Trip report-Solstice to Alaska August 1-8, 2014

My parents treated my family of 4 to a cruise (DH and I are 45, DD is 15 and DS is 13) on Celebrity Solstice to Alaska from Seattle on August 1-8, 2014. My parents are seasoned cruisers, most often on Celebrity and Princess. My husband, kids, and I have sailed twice on Disney Magic; this would be our first experience with Celebrity. We loved it!

Seattle and Embarkation Day

We were a family of 6 traveling together with a lot of luggage. We hired Seattle Town Car Service to get us from the airport to hotel, based on a recommendation I found on Cruise Critic, and had excellent service. Our driver's name was Imran and he was personable and friendly. Their phone number is 206-877-2823, email address is: seattletowncarservices@yahoo.com, web site is: www.towncarserviceseattle.com. He charged a flat rate for all of us in one car. He also took us from the port back to airport after the cruise (details on that later). I would definitely recommend and would use them again!

We arrived in Seattle mid-day on Thursday but were not sailing until Friday, so we planned to do some sightseeing. We had reservations at Spring Hill Suites downtown (I have a friend who works for Marriott so I got a great rate for two rooms). The hotel was conveniently located, clean, rooms were great, staff courteous, and they had a free shuttle to/from local attractions and also to the port ($8pp). It was suggested to me that we make our reservation for the port shuttle that we wanted for Friday at check-in, so we did, and we got the time we wanted.

After checking in and dropping off our bags, we walked to the Space Needle area. First we went to Chihuly Gardens (gorgeous) and then up to the top of the Space Needle. The views were spectacular. The mountain was out, and the weather was beautiful. After a couple hours seeing those sights, we walked from that area to Anthony’s Bell Street Diner at Pier 66. We were early for our reservations but they accommodated us outside with a nice table by the water. The food and service were very good.

On Friday morning (after good free breakfast at Spring Hill Suites), we took the 8 am shuttle that dropped us a few blocks from Pike Place Market. We walked down to the market and wandered around as vendors were setting up their stalls. Saw the gum wall (my teen daughter heard about it and wanted to take pics of it). At about 8:30 a.m. we hit the first Starbucks (and just missed a huge line). My daughter and I are big Starbucks fans so it was necessary for us to get the photo ops and a souvenir mug there. We then walked around Pike Place some more and then grabbed our shuttle back to the hotel to gather our luggage and get ready to go to the port. I think we took the 11:30 am shuttle to the port.

Because my parents were in a concierge cabin, we went thru check-in with them and it was so quick and easy. I think we were on the beautiful Solstice by around 12:30 pm! Our first stop after getting our champagne/mimosas/OJ was the Oceanview Café because we were hungry after having had breakfast so early. After eating, my dad took us on a tour of the ship since he and my mom have sailed on Solstice several times prior. All of our luggage was delivered pretty promptly. We were in cabin 9237 and we were so excited to see how big the balcony was. My kids went to explore the teen club and I unpacked everyone. Miraculously, everything fit! We were very happy with our cabin location, size, etc. We were scheduled for the late MDR seating (8:30 pm) and were seated at Table 204 with Bhye as our waiter and Jhune as our assistant waiter. All I wrote in my trip diary about the first night dinner was that the dulce de leche dessert was the best part of my meal. Our kids left after dinner to hang out in the X Club with some teens they had met before dinner. This would become a trend. The adults went to the opening night show and it was just OK.

First Sea Day, Saturday

Enjoyed the opportunity to relax. Went to Brent Nixon’s first talk, and everyone enjoyed it (though it would be the only one my daughter would end up attending). Everyone on Cruise Critic raves about Brent, so I felt obligated to go see him. While he was not at all what I expected, we were not disappointed. Saturday was first formal night, and my notes said I loved the watermelon feta salad and shrimp scampi in the MDR. Everyone looked great in their formal finery. We had some issues with dinner service, but after discussing them with our waiter, things improved for the rest of the week. After dinner the kids left to hang with their new friends. My dad and husband went to the casino, and my mom and I went to see “Ghostlight.” I really enjoyed it (I love Broadway show tunes). Then we went to the Sin City comedy show…Todd Paul was the headliner and he was hilarious. I could’ve done without the burlesque of Miss Victoria but she had an amazing body. By the time we got back to our cabin, it was 1:00 am and our kids were fast asleep!

