Review: Solstice Alaska 5/29/2015

[curtdesilets]

Only a Quick Review here.

 

We have done several Alaska Cruises over the past 15 years, and this one ranks very well but not the greatest. Our review may be a bit slanted however, as we have been more than spoiled in the past on Celebrity. We took our first ever cruise in 2001 on the brand spanking new Infinity (to Alaska), which went on to be the highest rated ship in the Conde Naste survey several years in a row. Celebrity service, food quality, and overall experience in the early 2000's was insanely good. Bottom Line: We were extremely spoiled in the past.

 

That being said, this was a very good cruise.

 

This is only the 2nd time we've been on any S type ship, and for us, the jury is still out. Our last 2 Celebrity Cruises were on Century, and we absolutely loved that ship. The jump from approximately 1850 passengers to over 2850 is very noticeable. Not to say that the mood was colder on Solstice, but it just felt not quite as friendly. And I am very sure it was not so friendly during the Juneau Tendering Experience. Lucky for us, we are at Elite status and missed what seemed liked organized chaos. Note that Solstice alternates every week from Tendering to Docking in Juneau.

 

Just some random thoughts:

 

1) Our Cabin Steward was excellent and kept us very well attended. Sanjay P deserves special recognition. I describe the room and service in our Cabin Review below.

 

2) The food was just okay this time. I do believe the food quality has diminished substantially since we first started cruising Celebrity. This is a known fact on the Cruise critic boards, so I will not elaborate. I did however find that the SPE certified meals were all extremely good. The Aqua Spa Café is my go to place for Breakfast, as is the made to order eggs and eggs benedict station in the Oasis Café. All of the fish Dishes were great. My wife however does not eat fish, and had a harder time finding something she enjoyed. She really enjoyed the fresh cut fruit though. Hum.

 

We did however eat in Murano for our anniversary. As always, Murano is excellent and worth every penny. Save an appetite for it however.

 

3) We had PERFECT Weather, almost too perfect. It was warm and sunny everyday. I think many of us overpacked the cold clothes. Cannot complain however.

 

4) Tons of Wildlife: We saw Bald Eagles everywhere, and on the trip back down to Victoria, a super pod of Humpbacks. One did a full breach literally 100 yards off the bow. The weather to Tracey Arm was spectacular, but we did not get very close to the glacier as there was too many ice bergs.

 

5) Embarkation and Disembarkation was a breeze, at least for us. We had a late arrival and late departure, so no sweat whatsoever. However we did cut it a bit close trying to arrive in Seattle on a 2pm flight. Expect heavy traffic in Seattle both getting to and leaving the pier as it is a Friday and there is major road construction everywhere. They are building a tunnel to replace the old freeway.

 

6) CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN: Solstice is well maintained and amazingly clean at all times. They also do a great job of containing any norovirus threat with public notices on the TV and the Purell Splash ladies at every food entrance. Bathrooms were clean, café was clean. Pool and Sauna was clean. Very clean!

 

7) Activities staff: I think they are down to 2 people now, but they did a great job. We went to the Bingo and Trivia sessions and saw the Family Feud show. All a lot of fun and those guys were great.

 

8) Brent Nixon: Hands down the best Alaska presenter out there. No one can deny this.

 

Overall we had a great time and got the rest and relaxation we needed. It wasn't my favorite Alaskan itinerary, but It got us a good feel for Alaska. We are still just a little more in favor of the smaller ships in general, however. I would rank it 4 stars out of 5.

[maggie.1008]

Your post sounds just like us. We will be doing our 4th Alaska cruise with X in July. Our 1st was May of 2001 when the Infinity just started the Alaska season. The food and service were great. We changed from cruising with the luxury lines to X as the service was so good at half the price. We have been loyal to X since.

