Celebrity Solstice Post-Cruise Review

[dctravel]

We are just back from a wonderful week on the Celebrity Solstice in Alaska. Over the next few days, I am going to recap our trip from our arrival a few days early in Vancouver to our departure from the city a day after our cruise. I do these posts for two reasons (and you can see my past reviews of Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises linked in my signature): 1. I always enjoy reading about other people's cruise experiences, so I want to give back to the Cruise Critic community; and 2. I like to go back and remember what we did! Before I started on specific days of the cruise in subsequent posts, a little background:

 

This trip was just my wife and I to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Each summer, we send our kids to overnight camp for three weeks, so we try and take a trip while they are gone. We had never been to Vancouver or Alaska before, so when we decided to go, our travel agent recommended Celebrity, and specifically the Solstice because it went out of Vancouver and avoided a stop in Victoria on the return and went to Hubbard Glacier. Since we had no experience with any of the these places, we took her word for it and booked for the first time on Celebrity. So glad we did! As you will see, we had great time, Hubbard Glacier was amazing, and we really enjoyed Vancouver. I'm sure that Victoria is very nice, but we enjoyed the little bit of extra sea time on the last day a lot, and generally found flying in and out of Vancouver to be very easy. 

 

Please ask questions/give thoughts as we go!

 

dctravel

[sdnich]

I look forward to reading your cruise review of the Solstice.We will be cruising on the Solstice in Sept.to Hawaii and want to hear your thoughts and opinions and maybe pictures of the ship .

We also are staying in Vancouver for three nights before our cruise so would like to hear what you did on your time there.We are staying at the Westin Bayshore and plan on going to Stanley park and Granville island. I also have a few restaurants on our list to possibly go to.

[dctravel]

As I noted in the first post, this was our first time sailing Celebrity. Our travel agent is a big proponent of Celebrity, and when we told her we wanted to got to Alaska and our dates, she did not hesitate to suggest the Solstice, as her agency had a block held on the ship. She booked us into a Veranda state room (8236) on the July 28-August 4 cruise to Hubbard Glacier, with Icy Straight Point, Juneau, and Ketchikan with the class drink package and basic internet included. She was also kind enough to provide some onboard credit, which we used to book Murano for our anniversary. We were so excited to go to Alaska!

 

We live in the Washington, DC area, so we decided to fly in onto Vancouver on Friday night to have a full day to explore the city before we sailed away. Booked flights on our own through United (but on Air Canada) from Dulles to YVR that got us in around 8 pm on Friday night and had us flying home on August 5, the day after the cruise) at 8:30 am. 

 

With our flights booked, I used Hilton points for the Hilton Vancouver Downtown for the two nights before the cruise, and Marriott points for one night at the Delta Vancouver Suites (also in downtown) the night after. I then stalked the website for a good deal on the premium drink package upgrade (ended up grabbing it around Christmas when they were running a big sale), excursions (more on that later), and finally premium internet (booked right before the cruise when I realized we needed better connections to home with our kids at camp).

 

Our flight to YVR left Washington a little late, but landed in Vancouver right on time. It was a fine, but long, flight (nearly 6 hours). Paid for the extra legroom seats, and that made a difference for us. Upon landing at YVR, I was struck by how long the walk is from the gates to baggage claim, customs, and immigration. We did the ArriveCAN before we left, and breezed through once we landed. No line for taxis when we exited the terminal. We chose that over Uber (even though Uber was a bit cheaper) because of ease. Cab driver was very nice and gave a bit of commentary about what we were seeing on our drive into the city! 

 

Hilton check-in was easy and friendly. Found a bar around the corner for a snack and got ready for our first full day of vacation!

 

Next posts will be day-by-day!

[hcat]

can't wait to hear more...esp about the ship.  X was a great Choice!

 

Hooray for summer camp and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

[Rick&Jeannie]

Our very first sailing with Celebrity (2019) was also on the Solstice and also to Alaska!  Loved it.  Older, smaller ship but we much prefer that to today's "mega-ships".

