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2013 Alaska REVIEW (Celebrity Solstice)


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Alaska Cruise Review

 

Ship: Celebrity Solstice

7 night – Tracy Arm

July 26 – Aug 2, 2013

 

Prior cruise history: This was my 16th cruise, over the past 11 years.

 

Prior cruiselines: Celebrity (7), RCI (5), Carnival (2), Princess (2)

 

This was my 4th cruise in Alaska, and all 4 have been on Celebrity.

 

Ports: Seattle, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria, BC.

 

Family: For this Alaska Cruise we were a family of 5 (mom, dad and three daughters). Ages of our 3 children range from 17 – 29. We also had one fiancé with us, and two boyfriends. This was the first time that we cruised like this (with boys), and it went very well. The boys have been involved with our family for 2 – 6 years, so we knew them well.

Total people: 8

 

Airfare/flights: We booked two sets of one way tickets as we traveled from Texas to Seattle, and the return. Texas to Seattle was 129.00 pp, with a long layover in Houston (5 hrs) – but I could not resist based on the inexpensive airfare. The layover in Houston went very quickly, because at the beginning of the trip everyone is very excited and the time flew by. Wouldn’t recommend such a layover at the back end of a trip.

My husband and I paid a little extra for exit row seating, and I certainly recommend.

 

Return flight was nonstop from Seattle. Alaska Airlines.

Hubby and I used air miles to book first class on this flight. A nice ending to a lovely trip!

 

Hotel: We arrive in Seattle two days early. Time to relax before starting our vacation. I recommend at least one-day pre cruise.

Oldest daughter and fiancé won’t be joining us until we begin the cruise, so at this point we are a group of 6.

 

We have 3 rooms booked at the Inn at the Market. This is the only downtown Seattle hotel located directly in the famous Pike Place Market. This incredible hotel is highly rated and very popular and we booked the rooms about 9 months in advance. We have a girl room, a boy room and a parent room. The location is perfect. Service is perfect. Rooms are perfect. If you can afford this place, just do it! Book early, because they were sold out (for our dates) several months prior to our stay. It is a small hotel. We pretty much walked everywhere during our 2 night stay. Exception: the children took the rail to a Mariner Ball Game one evening, and we had a van transport us from the airport to the hotel, and then from the hotel to the ship.

 

Van transportation was booked in advance. 3 trips were involved. Airport to hotel, hotel to ship, ship to airport. We booked with two separate companies, and both were excellent. All three trips were booked online and paid online. We had a very new, comfortable van and it could not have gone any better. Drivers were very helpful and professional, and always arrived on time or even early. Company #2 did the last two trips and I was communicating with him via text before he picked us up and this was very helpful.

 

If Cruise Critic rules are still the same, I am not authorized to give out the names of the companies that I used, unless I am specifically asked for them. So, all companies will remain nameless unless their names are asked for by you – the reader.

 

Up next.....Seattle!

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Seattle Mariner tickets were booked about 6 months in advance through an online ticket broker. These were season tickets that were being sold individually by the season ticket holder, so they were excellent seats. The four that went to the game had an excellent time. The stadium is very close to the hotel, but the roads were not very good to maneuver. There is a rail system that is inexpensive and close by.

 

The Great Wheel is a large Ferris Wheel in Seattle, located on the waterfront. Highly recommend. It just celebrated its one year anniversary, so it is very nice and high tech. There were many staff working the ferris wheel and they were not young teens looking for a summer job. Employees looked mature and responsible. I don’t usually do the “carnival ride” thing, but this was set up a bit different and appeared to be well operated. Excellent views of Seattle and the water. Highly recommend.

 

The first Starbucks store is located about a block away from the Inn at the Market.

I believe the date is 1971. It is very small. They sell a tumbler that is only sold at this location, identifying the first Starbucks store. They come in a sturdy box; great souvenir.

 

We ate meals at several restaurants in the downtown area. Food was always good, but the service was consistently lacking. We were surprised. Nonetheless, get ready for some awesome seafood!

