Solstice LIVE: Alaska Honeymoon Cruise Aug 9th-16th 2019

[GenerationX]

10 minutes ago, Beth_55 said:

I am loving this review !  We sailed to Alaska 3 yrs ago on Norwegian in August. Never saw a whale !  So consider yourself lucky !  We sailed from Vancouver .  Enjoy your honeymoon !  We sail on the Solstice in 34 days to Hawaii ! 

 Thank you Beth!  A Hawaii cruise is also on our bucket list. Please report back on it!

[CanuckCruizer]

2 minutes ago, lovecruzin said:

Captain Alex just took over for Captain Tasos who is on vacation before going to Equinox. I believe his contract is 3 months, he should be at the helm for the transpacific.

Thanks lovecruzin - I was told two different things by Celebrity - one agent told me it would be Captain Zisis Taramas & 2 other ones told me Captain Alex (no last name given) - so you never know...ha.

 

Canuck

[lovecruzin]

3 minutes ago, CanuckCruizer said:

Thanks lovecruzin - I was told two different things by Celebrity - one agent told me it would be Captain Zisis Taramas & 2 other ones told me Captain Alex (no last name given) - so you never know...ha.

 

Canuck

 

I cant imagine Captain Alex would leave that quickly! I fully expect him to be onboard when we cruise in Sept to Hawaii!

[GenerationX]

Thanks to still being buzzed from last night, I completely flaked on the time for our CC meet up. I thought it was 10:30, turns out it was 9:30.  I was just drowning my sorrows in a Bloody Mary at the mast bar when a pod of about 20 dolphins swam up along side the ship! I could get into this Pacific Northwest thing!

 

While I’m at it, a quick note on the condition of Solstice.  She’s definitely showing her age in a few places (nicks in wood furniture, fading on couches, etc.) but overall still beautiful and the staff is clearly committed to keeping her clean and well maintained. In fact, morning as I was leaving my cabin I passed an officer in the hall.  He ran his hand over a painting and then looked in disgust at what must have been like 5 specks of dust on his finger and immediately got on his bat phone and started barking at someone in a stern voice.

Edited August 10, 2019 by GenerationX

[lovecruzin]

19 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Thanks to still being buzzed from last night, I completely flaked on the time for our CC meet up. I thought it was 10:30, turns out it was 9:30.  I was just drowning my sorrows in a Bloody Mary at the mast bar when a pod of about 20 dolphins swam up along side the ship! I could get into this Pacific Northwest thing!

 

While I’m at it, a quick note on the condition of Solstice.  She’s definitely showing her age in a few places (nicks in wood furniture, fading on couches, etc.) but overall still beautiful and the staff is clearly committed to keeping her clean and well maintained. In fact, morning as I was leaving my cabin I passed an officer in the hall.  He ran his hand over a painting and then looked in disgust at what must have been like 5 specks of dust on his finger and immediately got on his bat phone and started barking at someone in a stern voice.

 

You have seen more marine life in less than 24 hours that we did on 2 Alaska cruises this summer. 😆 Hopefully you’ll see some humpbacks as well!

Note to self: Cruise to Alaska in August next year! 

 

[CanuckCruizer]

49 minutes ago, lovecruzin said:

 

I cant imagine Captain Alex would leave that quickly! I fully expect him to be onboard when we cruise in Sept to Hawaii!

No - if Captain Alex is on now - he "should" be on for 3 or 4 months.  What I meant is that you can call Celebrity 10 times and get 10 different answers about things, meaning you never know.😲  We are sailing to Hawaii too, so this is very exciting - getting a "preview" as we have never sailed Solstice class before.

 

Sorry you missed your meeting, GenerationX.  Have a nice night.

 

Canuck

[micheleg]

Thanks for all of the intel GenX.  We board the Solstice on 8/23, and all of your reported whale sightings are very exciting.  We'll be enjoying an aft Sky Suite on your behalf.   🙂   Agreed, once you have one of these, you're spoiled forever. 

 

We just booked a Hawaii cruise for next year on the Eclipse (on our bucket list as well), and had to go with a Concierge cabin because the costs with everything are just killer.  This Alaska cruise isn't exactly chump change either when it's all said and done.  But we figure we're not taking it with us, so we might as well enjoy life now!