[sdnich]

Happy Anniversary! We also booked our September cruise for our 24th anniversary and will have dinner at Tuscan grill at the aft dining table! 

[D. B.]

46 minutes ago, dctravel said:

As I noted in the first post, this was our first time sailing Celebrity. Our travel agent is a big proponent of Celebrity, and when we told her we wanted to got to Alaska and our dates, she did not hesitate to suggest the Solstice, as her agency had a block held on the ship. She booked us into a Veranda state room (8236) on the July 28-August 4 cruise to Hubbard Glacier, with Icy Straight Point, Juneau, and Ketchikan with the class drink package and basic internet included. She was also kind enough to provide some onboard credit, which we used to book Murano for our anniversary. We were so excited to go to Alaska!

 

We live in the Washington, DC area, so we decided to fly in onto Vancouver on Friday night to have a full day to explore the city before we sailed away. Booked flights on our own through United (but on Air Canada) from Dulles to YVR that got us in around 8 pm on Friday night and had us flying home on August 5, the day after the cruise) at 8:30 am. 

 

With our flights booked, I used Hilton points for the Hilton Vancouver Downtown for the two nights before the cruise, and Marriott points for one night at the Delta Vancouver Suites (also in downtown) the night after. I then stalked the website for a good deal on the premium drink package upgrade (ended up grabbing it around Christmas when they were running a big sale), excursions (more on that later), and finally premium internet (booked right before the cruise when I realized we needed better connections to home with our kids at camp).

 

Our flight to YVR left Washington a little late, but landed in Vancouver right on time. It was a fine, but long, flight (nearly 6 hours). Paid for the extra legroom seats, and that made a difference for us. Upon landing at YVR, I was struck by how long the walk is from the gates to baggage claim, customs, and immigration. We did the ArriveCAN before we left, and breezed through once we landed. No line for taxis when we exited the terminal. We chose that over Uber (even though Uber was a bit cheaper) because of ease. Cab driver was very nice and gave a bit of commentary about what we were seeing on our drive into the city! 

 

Hilton check-in was easy and friendly. Found a bar around the corner for a snack and got ready for our first full day of vacation!

 

Next posts will be day-by-day!

Have you ever wondered how a flight can leave Late and arrive On Time?

 At the beginning of the Jet Age airlines competed to be "The Fastest to ---" ( I worked for one of those) but realized that was costing All of them because like driving your Car on a highway at 75 MPH burns more fuel than driving at 65MPH the same thing applies to Air Liners!

  That lead to a rethink and a like-mindedness to Slow Down the "Fastest to---" contest and they would All save money!

 The added benefit of this was that when "Needed" they could Speed Up to make up Time on a delayed departure and Arrive On Time!

 On Time arrivals are a Big Deal  to airlines ratings And busy airports have tight arrival assignments of Gates. Miss yours and you could be waiting for one to become available .

 

[dctravel]

1 hour ago, sdnich said:

Happy Anniversary! We also booked our September cruise for our 24th anniversary and will have dinner at Tuscan grill at the aft dining table! 

We ate at Murano. More on that coming soon!

[sdnich]

4 minutes ago, dctravel said:

We ate at Murano. More on that coming soon!

We love Murano also but we  really love the aft view and the wake and the food is pretty good . We had dinner at the Tuscan grill on the Equinox for our 15th anniversary leaving Gibraltar! Amazing 

[mahdnc]

We look forward to reading more of your review.  I would be interested in your perspective on the condition of the ship.  Thank you.

[D. B.]

Lobster in Murano prepared At your table is Dinner and a Show.

 If you order the Crepes Dessert it is also a show.☺️

[dctravel]

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

We look forward to reading more of your review.  I would be interested in your perspective on the condition of the ship.  Thank you.

We thought the ship was in very good shape. Having sailed other lines where you can see spots that need attention, the only place we noticed wear and tear were the outdoor stairs, which appear to be made of wood. Those need some attention, as the weather stripping had come off in some spots, etc... Otherwise, besides from some stained cushions in the Solarium, we didn't notice much else.

