'Solsticized'.... what is this?

Celebrity cruises have just started on a near $200m investment to 'Solsticized' the 4 ships in their Millenium class of ship.

Following a15-day drydock and revitalisation period, Celebrity Constellation now boasts some of the most popular venues found on the line’s widely-heralded Solstice Class ships. This includes Tuscan Grille steakhouse; the vibrant creperie, Bistro on Five; a “cool” new ice-topped Martini Bar; the inviting Café al Bacio and Gelateria; Cellarmasters wine bar, complete with the state-of-the-art wine serving systems known as “Enomatics,” allowing guests to select and serve wines by the glass, at the touch of a button.

In addition the suites are more sumptuous and staterooms have been restyled with new carpeting, flat-screen TVs, upholstery and bedding; and new colour schemes, carpeting and upholstery reflective of the Solstice Class’ stylish.

To quote Celebrity’s President & CEO Dan Hanrahan “Our newly-Solsticized Celebrity Constellation is a significant outgrowth of our ‘Designed for you’ brand platform, built around our longtime commitment to identifying and designing what our guests want. By adding Solstice Class features that we know our guests love to our already award-winning Millennium Class ships – with the impeccable service our spectacular crew delivers across the entire fleet – we’re confident we have a winning combination, expressly designed for discerning cruisers.”

Now this is a massive investment, with the other ships being refurbished in 2011, Celebrity Infinity and Celebrity Summit, and Celebrity Millennium in 2012.

Now the ships are getting on in terms of age, about 10 years old and having been berthed next to the Millenium in the Caribbean recently, she was looking a little shabby and what we could see of the cabins they looked a little dated.

Perhaps this is something that all the cruise lines are going to have to do to the 'older' ships, to keep things modern and fresh in this very competitive market for the more discerning traveller!