 

We did the Duck Tour in Seattle. Never have done that before. (These Duck tours operate in many cities across the USA) Always thought it was too “cheesy”. A woman I visited with for 4 hours on the plane to Seattle recommended it, so we did it. It was fun and relaxing, and we went (of course) onto the water and saw a good overview of the City of Seattle. I would recommend doing it early in your stay so that you have time to go back and visit some of the interesting things that you drove by on your tour. The tour lasted about 1.5 hours. No need to book in advance. They have the kiosks set up in two locations in Seattle.

 

When nighttime approached in the downtown area, we could definitely see that it wasn’t safe to be out and about, especially for women. There were lots of homeless people wandering around all of the areas, and many of them seemed to have mental illnesses. There was an elevation issue in the area around the hotel and the waterfront. We used several public elevators. Being a male doesn’t alleviate the safety issue, but it probably helps to have a male around, and an alert one at that.

 

Pike Place Market is awesome. It gets very, very crowded. Go early in the morning before the crowds get there. They also close up early in the evening, so plan accordingly. You can buy fresh flowers for your honey for 5.00. And a large bouquet for only $10.00. AND…..we were able to bring them onboard the Celebrity Solstice!

 

Don’t miss the Gum Wall. Just have to find it and experience it. I won’t tell you about it, because it might deter you. Highly recommend.

 

There is great shopping in the downtown area. All ranges of shops – from souvenirs to Macy’s to antiques to specialty shops. There is even a store selling nothing but umbrellas!

 

Onward….to the SHIP!

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We arrive at the pier about 1215pm.

We have three cabins booked.

The Royal Suite and two inside cabins.

Hubby and I in the RS, and one inside for the girls, and one for the boys.

 

Because we are in a suite, we are met immediately by a Concierge and she proceeds to give us personalized and attentive service throughout our week onboard the Solstice. And – our family that is in the two inside cabins also receives this attentive service. Well done, Celebrity.

 

The Solstice is a beautiful ship. She has been sailing for not quite 5 years. She is very well maintained and managed. Celebrity continues to not disappoint us.

Our Royal Suite is amazing. The service is amazing. I could go on and on – but I will not. You get what you pay for. If you can afford a suite, I would highly recommend. I have stayed in suites, ocean views, balcony, and inside cabins on cruise ships. A Suite experience is Sweet. Enough said.

 

Specialty dining: We booked 3 of these restaurants, in the months prior to sailing. Again – with a group of 8, options can be limited. We booked the Silk Harvest, Murano and Tuscan Grill.

 

If you make a reservation for any of these restaurants for the first day, they will give you a 20% discount. They offer this only onboard the ship. Since we had made the reservation online, prior to sailing - we asked about it onboard and they had to cancel our reservation and rebook it at the discounted rate.

 

My thoughts on dining room versus specialty dining: When we first started cruising on Celebrity 11 years ago, the service in the dining room was SUPERB. Things changed over time, as the Specialty Restaurants were introduced and expanded. The food quality went down and the service went down.

 

Food quality (I believe) has come back up in the dining room, but the service is not as refined as it was in the earlier days. Good, just not excellent.

 

And, as this is my review – I am allowed to say all of these personalized comments.

 

If you want amazing meals and dining service on Celebrity – you are going to have to get into the Specialty Restaurants. Get there as often as you can.

 

It is just how it is.

The Cruiseline is making dollars in the specialty dining and they are going to pump their resources (most skilled waiters & management) into these areas. It really is about the almighty dollar, folks.

 

We did 3 meals in Specialty, and two in the main dining room.

One dinner we had in our Suite and one in the port.

 

Coming up …… the Ports!

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Looking forward to the rest of your review! Easy reading review.

 

My first Celebrity cruise was in 2001 so almost around the same time as your first cruise with them.

Edited by Coral
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Ketchikan, Alaska: We had planned long in advance to fish for salmon in this port.

The fishing charters will hold no more than 6 people, so we had two separate boats reserved with the same company.

 

Fishing licenses cost $20.00 pp, and the captain of the ship handles the funds and paperwork for the licenses.

 

Upon arrival at Ketchikan, (about 1.5 hours before disembarking the ship) I receive word from the captain that there is a problem with one of our two reserved boats. And, he is pretty certain that there are no available boats at this late notice. Apparently Sunday is a busy port day in Ketchikan. And… for fishing.

 

So, we think that only 6 of our 8 will be fishing in Ketchikan.