 

Thanks on the tips as far as clothes are concerned.  I'm going to freeze anyway since South Florida is the total opposite regarding temps.  Good thing we can check two pieces of luggage each as well, otherwise I'd be screwed.  So spoiled about being able to just hop on a ship from Fort Lauderdale or Miami without worrying about luggage size or weight. 

 

Glad you're having a blast and enjoy!

 

Michele

[Langley Cruisers]

Hello! Just wanted to congratulate you two newlyweds and I hope you have a blast on Solstice! She was our first Celebrity cruise, and now we LOVE the line. You are both adorable and you look so happy! Have fun and God bless.

[GenerationX]

I just got back to the cabin from our Captains Club Senior Officers party.  Captain Alex was fantastic and even indulged me in a selfie!  BTW Canuck, I asked him and he said he is staying with the ship for Australia.

 

There was a Zenith couple honored who have over 60 Celebrity cruises, with 7 more booked this year; and are sailing to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. I told Jeremy if our 401(k) performs well, that could be us in 40 years!

 

When he heard we are on our honeymoon, Captain Alex had the bartenders pour us some champagne and he joined us in a toast.  The captain had water because, you know, he’s driving.  😂

 

Jeremy is off to the casino and I’ve just ordered a late lunch from room service then will take a short nap to rest up for silent disco tonight.

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, Langley Cruisers said:

Hello! Just wanted to congratulate you two newlyweds and I hope you have a blast on Solstice! She was our first Celebrity cruise, and now we LOVE the line. You are both adorable and you look so happy! Have fun and God bless.

 

Thank you!!!! I hope we have a chance to sail together one day!

[CanuckCruizer]

GenerationX - Wow - you don't mess around!  Thanks for finding out about Captain Alex and even supplying a photo! haha  Much appreciated.  What time do they hold this Senior Officer's Party - I thought it would be at night?

 

Canuck

[rahtif]

GenX, 

Congratulations on your honeymoon cruise!!  Our honeymoon 18 years ago was on Celebrity Infinity, and they spoiled me then by upgrading us to a Royal Suite due to a few minor problems with our SkySuite. No complaints here!  But now my DH has to deal with my expensive (spoiled) tastes when we cruise forever! We are heading out to on the Solstice on the 23rd of August and can't wait!  We are going with a few friends and we all booked the AquaClass this trip. I hear ya about them being a bit smaller, but some of the perks are nice. Besides, really how much time do you spend IN the room when you're too busy on deck or balcony looking for wildlife?! 

I'm excited to hear of the wildlife sightings so far! We were on the Millennium 2 years ago on an Inside Passage cruise and only saw whales and bears on an excursion. None from the ship, and DEFINITELY not any Orca!  So pretty excited about that possibility!  

Thanks for the updates and tips!  Have a great time! 

 

[Redking]

3 hours ago, CanuckCruizer said:

Thanks lovecruzin - I was told two different things by Celebrity - one agent told me it would be Captain Zisis Taramas & 2 other ones told me Captain Alex (no last name given) - so you never know...ha.

 

Canuck

Confirmed by Captain Alex's on his IG feed, he will be captain through to Australia and the start of the AU/NZ season. 

 

[CanuckCruizer]

Thanks for posting that Redking - I am not on Instagram so didn't see it.

 

Cheers,

 

Canuck

[Redking]

4 minutes ago, CanuckCruizer said:

Thanks for posting that Redking - I am not on Instagram so didn't see it.

 

Cheers,

 

Canuck

Pleasure. Highly recommend the Celebrity Captains' IG feeds. Captain Kate's is very witty. Captain Tasos and Captain Alex also good. Not sure of any others? Apologies @GenerationXfor hijacking your feed. Looks like a great cruise already. Love your review. 

[CanuckCruizer]

12 minutes ago, Redking said:

Pleasure. Highly recommend the Celebrity Captains' IG feeds. Captain Kate's is very witty. Captain Tasos and Captain Alex also good. Not sure of any others? Apologies @GenerationXfor hijacking your feed. Looks like a great cruise already. Love your review. 

Thanks, will have to have a look.

Yes - didn't mean to get sidetracked GenerationX.  Anxiously awaiting your dinner selection and hearing about your last night's adventures in the Sky Lounge...😀

 

Cheers,

 

Canuck

[balanceok]

Fantastic review and congratulations on your Honeymoon.

 

We board the Solstice on Sept 13 and also booked Aqua Class. We'll be in cabin #1518. Looking forward to your comments on the food and service in Blu and the Persian Garden facilities.

