Celebrity Solstice Post-Cruise Review

[takemewithyou]

3 hours ago, dctravel said:

Roundabout answer: When you reserve online before your cruise, you are charged $120 (less if you get it on a sale). That provides you with a "free" $120 item to make. In retrospect, I should have taken a picture of the choices, but basic things like glasses, vases, and paperweights were $120, meaning you don't have to pay extra. If you want to do something fancier (maybe the whale tale?), then those prices are higher, and you pay the difference between the price of the item and the $120 you paid for the class.

My wife made a cup (that she is using to put basil cuttings in now). I'll grab a picture tonight when I get home!

Thanks very much for your reply.  I look forward to the picture! 

[dctravel]

4 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

Thanks very much for your reply.  I look forward to the picture! 

Here you go! No extra charge for this particular project. It was listed on the ship at $120.

 

 

I also just looked back, we did not get a per-sailing discount on this. We used some of our onboard credit (the rest was used for Murano), so that's why I thought it had been discounted!

[dctravel]

That was a long work day! Back to the review 🙂

 

Day 2 - Icy Strait Point

Our first port day! We are very used to Caribbean cruises, where ship almost always arrives very early in the morning, so that we didn't arrive until about 1, which was 30 earlier than expected, was new to us. But that did mean that we had a very leisurely morning that mostly was a repeat of our first sea day. Up at 8:15 for breakfast (this time I had the omelet, much fresher!), we had another failed latte in Cafe al Bacio (fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me, or something like that!), then we read, had lunch in Oceanview, and got ready for our shore excursion.

 

The Solstice was docked at the Wilderness Landing dock, which is near the Skyglider Gondola (that goes to the top of the mountain) and the transporter Gondola that takes you to the Adventure Center and the Cannery--the main area of the port. Also in port when we arrived was the Celebrity Summit, the NCL Sun (who were tendering), and then later in the day a Holland America ship, when the Summit departed.

 

We had planned to go kayaking. We booked through the ship and were given a 1:45 pm time to meet on the pier. This was perfect for us, as we were able to get off the ship, go to the gift shop near the gondolas, buy post cards for our kids (who were at camp, which is why we were able to take a cruise alone!) and mail them. The shop keeper was kind enough to put them in the mail for us, but only because we had our own stamps.

 

When we got back to the dock about 1:30, we waited around for a few minutes and then asked one of the shore excursion staff were to meet our tour. It was at this point that we were told that kayaking has been cancelled. On the pier, we were presented with two options that still had availability: whale watching for $300 per person more than the cost of they kayak excursion or the Ocean Raft Adventure for $100 per person than we paid. Whale watching sounds cool, but that seemed really expensive, so we opted for the Ocean Raft Adventure, which departed at 4:30. One note about the quoted excursion prices--the shore excursion staff only know the full price, not how much you actually paid if you bought the excursion before the cruise with a Celebrity website discount. As a result, the actual cost of the new excursion for us was a lot more than $100 per person. This really irked me, but the Shore Excursion desk took care of it as soon as we asked the next day onboard!

 

All of a sudden, we had 3 hours to kill! Knowing we were now doing a boat excursion, we got back on board briefly, picked up Dramamine, just in case, and then headed to check out Icy Strait Point and Hoonah, the Native Alaskan village next door. The cruise director suggested that people take the nature trail so you didn't have wait in line for the lift, but we took the lift anyway!

 

 

Once at the other side, we walked through the shops in the Cannery area, found the Kayak Center where we would be departing from, and found a mini donuts stand--Lil' Gen's--that supports the Salvation Army.

 

 

After a snack, there wasn't anything left to see at the port and we still had 90 minutes for our excursion. We decided to walk the 1.5 miles to Hoonah. There is a shuttle for $5 per person round trip too. We ended up taking the shuttle back, as we started to run out of time! It's a nice and easy walk, but we got warm because we were dressed for kayaking, not walking and it was in the upper 60s. There isn't much to the town, honestly, but then again we only saw a few blocks. I wanted to try the local brewery, but we just didn't have time.

