The word from the Purser's desk is that they only has one person doing these
entries for the entire ship, manually adding them one at a time. Huh? Why
wasn't this information added to the passenger manifest when it was
downloaded onto the ship's computer? This is something that should have
been handled in Miami, not during the cruise. 3) Why would you set up a
meet-and-greet coffee klatch for 80 people in a conference room that only
holds 49 people.... in theater seating? The room was so small that they had
to set the coffee pot up out in the hallway. (OTOH - Celebrity did a very
good job with our Cocktail Party. Plenty of servers, plenty of booze,
plenty of glazed expressions after the partyvbg)

FREE CRUISE GIVE-AWAY - As part of the group amenities, we held a drawing
and the winner won a full refund of her cruise fare compliments of
Countryside Travel. The winner was Laraine Spalten. Congratulations,
Laraine!

Since it was during Valentine's week, we tried to incorporate that into some
activities.

Kate Pitluck drew the short straw and was the GGC2009 Committee chair... and
also did double duty as a judge for the Door Decorating (with an able assist
from Tobie Gerbrandt). We also had a Chocolate Exchange which was very
popular... even with people who weren't a part of our group! Funny how
chocolate can make you so many new friends.

GROUP PICTURE - take a look at http://www.cruisemaster.com/ggc2009.jpg

ROOM SERVICE - We seldom use room service but we decided to have breakfast
on our balcony one morning. It arrived as scheduled. The menu is
limited.... and the scrambled eggs are the absolute worst I have ever had on
any ship at any time. Next time we want to have breakfast on the balcony,
I'll run up to the buffet and bring stuff back.

CASINO - It is non-smoking and I was surprised at how busy it was. A number
of people in our group did well at the slots... one person winning into the
5 figures. I played blackjack and came out ahead. One thing new, they had
a single-deck blackjack table but they only pay 6/5 on a blackjack and you
can't double down after a split. In spite of that, people were still
playing.

ENTERTAINMENT - To me, this was hit or miss. The hits were the accapella
group Ocean's 4 and the string quartet that were as home playing classical
music as well as the Beatles. The "show" band was actually pretty good and
added to the shows when they weren't drowned out by the pre-recorded track.
The 4 principle singers were pretty weak.... none hade more than an average
voice, none were very powerful and for me, they just didn't have the
"ooomph" to make the show exciting. The theater is rigged for aerial acts
and that was used a lot, especially at the last show entitled "Solstice". I
had the feeling that they were going for a Cirque type presentation but they
missed the mark. Another negative note: Celebrity still hires David Meyer
who plays the Xylophone. Now, he plays it very well. In fact, he may well
be the best xylophone player in the world, but after ten minutes of him
playing the xylophone, I get it. Enough. Then he plays the drums, a
welcome relief. Then........ back to the xylophone. Hey Celebrity, how
about putting this guy in the atrium or in one of the lounges instead of the
big room?

DISEMBARKATION - We had an early flight home from FLL so we opted for the
Express Walk Off debarking. We had more luggage than usual, one
roll-aboard, one backpack, one carry-on and one large suitcase. Easy enough
for us to handle without help. (BTW - I hate the word "debarking". Sounds
like something you do to a dog. You don't "bark" onto a ship so you
shouldn't "debark".) We were told to be at the Solstice Theater at 7:25 AM.
We got off the elevator at 7:25 only to find that they were ready to go and
we were among the first people off the ship. Down the gangway, through
Customs, grab a cab and we are at the FLL airport and checked in by 8:02 AM.
WOW! A+++

Funny story - we were just getting to the cab stand when they opened the
gates and about 10 or 12 cabs came flying in, parking in two rows right in
front of everyone who was waiting. We were about 6th in line and a cab
dispatcher walked down the line saying you go there, you go here, etc. He
came up to us and told us to take this cab (he pointed) and we started to
load the bags when an elderly gentleman came up and said "Wasn't I in the
line ahead of you?" Quite indignant. Well, yes he was ahead of us and if
he had been paying attention, he would have seen what cab the dispatcher
snagged for him. I replied to him that yes, he was but if he really wanted
THIS cab, I would gladly take any of the other five empty cabs that were
sitting there.... including the empty one that he was supposed to take.
Subtlety was lost on this gentleman and he triumphantly wheeled his luggage
past an empty cab to the one in contention. By golly, he wasn't going to let
someone get HIS cab. We smiled... life is too short to sweat the small
stuff... and it is almost always small stuff. BTW - no traffic and the
fare was $12 plus tip.

To me, the best part of the GGC's and any group cruise is the opportunity to
meet old friends and make new ones. We had a number of new people in this
group like Lola and John and Jeff and David and Sharon and Jeanette and
Terri and Robert and it was fun meeting them as well as seeing some people
in the group who haven't cruised with us for a while like Barbara and Cotton
Moore and others whose names slip my mind at the moment.

Bottom line, Celebrity provided this group with a great ship, food and
service and I would be hard pressed to remember a single serious complaint.
This Group Cruise was really GREAT in all ways.

