6/24 Solstice to Alaska- Seals and whales and bears...oh my..

[Charliedog1121]

We just got home from our 11 day vacation that included time in Seattle and 7 nights on the Solstice. This forum has helped me so much in planning for our trip that I would pay it back by writing trip report about our experiences. We are a family of 3, myself, DH and DD(who turned 10 on the cruise). We always cruise with our friends who also have a dd(10) and our other friends who have 2 DS (14&15). Until now, we have only cruised Disney (the Wonder, Dream and Fantasy), which we have loved! I am a bit obsessive about our trips and spend probably more time than I should researching each of them. (my friends call me Julie McCoy- which I am sure many of you who are on this board have been called the same). We decided on Celebrity for a number of reasons. The first is the cost. The sky suite we cruised in was the price of a basic balcony room on DCL. We were also able to receive a lot more perks and gifts from Celebrity and our travel agent such as the beverage package (we upgraded to premium), internet, onboard credit, prepaid gratuities, and travel insurance. We decided on a Sky Suite (there were not other suite levels available) as we have friends who cruise with Celebrity often and have raved about the suite level. I will try my best to break this down into categories so that you can skip over and read what interests you. ( I can be a little long winded in both my speaking and writing).

 

Seattle

We flew from Fort Lauderdale to Seattle direct on Alaskan Air. It was our first time flying with them and we were very pleased with the service and the aircraft. It was the only direct trip to Seattle so that was a no brainer. We arrived very late into Seattle and arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport and take us to the Crowne Plaza downtown.. The hotel was very nice and we were able to get a friends and family rate so it was a bit less expensive than where our friends were staying by the water. We were in club level for the first part of our trip so it was worth the extra 15 dollars a night to get the continental breakfast, snacks in the afternoon, and water and sodas all day. We had a lovely corner room on the 32 floor with great views. Our first day in Seattle we met friends at Pikes Market and truly enjoyed this area. It was so crowded! We managed to see some fish thrown, ride the ferris wheel, have a great lunch, hit the space needle, and a nice casual dinner before we returned to our rooms. The time change was a little off setting but we fell into a routine very quickly. On our return from the cruise we had another day in Seattle and enjoyed the market again...( If I lived there I would have fresh flowers weekly!) We took the Duck Tour of the city, which was lots of fun, and then had dinner at the Metropolitan Grill. (excellent old school steak house but after eating so much good food on the cruise I felt we could have skipped it- it was very pricy).

 

Embarkation

We arranged for transportation to the port and pickup at 10:15 Friday morning. Traffic was a bit of a nightmare but once we made it into the unloading area it was a breeze. They took our luggage and we were off into the terminal. Having suite class allowed us to enter another security line and check in. There was no waiting at all for us. We were welcomed on the ship with a glass of champagne. This was around 11:00. We were invited to go to Michael's Club where we were welcomed by the concierge, Lenny, who was with another family at the time. We had our bloody marys in had by 11:05 and the kids had cookies. Lenny then came over and introduced himself and gave us a run down of his services and answered any questions we had. He was wonderful and we would stop in to Michael's just to say hello throughout the day. We then decided to explore the ship and wait until our rooms were available.

 

Suite Level and Sky Suite

On our last DCL cruise we upgraded at the port to a 1 BR suite on the Fantasy. They ruined us! We basically said that we would rather wait longer in between trips to be able to travel in this category than not. The services provided in our Sky Suite level were that our dining would take place in Luminae. (more on that later) We received 1 specialty restaurant for our party, Michael's Club, a "butler",priority embarkation and tendering, and a larger room. We were located on deck 12, stateroom 2125. Deck 12 was very convenient. Our room was spacious and had plenty of storage both in closets, under the bed, in the bathroom and lots of large drawers. The room was very nice and well appointed. There was a mini bar( which we had emptied so that we could keep waters, etc. in there). The hair dryer is terrible. If you have the room in your luggage, bring your own! Our balcony was a very nice size and we had the partition opened so that all 3 of our friends rooms would have 1 large balcony- which was awesome.Our butler, Joaquin, was very nice and accommodating. We didn't need his services much but he brought our room service breakfast in the mornings of early port excursion days and came around every afternoon with tea/coffee and sandwiches/pastries. Our stateroom hostess, AnaLiza, and her assistant we like magicians. It was as if they had cameras in our rooms to know when we were leaving and came in to clean the room in the morning and turn down at night. We could be gone for only 30 minutes and it would be done when we were back. Exceptional.. I wish she could come home with me..http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I had read that the location of our stateroom could be noisy because of the moving around of furniture in the buffet above us but it was never an issue. We were so exhausted (and had some help from adult beverages) at the end of the day that it was never even noticed. Loved our stateroom, it worked well for us.

