You won’t find the word “solsticizing” in the dictionary, but you will find it in the cruise world. It’s right there under “Celebrity” and it has become a verb for those of us who write about cruise ships.
By this time next year, Celebrity will have “Solsticized” (it is a mouthful, isn’t it?) three more ships from its Millennium Class. By then the Infinity, the Summit and the Millennium (above) will have the treatment that makes them more like the five ships in the Solstice Class…five once the Silhouette (next month) and Reflection (next year) come on board.
We have been on both Solstice (Eclipse) and non-Solstice ships (Millennium). We enjoyed both, and there’s a part of us that wonders why it’s necessary to spend $120 million to make good ships better, but since it’s not our $120 million, does it really matter?
The Millennium, which apparently has a loyal following all its own, was a great way to cross the Isthmus of Panama and, even after 14 days on her, we were sorry to say good-bye.
Among the “upgrades” we experienced on the Eclipse that will be added to the three Millennium Class ships starting in November are:
• AquaClass, for the spa people
• Blu, an upscale restaurant that’s exclusive to the rich people 
• An iLounge, one of our regular and favorite areas to visit on the Eclipse
• Qsine, a cool restaurant that’s worth the cover charge, once per cruise
• Cellar Masters Wine Bar (left), where a glass of wine is available 24/7
• Bistro on Five, as nice a mid-afternoon snack stop as we’ve seen
When they’re done, only the 16-year-old Century (probably too old to be Solsticized) and the 10-year-old Xpedition (a unique ship that only sails to the Galagapos) will be left untreated.
The Millennium will be the last to go into the Solstice factory, next spring. No matter what changes they make to the Millennium, for us there’s one thing they shouldn’t change.
The people.