Solaris – SunQuest Cruises

I’ve been on the Solaris about a dozen times in the past few years; about half of those trips for a dinner cruise, a couple parties, and a few charity events for Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation (a fantastic charity group, by the way).
I’ve neer been particularly impressed with the atmosphere, the food, nor the service on the Solaris. I always step on the boat thinking of all the things I’d do to improve it were it my business, and some of those ideas are rather «low-​hanging fruits.» So I’m not sure if the management doesn’t see their own shortcomings, or if they simply don’t care. After all, they are pretty much «the only game in town» when it comes to dinner cruises. It’s not bad, but not great either.
Parking is a bit of a chore, as you typically end up with a pretty hefty walk between your car and the dock. This is something I think the Solaris could address rather easily, and I’m befuddled that they don’t. The could run shuttle golf carts from one or two parking lots in the last half-​hour before boat departs and really make this a nicer experience for people. I don’t really mind the walk. But I think the boat would benefit if they gave patrons the option of not having ot walk all the way to the boat from their parking (and back).
Ladies, I recommend you not wear high heels, or take them off when you walk on the docks. Also, be sure to remember that when you’re over water in the evening the temperatures are often colder than you’d expect over land. And you’ll probably walk up to the upper deck, and that’s a bit breezy. So take a sweater, even if you don’t expect to need it.
Understanding that this boat has a much higher cost factor than a brick and mortar restaurant I don’t have a problem with the price. Food is okay, but hardly top notch. The boat is a bit weary, from my perspective. It could use some upgrading… carpet, window coverings, restrooms, a bit more detailing i the upper deck area. The bar area is pretty nice.
Service is typically a mixed bag on this boat. I’ve had servers who were pretty good, and some who seemed to approach their work as if they believed the outcome of the night was «automatic.»
The captain could improve the entire experience a bit by providing a little dialogue during the cruise. A little comical banter with some of the crew, or a «cutsie» live interview on microphone with a couple who was celebrating a wedding or anniversary… stuff like that. Invest a little energy in this… know the constillations and point out interesting things to the passengers… a comet, Venus on the horizon, shooting stars, C-​130 military aircraft dropping flares over the test range… stuff like that. There are at least a dozen boats in Destin harbor that make tons of money pointing out dolpins to paying tourists. How hard is that??? listen to the radio and shift the boat course a bit so the passengers can see something out the window besides water and bay shore areas. Captain, most of the people who ride your boat probably don’t know much about the area they’re in… if you do, how about livening up the cruise by developing a few «scripts»?
Overall, I give the Solaris «3 Stars,» not because I have anything really negative to say, but because I think there is much room for improvement and some of the things they could do to make the experience better are so easy to do that it frustrates me to see them ignore the opportunity. There’s no reason not to try the Solaris for a night.
It’s all about building relationships with the people who pay you. You can survive with one-​time cruisers. But you could get rich by buiding relationships with people who come back again and again. Stop just «getting by,» and start sending patrons out for an experience they can’t wait to tell their friends about. And when I go to a restaurant or a venue like Solaris I can tell within 10 minutes of walking in the door if the crew has a «get by» attitude, or if they’re really interested in making me want to come back. When I’m on the Solaris I just get the impression that they’d be just as happy having me on the boat one time as they would having me sail with them a dozen times.
By the way, the Facebook page is a nice touch.

Came here for a cruise for work. Was hungry when we arrived but it pretty much took 2 hours before we finally got our main courses. We had to fill up with bread and beer to hold our hunger down. There were about 4 servers for around 100 folks on the dinner deck and I don’t even know how big the kitchen actually is but the pace of the food service was really slow. I almost felt like I was at a Chinese wedding because each course was taking like an hour to come out.
On the flip side, got to take pictures with the captain in the main cabin. He was very nice and accommodating and his love for the job was obvious. Didn’t have any instances of sea-​sickness because the water was relatively flat.
Anyway, got the mahi mahi and it was actually pretty tasty. Not sure if it was my hunger that made it taste better, but it wasn’t half bad.