 

Dining

Our main dining room was Luminae. We were a party of 10 and our large table remained set up and ready for the entire cruise. We loved the personal service of this restaurant and can't say enough about our server and the maitre d. They were so accommodating to us all. The food was fantastic. We were able to order from the special Luminae menu or from the main dining menu (which some of us did often). They put our table towards the back of the restaurant which works well for us as we can be a bit rambunctious sometimes. (not the kids, who were always so incredibly well behaved!) Although we may have done separate excursions during the day, it was always great to get together at night and share a meal and as I have said, the staff here were always happy to do whatever they could for us. We loved our time there.

[

I]Murano[/i]

We were happily informed that they were allowing children into Murano during the summer cruise season. Now I know many of you believe that there should be restaurants that only cater to adults, but for us, this was great news. The four children that were with us loved this meal. We were seated in the private wine room and had a big round table on the first sea day. The food and service were excellent. The lobster, chateaubriand, and fish were some of our favorites. The soufflé was so good that I still am having dreams about it. This was a wonderful evening.

Silk Harvest

Strangely this restaurant wasn't on my radar. During my research I didn't get much information about this restaurant. We weren't even going to try it but when a few of the guys in our party suggested it, we figured we should. We booked it later on in the cruise and our concierge , Lenny, wasn't sure if they could accommodate a large party without more notice was able to make it happen. We LOVED this restaurant. They served us family style and we were able to try a little of everything. The sushi was fantastic as well as the main courses. Captain Tasos was dining next to us and was very kind in allowing some of our more aggressive friends to get pictures when they were finished eating.

Tuscan Grill

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE CRUISE! Not the food, which was fantastic, but the service. We went here the night before my daughter's 10th birthday. We were the first seating at 6:00 in the restaurant. From the time we walked in we could tell it was not going to be like the rest of our dining experiences. My husband noted that it took 20 minutes from the time we were seated to get drinks. They were not welcoming or appeared to enjoy their jobs in any way. We are a very easy, fun natured group and I honestly was completely turned off by the level of service we received there. (There was another server from a different station who came by and made napkin animals for our girls which was very nice). Honestly, it was the only truly bad experience on the ship. I would rather have mediocre food with great, friendly service than great food with crappy service ( which is what we received). It's a shame because it had the menu that appealed to all of us the most. That's life...

Buffet, Cafe Bacio, other venues

The buffet was crazy packed all the time. We tried to eat up there when we only had a few minutes between excursions and there wasn't a seat to find. The food was decent and there were many options. We loved the coffee and desserts at the coffee place and went there often. We had a burger and hot dog upstairs on deck which were fine as well.

Michael's Club and Beverage Package

Michael's Club is where the suite level guests can book excursions, restaurant reservations etc. Originally it was for the levels higher than Sky Suites but recently they allowed Sky Suite guests go. We really enjoyed Michael's and spent some time in there. Lenny, the concierge was very sweet. He has a lot of guests to attend to and he manages to do it. On Disney there were 3 people assigned to take care of everything that Lenny had to do himself. I would imagine that his job is extremely overwhelming but he does it with a smile and a great disposition. We truly enjoyed seeing him every day. Michael's also had a bar and a lounge. The bartenders were nice and went out of their way to make special drinks for our children. We had upgraded to the Premier beverage package and got a lot of use out of it. One of the guys in our party doesn't drink but had enough espressos and specialty coffees to pay for it. (that's a lot of coffee;) ) The selections were good. When we ordered higher priced wine at the Cellar Masters we just paid the difference. We enjoyed the martini bar and the other bars but our favorite place to get a drink was in Michael's. That was the only place I was able to get the wine I prefer- La Crema Pinot Noir. They had only 2 bottles. We were unable to get it anywhere else on the ship and the sommelier said they had trouble getting cases on the ship...Strange to me since we own a pub and never have trouble getting cases of La Crema...hmmm...

