Celebrity Solstice

The 2008-built Celebrity Solstice cruise ship is the 1st of the Solstice-class Celebrity Cruises boats, together with Equinox, Silhouette, Eclipse, Reflection. Celebrity Cruises Solstice ship is scheduled for "Celebrity Revolution" drydock refurbishment on October 1, 2021.

The vessel (IMO number 9362530) is currently Malta-flagged (MMSI 249409000) and registered in Valletta.

History - construction and ownership

Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 as the Greece-based Chandris Line (cruise shipping operations between 1974-1996). In 1997, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) merged with "Celebrity Cruises Ltd" to become "Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd" (RCCL). The "X" on ship funnels is the Greek letter chi (standing for "Chandris"). Common features of Celebrity Cruises ships include aft located glass-walled dining rooms, signature alternate dining venues, bars and lounges, spacious Atrium lobby areas, a large number of balcony staterooms, large sundecks with swimming pools, The Retreat (adults-only sundeck with full-size swimming pool, Jacuzzi, cabanas, poolside full bar service). Rooftop Terrace (top-deck outdoor lounge-restaurant-cinema), large Spa (with Thermal Suites), premium retail shops selling top-brand merchandise.

The 2900-passenger ship Celebrity Solstice was the first to be a part of Celebrity's Solstice class. Solstice has many of the personal amenities that cruisers have come to expect from the line, while able to transport almost 3000 passengers. Each of the vessels in the Solstice class has wireless Internet connectivity, bigger staterooms with HDTVs, large bathrooms, more storage space, and plush European bedding. The Solstice-class ships also offer an extraordinary range of customer-inspired services and amenities made possible due to the liners' bigger size.

Decks and Cabins

Celebrity Solstice staterooms (1425 total, in 30 grades) include 66x Suites, 1149 Balconies, 70x Oceanviews, 140x Inside cabins. Most staterooms are sized 195 ft2 / 18 m2. Around 85% of all passenger accommodations have a private step-out balcony. Most balconies are sized 55 ft2 / 5 m2. Wheelchair-accessible cabins are 30. The largest are the Penthouse Suites (1290 ft2 / 120 m2 with terrace sized 390 ft2 / 36 m2).

The boat has 15 decks, of which 14 are passenger-accessible and 8 with cabins.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Besides the main dining room, passengers aboard Celebrity Solstice can dine in three specialty restaurants. One of the dining venues aboard is reserved exclusively for guests in Aqua Class staterooms. There is also a lido buffet with specialty stations, a crepe and panini bistro, a spa cuisine buffet and grill, a poolside grill, and a coffee bar and gelateria. Of the 10 restaurants available, 6 are open for breakfast, 5 for lunch and 7 for dinner. The airy Grand Epernay is ship's main dining room, which spans two decks at the aft end of the cruise ship. The room is light intones, bright and with ample use of the signature design element of Solstice, glass. Instead of a wine cellar, one end of the MDR is accented with a 2-story glass wine tower.

Follows the complete list of Celebrity Solstice restaurants and food bars.

• Murano (76-seats specialty restaurant, reservations only; with French cuisine, Five Senses tasting menu, Champagne High Tea Time; with Demonstration Kitchen for live cooking shows; also features the Wine Cellar annex)
• Grand Epernay Restaurant (1,429-seat aft Dining Room, with open seating Breakfast 8:00-9:30 a.m., Lunch 12:00-1:30 p.m., Afternoon Tea 4:00-5:00 p.m., and two fixed Dinner seatings - at 6:00 and 8:30 p.m., or “My Time Dining”)
• Bistro on Five (68-seat creperie all-you-can-eat restaurant; offers lunch and dinner with table-side service) was replaced in 2016 by Sushi on Five. The new food menu (by sushi chef Yoshikazu "Yoshi" Okada) includes hand-rolled sushi, fresh tableside grated wasabi, house-made soy sauce, Asian-inspired cocktails, Japanese beers, and sakes.
• Blu (32-seat AquaClass passengers only restaurant, reservations required; also serves Suite guests upon availability)
• Silk Harvest (88-seat Asian specialty restaurant/sushi bar, reservation only
• AquaSpa Cafe (48-seat complimentary Solarium and Spa bar, self-service; offers healthy food choices for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)
• Oceanview Cafe & Bar (758-seat indoor/outdoor self-service buffet restaurant, complimentary; open between 6:30 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, with a variety of food stations)
• Tuscan Grille (132-seat specialty seafood/steakhouse restaurant; reservations-only)
• Mast Bar (alfresco burger bar, poolside; offers complimentary lunch).

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

Celebrity's enrichment program is called Celebrity Life. It is offered day and night, and activities are divided into 4 categories: wellness, enrichment, culinary and trivia & games. Culinary-oriented options include galley tours, cooking and cocktail-making demos, wine tasting and Riedel glass tasting - an experiential look at how the feel and shape of a wine glass impact its taste. Spa-fans aboard the Celebrity Solstice can have fun with the 130 “AquaClass” veranda staterooms, with free access to Aqua Spa relaxation room, Persian Garden, nice aromatherapy and steam room. AquaClass guests also receive exclusive complimentary dining in the Blu, an intimate 130-seat specialty restaurant.

Follows the complete list of Celebrity Solstice lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens, and adults.