[dctravel]

1 hour ago, D. B. said:

Lobster in Murano prepared At your table is Dinner and a Show.

 If you order the Crepes Dessert it is also a show.☺️

And the lobster is so good!

[dctravel]

Vancouver

 

As I noted, we arrived in Vancouver on Friday night for our Sunday cruise. We had two things planned for Saturday--a bike tour of the city and a dinner cruise for the Celebration of Lights fireworks competition (UK night). More on those in a minute.

 

As a diamond Hilton Honors member, the hotel provided us free continental breakfast. Honestly, just okay. We could have paid to upgrade to the hot buffet, but choose not to. My wife also got a donut from Tim Hortons (just down the block) one morning and really liked it.

 

Our bike tour was booked through Viator with City Cycle Tours. I booked through the third party because Viator didn't charge us until 3 days before and had a slightly better price than booking directly with City Cycle. We did the Grand Tour, which 5 hours long and covered about 14 miles (not too quickly). We saw Stanley Park, Granville Island, False Creek, Chinatown, Coal Harbor, and Gastown; stopping for lunch in Granville Island (ate at Sprig, a Mediterranean restaurant. I had a chicken souvlaki wrap and my wife had falafel wrap). About 90% of the tour was on bike paths, including a bridge that was originally intended for horses!

 

 

After our bike tour, we chilled for a while (rest those legs) and the headed to meet up with the dinner cruise. The dinner cruise left from just past the Westin hotel on the northern side of Vancouver (also just a bit west of Canada Place, where the cruise ships dock). When planning for our pre-cruise time, I had read about the Honda Celebration of Light, Vancouver's annual fireworks competition. Since we were going to be there for the final night, we decided we wanted to see them. After research a myriad of choices (Bard on the Beach, buying tickets to the grandstand), our hotel concierge (who I emailed ahead of time and was wonderful) suggested a dinner cruise when I told her I don't love crowds. Each fireworks night gets between 300 and 400 thousands spectators!!.

 

I found that Harbor Cruises had the best reviews, so we booked it for dinner and fireworks. I will note that Harbor Cruise has a no refund policy, so something to consider when you book. We were on the smaller of three boats for the fireworks, which was a cute paddle wheeler. 

 

 

The food was good, but not outstanding (chicken, sliced beef, sides) and the boat had a cash bar. I tried a few different Canadian beers (a theme of our trip for me) as we sailed around Stanley Park to spot where we would watch the fireworks. The Captain got us a good spot for the fireworks, which started around 9:30. IT WAS SPECTACULAR. It started with a drone show that included the UK flag (it was a UK fireworks company that was putting on the display that night).

 

We were then on the backside of the main fireworks display, which was oriented to face the city. Really no words here.

 

 

Once the fireworks were over, the ship headed back to the dock and then we had to get back to our hotel. When we got off the boat, I figured we would just grab an Uber, which is how we got to the pier. WRONG. Traffic was nuts. We then walked over the Westin thinking we might get a cab. We quickly realized that was probably a mistake because of traffic, so we started walking back to our hotel. It was about a 30 minute walk, but we were moving faster than traffic the whole time. If you need a ride back on a fireworks night, I would probably recommend just camping out in the Westin lobby bar for a while!

[hcat]

really  great.... thanks

[mahdnc]

2 hours ago, dctravel said:

Vancouver

 

As I noted, we arrived in Vancouver on Friday night for our Sunday cruise. We had two things planned for Saturday--a bike tour of the city and a dinner cruise for the Celebration of Lights fireworks competition (UK night). More on those in a minute.

 

As a diamond Hilton Honors member, the hotel provided us free continental breakfast. Honestly, just okay. We could have paid to upgrade to the hot buffet, but choose not to. My wife also got a donut from Tim Hortons (just down the block) one morning and really liked it.

