Celebrity Solstice Cruise Reviews - Reviews

we were greeted with a glass of Champagne and that started the cruise off to a great start!  All our needs were met and the staff went above and beyond any of my expectations.  everything was made as simple as possible for excursions and all activities.  Anytime you asked someone a questions it was answered immediately and with a smile!

The captain of the Celebrity Solstice, Captain Tasos made this trip for us!  His funny remarks every morning were a joy to wake up to, as well as his ability to maneuver the ship to go right up to the Dawes glacier (where the smaller boats go), we went "bear watching" against the shore in the inland passage and he guided our boat through a storm and 57knot winds!

I would of rated this trip a 3, due to the mediocre food at the buffet and MDR.  In addition regarding the excursions-everything was well organized up to the point where you left the ship-then you didn't know where to go.

Our most favorite part was the train ride in Skagway.  The weather was perfect and views were outstanding.  Was most interesting learning about the history of that area.

Our favorite part of the cruise was the beautiful Alaska scenery. I wish we had more time on excursions to experience it. The least favorite part was the crowds and constant sales pitches. The Celebrity beverage plans were unnecessarily complicated and caused lots of confusion with guests and crew. This confusion resulted in inconsistent services from the crew. Meals in the restaurants were good but we avoided the buffet on deck 14 because the food quality was poor, service was lacking and dining areas were not always kept clean.

The excursions were great, especially the White Pass railroad and the Whale watching in Victoria.

I only wish we could have had more time in Victoria. We did not get to see any of the town itself since the excursion took 3 1/2 hours of the 5 hours we were in port.

It was a very pleasant experience with Celebrity cruise line.  That was my first cruise with them as usually I cruise with Royal or NCL.  I will surely use them again in the future.  The service was excellent.  The waiters, the saumelier, everyone at the restaurants were very dedicated to please the customers.

Room was clean and the person taking care of us Edwin made sure that we have everything we needed in the room.

Overall, it was great!!!!!

Favorite part of the cruise was the inside passage...totally awesome. The ship was amazing. We sailed Aqua Class and can only say, incredible!!!! Our cabin attendant, Weegie, was the best, the service throughout the entire ship was stellar. The entire cruise was one of the best we have taken. Recommend it highly. 

We must confess, though, that the entire cruise was all due to suggestions and planning by our travel agent, Wendy Osborne...she did it all. We thank God for the safe sailing and return.

This is a great Cruise,  the best part of the Cruise was the Dawes Glacier, we actually saw a part of the Glacier fall into the sea.  Also the Train excursion was really worth it.  

We cruised to Alaska on the Solstice this past week, and really enjoyed our trip. We have only on Royal Caribbean in the past (and only out of Port Canaveral), so this was a huge change for us. We are happy we decided to cruise to Alaska on this ship, and we were satisfied with our interior stateroom (to help save money - the cruise, flights, and excursions really add up!) which felt bigger than interior rooms on RCCL. We thought the dining room food was wonderful, and better than RRCL. We tried Sushi on Five, which was "meh" compared to our hometown sushi restaurants, but did not go to any other specialty restaurants. Solstice has great staff, and impressive theater shows, but its biggest assets might be naturalist Brent Nixon and historian Mary "Miss Amanda" Fairchild. Both have a wealth of information to offer, and we attended their talks on a daily basis. We discovered at the end of the cruise that they are married! What an impressive couple. We missed having towel animals, we missed having a large open area promenade, and we missed having a piano bar, but otherwise it was really a great choice and we would recommend to others. Go on this cruise and enjoy Alaska, complete with Cruise Director Damien, and your hilarious Captain Tasos!

This is really a comment about Port of Seattle (Pier 91) and not the cruise line, but embarkation (May 26th) was AWFUL. Embarkation opened at 10:30 and we arrived 11:30am, but did not get into our stateroom until 3:00pm. We were told at 3:00pm that they were still "1000 people behind." We were stuck at a standstill in the line (this is after the exit for the port), with no organization whatsoever. It was truly as if it was the first day the port had ever had a ship there, and/or all of the staff were new, and/or they did not expect the ship and its guests to arrive. Outside and inside, it was a complete catastrophe. Everyone kept commenting on this and the staff said it wasn't normal. Don't you do this every week? Disembarking was better, and we were in good hands once Celebrity staff was in charge.

Service was over the top good the captain was very available and witty!

Food----AHH the food was the best!!

Beautiful ship in new condition with service that couldn't be better.

Very friendly and attentive staff.  Bountiful food choices on the menu and in the cafe areas.  Lobster, steak, many salmon choices, rack of lamb and tons more.  Best tiramisu ever - not to mention the creme brulee and key lime pie.  Did I mention lot's more?  The stateroom was impeccable as was the service - including the breakfasts ordered the night before. Our steward, Michael, always asked if there was something more he could do for us.  I would suggest making reservations way ahead of time for the last night's dinner in the Epernay dining room.

It was truly an amazing trip. Alaska is beautiful. Celebrity Solstice is a beautiful ship. Whether on land or at sea it was a good time to be had. Food was plentiful and good quality. Staff was friendly and professional.

Some little bureaucrat in headquarters deludes himself into believing the cost-cutting is tolerable to consumers. FALSE ECONOMY

Examples.

1) We had a veranda stateroom but never even were provided with a 25 cent toothbrush or plastic comb

2) They have eliminated an assistant stateroom attendant.