Ports and Excursions

We loved all of the ports. As a former flight attendant (back in early 1990's) I have been fortunate to see a lot of places. Alaska is one that I never visited and will never forget. The beauty, the history, the wildlife all will remain with me for the rest of my life. I hope to return back again.

Ketchikan

Quaint city. Enjoyed walking around and seeing the downtown and shopping area. We did the Zodiak tour which was so much fun. David, our guide, was adorable and informative. We saw seals and eagles on this tour and it was fun to be bouncing around on that boat. They provide a rain suit in case of splashing and rain and it was nice to have an extra layer on the coldest day of our cruise.

Tracy Arm Fjord/Juneau

Due to ice, there was no Tracy Arm. The captain had only been able to go in once this season and didn't get very far that time.. No worries, we had a lovely ride down Endicott Arm and was able to board our catamaran for the trip to Dawes Glacier. This was a wonderful tour (albeit a tad long for my little girl). WE were able to get right up to the Dawes Glacier and see so much. It calved about 6 times that we were there and the sounds and power of that occurring are indescribable. There were sea lions, seals and many whale sightings. We also saw a bear far away looking for food. Very cool. This excursion stopped a few times so we could watch the wildlife. Unfortunately, for some, it got into Juneau later than expected and some people missed their next excursion. We only had about an hour to get back on the ship, change our clothes and grab a bite on the run to get to our next one.

Mendenhall Glacier and Dog Sledding

If there would be one picture that sums up this vacation it would be of my daughters face while she stood on the back of the dog sled. This was fantastic. The weather was warm and sunny and the flight to the glacier was spectacular. Our guide on the sleds was wonderful and the dogs were awesome. I have struggled for a long time with the humane aspect of dog sledding but left pretty confident that these particular teams of dogs are loved and cared for properly and are doing what they love to do...run.. It was a beautiful day.

Skagway- White Pass Railroad/Dog Camp

The train was nice... (not amazing, not incredible, but nice) We took an excursions that had a bus pick us up, take us to the dog camp where we listened to the owner who has run the Iditarod and learned about the race and his dogs. This was another time I felt like his animals were very well cared for and loved. We then took the bus up to the top the area where the the train will go back down the mountain. Since the only seats left were in the back of the bus we were the last people off the bus and therefore the last ones to choose seats on our train. All the seats on the right side of the train were taken and these were the ones which you could see the scenery without looking over those people or going outside. As I said, it was OK.. I wish we had taken another helicopter ride and glacier walk as our friends did. Skagway is another cool city. Reminded us of the old Western towns. We had a great crab leg lunch at a restaurant near the pier.

Victoria, BC

Gorgeous, clean city. We told a shuttle into town, listened to some local kids playing music in different parts of the city, did some shopping and had some drinks at a local pub. We loved just walking around and doing our own thing at this point. Our friends took the "garden tour" and loved it. My 10 year old would rather have root canal than look at flowers for 3 hours.

 

Shipboard Activities

So much to do... The 2 10 yr. old girls and the 14 yr. old boy didn't have any interest in the fun factory. We kept so busy as a family that they were fine and so were we. The 15 yr. old spent every night in the teen club. We took advantage of the family swim times in the Solarium pool. DH had a great time with my BFF at the wine tasting and everyone thought they were married...;) They made many friends that day... We participated in the dance classes which were great. We also were part of a flash mob organized by "Baldo" the onboard activities director. We had 3 rehearsals and then our performance in front of a packed theatre on the last day. So much fun!!! Bingo is always a must and one of our girls won 400 bucks! Dh did well on the craps table so it was a plus!

Brent Nixon and Miss Amanda

Honestly, I could listen to Brent for hours. (I think I did). He is fascinating and his delivery of information keeps you engaged the entire time. I truly learned so much from him. As a Science and History teacher, I have gained so much knowledge to take back to my students. I loved that his talks were also on the TV in case you missed it. A highlight of my week!

Miss Amanda (his wife) was terrific. Her accomplishments in music alone are amazing. They really were great! (They sat at the table next to us at Tuscan Grill for Brent's mothers 90th birthday- they received much better service than we did).

Debarkation

Woke up early and had our last breakfast together at Luminae. We had such a wonderful time together and although 2 of us will travel back to Florida together, my BFF headed back to Maryland with her family. We stopped up to Michael's to say goodbye to the Lenny and the staff there and were able to get right off the ship. Customs was quick and we were ready to be picked up and brought back to the hotel.