My husband and I will drop out, and we are very sad.

But, such are the many sacrifices that we make for our children.

 

Before I give up, I make a phone call to another captain that we fished with on a prior trip to Ketchikan. He was fully booked when I contacted him months earlier. He is still unavailable, but he gives me the name of another company to call. I call and there is still no availability. I am about to give up, but I pray and then go to Google.

 

I locate a fishing charter in Ketchikan. One that I have not already made contact with. I call him. He is currently standing outside our ship. Yes, he is available. Yes, he knows the captain of the one vessel that we are booked with. Yes, they will communicate by phone. Yes, their boats will travel together – so that my family will stay together (as much as possible). Yes. Yes. Yes.

 

The two boats pull up in the harbor together.

Everything works out amazing.

It was a perfect day for fishing.

Between the 2 boats and 8 people fishing, we catch between 60 – 70 salmon.

This is in about 5 hours.

 

We don’t have an accurate count. There were SO many.

The captains were keeping track, because the different salmon have limits on how many can be harvested by each person.

 

We bring all of them to a fish processing facility.

They will be cleaned and filleted and shipped home to us!

Overnight Mail – on a date that we know we will home.

We are very excited.

The cost is all based on the weight. (weight of cleaned fish)

We left them with our credit card information.

We have done this before, so we were comfortable with leaving the fish and knowing how the process works.

We will have lots of “salmon” souvenirs to give away AND to eat!

Highly recommend.

 

The weather in Ketchikan is perfect.

We had light jackets, but most of the time we did not need them.

Jeans and a t-shirt were perfect.

 

You don’t have to be a “fisherman” to fish in Alaska!

Just do it!

 

Next up …… packing for Alaska, Tracy Arm Fjord and Juneau!

Edited by Boo's Mom
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Packing for Alaska: It is all about layers!

Plan for hot weather and very cold weather, and everything in between.

Bring a back pack. One per person.

You layers can be easily stored in your backpack, for the day.

 

Weather changes all within one day.

 

Bring a medium weight raincoat, and use as your main jacket.

Layer under it, for colder temps.

 

Bring a hat and scarf and gloves.

Bring shorts.

Bring t-shirts.

Bring flip-flops, or sandals.

Bring closed toed shoes.

 

For onboard the ship, don’t bring too much!

Outfits that you wear to dinner can EASILY be worn twice.

You can have items washed too.

 

Better to have too little, and pay a few dollars to have items cleaned.

You can also buy souvenir t-shirts along the way, and they can be worn along the way too.

 

Tracy Arm Fjord:

I had never been before.

On my three prior Celebrity Cruises in Alaska, we had always stopped at Hubbard Glacier.

TAF was nothing compared to HG.

I was glad for the experience, but I will highly recommend a cruise that visits HG.

 

Of course, experiences can differ greatly week to week, based on how close a ship is able to travel in the icy waters, but….

I am still going with a vote for HG.

 

We were able to go out onto the Helicopter Pad during our visit to TAF. This was an invitation that was extended by the Concierge, and I think guests in suites were involved. There were probably 50 of us out there. And they served us blankets and hot cocoa, and there was a photographer there as well. There were many of the ship’s officers present. Always nice to visit with them.

 

The balcony of our suite was also a great place for viewing TAF.

And for the entire voyage, for that matter!

 

Please…..try to book at least a balcony cabin for your Alaska cruise.

You will use it a lot.

 

Juneau: We arrive in port on the same day that we visit Tracy Arm Fjord.

TAF in the morning hours, and then Juneau at about 130.

 

We have booked a whale watching tour.

We are 8 people, on a boat that will hold about 12 or 16 people.

We have a chartered rate, so there are no others with us.

 

We have a captain, and a “guide”. The guide is a recent graduate of one of the universities in Alaska and she knew A LOT about the whales.

 

And we see whales…in abundance.

Probably 15- 20 whales on our 4 hour tour.

3 hours on the water.

 

We got great pics and video.

We even saw a whale do a 360 in the air……

And we saw this twice!

Not very common, apparently.

 

I highly recommend whale watching in Alaska.

You don’t have to book with the ship.

You will get a more personalized tour if you book independently.

And likely, you will save money.