[workstocruise]

Our first cruise with X was only 2 years ago to the Baltics on the Constellation. After many cruises on RCI and Princess, we thought Celebrity was hands down much better for food, service and even entertainment. Fast forward two years we just got off the Equinox and while the food was good it was not the quality of the Connie. We sail to Alaska in August on the Millenium and I'll be curious to see how it compares. I will say this, I think Celebrity offers a great product and while to others the food may not be as good as in the past, it still beats most of the other cruise lines out there. After the Connie we sailed with Oceania, and while their service is incredible, I was not that impressed with their food and did not like their MDR at all. We ate there twice on a 14 day cruise. Their specialty restaurants are included in your cost but because there is no charge the quality compares to Celebrity or RCI.

[curtdesilets]

Your post sounds just like us. We will be doing our 4th Alaska cruise with X in July. Our 1st was May of 2001 when the Infinity just started the Alaska season. The food and service were great. We changed from cruising with the luxury lines to X as the service was so good at half the price. We have been loyal to X since.

 

We sailed Infinity May of 2001, also. We were ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY. That was our first cruise ever, and got us hooked on cruising and Celebrity in particular. Do you remember the Formal Night dining in the MDR? There was literally 25 pieces of silverware per place setting. It was 5 star service for sure!

Edited June 14, 2015 by curtdesilets

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[greeneg]

Thank you for the nice review, we board the Solstice on Friday with our 19 member family for a reunion cruise. Good to know that the Solstice is still part of the program.

 

Ed

[curtdesilets]

Thank you for the nice review, we board the Solstice on Friday with our 19 member family for a reunion cruise. Good to know that the Solstice is still part of the program.

 

Ed

 

Have a nice trip. Sounds like a fun reunion. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them.

[ncmtnmamma]

Thank you for the nice review, we board the Solstice on Friday with our 19 member family for a reunion cruise. Good to know that the Solstice is still part of the program.

 

Ed

 

Have a great time! Our family of 17 will be taking your place the following week!

[maggie.1008]

My roll call for July 17th Solstice to Alaska has hardly anyone. Seems like many of the Alaska cruises do not have frequent cruisers. Wondering if any of our regulars were " most frequent cruiser " on their cruise this year. I know Lois was on one early May but she did no mention this in her review.

[curtdesilets]

My roll call for July 17th Solstice to Alaska has hardly anyone. Seems like many of the Alaska cruises do not have frequent cruisers. Wondering if any of our regulars were " most frequent cruiser " on their cruise this year. I know Lois was on one early May but she did no mention this in her review.

 

There were very few frequent cruisers on our recent (5/29) Alaska Cruise. we are Elite Status and the Elite Cocktail Parties and such were pretty sparsely attended. It seemed like there were several first timers on board.

[morolica]

We managed to avoid the "organized chaos" of the Juneau tender by booking an excursion through celebrity. If you are going to tender and going to do a shore excursion, booking through the ship gives you priority tendering. I think we waited maybe 15 minutes from the start of tendering until we boarded a tender.

 

I'm sure we could have saved some money booking the excursion on our own but we were only in Juneau for so long, waiting 1.5 hours (or more) to reach shore as some people did would have robbed us of some valuable time in port.

[curtdesilets]

We managed to avoid the "organized chaos" of the Juneau tender by booking an excursion through celebrity. If you are going to tender and going to do a shore excursion, booking through the ship gives you priority tendering. I think we waited maybe 15 minutes from the start of tendering until we boarded a tender.

 

I'm sure we could have saved some money booking the excursion on our own but we were only in Juneau for so long, waiting 1.5 hours (or more) to reach shore as some people did would have robbed us of some valuable time in port.

 

Maybe it would have been possible to swim ashore and avoid that 1.5 hour wait. But make sure you have someone on the shore with a towel waiting.

 

But you are right: booked shore excursions would eliminate the wait, and/or being elite status or in a suite.

[maggie.1008]

I wish they spent more time in Juneau and Victoria as I think they are the 2 best ports.

[Lois R]

Thank you for the nice review, we board the Solstice on Friday with our 19 member family for a reunion cruise. Good to know that the Solstice is still part of the program.