George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

Cruise Specials Weblog http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/

May 10, 2009 ALASKA http://www.cruisemaster.com/moagc4.htm
October 16, 2010 OASIS http://www.motherofallgroupcruises.com

George Leppla wrote:

SNIP!

Great job George! I agree 99% with everything you said! I truly agree
that the xylophone guy needed to be in some other lounge and not in the
main room, as it were, that the scrambled eggs left something to be
desired, and that more loungers are needed, and heck rip up that grass!
I loved the decor and the service as well, and found it warm and
inviting in some places and cool/chic in places too though. I'm good
with that though. I do think the food in the dining room has gone
downhill a little bit though but in the buffet has gotten much better.
There was one beef dish that was just terrible, I think that was the
ribeye. No more rack of lamb though, ugh. And what happened to the
swan puff, lol..... It truly truly was a pleasure meeting you and
Becca! I hope we sail again for sure!

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
news
George Leppla wrote:

SNIP!

Great job George! I agree 99% with everything you said! I truly agree
that the xylophone guy needed to be in some other lounge and not in the
main room, as it were, that the scrambled eggs left something to be
desired, and that more loungers are needed, and heck rip up that grass! I
loved the decor and the service as well, and found it warm and inviting in
some places and cool/chic in places too though. I'm good with that
though. I do think the food in the dining room has gone downhill a little
bit though but in the buffet has gotten much better. There was one beef
dish that was just terrible, I think that was the ribeye. No more rack of
lamb though, ugh. And what happened to the swan puff, lol..... It truly
truly was a pleasure meeting you and Becca! I hope we sail again for
sure!

I had the ribeye and mine was great! I guess it is the luck of the draw
with steaks.

One night I opted for the sirloin steak instead of the daily menu items. I
like my stake rare to medium-rare. Our waiter brought me a steak and asked
me to cut it.... medium well. He snatched it away and came back immediately
with another. "I got two, just in case" he said. I cut into that one and
it was medium-well also. "No problem" said Husani. "I'll go to the kitchen
and have my Mother cook you one just the way you like it." A few minutes
later he came back with a steak that was cooked perfectly. Good waiter!

It was fun meeting you, Jeff! I see you are kicking around going on Sue's
Viking cruise. We are considering it also.... you never know.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

Cruise Specials Weblog http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/

As always, terrific review, George! Thanks so much for putting all the
time and effort into telling us about the cruise. And kudos to you and
Becca for giving away a free cruise in addition to all the nice things
you did for the group--that's wowsome!

Diana

austinartemis wrote:
As always, terrific review, George! Thanks so much for putting all the
time and effort into telling us about the cruise. And kudos to you and
Becca for giving away a free cruise in addition to all the nice things
you did for the group--that's wowsome!

Diana

I agree, Diana. It was a great touch and a wonderful woman was the
winner. And I love the new word that I just learned. Wowsome!
Thanks for adding another cutie to my vocab.

Ermalee

On Feb 20, 7:49�am, "George Leppla" wrote:
"Jeff" wrote in message

news




George Leppla wrote:

SNIP!

Great job George! �I agree 99% with everything you said! �I truly agree
that the xylophone guy needed to be in some other lounge and not in the
main room, as it were, that the scrambled eggs left something to be
desired, and that more loungers are needed, and heck rip up that grass! I
loved the decor and the service as well, and found it warm and inviting in
some places and cool/chic in places too though. �I'm good with that
though. �I do think the food in the dining room has gone downhill a little
bit though but in the buffet has gotten much better. There was one beef
dish that was just terrible, I think that was the ribeye. �No more rack of
lamb though, ugh. �And what happened to the swan puff, lol..... �It truly
truly was a pleasure meeting you and Becca! �I hope we sail again for
sure!

I had the ribeye and mine was great! �I guess it is the luck of the draw
with steaks.

One night I opted for the sirloin steak instead of the daily menu items. �I
like my stake rare to medium-rare. �Our waiter brought me a steak and asked
me to cut it.... medium well. �He snatched it away and came back immediately
with another. �"I got two, just in case" he said. �I cut into that one and
it was medium-well also. �"No problem" said Husani. "I'll go to the kitchen
and have my Mother cook you one just the way you like it." �A few minutes
later he came back with a steak that was cooked perfectly. �Good waiter!

It was fun meeting you, Jeff! � �I see you are kicking around going on Sue's
Viking cruise. �We are considering it also.... you never know.

--
George Leppla � �http://www.CruiseMaster.com

Cruise Specials Webloghttp://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

George George.... YOu must bring becca on Westerdam. We are on a
mission to bring the Medin age down! hahahahahah we are going to how
the Dutch how to party. I hear since they are Dutch there is Woman in
Windows and Ganga on the menu... have you herd this George? LOL

George Leppla wrote:

"Jeff" wrote in message
news
George Leppla wrote:

SNIP!