 

There are several companies that are sporting great reputations in the Alaska

Ports, and here on Cruise Critic. Seek them out, and you will not be disappointed.

 

Bring an extra memory card for your camera.

Taking video consumes a lot of memory.

Memory cards purchased in ports are expensive.

Also – bring an extra battery for your camera.

A common problem in Alaska: no more memory or dead battery.

 

The Solstice has a naturalist onboard by the name of Brent Nixon.

DO NOT miss this guy!

He is an incredible teacher.

He will speak on several different occasions, about humpback whales, bears, eagles and sea otters/seals.

He sells DVDs and these make great souvenirs!

Did you hear me when I said to not miss this guy?

 

His wife was onboard also.

She spoke about the Titanic.

Don’t miss her either!

So educated about their subjects.

 

Next up …… Skagway!

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We have two tours booked for the port of Skagway.

Both are independent of the ship’s tours.

 

In the morning we have a rafting trip.

We are in the zodiac rafts that are used by the military.

They go really, really fast and it is so much fun!!!

We booked directly with the company that the cruise line books with, because passengers from the Solstice who booked with Celebrity were on the tour with us! And….we paid less money for the EXACT SAME TOUR.

 

This raft tour was amazing.

We zipped around on the raft.

I think there were 16 of us on the raft.

One guide and one captain.

We saw amazing waterfalls and sea otters, and eagles.

 

The rafts were located around the corner from the cruise ship.

They gave us special suits to wear, to protect from the elements.

It was a very warm day, but when we got started on the raft adventure, and the raft was going fast, we were glad to have the suit!

Great photo opportunity at the waterfalls!

There is one large waterfall that is MAGNIFICENT.

My photo looks like a water painting.

 

We did not get wet.

But, if there was rain – you will get wet.

Hence, the special suits they give you to wear.

 

Highly recommend this tour.

 

We also had a plane tour booked in Skagway.

We booked with a man who has a plane that will seat 8 passengers, and himself.

7 passengers will get a window seat and headphones. #8 does not get a window or headphones.

We walked to the Skagway Airport to meet him and the plane.

It was an incredible journey in the air.

Awesome pics.

We were up in the air for 1.3 hours.

 

Folks – if you are going on an Alaska cruise, you MUST get up in the air at least one time on your cruise.

Yes, it is rather expensive – but you must do it!

Regular plane, floatplane, helicopter….. just do it!

Until you see Alaska from the air – you haven’t seen all that there is to see!

 

If you have to save money for two years in order to get up in the air, then start saving!

 

BTW, there are no floatplanes that fly out of Skagway.

Apparently it is a wind issue.

That’s what we were told, anyway.

 

It’s a beautiful little town.

The town of Haines is located right next to it.

 

A note about tipping on your tours: Plan to tip. 10% is adequate.

If not 10%, then tip some amount of money.

These people are really doing a great job (most of them anyway), and a small financial bonus can really be a big encouragement for them at the end of your tour.

 

We should always purpose to encourage those people who are working hard to earn their living.

 

Next up…..entertainment onboard the Solstice and the Port of Victoria !

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Thanks for the review, I appreciate it.

 

What is the name of the whale watching company you used in Juneau?

 

When you went on the Skagway raft tour, did you take a dslr camera? If so, did you keep it in a dry bag until you needed it?

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Entertainment onboard the Solstice: My husband and I were only in the main theater for a few of the shows. If you are choosing which shows to attend, you won’t go wrong if you go to the shows on both formal nights.

 

For the two formal night shows, the Butlers from the suites were at the theater entrance and would escort suite passengers (and our family) to reserved seating in the theater. A very nice perk. On formal nights the theater gets very crowded.

 

We didn’t spend much time in the bars, so not sure what was there.

There was some jazz in one of the lounges that we walked through to get to the specialty restaurants. It was always very good.

 

As mentioned earlier, don’t miss the naturalist.

His talks are always in the daytime.

And he isn’t a boring speaker.

 

We loved the cruise director.

Her name is Patti.

She is lovely and I liked that I never heard a curse word come from her mouth or any sexual gesture.

Maybe she did, but I never heard it.

She seemed to have a transparency about her that made her seem like a real person.

I like that.

