gblotter

Just back from the August 8th sailing of Solstice to Alaska. In this review, I will specifically try to address some of the recent concerns raised here on cruisecritic.

We are relatively new to cruising with only one previous experience on Millennium. Solstice is a better ship in every way than Millennium. While on Millennium, I started making a mental list of all the problems with the ship (rust, shattered glass, splattered paint, loose carpet, worn lounge chairs, pool scum ... the list goes on). With Solstice, I didn't even bother making a list because there are so few flaws. It is a big ship, but rarely seemed crowded (but we did notice long waits for the elevators at times).

We enjoyed the unique features of Solstice such as bocce ball on the lawn, Hot Glass demonstrations, and the Brent Nixon lectures.

We had a great veranda cabin on the "hump" - close to the mid-ship elevators. The layout of the ship really worked for us, with the exception of the Team Earth exhibit. That was total wasted space and was never being used.

The ship staffing seemed adequate to us. Stateroom attendants were conscientious and dining room staff were responsive. Everyone seemed to be busy, but not frantic.

Food in the main dining room was just ok - I give it a grade of "B". For our previous cruise on Millennium we were in AquaClass, and we did miss the food quality, service and atmosphere of Blu. We did not try any of the specialty restaurants because the $50 per person surcharge is just ridiculous.

On the final sea day, there was a beautiful buffet in the Ocean View Cafe that included ice sculptures, baked salmon, roast beef, carved ham, many desserts, a chocolate fountain, etc. Many opportunities for "food porn" photos if that is your thing. The Ocean View Cafe seemed well-equipped to handle the large crowds. There was plenty of food and no pushing/rude behavior.

A conversation with cruise director confirmed that Celebrity is trying to change their target demographic to a younger, hipper crowd. In her words: "Celebrity does not want customers who spend their whole cruise reading books in the library and playing bridge in the card room."

We did not find the music on the ship to be too loud or annoying. We quite enjoyed the cover band that performed on the pool deck and in the central lobby. The cirque-style show was just ok - certainly not up to Vegas show standards. The magician/illusionist (Jason Bishop) was quite talented and funny too. We avoided the Sin City adult humor show - not family friendly.

We purchased a few inexpensive items from the onboard shops (neck ties, sunglasses, etc). We are not gamblers and thus avoided the casino. Withdrawing cash from the casino cashier was a good way to deplete our onboard credits (but with a 5 percent service fee).

The weather for our cruise was mixed. Rain in Ketchikan, drizzle in Tracy Arm, clouds in Juneau, sun in Skagway, and fog in Victoria.

The highlight of the cruise was Alaska itself. Misty Fjords (Ketchikan) is not to be missed. The Cathedral Peaks mountain range near Haines, Alaska is spectacular (viewed when sailing the inside passage just outside Skagway). The best glacier viewing was at the North Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord. Many Harbor Seals were seen at the South Sawyer Glacier. A trio of spouting Humpback Whales were observed while sailing from Tracy Arm Fjord to Juneau.

Juneau was our least-favorite port of call. The Mendenhall Glacier was mobbed with tourists. Forget Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau - they charge $110 for three pounds of crab legs - ridiculous. The final stop in Victoria was so brief that it was not very worthwhile. Many passengers just stayed on the ship. However, a stroll through the Victoria harbor area is charming if the weather is clear.

This cruisecritic forum was very helpful in maximizing our cruise experience. I thank everyone for the many bits of advice. I valued both the positive and negative comments.

Although this was a great vacation, I don't think we will be cruising again for quite some time. Too expensive to make it a habit, and there are too many other types of vacations that appeal to us. For us, this really was a "once in a lifetime experience".

So for now, I bid farewell to the cruisecritic community. I wish you all happy adventures wherever your journeys take you.

You board from the ship very easily on a regular gangway and they take you to Juneau where you re-board the ship the same way. We tendered at that port and they were just giving out tender tickets when we got on. We very highly recommend this excursion. Worth every single penny.

There is no option to just go to the dock?

I have read both here on CruiseCritic.

Have you every sailed on Celebrity with children? How do you like the children's programs?

But I promise to write a review when we get back.

I'm sure there must be many other threads here on the topic, however.

I appreciate this review.

We will be boarding Solstice this Friday (Aug 8) for the same itinerary (also taking our children along).

We have booked the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion with Allen Marine. That will be our only high-dollar excursion on this cruise. Hoping to get some up-close encounters with glaciers and wildlife.

One question about that excursion: When returning to Juneau, do you have to re-board the ship, or can you just go to the dock?

Another question about Juneau: Did you do tendering, and how was that experience?

I thought the Persian Garden was nice enough, although the steam room was never hot enough for my taste. However, the co-ed nature of the Persian Garden environment felt uncomfortable to me.

As a result, I much preferred using the sauna in the men's locker room.

For our upcoming Alaska cruise on Solstice, we plan on decorating the door for our daughter's birthday.

Not sure I would do it for any another reason.

It seems harmless enough. If it makes someone feel special - why not?

It sounds like these offerings vary quite a bit between different cruises and ships.