 

 

Upon our return to Icy Strait Point, we got ready for the Ocean Adventure. We didn't know what to expect, but WOW it was a lot of fun. We got all suited up and headed out with our captain and a marine biologist, who pointed out the wildlife and sights to us as we went.

We saw several humpback whales, a pod of sea otters hidden in some type of sea weed, and bald eagles. It was great!

 

We also got a great shot of the Solstice!

 

Once back, we headed back to the ship for dinner. Since our excursion was later in the day, we got back to the ship about 7 (back aboard time was 8:30). As a result, we ended up with a different wait staff in the MDR than the first two days. This turned out okay for us, and our "regular" waiter came to check on us and my allergies, which was very nice. After dinner, we repeated what we had done before, drink at the Martini Bar to carry into the theater, the 9 pm show (tonight was a tribute to Whitney Houston, who we did not care for and actually left the show), which put us back at the bar, but for longer tonight :), and then to sleep. Tomorrow is Hubbard Glacier!

[dctravel]

Day 3 - Hubbard Glacier

 

To be honest, this is the day I was most excited for. I had never seen a glacier before, and I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I did know my expectations were high. We started with breakfast (of course!) and then sorta-bundled up to head to the deck. It wasn't that cold, but this was the coldest we got. Wore a winter had and gloves for a while, but then the sun got to warm. We went all the way up to the Solstice Deck (deck 15, I think) before heading back down to our veranda to look some more!

 

The day turned out to have perfect weather and Captain Theo got us as close as he was legally allowed because of clear and calm it was. We were about 1 km (0.6 miles away). It was spectacular! I tried to pick the best photos, but I have so many! I also have a video of calving, I'll try and post that separately, since it's such a big file.

 

Sailing into Hubbard

 

Hubbard Glacier

 

Hubbard Glacier from our veranda (deck 8), and with a Zoom

 

A Panoramic View (from Deck 15)

 

My wife had her glass blowing class today too at 12:40, their last appointment of the morning. She had a lot of fun. It takes about 20 minutes and I spent the time watching her, taking pictures, and talking with the other glass blower. So cool to do that on a ship!

 

 

After we left the glacier, we were headed to Juneau for the next day. We hit the gym that afternoon (those martini's and old fashions were going to work them selves off!), read, had dinner in the MDR, and then caught the 9 pm comedy show by Fred Klett.  He was quite funny and worked clean, something I wish more comedians did!

 

One other quirky thing from today, my wife got a diet coke from the pool bar, and she got a Coke Plus from Hong Kong! My amazement at the supply chain of ships continues!

 

[Boxerlover2]

Thank you for your review so far. We will be doing the same itinerary in a couple of weeks, sailing out on 25 August. Can you share who the cruise director is on Solstice?

[dctravel]

10 hours ago, Boxerlover2 said:

Thank you for your review so far. We will be doing the same itinerary in a couple of weeks, sailing out on 25 August. Can you share who the cruise director is on Solstice?

Rich Clesen (at least I think that's his last name). He was very good. Knew when to talk, when not to talk, and was funny to boot!

[dctravel]

Before I get started with your next day in Juneau, two other posts. We put airtags in our luggage when we fly, because you never know! Thankfully, we didn't need them on this trip, but I got the funniest alerts when we left our cabin and the air tags behind. These two I found particularly funny!

 

Disenchantment Bay is the body of water that you sail through to get to Hubbard Glacier. According to the naturalist on board (Milos, who was very good!), its called Disenchantment Bay because the explorers who "discovered" this area thought that they had found a northern water way across North America. Of course, that wasn't true, so they were "disenchanted"!

 

 

Of course, our luggage was safe and sound in our cabin the whole time! 🤣

[dctravel]

I hope this uploads, if not, I will try and delete the post. This is a short video of calving at the Hubbard Glacier. Really amazing!

 

 

 

[Ciaranaman]

Great catch with the calving!   The clarity of your video is amazing!  Thank you for sharing 😊

~Bernadette

[dctravel]

2 hours ago, Ciaranaman said:

Great catch with the calving!   The clarity of your video is amazing!  Thank you for sharing 😊

~Bernadette

And just an iPhone 15! It's really amazing how phones have developed over the years.

