Solstice makes history

The Solstice made history this morning by transiting the Inside Passage of British Columbia making it the first ship of its size.

Interesting. I look forward to reading those cruise experiences!

Was it a tight fit?

Did they say whether this would be the normal route from now on? We're on her this Friday 5/8 and would prefer the Inside Passage to sailing northbound on the outside of the islands, if possible.

Pat

We'll be on Solstice in July. We'd love to know as well. I don't suppose calling to ask Celebrity would do any good. Is it up to the captain?

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The Solstice made history this morning by transiting the Inside Passage of British Columbia making it the first ship of its size.

Is this because the current sailing departed from Vancouver as opposed to Seattle?

Is this because the current sailing departed from Vancouver as opposed to Seattle?

I would be inclined to think that this is for the sailing from Vancouver. There were lots of complaints last year when she sailed from Vancouver for the first time and went west of Vancouver Island. Definitely the passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland of BC is the more scenic route.

I would be inclined to think that this is for the sailing from Vancouver. There were lots of complaints last year when she sailed from Vancouver for the first time and went west of Vancouver Island. Definitely the passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland of BC is the more scenic route.

Agreed. There is no comparison between sailing the west coast of Vancouver Island vs. east coast.

I would be inclined to think that this is for the sailing from Vancouver. There were lots of complaints last year when she sailed from Vancouver for the first time and went west of Vancouver Island. Definitely the passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland of BC is the more scenic route.

Solstice left Seattle yesterday 5/1

Solstice left Seattle yesterday 5/1

It left from Vancouver yesterday. I disembarked there. It will make Seattle its home port after this voyage.

i stand corrected

We'll damn if they'd have said that we'd have booked it. Nice to see it after all their excuses of she won't fit

The Solstice made history this morning by transiting the Inside Passage of British Columbia making it the first ship of its size.

My absolute favorite!!!

I'd love to cruise on Solstice if only it started in Vancouver and not Seattle. Had to settle for Milli.

Did they say whether this would be the normal route from now on? We're on her this Friday 5/8 and would prefer the Inside Passage to sailing northbound on the outside of the islands, if possible.

 

Pat

Hi Pat, I am on Friday too:D and we have a really nice roll call for this

cruise. Come over and say hello:)

I've never done Alaskan cruise before, our first one is in September on the Solstice. We leave out of Seattle and end in Vancouver. Do you think this is something that will happen on our cruise?

I've never done Alaskan cruise before, our first one is in September on the Solstice. We leave out of Seattle and end in Vancouver. Do you think this is something that will happen on our cruise?

You may possibly come into Vancouver that way.

I've never done Alaskan cruise before, our first one is in September on the Solstice. We leave out of Seattle and end in Vancouver. Do you think this is something that will happen on our cruise?

You are going to AK on one of the best weeks of the year. We have done AK twice and both times were the first two weeks of September. Apparently, almost all of the kids in the world are in school those two weeks. Also, as you get north the weather does get cold. I liked the contrast. Hope you have a great cruise!

You are going to AK on one of the best weeks of the year. We have done AK twice and both times were the first two weeks of September. Apparently, almost all of the kids in the world are in school those two weeks. Also, as you get north the weather does get cold. I liked the contrast. Hope you have a great cruise!

Thank you. We are planning to pack layers, we've heard the weather can vary drastically. We are actually traveling with are (then) 8 and 11 year old sons. They have a break from school almost the entire month of September. So far there is just one other child on the cruise that we know of from our roll call. We went on a HAL cruise once and there were only 75 kids and we thought that was really low, but I'm beginning to think we will be lucky if there are a dozen kids on this cruise. We've done 3 two-week cruises on DCL in September (PCs and WBTAs) and there has always been a couple hundred kids even then.

Isn't the Crown Princess pretty similar in size? The Crown sailed the Inside Passage last year doing the Northbound/Southbound routs from Vancouver/Whittier.

Solstice left Seattle yesterday 5/1

OH if it did....then Seattle looks a lot like Vancouver these days.

I'll check to see if the Inside Passage run was a one shot deal or if CC plans on doing it more often.....and yes it was a bit of a tight fit going through the initial gate....I would venture to guess we were about 300 to 450 feet off shore.

I was under the impression the Seattle-based Alaska cruises (not only Celebrity, but all lines) skipped cruising the British Columbia Inside Passage due to time constraints and not so much due to ship size. Anyone know which is correct?

Isn't the Crown Princess pretty similar in size? The Crown sailed the Inside Passage last year doing the Northbound/Southbound routs from Vancouver/Whittier.

They are similar the Crown Princess is 113,500 tons & carries 3080 passengers.

The Solstice e is 122,000 tons and carries 2860 passengers.

I was on the Crown Princess Inside Passage South from Whittier to Vancouver last August. Very comfortable cruising. There was some prior criticism on the Alaskan boards about the ship being too large, especially for some of the glacier viewing, but we got up close and personal as the calving was going on, and found the negative comments were without merit.

I'm new to Alaska and to cruising so maybe someone can tell me if this is the same thing or something different. My itinerary for the Solstice June 26th sail date says June 30th Inside Passage- Alaska. Is that different than what you are talking about? I'm still trying to understand all these places and terms.