 

I loved this trip. One of the best vacations we have ever had and the Celebrity exceeded our expectations. 2 of the families have already booked for Europe next year on a Celebrity ship. I have a little more convincing to do before we are in... Hope this helps some of you preparing to go. I overpacked! Enjoy every minute. Spend time just looking outside. You will be in awe of the landscapes that pass by. Really spectacular...

[floridianny]

Thank you so much for this review:)

We leave later this week on the same cruise. Glad to know there is an alternative if the ship cannot make it into Tracey Arm. We're really looking forward to that excursion and hoping for good weather that day.

Thanks for sharing.

[sikzography]

Loved loved loved reading your review!

 

I have spent months and months researching, shopping, packing... Now down to days for our Cruise 7/15... Your review was just what I was looking forward to reading!

 

My daughter (17) is looking forward to checking out the teen lounge as well...

 

Enjoy the rest of your summer and Happy 4th!

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your thorough review.

Keith

[autumncat]

Love your review, we're going to be on this cruise very soon!

 

How late was the catamaran glacier excursion getting back to the ship in Juneau? We have a 2:30 whale watching excursion booked after this and I'm worried about us making it in time, especially since the port is tendered.

[Clarea]

Thanks for your excellent review.

[Charliedog1121]

Love your review, we're going to be on this cruise very soon!

 

How late was the catamaran glacier excursion getting back to the ship in Juneau? We have a 2:30 whale watching excursion booked after this and I'm worried about us making it in time, especially since the port is tendered.

 

We got off the catamaran and onto the ship at around 1:45. If you have to meet on the dock you will may need to tender to the dock (I believe they rotate the weeks so I am not sure it this will relate to your week). Have something to eat and bring what you need for your 2nd excursion just in case. You will be fine..Have fun!

[Lastdance]

You need to book Europe; it is fantastic!! Also, don't forget to look at Choice Air for your flights. One way is usually the best...additionally, don't forget insurance! EUROPE is unbelievable[emoji844] We have never enjoyed the Tuscan Grill...try Murano if you get a chance.

Very interesting review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums the Tuscan Grill was a disappointment for us too, but we enjoyed Murano.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Lastdance

[TRAVELBABE1]

Love your review, we're going to be on this cruise very soon!

 

How late was the catamaran glacier excursion getting back to the ship in Juneau? We have a 2:30 whale watching excursion booked after this and I'm worried about us making it in time, especially since the port is tendered.

 

We were on this same cruise, and the catamaran excursion was a highlight! I believe we arrived back to the ship around 1:45. I was previously advised (erroneously) on these boards that tender tickets are not provided in advance. However, when we checked in for this tour, we were provided tender tickets for group 2. You should have no problem making your 2:30 whale watching excursion.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Can you tell me who you used for your transfer service in Seattle? I have a group of 8 (2 are little kids) that needs a reliable service that can hold all of them. Thanks! :)

[autumncat]

We were on this same cruise, and the catamaran excursion was a highlight! I believe we arrived back to the ship around 1:45. I was previously advised (erroneously) on these boards that tender tickets are not provided in advance. However, when we checked in for this tour, we were provided tender tickets for group 2. You should have no problem making your 2:30 whale watching excursion.

Thanks!

[Charliedog1121]

Can you tell me who you used for your transfer service in Seattle? I have a group of 8 (2 are little kids) that needs a reliable service that can hold all of them. Thanks! :)

 

We used shuttle express and got a town car. They have vans as well. We got in late at night and wanted something quick and direct to the hotel.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise with three of my favorite Celebrity people: Captain Tasos, Brent Nixon, and Lenny.

 

[love2driveinct]

We were cruising the same week but on the Millennium and I still can't get over how we lucked out with the weather! Glad you had such a fun vacation.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[DrivesLikeMario]

We used shuttle express and got a town car. They have vans as well. We got in late at night and wanted something quick and direct to the hotel.

 

Thank you. I'll definitely give them a try. ;)

[Ladytee47]

I really enjoyed your review!, We are not going until next June but I am soo excited!!:D

[Katemusical]

Thank you for your review.

What was the weather like in all of the ports? I am still not sure what to pack.