[dctravel]

Day 4 - Juneau

 

Today, we visited the Alaskan state capitol! This was an early arrival port, but we didn't need to meet for our excursion--Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake--until 9:45. We did our regular morning routine, breakfast in the main dining room, before we headed off the ship.

 

After seeing Hubbard Glacier the day before, I didn't know what to expect from Mendenhall, but it is the one thing I booked that I really didn't want to miss. We met our tour just off the pier by the parking lot, and we were loaded on a charter bus for the 15-20 minute drive to the visitor center. The bus driver, who also drove us to the salmon bake, was funny and engaging, telling us about what we were seeing as well as some history of Juneau. When we drove by the state capitol building, she noted that it had been voted the 50th of 50 state capitol buildings for aesthetics. Can't say I disagree (I work near the US Capitol), as it just looks like an office building!

 

When the driver dropped us off in the visitor center parking lot, she told us she would be back in about 90 minutes to pick us up. This turned out to the perfect amount of time for us. It gave us enough time to walk to the glacier overlook and to nugget falls. The Forest Service has maps of the hikes.

 

Photo Point (Glacier Overlook)

 

Nugget Falls

 

Visitor Center View

 

I should note here that both hikes were really walks. My wife and I are not hikers, but I run and she cycles, so we are in pretty good shape. We found these walks to be easy, although there are uneven places. We were able to do both in 90 minutes and visit the visitor center, but if you don't move fast, you might not be able to do all three. The glacier overlook is about a 15 min walk (1/3 mile; 1/2 km round trip), and Nugget Falls about 30 minutes (1 mile (3.2 km) each way).

 

The same bus driver picked us up and drove us the Salmon Bake. It was about halfway back to the port. My wife was unsure about this stop, as she was worried it would be hokey. It really wasn't. The food was excellent and was all you can eat. There is a cash bar with local beer and hard seltzer. They also sell soda. Water, tea, and coffee were included. The way it is set up, you walk through a buffet line with all the side. Absolutely eat the salmon cesar salad. Amazing! The other sides included corn bread, rice, cole slaw, and maybe beans? The food was so good. After getting your sides you go to the grill for salmon. They were cooking both sock-eye and silver salmon when we were there. Never heard of, let alone tried silver salmon before. A little more mild, and excellent!

 

Salmon Grill

 

My plate (2nd's I think)

 

The salmon bake also has a river that runs next to the site and a waterfall. You can take an easy stroll up to the waterfall, and when we were there, some salmon were swimming up stream. It was a nice place, and the only time we had rain the whole week! No big deal, because while the seating was outside, it was all covered.

 

The salmon bake also provides their own shuttle buses (old school buses, for the most part) back to the port. They leave as necessary, so you can stay 20 minutes or 2 hours. No rush!

 

Back in town, we shopped for souvenirs and had a snack. We ate at the Alaskan Brewing Company, which is right on the water near the ships. We got great table with the Solstice in the background!

 

 

We also visited the other brewery in town, Devil's Club. Both were good. I love trying local beers!

 

Back on the ship, we got ready for dinner, saw the evening show, and had more drinks at the Martini Bar. The show was really good. It was the cast singing their favorite Broadway tunes. It was a nice change from some of the production shows.

 

[dctravel]

I wanted to put up one more post about Juneau. Float planes are so interesting! Sitting on our balcony, we were able to watch them take off from Juneau Harbor. I thought I would share a short video of one that went directly by the ship!

 

 

 

[mahdnc]

Once in a while, I will see Solstice docked in Juneau via the harbor webcam (screenshots were taken on Jul 18).  Her regular berthing position is right in front of the harbor webcam where the floatplanes dock 

 

 

[hcat]

still following ..great review.. Love the awesome photos and video.

 

Salmon looked great..We had  Alaska Salmon in Seattle & thought it was best ever!  ( one of my fav foods)

[Jim_Iain]

Enjoying your live post.   We will be in Alaska in about a months so helping me get in the mood.

