Little 2 day week-end cruise to nowhere

On November 21st, we went on a little 2 day cruise aboard the all new Celebrity Solstice. We were the first passengers on board this outstanding ship for it's inaugural 2 day cruise to nowhere. That's right. No where. In August, I booked the cruise for its phenomenal value - 320.00 per person for an upgrade to a verandah room. That is quite the deal.

The stateroom was nothing short of outstanding, even if it was your standard size cruise ship room. The decor was brand new, up to date and I was most impressed with the bathroom

The beautiful lawn up on Deck 15. Real grass!! You could putt a golf ball, play croquet and even learn how to play Bocce Ball. Best of all, you could just relax and watch the ocean.

One of the most interesting entertainment aspects of the ship was the Hot Glass show.

The Corning Museum of Glass had some of its glass blowers on the cruise and they put on a great show, making different blown glass objects... and they even gave away some of the items. I was not lucky enough to win.

To be perfectly honest, the food was a little lacking and the service needed a little more polish - and I am not talking about the silverware. You can choose assigned seating or you can go downstairs to the walk-in and sit anywhere service. We had the latter. Soup spoons did not arrive with the soup. Salad dressing did not arrive with the salad and coffee seemed to only be served with the dessert. Matt ordered coffee with his meal both nights... and did not get it until dessert. The food... was okay, but for the most part, I was disappointed with the menu options. I will tell you what. People may make fun of Carnival as a party ship, but they have the food and the wait service down. The same for the room steweards, too. And another thing lacking... NO ROOM SERVICE. I really enjoyed drinking coffee and eating croissant in the morning without having to leave the room. With the verandah, I was looking forward to that as well. Alas, no room service. Maybe they just did not have it for this sailing.

It was sad on Sunday to have to leave such a beautiful ship and get back to the reality of work, home life and all other things pulling at your sleeves. I would definitely recommend sailing on this lovely boat.