Celebrity Solstice Alaska cruise (8/26/16 - 9/2/16) review with many photos

[matondo]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review! We are booked on a Southbound cruise next August. Trying to learn as much as I can about Alaska cruises as this is probably going to be a once in a lifetime trip.

[Boxerlover2]

(Everybody was anxious to finally spot the glacier... oh the suspense)!

 

(One may think these officers had the best seat in the house, but I would disagree. Standing on the helipad feeling the cold freezing headwind hit my face as we cruised forward, soaking up the fresh morning air, and being surrounded by beautiful nature was truly an amazing experience that I would do all over again, if given the chance).

 

 

 

The Luminae Maitre d’ informed us the night before to avoid room service for breakfast, if possible, as this is the #1 choice of many passengers and the staff is extremely busy making and delivering food. The room service did not really work with our schedule anyway and so we decided to visit the Oceanview Buffet for the very first time; yes, you read it right... for the very first time because Luminae spoiled us for the past three days! The buffet was not as packed as we originally thought; I assume many passengers were on their balconies or out and about the ship to view the fjord.

 

We rushed through breakfast and came back to the cabin to grab our camera bags. With a few more minutes to spare, we snapped some more photos from our balcony.

 

 

 

(Ice, ice, baby... the glacier must be near. Can you spot the harbor seal?)

 

Fun fact: Due to being so rushed while taking the photos above from our balcony, we did not realize that the cruise ship had reach the glacier. Only just NOW, while choosing the photos to post and seeing the calm water with no wake, did I notice this fact. Obviously, if our cabin was forward or on the sides or if we had one of the Sky Suite (SS1) on the aft corner, we'd see the glacier! Nevertheless, as they say, save the best for last! (And it WAS worth the wait).

 

And with that, I'll say goodnight and post more tomorrow. Thank you for your patience as I get through each and every day of a review slowly, but surely.

Edited September 18, 2016 by Boxerlover2

[4774Papa]

Good review. Still, you have more photos of food than anything else.

We just did Alaska with NCL (we usually go with X), but the deal on NCL was just too good to pass up. It was a great cruise. Alaska is super.

[Boxerlover2]

Our excursion at 8am was the Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer and our meeting time was 7:30am at the top level of the main dining. We checked in with the X staff right on time, as requested, and then ended up sitting in the dining room for 25 minutes waiting. This was little frustrating as we were missing the views of the outside world (though the excursion made up for it, no questions asked). I am not sure why we had to meet so early but I can see that if they would change the meeting time to 7:45am, then some folks would probably leisurely walk in to check-in at 8:15am.

 

On our last Alaskan cruise in May 2014, I noticed a smaller boat next to the Solstice when we were stopped at the Sawyer Glacier (or quite far from it, actually) and I wondered if it was some kind of an excursion (and it was). After doing research and reading so many positive reviews back then and then again several months ago, I decided to book this excursion for this cruise. For those of you who may be wondering, the tour cost $209 per person and I booked it through Celebrity’s website. The excursion is run by Allen Marine Tours (http://www.allenmarinetours.com).

 

As we were waiting for our excursion in the main dining room, the captain was turning the ship around 360 degrees… twice! What a treat to everyone who was outside on their balconies and the decks. As for us, we continued to wait and wait until 8am to get off the ship.

 

When we finally got off the Solstice to board the high speed catamaran and after the Solstice made her turn to depart, we all realized that we are as close to the Dawes Glacier as it was possible. In a few minutes after boarding, the Solstice started its journey to Juneau and we were left to enjoy the beauty of the glacier for a while.

 

(On the catamaran with Solstice blocking the view of the glacier)

 

 

 

(There is the glacier... this was our first time that we set our eyes on it).

[Boxerlover2]

The catamaran had two outside decks and two inside ones. There was ample of space for everyone to see and take photos without having to push people out of the way. The captain turned the cat around multiple times, ensuring that everybody got a full 360 degree view of everything around us.

 

(Absolutely breathtaking)

 

 

 

(Solstice leaving for Juneau...)

 

(...with lots of people gathered on the aft upper decks for last photo opportunities)

 

I bundled up pretty well, but did not wear a hat or gloves. The temperature was chilly but not cold enough to bring snow gear. We also had company… besides the cute little harbor seals camping out on the broken pieces of ice, there were many many many small nets flying around us while the catamaran was still (unfortunately, I do not remember the name of this insect). The nets sort of looked like mosquitos until one looked at them closer.

 

(If you look closely, you'll see the nets all around us)

[Boxerlover2]

Edit: My apologies, I misspelled gnats in my previous post. :)

[Boxerlover2]

We spent a significant amount of time at the glacier, which was the highlight of the excursion. We also stopped VERY close to a waterfall and a cave/opening. The captain did an excellent job maneuvering the boat around.