 

She came to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle.

There weren’t very many of us there.

 

The Spa is lovely.

Do something in the spa while onboard your cruise.

They do a good job.

 

Not sure what to book?

Get a pedicure!

Men too!!!

Yes, real men get pedicures!

 

Have lots of professional photographs done onboard the ship.

You aren’t obligated to buy any of them.

But, you will have lots to choose from!

 

We bought 5 pages of pictures, for 99.00.

Each page has an 8x10 and three wallets. (large wallet)

12 pages sold for 200.00.

 

One of our backgrounds was a boring black background, BUT …..it turned out GREAT! Highly recommend.

 

Hint for getting your pics home safely: Think ahead about how you will store your professional photographs in your luggage for your journey home. They sell the hard books that you can frame a few of your portraits in. But, if you don't purchase a book, you need some cardboard or something similar.

They gave me a manilla envelope, and I packed it in a small suitcase, but I was nervous about them the entire trip home.

A magazine is not big enough. Remember - the 8x10 page now includes three wallets, so it is much bigger than a magazine.

 

If you purchase any gift certificates for anyone on your cruise (at home, before sailing) - be sure to bring your email receipt with you on the cruise.

Because, when it doesn’t show up on their account – you have proof when you go down to Guest Relations.

 

Monitor your account on the TV screen. People are involved, and people will make mistakes. Don’t wait until the last day of your cruise to fix mistakes, because you and 300 other people will be doing the same thing, in long line. No fun.

 

Bring a water bottle with you, so you can have water in the ports.

They will (of course) sell you water bottles if you don’t have your own.

Water on the ship is good to drink.

 

Internet Café: The connection is very, very slow.

Being Captain’s Club Elite members, we each get a coupon for 90 minutes of free internet.

Internet cafe is open 24/7.

However, only has a staff member for a few hours each day.

They sell a lot of Mac products in the internet cafe. Duty free.

And they teach (for a fee) Mac classes.

 

Lots of good coupons for Elite members.

30 pieces of clothing cleaned for free, per person.

Have to use this coupon prior to the last three days of the cruise.

 

There is a coupon for one free dry cleaning item.

And (I think) two items pressed.

 

For some reason, the main dining room (breakfast, lunch or dinner) does not keep half and half, (cream) for the coffee. They serve milk.

If you ask for the cream, they have to leave the dining room and go to the buffet and get the cream.

We have seen this on several Celebrity ships lately, and it puzzles me.

 

The Port of Victoria: The Solstice is only in port from 6pm – midnight.

All onboard at 1145pm.

This is in Canada, so they have to clear customs prior to allowing passengers to disembark. We did not get off of the ship until nearly 7pm.

And, we were in a very long line to disembark the ship.

 

This was our first time visiting Victoria.

 

We had booked an independent tour with a man who does his tours in classic cars.

My family had no idea what we were doing in Victoria, other than “a tour”. I kept it as a surprise for them.

 

As we were leaving the ship, there were about a dozen large tour buses lines up waiting for passengers. There were two convertibles (1966 or 1965) waiting with the buses. My girls got a little excited for the possibility.

I did not tell them that these were our cars!

I waited for our tour guide to meet us with a sign, and then allowed him to bring us to the cars!

We had two cars, two drivers, and blankets! (Chilly in Canada)

We had a two hour tour of Victoria.

The cars were amazing.

The drivers were amazing.

Great photo opportunities with the cars. One was black. One was white.

 

Our tour ended up at a Restaurant recommended by our driver.

We ate a great meal and then took a taxi back to the ship.

Could have walked, but would have taken about 35 minutes to walk, and our time in port was slipping away.

 

My family will never forget the two hour tour they took in Victoria, Canada – in two convertible classic cars! Highly recommend.

 

Coming up next... some final comments!

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.....some final comments:

 

Celebrity does a great job.

I had numerous conversations with crew onboard the Solstice. Celebrity is caring for them well; they like their job.

Celebrity continues to be our favorite choice for cruising. RCI comes in at a close second.

 

Enjoy the planning stage for your Alaska cruise. The excitement in planning is half of the fun! Research well - !

 

Enjoy your family.

Life is short. You never know how much time you have left with them.

Enjoy the little moments as well as the big moments. They are all moments.

