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Celebrity Solstice sails the Caribbean with class
By Charles Greenfield
cdgpm@bellsouth.net
Over a decade ago I took a cruise out of the Port of Miami on a new ship and was quite excited about the prospect of the cuisine, the deck activities, the cabin comfort, and the overall ocean experience. Entering my spanking new cabin I immediately observed neither a porthole nor balcony and the bed was in the corner of the room against a wall. Early the next morning I awoke in total darkness and was seized by a case of claustrophobia so intense I had to move the mattress to the center of the tiny space. Dawn could not come too soon. Afterwards, I vowed to stay on land for future travel assignments.
The cruise industry has evolved into a major trendsetter with energy-saving hulls, complete on-board spas, giant multi-deck atriums with glassed-in elevators, a myriad of shops, restaurants, theaters and casinos, a real Vegas-at-Sea with European chic with comfort comparable to a four-star deluxe hotel. Still, in our current near-economic collapse, a vacation takes serious planning and budget considerations. With a travel product that includes transportation, taxes, room, board, entertainment, and ports of call at per diems less than $200 per person, the value of a cruise ship vacation becomes highly attractive.
So it was with some trepidation and curiosity I recently attended a cruise-to-nowhere on the Celebrity Solstice out of Port Everglades to introduce travel agents and the media to the 16-deck, 2,850-passenger, 1246/55-crew, 122,000-ton behemoth recently built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Says Chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain: “When we began to think about a new class of ships for Celebrity, we asked, ‘What should a cruise ship really be today? What is the look that embodies everything Celebrity has become to stand for, but takes it to the next level?’”
The ship’s spatial configuration has elegant, pleasing lines with two exhaust funnels instead of the tradition single stack, an efficient curved high bow, and a ducktail-designed stern with “interceptor,” all contributing for smoother sailing and fuel economy. An imaginative idea for the upper deck is their Lawn Club (Deck 15), a half-acre of “Creeping Bent” (Agrostis Stolonifera) grass with an automated subsurface drip irrigation system over four miles long without pvc piping. Alongside the verdant expanse are the Sunset Bar, Patio on the Lawn, 3-hole putting course, lawn bowling, and croquet. Another industry “first” is their adjacent Hot Glass Show with master glassblowers from New York’s Corning Museum of Glass. Daily shows feature three glassblowers or “gaffers” who take gobs of molten glass on the end of a blowpipe from three ovens at well over 1000 degrees and spin and shape them with special tongs. Their next-door studio provides additional information on the glass-making process and showcases finished products.
In terms of guest room inventory, 90% contain verandas or ocean views, a very high percentage for the industry. I slept like a baby in my 192 sq. ft. stateroom with a sliding glass door to the 53 sq. ft. veranda and its two reclining deck chairs and table, the perfect location for reading or gazing at a sunrise. The room possessed ergonomic flair with its blonde modular furniture, subtle curves, plush rounded-cornered queen bedding and multiple pillows, and 32-inch flat-panel Samsung TV including music selections, previews, room service ordering, and photo and shore excursion purchases. The bathroom boasts spa features like the Hansgrohe Comfort Plus showerhead and jetted body wash, a convenient shaving foot rail in the shower, and fog-free mirror.
In the 130 double occupancy AquaClass staterooms on Deck 11 forward and aft, guests have free access to the AquaSpa relaxation room and Persian Garden, complimentary dining in Blu, one of the four specialty or surcharge restaurants on board, the Spa Concierge, an upgraded room service menu, and continental breakfast at Blu from 7-9am. AquaSpa guests have the convenience of staying next to the AquaSpa by Elemis
Cuisine has always been an enigma on cruise ships. How does a floating hotel with almost 3,000 people plus crew manage to coordinate so many dishes, vary their menus and maintain high standards? Hotel designer Adam Tihany’s (Jean Georges in New York, Aureole in Las Vegas, London’s Mandarin Bar) first cruise ship creation is the Celebrity Solstice’s two-level, all-meal Grand Epernay dining room (Deck 4), a grand Hollywood-style space that draws all eyes to its splendid central chandelier and iridescent glass wine tower. Specialty restaurants (Deck 5) include: Tuscan Grille with Kobe steaks and Napa Valley wines; Silk Harvest with Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese dishes backed up by sake and Asian-style martinis; Blu and its light Mediterranean dishes; and Murano, a formal, classic French dining room with Riedel stemware, bone china and fine silverware.
