OrcaGirl

We’re in a plain 2B veranda cabin. Won’t be sharing the exact number until we’re off the ship.

Day 2 - sea day, morning continued Headed to the buffet for breakfast; it was fine, but I have STRONG opinions on hash browns and these were lacklustre. The sausage and cantaloupe were good. And then it was time for the Fox to play with fire! Heather was a great instructor and the Fox made a beautiful jellyfish. The hot glass studio was actually the clincher when I invited her to join me on a free cruise. 😅 We spent an hour at Cafe al Bacio enjoying some tea (the Fox) and iced Americano (me) while struggling with the slow internet speeds. Several people were commenting on how bad it was, and one man even stopped us to ask if he was doing anything wrong. No, it’s not you, it’s the ship. The rest of our morning was spent perusing the shops and trying to find the archery activity (the Fox has archery experience and I wanted to see her smackdown the dudes) but it wasn’t in the location listed on the app; we later found it at the other end of the same deck. Spent an hour chilling by the pool with some frosty adult beverages, watching the line dance class. Fun fact: I still know all the words to Achy Breaky Heart. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. Lunch was enjoyed on the outdoor area of the Oceanview Buffet. This is one thing I enjoy very much on Celebrity vs NCL.

Morning photos

Day 2 at sea - morning Slept well. Our phones didn’t adjust automatically to the time change, so we ‘slept in’ until 8am ship time. Weather is nice by Canadian standards 😉 and we still haven’t heard anything about impacts to our itinerary due to Hurricane Roslyn. Priorities this morning are coffee/tea, breakfast, the Fox’s hot glass class, and then some serious lounging. Random observations: I booked the Premium Wifi for 2 devices; it was fine yesterday during sailaway, a fair bit slower this morning, and doesn’t work on our veranda at all. The bed was quite comfy, if a bit small (we’ve got it split into two singles). The balcony furniture is a bit past its prime, but nothing that stops us from sitting out and enjoying the view and ocean breeze. And it’s one of the biggest ‘regular’ balconies I’ve ever had at sea. Wildlife count: several diving birds, and one flying fish being chased (and possibly caught and eaten) by one of the aforementioned diving birds.

Wow the wifi is horrible today, photos might have to wait until later. I can text my mom, but photos and videos are impossible.

Embarkation day notes: Our flight down was uneventful if a bit tardy. We had booked transfers via Celebrity, and had a good hour wait until our bus arrived to pick us up at LAX. The transfers cost $35USD per person. A Lyft probably would have been cheaper/faster but we mostly didn’t want to have to think about transportation. Check-in and boarding was super-fast and we were on board by 2:30pm. Dropped off our bags in our room and then headed to our muster station for a perfunctory check-in there. Had a snack at Cafe al Bacio and then set about exploring the ship. Watched the hot glass demo which was delightful. Got the Fox signed up for a class tomorrow; I’ll be her personal photographer. The weather was overcast and chilly (for Los Angeles; my hometown got snow this morning, so it’s all relative) and we headed back to the cabin to reacquire our hoodies. We had dinner in the buffet; the Fox declared it delicious, I thought it was okay. Although the caramel cake was a highlight for me. Then off to the theatre for tonight’s vocalist, who was very good, but I felt bad because the theatre was sooooo empty. Martini time! I loved the ice bar on the Reflection and the bar on the Solstice was just as delightful. In addition to the martinis we ordered, we each got a mini martini as part of the flair bartending ‘show’ (it was cool but not much of a show). Random observations: We’re wearing masks when in public indoor spaces; a few others are as well but not many. The ship feels empty; I haven’t heard what the actual capacity is. Apparently there’s a hurricane headed towards Puerto Vallarta? No one’s mentioned it on board that’s I’ve heard but my aunt messaged me so it’s made the news in BC… I guess we’ll see. See y’all tomorrow!

I haven’t seen a ‘live from…’ thread for the Solstice on the Mexican Riviera yet this season, so I figured I’d do one… 😉 Flew down this morning from Vancouver (BC, Canada) to LAX to embark on the 7-day Mexican Riviera itinerary with stops in Puerto Vallarta, Cabo san Lucas and Ensenada. I will try to post 2-3 times each day with what we’re up to, but my particular focus is usually cocktails, food, entertainment, and excursion adventures. (I’ll also likely be posting lots of photos over on Instagram Stories; look for erin_braincandy if you just want photos without all of the reading.) Background notes: This is just my second time cruising with Celebrity, having sailed on the Reflection about five years ago in the Caribbean. Despite only sailing with Celebrity once before and despite not being a big gambler, I received a Blue Chip Casino ‘free balcony cabin’ offer for this cruise and jumped at it. My husband couldn’t get the time off work, so I’m travelling with a new-to-cruising friend (hereafter referred to as ‘the Fox’) and introducing her to my favourite type of travel. This will be my second time cruising the Mexican Riviera, having gone on a Christmas cruise on the Norwegian Bliss last Christmas. I did a ‘semi-live from…’ for that cruise too: Aside from Celebrity and Norwegian, I’ve also sailed with Princess and Carnival, for a total of about a dozen cruises under my belt so far. We were on the last sailing of the Norwegian Epic in March 2020 when cruising was suspended – we weren’t allowed to dock in San Juan for disembarkation and spent an extra 2.5 days at sea heading to Orlando instead. I’ve been on three cruises since the restart without getting COVID, but am worried about the removal of vaccination and testing requirements and how that’s going to play out.