 

 

 

 

 

It is important to note that the guide was not able to make any announcements through the speaker outside on the decks as this is not allowed in order to preserve the animals and nature. However, the guide was available and walked around the decks for any questions that we had.

 

Most of the way to Juneau to meet the Solstice was, simply put, boring. Lots of folks used this time nap or purchase some food, drinks, and souvenirs. The food sold on the ship was nothing spectacular; we bought a pretzel with cheese dip and it was not good. The hamburger that some folks ordered also did not look very tasty. The staff passed around crackers with smoked salmon pate to taste (1 cracker per person) and that was excellent.

 

The guide did a great job talking about various points along the way and teaching us about orcas and their migration to Hawaii and back to Alaska. We also learned a lot from the tour guide about the glaciers and how quickly they are receding. We passed by a huge piece of ice and also spotted a few humpback whales; the captain stopped the boat for us to take some photos. Lastly, we saw a couple of bald eagles.

 

 

We arrived back to Juneau and boarded the Solstice safely around 1:30pm. At that time, there were already people waiting to disembark the ship to explore Juneau.

 

We were so hungry and so we decided to visit the Oceanview Buffet for lunch. Surprisingly, it was very full! We found our spot, ordered some wine through the staff member who had a cart full of wine bottles, and enjoyed our lunch. Today was also the day that we would be eating a late dinner due to our evening excursion and so we ensured we ate little extra (not that we needed the additional calories ☺).

 

We have always preferred to find a table by the bar in the Oceanview Buffet – so we can quickly get our drinks from there and eat before our meal gets cold. The reason why we have been doing this is because on all of our previous cruises, the staff would barely come around to ask if we’d like to purchase anything to drink and so we learned to just go get our beverages from the bar. However, on this sailing, as soon as we sat down, we had a waiter come to us and asked us for our drink order. Perhaps they were still trying to sell the beverage packages?

 

Our second excursion, the Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip, was scheduled for 5pm, with meeting time at 4:45pm outside at the pier. We had about 2.5 hours to spare and so we visited the Persian Gardens (where we fell asleep for just a few minutes), outdoor hot tubs (where we had a couple of drinks), and we also spent some time in our favorite place, the Michael’s Club. If I remember correctly, this was also the day that we met a couple that had Zenith status; they invited us to sit with them and we somehow felt like celebrities because the MC bartender and another staff member constantly came by the table to serve us, ensuring the Zenith couple is taken care of. For the first time since embarkation day, I also saw food in MC… thin breadsticks from the Tuscan Grill that were brought to our table. We enjoyed our humorous conversations with the elderly couple and hoped that we would see them again before the end of the cruise.

[Boxerlover2]

My DH and I were extremely excited about our excursion. I have never been whitewater rafting and so, with a dash of fear, I was anxiously waiting what was yet to come. The Celebrity’s website was not very helpful in terms of how to dress appropriately for this excursion and so I did some research prior to our cruise and found a company that runs the float trip, Alaska Travel Adventures (https://www.bestofalaskatravel.com), and their website was much more helpful. Raingear, life jackets, and rubber boots were to be provided, according to the description, and so based on the information, we dressed accordingly. The bus drive to Mendenhall Lake was about 20 minutes and our bus driver spent the whole time introducing us to Juneau; he was very informative and funny and made the ride go by so quickly. Upon arrival, we were able to use restrooms, signed a waiver, and then geared up for the trip – rain boots, rain jackets and pants, helmets, and lifejackets were all waiting for us on the shore. (We placed our belongings that we did not need on the raft in bins that were brought to the final destination).

 

The guides were walking around and asking for volunteers to paddle. Before I had a chance to really think about this important decision, my husband volunteered us. Wait, what? I have never been on a raft and my one-time previous canoeing experience probably didn’t count either. Now I had to steer the raft with 12 other people on it? And it did not help that I ended up in the front row of the raft… oh, this was going to be interesting!

 

 

 

Our guide did an excellent job explaining how to get on the raft, how to paddle, and talked about other safety concerns and procedures. As we began our journey, I noticed that our raft was the only one that had people paddling; the rest of the rafts were rowed by a guide. (Our guide was sitting in the back of our raft and was also helping to paddle and steer).

 

Let me tell you, after about a minute of paddling, I was ready to switch with someone to take over my spot. It was not easy… or maybe I was doing it wrong. Either way, it took a lot of energy.

