Solstice LIVE (3/18) Suite Review w/ Kid: Mexican Riviera w/ Mini Me

[peanut head]

15 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

I’m not 100% sure.  On our last couple of cruises Jeremy‘s express pass had his lower cc status and when we got in the room there was schedules and info in my name for elite and his name for select. But we started cruising together before we were married and I’ve never gotten around to calling and officially designating him as my spouse.  
 

If I remember correctly though, on our last cruise together, Gen Z was invited to all of the elite captains club events with me even though she had never cruised celebrity before. I’m not sure if her being a minor changed anything about how they handle it though.

Hey Charla!  Just caught up for another incredible voyage with you and Gen Z at the helm. I’m back at Mayo Clinic for some follow up and this is the best medicine yet!!!

 

Have a safe, fun and memorable sailing. 

[DaKahuna]

46 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

I’m not 100% sure.  On our last couple of cruises Jeremy‘s express pass had his lower cc status and when we got in the room there was schedules and info in my name for elite and his name for select. But we started cruising together before we were married and I’ve never gotten around to calling and officially designating him as my spouse.  
 

If I remember correctly though, on our last cruise together, Gen Z was invited to all of the elite captains club events with me even though she had never cruised celebrity before. I’m not sure if her being a minor changed anything about how they handle it though.

 

Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure I am confusing it with Royal, who gives children of any age with a C&A number the status of their parents when sailing together.  

 

I believe passengers in the same room are invited to attend the same events as the highest person but do not get the same perks, e.g. adults that are not Elite do not get the Elite drinks when sailing in a room with someone who is Elite. 

 

 

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, peanut head said:

Hey Charla!  Just caught up for another incredible voyage with you and Gen Z at the helm. I’m back at Mayo Clinic for some follow up and this is the best medicine yet!!!

 

Have a safe, fun and memorable sailing. 

Sincere best wishes your treatment goes well. Grounded at the moment myself…like you I am enjoying some vicarious travel!

[juanrod]

So looking forward to another review @GenerationXwe just got off last week and absolutely enjoyed having the warmer weather.  You both will enjoy the shows on solstice. 

[cruzzzinma]

I love reading your reviews and to hear about your travel experiences.
 

My advice to you is to travel whenever you can. You never know when the day will come when you can’t travel.

 

Make your memories when you can.

[LouChamp]

7 hours ago, cruzzzinma said:

I love reading your reviews and to hear about your travel experiences.
 

My advice to you is to travel whenever you can. You never know when the day will come when you can’t travel.

 

Make your memories when you can.

Aloha. You are so correct. I learned to travel with my parents when I could barely walk and have been blessed to have seen the world, every state except Alaska lol and every continent. My father said exactly what you said and when my parents retired, they were rarely home lol. Then the unforeseen happened and my dad passed away at 78 from a massive heart attack. My mom is almost 90 but has dementia and unfortunately doesn’t remember much. Not trying to be a downer but just to show you my respect for your opinion and how right you are.  That said, keep cruising and traveling and love reading Charlas posts and food pictures 😊

[LouChamp]

Aloha. I neglected to mention we imparted our travel love on our daughter who now has dozens of cruises and the world under her belt. She also is blessed to have a first world problem with figuring where to travel with her husband who was not able to travel when he was younger. I applaud Charla and Jeremy for educating their daughter and I know not everyone has the ability to do what we have done but traveling is also immensely educational and so important if one has the means to do so. All the best!

[GenerationX]

Good morning and happy St. Patrick’s Day from STL!  

 

I was completely shocked at how easy it was to get Gen Z out of bed at 2am.  Far easier than getting her up 4 hours later for morning chores and school. 🤔 

 

The STL airport was already packed at 3:45am with way more family travelers than I’m used to seeing at such an ungodly hour.  Gen Z actually had several playmates in the indoor playground in the gate area.  The spring break travel season has officially begun!

 

I really prefer to fly nonstop but when I booked our the only nonstop flight to LA today didn’t leave STL until 6pm and that was cutting it way too close for me to get halfway across the country if anything went awry with that flight.  Instead we’re taking a redeye with a connection in DFW that should put us in LA a little before 11am local time if all goes according to plan.

