Alaska Solstice reviews

[lilcush1955]

Can not wait for updated 2016 Solstice Alaska reviews

[BigB0882]

Will be on her June 24th so if you can wait that long I will give a review when I get back in early July.

[lilcush1955]

Leaving two weeks earlier than you Hopefully our May cruisers will give insight

[BecciBoo]

Bring it on...just back from Liberty of the Seas Caribbean and ready for bear!:D

[MustBCruzn]

We board the Solstice next Friday (May 20th) so I'll let you know how she's doing after that. This will be our 5th or 6th trip on the Solstice to Alaska. Can't wait!

[SetU2]

I'll shoot out some comments for sure. We board tomorrow.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[need2cruisesoon]

We are on in 3 weeks, possibly the best cruise ship for AK.

[BecciBoo]

I'm so excited...can't wait to hear from all of you.:D

[Lastdance]

We board the Solstice next Friday (May 20th) so I'll let you know how she's doing after that. This will be our 5th or 6th trip on the Solstice to Alaska. Can't wait!

 

We are touring from Anchorage, Denali and Talkeetna, then onboard the Millennium. I love the S class ships, especially in Europe; however, it would be great to compare the two cruises and ships on CC for those who are interested. My DH just had to see Mt. Denali, so hopefully the weather will allow it. Enjoy your cruise!:cool:

[sleepless]

Can't wait for the reviews and info. Leaving for first Celebrity cruise, first Solstice cruise, and first Alaskan cruise on July 8th. Getting very excited. Any and all info will be greatly appreciated.

[scrapcreator]

Looking forward to your reviews. We are on the July 15th cruise to Alaska. Our first to Alaska and our first with Celebrity. I'm reading all the Solstice and Alaska threads I can find.

[BecciBoo]

Are any of you on our itin? Originating Seattle, disembarking in Vancouver? I'm thinking since it is the last cruise of the season it may be unique(Solstice preparing to go Down Under departing from VC). Was hoping for some review of the itin itself.

Edited May 13, 2016 by BecciBoo

[Billdacat]

Sitting in Seattle airport fresh from our 5/6-5/13 cruise. Vancouver-Alaska-Seattle. 4 people in our party, s1 sky suites.

 

Will work on a review this week, but ask me anything now :)

[need2cruisesoon]

Sitting in Seattle airport fresh from our 5/6-5/13 cruise. Vancouver-Alaska-Seattle. 4 people in our party, s1 sky suites.

 

Will work on a review this week, but ask me anything now :)

 

Were you docked or tendered in Juneau?

 

I guess you were lucky with good weather as well.

 

How did the Solstice appear, in great shape?

Edited May 13, 2016 by need2cruisesoon

[Billdacat]

Were you docked or tendered in Juneau?

 

I guess you were lucky with good weather as well.

 

How did the Solstice appear, in great shape?

 

Docked in Juneau. 2 other ships in port, we had the farthest dock but no issues shuttling around.

 

Weather was pretty good. Outstanding weather in Vancouver and Victoria. Overcast but dry in Ketchikan, just a smattering of rain in Juneau, sunny and awesome in Skagway.

 

Never sailed before, but I thought the ship was in great condition.

[BigB0882]

Any thing we must not miss on the ship or at any of the ports you visited? Anything you wished you had done differently or something you wished you had packed?

[Billdacat]

Any thing we must not miss on the ship or at any of the ports you visited? Anything you wished you had done differently or something you wished you had packed?

 

A few quick favorites before I board flight home:

Molecular bar

Martini bar

Coffee bar

Luminae

Afternoon trivia

Funky T

Mast grill burgers

Skagway train

Juneau floatplane

Ketchikan rainforest hike

Excursions staff

 

One quick issue

Temsco cancelled their helo operations out of Juneau earlier in the week, due to an accident the prior week. Might want to have an alternative in mind if they're still not flying.

[DCCruisin1]

Billdacat thank you for sharing your experience with us as it is still very fresh in your mind!! We are going on our First Cruise, First time to Alaska on May 27th on the Solstice and are beyond excited!! I plan on writing a review when we get back too!!

[GASPARTY]

Can not wait for updated 2016 Solstice Alaska reviews

We just got home from this cruise. Soltice is beautiful and clean. We had a very quiet crowd but all were cordial. My only complaint was going through customs and getting our room key card. We were on a bus and were turned away from the boarding area two times. Sat in an empty lot with many other busses as we waited our turn. The port processes all ships at one time, there were 3 ships in and maybe only 14 custom agents. We went from line to holding area several times, had our passports checked five times. We got on board four hours later. And we left the port late.

