want2seealaska

I was on a Pacific Coastal cruise last year and was doing great until we ran into some 15-20 foot swells. It hit me so fast that I made an early night of it! I could barely read the directions for the wrist bands, popped Bonine, and got some fresh ginger (which was a first for me) and climbed into bed! I continued with the bands and Bonine throughout the cruise with great results. I'm one of those where fresh air helps as well.

This year I did more research and plan to be more proactive rather than reactive. Quite a few posters have mentioned how much rougher the Seattle route is than the Vancouver route. (We chose Seattle so DD can knock 2 states off her Bucket List!) I'll start with the Bonine and bands right away. I also purchased some Queasy Beads to wear on the formal nights. I bought them online and they're available in quite a few color combinations. I'll find out shortly if they work as well as the other bands.

I did this tour in June and they did not ask or check weights. It was a nice tour but I enjoyed a flight I took earlier in the cruise much more. I did a flightseeing tour over Glacier Bay from Skagway with Mountain Flying service. They are based in Haines but offer flight from there or Skagway.

 

We were in the air much longer than the flight from Juneau and it was also cheaper. I'd check it out and see if you can hook up with them. http://www.mountainflyingservice.com/

 

That said I've done the flight from Juneau several times and enjoyed it, I actually prefer the planes over the helicopters

Thank you for the information, but we've already booked the train for Skagway so it's not an option for us.

We are booked on the 5 Glacier floatplane shore excursion in Juneau. Unlike the helicopter tours which showed weight restrictions, this excursion didn't show any. Does anyone know if they have a weight restriction for boarding these sea planes?

My daughter and I have booked the 5-Glacier floatplane shore excursion in Juneau. If this excursion is cancelled due to poor weather we would like a back-up plan. I've read in other boards that there are several tour kiosks dockside. Is it reasonable to expect we could pick a replacement tour there such as a shuttle to Mendenhall? We arrive in Juneau at 1:30 if that makes a difference. We already hope to eat at Tracy's and do a little shopping.

Hi, you meant to say Sheraton right? Yes, they are both downtown

very close to another.

Thanks for the correction ... you got it!

Guess we'll have to wait and see ...we're booked at the Westin later this month. I will definitely post if we experience any of the same elevator problems because carrying luggage downstairs is NOT an option. Perhaps a difference in the time you tried to leave?

I went to Trip Advisor to see if anyone else had posted concerns about the elevators at the Westin and some of the most recent posts were not favorable. So after summarizing the Westin reviews with my DD we changed our booking to the Sheridan. This was our first choice originally based primarily on location, but they had no rooms available for 1 night when we booked months ago... two night minimum. Hope we made a good switch! The Sheridan is actually costing us more than the Westin ... go figure!

What time is your flight home? We are taking a shore excursion from the ship which takes us to Space Needle, Chihuly Glass Museum, and the airport after the cruise. We are also arriving early on a Thursday and plan to head to Pike Place, Elliott's for oysters, and catch some dinner. Someone posted a review of this excursion earlier this summer and it seemed better than sitting at the airport for several hours.

Hi, sorry you had issues:eek:....I had a good stay so I would recommend

it.......guess it is like everything else. Some good experiences, some

not good. I had no elevator problems.

 

And there is a really good restaurant right across the street too:D

I wish I could remember the name of it......been a few years since

I was there.

Guess we'll have to wait and see ...we're booked at the Westin later this month. I will definitely post if we experience any of the same elevator problems because carrying luggage downstairs is NOT an option. Perhaps a difference in the time you tried to leave?

Thank you for sharing the wonderful photos and giving the detailed comparison. Can't wait for this excursion!

Loved the review, had some free time on my hands so I took all the PDFs and merged them. I am doing the Solstice on July, getting really excited.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xto4pxmd8971iut/Celebrity%20Solstice%20Alaska%2005-30-14%20to%2006-05-14.pdf

I found this on another thread and thought you might find the information from the dailies helpful. I used it when selecting my dining times.

Silly question but how do you know where you ship will dock? I don't see it on my itinerary. It just says arrive dock. We are taking the NCL Pearl.

You can look for your ship by port here: http://claalaska.com/?page_id=17

How do you print the guest ticket booklet- Cant seem to find it on Celebrities website.

 

Thanks

 

Steve

I received an email telling me it was ready.

I'm looking forward to your review and hope you enjoyed your trip!

While looking at the Guest Ticket Booklet I recently received I noticed that the shore excursion confirmation section was blank. Considering my daughter and I had booked 5 excursions each, it was an immediate concern. Okay, I admit it ...I definitely was hyperventilating!

So it was a quick call to Celebrity where I was informed that this section is left blank but she could see all of the purchased shore excursions on her end. I found this confusing to say the least. She immediately offered to email me my order summary which I have since printed and plan to take with me. And she said I would receive shore excursion tickets on board.