Sunday, Ketchikan

We did the Ketchikan Highlights & Lumberjack Show (KE61) excursion. We had a great tour guide (Dane) who took us by bus to Potlatch Park. He was very informative and we learned about Ketchikan en route to the park. Once there, we learned a lot about totem poles etc. The weather was uncharacteristically sunny and beautiful. Then we returned to the port area where we walked around a little before our lumberjack show. The “Great Alaska Lumberjack Show” was really entertaining. It was silly but we all were laughing, even my skeptical teens. Team USA won…as they probably do each week! When we returned to the ship, my husband, son and I saw Brent Nixon’s talk about bears. Learned a lot! Later that evening we saw dolphins and potentially a whale while hanging on our balcony. My notes say this nite was the Top Chef menu in the MDR. I had the bbq chicken, collard greens, and mac and cheese. Was in a comfort food mood and loved it. I also had the tuna tartare appetizer which was really good. We briefly watched Top Notch (the house band), who were great. We all went to bed early because we knew we were getting up early for Tracy Arm the next morning.

Monday, Tracy Arm Fjord and Juneau

We were all awake by 6 am. We had ordered room service breakfast (thanks CC for this suggestion) so the kids could stay in their PJs and see the views from our balcony. We saw the most breathtaking scenery, as well as birds, otters, harbor seals, and dolphins. Allegedly the captain was able to get the ship really deep into the fjord (the deepest so far this season) as the weather was cold but pretty clear, and we got pretty close to Sawyer Glacier. We wandered around decks 12 and 14 for some different views. It is very hard to describe the beauty and awesomeness of the glacier and the fjord itself. We got to see a little bit of chunks of ice falling off the glacier (calving) which was so cool. By about 8:30 am were were mostly out of the fjord, heading for Juneau. We arrived to Juneau around lunch time and while it was rainy and cloudy when we got there, the weather cleared in time for our 3:30 pm excursion (Alaska Sled Dogs and Musher’s Camp JU57). It had been strongly suggested we do the helicopter excursion to the glacier with or without dog sled part, but between the high cost and my fear of getting in a helicopter, this excursion seemed more reasonable. We loved it. We learned a lot about sled dogs and the Iditarod race. Basically the dogs pull you in a wheeled cart around a paved path in the middle of a beautiful forest. At the end we got to hold puppies. It was a lot of fun. We walked around Juneau a little after the excursion before getting back on the ship. The only note I have about dinner was that crème brulee was yummy. My parents, daughter and I went to see the late performance of “Pulse” which was the dancing show. We liked it a lot.

Tuesday, Skagway

Woke up early to more beautiful scenery. It was another sunny morning and not too cold. We checked out the town of Skagway in the morning prior to our 12:40 excursion (White Pass Scenic Railway SK01). Highly recommend doing this train ride…it was really amazing. Our kids loved it too. The scenery is magnificent. We were back on the ship around 4:30 pm. That night after dinner we saw Jason Bishop, the illusionist. He was terrific and we all loved him.

Wednesday, At Sea

Lazy day on the Solstice for our family. My mom and I did the behind the scenes tour with the performers in the theatre…it was very interesting and our guide, Janna (lead vocalist) was so sweet. Later we all went to see Jason Bishop again though those of us who saw his show the nite before agreed that one was better. Afterward my hubby, son, and I watched Brent Nixon speak about Orcas. My son loves them and once again we learned a lot. That night after dinner was the “Solstice” show which is very Cirque de Soleil-esque. It was great.

