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Enjoyable overall, but onboard prices extortionate

12 of 13 people found this review informative
 
Reviewed By: norman, Stoke On Trent on 1st Dec 2011
Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises Times cruised before: 6-10
Cruise Ship: Celebrity Solstice Sailed: October, 2011
Destination: Mediterranean Age: 65+
Cabin: Balcony
We enjoyed the cruise, lucky with the weather considering time of year, sunny in Venice tho cool, only rained in Dubrovnik.
Went to Cannes instead of Villefranche which was a bonus.
The ship was very clean but still had a virus on board and the Ocean View buffet had to be hand served by the staff.
Difficult to see how they could improve things further tho some people did try and avoid the hand sanitisers. Buffets are prone to abuse by their very nature.
We flew to Barca to embark all went well until the return journey, you have to go via Amsterdam and therefore change planes.
Naturally one,(Air France), was late and the connection missed, took us 15hrs to get back home from the v early set out from the ship to arriving home in Cheshire. Never again, can't for the life of me see why there are no direct flights from Manchester, Birmingham etc.
Felt like I needed a good holiday when we eventually arrived home
The ship itself had plusses and minuses, the on board prices are ludicrous, $26 plus 15% for the cheapest bottle of wine.
Can't understand this policy, they didn't sell a lot by looking round the nearby tables.
We had the occasional glass and the sommelier poured it out like it was liquid gold, hardly half filled the glasses for $6 + 15%.
Just had a bottle of Becks instead and paid about $6 for that!
It was a very sober cruise for us.
The Epernay restaurant could only be described as average.Some nice steaks but the sparse vegetables were usually cold
The starters and sweets were nothing special either with fairly limited choice.
Our waiter was excellent,(Omar), the table of 8 worked out very well for us.
The speciality restaurants were surcharged excessively and we didn't use any of them.
The Ocean View was very spacious for a cruise ship buffet, we thought it was good overall.
The excursions were a total rip off and we made our own way apart from Rome.
They charged for shuttle buses from the ship to the destinations, for example they charged $22 pp in Venice for a one day pass and $36pp if you went in both days.
The entertainment was OK, the Solstice company were v good, especially the acrobatics.
Overall it was good cruise, decent ship but the extra prices for everything left a bad taste, seems to me a short sighted policy on behalf of Celebrity.

Quality of Food3
Epernay bit disappointing, expected better, good is a fair rating Buffet good
Entertainment3
Shore Excursions1
Prices excessive
Staff5
OMAR - Table waiter - excellent
Children's Facilitiesn/a
Onboard Activitiesn/a
Cabins4
Very clean, Johnny looked after us well
Overall Rating4
12 of 13 people found this review informative
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Comment by Soons, Lincoln (03 Dec 11 16:06) about this REVIEW
Agree with the Epernay dining room,the vegetables were awful coold and totaly lacking in variety and imagination,we complained that for 4 nights running we had the same vegetables always brought on the same plate as the main course.The head chef said just ask but we decided enough was enough and ate in the Ocean View buffet the rest of the cruise.As to your flights we flew direct into Barcelona with Easyjet from Stanstead easy ,but then we booked it ourselves and went the day before.
Comment by Oneil, St. Helens (03 Dec 11 15:23) about this REVIEW
Hi Norman, You can fly direct to Barcelona from Liverpool, as I did 6 weeks ago, albeit with Easy-Jet, but what the hell, it's only 1Hr 50 mins. We left at 7am and had a great flight. I flew to LA a couple of years ago with United and the legroom was disgusting, 11 hrs with your knees touching the seat in front. Of course I realise that all this is unimportant if the flight was included in the cruise deal as you don't have a say in the matter, but it is worth looking into doing things separately, the only downside being that should your flight be delayed and you miss the ship then you are not covered. Happy cruising, DAVE.
Comment by norman, Stoke On Trent (03 Dec 11 11:24) about this REVIEW
Not sure where you eat and drink Mr Barcham, it must be expensive in Norwich. I've never paid that much for a bottle of wine at any restaurant,(don't use hotels much),and as I said, that was the cheapest on the menu Others were far more expensive,the nett result that very few customers had bottles of wine on their tables.
Comment by Barcham, Norwich (02 Dec 11 15:44) about this REVIEW
is $26 excessive for a bottle of wine? Thats about £16.00 - even if you add 15% on that brings the total to about £18-£19. I've not been to many hotels - especially 4 or 5* hotels where you can get a bottle of wine for £19.00. Even a bottle of cheap "plonk" in an fairly ordinary bar costs about £15.00.

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