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Celebrity Solstice
In what has become a game of one-upmanship with each successive generation of newly built cruise liners, the cruise industry has consistently introduced a series of features never before seen on a cruise ship. We've witnessed the shipboard debuts of ice-skating rinks, rock-climbing walls, surfing simulators, bungee trampolines and more.
Enter Celebrity Cruises, whose forthcoming Celebrity Solstice will feature the first real lawn ever seen at sea. Known as The Lawn Club, this half-acre patch of genuine, growing grass will be a top-deck country-club setting for such diversions as bocce ball and croquet. Otherwise, guests might choose to have a picnic lunch on the lawn, or simply enjoy the feeling of grass between their toes.
The Solstice's Lawn Club also features an exhibit known as the Hot Glass Show. Here, glassblowers will demonstrate their technique for guests, as well as conduct lectures and workshops in the fine art of glass-making. The Hot Glass Show is part of The Lawn Clubs patio area, where guests can catch up on the morning paper, lose themselves in a good novel, or meet newfound friends for gourmet coffee.
Celebrity Solstice represents the first wholly new design for Celebrity Cruises since the Millennium class of ships made its debut in 2000. The first of what could be up to five new vessels (the next two ships will be named Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Eclipse), the 122,000-GRT, 2,850-passenger Celebrity Solstice includes a number of innovative features inspired by passenger feedback. Chief among these are new stateroom designs that are 'smarter' and based on the input of a five-woman panel of specially selected cruise consultants.
Apparently this means more balconies, bigger bathrooms, and better bedding. A full 85 per cent of all staterooms onboard Celebrity Solstice have private verandahs, and all staterooms are equipped with flat-screen TVs, spacious bathrooms, and plush European bedding. Deluxe verandah staterooms are 15 per cent larger than comparable accommodations on other Celebrity ships. The Celebrity Solstice also debuts a new AquaClass category of veranda accommodations, designed especially for spa enthusiasts. Guests booked in AquaClass enjoy unlimited access to the new AquaSpa relaxation room and the Persian Garden, an exotic aromatherapy and steam room, plus complimentary dining in Blu, an intimate, 130-seat specialty restaurant. The Celebrity Solstice makes its debut on November 23, 2008, to the islands of the eastern Caribbean, calling at San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Kitts. In May of 2009, the Celebrity Solstice repositions to Europe for alternating 10- and 11-night cruises of the eastern Mediterranean.
Written by MT Schwartzman - issue 33/spring 08