Whether it be a White Party or other Deck Party, is there an easy way to know in advance what is being planned for our specific cruise so that we can pack appropriately?

We always do breakfast in the dining room...so much nicer to be served than schlepping around with your plate and trying to find the items you want, before it all gets cold!

My sisters purchased me a birthday package when I turned 60 on the Summit last year in October. There were decorations on the door and in the Suite and I believe a bottle of champaign. Nothing really special. You can bring the decorations yourself and probably do a better job.

I'm thinking of bringing our own cake decorations as well - then simply add them at the table to quickly transform a normal dessert to special birthday dessert.

Cheaper and more personal - and requires no special arrangements with Celebrity.

If celebrating a special occasion in Blu or one of the specialty restaurants, it never hurts to alert the maitre'd in advance. I'm not sure I would even attempt the same thing in the main dining room. Have no expectations - but if something special arrives at the table, then consider it a bonus. I figure I will at least give them the opportunity to surpass my expectations, but there is no chance it will happen if my inaction leaves them unaware that we are celebrating something special.

Last year we celebrated an anniversary onboard Millennium. We had an AquaClass cabin. Blu is a relatively small/intimate environment on Millennium. One mention to the Blu maitre'd at the beginning of the week was all it took - a small personalized cake showed up after dinner on our special date (thankfully no singing). He was a very attentive maitre'd and we gave him a nice tip at the end of the cruise.

We are foodies, but the recent price increases have made us skeptical about whether we will try the specialty restaurants on our upcoming cruise.

These worrisome reports about Tuscan Grill have settled the question. We won't reward higher prices and worse food by giving them our money.

We will take our chances in the MDR. But if the food quality resembles a Golden Corral buffet, we will be done with cruising Celebrity. Bad food at high prices is a deal-breaker for us.

Are you listening Celebrity? Your cost-cutting is driving away business.

As a non-drinker, this has been a real eye-opener for me to learn how drinking is so central to the vacation experience of some. I think Celebrity understands this point quite well, however, and is using it to maximize profits.

Simply said, Celebrity is doing with drinks what they have also done with food (i.e. increase prices on those desiring a premium experience). Don't these drink package changes coincide with the recent price increases at the specialty restaurants? The difference is that those who purchased a dining package are not being denied what was originally promised.

We are foodies, but will avoid the specialty restaurants on our upcoming cruise because of the higher prices - thus sending a clear message to Celebrity (price increases result in empty specialty restaurants). I don't know if you drinkers are willing/able to do the same with alcohol (I suspect Celebrity has you right where they want you).

Big fail on Celebrity for a botched roll-out of the drink package changes (insufficient/inconsistent messaging, menus unavailable at the bars, etc).

Message to Celebrity: Hoping your customers don't notice is a terrible way to manage change. In the age of internet, customers always notice (evidence this "toxic" thread).

Yet another reason to be glad we are a family of non-drinkers.

There was one on Facebook the other day

Can you provide a link?

Bad food in the MDR and Oceanview Cafe.

If the food quality resembles Golden Corral's buffet - be assured I won't be coming back.

I guess I'm a bit of a food snob.

I would be great to see a photo of Solstice passing under the Lions Gate Bridge.

Given that the mast on Solstice had to be modified specifically for this purpose, I'm assuming it was kind of a big deal for the ship to pass under that bridge.

Did that happen during daytime hours?

Anyone have a photo of it by chance?

Our first cruise was last August on Millennium (yes - THAT cruise - stuck in Ketchikan). The breakdown, evacuation, and ensuing delays/frustrations with getting properly reimbursed left a bad taste about Celebrity to be sure.

We are booked again this August on Solstice with fingers crossed. Even after applying the FCCs from our Millennium misadventure, this Solstice cruise will be the most expensive vacation ever for our family of six, so I have high expectations. The recent cruisecritic reports of Celebrity cost-cutting make me a little wary to be honest. After paying so much for this cruise, I'm not looking forward to the endless nickle-and-diming for drinks, specialty restaurants, photos, unexpected fees, etc. If it's all just a game to see how much additional money Celebrity can squeeze out of me, that's not what I consider a great vacation.

We are new to cruising, and our upcoming cruise is really an experiment to see if cruising suits us. While I don't have other cruises to compare with, I know bad service when I see it. If I detect that Celebrity cost-cutting is impairing our experience, then we will likely not cruise again. There are so many land-based vacation options available that I don't want to waste limited vacation time on a sub-par experience. We have done a lot of timeshares for our past vacations and that is our basis for comparison (completely different kind of vacation, I know).

My primary measurements will be ship condition, food quality and long waits for service in the MDR. We are not drinkers, so I won't be affected much by any drink package deficiencies (it's a bit of an eye-opener for me to learn how drinking is so central to the vacation experience of some).

I have very much appreciated the many threads and comments here on cruisecritic (the glowing reviews as well as the sniping and complaining). It is all relevant and interesting to me as a new cruiser. I have learned so much and I still have more to learn. It is fun to be exposed to the cruising subculture through this forum (not surprisingly, there is also a timeshare subculture with similar forums). Oh the wonders of the interweb.

