Just back from a 7 day round trip Alaska cruise on Celebrity Solstice leaving from Vancouver with stops at Icy Straight Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. We had a balcony cabin on Deck 7, in the middle of the ship. The cabin was small but very well designed with a lot of storage space. We unpacked our luggage and stored our suitcases under the bed. I found it quite serviceable for two people. Having a balcony was definitely worth the extra cost. Our room attendant was excellent.

Food. The buffet, which we utilized mostly for breakfast and lunch was surprisingly good. Lots of variety and decent quality for a buffet. Main dining hall was hit and miss. Some menu items were better than others. We had flexible dining which meant that we weren’t limited to specific dining times. Highly recommend that. We ate at two of the specialty restaurants- the steakhouse and the Italian restaurant. Both were quite good. I can’t say that i had anything “delicious” but pretty solid. I’d give the edge to the Italian restaurant (other than the annoying waiter).

Ports. We had three ports and one day of Hubbard glacier viewing. Icy Straight was a little underwhelming but Juneau and Ketchikan were great. And the Hubbard Glacier viewing was very impressive. At Juneau we did the Mendenhall Glacier excursion. Very scenic and good walking trails with lots of views of the glacier and a large waterfall. At Ketchikan we did a kayak excursion. That was even better than I expected. You’re kayaking for about 2.5 hours and it gets a little tiring if you’re not a regular kayaker. But we saw so much. A family of about 10 sea lions that were actually following us. Lots of eagles. And a humpback whale that was closer than 100 feet away from us.

The entertainment on the ship was pretty good. We enjoyed some more than others.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. If anyone has specific questions about the Solstice or the ports, I’d be happy to help if I can.

Hey Tom, I could’ve run into you at Juneau or Ketchikan.
We, too had a great time

Tom, I'm so glad you are out there having some fun.
I loved our Alaska cruise several years ago. There's a lot of beauty up there.

Thanks schmerl. It was a 10 day trip in total. Big step for me. I went with a friend and it turned out great. And yes, lots of beauty in Alaska for sure!