 

Take lots of pictures, and get the pictures printed onto paper!

In an album.

 

Make sure that you have your family in a lot of the scenery photos. In 10 years, it will just be a mountain in Alaska. Or it could be your teen daughter in front of a mountain in Alaska!

 

Enjoy Alaska!

 

I'm glad to try to answer any questions you may have!

We have done the Roundtrip Vancouver twice, and the Southbound itinerary once. And this cruise was, of course - Seattle roundtrip.

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Thanks for the review, I appreciate it.

 

What is the name of the whale watching company you used in Juneau?

 

When you went on the Skagway raft tour, did you take a dslr camera? If so, did you keep it in a dry bag until you needed it?

 

Hi Italy52....

 

In Juneau, we did the whale watching with Harv and Marv.

 

On the Skagway raft tour - I did not have a dslr camera, however my daughter did have hers. It did not get wet. We sat on something like the back of a horse. They were very comfortable. No water ever reached us. The only water to be concerned about would be rain.

 

I used a Nikon Coolpix S9300.

Left my dslr at home. Too cumbersome.

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Great review ! Thanks for taking the time to share .

Please add it to the '2013 Cruise Review List'. You provided lots of helpful information and useful details so your review will be a great resource.

 

BTW, it's fine to mention the names of vendors you used. Cruise critic is hosted by expedia so it's travel agencies that are a no-no.

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Thanks for a great review. We leave Thursday for Seattle and our Solstice cruise on Friday.

 

Please tell us what transportation you used from the airport to the hotel, hotel to the pier and ship back to the airport.

 

Who did you use for the tour in Victoria. Sounds very special.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience.

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Thanks for a great review. We leave Thursday for Seattle and our Solstice cruise on Friday.

 

Please tell us what transportation you used from the airport to the hotel, hotel to the pier and ship back to the airport.

 

Who did you use for the tour in Victoria. Sounds very special.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience.

 

Hi RBKL ......

In Victoria we used http://www.classiccartours.com

The owner's name (he drove one of the cars) is Larry.

 

For transportation we used Shuttle Express and OnStarLimo.

They were equally professional.

 

Shuttle Express is based at the Seattle Airport. It was a little walk to find them. With our luggage in hand.

ie: pick up luggage, take the elevator up one floor, go across the sky bridge, then take an elevator down one floor, then walk a ways to their desk, which we only found because we asked someone.

 

If I had it to do over again, I would book everything with OnStarLimo.

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We arrive at the pier about 1215pm.

We have three cabins booked.

The Royal Suite and two inside cabins.

Hubby and I in the RS' date=' and one inside for the girls, and one for the boys.

 

Because we are in a suite, we are met immediately by a Concierge and she proceeds to give us personalized and attentive service throughout our week onboard the Solstice. And – our family that is in the two inside cabins also receives this attentive service. Well done, Celebrity.

 

[b']The Solstice[/b] is a beautiful ship. She has been sailing for not quite 5 years. She is very well maintained and managed. Celebrity continues to not disappoint us.

Our Royal Suite is amazing. The service is amazing. I could go on and on – but I will not. You get what you pay for. If you can afford a suite, I would highly recommend. I have stayed in suites, ocean views, balcony, and inside cabins on cruise ships. A Suite experience is Sweet. Enough said.

 

Specialty dining: We booked 3 of these restaurants, in the months prior to sailing. Again – with a group of 8, options can be limited. We booked the Silk Harvest, Murano and Tuscan Grill.

 

If you make a reservation for any of these restaurants for the first day, they will give you a 20% discount. They offer this only onboard the ship. Since we had made the reservation online, prior to sailing - we asked about it onboard and they had to cancel our reservation and rebook it at the discounted rate.

 

My thoughts on dining room versus specialty dining: When we first started cruising on Celebrity 11 years ago, the service in the dining room was SUPERB. Things changed over time, as the Specialty Restaurants were introduced and expanded. The food quality went down and the service went down.

 

Food quality (I believe) has come back up in the dining room, but the service is not as refined as it was in the earlier days. Good, just not excellent.

 

And, as this is my review – I am allowed to say all of these personalized comments.

