kcmo74

Sitting in SEATAC now waiting for our flight I’ll give some final thoughts as the last 2 days weren’t near as event filled as the first 5. Finally asked yesterday and there are 2089 pax aboard. The captain (Charis not Harris btw) finally mentioned some Covid cases on day 6 but said they were all asymptomatic, and on day 7 he reported some more cases but that we were still under 1% or less than 20. I would highly recommend Camp if you have a younger child that loves arts and crafts and netting new kids, our daughter enjoyed every session she attended. The service on the boat was phenomenal and my daughter (and the rest of us) made a special connection with our assistant waiter and buffet attendant Radha from Mauritius. Our family enjoyed the Passport Bar a lot as it was a great place to play cards and was never busy so bar/waiter service was always fast and good. There have been differing things across the board about getting off in Canada, but for us it was the smoothest port of them all. All we needed was our seapass cards to get off and to pass back through to get on. We didn’t need our passports, and even though we completed it as required before our sailing, we never needed the ArriveCAN code at any point. As for Victoria, since we stop there in the evening 90% of the stores are closed, so it’s really only nice to get off if you are planning to eat in town. I also heard from others that the whale watching trips in Victoria didn’t see any whales, so definitely do your whale watching in Juneau if it’s on your list. To conclude, we had a fantastic trip and would definitely sail on Celebrity and the Solstice again. I think it made cruising fans out of my wife and daughter who were on their first cruise ever. I think Disney may be our next cruise though because the 4 year old won’t stop talking about it, and she’s the real boss of the family.

1 hour ago, itsanita said:

This is so helpful, thanks for taking the time.

Can you tell us how many ports are available in your room for charging phones/ipad etc?  I usually bring a powerstrip, especially when traveling with the grandkids, but I am hearing that some of the cabins have several ports/outlets and that may not be necessary.  

There were only the 2 outlets in the vanity area and 1 in the bathroom. We got an extension cord from our room attendant because we have cpap machines and I plugged a small 3 outlet strip into that so we had 4 outlets in our room and still could have used 2 more at times. I definitely recommend a power strip and even asking for an extension cord if you want the plugs nearer the bed, our room attendant even ran it behind the sofa so it was as out of the way as it could be.

On 6/15/2022 at 6:02 AM, itsanita said:

Thanks so much for this great day by day review. 

 

We are going July 15th with 6 grandkids, ages 8 to 14.  This is the first time I will be cruising with kids.   

Where do you sign them up for the Camp at sea?   

What kind of activities do they have for the kids.  I wanted to take them on RC, but we liked this itinerary better.  So 🤞.

And my DH wants to know if they are still handing out champagne when boarding?

You just check them in at the Camp at Sea area on Deck 15 by swiping your card. They have 1.5 hr sessions in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and some other events at night. They also have a teen lounge with video and arcade games.

They didn’t hand out champagne as we boarded, but we boarded later so they may have to earlier boarders. They handed out hot chocolate and chicken bouillon when we got back on at ports.

On 6/15/2022 at 8:39 AM, Crew News said:

Travel to Alaska when the weather is still cool, late April and May.  Prices are much cheaper, no mosquitos, and still a hint of snow on the higher peaks.

There has been a lot of snow still on the mountains on our current cruise.

On 6/15/2022 at 2:47 PM, dgoz said:

Thank you so much for this detailed account! I am doing 2 of those excursions you mentioned so I loved to hear all the positive reactions. Do the veranda rooms still have the red carpet and couches?

Yes they do.

On 6/15/2022 at 1:21 PM, mauimary said:

For those of you on board now. When did you get your cruise cards?  We’re they on your door?  How early were you able to access your room to get the cards?  Wondering as you need them to order any drinks for lunch!!!  Please inform us anxious folks following in your footsteps after you. 

They were on your doors/by your room number placard upon boarding. We boarded within an hour and a half of sail away and were able to access our rooms immediately, not sure when earlier boarders were able to get into theirs.