Thursday, at sea until Victoria BC at night

Hung around the ship all day doing miscellaneous things…the sun came out and we actually had the opportunity to sunbathe for a while! We got most of our stuff packed and then we had a very early dinner in the MDR (open seating) because we had a 6:30 pm excursion in Victoria to the Butterfly Gardens and Butchart Gardens. While we loved this excursion, the timing was a little screwy. The Butterfly Gardens were really cool; we all had butterflies land on us and we saw some beautiful flowers and cool birds. By the time we got to Butchart Gardens it was around 8:15 and we were told we had till 10 pm to explore. However, it started getting really dark by around 9:15 and the gardens, while exquisite, are not particularly well lit or well marked. It would have been better to start the excursion a little earlier so we wouldn’t have had to end with it being so dark. We loved Butchart and still got lots of great photos (again, my skeptical teens were won over by the gardens’ beauty). Got back to the ship before 11 pm and got our luggage out; kids went to teen club for their last hurrah with their friends. We were all asleep by 12:30 am, sad to have this cruise come to an end.

Friday, Disembarkation in Seattle

Woke up feeling very sad about the end of this cruise! One last breakfast at Oceanview Café and then we waited with my parents in Silk Harvest for our group # to be called. Apparently there was an issue with one of the cranes that moves the luggage, so once we got into the terminal it was packed. We found our luggage quickly and found a porter to hold on to it for us while we went through the super long customs line. Things were fairly organized, it just took a long time to get everyone through customs because there had been the delay with some of the earlier groups’ luggage. We had scheduled Imran to come get us at 10 am and he showed up right on time. We had an uneventful ride back to the airport and we were all pretty depressed to head home! It was a wonderful vacation!!! Sorry this got so long-winded! I hope some of these details are helpful to anyone planning a similar cruise! I am happy to answer any specific questions too!

Sounds like a great trip!

It's nice to have another report from a family with teens since that seems to be a concern for many parents.

Thanks for taking the time to post !

p.s. love that chihuly exhibit.

Sounds like you had a great trip. We will be first time cruisers, and on the Solstice next Friday, so excited. I love reading about your time, i have been looking for recent reviews.

We will be eating at the Buffet alot, did you have a chance to try it?. I might be wrong but on the rail ride you where back by 430?, starting at 1230, that seem it went pretty quick. Did you have any time to look around or would of had time to look around Skagway?

Love to hear any advice for first time on a cruise.

Thanks for taking the time to write, post and share your trip report.

Keith

Sounds like you had a great trip. We will be first time cruisers, and on the Solstice next Friday, so excited. I love reading about your time, i have been looking for recent reviews.

We will be eating at the Buffet alot, did you have a chance to try it?. I might be wrong but on the rail ride you where back by 430?, starting at 1230, that seem it went pretty quick. Did you have any time to look around or would of had time to look around Skagway?

 

Love to hear any advice for first time on a cruise.

We did not do dinner at the buffet but had breakfast and lunch there most days. We ate dinner each nite in the main dining room.

The train ride excursion is about 3.5 hours (you board the train right near where ship is docked). We did walk around Skagway for a little while before the excursion...I think you can get off ship as early as around 8 am so there is plenty of time to explore (it is a really small town).

As far as first time cruiser tips, just try to relax and don't get overwhelmed by all the stuff you can do. HEre are some other random ones: Bring different colored highlighters for each member of your family and you can each highlight what activities interest you for the next day when you get the daily news the night before. Know that if you dine in main dining room you can order more than one appetizer, entree, or dessert if you are intrigued by more than one. Go to the Solarium...it is so relaxing....was my happy place. Bring an over the door shoe holder to hang on back of bathroom door-it was a great place to store some shoes and other misc things that we didn't have room for elsewhere. I am sure you will have a blast on Solstice, feel free to ask any other questions!!

Thanks for the report!