 

If you want amazing meals and dining service on Celebrity – you are going to have to get into the Specialty Restaurants. Get there as often as you can.

 

It is just how it is.

The Cruiseline is making dollars in the specialty dining and they are going to pump their resources (most skilled waiters & management) into these areas. It really is about the almighty dollar, folks.

 

We did 3 meals in Specialty, and two in the main dining room.

One dinner we had in our Suite and one in the port.

 

Coming up …… the Ports!

Please could you tell me if the Solarium Pool was heated ?

 

thanks

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Please could you tell me if the Solarium Pool was heated ?

 

thanks

 

I can't say for sure.

 

I can tell you that the Solarium was a very warm room!

We walked through there several times and it was toasty!

 

Also - they allow for children to be in the pool for one hour in the morning, (I think 10 - 11am) and one hour in the afternoon. (I think 4-5pm).

I think they make this exception because it is Alaska and the outdoor pools are too cold.

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Hi Italy52....

 

In Juneau' date=' we did the whale watching with Harv and Marv.

 

On the Skagway raft tour - I did not have a dslr camera, however my daughter did have hers. It did not get wet. We sat on something like the back of a horse. They were very comfortable. No water ever reached us. The only water to be concerned about would be rain.

 

I used a Nikon Coolpix S9300.

Left my dslr at home. Too cumbersome.[/quote']

 

 

Thank you for the response, I appreciate it.

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Hi RBKL ......

In Victoria we used http://www.classiccartours.com

The owner's name (he drove one of the cars) is Larry.

 

For transportation we used Shuttle Express and OnStarLimo.

They were equally professional.

 

Shuttle Express is based at the Seattle Airport. It was a little walk to find them. With our luggage in hand.

ie: pick up luggage' date=' take the elevator up one floor, go across the sky bridge, then take an elevator down one floor, then walk a ways to their desk, which we only found because we asked someone.

 

If I had it to do over again, I would book everything with OnStarLimo.[/quote']

 

 

Thanks for the reply. Only 4 days until our cruise.

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Thank you so much for your great review! Do you have any recommendations for a delicious, romantic restaurant in Seattle? (We leave in 10 days and will be celebrating our birthdays and anniversary!) Thanks!

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Thank you so much for your great review! Do you have any recommendations for a delicious, romantic restaurant in Seattle? (We leave in 10 days and will be celebrating our birthdays and anniversary!) Thanks!

 

I don't have any recommendation.

 

I don't know the names of the places where we ate.

They were all very casual though.

All on the water, or near the water.

 

You might look at Trip Advisor and see the ratings on the restaurants in Seattle.

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To my knowledge you are free to mention vendors within a review. You are not allowed to start a new thread with the sole purpose of promoting a vendor or criticizing a vendor. However, including vendors as part of a full review as far as I know is fully acceptable.

 

The one thing you are not allowed to mention is what travel agency you went through.

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Enjoyed reading your review very much and reading about some excursions I was not familiar with. The raft in Skagway sounds like a lot of fun. I also enjoyed reading about your cruise ship experience. Celebrity is my sister's and BIL's favorite line, and I hope to try it someday. It was nice to read a very positive ship review.

 

I know we are all different in what we like. Although most people would agree with you in liking Hubbard more than Tracy Arm, I am not one of them. For some reason Hubbard was a let-down to us after hearing how amazing it was. Granted, it is one impressive glacier and something I do recommend seeing. However, we enjoyed the transit through Tracy Arm Fjord far more than Hubbard Glacier. We have done TAF once on a cruise ship and once on a small boat excursion out of Juneau. We loved both! Glacier Bay, however, remains our favorite scenic cruising area along the AK cruise route. We have also done College Fjords. They are all highlights for sure and we will all prioritize them differently.

 

Thanks again for a truly great and well written review. I love your style of writing.

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Thank you so much for your great review! Do you have any recommendations for a delicious, romantic restaurant in Seattle? (We leave in 10 days and will be celebrating our birthdays and anniversary!) Thanks!

 

May I recommend 13 Coins? It's close to the Seattle airport. It's a fancier restaurant so plan to dress nicely or you'll feel way out of place......( not tuxedo's but not baggy jeans either).......

 

Steak and Seafood are their specialties. Google them for their address and more info.......

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