 

Ed

 

Hi Ed:) hope you are doing well! I sailed her last month and my review

is over on the review section......I had a great cruise:D and hope you

and your family all have a wonderful time too!

[maggie.1008]

Hi Lois,

 

I was just wondering if you had many Elite plus cruisers on your Solstice cruise. We hardly have any posts for my July 17th cruise. Were you most frequent cruiser on your trip ? Hope we meet some new friends at Elite Cocktail hour.

[kenevenpar]

We sailed Infinity May of 2001, also. We were ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY. That was our first cruise ever, and got us hooked on cruising and Celebrity in particular. Do you remember the Formal Night dining in the MDR? There was literally 25 pieces of silverware per place setting. It was 5 star service for sure!

 

And three levels of dress; Casual, Semi Formal and Formal. Pax actually, for the most part, followed the dress code :eek:

[Lois R]

Hi Lois,

 

I was just wondering if you had many Elite plus cruisers on your Solstice cruise. We hardly have any posts for my July 17th cruise. Were you most frequent cruiser on your trip ? Hope we meet some new friends at Elite Cocktail hour.

 

Hi Heather, to be totally honest with you, I don't remember how many

Elite Plus were on board.....and no, I was not most frequent cruiser.

[curtdesilets]

And three levels of dress; Casual, Semi Formal and Formal. Pax actually, for the most part, followed the dress code :eek:

 

That's Right...and Formal night, even for an Alaska Cruise was primarily tuxes for the men and women dressed to the nines. I miss the dressing up part. I always had to rent a tux prior to the cruise. Now a man in a tuxedo stands out like a sore thumb on cruises today. Times change I suppose, but I thought it was pretty cool, and dignified, to treat Formal Night the way it as meant to be.

[curtdesilets]

Additional Remarks On Our Cruise - OP

 

1) We chose traditional early dining, but were assigned a table for 10. That is too big IMO. By the time everyone is seated and ready to order and all of the orders are taken and special requests, etc....every meal was over 2 hours long. We LOVED the camaraderie with our table mates, but really, 2 hours is a bit of a stretch. Also, it is very difficult to converse with tablemates that are 20' down the table.

 

2) We were on Holland America (Westerdam) last year to Alaska, and the live music was so much better on HAL. The House band (Hal Cats I think) were very jazzy and played Steely Dan as good as the original band...seriously. They also still had a string band, although only 2 or 3 members due to cost cutting. Classical Music adds CLASS to a cruise. Celebrity seems to have missed that. BRING BACK Classical Music Celebrity! The House band for Celebrity was good, but not great.

 

3) Escargot and French Onion Soup were served every night in MDR. Kudos to Celebrity for that! Also I was told that they purchase tons of Fresh Salmon from Alaska for every cruise. The Salmon dishes were excellent!

 

4) We were given as a perk the Classical Drink Package, which for about $10 per person a day more, we upgraded to Premium. We are not big drinkers, but that worked out great. No need to wait for a receipt and sign it. I actually brought a lot of single dollar bills to tip our server, and found that goes a long way in terms of continued service. The only slight pain in the butt is that you always need to give both cards to get us both drinks, but that it is understandable.

 

5) The gym was excellent, and quite huge. Never really a wait to use the equipment, at least not on our cruise. All equipment was well maintained. Note, the "secret deck" is right outside of the gym. Remember that come Glacier viewing time ;>)

 

6) Our Cruise Critic Party was well attended with about 40 people showing up from all over the planet. We did a bag exchange, which was fun. Kudos to Bruce and Ice Tea for organizing that.

 

7) We did the scenic train ride in Skagway. If the weather is good (which it was), the views are spectacular. It was worth the exorbitant cost! Word for the wise though, the afternoon train is often delayed. Ours was delayed for over an hour, and thus there was a mad rush to rejoin the ship after the ride before Solsice's departure. The ship always waits as there are hundreds of Celebrity passengers on the train, so no need to fret. I heard once the ship waited over 2 hours after scheduled departure due to a late train. The advantage of the afternoon train is that you can grab a lunch on the ship beforehand and the weather is usually better in the afternoon than in the morning in Alaska, from our experience.