3) Many activities once free are now subject to an extra charge except those intended to market teeth whitening, cosmetic treatments, shoe inserts.

4) Alaska is KING CRAB country but the COVER charge for ONE king crab leg is 25 bucks!

5) They eliminated the gala last day lunch with a great buffet and ice display.

6) We and other passengers waited FIVE and a HALF hours to get on the ship in Vancouver. When we got on the ship we were dead tired, past the assigned dining time, but was forced to watch a silly video that was cryptic, About all the passengers were told that was clear.......I checked with several was to wASH YOUR HANDS the stuff on terrorism or emergencies was buried in an idiotic James Bond like video. We were told this video was required by law. However, the important actual safety drill (I was Muster D-3) that is required by law was never carried out.

7) The food in the assigned dining room has gone way down in quality. I ordered one night a spaghetti bolognaise—I have lived in Bologna—and it was SO overloaded with garlic it was inedible. 

8) They eliminated the formal nights, an attractive part of the cruise, the chance to dress up and celebrate your partnership.

CELEBRITY is going down in quality. There are BETTER options.

Alaska must be seen to be believed.  Pictures do not do it justice.  A must cruise for anyone who loves nature and history.  There is so much to do in each port you can not do everything you would want to do.

The ports were excellent and the number of sea days perfect which made the trip great. (A+ ) The ship was very clean throughout.(A+)  Our room steward, Nanda, was the best we have ever had and that is saying a lot as we have been on some 25 cruises, 13 with Celebrity.(A++)  The shortcomings were the main dining room food, entertainment and excursions.  The main dining room food (C) was seriously lacking as well as the service.(Oceanview Cafe food and service was very good and far superior to main dining)  Customer service and attitudes by main dining wait staff needs serious improvement.  Far too many acted as if they just did not care, with one actually trying to debate my wife as to what she wanted that evening.  Theater shows would get a grade of B.  There were a few good guest entertainer shows with the two folkloric shows in French Polynesia and Maui being the best of all ..The shows of the production cast was the worst of any Celebrity ship we have been on.  Excursions are a waste of money.  We took the whale watching tour in Maui and it was a total waste of time and money.  The tour guide on the boat stated that he did not know why the ship sold this tour to us, as the whales had been gone for 3 to 4 weeks.  Independent tours on shore were excellent and about half the price of the ship.

We still like Celebrity very much and favor them over most of the others however, it is not the cruise line it once was.  Becoming more and more main stream.

A fun cruise from Sydney to Honolulu.  Lots to do, including the Equator crossing, at which point I stopped being a polliwog and became a shellback.  Great visit to Auckland to see the Hobbiton movie set.  Bilbo was not at home.  Enjoyed French Polynesia, incredibly beautiful, and journeyed to Hana on the fabled road of 690 curves and 59 one lane bridges, again with incredible views.

Food was great, weather was reasonable.  Had a couple of windy days and rough seas.  Some folks went to Medical, I landed at the Passport Bar, prosecco in hand, watching the surf occasionally reach up to wash the windows.

I believe this ship is not clean.  I was not sick when I boarded the ship, but by day 4 I was very sick.  So were so many of us.  Four years ago on this same ship I saw employees cleaning everywhere - hand rails, elevator buttons, elevator doors, and I saw purell dispensers everywhere too. Not this time.  It did not seem as clean; the attention to detail in the service was different.  3 of our party saw the onboard doctor.  i had brought antibiotics with me, but am still sick.  two of our party are going to the doctor tomorrow.  I went today.  There is something wrong.  Many people complained of being sick.  People coughed and hacked constantly in the elevators and in the buffet dining room.  Not good.

Enjoyed the cruise very much.  I've been on Celebrity Solstice so I knew my way around already.  I usually book Conceirge level. but didn't seem to receive priority boarding like last time.  Workers on ship very nice, fun and always polite. 

This was an amazing trip. So many beautiful sights to see as well as one welll run ship. Although I never personally met the captain, his humor and leadership were evident from his daily posts As well as the wonderful crew. I have cruised many times before and this one was a notch above all others.  We enjoyed our time on and off the ship. Visiting the shire where lord of the rings was filmed amazed all, the rough ride to the seal colony was worth every bump. We did the overnight excursion to Queenstown. I was a bit Leary of leaving the ship and missing the pass  through dusky sound, but it was worth it. Our night in Queenstown was fabulous we traveled via an old steam encgine boat to a working farm. Where we we treated to yet another wonderful buffet with the beat foood. Slow cooked pork, lame chicken etc was amazing.  We saw a sheep sheared and enjoyed seeing their sheep dogs inaction.  We traveled into Milford sound on a day that rained 9.5 inches. This led to seeing rainbows on the water as well in the distant mountains   By our last trip off the bus we were drenched and cold. The rain provided us with spectacular water falls that made it all worth it.  A bit of an adventure waiting for the cruise ship to pick us back up, made for another adventure just getting back on in all the wind and rain. We were welcome with towels and hot chocolate. The food aboard the ship as well as off was excellent. This is a great trip and highly recommended. 

Celebrity Solstice is an amazing ship that has pretty much anything you could need. We enjoyed great dinners in the main dining room with excellent staff. 

Many of the destinations offered snorkeling and interesting cities to walk around. The fitness facilities were nice, with well maintained machines and plenty of options of machines. There was always something going on to keep us entertained.