Cabin 9295 on Celebrity Solstice?

Hello everyone!

My husband and I have booked an Alaskan cruise on Celebrity Solstice this upcoming August. We are currently in cabin 9295, and I was wondering if anyone who has stayed in this cabin before could answer some questions for me. I've seen some reviews of this cabin on Cruise Critic, but they were all several years old, so I'm not sure how accurate they are for the present day. Here are my questions:

1. Was cigarette smoke an issue? I believe a lot of the authorized smoking areas are on the port side of the ship, and cigarette smoke really irritates my asthma. Since smoking is no longer allowed on the balconies or in the cabins, I'm hoping this won't be an issue when we want to enjoy our own balcony. However, if you experienced frequent cigarette smoke while out on the balcony of this cabin due to the public smoking areas, please let me know.

2. Was noise an issue? I tried to book a cabin that had no crew passages or cabin doors directly across from it because my husband and I are both light sleepers. There are some interior cabins across from this cabin, but the doors to these cabins are on the starboard side, so those are 2 less doors we will have to hear slamming. :) If there's something I'm missing though, please let know.

3. Is the balcony slightly larger than a normal balcony? The deck plans show that it is and some past reviews I've read have said that it is, but other past reviews have said the balcony is misrepresented on the deck plans and it's just a regular sized balcony.

4. If you happened to sail on an Alaskan cruise, did you have good views from the port side of the ship while sailing and while docked in ports of call? Our cruise itinerary is Ketchikan, Tracy Arm Fjord, Juneau, Skagway, Inside Passage, and Victoria, B.C. We normally tend to pick cabins on the starboard side of cruise ships because that tends to be the side that faces towards the Caribbean ports when the ship is docked, but we've never done an Alaskan cruise before so we weren't sure which side would be better.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this and respond. We greatly appreciate your thoughts and opinions! :D

1. On Deck 9 you will not have any second hand cigarette smoke. If you have a neighbor who decides to smoke on their balcony give a call to guest services immediately. This doesn't happen to often with Celebrity but you never know.

2. Shouldn't have any noise issues with this room.

3. Balcony is definitely oversized.

4. No difference whether your port or starboard side.

We have done this cruise twice and will being doing it again this June. The Solstice is the best ship sailing Alaska and the staff is really gracious and organized. This is a wonderful Alaska cruise.

Hopefully you will not be tendering in Juneau with 50% of the time you do tender. What is your sail date? If you do tender in Juneau is can a real hassle and would suggest doing a ship excursion so you will have tendering priority.

I see your August 7 on Solstice which unfortunately for this cruise Juneau is a tender :( It goes Juneau tender every other week on the Solstice.

If you don't have any tender priority like being Elite or staying in a suite, I would definitely book a ship excursion for this port. The tender line is terrible and from what I heard can take 2 hours. This is really the only bad part of this wonderful cruise, so take a ship excursion and don't fight the lines. :) Ship excursions are very good.

Wow! Thank you SO much for all of your opinions and insights!! Have you actually stayed in cabin 9295 on one of your previous cruises on the Solstice, or are you just really familiar with this area of the ship? Are there any particular cabins you've had in the past that are your personal favorites that you'd recommend? Either way, I feel much better in regards to the cabin we've selected, so thank you for your responses!

You have also assured me that we picked the best cruise line and ship to take for our first Alaskan adventure. I haven't sailed on Celebrity in 15 years, so I was a little hesitant about booking with them at first, but they had the best itinerary in terms of sailing round trip from Seattle, so I decided to try them out again. I'm very glad to hear that you have loved your experiences on the Solstice!

I really appreciate the heads up in regards to the tendering situation in Juneau. I've never experienced that long of a wait when we've tendered in Caribbean ports, so I would have never guessed it could take almost 2 hours. We'll definitely plan a shore excursion for that port.

Thanks so much again for your responses! You've really helped me feel better about our choices, and I'm even more excited now! :)

No we haven't stayed in that particular cabin but as far getting second hand cigarette smoke being on deck 9 you have the benefit of having 3 passenger floors below and 3 passenger floor above you. If you did get any cigarette smoke would have to actually be traveling from another cabin and not from a designated smoking area.

Probably only negative to 9295 would be the walking distance from the Mid/Aft elevators but you guys look young enough to handle it and can't hurt with all the great food on Solstice. :D

Definitely go with the ship/Celebrity excursion on Juneau, you'll be glad you did.

Another really great excursion is the train ride in Skagway, it's not to be missed!! I know you will love this cruise and enjoy !! :)

Hi pcmartin09, just wondered how you enjoyed this cabin as we have been assigned it as a guarantee. Did you have any smoking/noise issues on your Alaskan cruise? Anything else we should be aware of. Many thanks