 

That's it for now. Anyone going on Solstice this summer will have a great time. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. -Curt.

[cruiserw/kids]

Thanks for the review. Haven't seen too many others sharing their Solstice Alaska adventures on here since the the beginning of the Alaska Cruise season. We will be on the Solstice to Alaska on the July 17 cruise and we greatly appreciate your assistance, through your review, with helping to set our expectations.

[Pinkbudgie]

Thank you. We are going on our very first cruise ever to Alaska on the Solstice next week. I'm trying to cram information in my head because I really have no idea how it will go or what to expect.

 

Two things have me concerned- the tendering at Juneau ( we do not have an excursion through the ship for that one) and hearing about all the fish served on an Alaskan trip. (I'm very allergic but have heard they are good with food allergies and have gotten great tips on this board for what to do. But I still don't like the fish! :p )

 

I'm just excited to be doing something different and seeing new things!

[curtdesilets]

Thank you. We are going on our very first cruise ever to Alaska on the Solstice next week. I'm trying to cram information in my head because I really have no idea how it will go or what to expect.

 

Two things have me concerned- the tendering at Juneau ( we do not have an excursion through the ship for that one) and hearing about all the fish served on an Alaskan trip. (I'm very allergic but have heard they are good with food allergies and have gotten great tips on this board for what to do. But I still don't like the fish! :p )

 

I'm just excited to be doing something different and seeing new things!

 

Smart for you to get an excursion through the ship. You will just meet at the theatre at a select time and get off pronto. No worries. It was the people doing their own thing that had to wait. but after the initial rush, there was no wait at all.

 

Celebrity does a good job with food allergies. Just eat in the Dining Room and inform the MATRE D and/or the waiter.

[curtdesilets]

Thanks for the review. Haven't seen too many others sharing their Solstice Alaska adventures on here since the the beginning of the Alaska Cruise season. We will be on the Solstice to Alaska on the July 17 cruise and we greatly appreciate your assistance, through your review, with helping to set our expectations.

 

We were very satisfied with most everything on this cruise.

[lovecruzin]

My roll call for July 17th Solstice to Alaska has hardly anyone. Seems like many of the Alaska cruises do not have frequent cruisers. Wondering if any of our regulars were " most frequent cruiser " on their cruise this year. I know Lois was on one early May but she did no mention this in her review.

 

Just off Solstice, we were the "top cruisers". I think Alaska may not be a repeat cruise for frequent cruisers, we only have 1200~ points :confused:

 

 

Thank you. We are going on our very first cruise ever to Alaska on the Solstice next week. I'm trying to cram information in my head because I really have no idea how it will go or what to expect.

 

Two things have me concerned- the tendering at Juneau ( we do not have an excursion through the ship for that one) and hearing about all the fish served on an Alaskan trip. (I'm very allergic but have heard they are good with food allergies and have gotten great tips on this board for what to do. But I still don't like the fish! :p )

 

I'm just excited to be doing something different and seeing new things!

 

We took excursion JU94, the Tracy Arm and glacier excursion. If seeing Sawyer glacier interests you, I highly recommend it. The ship turned around in Tracy Arm where we got off the ship and on to the catamaran and the passengers did not see the glacier. We were back on the ship eating lunch in Bistro on 5 around 2pm and by 3pm they were no longer calling numbers, you could disembark at your leisure.

 

I am not a seafood eater, at all. There are plenty of other choices so don't worry about that! Just be sure to let them know about your allergies.

 

Brent Nixon is the best at what he does. I don't usually go to the educational talks, I am easily bored but he is so passionate about each subject.

[maggie.1008]

Danna, good for you being most frequent cruiser. Did they do anything special for you ? Have never had it happen to me. Maybe this year .