With the cruise industry hurting along with everyone else, it’s nice to have some good news to report. See that green stuff in the rendering up above? That’s grass. Real grass, up atop the new Celebrity Solstice. They’re calling it the Lawn Club. There will be bocce, croquet, a putting green, places to picnic, what have you. This is the line’s newest ship, which begins service November 23, but not before allowing us to hop on board for a quick preview, this weekend out of Fort LauderFAIL.
Reasons we are keen on Solstice. One, it’s a new Celebrity ship. Celebrity is sort of cruise line even haters can smile about, being vaguely upscale and kind of calming. Two, this whole green roof thing is actually really cool. In warm weather, let’s hope that bar you see there will be serving liquor. Two, the decor elsewhere on the ship reflects current trends towards the clean, simple and elegant, an idea which may already be tired in hotels, but is welcome on cruise ships, which are generally not known for their tasteful interiors or staying on top of trends.
Solstice inaugurates a new class of ships for Celebrity; it is said that four more ships will join the Solstice class in the coming years; we’ll see about that. For now, tune in this weekend (after 5pm Friday) for live updates from onboard. Temperature right now is 80 degrees – let’s hope that sticks.