We arrived in Juneau on time at 1:30pm yesterday and it was mid-50’s with on and off most/spitting rain all day. We had a whale watching and Mendenhall glacier combo tour scheduled with Juneau Tours and Whale Watching. They shuttled us to the harbor and we started our 2+ hours on the water. The boat was fantastic as was all the crew, we saw 15-20 humpback whales and multiple sea lions and eagles. After we returned they shuttled us to the Mendenhall glacier where we stayed for about an hour taking in the views and the visitor center. If we would have had time my brother and I would have loved to make the hike to nugget falls, as it looked like a great experience, but we were short on time and our group isn’t much for hiking. We shuttled back to the docks and got cleaned up in time to make it to the MDR, we didn’t have a res but there were no lines and we were seated at our normal table. The highlights were the Crispy Thai Beef Spring Roll (so good that half of us asked for a second one), the Prime Rib (fantastic), and the Banana Blueberry Crumble (the people who have ordered the crumbles this trip have loved all of them and say they are the best desert). We all retired to our rooms as we were wiped after the early glacier wake up and afternoon excursion.

This morning we awoke already docked in Skagway and we decided to try the MDR for breakfast. The food was pretty much the same as they were serving in the OV cafe and the service was almost too much hovering as there wasn’t very many people eating there that morning. We probably won’t eat breakfast there again as our group has enjoyed both room service and the OV cafe. We had an excursion this morning with Alaska Excursions (big green X) for the Sled Dog and Mushers Camp experience. It’s a bit of a drive to reach the camp but the tour guide gives a guided ride the whole way. We then boarded a unimog, which is like a WWII style vehicle they’ve modified with seats in the back, and it takes you on a 10 min ride 2000ft up the mountain to the sled dog teams. Here you board a 6 person cart pulled by a team of sled dogs around a mile long track while the musher explains how the team operates. After the ride the musher introduces you to the team and let’s you pet all of the dogs that just pulled you. You then ride the unimog back down stopping at an outlook for super scenic pictures of the area. Once down you have a 15 min presentation about sled dog history and the Iditarod dog race. Then you get to spend time petting and cuddling 1 month old and 4 month old puppies. Then they shuttled us back to town where we did a bit of shopping and had lunch at the Skagway Brewing Co where the hand breaded popcorn shrimp was delicious. We then ventured over and got a couple of Klondike Doughboys and it’s safe to say the hype is real, best thing we’ve eaten on the trip. Back on board now and we’re headed to the Sunset Bar for the sailing out of port this afternoon.

46 minutes ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

We will be sailing on Solstice as she has taken over for Millie for the Mexican Riviera.  One question if you can answer.

 

Have the beds been replaced with the new mattresses?  We know she missed her refirb and just wondering?  TIA

 

 

Not sure as this is our first Celebrity sailing but if I had to guess I would say no they haven’t been. They haven’t been uncomfortable or anything, but they don’t look new either.

4 hours ago, camella said:

Sounds like a great cruise so far.  If you wouldn't mind can you check the hours of the OV cafe for us?  They changed our excursion in Juneau from 2:00 - 4:30pm and now we will be out fishing and will miss dinner in the MDR.  I don't mind the OV but was thinking we may not even make it back for that.  The original plan was to go fishing from 2:00 - 7:00 and then come back and get cleaned up, have a nice dinner and hopefully get to see some fireworks when we sail away.  But now that has all changed 😞 

OV cafe is 6pm to 9:15pm. Late night selection is 10pm to 1am.

4 hours ago, Mom2boysATX said:

Thank you so much for sharing!  We just got to check-in today for our 7/29 departure.  So excited!  A couple questions:

-Where did your wife "check in" for the Glass Blowing?  I have one booked, as well, but don't have any info about who/where to schedule.

-Is there a way to know which guests are vaccinated and which are not?  Do the kids have to wear a bracelet or something to identify themselves?