The Oceanview Café (Deck 14) serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a clean and airy setting of various serving stations offering oven-baked pizzas, fresh pastas, salad bar, fruit dishes, chef specials, grilled meats and chicken, made-to-order sandwiches, dessert assortments, ice cream, and two large coffee/tea and soda dispenser stations. Poolside on the same level the Mast Grill & Bar serve casual munchies like tacos and nachos or burgers and chicken wings. Inside you can also snack on crepes, soups, salads, and light meals at Bistro on Five or cross over to the opposite windows and enjoy terrific pastries, coffee or gelato at Café al Bacio & Gelateria. The AquaSpa Café serves meals under the Solarium near the bow.
Entertainment can heat up on Deck 4 in Fortunes Casino with 16 tables and 275 slots. Among a dozen bars and lounges on board sip one out of 100 varieties at the nearby Martini Bar or pair vodka and caviar at Crush. Also, the ship hosts 18 shopping venues and an Art Gallery. (Notice the quantity and quality of public art on display in the stairs, staterooms and corridors.) On Deck 5 the 1,115-seat Solstice Theater utilizes the broadest section of the ship’s bow for its magnificent “Theater in the Round” that projects 20 feet beyond the proscenium arch. Former Cirque du Soleil acrobat/aerialist Michael McPherson directs “Solstice,” a fantasy show of bizarre creatures that levitate and fly while others perform acrobatic stunts. Other shows are: “Ghost Light” with Broadway hits and “Pulse” that displays vocal and dance performances. Throughout the ship live entertainment includes a guitarist, string quartet, big band music, jazz trio, pianist, a steel pan virtuoso, an a cappella group, and pop singers.
AquaSpa, located on the bow, plays with the idea of the Greek Islands like Mykonos in its color scheme of deep blue and muted white. Treatments range from an oxydermy facial that combines microdermabrasion and oxygen to clean and polish the skin or the herbal poultice massage that applies special oils to joints and muscles. For teeth there is even a thirty-minute whitening or a pro-collagen mini facial and face, scalp, hand and arm massage. For beauty buffs indulge in acupuncture, botox for the upper face, fine lines and wrinkles, or their cellulite reduction program. For fitness there is personal training with a tri-dimensional pulley system, a metabolism test for body fat percentage, and indoor spinning called Tour de Spin.
To end my tour I indulged in gastronomy at Murano. Like a fashionable Parisian Michelin-star restaurant, the staff, supervised by Lorenzo Davidoiu, synchronize like top-notch professionals. The earth color décor is sumptuous with discrete banquettes and a private dining room off the entrance. For appetizers they offered escargots tortellini cooked with a fricassee of morel mushrooms, pancetta lardons, and roasted garlic-parsley foam and a fresh water crayfish, langoustine and mussel bisque. Salad preparations were imaginative like phyllo baked Anjou pear and Roquefort cheese with Lolla Rosso lettuce, spicy pecans and Port wine reduction. Entrées have classical appeal: Dover sole Véronique, Maine lobster en croûte, pan seared turbot, shellfish and saffron risotto, and sautéed Muscovy duck breast. Both the sole and the lobster are prepared tableside.
After the very satisfying dinner I strolled on the top deck past the bow-side Solarium to partake in a cognac in the Sky Observation Lounge. Above, the view of the celestial order was incomparable. All in all, I was due for a change of perspective in these wide, open spaces!
NOTE: Celebrity Solstice boasts energy-saving devices like 216 solar panels (first in the industry), 190-240 kHz, enough to generate the ship’s guest elevators. High-glazed glass conserves air conditioning and enhances height in larger public spaces due to the savings. Celebrity Solstice will be followed by Celebrity Equinox in August, 2009, Celebrity Eclipse, summer of 2010, a fourth ship in 2011, and the final one in 2012.
Charles Greenfield is a Miami-based travel writer who has contributed to Travel & Leisure and regional magazines. As Travel Editor of the Coral Gables Gazette, he specializes in luxury travel on Europe, Asia/Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. He won the prestigious Cacique Award 2000 for International Consumer Travel Writing from the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. He also is Cultural Arts Contributor to WLRN 91.3 FM, South Florida’s NPR affiliate.
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