 

Thus far it’s looking like an on time departure so fingers crossed the luck of the Irish is with us all the way through to LA. Almost time for wheels up!
 

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by GenerationX

[LaCal]

13 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Good morning and happy St. Patrick’s Day from STL!  

 

I was completely shocked at how easy it was to get Gen Z out of bed at 2am.  Far easier than getting her up 4 hours later for morning chores and school. 🤔 

 

The STL airport was already packed at 3:45am with way more family travelers than I’m used to seeing at such an ungodly hour.  Gen Z actually had several playmates in the indoor playground in the gate area.  The spring break travel season has officially begun!

 

I really prefer to fly nonstop but when I booked our the only nonstop flight to LA today didn’t leave STL until 6pm and that was cutting it way too close for me to get halfway across the country if anything went awry with that flight.  Instead we’re taking a redeye with a connection in DFW that should put us in LA a little before 11am local time if all goes according to plan.

 

Thus far it’s looking like an on time departure so fingers crossed the luck of the Irish is with us all the way through to LA. Almost time for wheels up!
 

 

 

 

Safe travels 

 

Luckily there’s NO Rain for the next few days in Los Angeles but we have more coming next Tuesday/Wednesday 

 

This year we’ve had the most rain in decades 

[Norwaylady]

Safe travel!

 

The snow is falling down in Oslo.....❄️ So I started the day by shuffling snow from our door to the car and around the car. 

So a decent work out before work.... 

 

It has arrived a good 40cm ish since midnight. Hopefully this will be the last round.... Had a good workout earlier in the week also❄️ King Winter is holding on to Norway❄️

[LaCal]

46 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. You are so correct. I learned to travel with my parents when I could barely walk and have been blessed to have seen the world, every state except Alaska lol and every continent. My father said exactly what you said and when my parents retired, they were rarely home lol. Then the unforeseen happened and my dad passed away at 78 from a massive heart attack. My mom is almost 90 but has dementia and unfortunately doesn’t remember much. Not trying to be a downer but just to show you my respect for your opinion and how right you are.  That said, keep cruising and traveling and love reading Charlas posts and food pictures 😊

Definitely take a cruise to Alaska 

 

It’s one of our All Time most fabulous cruises

 

After our  first cruise there we loved it so much we’ve now cruised 4 times to Alaska 😜

 

In May it was in the upper 70s in the ports and we didn’t even need a jacket 

Edited March 17, 2023 by LaCal

[LouChamp]

30 minutes ago, LaCal said:

Definitely take a cruise to Alaska 

 

It’s one of our All Time most fabulous cruises

 

After our  first cruise there we loved it so much we’ve now cruised 4 times to Alaska 😜

 

In May it was in the upper 70s in the ports and we didn’t even need a jacket 

Aloha. Thank you. I agree and so have many of my friends. We decided to visit Antartica one year because we could also visit the Falklands. But I am definitely going to heed your advice. All the best!

[GenerationX]

44 minutes ago, LaCal said:

Definitely take a cruise to Alaska 

 

It’s one of our All Time most fabulous cruises

 

After our  first cruise there we loved it so much we’ve now cruised 4 times to Alaska 😜

 

In May it was in the upper 70s in the ports and we didn’t even need a jacket 

I loved cruising Alaska too!  I was actually hoping to take Gen Z on an Alaska cruise this summer. She is obsessed with whales, wildlife and all things nature and environment related and I know she’d enjoy it even more than Jeremy and I did.  Unfortunately airfare and cruise fares for this coming summer put it way out of budget.

 

It was going to cost almost double to cruise aqua class on Solstice to Alaska out of Seattle compared to what it cost to do a week in the Caribbean in the yacht club on MSC Seascape.  
 

Im looking at booking an Edge Alaska  sailing for next summer though depending on how crazy we go with the spend for Mediterranean cruise this October…St. Louis to Rome is a lot of flight time and much to my husband’s angst I’ve got a wild hare to fly Flagship First. 😂

[cw2go]

1 hour ago, GenerationX said:

Good morning and happy St. Patrick’s Day from STL!  

