Beautiful Alaska... through the rain
Celebrity Solstice Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 39
7 Night Alaska Tracy Arm Fjord (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 11, 2017
Ship: Celebrity Solstice
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 2149
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
We are definitely not sorry we took this Alaskan cruise however, it is a cruise of a completely different beat. We will make our way back to Alaska, probably via plane or RV next time so that we may spend the time in each location that this beautiful state deserves. We have two more cruises booked aboard Celebrity and look forward to our next adventure!Embarkation
We regularly book the Concierge class with Celebrity and this affords us a quick embarkation process. We were greeted with smiling faces and had no issues getting through registration. I would describe it as a very speedy process. We were on board the ship in a flash.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
In the past we have had our dinners primarily in the specialty restaurants. This time around we were with a large group and opted to join them in the main dining. We were pleasantly surprised at the over all quality. The mushroom risotto was extremely bland and there was one night that something was off so each of our dishes had a complaint, but other than that the food was of great quality. Buffet food is buffet food. Lots of choices, but it is a buffet. Burgers by the pool were of a better quality than I had expected. Ask for a "Celebrity" burger when you are on board to get the works!
Onboard Activities
This was our second cruise on board Celebrity that we really felt activities were lacking. With it being a "cold weather" (Alaska) cruise I'm sure it's a bit more difficult to plan for. However, the commonality between our Alaska cruise and our Southern Caribbean cruise seems to be so many activities planned around making additional purchases. We do not consider classes on where to buy goods in port or all about a multitude of different jewelry and watches to be an "activity". Nor do we consider the multitude of "sale" or "clearance" events in the shops to be an activity. The sales pitches seem to be increasing on Celebrity and are a real detriment to the cruise line.
Entertainment
We had a guest comedian the first two nights of the cruise and he was HILARIOUS! The other shows that include the ships on board cast of singers and dancers were definitely sub par in our opinion. Voices were what we would consider below average quality and frequently did not harmonize well together. The actual "acrobats" who performed were quite entertaining. However, putting "dancers" on stage as acrobats did not work. You can tell a dancer simply being spun around on suspension lines from a true acrobat. Back to the drawing board for these shows.
Service and Staff
We had a definite divide in quality of service this time around. Our room steward "Jannette" did what was necessary and our room was always clean and attended, however you simply never felt any "special" attention as we had in the past. We felt she was doing her job, rather than cared about her work. We rarely saw her which was definitely different than our past sailings in which our room stewards always seemed to be around somewhere. We had a drink server, "Kumar" who went WAY above and beyond and was a true pleasure to have assist us. He really added a special touch to our cruise and making you feel pampered. The baristas at El Baccio ... well lets just say that we believe that they either hated their job or hated each other. They were NOT pleasant, no matter what day we visited or what time of day. Definitely a "what's your order" "be on your way" feeling left by them. We had better than usual attention given us at the martini bar by "Ka tut", but definitely feel it was the influence of the large tip we left upon first meeting. The other bartenders were happy to let you stand for awhile.
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Typical cabin with a bit more square footage due to being a balcony cabin. It works comfortably for a week long cruise. Concierge class comes with a few additional perks including specialty pillows for order, a specialty shower and upgraded toiletries.
Ship tip
Sky Lounge has some amazing views when you are looking to watch the seas and port arrivals and departures. It is in a protected, enclosed location should you be experiencing inclement weather.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Seattle is an amazing city and offers a plethora of things to do. We did do an excursion visiting the Space Needle and the Pike's Place Market. Probably too much time allotted at the Space Needle and DEFINITELY not enough time allotted at the market!
We had an excursion booked, but it was canceled due to inclement weather. This left us with nothing more to do than walk around the small city in what was often pouring rain. Needless to say it definitely put a bit of a "damper" on things. However, I guess it's too be expected when you consider that they average over 17 feet of rain per year. Lots of history in this city. Lots of women of the night. LOL!
We opted to rent a car from Alaska Adventures and go out on our own this day. We encountered down pours but it was for approximately 15 minutes at a time with breaks of a couple of hours between them. We stopped at Mendenhal Glacier. Gorgeous! We were disappointed as we thought we were going to be able to walk the glacier and found we had gathered some erroneous information. The hike to do that would be from the other side of the glacier and would take 6 - 8 hours. We didn't have the time for that. We did hike down to Nugget Falls and thoroughly enjoyed all the scenery from there. So much beauty in one location. We stopped at Alaskan Brewing and grabbed a pint as well as a couple to bring home with us. Finally, we stopped downtown and hit up the local "must do" restaurant, The Red Dog Saloon. It is definitely a "kitchy" kind of location, but fun none the less. The waitress are dressed as long ago western saloon girls. A live country singer is on the mic and saw dust upon the floor. For being a "tourist" spot, the food wasn't bad at all. We had a good day in Juneau.
LOVED the beauty of Skagway! Took the White Mountain Pass train ride up the mountain. So much to see and so much history shared about this "Gold Rush" trail. Our excursion included mountain biking back down the mountain and what an exhilarating ride it was. We would definitely do it all over again. Tip: on the train ride, be sure to get out on the platforms. Some of the very best photos we took were from the platforms. We had plenty of time in Skagway that we were able to dine for lunch at Skagway Brewing; excellent food! We explored the small town and shops and still made it to a second excursion while in port. We took the Ocean Adventure Tour. What another great excursion! We suited up in our flotation suits that provided warmth and safety and away we went in our rubber boat. 360's on the water were a blast. The waterfalls were absolutely amazing. Views of a glacier, not to mention the sweet harbor seals we encountered. Finally, bald eagles in abundance. Again, an excursion you won't be disappointed in. If you have any back troubles at all, sit at the back of the boat for this trip... it can be a bumpy ride.
Porting here at 5 pm took away some of our allotted port time either by it being too dark to site see or shops being closed due to the late hour. We got out on an Orca Whale excursion and it will be a memory kept with us for years to come. We encountered a pair of "traveling" Orca whales, a humpback whale as well as two varieties of sea lions. I can't exactly remember, I believe we were told they were California sea lion and Stellar sea lion.
Disembarkation
We had an excursion and therefore had to meet in Celebrity Life lounge at 8:00 am. From there we grabbed our luggage and boarded our bus. We were out of the port in a very smooth, orderly manner.
Traveler Photos
