New to Celebrity- Going to Alaska on Solstice

[mosleyman]

My family will be doing an Alaskan cruise in August 2019. We are very excited. We have only ever sailed Carnival and was wondering what I should know about Solstice or Celebrity. Can we bring our own bottled water/soda on? Anything about the entertainment? I do not pay for any speciality dining when cruising. Which restuarants are available as I have booked a veranda cabin. Where is the best place to get breakfast. Do they have made to order omelet at the buffet? Just stupid stuff like that...Thank you in advance.

[MVPinBoynton]

My family will be doing an Alaskan cruise in August 2019. We are very excited. We have only ever sailed Carnival and was wondering what I should know about Solstice or Celebrity. Can we bring our own bottled water/soda on? Anything about the entertainment? I do not pay for any speciality dining when cruising. Which restuarants are available as I have booked a veranda cabin. Where is the best place to get breakfast. Do they have made to order omelet at the buffet? Just stupid stuff like that...Thank you in advance.

 

I took the Solstice Alaska cruise last year with a very complete review including photos of all the public areas, along with menus. This could answer some of your questions. The link to the review is in my signature.

 

They have made to order omelettes at the buffet and very good. To us, the buffet is the best place for breakfast, since the selection is better and there is no waiting to be served.

[jelayne]

Welcome to Celebrity. I think you will find it to be more upscale/refined than Carnival. The ship is beautiful, not as glitzy as Carnival. There is no Comedy club like Carnival and we miss that.

 

The included dining venues for a veranda cabin are the MDR, the Oceanview Cafe, the Spa Cafe, the Mast Grill (hamburgers, hot dogs, fries). The pizza & pasta stations are in the Oveanview Cafe.as is the ice cream- very good, flavors change daily. The gelato on Deck 5 has has a charge, IMHO not as good as the included ice cream. Cafe al Bacio on Deck 5 has excellent, danish, pies, cakes, cookies and there is no charge for these. The beverages at Cafe al Bacio (speciality coffees, Teas, etc) do have a charge. There are 2 stations in the OVC that have made to order omelets.

Enjoy Alaska & Celebrity

[gerelmx]

My family will be doing an Alaskan cruise in August 2019. We are very excited. We have only ever sailed Carnival and was wondering what I should know about Solstice or Celebrity. Can we bring our own bottled water/soda on? YES

 

Anything about the entertainment? all nights show at 7 and 9 PM

 

I do not pay for any speciality dining when cruising.

 

Which restuarants are available as I have booked a veranda cabin. MDR & OVC

 

Where is the best place to get breakfast. MDR & OVC

Do they have made to order omelet at the buffet? YES at MDR & OVC

Just stupid stuff like that...Thank you in advance.

 

In red my answers

[Lastdance]

My family will be doing an Alaskan cruise in August 2019. We are very excited. We have only ever sailed Carnival and was wondering what I should know about Solstice or Celebrity. Can we bring our own bottled water/soda on? Anything about the entertainment? I do not pay for any speciality dining when cruising. Which restuarants are available as I have booked a veranda cabin. Where is the best place to get breakfast. Do they have made to order omelet at the buffet? Just stupid stuff like that...Thank you in advance.

 

Celebrity is more upscale than Carnival and definitely not as lively with all the drinking and partying, IMHO. Entertainment is not one of Celebrity's strong points, but there are some good venues at times. Your meals will be in the MDR and since you will not be trying any specialty restaurants(too bad) you will eat dinner there or the Ocean View Cafe. Breakfast is also good at the OVC and you can have your eggs made there too.

 

Personally, you will enjoy the ship and the ambience with your family and you can bring some soda and water too. Just curious about why you chose Celebrity?

[mosleyman]

Thanks for the replies...will definitely check out your review MVP

[mosleyman]

Last Dance...I had narrowed it down to between Celebrity and Carnival...some of the other ships had such a large price difference that I could not justify it. Celebrity was more expensive than Carnival; however, I wanted to try something different. Also, from what I can remember the I liked the port times that Celebrity had. We have done 3 cruises with Carnival and have enjoyed them all...nothing negative to say.