Cheers, and happy cruising to us all.

It's our first cruise, and we're in AQ. Hearing all sorts of wonderful things about Blu, but...

 

Should we try the MDR? I'm wondering if just for the typical cruise experience???

 

What would YOU do?

We thought the food quality, service and atmosphere were all superior in Blu.

I tried with both Chrome and IE. I'll check it again later.

Both Chrome and IE show me a white blank screen.

I am able to display some information when using Firefox. Unfortunately, Firefox is not the complete solution as I cannot display the shore excursions that I have already booked. (shows loading icon only).

We read many, if not all threads that are posted here. We try our best to answer as many as we can, but this isn't always an easy task. Our 'Celebrity' board for example has 10,964 threads, not including each individual post. Some questions are easily answered, and some require some time. Additionally, just because we don't provide an answer, doesn't mean your voice wasn't heard. Recently, we learned that music volume was either too high, or too low on some of our ships. We looked into the issue, and we acted fast to remedy, and we want to thank the Cruise Critic community for assisting.

 

This is only an example, but we are here to answer when possible, and are always trying to clear up any rumors or confusion, as well as sharing your thoughts and ideas internally.

There are persistent complaints here on cruisecritic about the difficulty of interacting with Celebrity - either by phone or by internet. It routinely takes 30-60 minutes of wait time to reach a Celebrity agent on the phone. The Celebrity website is woefully deficient. Example: Currently I am unable to view any shore excursions that I have previously reserved. It seems that Celebrity is erecting very high and difficult barriers to do business with them. Promised changes in this area result in no real improvements (from what I experience at least). I don't think it will be surprising if customers eventually just give up and move on to an easier cruise line. Care to comment?

Also, I am eager to hear your response to the many cruisecritic threads about declining service resulting from crew reductions on the ships. Does Celebrity intend to squeeze the profit lemon until customers start abandoning the brand (apparently that is already starting to happen)? A foolish move IMHO. In my business, it is much easier - and cheaper - to retain an existing customer than attract a new customer.

These are not individual complaints requiring an individual response - rather they are general trends that many Celebrity customers find troubling. Loud thumping music is a relatively easy adjustment to make (and kudos to you for fixing that), but what about these more serious structural issues? I fear a comment on such topics is likely beyond your pay grade (sadly for us cruisecritic folks).

We sailed on Millennium last August.

I have an eye for details and I did notice a number of problems, such as:

1. Cracked/shattered glass panel in the atrium ceiling

2. Gross brown scum at the waterline in the atrium pool

3. Rust on balcony railing

4. Spattered white paint on the orange lifeboats

5. Carpet edges coming up

6. Shower control handle in men's locker room came off in my hand

7. Persistent sewer smell coming from our stateroom bathroom (must keep the bathroom door shut all the time)

I decided to stop looking for these deficiencies because it was impairing my vacation experience.

My wife does not have the same eye for detail and therefore she has a very different opinion about the ship.

So I guess it all depends on whether you sweat the small stuff and whether you notice such details.

Our TA called last week and got the $80 per person cruise fare removed from our booking, so our FCC was finally applied correctly and I have all other onboard offers/promos that I was expecting. I had given her the go-ahead to make our final payment if they removed the $80 pp cruise fare, so I am paid in full. Here's hoping that all stays intact until our cruise in June but I am glad to have a booking confirm showing $0 due and all my promos.

Our cruise fare has gone back up again, so I'll be content with our current arrangement and not bother arguing again with these folks at Celebrity and Costco Travel. Paying $50 for a 7-night Alaska cruise is not something for me to get upset about (especially given the three different onboard credits we were able to secure).

Happy cruising!

Well, I can say it only "wears off" for some. DW has been on just under 100 cruises (she used to own a TA) and I've been on 25 or so before & after our marriage a few years ago. We still enjoy our formal nights together on board together. She enjoys getting dressed up, I enjoy how beautiful & sexy she looks when she does & am more than happy to dress up for her too. Of course, we still love getting dressed up for "date nights" out on the town at home too. So it may have "worn off" for you, just don't assume that's true for everyone! :)

Formal night makes me think of Frank Sinatra singing "The Way You Look Tonight" - a classic for all generations.

Unfortunately, we likely won't be hearing much from Frank given Celebrity's new focus on loud thumping music.

Loved it. However, "Vermont Maple Syrup" is listed on the menu with the French Toast. They have no idea what that is, and simply offer the corn syrup stuff from the dispenser. Disappointing.

We LOVED eating breakfast in Blu, but the breakfast menu is rather small and it stays the same all week. I guess we could have added more variety if we had thought to request something not on the menu. As others have mentioned, the calm and peaceful atmosphere of Blu is especially appreciated in the morning. Bonus: A complimentary glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice is a nice way they start every breakfast in Blu.

(The dinner menu in Blu changes each night which made us look forward to trying something new.)

What is considered adequate formal attire for children on a Celebrity cruise?

Will my 9 year-old son be required to wear a jacket in the MDR on formal nights?