 

[cluso]

Great review, but I guess you didn't have enough room for the King Crab Legs at Tracy's (2 locations).  😁😋🙃

[CTSandy]

Enjoying your review very much - thanks for sharing!

[dctravel]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Enjoying your live post.   We will be in Alaska in about a months so helping me get in the mood.

 

You aren’t taking solstice back to Australia, are you? I lived following your cross-pacific trip to Vancouver at the beginning of the season!

[dctravel]

2 hours ago, cluso said:

Great review, but I guess you didn't have enough room for the King Crab Legs at Tracy's (2 locations).  😁😋🙃

No, we honestly forgot to even go look! I got into the beer flight at Alaskan, and then another at Devil’s Club, and we never made it! I even brought cash so I would need to charge the crab legs! Now we have to go back. 

[dctravel]

17 hours ago, hcat said:

still following ..great review.. Love the awesome photos and video.

 

Salmon looked great..We had  Alaska Salmon in Seattle & thought it was best ever!  ( one of my fav foods)

I love salmon. This experience, with all the fresh salmon might ruin the grocery store salmon for (well, not really)!

[dctravel]

On to Ketchikan! This was another port where we arrived in the early afternoon, around 2 pm. We did not have an excursion booked for Ketchikan, because nothing seemed to appeal to us before departure. As a result, we decided to take the map provided by Celebrity (in the Celebrity Today left in our cabin) combined with a map I found on the Explore Ketchikan website, and explore town.

 

We started out by heading to Creek Street, turning left and walking up the river toward the salmon ladder. Two observations here. Creek Street is really pretty cool and the boardwalk path that takes you up the river has a lot of stairs. Not a problem for us, but you if you have any issue with stairs, this could be a problem. The boardwalk path only takes you about half-way up the river. If you want to walk the rest, you do that on city streets and the sidewalk. Not dangerous, but good to know. The salmon were running in large numbers, and we were fascinated watching them pool together to conserve energy before trying to make the leap up the rapids. Didn't see many trying to use the salmon ladder, but that was definitely the easier path for them!

 

Salmon Pooling

 

 

 

Rapids and Salmon Ladder (concrete structure on the right)

 

We walked all the way to the top of the river to the Totem Heritage Center (we decided not to go in) and the salmon hatchery. Unfortunately, the hatchery (Deer Mount Hatchery, which is part of the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association) is not open to the public anymore (seems to have stopped during the pandemic and never reopened for tours). There is an interesting sign on the side of the building explaining the spawning/return process for salmon. It was a nice walk up, but disappointing that we couldn't see more.

 

On our walk down, we shopped on Creek Street, which has a lot of cute stores, bought some souvenirs, and made our way to the Alaska Fish House for a snack.
 

 

The restaurant is next to the lumberjack show. Food was amazing. You order at the counter and then they deliver it to your table. There is a bar too, but you have have any alcoholic drinks inside the building, not at the picnic tables out front. We ordered the fish and chips sampler (cod, halibut, and salmon) and ordered two dungeness crab legs. So good!

 

Fish and Chips

 

Crab Legs

 

Denali Brewing Company beer served at the Alaska Fish House

 

I will note that we considered eat king crab legs at Ketchikan Crab & Go, but we couldn't make up our mind, nor did we want to spend the prices for those crab. When we realized that the Alaska Fish House had dungeness crab for less AND we could have fish and chips, that was the winner for us!

 

With our stomachs full, we shopped some more, found one more brewery (Baleen Brewing Company), and the headed back to the ship for dinner.

 

 

In retrospect, we decided that we wish we had seen the lumberjack show and that we had booked an excursion that would have shown us bears in addition to the salmon running. We enjoyed our own walking tour at a leisurely pace, but could have easily seen more too. Oh well, this just means we need to come back again! Another note: others on the ship reported (and posted in the social media group for our sailing) that bears appeared at the stream later in the day to catch salmon. Unfortunately, we were already back on board!

 

Tonight was our last night eating in the MDR, as we had reservations to celebrate our anniversary in Murano the last night. All aboard was at 8 pm, and I don't recall the evening entertainment tonight (Tommy Proulx, a saxophone player). I think we missed him because we didn't leave dinner until a bit later and then just decided to hand out at the Martini Bar for the silent disco. If you have never done this, it was a lot of fun!

