Some Good ... Some Bad
Celebrity Solstice Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
7 Night Alaska Tracy Arm Fjord (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 12, 2015
Ship: Celebrity Solstice
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
To rate or even understand this cruise experience, it needs to be broken down to what is good, what is bad, and what is down right misleading.
The Good or Excellent: the Staff & their 1st class service, the onboard entertainment to include educational presentations, the sheer beauty of Alaska.
The Bad or Horrible: the food in the Dining Room (It bordered on inedible). This does not come from a couple that is hard to please. We have been on 6 previous cruises (but not one in the last 5-6 years). The food on every one of the previous was "to die for" delicious.
The Downright misleading: When you budget or price your cruise prior to purchase, add to the base price ... (1) A "Specialty" restaurant package that will "relieve" you of the need to set foot in the main dining room. On average this will "clip" you for about $35 -$50 a person per night. Packages vary .. but conservatively figure another $500-$600. (2) A basic alcoholic beverage package ... ours was about $450 a head.. $900 for the 2 of us. Unless you are Billy Graham ... paying "by the drink" is outrageously expensive. (3) Purchase a few excursions. These are all over the map as to cost.. but figure $600-$800 for the trip. You will experience part of the beauty and grandeur of Alaska from the cruise ship .. but viewing any wildlife at other than a great distance is a remote possibility. To wrap up ... take the base price of your trip and multiply by probably 2 1/2 times.. at a minimum. If that's OK, it's a wonderful experience!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Don't use room service unless you're prepared to "ante up" quite a few bucks. It's all extra and not included... and that means the water in your room, as well (our case $6.95 a bottle).
Ports of call
Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska
2 Comments
glomarrone 9 years ago
It seems like your cruise was a mixed bag of good and bad. The cruise line Website will give you a good idea of the extra costs. If you want a cruise where the shore excursions are included, look into river cruises. Most of them include the wine, beer and soft drinks at dinner - some also included these drinks for lunch.