Solstice Secrets

[Michidoeme]

On 8/26/2018 at 5:23 PM, Ginger Pop said:

We are on the Solstice Oct 29 SYD 10 days to Great Barrier Reef and Nov.9NZ on it. Any suggestions about weather or any good shore excursions you took?

If you are stopping in Akaroa, we can highly recommend the Mail Run.   This was the best tour we took.  Just google Akarora Mail run.  They have only place for 8, but as it is not very known, maybe you still have a chance.

We did Aus-NZ in Nov 2018.  Had all kinds of weather; mostly sunny but rather chilly and couple rainy days.  Packed too much summer clothes and not enough sweaters.

The week afterwards spent on land on South Island was very wet and cold - down to 7 C, which everyone said was exceptional.  The week before in Aus was warmer - up to 35 C couple of days.

Edited February 16, 2019 by Michidoeme

[Kmangel]

Regarding ice buckets.  I always ask for an ice bucket to keep my wine bottle in and the steward obliges and keeps it filled with ice each day.  However, the last cruise we took, the steward brought us a Champagne bottle bucket and it fit the wine bottle much better!  Room to spare.  

[Tourist1292]

We are on Solstice right now on the way to Victoria. The MDR has great food. Lobster is on the second sea day which was last night for us. You can order two or even more lobster tails on the same plate. We got the drinking package as a perk after the upgrade. You drink a lot of premium coffee everyday and it is available at multiple places. You don't have to go to the Cafe for a latte or espresso.

[smmountaingal]

3 hours ago, Tourist1292 said:

We are on Solstice right now on the way to Victoria. The MDR has great food. Lobster is on the second sea day which was last night for us. You can order two or even more lobster tails on the same plate. We got the drinking package as a perk after the upgrade. You drink a lot of premium coffee everyday and it is available at multiple places. You don't have to go to the Cafe for a latte or espresso.

Hello, Tourist1292.  We are on this ship on June 21st.  I will be anxious to know which nights are Chic nights and the Celebrity Show nights.  Is Brent Nixon and Miss Amanda on your ship?

 

[Tourist1292]

1 hour ago, smmountaingal said:

Hello, Tourist1292.  We are on this ship on June 21st.  I will be anxious to know which nights are Chic nights and the Celebrity Show nights.  Is Brent Nixon and Miss Amanda on your ship?

 

Yes, both Nixon and Amanda are on the ship and their presentations are great. The chic nights are on the sea days. There are shows everyday.but night 2, 4, and 6 are by the Celebrity company.

[gold1953]

On 8/26/2018 at 4:38 PM, gofloat said:

Can you get real maple syrup on Celebrity cruises or do I need to bring my own? I am a maple syrup fanatic.

 

real maple syrup in Blu if you are Aqua class. None for buffet or MDR

[smmountaingal]

17 hours ago, Tourist1292 said:

Yes, both Nixon and Amanda are on the ship and their presentations are great. The chic nights are on the sea days. There are shows everyday.but night 2, 4, and 6 are by the Celebrity company.

Thank you, Tourist1292.  I assume you are on your way home today from this cruise.  Would love your feedback if you post it anywhere.

 

 

[bonsai3s]

Just off the beautiful Solstice this morning. Some random thoughts...

* Great crew!

* Maria Tudor, CC hostess, was wonderful...she spoke to everyone and was very friendly.

* Regrettably, no port valet for our cruise.

* Friendliest employees at Pier 91 in Seattle.

* Absolutely the funniest Captain...Captain Tasos.

* Wishing our stop in Victoria was longer...it was only 6pm to 10pm.

* Brent Nixon was outstanding!!! DO NOT MISS the early sailing through Tracy Arm/Endicott...simply beeathtaking.

* We were blessed with sunny and warm weather at all our ports.

* Great food and service in the Blu.

* Uber from Pier 91 to SeaTac was $41.

[ccotting]

On 8/3/2018 at 2:51 PM, TXRed said:

 

Thanks...I like waffle a lot!! I usually don't like sweet foods for breakfast. But I do like waffles with butter and maple syrup every once in a while.

 

They have lovely orange flavoured butter to have with the pancakes and waffles in the buffet

[smmountaingal]

14 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Just off the beautiful Solstice this morning. Some random thoughts...

