Review: Solstice Alaska 5/29/2015

[lovecruzin]

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 .

 

We were acknowledged at the Captains toast on the first formal night, thank goodness we didn't have to go on stage!. They also gave us a comp dinner in the specialty restaurant and an invitation to dine with the captain. The CC hostess, Rose is really nice.

[BKinder]

Hi Curt, we are first time Alaska cruisers in August aboard the Solstice. Quick question: what's the deal with using your cell phone while on the ship and on-shore? Would you happen to know if it's considered "out of the country" while we're cruising? We are leaving our kids behind (yay) but do want to know that we can call them and vice-versa, so we'd like to prepare in advance with our cell phone company if needed. Thanks for any and all info you can share! Bev

[Westyone]

Hi curt et al,

We are on the July 10 cruise. You say you had a late disembarkation and I'm wondering what time that was. Our flight isn't until 4:30 so we have plenty of time to get off the ship and avoid the mad rush. What is the latest they serve breakfast?

[Pinkbudgie]

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:

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Thanks. I could check once on board and see what's still available.

I've heard so much about Brent Nixon, I'll have to make a point to see him.

[curtdesilets]

Hi Curt, we are first time Alaska cruisers in August aboard the Solstice. Quick question: what's the deal with using your cell phone while on the ship and on-shore? Would you happen to know if it's considered "out of the country" while we're cruising? We are leaving our kids behind (yay) but do want to know that we can call them and vice-versa, so we'd like to prepare in advance with our cell phone company if needed. Thanks for any and all info you can share! Bev

 

I think it depends on your cell phone carrier. I would imagine any calls made while in port will be in country. Victoria being in Canada would be an exception. Cell phones on a ship at sea are a different story and each carrier has a different policy on that.

Edited June 24, 2015 by curtdesilets

[curtdesilets]

Hi curt et al,

We are on the July 10 cruise. You say you had a late disembarkation and I'm wondering what time that was. Our flight isn't until 4:30 so we have plenty of time to get off the ship and avoid the mad rush. What is the latest they serve breakfast?

 

I think they served breakfast until 830am. If you want to delay it, maybe go to MDR a few minutes before closing time and you can sit and linger. I think however the latest you can get off the ship is either 930 or 10am.

 

A good bet is to take one of their Seattle excursions with an airport drop off. That will kill some time and it wasn't that expensive from what I recall.

[BKinder]

Thanks!

[Texasopa]

Hi Curt, we are first time Alaska cruisers in August aboard the Solstice. Quick question: what's the deal with using your cell phone while on the ship and on-shore? Would you happen to know if it's considered "out of the country" while we're cruising? We are leaving our kids behind (yay) but do want to know that we can call them and vice-versa, so we'd like to prepare in advance with our cell phone company if needed. Thanks for any and all info you can share! Bev

 

We were on the Solstice last month and have AT&T. You can purchase a Celluar at sea package for your cruise. I bought just voice and it was $30 for 50 mins talk. When we were on our Caribbean cruise we had the voice and text. I think it was $60 for 50 mins talk and 100 text. Your phone should work in all Alaska ports. In Victoria it will be international charges.

[BKinder]

Thank you for this information! I thought I'd read somewhere that there was a way you could use your phone while cruising. Did you purchase this package directly from AT&T prior to leaving Seattle or did you buy it in a 'vending' type of manner either at the airport or onboard?

[Texasopa]

Thank you for this information! I thought I'd read somewhere that there was a way you could use your phone while cruising. Did you purchase this package directly from AT&T prior to leaving Seattle or did you buy it in a 'vending' type of manner either at the airport or onboard?

 

I think you can do it online, but I have always called. They also have a voice, text and data plan. The voice, text plan do's NOT let you send attachments (pictures). I just felt better talking to them because you do need to set up your phone in a special way. ie, turning off international data and other things. The 1st time I used it I didn't have it set up right. I called the ship operator and the connected me to AT&T toll free and we worked until I had it right.

I hate having to be connected to the world like that but sometimes you have too.

[Escriteur]

Hi Curt, we are first time Alaska cruisers in August aboard the Solstice. Quick question: what's the deal with using your cell phone while on the ship and on-shore? Would you happen to know if it's considered "out of the country" while we're cruising? We are leaving our kids behind (yay) but do want to know that we can call them and vice-versa, so we'd like to prepare in advance with our cell phone company if needed. Thanks for any and all info you can share! Bev

 

With most cell carriers, Alaska should be covered as U.S. (so no roaming) -- but you'll generally only get reception when you're on (or close to) land. Otherwise, you have to use the cruise ship's network, which has very high rates (unless you follow texasopa's advice and book a cruise package in advance). We have T-Mobile; and while they don't have their own coverage in the Alaskan ports we visited, we were able to jump on their partners' networks while in port. I also had 50MB of roaming data included (my plan includes unlimited data, but only on T-Mobile's own network); once that ran out, I had to rely on free WiFi in ports.

 

For anyone on T-Mobile, here are the text messages I got from them regarding prices while we were at sea:

* When we passed by the coast of Canada (a few hours after leaving Seattle), the message said: "Unlimited text incl. with your global coverage. Talk $0.20/min."

* While we were at sea one day, I received a T-Mobile text saying: "Welcome to Cruise Ship. Out of plan coverage, $0.50/text and $5.99/min talk. CAUTION: Charges for web, email & apps while roaming are $15/MB + tax."