This is the first time I haven't used a travel agent to book a cruise. I guess I'm missing that buffer layer. Is it typical for that section to be blank? Did I miss reading some fine print somewhere that would have informed me?

My lovely wife takes great pride in her appearance; she always looks beautiful and no one appreciates this more than me. While I gave up bringing the monkey suit about 8 years ago, I still wear a jacket to dinner every night and a suit on formal nights out of respect for her. If she can make the effort to look great for me, I feel that I can at least try to the same for her.

 

To me, dressing up is part of the enjoyment of formal night and I would hate to see that tradition slip away.

What a lovely sentiment!

I forgot to mention that NCL suite guests are also invited to the bridge. The Captain's tour was very informative and I only regretted the fact I forgot to bring my camera ... great photo opportunities!

I stayed in the Jewel's Garden Villa last year for a 5th./6th. passenger price on a Pacific Coastal cruise. Ice Portal has some wonderful 360 degree shots of this villa which was indeed HUGE: http://iceportal.com/brochures/ice/brochure.aspx?did=4280&brochureid=ICE886&mtype=4457&lang=en&type=vr

In addition to being bigger than my house, suite guests could also use the Haven ammenities which included a separate indoor pool with lounge chairs.

This was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for me so I appreciated being included. The master bedroom was a suite in itself with a huge soaker tub. The other two bedrooms were quite spacious and our room stewards presented us with towel animals each night.

Theresa, our butler, was fantastic! Each day she arrived with quite the assortment of goodies in the afternoon and then later in the evening. One day we ate so many we never made it to dinner! And when the seas got a little rough and she noticed that some of us were handling it worse than others she quickly came back with some fresh ginger!

Our weather was wet, wet, WET so we really didn't enjoy the outdoor area as much as one would on a warmer cruise and it was really a spacious, beautiful area. There was a table that seated six right next to the hot tub which were both protected from the elements. On the same level there were various cushioned chairs and a sofa. Then you could go upstairs where there was more seating and a huge hammock. Views were incredible from up there!

We ate most breakfasts in Cagneys which was open breakfast & lunch to suite and Haven passengers. I thought their food was quite good and the steaks we had at dinner one night were terrific!

Thank you for your review. I so enjoy reading these as I look forward to our trip in late August. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

There is a sign outside the MDR that says "Smart Casual" and defines that per the standard line from the cruise line.

 

I don't remember seeing egregious and horrible violations, either on formal night or at any other time. I did see some blue jeans during the week.

 

Formal night seemed very nice though I didn't see as many tuxes as I thought I might. I was in a tux so I was aware of the few others that I saw. Saw a lot of suits and ties. Both formal nights seemed quite nice to me. The MDR was bustling with folks dressed very nicely - and nicer than on the "regular" nights.

 

My 22 year old daughter is way more tuned into fashion than I am ... I'll ask her what she saw and thought.

 

Oh yes - a quick note: this is not an opportunity to debate the merits of how to dress for MDR. That's a very divisive issue. Let's leave that alone and let this thread be for questions about the AK cruise I just got home from on the Solstice. Thanks.

Thank you ... I would appreciate her perspective. I only hoped for your observations so as to know which clothing to select when packing for the two formal nights. I'm not looking to start a debate :)

I have read mixed messages on how "formal" ladies dress for the formal nights on this trip. We will be eating select dining so I would really appreciate your comments regarding attire.

Tried again today. Still not able to access even the amount of cruisers or get a confirmation. Maybe it is cruise specific. Our trip is Nov. 1 across the pond Silhouette. I had send X an email re. this 2 weeks ago. As usual no response. Hopefully by October it might be cleared up.

I tried today, but it wouldn't recognize my reservation number which I copied direct from Celebrity's site. I was able to see that only 10 had signed up for the August 29th. Solstice sailing.

Thank you sooo much for your extensive reviews and wonderful photos. This is probably the first time I've ever wished the summer away so that it was time for my cruise.

Loved the review, had some free time on my hands so I took all the PDFs and merged them. I am doing the Solstice on July, getting really excited.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xto4pxmd8971iut/Celebrity%20Solstice%20Alaska%2005-30-14%20to%2006-05-14.pdf

Thank you for doing this ... makes it so much easier to have them in 1 place!

Hi Thought I would post the form for Seattle that Celebrity Solstice was using for our cruise of May 08 2014. This hopefully will answer most of the questions about the Luggage Valet Program.

Thank you again. We did book the Seattle shore excursion ... should be more fun than several hours at the airport! And we will probably use the luggage valet service just so we don't have to cart those suitcases to the bus. Do you remember what time they picked up your luggage Thursday night? We don't get back from our Victoria shore excursion till after 10.