Live from Solstice - May 13th 2016

[Blondie008]

Happy Pearl Anniversary !!!!

Thank you so much for your updates - I am another anxious to hear what you think of the Catamaran excursion - we are booked for a couple of weeks time and we celebrate our 20th anniversary on the Tracey Arm Fjord - Juneau day. We are booked for this - we looked back on May/June reviews historically and it looked fab - fingers Xd for you!

And thank you so much for putting our mind to rest for AQ - Glad to know all is well there.

Cant wait - I am counting the days and hours now :D

Have a truly wonderful week and hope you make many precious memories.

[DCCruisin1]

Happy Anniversary!! I hope you all are having a fantastic time and thank you so much for taking the time out to share your experience with all of us!! I LOVE all your updates as I am now counting down the days until our trip starts! I can't wait to hear your report on the Tracy Arm excursion as we are booked on that one in two weeks!! Once again thanks for sharing!!

[adh214@yahoo.com]

Thank you so much for posting. It really builds our excitement for our June 24th sailing on the Solstice. We are considering doing the cruise excursion in Tracy Arm Fjord where you board a catamaran from the Solstice and are returned directly to Juneau after viewing the glaciers.

 

If you hear of anyone taking this excursion I would love to hear their opinions. I did read somewhere that the excursion is sometimes not offered in early May depending on the conditions.

 

Thanks again and make some wonderful memories this week.

 

-Heather

 

 

I did this excursion a few years ago from Solistice and it was great. I recommend it.

[Montana]

Love the photos, including Celebrity Today, BLU menu and of course personal photos as well. Possibly some food photos?

[TRAVELBABE1]

We are also celebrating an anniversary in AQ on the Solstice in June. Thank you and keep posting menu photos, please. I am also interested in the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion and how far up the fjord the Solstice is able to travel.

[TRAVELBABE1]

Thank you so much for posting. It really builds our excitement for our June 24th sailing on the Solstice. We are considering doing the cruise excursion in Tracy Arm Fjord where you board a catamaran from the Solstice and are returned directly to Juneau after viewing the glaciers.

 

If you hear of anyone taking this excursion I would love to hear their opinions. I did read somewhere that the excursion is sometimes not offered in early May depending on the conditions.

 

Thanks again and make some wonderful memories this week.

 

-Heather

 

Hey Heather...we are also on the 6/24 sailing. Haven't seen you on the roll call, which is super quiet. We do have enough sign-ups for the connections party, though.

 

Beth

[SetU2]

Very eventful and full day today. A quick charge up at Cafe Al Bacio before breakfast in Blu. Our excursion was awesome. I'll add only a couple photos below and at the end I'll post many more on a photo sharing site and link to them. We first flew out to the Misty Fjords National preserve. The flight was about 30 minutes and felt like only 5. The views and narration were just spectacular. I sat in the co-pilot seat and we shared the plane with just one other couple. I'll include a picture from the front of the plane because it shows the props and another of a 1,000' waterfall that the pilot lowered his window for so I could get a better picture.

 

 

 

 

We then took a two hour boat back which let us get closer to many of the sight we had seen. We also had the great good luck to have a humpback follow along to the side of us. It breached several times but we never did get a picture. We also saw a couple of Eagles. The picture below is of the core of a volcano that the glaciers basically eroded leaving only a dormant magma chamber. It rises a couple hundred feet up.

 

 

 

I'll add another post as after we grab some after dinner drinks.

 

 

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[SetU2]

Here is the dinner menu from Blu tonight.

 

 

I had the Braised Ribs which were great. Sorry for those that mentioned pictures of food. I get all caught up in conversations and just never think about it. I'll try, but no promises. I can at least tell you almost everything has been good and several outstanding. Someone else asked about lines at bars. They can get very congested, especially the Martini bar. I've not yet gone to the Molecular bar but will on our next sea day and post the requested menu.

 

Below is the daily for tomorrow.

 

 

As you can see, tomorrow is the much anticipated Tracy Arm Fjord. We will disembark the ship to a smaller boat and hopefully get up close and personal with the glacier and wildlife. We then rejoin the Solstice in Juneau.

 

We get into the Fjord early, around 4:30 I believe so we intend to get up and have breakfast on our veranda. In fact that is where I am now, sitting in my robe, drinking a nightcap double shot of Baileys, catching up with you, and enjoying the breeze. Getting a bit late so the light is fading but here's a view from here.

 

 

I'll leave you with a quick shot of the Solstice from Ketchikan today.

 

 

 

 

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[SetU2]

This is a view as we pass through Endicott Arm.

 

 

We will explore this area if we are unable to get in to Tracy Arm. Breakfast just came so we will eat and enjoy. We have Brent Nixon narrating on the TV.

 

 

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[Sean McKay]

Here is the dinner menu from Blu tonight.

 

 

I had the Braised Ribs which were great. Sorry for those that mentioned pictures of food. I get all caught up in conversations and just never think about it. I'll try, but no promises. I can at least tell you almost everything has been good and several outstanding. Someone else asked about lines at bars. They can get very congested, especially the Martini bar. I've not yet gone to the Molecular bar but will on our next sea day and post the requested menu.

 

Below is the daily for tomorrow.

 

 

As you can see, tomorrow is the much anticipated Tracy Arm Fjord. We will disembark the ship to a smaller boat and hopefully get up close and personal with the glacier and wildlife. We then rejoin the Solstice in Juneau.

