This is our first Celebrity and seventh cruise, from 3-star to 5-star (Oasis of the Sea) before this 5.5-star Solstice. We were very disappointed about this ship and will never take Celebrity any more. Overall, we felt like on a 4.0 star Carnival level ship which may cost only half of the price. Maybe because we were not in a suite room nor used the spa, we didn't feel the "Modern Luxury" at all as we expected and paid. My teenage daughter kept asking me "Are you sure this is 5.5 star? why it's like on Carnival? Food is so lousy. Boring...".

The biggest disappointment is dinning. We didn't eat at any Specialty restaurant since we thought Celebrity was famous for its fine dinning which is essential for a upscale cruise ship. But the quality and variety of the food is as poor as on a 4.0-star Carnival ship. We chose "My Time" dinning for flexibility, but we felt like every time we had to beg them for seating, not a good experience, maybe fixed seating could have been better. In the main dinning room, not only the food tastes far from "fine", but the waiters seem always very busy and are afraid of talking to us when we need help with the menu. The buffet in Oceanview Cafe is poor too, every day same stuff and limited varieties. These are the only 2 restaurants we can eat without paying extra. I ended up to eat pizza and pasta often since no better choices.

Compare to other cruise ships, the service on this ship is below average, some of the photographers (men) were even rude, not mention to friendly. The shows on the ship don't match a 5.5 star ship, not to compare with Oasis of the Sea which is way way better, even not as good as a Carnival ship. Three of the shows were one performer on the stage either juggling or showing magic, but most of time they were talking. Sin City Comedy show was the only one that can compete with other ships. The teen program was ok, my teenage kids didn't complain much.