SOLSTICE to Alaska 5/8/15

After waiting 2 months after a disasterous Constellation cruise from He$$,:( I have to say this cruise was FABULOUS:D..

It took that very, very bad taste out of my mouth and Alaska was awesome! It had been 6 years since my last

cruise there and I am so glad I finally decided to go back.

Weather was in the 50's/60's throughout the week and Mother Nature

shone down upon us with SUNNY days too...one small drizzle (that I

remember) but SUN 99% of the time.

Cabin was a CC 9134....Cabin attendant and assistant were both

very good. Cabin was starboard, forward, could see the bridge.

I went back to Traditional Dining (after trying select a couple of times

and one cruise purchased the Ulitmate Dining Package). I had

terrific tablemates and the food and service were all very good.

2 nights I went Specialty....once in Tuscan and once I went to a

Wine Connessiour Dinner, which was also held in Tuscan but had

a separate menu and it was a great evening.....lots and lots of wine;)

I went to a couple of shows, which is a rarity for me these days and

I enjoyed both. I also went to see both Comedians and laughed alot:D

I had booked this on the 1.2.3. Promotion and had a very large OBC.....

It paid for 2 excursions.....whale watching in Juneau and we saw LOTS

of whales too.....and in Skagway I took the trainride.....simply beautiful

scenery. I took a floatplane tour in Ketchikan with Island Wings. I used

them 6 years ago and Michelle is awesome....owner and Pilot.

The OBC also paid for my upgrade on the drink package to premium

and my specialty dinners and specialty lunch in Murano....I still had

credit left so I bought a new watch.

I received an invitation to the Heliopad the morning for Tracey Arm

and it was awesome!.....enjoyed that very much.

I found the crew/staff all really nice and the officers were quite

visible.

The CC gathering was held on Saturday morning in Cellarmasters

at 10:15 and we had about 30-40 people show up. Ben Powney

showed up (CD) he was very nice and I know there were a few other

officers there but can't think of all of them right now.

I had a great week and am happy to say this was much more of the

Celebrity I am used to sailing.:)

Andy.......Ben sends his best to you!

Oh yea, the negatives? I know many folks say they throw out reviews that are all postive or all negative.....

The regular coffee can still be improved and I still like the "OLD" Elite Breakfast better than what they

have now......but overall, the week was wonderful.

Oh, thanks to the friendly people I met in person who were on the roll call.....it was always nice seeing

smiling faces througout the cruise!

For those of you sailing this summer? I hope you have as fun a cruise to Alaska as I did!

Enjoy yourselves!

So glad you enjoyed your cruise!

I'm sure we will have a great time as well in less than 2 weeks.

I do agree, the elite breakfasts are no as good as they used to be.

And Celebrity's "free coffee" has always sucked.

But there are so many other positive things we find on Celebrity, that we can live with these negatives.

Thanks:)...if you have any questions I will try to answer them.

Hi Lois:

I am SO glad that you had a wonderful time in Alaska on the Solstice. It was especially nice that you got great weather. Thanks so much for coming back and sharing your review.

How far into Tracy Arm did you get to travel...did you see the twin glaciers? And did the Captain take the ship up the Canadian Inside Passage after you left Seattle? The weather in Seattle was glorious on the afternoon of your departure. It must have been a spectacular sailaway.

The Solstice does a great job of the Alaska cruise. I'm glad that you had this opportunity soon after the March fiasco. You deserved it!!

Thanks for the visit....it was so much fun to see you in the Emerald City. :D

Hi Eileen,:) I totally forgot to put the Seattle part of my trip in the

review....please forgive me:o....I had a great time and it was wonderful

to see you again:D......we had some good food, didn't we:D Thanks

for making the beginning of my trip so much fun!

The Capt took us pretty far in....I can't recall how far:eek: but the

scenery was awesome and yes, sailaway was lovely. We had a few

folks from our roll call meet upstairs at the Sunset Bar. The atmosphere

on board was so good....relaxing and courteous. I met some really nice

folks too.:)

It is so nice of you to take the time to post your thoughts. This cruise sounds so great. Can't wait for July 24th. Thank you again.

So glad you enjoyed your cruise. I remember after your last one you had written that you were thinking of "jumping ship". These boards just would not be the same without you!

Thanks Vicky and Terry:)

Hi Lois,

As always, I enjoy reading your thoughts and optimistic views. Welcome home and hoping the shock back to reality is gradual for you. :)

Hugs from me and Mom

Walter

Tell me more about the Wine Connoisseur dinner. We enjoy wine with dinner and this sounds like something we would like. We're sailing on 6/12 and are putting all of our notes together. Also, if you have the chance, could you upload the Dailies? I've been saying for years that cruiselines should provide access to them for people who would like to have them in advance and plan their trip. Maybe I'm just a little anal retentive! Thanks so much Lois and we hope to cruise with you someday.

Tell me more about the Wine Connoisseur dinner. We enjoy wine with dinner and this sounds like something we would like. We're sailing on 6/12 and are putting all of our notes together. Also, if you have the chance, could you upload the Dailies? I've been saying for years that cruiselines should provide access to them for people who would like to have them in advance and plan their trip. Maybe I'm just a little anal retentive! Thanks so much Lois and we hope to cruise with you someday.