 

Our bike tour was booked through Viator with City Cycle Tours. I booked through the third party because Viator didn't charge us until 3 days before and had a slightly better price than booking directly with City Cycle. We did the Grand Tour, which 5 hours long and covered about 14 miles (not too quickly). We saw Stanley Park, Granville Island, False Creek, Chinatown, Coal Harbor, and Gastown; stopping for lunch in Granville Island (ate at Sprig, a Mediterranean restaurant. I had a chicken souvlaki wrap and my wife had falafel wrap). About 90% of the tour was on bike paths, including a bridge that was originally intended for horses!

 

 

After our bike tour, we chilled for a while (rest those legs) and the headed to meet up with the dinner cruise. The dinner cruise left from just past the Westin hotel on the northern side of Vancouver (also just a bit west of Canada Place, where the cruise ships dock). When planning for our pre-cruise time, I had read about the Honda Celebration of Light, Vancouver's annual fireworks competition. Since we were going to be there for the final night, we decided we wanted to see them. After research a myriad of choices (Bard on the Beach, buying tickets to the grandstand), our hotel concierge (who I emailed ahead of time and was wonderful) suggested a dinner cruise when I told her I don't love crowds. Each fireworks night gets between 300 and 400 thousands spectators!!.

 

I found that Harbor Cruises had the best reviews, so we booked it for dinner and fireworks. I will note that Harbor Cruise has a no refund policy, so something to consider when you book. We were on the smaller of three boats for the fireworks, which was a cute paddle wheeler. 

 

 

The food was good, but not outstanding (chicken, sliced beef, sides) and the boat had a cash bar. I tried a few different Canadian beers (a theme of our trip for me) as we sailed around Stanley Park to spot where we would watch the fireworks. The Captain got us a good spot for the fireworks, which started around 9:30. IT WAS SPECTACULAR. It started with a drone show that included the UK flag (it was a UK fireworks company that was putting on the display that night).

 

We were then on the backside of the main fireworks display, which was oriented to face the city. Really no words here.

 

 

Once the fireworks were over, the ship headed back to the dock and then we had to get back to our hotel. When we got off the boat, I figured we would just grab an Uber, which is how we got to the pier. WRONG. Traffic was nuts. We then walked over the Westin thinking we might get a cab. We quickly realized that was probably a mistake because of traffic, so we started walking back to our hotel. It was about a 30 minute walk, but we were moving faster than traffic the whole time. If you need a ride back on a fireworks night, I would probably recommend just camping out in the Westin lobby bar for a while!

 

nice fireworks photo.

[dctravel]

Embarkation Day finally arrived. We had an arrival window of 10:30 to 11, so after talking with the hotel about the best way to get to Canada Place, we were in a taxi cab about 10 am to head for the pier. We chose a Taxi because the hotel told us they have special rights to get under the terminal for drop off. This is certainly true for the return, but I think that Ubers/Lyfts might be allowed underneath too. Either way, it was a short ride to Canada Place, we dropped our bags with the porters, and we were on our way!

 

There were three ships in on Sunday, us, a Holland America Ship (Nieuw Amsterdam, I think), and Brilliance of the Seas. Even with so many ships, Canada Place was pretty organized. There was a lot of walking to go through check-in, security, and then US Customs, but we moved quickly through that process and were on board the ship about 11 or 11:15. Pretty quick! We loved that we could drop off our bags in our cabin, pick up our key cards, and then explore the ship.

 

We started from the top deck and worked our way down, and then headed back up to the Ocean View Café to get lunch. I had some pizza (which I really liked and returned to several days) and made some nachos from the Mexican station. Pretty tasty way to start! We also found the Sunset Bar and I had my first beer. Not on the menu, but I asked if they had any Alaskan Beers, and they had an IPA. I had several of these over the week 🙂

 

 

Then it was sail away. We stayed on the top deck to watch the ship pass under the Lion's Gate Bridge. Of course, we fit underneath, but it looked like it was close!

 

 

 

We then watched the Hot Glass sail away show (my wife had a reservation for later in the week and picked her time before that show started) and we went back to our room to unpack and get ready for our first dinner. I did grab another beer before heading down, this time a Peroni. I only mention this because the beer was brewed in Australia for importation to New Zealand and was somehow still onboard months after the ship crossed the Pacific. Cruise ship supply chains are fascinating (and more on that later too)!