 

The route was 6 miles and included Class II and III whitewater with about 4 rapids total and the rest was just floating (I guess that is why they call it a float trip, intead of whitewater rafting). The temperature of the water was 36 degrees and one could definitely feel the cold when we went through the rapids and got heavily splashed! Throughout the whole way, it was also raining. The rain gear definitely helped to keep our clothes dry.

 

Our guide talked about Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier, history, etc. He was very informative and took the time to get to know each and every one of us. He pointed out several bald eagles along the way and kept us safe all the way to the end.

 

Once we got off the raft, our belongings were waiting for us as well as some snacks and beverages. They also had action photos displayed from our float that were available for purchase.

 

The ride was both thrilling and relaxing, depending on the location on the river. I am so happy that I was one of the few people paddling; it was such a great and fun experience and I would love to do it again.

 

(One suggestion that I would like to point out, for those that enjoy taking photos, is to purchase a waterproof cover for your phone for any water activities. My DH and I each bought one from Amazon for around $10 and it is money well spent! During the float trip, it held our sea pass cards and money and our phones never got wet).

 

We returned to the ship little after 8:30pm. I was craving some fried rice and so after we changed clothes, we decided to visit Silk Harvest, one of the specialty restaurants. We hoped that they could accommodate us without a reservation and they did.

 

We knew we could order as many dishes as we wanted, but after eating so much for the past four days, we wanted something simple but delicious. We decided to order the spring rolls and my DH ordered the miso soup as a starter. To share, we ordered fried rice and I also asked our waitress to bring just a little bit of the orange chicken. The waitress gave us an odd look and asked us if we would like anything else and ensured us that we could order as much as we’d like.

 

I am not sure why, but along with what we ordered for appetizer, she also brought us an extra dish, the spicy rock shrimp tempura; she said it was her favorite appetizer. Unfortunately, I do not eat shrimp and my husband can only eat a couple of pieces because he is allergic if he eats too much of it. And so majority the food went to waste.

 

All of our dishes were tasty; this was our second time eating in Silk Harvest and I really enjoy this restaurant (my DH prefers Tuscan Grill).

 

No Molecular Bar visit for us this evening as we were so exhausted from our long day and so we went directly back to our cabin after dinner and went to sleep.

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing

[Boxerlover2]

Day 5, Skagway, AK (30 August, 2016)

We had one excursion planned for this day - a train ride from Skagway to the Summit of the White Pass and back. Since our tour was not until 8am, we decided to get ready slowly and opted to skip Luminae for breakfast and ordered room service instead.

 

The butler delivered our breakfast and nicely set everything up on the coffee table inside the room. We typically choose to eat our breakfast on the balcony, but our balcony was covered in soot almost each morning (we did not experience any soot on our previous Alaska cruise) and so we enjoyed our breakfast inside.

Regarding the soot, our balcony was cleaned daily, but I did ask our stateroom attendants for extra towels to place on the chairs, just in case.

 

Our excursion tickets instructed us to meet for the tour at the pier next to the railway. We had no troubles finding the meeting spot but you had to be really careful to read your tickets and tour signs for the tour number as the company had various excursions meeting at the same time. We were one of the first people in line (the line started at the beginning of the last train car) and when they started boarding the train, it was up to us to choose the car we wanted to board on. I had read reviews that the last car is the best car as each car has a platform to step on and the last car offers the best unobstructed views. So we hopped into the last car, settled in our seats, and waited to start our 40.8-mile journey to the Summit of the White Pass.

 

The cost of this tour was $129 per person (we booked it onboard). I was first interested in booking the luxury car, which offered a more private tour as there are only about 12 seats in the car. This luxury car also included food and beverages and a tour guide. However, we could not justify paying little over $300 per person!

 

Surprisingly, our car was not completely full. We were instructed that two people occupy one seat and there were about two seats left open, which meant that less people would crowd the platform! We were able to visit the platform throughout the round-trip journey at any time, but as a courtesy, needed to allow others in the car to have their turn. Perhaps since it was chilly and raining at times, not too many folks were interested in standing outside on the platform. My husband and I, on the other hand, tried to use any opportunity we had to use the platform to take photos.

 

 

 

 

(Can you spot the cruise ships in the background in the photo on the right)?

 

 

Despite the cloudy and misty weather, the scenery still remained spectacular! We actually crossed the Canadian border, passed the White Pass Summit, and ended up in Fraser, BC to turn around; this added 14 additional miles to our journey. I think the reason they did this was so they did not have to move the locomotive to the last car for the way back, but I am not really sure. There were no speakers outside on the platform (where we spent most of the time) and so we missed a lot of the talks from the guide. The train ride up was about 1.5 hours and slightly shorter going down.