* Great crew!

* Maria Tudor, CC hostess, was wonderful...she spoke to everyone and was very friendly.

* Regrettably, no port valet for our cruise.

* Friendliest employees at Pier 91 in Seattle.

* Absolutely the funniest Captain...Captain Tasos.

* Wishing our stop in Victoria was longer...it was only 6pm to 10pm.

* Brent Nixon was outstanding!!! DO NOT MISS the early sailing through Tracy Arm/Endicott...simply breathtaking.

* We were blessed with sunny and warm weather at all our ports.

* Great food and service in the Blu.

* Uber from Pier 91 to SeaTac was $41.

Thank you Bonsai3s.

[Tourist1292]

We stayed at Seattle for a few more days after cruise and are finally on the way home. Our cruise to Alaska on Solstice was great. The only complaint is on the wifi/internet connection inside the cabin most of the time. The connection in the theater is better. Nevertheless, I found the connection in the balcony of our room to be very good. We could do streaming on two devices simultaneously through a travel router. I wish we found that out earlier. Other than that, the food.at MDR was great and the service was good. Best of all, we got great weather throughout the whole trip including our precruise and post cruise stays. We saw a lot of whales (even on the way to Victoria on the ship) and many bears. It was just too early in the season for salmons.

By the way, the shows are not bad, except for a couple of them. The comedians for the first and the last shows are pretty good and the magician Jason Bishop is pretty funny too. The other shows are most by the Celebrity Company which are decent to good too.

Edited May 20, 2019 by Tourist1292

[Ferry_Watcher]

On 7/28/2018 at 1:35 PM, TXRed said:

Hi Cruisers! We have booked our first trip on Celebrity...the Solstice to Alaska out of Seattle May 17, 2019. I know every ship has it's little hidden secrets and gems, soooooooooooo:ship::ship:please share what knowledge you have about those secrets & gems...thanks:ship:...did I say we are EXCITED!!

 

OP, now that you have returned from your trip, what Solstice Secrets do you have to share?!

[smmountaingal]

10 hours ago, Tourist1292 said:

We stayed at Seattle for a few more days after cruise and are finally on the way home. Our cruise to Alaska on Solstice was great. The only complaint is on the wifi/internet connection inside the cabin most of the time. The connection in the theater is better. Nevertheless, I found the connection in the balcony of our room to be very good. We could do streaming on two devices simultaneously through a travel router. I wish we found that out earlier. Other than that, the food.at MDR was great and the service was good. Best of all, we got great weather throughout the whole trip including our precruise and post cruise stays. We saw a lot of whales (even on the way to Victoria on the ship) and many bears. It was just too early in the season for salmons.

By the way, the shows are not bad, except for a couple of them. The comedians for the first and the last shows are pretty good and the magician Jason Bishop is pretty funny too. The other shows are most by the Celebrity Company which are decent to good too.

Tourist1292, what is the travel router you refer to?  Did you have the internet package?

 

[smmountaingal]

11 hours ago, Tourist1292 said:

We stayed at Seattle for a few more days after cruise and are finally on the way home. Our cruise to Alaska on Solstice was great. The only complaint is on the wifi/internet connection inside the cabin most of the time. The connection in the theater is better. Nevertheless, I found the connection in the balcony of our room to be very good. We could do streaming on two devices simultaneously through a travel router. I wish we found that out earlier. Other than that, the food.at MDR was great and the service was good. Best of all, we got great weather throughout the whole trip including our precruise and post cruise stays. We saw a lot of whales (even on the way to Victoria on the ship) and many bears. It was just too early in the season for salmons.

By the way, the shows are not bad, except for a couple of them. The comedians for the first and the last shows are pretty good and the magician Jason Bishop is pretty funny too. The other shows are most by the Celebrity Company which are decent to good too.

Where did you see bears?  Did you do the Yukon train and bus trip?

[Tourist1292]

On 5/20/2019 at 12:41 PM, smmountaingal said:

Where did you see bears?  Did you do the Yukon train and bus trip?

I did the half day bus tour to Yukon. It lasted almost 4 hr and went farther than the train. Saw several bears in short distance and mountain goats far far away.