 

[Ciaranaman]

On 8/9/2024 at 3:22 PM, dctravel said:

And just an iPhone 15! It's really amazing how phones have developed over the years.

We've booked Galapagos for 2026 - the latest iPhone will be on my pre-trip purchase list.  I've always loved the quality of camera on my Samsungs, but iPhones certainly seem to be catching up, if not surpassing - judging by the pics being posted here on CC 📸

~Bernadette

[dctravel]

Somehow, we have arrived at the final sea day as we head back to Vancouver. I'm not old enough, or have enough money, but I wish we could retire and spend more time on great trips like this. Oh well, for now, we will have to enjoy what we can, when we can!

 

Final Sea Day

I woke up earlier than my wife today because I had booked myself a behind the scenes tour for the last day. I opted not to go to the MDR this morning (for the first time!) and instead got breakfast in Oceanview Cafe. I made the same breakfast choices as I would have in the MDR, omelet from the omelet station, bagel, bacon (it wasn't as crispy 😞), hash browns, and of course, coffee!

 

 

We had to meet at 9:45 for the 10 am tour. We met in the Passport Bar on deck 3. First time I had been there! It's funny how people find the one or two spots they like early in a cruise and then don't really deviate much from there! No pictures were allowed on much of the tour, but as part of the cost of the tour, you got your picture taken on the bridge and you could go and get it printed for free at the photo area on Deck 4 (across from the liquor store). I did get a picture of the fridge where they store the desserts. It made me hungry!

 

 

My wife went to the gym while I was on the tour and we met up when we were both done in the our room. We then gathered our things to read, found lunch, and sat first in teh solarium, and then outside on Deck 14. It was gorgeous out. Many people were remarking that it was like we had been transported to the Caribbean--low 70s, not a cloud in the sky, music playing, and beer available from the bars 😉.

 

Tonight, we had reservations for Murano to celebrate our anniversary (which was earlier in the cruise). We chose the last night because we didn't know what else would be going on. What a wonderful meal. We had never done a specialty restaurant before on any of our cruises (8 for me, 6 for my wife), so we didn't know exactly what to expect. Wow! Why didn't we do this sooner (outside of the cost). We ate at 6 pm, which ended up being the perfect time for us to continue our evening activities. We each had two starters, we both go the Murano Lobster, and then we got the cheese course and each had a souffle (I got the Grand Mariner souffle and my wife got the chocolate souffle).

 

Smoked Salmon & Peekytoe Crab Parfait

 

Murano Lobster (prepared table side, so cool!)

 

Cheese Tray selections

 

Bonus Dessert Bites

 

After dinner (and many, many glasses of wine, they just kept pouring 🙂), we grabbed a drink at the Martini Bar and went to see the final show, the production cast doing Rock City. It was really great, both with the production cast and acrobats. I wish they had performed as part of other shows. They were really excellent! We also got another chance to watch Captain Theo and cruise director Rich perform at the Martini Bar. I'm having trouble getting the video file downloaded, but here is a picture.

 

 

[dctravel]

2 minutes ago, Ciaranaman said:

We've booked Galapagos for 2026 - the latest iPhone will be on my pre-trip purchase list.  I've always loved the quality of camera on my Samsungs, but iPhones certainly seem to be catching up, if not surpassing - judging by the pics being posted here on CC 📸

~Bernadette

We haven't owned a "real" camera in many years. For our last phones, my wife had the iPhone 13 pro and I had the regular iPhone 13. Her camera did take a bit better pictures, so when you are looking at the new iPhones, evaluate whether the pro (which tends to be a bit heavier, if that is a consideration) might take better pictures than the regular 15. For us, the regular 15 has been good, and since Verizon gave them to us for free, I wasn't paying extra for the pro!

[Ciaranaman]

Happy Anniversary 🥂!  We love Murano!  What a great place to celebrate!  And the perfect end to what looks like a fantastic cruise!

~Bernadette