If Lois doesn't have the Dailies o can find them in the review from the first week. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2204579

Hi Lois, what time did you have to meet for the helipad ? Is CC Host Rose going to be on for the whole Alaska season ? I have not met her. We will be on the Solstice in July Alaska and again in Sept. to Hawaii. Thanks, Heather

Lois, after the terrible cruise you had on the Connie back in March, I was glad to hear that this was a good cruise for you. Glad you had a great trip. Neil

Hi folks, thanks for the kind comments:) Hi Neil....yes, it was soooooo

much better:D

I will try to answer the questions.....I have no dailies..I never bring

them home.

Wine Conneissour Dinner was held in Tuscan and it was 95.00 per

person. They served bubbly to everyone first in CellarMasters and

then we went to Tuscan......we had 17 people.......2 tables next

to each other. I enjoyed it very much and both tables laughed most

of the evening......we all got along very well together.:) I thought

it was worth it and I think everyone else did too. You had choices

of appetiziers, soup/salad, entree and dessert. The food was very

good and the wine was flowing throughout.;)

The CC hostess is Rose and I don't know how long she will be

on board. I never asked her about the timing of her contract.

The Heliopad was at 7:00am and I think I stayed out there almost

2 hours. I know it was at least an hour.

Hope this helps a bit.

Hi Lois,

Thank you so much for your wonderful report. I'm so happy to hear you had a great cruise, especially after your Connie experience.

Thanks for the regards from Cruise Director Ben Powney - he's a super nice guy, and tries very hard for the guests. I believe Solstice is his permanent ship now.

Welcome Home !

Hi Andy, thanks:) and Ben said the same thing about you......:D

He was so funny...he was like...."do you know Andy? Andy Geller"? I said

OF COURSE:D...he thinks of you very highly:)

Hi Lois,

So sorry to read that you had a cruise from Hell on The Connie. Did you happen to book one of those Spring Break cruises I read about? I am so glad Rudy and I did the February 2nd cruise as all that drunken nonsense would not have been good for our health. Why didn't security do something about them, like put them off the ship or lock them in their rooms or better yet not serve them?

We are on The Connie February 2016 again but it is 9 nights, I believe. Hope the rowdy crowd can't spare the time or money to join us.

Glad you had a wonderful Alaska cruise and met some nice folks. Hope we see you on another cruise, soon.

Grace and Rudy

Hi Lois:

Glad to see you had a great cruise. Is Brent Nixon and his wife on board Solstice this year. If so the people on subsequent cruises are in for a treat. I went to all his lectures. Funny we had a terrible flight back last year too, thought we'd never get home.

Don

Hi Lois:

 

Glad to see you had a great cruise. Is Brent Nixon and his wife on board Solstice this year. If so the people on subsequent cruises are in for a treat. I went to all his lectures. Funny we had a terrible flight back last year too, thought we'd never get home.

 

Don

Hi Don:) yes, they were both on board.....wish I had gone to see

them more:o........

Hi Lois,

 

So sorry to read that you had a cruise from Hell on The Connie. Did you happen to book one of those Spring Break cruises I read about? I am so glad Rudy and I did the February 2nd cruise as all that drunken nonsense would not have been good for our health. Why didn't security do something about them, like put them off the ship or lock them in their rooms or better yet not serve them?

 

We are on The Connie February 2016 again but it is 9 nights, I believe. Hope the rowdy crowd can't spare the time or money to join us.

 

Glad you had a wonderful Alaska cruise and met some nice folks. Hope we see you on another cruise, soon.

 

Grace and Rudy

Hi Grace,:) I am sure 9 nights will be fine. Yes, I was on one....don't

really want to get into the whole thing on this thread though...suffice

to say, HQ and I had several conversations. But I seriously doubt

you will have issues on a longer sailing.

This cruise was wonderful:D

Lois

How much was the Wine Connoisseur dinner? Was it worth it?

Thanks for your review.

Glad to see the weather was still good. We were on the week before and weather was perfect. We did the inside passage out of Vancouver and we told first time ship size of Solstice had done it. Tracy Arm was already open to mid-season conditions and got a great view of the glacier.

Were they serving all three meals a day in Luminea?

Lois

How much was the Wine Connoisseur dinner? Was it worth it?

Thanks for your review.

Hi:)...thought I posted the price earlier.....95.00 per person.

Yes, in my opinion it was worth it.....ahhhh...I did post it.......

See below.....

Wine Conneissour Dinner was held in Tuscan and it was 95.00 per

person. They served bubbly to everyone first in CellarMasters and

then we went to Tuscan......we had 17 people.......2 tables next

to each other. I enjoyed it very much and both tables laughed most

of the evening......we all got along very well together.:) I thought

it was worth it and I think everyone else did too. You had choices

of appetiziers, soup/salad, entree and dessert. The food was very

good and the wine was flowing throughout:D

Glad to see the weather was still good. We were on the week before and weather was perfect. We did the inside passage out of Vancouver and we told first time ship size of Solstice had done it. Tracy Arm was already open to mid-season conditions and got a great view of the glacier.

 

Were they serving all three meals a day in Luminea?

Hi,:) I have no clue about lunch in Luminea.....I don't book suites and

never noticed if they were open at lunchtime......the only time I

went into the diningroom at lunchtime was for the brunch and they

actually have it off a menu now.