 

Your review is helping us endure the wait. Thanks again.

[GenerationX]

3 hours ago, CanuckCruizer said:

GenerationX - Wow - you don't mess around!  Thanks for finding out about Captain Alex and even supplying a photo! haha  Much appreciated.  What time do they hold this Senior Officer's Party - I thought it would be at night?

 

Canuck

 

Happy to help!  I was surprised the party was during the day as well. On my last cruise it was in the evening but on this one it was at 12:30.  We had a little paper in our stateroom at embarkation with all the captains club events for the week.  Sharing it below. Also here’s the laundry information you requested!

[GenerationX]

3 hours ago, Redking said:

Pleasure. Highly recommend the Celebrity Captains' IG feeds. Captain Kate's is very witty. Captain Tasos and Captain Alex also good. Not sure of any others? Apologies @GenerationXfor hijacking your feed. Looks like a great cruise already. Love your review. 

 

No apology necessary Redking, I’m glad you’re enjoying the review.  I’ll also add that Captain Kate’s cat Bug Naked has his own Instagram feed that’s very entertaining.

[CanuckCruizer]

GenerationX - Thank you VERY much for the laundry sheet - looks like we might have to take out a loan to get things pressed, never mind cleaned! lol

Thanks also for that Captain's Club schedule of events - very helpful to plan ahead.  

Hope you have a great evening and enjoy your dinner.

 

Canuck

[GenerationX]

Just woke up from a long afternoon nap! Jeremy came back from the casino and joined me in afternoon laziness and we ended up sleeping right through the enrichment lecture we planned to go to.  Oh well, we have a whale watching excursion planned in Juneau, so I’m sure we’ll learn a lot about whales then.

 

While Jeremy’s in the shower, I’ll report on last nights dinner in Murano and late night party.

 

Murano was a great first dinner onboard.  I went to my favorites and had the pork belly to start and the Murano lobster for main course. Jeremy had the salmon and crab parfait followed by the venison.  Then we split the strawberry crepe for dessert.

 

The skin on half of my pork belly was a little too crispy (I couldn’t even bite through it) but the lobster was perfection as always!  Jeremy said the parfait was delicious and the venison perfectly cooked to medium rare with a very good sauce.

 

We had a wonderful server named Oleg from the Ukraine.  We still have some OBC to spend and if we decide to go back to Murano we’ll definitely ask for him.

 

After dinner we went to the 60’s music set in the great hall then the dance party in the sky lounge hosted by DJ Yule. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a woman DJ on Celebrity and this lady can really spin a party!

 

We hit the late night with a wonderful couple we met in the martini bar. They actually met on Celebrity Mercury and now are married and live in her home country of Turkey.  There were also two couples from Columbia who joined us in shutting the place down at 1am.  Needless to say they were WAY better salsa dancers than us but after a few rounds of shots no one was judging anyone else’s dance skills!

 

Well, now I’m off to get all dolled up for formal night and first dinner in Blu!

 

Pics of food, friends and partying below!

 

 

[magpies66]

What a great review so far😀.  I look forward to following along and hearing your opinion of our favourite ship, on the cruising itinerary that is number one on my bucket list!!  We have cruised on her twice so far and cant wait until our next one in January. We were looking forward to having Captain Tasos this time, as he was on vacation both other times, but I have heard he is now on the Equinox. I will be very interested to hear who the new captain is and who will be in charge in January. Belated congratulations on your wedding and I’m sure you will have a fantastic cruising honeymoon. 

Edit:  I just realised there were another two pages to this review and I had only read the first one 🤪. So after reading the rest, I have now seen your post about Captain Alex. I am guessing he will be on vacation by January, so if you hear anything about who will be replacing him, I would be grateful 😀

Edited August 11, 2019 by magpies66

[leekh]

Was there a surcharge for dining in Sushi at 5 for lunch on the first embarkment day?

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, leekh said:

Was there a surcharge for dining in Sushi at 5 for lunch on the first embarkment day?

 

It was a la carte pricing or they offered an all you can eat option for $25.  We just did a la carte and it came out better as our total for 2 people with appetizers, sushi and ramen was only $38 including gratuity.

[GenerationX]

As you may know from my Equinox review, I am a big fan of really dressing up for evening chic night.  My wonderful husband also indulges me in this pursuit.  Dinner time!