 

 

We ate all but one of our dinner's in the main dining room. I should mention here that I have food allergies (to beans/legumes), which we reported to the Maître D' when we got on the ship. Overall, they handled my allergies really, really well. Only one night was there a bit of a bobble on the food (no, they didn't try to serve me something I can't eat, rather the choice of what to give me was a bit odd, but still tasty).

 

We tend to eat early, so even though we had made a reservation for 8 pm on the app, the Maître D' told us just to come when we ready, because "tables of 2 are easy"! Chritina was right, and she was a great host. We were seated after only a few minutes and ended up with the same wait staff each night. We really liked this, as they go to know us. Like the old days of only fixed dining, but with more flexibility! 

 

I won't report on each meal here, partially because I don't remember, but I will say that with the premium drink package, we had the sommelier pour us glasses of premium wine each night, and he just kept refilling us until we asked him to stop! The first night we got the coveted Decoy Cabernet, which was on the dinner menu as a choice. They have many other premium wine choices too, just ask the sommelier for the wine list!

 

After dinner, we started what became our regular evening activities. Stop at a bar, get a drink, go see the 9 pm show, then go back to a bar and have some more drinks and hang out. We started tonight at the World Class Bar. Very good Highlander! Went to see a magician (Jeremy Tan) who was very good, and then vistited the Martini Bar for the first time. This ended up being our favorite bar, not only for the drinks, but also how great the bartenders were, how nice most of the people were, and the entertainment that was around the bar. The first night they had the silent disco headphones, and that was a lot of fun. I will offer a word of caution here...watch out for the Manhattans. Man are they strong!!! I had 2 (or 3???), and it really got me. My wife enjoyed the martinis and was rotating around them.

 

It was a great embarkation/first day!

[BeachTunes]

Thank you so much for sharing your Solstice experience with us! Loving your report and writing style. We are embarking the Solstice on the same itinerary in 4 1/2 weeks! ⛴️

 

Whenever you have a moment to reply, and if you happen to remember, do you recall when your wife booked her Hot Glass reservation? I have prepaid for a spot as well and want to book as soon as possible to get a morning time slot that aligns with our excursions and all of the fun entertainment! 🎵

 

Thanks again for taking the time and effort to review your cruise. It is helping with my anticipation! I'll try to return the favour/favor (We're Canadian and add the "u". LOL!) when we get back. Cheers! 🥂

[jlawrence01]

That sounds like a great trip.  We have two cruises on the Solstice separated by a two week cruise on the HAL Nieuw Amsterdam.  It really sounds like a great trip.

[dctravel]

3 hours ago, BeachTunes said:

Whenever you have a moment to reply, and if you happen to remember, do you recall when your wife booked her Hot Glass reservation? I have prepaid for a spot as well and want to book as soon as possible to get a morning time slot that aligns with our excursions and all of the fun entertainment! 🎵

 🥂

They start taking reservation on the ship on embarkation day. We went a little early for the demonstration show, and she signed up there. It's on a clipboard. Since you have prepaid, the Hot Glass guys will also leave you a message on your cabin phone reminding you to come and make an appointment. They are open on sea days. My wife did it on Hubbard Glacier day just after lunch.

[dctravel]

Ok, one more day before I go to sleep. I actually have to go into the office tomorrow, so up at 5:30 to commute downtown. So much for the vacation vibe!

 

Day 1 - Sea Day

Today, the ship spent sailing the inside package. I realize that I didn't take many pictures, so those will be limited today.

 

On cruise ships, we are "eat breakfast in the main dining room" folks. The MDR is open for breakfast only until 9 am! So, we got up at 8:15 to make sure made it. As this was our first time on a Celebrity ship, one thing we noted about breakfast was that the menu never changes. When we sail Carnival with the kids, there are two different menus--one for sea days and one for non-sea days. It's nice to have a little variety and change. Anyway, not really a big deal! Each morning, after the first morning we basically ordered the same thing--omelets with various ingredients, American bacon, hash browns, and for me, a bagel. That vacation healthy to me! I ordered the scrambled eggs the first day. Big mistake. They were clearly powered eggs and they were a bit runny. Not my thing. After that, omelets for the win! My wife also ordered waffles one day, and thought they were good.