 

I was completely shocked at how easy it was to get Gen Z out of bed at 2am.  Far easier than getting her up 4 hours later for morning chores and school. 🤔 

 

The STL airport was already packed at 3:45am with way more family travelers than I’m used to seeing at such an ungodly hour.  Gen Z actually had several playmates in the indoor playground in the gate area.  The spring break travel season has officially begun!

 

I really prefer to fly nonstop but when I booked our the only nonstop flight to LA today didn’t leave STL until 6pm and that was cutting it way too close for me to get halfway across the country if anything went awry with that flight.  Instead we’re taking a redeye with a connection in DFW that should put us in LA a little before 11am local time if all goes according to plan.

 

Thus far it’s looking like an on time departure so fingers crossed the luck of the Irish is with us all the way through to LA. Almost time for wheels up!
 

 

 

 

So Much Cuteness OOZES in this post! Enjoy your time together, it goes by way too fast! 

Edited March 17, 2023 by cw2go

[juanrod]

Make sure to get the binoculars from the room as you cruise into Cabo we saw lots of whales and dolphins frolicking along the costs.  And when docked in puerto Vallarta we saw whales breaching outside the port 

[GenerationX]

Checking in from somewhere over New Mexico.

 

It’s really saying something about just how bad the flight issues have been for me with AA that right now I’m surprised and elated at two consecutive flights actually getting in the air as scheduled.

 

Our flight into DFW actually got in about 20 minutes early so we killed some time in the kids room in the Terminal A Admirals Club at DFW.

 

The toys and books they used to have in the kids spaces in some clubs never came back after COVID but I still like the AC kids rooms as a nice space to let little ones run around/decompress from the stress of air travel.  

 

We knew we’d be served breakfast on our next flight so weren’t going to visit the buffet but one of the lounge servers popped her head in the kids room and offered to bring a mimosa for me and a cheese streusel muffin for Gen Z and neither of us were going to refuse that offer.

 

The southwest enchilada for breakfast on our DFW to LAX leg surprisingly tastes a lot better than it looked.  The sauce on it definitely has a little kick to it though.  When flying first class on AA I put a reminder on my calendar for 30 days out from my return flight to go online and pre-reserve my meal selection for my flight so that I know they won’t run out of the option I want before they get to me.  You can also pre-order meals to accommodate special dietary needs (kosher, vegetarian, gluten free, diabetic, etc.).

 

We’ve got one of those rare first class flight attendants who I would really love to see hired as a butler or Retreat manager for Celebrity.  We are in a 16 passenger first class cabin and she knew all our names and greeted us personally when we took our seats and offered pre-flight beverages (I was still sticking to water at that point).

 

When breakfast was served and I ordered a vodka cranberry, she became a cocktail genie where each time my glass has gotten down to a quarter full or started to look watered down, she just appears with a fresh one and a smile without me asking for anything.

 

We’re due to land in LA in about an hour.  Given our early start I had planned for us to just head to our hotel in Long Beach and rest/nap for the afternoon, but Gen Z was playing with her iPad on the drive to the airport in STL and figured out that our hotel is just minutes away from the Aquarium of the Pacific (these kids today have better Google skills at 10 than I do at 40) and has been begging since sunrise (literally) to go.  The 2 breakfast cocktails washed away whatever was left of my resolve so I got online just a few minutes ago and bought us tickets for an entry slot this afternoon.  

 

Guess I’ll be hitting the Red Bull and rallying!  I’m getting too old for this.

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

If Gen-Z is into Whales  -  you have to book the Whale Watch Cabo trip.    Small boats with about 12 passengers and they give you a link to all the pictures the photographer takes for free.   Best whale watching ever and they take you to the Arches on the way out.

 

https://www.whalewatchcabo.com/

[GenerationX]

 

What’s up from Long Beach!  Oooh I feel like Dr. Dre saying that.

 

It’s not even 70 degrees but that’s not stopping Gen Z from spending our afternoon post-aquarium in the hotel’s heated pool.

 

About our day so far:

 

When we landed at LAX our bags were some of the first off the plane.  For transfers, I decided to book car service from the airport and to the cruise port tomorrow with Crown Limousine.  

