MaiTaiMary Posted April 22, 2015 #1 Share Posted April 22, 2015 DH and I are going to do an Alaska cruise, but can't decide which one. I thought we had narrowed it down to Princess and HAL, but he found a great deal on the Solstice, so now Celebrity is in the running, too. 😀 How would Celebrity differ from the other two cruise lines? The Celebrity itinerary includes Tracy Arm Fjord, not Glacier Bay, like the others. Is that a big deal? I heard GB is very nice. I'm trying to find menus for the main dining room. Can somebody point me in the right direction? Also, I'm trying to find reviews of an Alaskan Solstice cruise. thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangerinebunny Posted April 22, 2015 #2 Share Posted April 22, 2015 GB is truly impressive. Do keep in mind that weather and time of year may impact how far into any glacier area your ship is able to go. We had a magnificent visit to GB on a HAL ship the first week of August several years ago. But it was the first time that year that the ship had been able to do full entry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaiTaiMary Posted April 22, 2015 Author #3 Share Posted April 22, 2015 GB is truly impressive. Do keep in mind that weather and time of year may impact how far into any glacier area your ship is able to go. We had a magnificent visit to GB on a HAL ship the first week of August several years ago. But it was the first time that year that the ship had been able to do full entry. We would be going near the end of August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Aurora Posted April 22, 2015 #4 Share Posted April 22, 2015 As someone who lives in Alaska I think that it is important to visit a major glacier, but the ones in Glacier Bay are actually in retreat. When aerial photography of Glacier Bay taken in the 1940s is compared to current photos the change is truly astounding. Since the Solstice has been deployed in Alaska for several summers if the OP checks the review section of Cruise Critic, looking for summer reviews of the Solstice, there should be a number available. One difference between the Solstice and the other cruise lines the OP mentions is the Celebrity smoking policy. Celebrity restricts smoking to limited outdoor areas. Smoking is prohibited on stateroom balconies. There are no interior smoking areas, and even the casino is non-smoking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suenterry Posted April 23, 2015 #5 Share Posted April 23, 2015 here's a review for the Solstice in Alaska, though it is at a different time to when you are planning. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2054906&highlight=solstice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelayne Posted April 23, 2015 #6 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Did Alaska on the Solstice last Sept. The naturalist onboard was wonderful. Cruising Tracy Arm Fjord was beautiful and the captain got us up quite close to the glacier. The entire cruise was great: ship is beautiful, food & service were excellent, weather fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckiePuris Posted April 24, 2015 #7 Share Posted April 24, 2015 (edited) While I can't help with any destination information, I can tell you Solstice is a beautiful ship. We loved Solstice so much, we have booked another two cruises. Below is a link to my review, hope it helps you make a decision in terms of the ship: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2192606 Please feel free to post any questions! Edited April 24, 2015 by LuckiePuris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deserttraveler Posted April 24, 2015 #8 Share Posted April 24, 2015 The naturalist on the Solstice, Brent Nixon, will make the cruise unforgettable. And Celebrity has the best food. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggie.1008 Posted April 24, 2015 #9 Share Posted April 24, 2015 We will be on the Solstice in July Alaska then again for Vancouver -Honolulu in September. Getting excited ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2OH! Posted April 24, 2015 #10 Share Posted April 24, 2015 DH and I did the solstice alaska cruise mid-june 2013...to date it is one of our favorite cruises ever! Tracy Arm is beautiful. We did pay for the ships excursion where you tender off solstice and take a catamaran up close to the glaciers. It was amazing!! I will say that we had unusually perfect weather...sunny and in upper 70's! in skagway it was in the 80's! skies were clear blue and amazing. here is the story about the record breaking temps...:) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/19/baked-alaska-unusual-hea_n_3463563.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix_dream Posted April 24, 2015 #11 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I am a Celebrity loyalist (26 cruises, and three more booked) and I love the Solstice, but honestly she does not have the greatest itinerary for Alaska. If it were my first time, and I was not sure if I could go back, I think I would look for a cruise that offered a better itinerary. I would want more ports, more time in ports, and more time in the Inside Passage. The Solstice is short on all three. Ironic, since one of my three cruises is actually the Solstice this September, but it will be my fourth time in Alaska so I am going as much for the ship as for the sailing. I would look for a cruise out of Vancouver as that provides more of what you would be missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfsh Posted April 24, 2015 #12 Share Posted April 24, 2015 A review of our Alaska Solstice visit is here; http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/rockfsh/8/tpod.