 

Seeing a bear was the last thing we were still waiting for; by that point, we've seen whales, bald eagles, dolphins, and harbor seals throughout our cruise and so we were hoping we would spot at least one bear on our last day in Alaska. We were half way down the journey back to Skagway when a couple behind us shouted “black bear!” Yes! Our list was complete. It was a small little fella crawling around boulders and even though we spotted him for only just a few seconds, it was the highlight of our day.

 

The tour guide that was located somewhere in the middle of the pack of the train cars did an absolutely fantastic job pointing out several points of attraction. We could clearly tell that she was truly passionate about her job. At the end, she walked through all the cars so we could meet her in person.

 

The company that operates the train is called White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad and you may find lots of great information on their website, including a brochure in several language and also an “All Aboard” magazine with more information and a map: https://wpyr.com.

[buckeye rob]

Thanks. Really great review and awesome pictures. Couldn't help noticing your jackets and raingear. Obviously packing for Alaska is different then for the Caribbean. Our cruise is for August 11, 2017. Saw the highest August temps are in the high 60s.Going to have to plan for that. :) Regards, Gerry.

Hi there. We were on deck 11 and so I can't speak for deck 12 and the noise. However, there is a chance that not that many people will be eating outside due to the colder weather and so the noise may be limited. One advantage of your location is the fact that all balconies on deck 12 are covered unlike all the rest of balconies on lower decks.

Michael's Club is now open to all suites; they changed this policy sometime last December, I believe. If you go to the Celebrity's website and click on "Onboard Experience" and then "Staterooms" and lastly "Suite Class," you should see that admittance to MC is open to Sky Suites as well.

Edited September 20, 2016 by buckeye rob

[Disnyfan2]

Can you open the windows in the train car?

[Boxerlover2]

Can you open the windows in the train car?

 

I didn't see a way to open them. However, I was impressed with how clean they were!

[Boxerlover2]

No Molecular Bar visit for us this evening as we were so exhausted from our long day and so we went directly back to our cabin after dinner and went to sleep.

 

EDIT: World Class Bar, not Molecular Bar.

[Boxerlover2]

After we got off the train, we decided to walk to town; my DH wanted a shirt with “Alaska” on it. Well, if you love getting good deals on your vacation, be sure to book your cruises toward the end of the season. The stores in Skagway offered “end of season” discounts and one of the t-shirt stores that we visited offered 50% off clothing. (I also noticed similar signs in Ketchikan). Of course, big discounts means huge amounts of people everywhere, including the t-shirt store (that had other souvenirs and things as well). I could not even get through some sections of the store because people were going crazy over the 50% off deal! Frustrated and hungry, I gave up trying to look for a t-shirt for myself and luckily did not have to wait too long for my husband to find his favorite; we checked out and headed back to the ship.

 

The walk to and from the town seemed a bit long… perhaps because the Solstice was docked all the way at the end of the pier, behind another ship. So, imagine walking from the aft of one ship all the way to the forward of the second ship... that's already a lot of walking! And then also add walking through the rest of the pier/harbor and around a park and then finally you will enter the town. If I used Google Maps correctly, then the distance shows almost 1 mile one-way.

 

(There are a couple of piers in Skagway that cruise ships use; the ship that you see in the photo is not where Celebrity Solstice was docked. Instead, look for the white line that I added to the picture... the aft of our ship was where the line begins with the number "0").

 

There is a shuttle (fee applies) that will take you to town, but you still have to walk to it from the ship and so you might as well walk the rest, if you’re fit. Golf carts were also available to take you from the ship to the shuttle stop (for a tip, I believe).

 

It started to rain when we were ready to get some lunch. We decided to check out what the Oceanview Buffet served and although there was a variety of good looking and tasty options, in the end, we chose to walk over to the Mast Grill and ordered a couple of cheeseburgers with fries. We didn’t mind eating outside and luckily, there was a table available under an awning, which protected us from the rain.

 

The rest of our time after lunch and before we departed Skagway was uneventful. The schedule did not list anything that we were interested in seeing or doing. Besides, we had dinner reservations in Tuscan Grill at 6pm and so we had to allocate enough time to get ready. And so we continued with our routine of visiting the Persian Gardens where we dozed off for a few minutes and later, we also had a couple of drinks in Michael’s Club and chatted with our favorite bartender, Jaya. Again, this venue was empty, except for one or two couples.

 

We showed up to Tuscan Grill at 6pm and received a table by the window. We saw the waiter that served us drinks in Michael’s Club during the first say day and asked him if he was available to be our waiter, but our table was not one of his. This was absolutely our mistake as we should had requested him when we checked-in with the Maitre d’ or even a few days before.