The check in is up at the lawn club area where the glass blowing is located, they fill up fast so if you want a particular time go as soon as possible. There isn’t a way to know vaccination status as far as I know, our daughter is required to wear a bracelet the whole trip but that is part of the Camp at Sea program and because she is a kid, not because of being unvaccinated.

5 hours ago, dream2cruise said:

Great review.  We are also looking at going to mass on Sunday at Holy Name.  What time did you get back to the ship after services?  Would they be willing to drop you off in town instead of at the ship?

They start taking people back as soon as mass is over and it’s only a 5 min drive so approximately 10:40ish back to port, however they use 2 minivans so if there are lots of mass goers you may have to wait for them to come back if you aren’t on the first trip. And yes he was willing to drop us off wherever we needed to go, everything is pretty central there but he can take you to creek street if need be.

So far mosquitos have been non-existent on our trip, but we are doing our most inland excursion today, so we’ll see if our luck continues. Thanks for all the replies.

This is coming one day late because the internet wasn’t cooperating yesterday, hope it’s helpful.

Ship: Celebrity Solstice

Cruise: 7 night Alaska Dawes Glacier

Captain: Captain Harris

CD: Kelly Rose

Cabin: 8259 Veranda on the hump 

Embarkation: Arrived at our scheduled arrival time of 1pm, the lines for Solstice weren’t much further than the last set of ropes before entering the terminal. Ovation of the Seas line was all the way to the end of the covered walkways outside, so glad we weren’t in that line. The entire check in process went fairly smoothly and quick, even including my 4 year old’s Covid test at the port which took about 20 min to get the results from. We were on the ship by 2:15, dropped our bags at our room and went to check in at muster, which is such a better process than the old days and we were able to watch the safety videos that morning before we got to port. My wife then went and checked in to get an appointment for her glass blowing experience we had reserved before the cruise, she got the first appt of the day on day 3 at 4pm after we boarded at Ketchikan. We then made our way around the ship and got acquainted with our new home for the next week, everybody got their first drinks of the trip and we made our way to guest relations to clear up some cabin/seapass card issues, the line was long but they kept it moving pretty quickly and we’re able to take care of all of our issues. We have anytime dining but I still decided to make reservations for most nights just in case there were lines, however there haven’t been any lines any nights and we’ve walked right up to the hostess and been seated right away. We have eaten in the MDR all 3 nights so far and the food has been generally excellent and there haven’t been any long waits or noticeable staffing issues in the MDR or Oceanview Cafe. Finished night 1 by putting my daughter to bed while my wife tried the casino for the first time, and she came out $800 ahead.

An aside here: To us this ship isn’t showing its age at all, you have to look really hard to be able to see some of the aging aspects. We have loved our time on the Solstice and would travel on her again in a heartbeat. There haven’t been any noticeable staffing issues anywhere on the ship and the service all around has been great. There has also been no mention of Covid or any noticeable issues with Covid that we’ve seen. 2 members of our party were supposed to be on deck 6 but they moved them to deck 9 upon checkin, so the person that mentioned deck 6 being the quarantine deck might be right, but we haven’t seen anything to confirm that for sure. The captain has made no announcements about anything Covid related. There have also been no observed supply chain issues on the Solstice, Decoy and other regular wines are onboard and all the drinks that we’ve had have been very good.

Day 2, Sea Day: We ate breakfast at the OV buffet and everything was good for a buffet, the omelette station was very good. We made another trip to the casino and came out about even this time. We went to buy some Deal or No Deal cards with the OBC our TA had provided as a gift upon boarding. None of us ended up winning much more than a little bit of slot match play but it was a good time. We then hung out in the Passport Bar playing cards for a good part of the afternoon, this has become our favorite bar for a quick drink as there is hardly ever a wait. The Martini Bar has definitely been the busiest but none of our party are martini drinkers so we haven’t spent any time there. My brother enjoys World Class Bar as they have some liquors he’s tried in other parts of the world before. Our daughter also went to a session of Camp at Sea and had a great time. Dinner in the MDR where Steak Diane was the favorite of the night, but the 2 of us who had the Shrimp Scampi thought it was excellent as well. After dinner we went to the Solarium for our first try at swimming and they told us it was no problem for my daughter to be in there swimming with us and no other swimmers had any issue with it, even though there weren’t many other swimmers and it was a perfect time to go. We turned in for the night while my brother went to watch a movie on the lawn (I think he was the only one to watch it).

