Just off the Solstice Hawaii to Vancouver

[FortyNinerLiz]

We were on the same cruise and had a great time!! That was our 5th cruise on the Solstice!! We had very good service in the MDR. Our room attendant was excellent. The Captain's Club Hostess, Rose, and her assistant, Dena, were right on top of things and provided excellent service! Despite the cutbacks, we are sticking with Celebrity!

[neptuno]

It's because we had the premium package ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for posting. Could you or any one elaborate on the wines available and any upcharges, or qualities of inclusions? thanks

[gblotter]

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?

[Cruise Junky]

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?

 

There was one on Facebook the other day

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks for posting. Could you or any one elaborate on the wines available and any upcharges, or qualities of inclusions? thanks

 

Hi. No problem. For most of the time we found decent wines under the package. We celebrated my B-Day onboard which I used as an excuse to drink $21.50 glasses of Amarone :) we left Tuscan Grille with about $17 in up charges and we drank A LOT. Can't remember what we were drinking in Murano but we paid around $10 in up charges by the end of the meal and then in the MDR the last night we both paid $1.50 for Conundrum. I had a healthy refill of that too and was only charged for one glass. We could have easily stuck to the package but for a couple of bucks wanted to splurge. Loved the Premium Package

[neptuno]

Sounds like the Premium upgrade is the way to go, just pay the difference, not the whole drink price overcharge like you would on Classic?

[Cruise Junky]

Sounds like the Premium upgrade is the way to go, just pay the difference, not the whole drink price overcharge like you would on Classic?

 

Oh, they are night and day experiences. The martini and molecular bars are totally worth the upgrade never mind the wine selection. Our cruise would not have been the same experience with the classic package.

[neptuno]

Great. But are the wines by the glass pretty much the same, or have the nicer ones been priced out of the Premium package as well? Any chance someone could post a wine by the glass menu?

[Cruise Junky]

Great. But are the wines by the glass pretty much the same, or have the nicer ones been priced out of the Premium package as well? Any chance someone could post a wine by the glass menu?

 

This was posted the other day

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=42766126&postcount=10

 

It's the main dining room wine list

[gijoe76]

I just noticed this on another thread. Has the Solstice started doing an embarkation lunch in Blu for AQ passengers? This would be so awesome! Hope they start it up before our B2B in July!

[neptuno]

This was posted the other day

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=42766126&postcount=10

 

It's the main dining room wine list

 

That may be reassuring; can you confirm that now anything up to $9 is Classic, and up to ???? ($10.50) would be considered Premium?

[Cruise Junky]

That may be reassuring; can you confirm that now anything up to $9 is Classic, and up to ???? ($10.50) would be considered Premium?

 

No idea on classic but everything up to $13 is under the Premium

[gblotter]

There was one on Facebook the other day

I don't see it on the Celebrity FB page.

 

Can you provide a link?

[Cruise Junky]

I don't see it on the Celebrity FB page.

 

Can you provide a link?

 

It was a member that posted it, not Celebrity so you have to look on the other side. Let me see if I can find it.

 

 

try that

Edited May 16, 2014 by Cruise Junky

[KirkNC]

Glad to hear you had a good time. While it has been a few years, we enjoyed our time on Solstice as well.

[jgreenwo17]

We were on the same cruise and had a great time!! That was our 5th cruise on the Solstice!! We had very good service in the MDR. Our room attendant was excellent. The Captain's Club Hostess, Rose, and her assistant, Dena, were right on top of things and provided excellent service! Despite the cutbacks, we are sticking with Celebrity!

 

So good to hear a seasoned Celebrity cruiser still thoroghly enjoying the experience and sticking to the brand.

[mykesmith]

We're on this cruise April 2015... it's officially called an 11-night cruise but the first overnight is in HNL making it actually 12 so I have a couple of questions:

 

1) Does this cruise have 2 or 3 formal nights, and

2) Can you board the ship the first night in HNL and sleep on the ship before it departs the next day?

 

Thanks!

Edited July 3, 2014 by mykesmith

[TeaBag]

We're on this cruise April 2015... it's officially called an 11-night cruise but the first overnight is in HNL making it actually 12 so I have a couple of questions:

 

1) Does this cruise have 2 or 3 formal nights, and

2) Can you board the ship the first night in HNL and sleep on the ship before it departs the next day?

 

Thanks!

I believe ours had 2 formal nights but it was 10 nights.

Yes, you can board as early as 11AM and you do sleep on the ship that night.

It's a great cruise. Enjoy.

[MoyCoy]

We are too. For us the second half of a b2b starting in Sydney.

 

Me too or should I say me 3???

[SandG]

I just noticed this thread. My husband and I were also on the April 2014 Hawaii to Vancouver Solstice repositioning cruise and we also both really loved this cruise.

 

We did not get the beverage package but we brought wine on board in Honolulu to drink in our cabin. Besides that, we drink wine at every meal and usually have a drink in the evening but didn't feel the package was worth it for just that amount of consumption.

 

We thought the service and food were very good, and I thought the breakfast buffet was excellent - made-to-order eggs benedict were cooked perfectly! Yum. The ship was clean and our room steward was outstanding.

 

We had extremely calm water for the Pacific crossing - I don't know if this is typical for this time of year but I thought it was very weird - it was like sailing on a lake.

