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Wonderful Solstice Cruise to Alaska


micruiser12
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I just posted my first review on the review board today, but also wanted to post a review here in case it doesn't show up. CruiseCritic posters were so helpful in giving advice or ideas for our cruise. I hope the information I post will be of some help to someone, as well.

 

Two years ago in August we tried to sail on the Millennium from Seward to Vancouver. Unfortunately, the ship ended up staying in Seward for the entire week because of propulsion issues. So we did get time in Alaska, but missed the ports of Skagway, Ketchikan and Juneau.

 

We tried again this month (August) on the Solstice from Seattle to the ports of Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau that we did not get to visit last time. This was our third time on the Solstice and our 9th Celebrity Cruise with 2 other cruises on Royal Caribbean. The Solstice is our favorite ship and a real beauty.

 

We had a great cruise and every experience was excellent except for one. We had a 3 night Specialty restaurant package and Murano was our favorite experience for food and service. Tuscan our least favorite due to a poor waiter. Food was very good though. Silk Harvest service very good and food very good too. Bistro on Five worth checking out. We ate there twice. Since we had a good size onboard credit dining in the Specialty restaurants made sense to us. Our one night dining in the MDR was very good too. Buffet food is good, but can get crowded there at popular times.

 

We did not attend most of the shows, but Comedian, Fred Klett, was our favorite. We also saw "The Show" and that was worth going to see even though we had already seen it before. Our favorite was to go to Brent Nixon's Presentations on Whales, Bears, Eagles, Alaska, etc. He is full of energy and makes every lecture so interesting you can't wait for the next one!

 

We only took one Celebrity tour and that was to Butchart Gardens. It was nice and the gardens are beautiful! We just hate the big bus thing, but once you get there you can view the gardens independently. All other tours were through private vendors. Highly recommend Michelle of Island Wings in Ketchikan. We were supposed to fly to Anan Creek for bear viewing, but too foggy there so she took us to Traitor's Cove where we still saw lots of bears. She refunded the difference in price. We also went with Capt Larry (Orca Enterprises) on a Whale Watch out of Juneau. Saw a pod of 7-9 whales close and twice saw Bubble-net feeding. Best whale watch we have ever done! Third private vendor was Chilkoot Charters in Skagway for the 7 1/2 hour trip. Train to Fraser and then bus ride to Yukon and back to Skagway with lunch in Carcross. Our bus driver, Rick, was excellent and we enjoyed the train. Unfortunately rather foggy and rainy so views weren't as great on train as we hoped.

 

Our embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly until we tried to get a taxi to leave the port. Awful! What a mess, especially with another cruise ship disembarking at the same time.

 

We liked Seattle and spent several days there visiting many of the sites. We stayed at the Hampton near City Center. We could walk to the Space Needle and Chihuly Glass Gardens and the EMP Museum. Worth getting CityPass card as that includes Harbor Cruise and Aquarium also. All worth doing. Only transportation we needed was the Monorail when we went to Pike Place Market for a food tour with Savor Seattle and to the Underground Tour as well. Very walkable city if you are able. We also took the ferry to Bainbridge Island for dinner at the marina.

 

We then rented a car for 3 days and traveled to Tacoma area, Mt Rainier, Boeing Plant Tour and Snoqualmie Falls.

 

Most days in Seattle and Tacoma area the weather was very good. We had no rain in Ketchikan (unusual), but cool and rain and cool temp in Juneau and Skagway, but usually not a heavy rain. We were glad we had our rain slickers with hoods and rain pants in last two ports.

 

Hopefully, this report will be helpful. I will answer any questions I can too, if you have any.

 

Alaska is a beautiful place to visit and a cruise makes it easier to get to those ports, in particular.

Edited by micruiser12
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Thank you for this review. We leave on the last Solstice to Alaska on Sept 11. We have a few days prior in Seattle and I was wondering about your dinner in Bainbridge...where did you eat? would you recommend it and did you have a view of the Seattle skyline from there?

 

Glad you had an enjoyable trip! We are very excited to go!

Cathy

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Thank you for this review. We leave on the last Solstice to Alaska on Sept 11. We have a few days prior in Seattle and I was wondering about your dinner in Bainbridge...where did you eat? would you recommend it and did you have a view of the Seattle skyline from there?

 

Glad you had an enjoyable trip! We are very excited to go!

Cathy

 

I'm excited for you, Cathy! You will love the ship and the beautiful scenery in Alaska. If Brent Nixon is still giving his presentations try to attend at least some of them. Very interesting!

 

The ferry ride to Bainbridge is a nice boat ride and only about 1/2 hour one way. We walked down to the Marina from the town of Winslow (a short walk) to Doc's Marina Grill. The weather was nice and we ate outside. Good food and service and a great view of the boats in the marina, but no city view from there.

A few other restaurants that had great food that we enjoyed in Seattle were Cafe Campagne very close to Pike Place Market, Crab Cakes at Etta's Seafood and Chowder at Pike Place Chowder. Also, tiny cinnamon donuts at Daily Dozen Donuts for dessert (in Pike Place). Also in Pioneer Square area where Underground Tour is we ate at a little restaurant for lunch called Cafe Paloma on Yesler Way which was very good.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time in both Alaska and Seattle!

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I'm excited for you, Cathy! You will love the ship and the beautiful scenery in Alaska. If Brent Nixon is still giving his presentations try to attend at least some of them. Very interesting!

 

The ferry ride to Bainbridge is a nice boat ride and only about 1/2 hour one way. We walked down to the Marina from the town of Winslow (a short walk) to Doc's Marina Grill. The weather was nice and we ate outside. Good food and service and a great view of the boats in the marina, but no city view from there.

A few other restaurants that had great food that we enjoyed in Seattle were Cafe Campagne very close to Pike Place Market, Crab Cakes at Etta's Seafood and Chowder at Pike Place Chowder. Also, tiny cinnamon donuts at Daily Dozen Donuts for dessert (in Pike Place). Also in Pioneer Square area where Underground Tour is we ate at a little restaurant for lunch called Cafe Paloma on Yesler Way which was very good.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time in both Alaska and Seattle!

 

Thank you so much for all the great info! I guess we'll wait and see what the weather is like before we decide to do the ferry. Nice to have lots of options!

Cathy

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