Day 3, Ketchikan: We were headed into Ketchikan as we woke and hit up the OV buffet again for breakfast before disembarking. It was in the mid 50’s and no rain so about as good as we good ask for. This was Sunday and we are Catholic so we took their free shuttle pickup at the pier to the church for mass. After that we returned to the pier and then spent some time walking around town and souvenir shopping. We then went to lunch at the Ketchikan Crab and Grille where we tried Halibut & Chips, Crab Fries, Crab Mac n Cheese, and Clam Chowder. The Clam Chowder was the crowd favorite as was the Denali Brewing Co Red Ale. After lunch we returned to the ship about 2 hrs before all aboard to get in a quick nap before glass blowing. The glass blowing experience was great, my wife loved it. You get to be very hands on and help a lot and the different things you get to do depends on the piece you are making. My aunt’s vase required her to do some blowing but my wife did more rolling and tweezer work. The cost of the session was rolled into the piece you make so my wife chose something that was $120 and didn’t have to pay any extra as that is what the session reservation cost. Then we spent some time at the Sunset Bar as we pulled out of Ketchikan. Next up was dinner in the MDR where tiramisu and a special cake for my parents 40th anniversary were the highlights. We turned in early tonight as tomorrow is an early riser for glacier watch.

Day 4 morning, Dawes Glacier: We woke up at 6am as we were making our way down the Endicott Arm Fjord. This will for sure go down as the highlight of the trip as the scenery was absolutely phenomenal. They said it turned out to be an extremely lucky morning as we were able to get within 2-3 nautical miles of the glacier, this was the closest they’ve gotten this season and we had spectacular views as the captain turned the boat. We then headed back out of the fjord towards Juneau, which has to be some of the best cruising on the trip with the green blue water and floating ice along the whole trip. We are now steaming towards Juneau and have a whale watching trip planned for this afternoon.

On 5/28/2022 at 12:40 AM, Dan G said:

there is a shuttle company at seatac and they offer private shuttles.  Look at this site

 

https://premierairportshuttle.com/reservations/

 

They operate from the Seatac garage and are legit.

We are using Premier Airport Shuttle later this week for all of our transportation in Seattle. They are taking us from airport to downtown hotel, then from hotel to pier the next morning, then from pier to airport when we return to Seattle. For our group of 8 it is a 10 passenger van and the total cost was just over $400, and came out to $55 per person. I think someone would be hard pressed to find a better deal than that for those 3 trips in a taxi/uber/other.

We are using Premier Airport Shuttle by Capital Aeroporter for our 3 main transportation needs. They are taking us from the airport to our hotel, then the next morning from our hotel to the pier, and then from the pier to the airport when we return to Seattle. There are 8 of us and we have a van for *up to 10 passengers* reserved. It was just over $400 for all the transportation combined and equaled out to like $55 per person. That price per person seemed great to me considering what an Uber or Taxi would cost for those 3 trips for 8 people plus luggage, and add on tips. 

4 hours ago, GloriaF said:

Sure hope this will also apply to Seattle cruises!!

Sure hope it won't!

Luckily we have a Bushnell Factory Outlet store here so I was able to get a quality product at a discounted price, and was able to test them in store. I didn't want to pay a ton as we just don't have that many opportunities to use binocs. Ended up buying a 10x42 pair for $50 that are really good, and we both wear glasses. They have many great pairs under $100 on their website.

7 hours ago, Ashland said:

Our unvaxed under age 5 was required to test before debarking from our Eastern Caribbean RCI cruise last month. No one asked about this at MCO when we flew home. The rest of us that were vaxed did not have to.