 

Rates will probably vary by carrier, but I wanted to let T-Mobile customers know what to expect. Also, I'd advise anyone to check on their data coverage/roaming fees while off their carrier's network...you don't want to get hit with data roaming at those rates! (Thankfully, my plan didn't automatically default to roaming when the included data ran out; I would have had to contact T-Mobile to activate roaming data.)

 

Finally, for anyone interested in accessing free WiFi in ports...

* Ketchikan - We visited a few bars/restaurants (Asylum, Fat Stan's, Sourdough Bar) that offered free WiFi with purchase; most places provide each person with a one-time use code to connect.

* Juneau - I don't recall if we had WiFi at the Red Dog Saloon, but the Alaskan Hotel & Bar provided a one-time use code valid for 30 minutes of WiFi access.

* Skagway - None of the bars/restaurants we visited or passed offered free WiFi; they said the only place in town to get free WiFi is at the local library.

* Victoria - Since all of the local museums/attractions were closed while we were in port, we just ended up doing a mini bar crawl. We were able to get free WiFi in all of the pubs we visited: Swans Brewpub, Irish Times, Garrick's Head, and Bard & Banker. (That last one is located across the street from where the $10 pier > downtown shuttle drops you off; it's worth visiting even if only to have a peek at the stunning Victorian architecture/decor inside.)

 

I plan to post my own cruise review from our June 12 sailing, but I was going to wait until I had a chance to finish sorting/organizing/culling my photos in case anyone wanted to view the corresponding album. But overall, I agree with Curt -- most aspects of the cruise were outstanding, though the food tended to be hit-or-miss. (There were a few things that were phenomenal - the BBQ Glazed Cobia "Black Salmon" was a standout, and the Dulce de Leche Crema Catalana dessert on Day 1 ranks among my all-time favorites - but many other dishes were either just "good" or "mediocre".) I took photos of the MDR dinner menus on most nights of our cruise (I missed the special "Top Chef" menu since we had dinner in Juneau that night); again, I'll link to those when I post my review. But if anyone is sailing soon and wants a preview of the menus, you can find my current Alaska album (a work in progress!) here:

Happy travels to you all!

 

~ Shay

[maggie.1008]

Shay, beautiful pictures. Can you tell me any of the officers and staff that were on board ? We go on July 17th. On the first day of the cruise there is a picture of Officers in the Daily News / Celebrity today. Do you have that ? It does not look like there was much snow in Alaska.

[Lois R]

Shay, beautiful pictures. Can you tell me any of the officers and staff that were on board ? We go on July 17th. On the first day of the cruise there is a picture of Officers in the Daily News / Celebrity today. Do you have that ? It does not look like there was much snow in Alaska.

 

Hi Maggie, there was not much snow....I know when I took my floatplane tour last month, Michelle (from Island Wings) said they did not get much

at all this past season.......

[maggie.1008]

Hi Lois, Good news is Alaska has been warm this season. Bad news no snow and not as beautiful on the Tracy Arm viewing day. Do you have the current Officer info ? Heather

[Lois R]

Hi Lois, Good news is Alaska has been warm this season. Bad news no snow and not as beautiful on the Tracy Arm viewing day. Do you have the current Officer info ? Heather

 

Nope. You will just have to wait and be surprised:)....I have seen you

asking who is on board.....I never bring home the Dailies. Maybe someone

who is sailing now will have the information when they get back next

week. You are going in a couple of weeks, right? It will be a surprise:D

Edited June 28, 2015 by Lois R

[maggie.1008]

I always bring home the Celebrity Today for the first day of our cruise that shows the Officers pictures. July 17 and Sept. 22 will be our 4th and 5th time on the Solstice so we see many of the same staff.

[Lois R]

I always bring home the Celebrity Today for the first day of our cruise that shows the Officers pictures. July 17 and Sept. 22 will be our 4th and 5th time on the Solstice so we see many of the same staff.

 

So you have just about 3 weeks to go:D........I never bring home

any paperwork, well I should say over the years I might have brought

home some but it is not something I really care about so the stuff just

stays where it is.....in the garbage can;)

 

Oh...I have seen plenty of folks on multiple cruises too. Nice to see friendly faces:)

Edited June 28, 2015 by Lois R

[Escriteur]

Shay, beautiful pictures. Can you tell me any of the officers and staff that were on board ? We go on July 17th. On the first day of the cruise there is a picture of Officers in the Daily News / Celebrity today. Do you have that ? It does not look like there was much snow in Alaska.

 

Thank you for your kind words, Maggie! :) I have many duplicate photos/fuzzy shots that I eventually need to cull, and lots of captioning left to do. But I'm so glad you enjoyed them!

 

Yes, I saved the dailies; but alas, I don't have a scanner at the moment. However, here are the names of the officers listed for our June 12 sailing:

Master: Captain Yannis Berdos

Chief Engineer: Stavros Zannikos

Staff Captain: Panagiotis Kiousis

Guest Relations Manager: Alana Abrahams

Hotel Director: Daniel Simon

Cruise Director: Rich Clesen

Food & Beverage Director: Mark Tomley

Executive Chef: Richard Green

 

Many of these officers attended our Cruise Connections party; you can see some of them in this pic:

And here is another photo from the Captain's Gala Toast:

 

Happy sailing...!

 

~ Shay

[maggie.1008]

Thanks Shay, I have sailed with several of the Officers on past cruises..

[kmorg1234]

Beautiful photos! We leave this Friday- can't wait!

[curtdesilets]

Those were great pictures you posted!

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/escriteur/sets/72157652506990313/with/18375700114/

 

Looks like you had a wonderful time. - Curt (OP)