 

We get into the Fjord early, around 4:30 I believe so we intend to get up and have breakfast on our veranda. In fact that is where I am now, sitting in my robe, drinking a nightcap double shot of Baileys, catching up with you, and enjoying the breeze. Getting a bit late so the light is fading but here's a view from here.

 

 

I'll leave you with a quick shot of the Solstice from Ketchikan today.

 

 

 

 

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Thanks so much for this, sailing this cruise in two weeks.

 

Looking forward to the molecular bar menu, I have been trying to find a update one so this will be great!

[CruiserJess]

Loving this review!! We will be on her in 11 days! Being so early in the season we didn't think we would get to see a new review.

We are also booked on the Catamaran tour so very interested how that goes today. Best of Luck! Can't wait to read more, thank you!

[Billdacat]

Best places to watch the sail through Tracy Arm last week were the deck 14 sky lounge (got there at 515am for a 2nd row seat), and the observation deck outside of the deck 12 workout room (hardly anyone there).

[MustBCruzn]

We'll be boarding the Solstice this Friday as you're getting off. You've made me even more excited than I already was! :D

[Sean McKay]

Loving this review!! We will be on her in 11 days! Being so early in the season we didn't think we would get to see a new review.

We are also booked on the Catamaran tour so very interested how that goes today. Best of Luck! Can't wait to read more, thank you!

 

Hey Jessica, I am on that same cruise in 11 days! Can't wait! What caterman tour are you doing?

[Pliny the Elder]

Thank you very much for your review!

 

My wife and I will be on this cruise on June 24! Celebrating our 25th Anniversary!

 

-Ron

[RICCruisers]

Billdacat - were there speakers on the deck outside the fitness center to be able to hear Brent Nixon?

 

My DW does yoga out there on some mornings.

[SetU2]

We are doing Endicott Arm today. I guess I got up just a little late to hear that announcement. There was too much ice in Tracy Arm. Still looking forward to getting up close and personal with all that we saw as we entered into it this morning. Having not been here before, I'm not sure how disappointed I should be. But you can't really control Mother Nature.

 

 

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[SetU2]

We went into the Endicott Arm versus the Tracy Arm. The ship got as close as about a mile and a half out and we went onto the catamaran. We continued in to about one quarter mile from the Daws glacier. It rises around 400 feet from the water and is about 3/4 mile wide as seen here.

 

 

Here is our ship as it leaves the fjord.

 

 

There really no way to describe how awe inspiring this excursions was. I guess this is a new excursion for when Tracy Arm is intractable. The people from Allen Marine said in 4 years it was only the 2nd time for a couple of them and the first for the rest. We saw numerous occasions of calving of the ice, one creating enough a wave to rock our boat a bit from a quarter mile away. We saw numerous whales surface and dive. For a while it was as if we were in a whale minefield. We also saw many harbor seals, one giving birth and 4 or 5 eagles. On the way back we passed by the entrance to Tracy Arm and it had 4 or 5 huge hunks of ice blocking the entrance. Like the size of office buildings.

 

We are now back waiting for our tender to get into Juneau. It would be great if they could have dropped us off ashore but I also understand why they could not. I'll get some of wife's pictures later and add them later. We are now about 8 tenders away.

 

 

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[DCCruisin1]

Your pictures are just beautiful!! Sounds like an amazing experience!! You have got me so excited for my coming trip!! Don't like the sounds of how slow tendering is though!! :( Thank you so much for sharing!!

[number one eagles fan]

Ok, I'm convinced. I just booked this excursion.

 

-Heather

[CruiserJess]

Hey Jessica, I am on that same cruise in 11 days! Can't wait! What caterman tour are you doing?

 

The same as the OP is talking about above.

[SetU2]

Your pictures are just beautiful!! Sounds like an amazing experience!! You have got me so excited for my coming trip!! Don't like the sounds of how slow tendering is though!! :( Thank you so much for sharing!!

 

 

 

They tender every other week. We got back just as they started so we last ones off. We were in town by 4:15. About two hours. We just grabbed tender tickets then went up to buffet for a light lunch. We went into town just for some souvenir stuff. These are little towns and most of the shops are there for the cruise ships so it's kind of the same in each port. The excursions are where you'll really make or break your cruise.

 

We're kicking back in the Relaxation room, watching floatplanes land and take off, reading a bit before dinner, and enjoying a couple of martinis, a Sunset for me and a Chocolate Decadance for my wife, Shannon.

 

 

In a bit we will go upstairs dinner and I'll update again later.

[SetU2]

Oh, 4 other ships in Juneau today. Crown Princess , 2 Holland America (Westerdam and New Amsterdam) and one smaller from I think Oceana. The pier, shops and streets were chaotic but I'm a small-town Midwestern guy. Both Seattle and Ketchikan we were the only ship.

 

 

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Edited May 17, 2016 by SetU2

[Montana]

Oh, 4 other ships in Juneau today. Crown Princess , 2 Holland America (Westerdam and New Amsterdam) and one smaller from I think Oceana. The pier, shops and streets were chaotic but I'm a small-town Midwestern guy. Both Seattle and Ketchikan we were the only ship.

 

 

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We used to live in Fairfax MN near New Ulm and Redwood Falls

[SetU2]

We used to live in Fairfax MN near New Ulm and Redwood Falls

 

 

 

Shakopee