Yeah I can't speak for RCI specifically but on Celebrity our unvaxed 4 year old is going to have to test within 24 hrs of coming back into port in Seattle, I think it is because technically the ship is going into international waters they want to make sure the unvaxed are checked upon re-entry, even though no test is required for the flight home. If you are vaccinated though, then you shouldn't have to test upon return to Seattle or for the flight home.

Are they a real problem in Alaska, or is it overblown? My wife has the kind of blood they feast on and she has been watching Tik Toks of people that live up there wearing nets around their heads. They don’t like to bite me so I’m not worried.

We have anytime on our upcoming cruise in 2 weeks, but I still went ahead and made reservations for 5 of the 7 nights. We have 4 rooms of 2 so I had to link the reservations to get all 8 of us together. I based the times around our scheduled excursions or plans, our group is pretty much on the same page and fine with the times. I saw reviews of recent cruises that said as the cruises started to fill back up recently that the lines for anytime dining were pretty long so I wanted to try to avoid that with having a group of 8.

33 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

Here’s the back story. Our kids are school aged now, so ultimately our cruise vacations have to be during school break times. I am not a heat fan, I don’t enjoy it and the last thing I want is to go shore and swelter in the Caribbean. So we used to go to the Caribbean in January. 
School is out for the kids at the end of May, so I was considering an early June cruise, but the idea of the heat just doesn’t sound fun.

I’ve always wanted to do Alaska, but is this something kids would enjoy?? Is there anything kid friendly in the ports, or is this something that I should wait and do when kids are older. They would be 5 around the time I’m planning for. We would cruise Carnival, possibly NCL. 
I’m just looking for tips, advice etc. 

Well we have our first AK cruise coming up in a couple weeks, so that early June timeframe you're talking about. We also are taking our 4 almost 5 year old. She is stoked to go, we are visiting the sled dog camp in one port where you go on a sled ride and get to play with puppies and we are doing whale watching at another. She loves animals and nature so i think she will have a blast. I would definitely stick to Carnival or RCCL as their ships are more kid friendly and will have more for the young ones to do on board. It's looking like low 60's for most of our cruise, so if you ask me you couldn't ask for better weather and a perfect locale for heat haters. About the only thing the kids miss out on it seems is the pool time/water activities on the ship with the cooler weather. I'll report back how she likes it if I can remember.

Have heard great things about Deckhand Dave's food truck in Juneau for Fish Tacos and Fish & Chips. For sweet treats we plan on hitting Sweet Mermaids (mentioned above), and then another poster on this site posted a review like a week ago and talked about Klondike Doughboy in Skagway. The Doughboy is a funnel cake/fry bread amalgamation dipped in cinnamon sugar, he said they were huge so they ordered 1 for 4 people but he quickly regretted that decision and wanted a whole one for himself.

11 hours ago, mimbecky said:

When is your cruise?  We are interested in this for our August Alaska cruise, but it is dependent on how much you get to participate so would love current feedback if you do this before then.

 

Thanks

Mimbecky

June 10th, I will try and report back

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Our local CVS stores don't do rapid testing, just PCR tests for which the results can take up to 72 hours.

So at Walgreens are you doing the Rapid NAAT? Because none anywhere near me do the antigen test anymore. Maybe you can answer this because you have cruised so much lately, nobody has answered in the other threads I asked in. Will the rapid NAAT worked for vaccinated adults? I ask because the X site says the Rapid NAAT is an approved test, but on the cruise specific wellness guide it says vaccinated adults must take a Rapid Antigen test, and doesn't mention anything about the NAAT. Thanks for any help and good luck with your sneaky cruise!

3 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

They are not doing any testing for return travel onboard as any positive results puts them on the hook to report to authorities and for Europe sailings to provide quarantine assistance.

 

Any testing provided by Celebrity either for free or at a cost is after disembarkation.

Unless it's unvaccinated children, it says they will test them for free within the last 24 hrs before  returning to port in the US. At least that's what the website says.