 

Since the Tuscan Grill menu was new, we took a little while to explore the items and options. It also took a while for our waiter to come back and take our order; we typically close our menus to signal that we have made a decision and our menus remained closed for maybe about 10 minutes. I was afraid that if this was a sign of how our evening will go, we are in for a real disappointment. Fortunately, after we ordered, the service improved and somehow we felt like we were the center of attention as our waiter came by very often to check on us.

 

My DH ordered the Crispy Calamari and I went with my usual that I always order from Tuscan Grill, the Classic Caesar. They used to make the salad table side, but no longer. Both appetizers were good. I also ordered the Cannellini Fagioli soup and I wish I could had taken a pot of it home! It was so so so good. Lastly, my DH and I ordered the broiled filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes. I was debating whether to pay the upcharge of $8 for the 8oz. USDA Prime Dry Aged NY Strip, but I figured the filet mignon would be as good. Unfortunately, I regretted my decision after I took one bite of my filet mignon. My DH and I thought the meat was just okay, which is not what we remembered from our previous visits to Tuscan Grill on other cruises. Also, they no longer offer mac and cheese, which was my favorite side! I cannot remember what dessert we chose to split; the menu that I took photos of does not list desserts and nor does the Celebrity’s website, which actually still lists the items from the old menu. For those of you pasta lovers, you may be pleased to know that the pasta served in Tuscan Grill is homemade!

 

Lastly, if you have a future Alaskan cruise booked and you are planning on eating in Tuscan Grill, I recommend making a reservation for the night that the ship departs out of Skagway (if this port will be included in your itinerary) and book it for the time that the ship is scheduled to depart, just like in our situation. We learned this secret (if I may call it that), from a waiter on our first Alaskan cruise. He told us that the view will be wonderful and it, indeed, has been for the past two times.

 

Honestly, eating dinner in Luminae instead of Tuscan Grill would had been just as good, if not better. We have learned (and my fellow cruise friend was the one that warned me about this) that there is really no reason to eat in speciality restaurants if you have access to Luminae.

 

Just a sidetone, our dinner in TG was free due to booking so long ago when they still offered one free speciality dining for a 7-day cruise for suites.

 

World Class Bar was our next stop after dinner where we spent a couple of hours. It was quiet at times and so we enjoyed getting to know the bartenders some more and learning about the drinks and various alcohol they use to create the speciality cocktails. We planned to visit the Ensemble Lounge to listen to the solo guitarist, Johny Mantra, but we had too much fun in sitting at the bar.

[Boxerlover2]

Thanks. Really great review and awesome pictures. Couldn't help noticing your jackets and raingear. Obviously packing for Alaska is different then for the Caribbean. Our cruise is for August 11, 2017. Saw the highest August temps are in the high 60s.Going to have to plan for that. :) Regards, Gerry.

 

Our first Alaskan cruise was in May a couple of years ago and, believe it or not, the weather then was better than the weather we had on this cruise. This time, we had rain everyday, compared to the first cruise during which we experienced sunshine almost every day! Either way Mother Nature will present Alaska to you, you'll love it.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Boxerlover2

[beachgirl111]

I am so excited to see your post and read it in its entirety soon. We are going on our first Alaska cruise next August on the Millennium... I will say I am jealous that you were on Solstice - our first Celebrity ship and our favorite!! We sailed on the Infinity in April for a Panama Canal cruise and while we prefer the S class ship it was a good cruise. Hoping the Millennium is in good shape when we sail next year! Looks like your pictures are fantastic - what type of camera and lens did you use?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with your CC friends!!

[Boxerlover2]

Day 6, 2nd Sea Day (31 August, 2016)

We were looking forward to the 2nd sea day. We did not have to get up at a certain, which was a plus as I am not a morning person. Honestly, the only reason that we got up somewhat at a descent time was so we did not miss breakfast in Luminae, which ended at 9:30am. This day was also the second Chic night and not only were we looking forward to the evening show, called Rock City, we were also excited to attend a gathering in Michael’s Club to meet the officers.

 

After missing two dinners in Luminae in a row, during breakfast, the staff did remember that they haven’t seen us in two days and welcomed us back with a big smile (they probably wondered why we skipped Luminae for the past two evenings).

 

After breakfast, I told my DH that I’m going to visit the Future Cruise Vacations office to see what deals, if any, they were offering. After grabbing a few flyers and reviewing them, I decided to consult with my DH about some of the options that we have in booking our next cruise. Since we were so happy with our suite experience, we agreed that we’ll book our next cruise in a suite cabin. This decision offered us $250 OBC (for a 7-day sailing) that we could either apply to our current or future cruise.

