Terrible Ship &

Celebrity Solstice Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 27

Overall rating:

2.4 out of 5
Celebrity Solstice

7 Night Alaska Dawes Glacier (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 11, 2023

Ship: Celebrity Solstice

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8152

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Terrible Cruise Line CELEBRITY very sad Below is what I sent to the president of the company and received no response! Ms. Zimmerman Mr. Bethge Terrible Cruise Line CELEBRITY very sad Below is what I sent to the president of the company and received no response! Ms. Zimmerman Mr. Bethge I can’t in my opinion decide which is more deplorable and unacceptable, your actions as a supposed travel professional and booking us on this ship or those of the Celebrity Cruise Lines for having this ship in service. My wife and I have been Crown & Anchor members since 1995, when my company hosted over one hundred or more customers each year on an incentive trip, and it usually involved a RC lines cruise. But we stopped cruising years ago due to the direction we felt the industry was going and our customers were becoming less impressed and complaining about the food, service and for our company the cost was getting out of hand. Since retirement we decided to explore the option and thought an Alaskan cruise would be perfect since we had planned one for our tenth anniversary but were unable. So, we persuaded my seventy-three-year-old aunt it was a good idea, as her first venture on a ship, and joined in with the group that her friend is a member, well as will read, it was not and all of you should be ashamed. First: The fact that one of the highlights or supposed to be, is that it was a glacier and wildlife viewing and the forward sky lounge that was built for this purpose has thirty or more percent of the windows are so damaged and dirty you cannot view through them. Also, the veranda glass had the same hand smears, and I am guessing salt spray stained on it when we arrived as it was still when we left, I mean really are squeegees that expensive and hard to train someone to use? And while I am mentioning the shape of the ship, how old nicked, scratched and ratty furniture is, especially that on the veranda my wife guessed twenty or more years. Second: The basic cleanliness is not up to par or even close the same piece of two-inch black hair that on the bath vanity between the sink and the mirror, that was there the day we arrived was still there the day we departed, yes, I am seventy and my wife is sixty-nine so you can guess what color our hair is, not black! Third: It is sad when the food in the main cafeteria is better than the main dining room. Two of the lovely ladies at our table ordered the up-charged lobster, it arrived cold and chewy. If it had been mine, I would have had it removed and taken off my bill. They were unfortunately not willing to be confrontational and just did not eat it and the wait staff chose to ignore the fact. Unfortunately for your chef who visited our table the next night did get an ear full about the faux pax and that fact that the same salmon on the menu each night was unacceptable, he agreed they/ he could do better and that is exactly where it was left by your staff, not a thing changed! I also want to mention that it took up until the third night for our group to be seated together, even though Anthony the head greeter apologized for the mix up and did his darnedest to make it happen sooner. Fourth: Your shore excursion BC Sites and bites really did. The fact that it was sights one of the main attractions in the city tour (fan Tan Alley) was locked up, to the guides’ dismay and calls that went unanswered, so we moved on. Also, the food was not anything to brag about, and it became obvious that the proprietors thought it was a good way to sell drinks. At the second stop the guy literally thru three 12” cutting boards in front of ten people that had a couple slices of two kinds of meat and some slices of cheese and bread. I guess he, expected us to rip it up with our hands and I do not eat meat. At the third stop the guide was apparently instructed by the restaurant to inquire about food allergies, I received three nacho / guacamole chips which were good, the others had to eat mini beef slider’s, my wife said hers was good! Fifth: And this may be the most upsetting of all or at least for my wife it was in the top two, you ran out of lite beer really, how can you run out of beer. It was completely confusing that it took my wife four days to get a Michelob Ultra as the bar staff kept saying they did not have it at each location we visited. Then by chance while shopping we were by the casino bar and low and behold there was a ultra can on it. My wife inquired and guess what? Apparently was the only one until they finally had it at the mast bar for a day than it was no longer available. But the bar guy after being gone for fifteen minutes did come back with a Coors lite because they had also run out of Bud Lite. But the final straw was when she tried twice to get one at two different bars and the last time the server in the main stairwell bar came over and brought me my drink and said she had to go elsewhere to get one. After thirty minutes my wife said she was done and it was time to go, we did not try a third time. As a note the bar staff in each location worked their keester off trying to keep up up with customer demand but to no avail. I am guessing a customers standing at the bar for well over twenty minutes and not to get a drink was not well received and the wait staff were almost nonexistent in the evenings! Jessica, my wife told me to get us out of this trip after it became obvious that you could not even answer the simplest of itemized questions, but I wanted to travel with my aunt and was looking forward to Alaska, obviously my mistake and I will be hearing about tit for a bit. Example one, I specifically asked you if we could get adjoining unit with a lock off so we could gather on the veranda with my aunt and her friend, and you said it did not have them. Well, it does have a glass panel that opens on each side of the veranda, in fact we had to have maintenance come and tighten them because of the wind causing them to clang and keep us awake. Unfortunately, it took three days for it to get it repaired even though the customer service people kept following up and saying it was going to get done. Example two; if you are sending a group on a tour, especially on a ship, arrange a few gatherings so they can all meet. I mean really some of my customers greatest and longtime friendship and a few of mine are from these gatherings. And yes, they had them on this ship the quilting ladies met multiple times and there was even a private evening function in the indoor pool / hot tub area that kept the area open after seven pm, which I and many people we met were not happy about. Most of my travel companions agreed that a wonderful way to end to an evening is with a visit to the hot tub or sauna right before you turned in and it should be available!