 

I remembered from a business trip to LA that Uber pick ups at LAX are a bit of a process. You have either a decent walk from baggage claim or take a shuttle with your bags to a separate part of the airport to get your ride.  I’m all for that when it’s just me and my carryon and briefcase but not something I wanted to deal with with a child and 5 suitcases in tow.

 

Considering tip was included in the limo rate I probably paid about $60 total more than I would’ve by using Uber Black (which can pick up curbside at LAX), but the extra little bit of luxury is worth it to me for this special trip. 

 

I’ve also heard stories of truly horrific surge pricing in LA and going to/from the cruise port during prime times and I figured this way at least I know exactly what I’m paying and that I’ll get value for the spend.

 

Our driver met us right outside of baggage claim in a spotless SUV and loaded all of our luggage and had cold waters waiting for us in the back seat.  When we got to the hotel after a 30 minute ride, he also had us wait in the air conditioned car while he lugged all of our bags all the way inside and up to the check in desk for us.  

 

Our pre-cruise hotel is Hyatt Centric The Pike on Long Beach. I used a reward night to book so I’m not sure what rates are typically like but so far it seems like a great hotel.  Check in and bell staff have been friendly and helpful.

 

The hotel and room decor pays homage in a very cool way to the maritime history of the area. The pool area looks like it has a bar area that’s closed right now (probably too early in the season). I bet it’s a great place to lounge during summer.

 

It was about a 5 minute walk from the hotel to the aquarium and several restaurant options (albeit mostly chains).  

 

Gen Z loved the aquarium.  It was at least 3 times the size of our aquarium in St. Louis (which is admittedly small). 

 

I bought us tickets for a 2:15 entry in case baggage claim or traffic took a while, but we were ready to go by 1:30 and had no problem at all getting in early.

 

I’m going to pull Gen Z out of the pool now so we can at least get an hour of rest before our 6pm (8pm our bodies’ time) dinner reservation.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stem to Stern]

Mini-Me is capturing my heart.  Like mother like daughter.  The hand-on-hip strike-a-pose pose.  The smile.  The sunglasses.  The bow.  Her most adorable luggage ensemble.  Oh, loved the matching lucky t-shirts, too.  Enjoy your cruise, Gens!!

Edited March 18, 2023 by Stem to Stern

[juanrod]

Perfect day to fly in and set sail warmest day we have had all week and tomorrow suppose to be over 70 .   Can’t wait to hear where you ended up for dinner

Edited March 18, 2023 by juanrod

[LisaLeone]

30 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Mini-Me is capturing my heart.  Like mother like daughter.  The hand-on-hip strike-a-pose pose.  The smile.  The sunglasses.  The bow.  Her most adorable luggage ensemble.  Oh, loved the matching lucky t-shirts, too.  Enjoy your cruise, Gens!

@Stem to Stern stated it perfectly. What a beautiful start to your vacation!

[abbydancer2003]

Following.  I was on the Solstice with my sister in February.  Her first trip to the Mexican Riviera.  Have a great trip.  I'm currently on the Infinity in South America. 

 

And Charla, please forgive me, but what is neurodiverse?  I've never heard the term before.

Edited March 18, 2023 by abbydancer

[Lena11033]

10 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Following.  I was on the Solstice with my sister in February.  Her first trip to the Mexican Riviera.  Have a great trip.  I'm currently on the Infinity in South America. 

 

And Charla, please forgive me, but what is neurodiverse?  I've never heard the term before.

 

There is neurodiverse and neurotypical - neurotypical is someone that brain works like the average so neurodiverse is someone whose brain works differently from the average person.

 

In my case I'm dyslexic but isn't just dyslexia, that's just my case there are other types but some others are like ADHD, Tourette's and autism

[juanrod]

Happy set sail day @GenerationX

[Ella2]

Loving this!  You are in my neck of the woods, and I'm on the Solstice in a suite in three weeks!  I love your adventures, and as the parent of a (now adult) neurodiverse daughter, I applaud your wisdom and insights as you navigate your adventures with her.  I have some war stories from my travels with mine at that age, but had many, many more AMAZING trips with wonderful memories.  You (and she) will look back on these days with big smiles, for sure.  Enjoy!