 

And so I came back to the Future Cruise Vacations office. Knowing that we can’t take another cruise for the next year or so right due to my husband’s unpredictable job schedule, I let the Future Cruise Vacations staff know to just choose a random 7-day cruise to the Caribbean and apply the $250 credit toward our current cruise.

 

We paid $250 non-refundable deposit; the terms of the reservation state that the cruise can’t be cancelled but it can be changed to another ship or sail date. We know we will cruise again eventually and so we took an advantage of the deal. (This also bumped the OBC higher in our onboard account and so we were also able to receive a refundable OBC back from our travel agency at the end of our sailing).

 

Next stop at 11:30am was the Galapagos Islands presentation by Future Cruise Vacations staff. My DH was interested in going to see the Secrets of Ships Navigation presentation with the staff captain, but he decided to join me instead. I saw the Galapagos Islands presentation once already on a previous sailing and was quite impressed and so I wanted to hear it again. This time around, the presentation was more informative and the slideshow and photos were nicely put together and eye catching as well (they sure know how to lure people into booking this specific sailing ☺). On a scale of 1-10, our interest in cruising around the Galapagos Islands has gone from 1 to 10! I even looked up the prices and more information as soon as I had access to the internet.

 

Although we were still full from breakfast, we went to get lunch in Luminae… how could we resist the delicious food and at this point, who was counting the extra calories? I mentioned to the Maitre d’ that the Cannellini Fagioli soup that I had in Tuscan Grill for dinner the day prior was my favorite and he called around to see what soups they had available across the ship as he came back with some choices; he was an excellent Maitre d’ who ensured that we were pleased with our dining experience!

 

We asked for mimosas to go from the sommelier in Luminae and walked over to the theater to listen to a presentation by Brent Nixon, “Orca, the Killer Whale.” Brent Nixon is a marine research naturalist and I remembered this gentleman from our first cruise to Alaska, but never went to any of his presentations. I did read recent cruisers’ reviews prior to our cruise who said he is so good and so my DH and I gave one presentation a try… and we were sold! Brent Nixon is absolutely amazing – his passion for marine life, his enthusiasm and humor, and his overall personality really made all the presentations that we attended memorable. (He also provided the narration as the Solstice explored Endicott Arms and Dawes Glacier). The orcas presentation lasted about an hour, but every minute listening to Brent was so educational and worth it. If you ever have a chance to listen to him speak, please do so!

 

After the presentation, we tried our luck in the casino playing slot machines. After losing half of what we put in, we cashed out the remaining few dollars and walked away. My DH always has luck winning, but not this time.

 

Of course, the Persian Gardens were our next destination in the early afternoon. We also experienced louds talkers there on this visit, which almost made me want to leave the area.

 

My DH and I enjoyed the hot tubs afterwards and he even took a plunge in the pool! Brrrr.

 

Before we had to get ready for another Chic Night and take some photos before dinner, we stopped by Michael’s Club for a drink. There were a few people there this time around, which was great to see as we did not feel so alone (but being there alone has also been quite nice).

 

Here is us in our evening “chic” clothes right before going to dinner. This time, we decided to just take photos on our balcony since it was cloudy and the photos would come out fine (unlike during our first sea day when the sun was so strong and we had to find a better spot elsewhere).

 

 

Lobster was served across the ship on the 2nd sea day and since I do not eat shellfish, I hoped that the Luminae menu would offer something that would appeal to me. Here is the menu from the 2nd sea day.

 

 

My DH and I skipped ordering an appetizer (to save room for dessert) and so he ordered the Lobster and I decided to try the Chateaubriand! I cannot tell you how the lobster tasted, but my, oh, my was my dish good. Words cannot even express how much I enjoyed the chateaubriand; it tasted better than the one that we once ordered in Murano!

 

 

 

And don’t even get me started on the wonderful desserts! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the dessert menu, but here are two pictures of the ones that we ordered. My choice was the black forest cake, which also became my favorite dessert! I can’t recall the name of the one that my DH ordered.

 

 

 

After dinner, we went to Michael’s Club to meet the officers. (I assume the invitation for this event was only offered to the suite guests and Zenith, but I may wrong). When we walked in, we spotted the Zenith couple and they invited us to sit with them again. The couple was definitely known by the officers as several of them came by to talk to them. The Staff Captain, Ilias Stefanatos, spent some time by our table and ended up chatting with me and my husband for quite some time. We remembered him well from one of our previous cruises on the Equinox a few years ago; we had a chance to sit with him at the Captain’s table during one evening.

