Birdie1962

Just got back form a wonderful experience. There are really quite a lot of good things to say about the Solstice. Many things enhanced the experience. The people working on the ship were always friendly and accommodating. The Cruise Director, naturalist on hand Brent Nixon, the entertainment and even the Captain, who had thought provoking comments during his daily messages. I've seen some negative comments, but I think people might just be unrealistic in what they're looking for. Going on an Alaskan cruise is an experience of a lifetime. This boat, what it provides, and the people working on it, created a wonderful experience. Would gladly go on this cruise again.

JaneB

Six of my friends joined that cruise on the 18th! Hope they are having a wonderful time also.

fishee

I'm so glad you enjoyed it. We didn't have as good of an experience and we are doubtful that we will cruise again. For the expense of the entire vacation -- around $7000 for 2 adults and 1 baby (baby was free on all excursions and planes) -- we felt the cost wasn't justified by the experience. I think my parents had a good time though which was the point of the trip and they enjoyed the convenience of eating in the buffet everyday. They thought the shows were OK.

I was impressed by the balcony rooms -- I didn't expect a room and the bathroom on a cruise ship to be that comfortable. It was nice to comfortably take a shower with good water pressure. In general, though, we didn't get as much out of the things featured on the ship that others seem to enjoy -- the naturalist, the shows, etc. Cruising through Tracy Arm was truly beautiful, though. We are glad we did it once.

Birdie1962

Fishee, sorry to hear you weren't thrilled about your experience. I would first say that we had sticker shock with this trip. We live in Florida, so if we want to travel anywhere out of the area, we have to fly, which adds to the cost of the trip. Also, we have three major cruising ports in our vicinity, which we don't take advantage of. My husband was not initially keen on this trip. We added the cost of the cruise and air fare and then saw the prices for the excursions. My husband agreed to go on the trip and had a truly great time, but it was not cheap. Our over all experience for two adults and two kids was a good more than the figure in your response. Will I travel like this every year, no, although I wish I could. The Captain of the ship said one morning "life is about adventures and taking chances, welcome to your adventure". We had a great adventure.

Birdie1962

I realize I have a lot to learn about perks than can be offered. When it came down to when I was going to book the trip, I spoke many times with reps. from Celebrity, as well as Costco Travel. I asked Celebrity at least two times about credits and was told there were none since I was already getting a discount by being from Florida. On the other hand, Costco was providing a $350 credit. How could I refuse Costco, especially since the credit would come in hand with the pricey excursions. The rep. I had been speaking with from Celebrity called me one morning when he saw the trip was booked with another entity. He was pissed I didn't book through him, yet he didn't offer me anything other than a Florida discount when we spoke earlier. I'm sure there are deals to be had and will push for them for the next cruise.

Birdie1962

Your friends are in Juneau tonight. Hope they're having a terrific experience.

Magpies

We are booked to go on the Solstice this time next year to Alaska. We have already been on Silhouette, Eclipse and Equinox and loved them.
Unfortunately, only the older / smaller Celebrity ships cruise out of Australia but I hear the Solstice is on the way.
The last Alaskan cruise we did was on the Volendam HA many years ago. ( Our first cruise )
We loved the experience and did a lot of driving in Alaska and Canada on that trip too.
I would be interested to hear which shore excursions are recommended this time as last time we did the basics for each port as it was our first cruise and I assume there have been a lot of changes.
Glad you had a great time.

Birdie1962

Magpies, I can tell you the excursions my family took. To start, there are excursions some ports that sound similar. There are little differences to each and it became frustrating to distinguish one from the other. In case the itinerary and excursions do not change a year from now, your first destination is Ketchikan. We took a float plane ride through the mountains outside the town. We were able to get out of the plane and stand on it's floats on a magnificent lake. Getting out of the plane distinguished this excursion from similar ones. This was not inexpensive, however, it really was a truly unforgettable experience. In Juneau, the second destination, I've heard many people love the Mendenhall Glacier excursions. My younger son had to see a dog sled musher's camp instead. It was fun, just felt bad for the dogs. Then it was off to Skagway. A "must" is a ride on the White Pass Yukon Railway. You will see incredible sights and learn about the gold rush history of the area. This is a must. Skagway is charming and there are some nice shops on its main street. Lastly, off to Victoria British Columbia. We didn't have an excursion, but for a small fee, a shuttle bus will take you from the docks to one of three stops. We got off on Government Street. The famous Empress Hotel is there and also shops and restaurants. The harbor is nearby and street performers are there. It's a beautiful place to just sit and drink in the scenery. You'll be in Victoria for about 4-5 hours. Butchart Gardens was a popular excursion. Have a wonderful time on your trip.

sludick

We traveled on HAL Oosterdam on a southbound Alaska cruise last month and saw the Solstice at one of the ports. It looked very nice, and personally I'd like to give Celebrity a try on a cruise.

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves so much!

Magpies

Birdie1962 we did the White Pass train ride last time and went to the Glacier in Juneau.
I am afraid of heights and do not like small planes. ( I did a small plane to the Grand Canyon and over Kakadu but was a nervous wreck the whole time and felt sick ) as a result I did not do any flights last time.
I may consider it if something sounds really fantastic.
We have stayed in Victoria before so remember the waterfront area being pretty easy to access.
Thanks again for your suggestions
Look forward to any tips about the ship or itinerary.

fishee

My sister's family went on a whale watching excursion in Juneau and they absolutely loved it. They saw a few whales force up a large school of fish, I think this was an unusual opportunity.

We passed since we've been whale watching in California, MX, and Hawaii but this was a highlight of the trip for them. We also took a guided tour of Victoria and really enjoyed it. We skipped the Butchart gardens as it was late and getting close to dark and we heard admission was 30 pp. But we went through the beautiful public gardens of the Lt. Governor and toured around the neighborhoods for around 2 hours and we were very charmed by the town. We used a private van for our group of 9 people, $20 pp.

adiroy

some of my friends joined that joined that cruise on the 18th! It was nice experience for them

Birdie1962

Magpies, something to pass on. We found out that for a fee of $20 per person, the ship will take care of sending your luggage to the airport, have the bags put on the appropriate flight and issue you boarding passes. We had 7 pieces of luggage and this was extremely convenient. I'm not an experienced cruiser, so I don't know if this service is common on ships. We had arranged for a car service to pick us up from the dock and requested a SUV to accommodate all our luggage. Having the ship take care of sending the luggage to the airport allowed us to call the car service with enough notice so they could send a smaller vehicle (and for a lower price). The car service forgot to send a car for us anyway, so we took a cab to the airport for even less money. There are tons of taxis and car services that are at the dock. Not sure what else to tell you. The attire in the evening is very casual. The dining room had a mixed bag of dressing and never heard of anyone being turned away. We ate most meals at the buffet and that is very causal. People did dress appropriately for formal nights. Don't know about cabins in general, but we had a Verandah Stateroom with Balcony and there was plenty of storage, even in the bathroom. Big ship but very easy to get around.

Magpies

fishee thanks for the recommendations. We have just paid our deposit for the cruise so all booked in! The private tour sounds like a good idea.
Would anyone recommend hiring a car in any of the ports to do your own thing?
Birdie 1962 will keep the luggage airport deal in mind. We are not sure of our arrangements yet in regards to where we will fly in and out of but will work it out.
We have booked a verandah stateroom too.
Thanks again