 

Our bags arrived promptly and from that point we enjoyed our trip. I will not consider sailing out of Vancouver again.

 

We had good weather, new port for us was Skagway, we took a train to the mountain summit, beautiful ! First time we saw Victoria in the daylight, nice city.

 

On board we went to three shows, all but one were good. The lobby performers were good. Not much action by the pool, too chilly. The Solarium is a covered pool with climbing roses and potted plants. The observatory was a great place to view the scenic cruising. There is a lawn club nice lawns and glass blowing exhibit. We went to a wine and cheese sail away there and pick nicked on the grass. Many outdoor areas and indoor to hang out. Never felt crowded at all.

 

Great trip wished I could say more but a little tired now good night.

[DrKoob]

Greetings Solstice Sailors! Was driving around today and saw this:

 

 

For all of you I hope you get as great a weather for your sail away as we had today here in Seattle. Speaking of Seattle, if anyone has any Seattle questions...ask away. Long time local here.

 

Jim

[DrKoob]

My only complaint was going through customs and getting our room key card. We were on a bus and were turned away from the boarding area two times. Sat in an empty lot with many other busses as we waited our turn. The port processes all ships at one time, there were 3 ships in and maybe only 14 custom agents. We went from line to holding area several times, had our passports checked five times. We got on board four hours later. And we left the port late.

 

Our bags arrived promptly and from that point we enjoyed our trip. I will not consider sailing out of Vancouver again.

 

I see now you boarded in Vancouver. That is very unlike YVR but it certainly won't happen here in Seattle.

[Blondie008]

Greetings Solstice Sailors! Was driving around today and saw this:

 

 

For all of you I hope you get as great a weather for your sail away as we had today here in Seattle. Speaking of Seattle, if anyone has any Seattle questions...ask away. Long time local here.

 

Jim

 

Thanks for that beautiful photo Jim - we are travelling from Scotland and spending three days in your beautiful city - I have had amazing help from the Seattle people on the West Coast Departures forum - you might want to pop in there and help people like me - its so very much appreciated! We are going to MacLeods in Ballard for a pint of Tennants and a craic!!! :D Keep that sun shining for a couple of weeks yet will you!

[DrKoob]

Thanks for that beautiful photo Jim - we are travelling from Scotland and spending three days in your beautiful city - I have had amazing help from the Seattle people on the West Coast Departures forum - you might want to pop in there and help people like me - its so very much appreciated! We are going to MacLeods in Ballard for a pint of Tennants and a craic!!! :D Keep that sun shining for a couple of weeks yet will you!

 

Well it won't stay that way but you can hope it comes back. We have rain/overcast predicted for the rest of this week. Hopefully it will come back for you.

 

We are headed your way in August. Doing a 14 night British Isles cruise on Silhouette that includes the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh.

 

Jim

[Billdacat]

My only complaint was going through customs and getting our room key card. We were on a bus and were turned away from the boarding area two times. Sat in an empty lot with many other busses as we waited our turn. The port processes all ships at one time, there were 3 ships in and maybe only 14 custom agents. We went from line to holding area several times, had our passports checked five times. We got on board four hours later. And we left the port late.

 

 

Yes, Vancouver was pretty messed up last Friday. I spoke with one of the supervisors in the conference area where they were staging embarkees, and she said most of her staff was new and didn't know where anything was.

 

During the actual check in process, the gentleman running the computer was also new, and had a few technical problems (likely self-inflicted) that made that process more difficult.

 

Dropped our bags off right at 10am, and was in line to board at 11am, so overall our wait wasn't too bad. Later arrivals however were definitely delayed, along with our departure. Celebrity ended up giving varying amounts of onboard credit to compensate a bit for the Vancouver experience.

 

OTOH, still love Vancouver; city, restaurants, and people.

[LesCroft]

Greetings Solstice Sailors! Was driving around today and saw this:

 

 

For all of you I hope you get as great a weather for your sail away as we had today here in Seattle. Speaking of Seattle, if anyone has any Seattle questions...ask away. Long time local here.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim

 

We're coming over from the UK and we're only in Seattle for one night before our cruise and one night afterwards. What have we got to do (apart from the large pointy thing of course, the kids demand it)?