[Lastdance]

Last Dance...I had narrowed it down to between Celebrity and Carnival...some of the other ships had such a large price difference that I could not justify it. Celebrity was more expensive than Carnival; however, I wanted to try something different. Also, from what I can remember the I liked the port times that Celebrity had. We have done 3 cruises with Carnival and have enjoyed them all...nothing negative to say.

 

Well, glad you did your homework. I cannot imagine you not liking Celebrity, especially their S class ships. MVPinBoynton's reviews are always very thorough, along with his photos. You will know just about everything after seeing his review. Your food should also be much better, but of course food is very subjective...I love Chateaubriand in Murano for special occasions, but that is extra except they have great sales on the ship the very first night. we have done Alaska on Celebrity, but did an M class ship due to the choice of ports. We had been there before, but for your first Celebrity cruises the Solstice is a good choice. The cabins have a good layout and the bathrooms are good too. I personally love Celebrity for European cruises, as there are some great itineraries! Celebrity has an older vide than Carnival, but you have done three cruises on Carnival so far that it is time to branch out a little. also, some of Celebrity's prices are through the roof nowadays with the economy going great guns!

Edited April 15, 2018 by Lastdance

[colocop004]

Alaska was my first Celebrity Cruise as well, and now my favorite cruise line. The solstice is an amazing ship. Remember the other free dining venues, everyone is mentioning the Ocean View Cafe and the Main dining room but they are not the only ones.

 

 

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[Muffinz]

We just got back from our cruise on Solstice - it was our first cruise and we were impressed

entertainment, service and food were all great

as others have mentioned the Main Dining Room and Ocean View Cafe (buffet) are free as is the spa cafe and the pastries / cakes at Cafe Al Bacio

However, if you want to go to one of the speciality restraurants like Tuscan Grille / Murano / Silk Harvest or Sushi on 5 you will have to pay extra to dine there.... we didn't need to because we felt the food in the main dining room was fantastic

[varoo]

I took the Solstice Alaska cruise last year with a very complete review including photos of all the public areas, along with menus. This could answer some of your questions. The link to the review is in my signature.

 

Just want to thank you for pointing us to another of your wonderful photo reviews; and also to let you know how much we appreciate your putting in the time and effort to create them, and then kindly share them with the rest of us.

 

Looking at your terrific photos brought back memories of our own Alaska cruise on the Solstice a few years ago, and also of our land trips through the fabulous Canadian Rockies. We did that land trip on our own with a rental car one time, and with a private organization's land tour several years later.

Now your photos make us want to go back and do it again.

We also were disappointed that the Solstice got the worst berthing positions at the Alaska ports. When we went on her, the Solstice even had to tender at Juneau every other week.

Granted that the Solstice is the most modern and beautiful of Celebrity's three ships going to Alaska, but having also taken Alaska cruises through the years on both the Infinity and Millennium, we prefer either of those ships over the Solstice for Alaska.

The reason is that both M-class ships have better itineraries and better docking positions in Alaska than the Solstice.

They also have much better promenade decks, which are great for sightseeing.

Our personal preference is for the Millennium routing, either to or from Seward, or both ways, or combined with an Alaska land trip.

 

 

But for those wanting a 7 day round trip Alaska cruise on an S-class ship with a better itinerary, it looks like the Eclipse will be taking over the Infinity's route in 2019. I am guessing that it will also probably get to keep the Infinity's great docking locations at the Alaska ports.

Edited April 16, 2018 by varoo

[MVPinBoynton]

Just want to thank you for pointing us to another of your wonderful photo reviews; and also to let you know how much we appreciate your putting in the time and effort to create them, and then kindly share them with the rest of us.

 

Looking at your terrific photos brought back memories of our own Alaska cruise on the Solstice a few years ago, and also of our land trips through the fabulous Canadian Rockies. We did that land trip on our own with a rental car one time, and with a private organization's land tour several years later.