• Solstice Theatre (1,115-seat show lounge for grand musical and show productions; hosts daily trivia games, bingo, classes, movies)
• Solstice Atrium “Grand Foyer” (3-deck open floor area with live music entertainment); Boulevard Shops (seven Atrium duty-free shops and boutiques); Galleria Boutiques (ten duty-free shops); Sun & Sea Shop; The Lawn Club Shop
• Passport Bar (Atrium Lobby Bar with live entertainment)
• The Entertainment Court (live performances, dance parties)
• Quasar Disco & Nightclub
• Celebrity Central (200-seat show lounge for movies, musical performances, comedy shows; also hosts classes and games)
• Michael’s Club (piano bar); Martini Bar (cocktails made by professional mixologists); Crush Bar (with a 12-seat table filled with ice cubes in the middle); Galleria Tastings (food and wine tastings, fashion shows, art auctions); Molecular Bar; Ensemble Lounge
• Photo Gallery & Shop
• Solstice Fortunes Casino
• Celebrity iLounge (24-hour Internet computers room; sells Apple computers; classes available)
• Team Earth (eco-awareness club)
• Game On (Card Room)
• Relaxation Lounge
• Sky Observation Lounge & Nightclub
• Cafe Al Bacio & Gelateria (54-seat a la carte specialty coffee, patisserie, ice cream; with the Gelateria - Italian Gelato ice cream bar)
• Cellar Masters (24-hour Wine Bar; features an Enomatic wine tasting system; provides Sommelier consultations in the evenings)
• Art Gallery; Library
• Acupuncture at Sea; Elmis Shop (Spa products); Aquaspa & Fitness complex with Persian Garden (Thermal Suite - rain shower, steam rooms, sauna, heated loungers, aromatherapy showers), Therapy and Treatment Rooms, Hair & Beauty Salon, Solarium (adults area) and Aquaspa Cafe (spa bar)
• Fitness Center (with separate Aerobics area)
• Solarium Pool area (with adults-only Thalassotherapy Pool and seawater lap pool; 2 Whirlpools)
• Pool Bar; Sports Pool;
• Family Pool;
• Wet Zone (kids & teens water play area)
• The Hot Glass Show (live glass blowing show; “The Corning Museum of Glass”)
• Sunset Bar (alfresco bar, selling fine cigars)
• Patio on the Lawn (relaxation area); The Lawn Club (real green grass relaxation area)
• Kids clubs by age (Fun Factory 3-11 yo, Shipmates 3-5 yo, Cadets 6-8 yo, Ensigns 9-11 yo, with supervised age-appropriate activities, like arts-crafts, themed parties, games, movies, toys, interactive games, scavenger hunts)
• X-Club (teen-only disco and lounge area); Video Games Arcade
• Tennis Tables, Shuffleboard; Power Walking/Jogging Track; Multi-sports outdoor court; 3-hole Mini Golf putting, Lawn Bowling, Bocce, Croquet; Sun Deck area.

In 2023, Celebrity introduced pickleball playing (at the sports courts) fleetwide. The sports facilities are complimentary, including the pickleball equipment (net, paddles, balls) but operated with separate scheduled playing times for adults and families (with kids older than 6).

Pickleball Court's locations vary by ship class - on EDGE ships is at the Rooftop Garden (Deck 15), on SOLSTICE ships is on the Sports Deck (Deck 15), on MILLENNIUM ships - at the Multi-Sports Court (Deck 12).

Itineraries

Celebrity Solstice itinerary program is based on 7-day roundtrips to Alaska from Seattle WA during summer. During the rest of the year, the ship sails on South Pacific Islands, Australia and NZ cruises from Auckland and Sydney. The Solstice also visits Hawaii on repositioning crossings between Alaska and Australia.

Due to the Coronavirus crisis, the Celebrity ship Solstice was paused for 2+ years (March 2020 thru May 2022). Operations were scheduled to restart on May 6, 2022, with 7-day Alaskan itineraries (from homeport Seattle). The following Asian deployment for winter 2022-23 (based on homeporting in Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama, and 12-day itineraries) was eventually canceled and replaced with 7-day Mexican Riviera voyages from homeport Los Angeles. The Mexican program was previously assigned to the fleetmate Millennium (repositioned to the Caribbean). A total of 17x Asian itineraries (departures between Sept 16, 2022, and April 21, 2023) were canceled.

Celebrity Cruises Solstice ship belongs to company's Solstice-class liners, with sisterships Eclipse, Equinox, Reflection, Silhouette. Solstice is fleet's first Solstice-class vessel (launched on August 10, 2008), with inaugural cruise/maiden voyage on November 23, 2008. The ship has staterooms in various categories, including the new AquaClass and ConciergeClass cabins.

Modern and classy, Solstice was the biggest passenger ship built in Germany. Deck layouts of all Solstice-class Celebrity liners show optimized interior architecture designs for easy passenger flow. The vessel is very easy to navigate, with all entertainment venues located forward and all food venues located aft. All "money" places (casino and shops) are midship. All specialty dining venues are on Deck 5. This ship also has solar panels to produce (though of limited amount) electricity, fuel-efficient hull design, and coatings, eco-friendly lighting.

Cruise itinerary October 20-29 (9-day "South Pacific Islands" roundtrip from Sydney NSW) became Australia's first-ever vegan-themed voyage. It was available for booking on Celebrity Solstice and featured a special vegan dining menu. The voyage (themed "The Whole Connection") was organized by Paige Renshaw and as onboard pre-scheduled events featured daily food demonstrations, workshops, and professional presentations, as well as meditation classes, yoga and pilates, various group activities and documentary movie nights. The itinerary's call ports were in New Caledonia and Vanuatu (Noumea, Mystery Island, Isle of Pines, Lifou Island).