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Went OK no major glitches

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
Read review

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
Not many

Entertainment

2 out of 5
below average

Children's Programs

no children

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
they tried

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
see review

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
size was good but that nasty little 2" hair that was between the sink and the mirror the whole trip vary sad cleaning

Ship tip

don't get on this ship it is old and broken down

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

2 out of 5
disgusting dirty city where two single pizzas and two beers cost $82 before a tip

Ketchikan, Alaska

3 out of 5

CRUISE ENDICOTT ARM & DAWES GLACIER

5 out of 5
had perfect weather and visibility, but had to go outside could not view it thru the windows in the Sky lounge see the picture attached

Juneau, Alaska

2 out of 5
Ok but allot of tourist traps

Skagway, Alaska

2 out of 5
same as Juno

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

2 out of 5
nothing really to see

Victoria, British Columbia

1 out of 5
got there very lat and part of the tour was no available sad experience.

Disembarkation

2 out of 5
they make you walk 1/2 mile to catch an uber and my Anunt is not i great shape

Traveler Photos

Was this review helpful? 27

10 Comments

Niavlys    1 year ago

Alias poopoohead... Says it all

Poolie    1 year ago

The ship is only 15 years old. I'm pretty sure they don't put 2nd hand furniture into a new ship. Time to stop cruising again.

kristysmom224    1 year ago

I just got off the Solstice and everything was wonderful. It's a beautiful ship. The food was not as good as last year but still delicious. The entertainment was absolutely amazing! The service was top-notch as always. Something tells me this guy will complain no matter what! Go back to RCCL.

ifinfan    1 year ago

We board Friday 9/ 15 in Seattle and we always love Celebrity of all the cruise lines but haven’t sailed since Covid? Will update after our trip.

Cruise480    1 year ago

Hoping on the Solstice this Friday, I’ll keep everyone updated on the validity of this review.

javawoody    1 year ago

Wow!! Hard to believe, read some good and bad but nothing this extreme. This is the type of person that causes me to change dinner tables.

Niavlys    1 year ago

Wow, worst story I heard so far on Celebrity. I have cruised only once with them 10 years ago and will do it again in February. Ill be able to better judge then. Tks for sharing

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

RetiredRay    1 year ago

Interesting, sad a ship can go from excellent to poor in less than a year…… But then I also have no clue on the bar scene since we do not use mood altering substances, but we did get fast service on bottled water.

AuntPinkie    1 year ago

Appreciate your very detailed feedback. Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations.

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