 

After breakfast, we headed to Cafe al Bacio for my wife to get a latte. Cafe al Bacio struggled with lattes. It was mostly milk. After two failed attempts the first two days, my wife got it with an extra shot of espresso, and that helped. If you want a latte, the MDR might be the place to go, as she reported that those were excellent. You would think a coffee shop would get that right!

 

The rest of the day was spent:

• going to the gym (we were determined to exercise on this trip. In fact, we dubbed ourselves the no-elevator team. We only took the elevator 3 times the whole trip--not counting my use of the elevator when I took the behind the scenes tour of the ship on the last sea day, only because I didn't have a choice. We probably averaged about 40 to 50 flights of stairs a day! That helps keep the martinis and beer at bay!),
• watching the scenery go by, and
• reading.

 

 

We had lunch in the Oceanview Cafe, which we found to be crowded, especially right when they open at noon, but to have good food. Over the week, I visited the pizza stand several times, had grilled chicken from the grill area (next to Mexican), and ate most days at the specialty area, which changed every day. Themes we saw were Greek, UK, Italian, seafood (free salmon!) and a grand buffet, which included all kinds of meats, shrimp, crab cakes, etc...

 

That night, we again ate in the main dining room, got a drink at the Martini Bar and headed to the Solstice Theater to watch the production show Broken Strings. This is a cast show that roughly has the theme of friendship. The plot, as is always the case on cruise ships, was thin, but the music and dancing was good. After the show, we went back to the Martini Bar, where we hung out with new friends we had met the night before.

 

I should also mention here, and I made reference to it in my previous post, that the Manhattan's at the Martini Bar and VERY strong. I had at least one to many on night 1, and today I wasn't feeling very much like drinking liquor. I did have beer (why is the that better? I have no idea, but it worked for me). The bartender plied me with Peroni while others had all kinds of martinis. I do love that with the drink package you can get bottles of water. That helps so much!

 

 

There was also an ABBA sing along in the Grand Foyer that you can hear/participate in from the Martini Bar. Another bonus of that location!

[BeachTunes]

35 minutes ago, dctravel said:

They start taking reservation on the ship on embarkation day. We went a little early for the demonstration show, and she signed up there. It's on a clipboard. Since you have prepaid, the Hot Glass guys will also leave you a message on your cabin phone reminding you to come and make an appointment. They are open on sea days. My wife did it on Hubbard Glacier day just after lunch.

 

Thank you very much for this info! I appreciate it! 🙂

[eyecantwait]

5 hours ago, BeachTunes said:

 

 

Whenever you have a moment to reply, and if you happen to remember, do you recall when your wife booked her Hot Glass reservation? I have prepaid for a spot as well and want to book as soon as possible to get a morning time slot that aligns with our excursions and all of the fun entertainment! 🎵

 

 

We did this cruise last summer (out of Seattle though...Vancouver sounds very nice). We had a group of 5. We were able to make our reservations on the embarkation day after the first hot glass show. We were able to get 5 consecutive slots so we had a great time watching each other make their creations. 

This was definitely a highlight of the cruise.

[takemewithyou]

If you want to take a hot glass class to make an item, what is the cost?

Thanks.

[dctravel]

8 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

If you want to take a hot glass class to make an item, what is the cost?

Thanks.

Roundabout answer: When you reserve online before your cruise, you are charged $120 (less if you get it on a sale). That provides you with a "free" $120 item to make. In retrospect, I should have taken a picture of the choices, but basic things like glasses, vases, and paperweights were $120, meaning you don't have to pay extra. If you want to do something fancier (maybe the whale tale?), then those prices are higher, and you pay the difference between the price of the item and the $120 you paid for the class.

My wife made a cup (that she is using to put basil cuttings in now). I'll grab a picture tonight when I get home!