Now your photos make us want to go back and do it again.

We also were disappointed that the Solstice got the worst berthing positions at the Alaska ports. When we went on her, the Solstice even had to tender at Juneau every other week.

Granted that the Solstice is the most modern and beautiful of Celebrity's three ships going to Alaska, but having also taken Alaska cruises through the years on both the Infinity and Millennium, we prefer either of those ships over the Solstice for Alaska.

The reason is that both M-class ships have better itineraries and better docking positions in Alaska than the Solstice.

They also have much better promenade decks, which are great for sightseeing.

Our personal preference is for the Millennium routing, either to or from Seward, or both ways, or combined with an Alaska land trip.

 

 

But for those wanting a 7 day round trip Alaska cruise on an S-class ship with a better itinerary, it looks like the Eclipse will be taking over the Infinity's route in 2019. I am guessing that it will also probably get to keep the Infinity's great docking locations at the Alaska ports.

 

Thank you for your very nice comments about our review. Our first Alaska cruise was on the Infinity and we had one of the large aft balconies, so we really enjoyed that cruise a lot. With the Infinity leaving and returning to Vancouver and not stopping for an evening in Victoria, the itinerary had pretty much full days in the three Alaskan ports we visited; along with Hubbard Glacier. It was much better for us than the current Solstice itinerary.

 

I do think the one way itineraries are better, especially if combined with an Alaskan land tour. Like you, we thoroughly enjoyed extending our vacation by visiting the Canadian Rockies. The Banff area is just an amazing place with so much beauty.

[varoo]

....... I have booked a veranda cabin. Where is the best place to get breakfast.......

Just want to add to the places already mentioned that you can also get breakfast from room service. There is no charge, unless you order any of the extra charge items, which are indicated on the menu.

We like to use room service for a quick wake up breakfast on the veranda while watching the ship dock in the morning, and then get dressed and go to the OVC or dining room or spa cafe for a full breakfast later.

 

But at ports where we have an early excursion, we order a full room service breakfast, to save time. One person can be eating while the other is in the bathroom or getting dressed.

 

There should be a breakfast hang tag in your cabin where you can mark off the items you want, pick the time you want it delivered, and hang it on your door at night before going to sleep, just as at hotels.

You can write stuff in on the tag (such as which flavor yogurt you prefer, or how you want your eggs cooked, or which flavor tea you prefer) and they will provide it, if they can.

 

Or you can order room service from the menu on your interactive TV at any hour of the day.

(There is a charge if you order late at night, after 11 p.m. or so, as I recall.)

 

Ask your stateroom attendant for some deck blankets to bundle up on your balcony, if needed. There may already be some in a closet or drawer.

 

Just so you are aware that Celebrity is quieter, more subdued and laid back than Carnival, you should not be disappointed.

Really hope you will like it as much as we do.

[mosleyman]

I justed wanted to say thank you to those who responded. I appreciate the suggestions and tips given.

[Fenella13]

I took the Solstice Alaska cruise last year with a very complete review including photos of all the public areas, along with menus. This could answer some of your questions. The link to the review is in my signature.

 

They have made to order omelettes at the buffet and very good. To us, the buffet is the best place for breakfast, since the selection is better and there is no waiting to be served.

 

We sail on the Solstice to Alaska in a couple of weeks. First time with Celebrity and only our 3rd cruise. Your review is fabulous and so informative, thanks for posting.

[ksws64]

I took the Solstice Alaska cruise last year with a very complete review including photos of all the public areas, along with menus. This could answer some of your questions. The link to the review is in my signature.

http://www.thepreismans.com/alaska_17_page1.htm

~~~~~~~

Thank you for such an amazing review of your Alaska cruise! The link in your signature provided so much information! You gave great descriptions, links to menus, dailies, lots of photos... it was better than getting a book on the cruise and its ports. Thank you for that hard work!! I'd recommend anyone looking for information on this cruise/ports take a look at your page.

 

Thanks again!

Edited April 26, 2018 by ksws64