[bubbachief]

On 7/28/2018 at 7:09 PM, Marelaine said:

Stop by the Oceanview cafe around 4 pm. They put out a lovely spread of tea sandwiches and little pastries.

The scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream are also great.

[hammo]

Thanks for the reports Bansai3 and Tourist1292 - was Silk Harvest still available - we are on Solstice in Oct and it has disappeared from our Cruise Planner so assume it is being replaced some time soon  .

[bonsai3s]

14 hours ago, hammo said:

Thanks for the reports Bansai3 and Tourist1292 - was Silk Harvest still available - we are on Solstice in Oct and it has disappeared from our Cruise Planner so assume it is being replaced some time soon  .

 

Yes, the Silk Harvest is still there, located across the Blu where we ate.

(The Silk Harvest has our favorite tabletop decor...bonsai trees. ☺️)

[Tourist1292]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:04 AM, smmountaingal said:

Tourist1292, what is the travel router you refer to?  Did you have the internet package?

 

We got the 1 device internet streaming package. As we stay at 1 hotel and 2 Airbnb before and after the cruise, I brought along a RavPower FileHub travel router. It added a firewall protection to the connection and my family do not need to do anything when hopping from one lodging to another as long as they are within certain distance from the router. Only the router needs to be login to the internet. In addition the FileHub router also works as a network drive and a backup device. It has an SD card slot and a USB port that I can backup my camera SD onto a USB SSD without a computer and everybody can access the files on the SD and USB drive through an app on their phone/tablet to view the photos or play media files from it.

[Tourist1292]

There is one "secret" I want to share. Don't be fooled by the ribbon cutting (Grand Opening) event of Tiffany Inc on the first day. My friend told us about it after their cruise last year that they were so lucky to have the "Grand Opening" sale at Tiffany on their cruise. It turns out they have that event on every cruise so as on Solstice last week.

[smmountaingal]

1 hour ago, Tourist1292 said:

There is one "secret" I want to share. Don't be fooled by the ribbon cutting (Grand Opening) event of Tiffany Inc on the first day. My friend told us about it after their cruise last year that they were so lucky to have the "Grand Opening" sale at Tiffany on their cruise. It turns out they have that event on every cruise so as on Solstice last week.

Great advice.

[smmountaingal]

3 hours ago, Tourist1292 said:

We got the 1 device internet streaming package. As we stay at 1 hotel and 2 Airbnb before and after the cruise, I brought along a RavPower FileHub travel router. It added a firewall protection to the connection and my family do not need to do anything when hopping from one lodging to another as long as they are within certain distance from the router. Only the router needs to be login to the internet. In addition the FileHub router also works as a network drive and a backup device. It has an SD card slot and a USB port that I can backup my camera SD onto a USB SSD without a computer and everybody can access the files on the SD and USB drive through an app on their phone/tablet to view the photos or play media files from it.

Thank you for your reply and this information.

[Maine-ah]

Thank you ALL for the tips, hints and suggestions, and TXRed for starting this thread!

We'll be on Solstic in just 3 weeks (June 14) and already feel like an "insider"

We can't wait to experience the ship and Alaska.

[tomNsusyn]

perfect timing, first time cruiser going to Alaska june 21. I am not looking forward to it, never considered a cruise. Vacation is sand in toes, bucket of bait, fishing pole in water and beer in hand... occasional bikini in view, fish are optional. Also worried about overeating. Alot of nice info was given and once i find deck 13 i will be a happy camper. Will continue to surf this site.

 

our cruise is loving wife, 2 teens, one preteen, sisters family and grandma to celebrate two anniverseries 2 birthdays. Have fishing scheduled in Jeauno(sorry about spelling its 2am). No other shore adventures scheduled at this point because im cheap and still grumpy about trip, but I know wife will pull a surprise or 2.

[JaneStarr]

On 5/22/2019 at 5:34 PM, Tourist1292 said:

There is one "secret" I want to share. Don't be fooled by the ribbon cutting (Grand Opening) event of Tiffany Inc on the first day. My friend told us about it after their cruise last year that they were so lucky to have the "Grand Opening" sale at Tiffany on their cruise. It turns out they have that event on every cruise so as on Solstice last week.

We had it both legs of our B2B!