 

And of course the ports of call were wonderful. We had a 10 night cruise and I looked at the April 2015 itinerary, and you have 11 nights (including the Honolulu overnight) and you get an extra overnight in Maui - you lucky people!! :) I thought it really nice to be able to check-in on the first day and then go off the ship and you have plenty of time to explore the area both that day and the next. A couple of times we saw dolphins swim just off the ship, someone said they saw a whale.

 

Our only disappointments were our weather in Maui - we drove to the top of Haleakala only to end up in the clouds and unable to see the crater, and no view of the lava flow from Kilauea. Celebrity couldn't do much to help us there. ;)

 

I was also up on deck to watch us pass under the Lion's Gate Bridge. They had folded back the navigational mast to pass underneath, but there was also a crew member on board with a walkie-talkie talking to the bridge saying, "looking good... " as we went under. It was still pretty close. I recall setting my alarm for 4:30 AM, and we probably went under the bridge a little before 5:00 AM. I tried taking a picture but it was too dark for the cheap camera I was using and it didn't come out. The official arrival in Vancouver was 7:00 but as you can see, we got in much earlier.

 

Hope this helps. I'm sure you'll have a great time too. I'll keep watching this thread in case there are more questions.

Sue

[MoyCoy]

I just noticed this thread. My husband and I were also on the April 2014 Hawaii to Vancouver Solstice repositioning cruise and we also both really loved this cruise.

 

We did not get the beverage package but we brought wine on board in Honolulu to drink in our cabin. Besides that, we drink wine at every meal and usually have a drink in the evening but didn't feel the package was worth it for just that amount of consumption.

 

We thought the service and food were very good, and I thought the breakfast buffet was excellent - made-to-order eggs benedict were cooked perfectly! Yum. The ship was clean and our room steward was outstanding.

 

We had extremely calm water for the Pacific crossing - I don't know if this is typical for this time of year but I thought it was very weird - it was like sailing on a lake.

 

And of course the ports of call were wonderful. We had a 10 night cruise and I looked at the April 2015 itinerary, and you have 11 nights (including the Honolulu overnight) and you get an extra overnight in Maui - you lucky people!! :) I thought it really nice to be able to check-in on the first day and then go off the ship and you have plenty of time to explore the area both that day and the next. A couple of times we saw dolphins swim just off the ship, someone said they saw a whale.

 

Our only disappointments were our weather in Maui - we drove to the top of Haleakala only to end up in the clouds and unable to see the crater, and no view of the lava flow from Kilauea. Celebrity couldn't do much to help us there. ;)

 

I was also up on deck to watch us pass under the Lion's Gate Bridge. They had folded back the navigational mast to pass underneath, but there was also a crew member on board with a walkie-talkie talking to the bridge saying, "looking good... " as we went under. It was still pretty close. I recall setting my alarm for 4:30 AM, and we probably went under the bridge a little before 5:00 AM. I tried taking a picture but it was too dark for the cheap camera I was using and it didn't come out. The official arrival in Vancouver was 7:00 but as you can see, we got in much earlier.

 

Hope this helps. I'm sure you'll have a great time too. I'll keep watching this thread in case there are more questions.

Sue

 

We are doing this cruise in reverse in Sept. I wonder could you tell me what kind of activates were offered for the 5/6 day crossing? Any advice ? Oh and did they offer any Hawaiian fare during the cruise?

Edited July 7, 2014 by MoyCoy

[yukongold]

Sounds like a great cruise...something to look into for the future.

[SandG]

We are doing this cruise in reverse in Sept. I wonder could you tell me what kind of activates were offered for the 5/6 day crossing? Any advice ? Oh and did they offer any Hawaiian fare during the cruise?

 

During the day there were lectures, dance lessons, wine tastings, food/drink demonstrations, game shows, bingo, art auctions, spa seminars and of course the Solstice hot glass show among other stuff. After 5 days at sea, I realized there were still things I didn't have time to try.

 

There were a few things that were unique for this sailing. We had a nature/wildlife expert on board who held different seminars each morning about the wildlife that we'd see during the cruise: dolphins, whales, sea birds, etc. And there were a group of women from Hawaii who gave lessons on hula dancing, and how to make leis and shell bracelets, tie sarongs, etc. There was also a folkloric show one evening. I don't recall them having Hawaiian specific menu/food unless it was the evening we were in Maui for the evening, when we ate dinner off the ship.

 

Sue

[MoyCoy]

During the day there were lectures, dance lessons, wine tastings, food/drink demonstrations, game shows, bingo, art auctions, spa seminars and of course the Solstice hot glass show among other stuff. After 5 days at sea, I realized there were still things I didn't have time to try.

 

There were a few things that were unique for this sailing. We had a nature/wildlife expert on board who held different seminars each morning about the wildlife that we'd see during the cruise: dolphins, whales, sea birds, etc. And there were a group of women from Hawaii who gave lessons on hula dancing, and how to make leis and shell bracelets, tie sarongs, etc. There was also a folkloric show one evening. I don't recall them having Hawaiian specific menu/food unless it was the evening we were in Maui for the evening, when we ate dinner off the ship.

 

Sue

 

Great to hear that you were kept busy on your crossing. I love wildlife talks and hula lessons sound fun!