This is the view of the grand staircase and dance floor on our cruise ship.

Spoiled Rotten on our Cruise

We were very spoiled on our cruise last week. We left our RV in Los Alamitos (south of Los Angeles) and spent the last week on a twenty-two hundred-mile cruise from California to Los Cabos in Mexico and back. This story is all about the ride, not the destination. We didn’t choose a cruise ship with the destination in mind but rather to experience life on a luxury cruise ship. Neither Tami nor I have ever been on a cruise ship.

Our cruise ship

Our cruise ship for the third week in January is the Celebrity Solstice. Not that it is important for this blog post, but our route was from the Port of Los Angeles then, the next morning we anchored for the day off Santa Catalina Island. The next day and a half were spent enjoying the cruise along Baja Mexico to Los Cabos. After a day and a half in Cabo, we traveled north back to Los Angeles.

 The Celebrity Solstice
The Celebrity Solstice

The photo at the top

The picture at the top is the view of the grand staircase and dance floor on our cruise ship. This location is at the bottom of the main elevator shaft and near the reception area. The picture was taken looking from the fifth deck looking forward between the elevators. Behind us is the main staircase. Much further forward is another staircase and an additional set of elevators.

Our cruise ship's professional dancers gave us a great show on the main dance floor before dinner one evening.
Our cruise ship’s professional dancers gave us a great show on the main dance floor before dinner one evening. They were also in several productions in the theater.

This next picture is about halfway up the elevator shaft. The ficus tree in the next picture is about 35 feet tall. It looks small compared to the elevator shaft. The dance floor in the above pictures is at the bottom of the elevator shaft. When they were playing music, you could hear it clearly (with plenty of echoes) on every deck. The rooms, even the ones near the elevator shaft, were quiet.

This picture is of the elevator eleven-story elevator shaft. Six glass elevators ran quickly between decks with very little delay spent waiting for the elevator.
This picture is of the elevator eleven-story elevator shaft. Six glass elevators ran quickly between decks with very little delay spent waiting for the elevator.

The Main Theater

We should have gone to the main theater every evening while on our cruise ship. Every show was very well performed by an assortment of singers, dancers, and even acrobats. The next picture is the stage setup for the last show about Rock and Roll in the 1980s.

The stage in the main theater on our cruise ship.
Picture of the stage set up in the main theater on our cruise ship. The show was so exciting that I forgot to attempt pictures during the show. I have to say, however, that only David Bowie, in the 1980s, dressed like the dancers.

Our Room on our cruise

I think we had an average balcony room on the cruise ship. It was on the seventh deck just above the tenders. We had an unobstructed view from our room and balcony on the port side of the ship.

Our room on our cruise ship was a little smaller than our RV.
Our room on our cruise ship was a little smaller than our RV. Even if you include the balcony. The bathroom was about the same size as our RV bathroom.

Glamping

We are really not campers in our RV. The term Glamper applies to us. Glamper is a combination word of glamor and camping. Glamping in our RV is nothing like the glamor of our cruise last week. Pampered and catered-to is a very accurate description of how we felt while on this adventure.

Similar to the Navy

The only thing similar to my fifty thousand miles at sea (a wild guess) and the time on our cruise ship is in the next picture. Overall I have to say, that my ships in the navy occasionally had a prettier wake behind the ship. That doesn’t however discount that I think the wake behind the cruise ship was very pretty.

The wake from the main behind our cruise ship.
When I was in the Navy, I saw wakes much prettier than this one. The wake behind my (much smaller ships) had even more white (bubbles) in the mixture. The best wakes in the Navy that I ever saw were produced when heading eastbound — heading for home, after a long time at sea. Perhaps my memories were slightly altered after spending so much time at sea.

Everything you could ever need

Included in our fare was everything we needed on our cruise. The fact is that we were spoiled and started marveling at how spoiled we were. I think we are grounded enough that we never let any of it go to our heads. The only “extra” we paid for on our cruise was a one-night visit to the exclusive dining opportunity in a specialty restaurant. We could have gone to the main dining room, but this was extra. That night we had an eight-course dinner with Filet Mignon and ended with the best limoncello cheesecake I have ever eaten.

The main dining room

Usually, we ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch, although service was still available in the main dining room. Both the main dining room and buffet were great. The main dining room was elegant but not stuffy and the buffet was amazing.

The main dining room on our cruise ship.
The main dining room on our cruise ship.

While the food in the specialty restaurant was a cut above, the food in the main dining room was wonderful. “Lobster night” was great but my favorite meal was probably the one in the following picture.

This is a typical dinner on our cruise ship. It is Steak Diane in a brown mushroom gravy.
This is a typical dinner on our cruise ship. It is Steak Diane in mushroom gravy.

The buffet

The biggest difference between the main dining room and the buffet was table service. Both locations had great food. The selection at the buffet was huge. I have never encountered a selection of foods that was so vast and each selection was wonderful. The only exception may have been the “proper English breakfast”. I skipped it, choosing instead yet another freshly cooked omelet.

One of the food islands in the lunch buffet on our cruise ship was dedicated to dessert.
One of the food islands in the lunch buffet on our cruise ship was dedicated to dessert.

All the extras

Everything I have told you so far falls in the category of extravagance. I have a hard time relating to things that are so over-the-top nice. At each part of the ship, we had a wait staff that was cheerfully ready to meet our every desire. Not only did they meet our needs, but rather anticipated things that would make our trip more enjoyable.

On the upper decks of the cruise ship was the lawn. The shade sails always cast a nice shadow across the grass.
On the upper decks of the cruise ship was the lawn. The shade sails always cast a nice shadow across the grass.

About the Destination

We had a good time, both in Los Cabos and at Avalon on Catalina Island. I will pop out a separate blog post about what we saw at each location. Edit 1/29/2023 Where did we go on our cruise, here is the story.  Catalina Island and Cabo San Lucas

Scott and Tami spoiled rotten on our cruise
Scott and Tami spoiled rotten on our cruise

Recommendations

As a novice cruiser, I don’t really feel qualified to make recommendations with exception of this one critical item. The crew on our cruise ship waited on us hand and foot and we are very grateful. One of my next duties, (yes I feel that strongly about this) is to make sure to identify these wonderful people, each by name, and then comment to the cruise line how each of them helped us and enable us to have so much fun.

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The Celebrity Solstice

11 thoughts on “Spoiled Rotten on our Cruise”

  1. Hi Scott and Tami!
    So fun reading about the cruise! So well done! Your RV is beautiful! Great to meet you on your first cruise!
    The wait staff was phenomenal!
    Safe travels!
    John and Shelly

  2. Jersey Jack Lyle

    Scott & Tami,
    Thanks for the update. Sounds like a wonderful vacation. Wishing y’all a Happy New Year. Hope 2023 brings y’all much success, happiness & good health. ❤️🤗

  3. Welcome to the cruise culture. It is nice to be pampered once in a while. We are one day out from Hawaii starting our cruise.

  4. These cruise ships just get bigger and more impressive every year. Just thinking about the amount of logistics that are involved in operating a ship that size and feeding and entertaining a crowd that big is mind boggling. I’m glad you guys had a great time!

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