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escriteur Posted April 26, 2015 #13 Share Posted April 26, 2015 A very big THANK YOU to those of you who posted review links; it was great to get an idea of what we have in store for us on our upcoming Alaska cruise! :) ~ Shay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ghstudio Posted April 26, 2015 #14 Share Posted April 26, 2015 (edited) We have been celebrity loyalists for many years but we took Princess to Alaska. Truthfully, other than the smoking policy, all three are all good cruise lines and have their pluses and minuses. You will find folks loyal to all three. Alaska is beautiful. Take your best shot....you'll enjoy any of the cruises. Note: we have become less loyal to Celebrity, but we still include them in the mix. Our next cruise (which we just cancelled due to our schedule) was on HAL...for it's itinerary. Edited April 26, 2015 by ghstudio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdoctor Posted April 26, 2015 #15 Share Posted April 26, 2015 It has been said by many that the Caribbean is about the ship, Alaska is about the destination. Check time in port. We have never seen a glacier from the ship in Tracy Arm. It's more of a service call. Glacier Bay is magnificent. Celebrity is so new in AK that you may have a tender call in Juneau. On the Solstis you are in the open ocean around Vancouver Island. The Solstis is too big for Seymour Narrows. Celebrity is my cruise line of choice. But not for AK. IMHO look at Vancouver sailings. We prefer southbound. Better timing for the "sweet" spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkjretired Posted April 27, 2015 #16 Share Posted April 27, 2015 (edited) It has been said by many that the Caribbean is about the ship, Alaska is about the destination. Check time in port. We have never seen a glacier from the ship in Tracy Arm. It's more of a service call. Glacier Bay is magnificent. Celebrity is so new in AK that you may have a tender call in Juneau. On the Solstis you are in the open ocean around Vancouver Island. The Solstis is too big for Seymour Narrows. Celebrity is my cruise line of choice. But not for AK. IMHO look at Vancouver sailings. We prefer southbound. Better timing for the "sweet" spots. In August we saw two glaciers in Tracey Arm, one Sawyer Glacier from the ship, probably half a mile away, the other Sawyer from the catamaran we boarded, your comment really doesn't make much sense since almost everyone stayed on the ship so I don't understand the service stop. Solstice alternates each week docking and tendering in Juneau. I agree about sailing out of Vancouver but your other comments are a bit confusing. Edited April 27, 2015 by dkjretired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfsh Posted April 27, 2015 #17 Share Posted April 27, 2015 The Solstice Tracy Arm stop is not a service call. You will see a glacier unless ice conditions prevent it. The above picture is the Sawyer Glacier as seen from the ship. We have taken the Solstice to Tracy Arm twice and saw the glacier both times. This is a blog of our first Solstice Alaska trip. Alaska Sol Mates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunniebird Posted May 8, 2015 #18 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Rockfish, Thanks for posting that beautiful picture of the glacier! We are going in July, and your picture has made me even more excited. I hope we have the same experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtdesilets Posted May 10, 2015 #19 Share Posted May 10, 2015 A review of our Alaska Solstice visit is here; http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/rockfsh/8/tpod.html I liked this very much. Thanks for sharing. We board Solstice in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floralscent Posted May 10, 2015 #20 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Did Alaska on the Solstice last Sept. The naturalist onboard was wonderful. Cruising Tracy Arm Fjord was beautiful and the captain got us up quite close to the glacier. The entire cruise was great: ship is beautiful, food & service were excellent, weather fantastic. We sailed on the Solstice last May and I couldn't agree more or said it any better than jelayne! Of all the cruises we've taken this itinerary and ship were fabulous...made our trip magical. Having sailed HAL, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, I would sail Celebrity again if we returned to Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trvlcarib Posted May 10, 2015 #21 Share Posted May 10, 2015 This was our view last week, captain took us in as far as he could get. Amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtdesilets Posted May 10, 2015 #22 Share Posted May 10, 2015 This was our view last week, captain took us in as far as he could get. Amazing. Looks like a lot of log debris in the water. What is that floating there on your first picture. ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trvlcarib Posted May 12, 2015 #23 Share Posted May 12, 2015 It was mostly ice, Looks like debris but its just the shadows off ice, as tide was moving out pretty fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escriteur Posted May 12, 2015 #24 Share Posted May 12, 2015 This was our view last week, captain took us in as far as he could get. Amazing. Great pics...thanks for sharing! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted May 16, 2015 #25 Share Posted May 16, 2015 I just returned from sailing Solstice to Alaska......had a marvelous cruise:D If my flight home would have been on time then it would have been a perfect week:D.....unfortunetly, it was delayed 3 hours:eek:....I got home at 3:00 this morning:rolleyes: But the cruise itself? SUNNY and in the 50's/60's every day:D...great service, good food and tablemates were lovely too....fun excursions, saw lots of whales too. And got to go up to the Heliopad for Tracy Arm....it was amazing!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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