Alcove-style cabanas will be fitted to parts of the Lawn Club onboard Celebrity Solstice as part of a suite of enhancements coming to the ship during an upcoming nine-day dry dock refurbishment scheduled to take place in Singapore next month, Celebrity Cruises has said.
The popular and quite unique Lawn Club is a half-acre of carefully curated grass which has become a staple of the Celebrity Cruises experience on its Solstice-class ships. The new cabanas will border the lawn area, providing a new seating area which passengers can rotate to face either the lawn, out to sea or toward an outdoor movie screen, another feature set to be added during the refurbishment.
Speaking of the movie screen, this will be a central element of another new entertainment offering known as ‘A Taste of Film’. Celebrity Solstice will be the first in its class to offer the experience, which is already in place on many of the Millennium class fleet-mates. The hybrid movie and dining experience sees guests take their seats for a screening of a well-known food-based movie. At different stages of the film, Celebrity hits the pause button and treats guests to real examples of the same type of food you’re seeing on the screen.
Part of an AUD$11.25 million dollar upgrade, further works will see the transformation of the former ‘Bistro on Five’ into a new Japanese restaurant, appropriately titled ‘Sushi on Five’. The a la carte menu designed by sushi chef Yoshikazu Okada will offer hand-rolled sushi, tableside grated wasabi, house-made soy sauce, Japanese beers and sakes and more.
Deeper within the ship, Celebrity Solstice will completely digitise its photo gallery, removing the traditional wall of printed photos and replacing them with 25 touch-screen kiosks where guests can view and purchase their professionally-taken images in a variety of formats. Once purchased, these images can be downloaded to personal smartphones and tablet devices, shared on social media or sent directly to friends and family via email or instant messaging.
This process will be improved further following the installation of the ship’s “Xcelerate” wireless internet system. Combined with a huge increase in bandwidth, guests will notice a significant increase in wi-fi speeds while at sea and in port.
As a result of the compacted digital photo store, an expanded art gallery lined with works of art will take its place, complete with a dedicated auction location where you can view and purchase these and many other artworks via the regular Champagne Art Auctions held at different points of the voyage.
Guest accommodations will also be improved as a final touch during the refurbishment, with suites balconies to be fitted with luxurious new patio furniture.
Celebrity Solstice will arrive back in Australia on 08 October after its most recent Alaskan cruising season, before immediately heading to Singapore, where it will arrive on 22 October. After the nine-day upgrade, the new-look ship will arrive back in Sydney on 14 November to begin its fifth summer season cruising from Sydney.
Leave a Reply