There was also a guitarist playing during the gathering and although the music was lovely, it was too loud and difficult to have a conversation. Hors d'oeuvres were also served, which looked tasty, but we were so full from dinner and had to turn them down.

 

It was time for the evening show, Rock City. Many staff members, including the cruise director, mentioned that this is an excellent show and so we looked forward to it. Just like during the first chic night, our butler welcomed us at the entrance of the theater (upper deck) and took us to the reserved seating area for the suites. I must say that this benefit is quite nice. Of course we can find our own seat in the theater, but in order to get a good seat, one has to show up way early. With the reserved seating, we did not have to rush to the theater to claim a seat with a great view.

 

I young bartender came by our section and my husband told me to speak to him in Czech (the language that I grew up speaking). I looked at his name tag and sure enough, he was from my home country, the Czech Republic. It was so exciting to speak in Czech with him and I am sure he appreciated it as well.

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the show very much. Many of the rock songs were produced before or around the time that I was born and so I could not sing along nor was this type of music the one that I listen to typically. Of course, many others would disagree with me about the show and that is completely understandable. However, one thing is for sure - the cast/crew did an EXCELLENT job singing and dancing; they certainly are very talented individuals!

 

After the show, we spent little bit of time at the World Class Bar before heading back to our cabin.

[binbali]

Wow,I have to say this is one of the best reviews and pics of Alaska that I have read and seen. Loving it,I am so looking forward to our cruise to Alaska next May on the Solstice. I have only heard excellent reviews about Brett Nixon so i hope he will still be there next May. Looking forward to the rest. Thank you for taking the time to do such a thorough review with wonderful pics.

[easyboy]

You both looked fabulous on your Day 6 before dinner photo!

Enjoying your review.

[Boxerlover2]

Day 7, Victoria, B.C. (1 August, 2016)

Waking up on day seven, reality hit me hard – this was going to be the last day before disembarking tomorrow. Last day to enjoy the good food, chat with and get to know our favorite staff, relax in Persian Gardens, and spend time in Michael’s Club. I don’t know about you, but on the last day, I always feel sad, which only means that Celebrity Cruises did everything right to make our vacation memorable.

 

I like the Victoria day. With this itinerary, you get a full day at sea before arriving to port around 5:30pm. On this day, Luminae was also open for lunch!

 

And so we woke up at our leisure, but in time to enjoy our last breakfast in Luminae before its closing time at 9:30am. I ordered the blueberry pancakes, which caught my eye during our first breakfast in Luminae and so I treated myself to just a couple of them instead of the whole stack, but also opted for the syrup, whip cream, and fruit… you know, the whole works that probably added up to a thousand calories. My DH and I also ordered mimosas to go with our breakfast.

 

Looking over the daily schedule the night before, we knew that our day was going to be packed with things to do and see.

 

Since we really enjoyed Brent Nixon’s presentation the day before, we decided to go to another one. This one was about bald eagles. We learned a lot in a matter of one hour and wished we could sit there all day long and listen to him speak. And we also wished we had gone to see more of his presentations earlier in the cruise, such as the humpback whales as well as brown and black bears. He’s truly amazing.

 

At 11:30am, “Titanic: The Last Song” was scheduled in the theater presented by Mary Amanda. For those of you who have cruised with Brent Nixon onboard, did you know that Mary Amanda is married to him? This was certainly an interesting fact to find out. Mary Amanda Fairchild, mainly known as Miss Amanda, had a few presentations scheduled throughout the sailing about the various ports in the itinerary.

 

The Titanic presentation was certainly not one that you expected to hear; we thought that Mary Amanda would speak about the history of the ship, etc., but the whole point of the presentation was to tell us in the end what song was last played on the ship as it was sinking. I did not know this, but supposedly the final song that the band played has been up to debate. Throughout the whole presentation, Mary Amanda gave us important information that led to the reveal of the title of the last song played. It was a fantastic presentation given by a woman who works for the Titanic Historical Society and speaks around the world on behalf of this organization. We learned a lot!

 

It was lunch time! Luminae listed one of our favorite soups on the menu, the creamy heirloom tomato soup that we first tried during lunch on 1st sea day, and so we looked forward to consuming a bowl of this soup once again! We also both ordered the Luminae signature burger with fries.

 

I was feeling slightly sea sick all morning and after lunch and so we stopped by Café Al Bacio to get some tea for me and coffee for my husband. As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, this method of sitting in a wide open space helps decrease the sickness for me.

 

After spending some time in Café Al Bacio, we walked over to Michael’s Club for one last time. Jaya, the bartender, was there again and we were very pleased to see him. We actually gave him a nice tip the day before, just in case we would not run into him again. We also noticed a couple that was there that we got to know through dining in Luminae and so my DH and I decided to ask them if they would like to eat the last meal together with us. We were delighted that they accepted and looked forward to meeting up with them later in the evening.