You'll likely get a better response on the Mexican Riviera boards: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/124-mexican-riviera/ For what it's worth, I was on a Christmas cruise on the Mexican Riviera last year and thought the weather was fantastic.

Thanks! Do you recall where in PV it dropped off? I didn't venture much beyond the immediate port area on my last stop, so I'm not sure where 'downtown shopping' would be located. 🙂

They should let the client pick from a series of playlists for their preferred spa vibe! Personally, a playlist of moody 80s British new wave would be amazing. 😉

Do you happen to recall where specifically the shuttle picked up and dropped off? Did it require pre-booking? Did you partake of any spa treatments while aboard? I'm wondering if the spa is fully restaffed or if appointments are hard to come by. Thanks!

I'm taking this post-cruise excursion in late October and will report back if no one beats me to it.

I haven't taken a Celebrity transfer from LAX to San Pedro, but have taken an NCL transfer a few months ago, and saw 2-3 other cruise lines represented at the terminal, so I think it's mostly the same. There were cruise line reps each with signs (the cruise line's logo) near baggage claim. I told them I was booked on the transfer, they found my name on a list, and called over another rep to escort me to the shuttle stop right out on the curb. (About a 1 min walk from baggage claim.) LAX traffic is *challenging*, so don't expect for a set departure time. We waited a good hour for the shuttle to make its way from one side of the terminal to another. The bus was a standard coach, comfy seats, etc. The driver put our luggage into the undercarriage, and then we were off. The bus was only 1/3 full. I can't answer your questions about cost and booking process, but I do need to call Celebrity this week to figure that out for my upcoming cruise so I'll report back.

I'm sure the sushi rolls come with complimentary 'regular' wasabi and ginger but this is freshly-ground wasabi root prepared tableside by a server, a la tableside guac. Interestingly on the app for my sailing next month, it shows as $10 vs $12.

It could vary by cruise. I did a mock booking on the NCL website this morning for my January cruise and was able to see which specific cabins were available in another category. YMMV.

Quick question: if I want to try to change my cabin (within my current category, just want to move a few cabins further forward) for a cruise booked via the Blue Chip offer, can I call the regular Celebrity customer service line or do I need to call Blue Chip?

My husband and I went on a Christmas cruise on the Bliss last year; absolutely loved it. The common areas were beautifully decorated, lots of people dressed up a bit more than usual, Santa made an appearance, holiday movies played in the Atrium, there was a special Christmas concert in the theatre, etc. Some pictures and notes on the Christmas activities are in my thread from that trip; there's also a picture at the end of the special Christmas Day menu in the MDR.

The thermal spa pass for the Epic 7-day in January 2023 is showing as $393CDN per person, which is ~$100CDNpp more than we spent in March 2020 on the Epic and in October 2022 on the Encore.

I've been twice, once on the big catamaran and once on the smaller RIB; both times, we got off the boat in 1-2 feet of water but no swimming required.

I need to know the story behind the Nicholas Cage magnet! 🤣

I was able to successfully bid on a Spa Balcony back in October for less than the cost of the thermal spa passes; once I got the upgrade confirmation, I used the customer service chat to request a refund of the passes and it was very easy.

I also noticed that sailing disappeared, as I was trying to decide between it and the Bliss Pacific Coastal in April 2023. It's most likely a web glitch. The NCL IT team often makes backend changes on Fridays and it messes things up over the weekend. Wait a few days and then check again. A week or two ago, a few months worth of the Epic's sailings just randomly disappeared and freaked everyone out but came back. And to answer your other question, yes, they will move the Encore from Vancouver to Seattle without passengers. I took the Bliss from LA to Vancouver this April on a repositioning Pacific Coastal; there were a bunch of passengers treating it like a B2B with the next Alaska sailing but they all had to transfer down to Seattle on their own to meet the ship.

On the other side of Canada Place from where the Eclipse was yesterday / this morning, the Disney Wonder has also been blocked from departing to Alaska. They were scheduled to depart at 5pm, and it's currently 6:52pm. No ships scheduled for tomorrow, three for Wednesday, one for Thursday, and the Celebrity Millennium is supposed to be here on Friday. 😬

On what day? The fuel barge blocking the Eclipse was on the east berth, the Eclipse was facing the opposite direction, and currently has a dark blue hull (not white). The ship shown in the west berth in this picture isn't the Disney Wonder. (Also, it looks like BC Place still has its old roof in that photo, which would put this image from 2010 or earlier.)

I stepped away from our living room window for a moment, but my husband said he just saw a tug and a barge in the vicinity of the port on the Eclipse side. And MarineTraffic shows the Trident Warrior tug right there. Maybe progress is being made?