Great job George! I agree 99% with everything you said! I truly
agree that the xylophone guy needed to be in some other lounge and not
in the main room, as it were, that the scrambled eggs left something
to be desired, and that more loungers are needed, and heck rip up that
grass! I loved the decor and the service as well, and found it warm
and inviting in some places and cool/chic in places too though. I'm
good with that though. I do think the food in the dining room has
gone downhill a little bit though but in the buffet has gotten much
better. There was one beef dish that was just terrible, I think that
was the ribeye. No more rack of lamb though, ugh. And what happened
to the swan puff, lol..... It truly truly was a pleasure meeting you
and Becca! I hope we sail again for sure!

I had the ribeye and mine was great! I guess it is the luck of the draw
with steaks.

One night I opted for the sirloin steak instead of the daily menu
items. I like my stake rare to medium-rare. Our waiter brought me a
steak and asked me to cut it.... medium well. He snatched it away and
came back immediately with another. "I got two, just in case" he said.
I cut into that one and it was medium-well also. "No problem" said
Husani. "I'll go to the kitchen and have my Mother cook you one just the
way you like it." A few minutes later he came back with a steak that
was cooked perfectly. Good waiter!

It was fun meeting you, Jeff! I see you are kicking around going on
Sue's Viking cruise. We are considering it also.... you never know.



What a great steak story! The first night I had to reassure our waiter
I wanted "rare". He couldn't believe his ears! But generally
everything came that way, but for some reason I think I got a bad cut of
meat on ribeye night! I am totally a red meat eater, although I also
love duck so had that the one night they had it, and it was quite good.
The Viking group could be fun. I think I'm a bit more Hun or Visigoth
than Viking though, lol....

Jeff

Susette wrote:
On Feb 20, 7:49�am, "George Leppla" wrote:
"Jeff" wrote in message

news




George Leppla wrote:
SNIP!
Great job George! �I agree 99% with everything you said! �I truly agree
that the xylophone guy needed to be in some other lounge and not in the
main room, as it were, that the scrambled eggs left something to be
desired, and that more loungers are needed, and heck rip up that grass! I
loved the decor and the service as well, and found it warm and inviting in
some places and cool/chic in places too though. �I'm good with that
though. �I do think the food in the dining room has gone downhill a little
bit though but in the buffet has gotten much better. There was one beef
dish that was just terrible, I think that was the ribeye. �No more rack of
lamb though, ugh. �And what happened to the swan puff, lol..... �It truly
truly was a pleasure meeting you and Becca! �I hope we sail again for
sure!
I had the ribeye and mine was great! �I guess it is the luck of the draw
with steaks.

One night I opted for the sirloin steak instead of the daily menu items. �I
like my stake rare to medium-rare. �Our waiter brought me a steak and asked
me to cut it.... medium well. �He snatched it away and came back immediately
with another. �"I got two, just in case" he said. �I cut into that one and
it was medium-well also. �"No problem" said Husani. "I'll go to the kitchen
and have my Mother cook you one just the way you like it." �A few minutes
later he came back with a steak that was cooked perfectly. �Good waiter!

It was fun meeting you, Jeff! � �I see you are kicking around going on Sue's
Viking cruise. �We are considering it also.... you never know.

--
George Leppla � �http://www.CruiseMaster.com

Cruise Specials Webloghttp://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

George George.... YOu must bring becca on Westerdam. We are on a
mission to bring the Medin age down! hahahahahah we are going to how
the Dutch how to party. I hear since they are Dutch there is Woman in
Windows and Ganga on the menu... have you herd this George? LOL

Does it go to Jamaica, lol.... I have to say, the split pea soup on HAL
is great! They are great in Alaska, loved the soup and hot chocolate
out on the promenade. Back on the Zuiderdam, a Caribbean sailing, the
only venue really open late was the piano bar, but the guy was really
really good. Like really good. So it was worth hanging out there! HAL
has good gyms and spas too. Could be worth doing maybe....

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
news

Does it go to Jamaica, lol.... I have to say, the split pea soup on HAL
is great! They are great in Alaska, loved the soup and hot chocolate out
on the promenade. Back on the Zuiderdam, a Caribbean sailing, the only
venue really open late was the piano bar, but the guy was really really
good. Like really good. So it was worth hanging out there! HAL has good
gyms and spas too. Could be worth doing maybe....

Jeff

No maybe, Jeff....Book it!

--Jean----agrees about the hot split pea soup and chocolate on HAL.

Jean O'Boyle wrote:
"Jeff" wrote in message
news
Does it go to Jamaica, lol.... I have to say, the split pea soup on HAL
is great! They are great in Alaska, loved the soup and hot chocolate out
on the promenade. Back on the Zuiderdam, a Caribbean sailing, the only
venue really open late was the piano bar, but the guy was really really
good. Like really good. So it was worth hanging out there! HAL has good
gyms and spas too. Could be worth doing maybe....

Jeff

No maybe, Jeff....Book it!

--Jean----agrees about the hot split pea soup and chocolate on HAL.



Probably....I most likely will! Still trying to figure out how to swing
the Greek Islands this summer with Mom though. Might have to do July.

Jeff