 

Our next scheduled event that we were interested in attending was a Mixology Class at 2pm at the World Class Bar. Several days prior, the WCB bartenders let us know about this class and encouraged us to come. Another reason why I wanted to take this class was the fact that I would be able to stand behind the WCB, as silly as it may sound; but after all, it was my our favorite bar!

 

It was almost 2pm and my DH and I were the only ones sitting at the bar waiting for the class to begin. We secretly hoped that we would have a private class... until a gentleman showed up. Okay, we were ready to start, but… not so fast, he was still waiting for his spouse to come too and so the bartenders waited a few more minutes. Since she still was not coming, Loyda and Dimitri (the bartenders) decided to kick off the mixology class. I am the type of a person who is always on time, if not earlier, and so it bothered me that showing up as scheduled/requested was not taken seriously by some passengers. My high school tennis coach once told our team, “If you’re not five minutes early, you’re late.” ☺

 

Initially, my husband did not want to take the class so he could take photos, but he did not feel right if he were to sit at the bar listening to the class and learn all the information without paying and so he decided to sign up and participate as well.

 

Loyda led the class and Dimi was assisting. Loyda taught us some basic bartending skills and gave us lots of information about juices and alcohol… and all those ingredients that they used in WCB. There were four of us in the class and so we each got to create a cocktail from behind the bar! This was an exciting time for me; after sitting at the WCB almost every evening and watching the bartenders create specialty drinks, I felt honored to stand where they work so hard every night! We got excellent pictures, drank four small cocktails, and learned some basics. But... most of all, we had a wonderful time!

 

 

 

 

 

(Our favorite photo)!

 

The cost of the class was $25 per person. We knew there was a fee for this event because the bartenders gave us this information a few days prior, but it was also listed in the daily program. For those of you who may be new to Celebrity, you’ll know if a fee applies to any event if there are two asterisks listed next to the event on the program (or at least this was the case with our dailies): Example: “**Indicates a fee is applicable for this activity.”

 

We tipped the WCB bartenders each time that we visited the venue, but we also gave them an extra tip after the class. The WCB was going to be closed this evening and so this was the last time we would see them and the last opportunity to say thank you.

 

After the mixology class, we came back to the cabin and I started gathering and packing my clothes. My DH does not stress much over this activity and chose to pack after dinner. For me, I rather get things done right away and then know I can relax for the rest of the time.

[Boxerlover2]

We also spent a little while in Persian Gardens for one last time before having to get ready for dinner with our new friends. (My DH and I chose not to get off the ship in Victoria as we have already visit there once while living in Washington).

 

I did not bring my camera into Luminae on the last day as I did not want to bother the couple with constantly taking photos of our meals, but I did take a photo of the last dinner menu with my phone.

 

 

I skipped ordering an appetizer and dessert and chose to just order the cauliflower fried rice. I typically have to have some kind of meat with my meal, but the fried rice stood out to me the most on the menu. The rest of our table ordered the grilled sirloin and no one complained about their dish and so I assume they all enjoyed it.

 

(Cauliflower Fried Rice)

 

Our last dinner in Luminae was bittersweet. We celebrated making new friends but were so sad that our vacation has come to an end.

 

The next morning was going to be an early day and so we said our goodbyes, thanked the Luminae staff for a job well done, and returned to our stateroom to finish packing (for me) and start packing for my DH ☺.

 

My 31st birthday was also the next day and so my husband let our stateroom attendants know this fact without me knowing. I just have to say that it was a very nice surprise coming back to the cabin and seeing all the decorations! It was great touch and a great way to end our cruise.

 

 

[KatEnz]

Beautiful photos and amazing review.. I haven't sailed Celebrity yet, but considering it for a family vacation to Alaska next year. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

 

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[YvonneM1967]

What a wonderful review - I am sailing Celebrity Solstice for the first time from Hawaii to Sydney - I have loved reading your review especially about MC and the restaurants - we have booked a Sky Suite and it's nice to know that MC will be available to us - I had previously been told we would not have access to MC in a Sky Suite. You've made me even more excited to be sailing X for the first time. Thank you so much!

 

 

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[Caribbean Chris]

I've enjoyed this review so much! You and your husband really maximized a wonderful vacation experience, and your photos are terrific. I especially appreciated all the details because friends were on this cruise, too.

 

You've helped build the anticipation for our next cruise in December on Eclipse also in a Sky Suite. Looking forward to our second Luminae and Michaels Club experience.