First time cruising Alaska: itinerary vs ship?

Hello everyone. I just booked an Alaska cruise on the Solstice taking advantage of the awesome promotion Celebrity is currently offering. However, I noticed quite a bit of negative feedback for the solstice itinerary, ie. False advertisement for the inside passage etc. since I know absolutely nothing about Alaska, I would appreciate any advice you might have. We love the solstice class ships but really want to see the beauty of Alaska. Thoughts?

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It's impossible to miss the beauty of Alaska. Few Alaska cruisers manage only one trip; most of us repeat, and repeat.

The true Inside Passage is calmer, but much of it is often traveled after dark, so scenery isn't an issue.

Both routes are the Inside Passage, but the Soltice will be going out in open water more. Celebrity's not lying, just doing the PR thing we're all familiar with.

However, this is only the beginning of the trip. It's the ports and glacier visits that matter. And if you're in the mid summer, the sea life.

We've done both routes; this year we're on the Soltice in July. No bad trips yet.

Check out your ports and excursions and see if that's what you're looking for. Frankly, think of this as your first trip - you can't see and do it all this time.

Thanks for your response. I noticed that it says on the website: cruising the inside passage from 6:30 pm-10:30 pm... I am assuming that means it will be dark, right?

Do you have any recommendations for shore excursions? We have $500 on board credit and our beverages and gratuities are paid for so I thought it might be wise to use our credit for excursions. The only catch is that we would have to wait until we are on board to do that. Would that limit our choices?

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Thanks for your response. I noticed that it says on the website: cruising the inside passage from 6:30 pm-10:30 pm... I am assuming that means it will be dark, right?

Do you have any recommendations for shore excursions? We have $500 on board credit and our beverages and gratuities are paid for so I thought it might be wise to use our credit for excursions. The only catch is that we would have to wait until we are on board to do that. Would that limit our choices?

 

 

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It's light a long time in the summer in Alaska, so depending when you go, it might still be daylight most of that time.

We did Solstice last summer...it was my first trip, so I thought the scenery was wonderful...if I had more experience, possibly I would have been more disappointed about the "Inside Passage", but I doubt it... I think the biggest drawback to the Solstice Itinerary is that it tenders in Juneau (or did last year) and it was a nightmare....we waited for hours to get off the ship and almost missed an independently booked tour.... be sure to be mentally prepared for this.

It's light a long time in the summer in Alaska, so depending when you go, it might still be daylight most of that time.

 

 

 

We did Solstice last summer...it was my first trip, so I thought the scenery was wonderful...if I had more experience, possibly I would have been more disappointed about the "Inside Passage", but I doubt it... I think the biggest drawback to the Solstice Itinerary is that it tenders in Juneau (or did last year) and it was a nightmare....we waited for hours to get off the ship and almost missed an independently booked tour.... be sure to be mentally prepared for this.

Great to know! I'll have to check that out. Does it matter in your opinion which side of the ship the cabin is located? I have no clue if one side is better than the other! :-)

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Hello everyone. I just booked an Alaska cruise on the Solstice taking advantage of the awesome promotion Celebrity is currently offering. However, I noticed quite a bit of negative feedback for the solstice itinerary, ie. False advertisement for the inside passage etc. since I know absolutely nothing about Alaska, I would appreciate any advice you might have. We love the solstice class ships but really want to see the beauty of Alaska. Thoughts?

 

 

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We also did it because wife loves the Solstice ships. Best excursion we did was at Tracey Arm Fjord. The ship pulls up a short distance from the Sawyer Glacier and you board Catmarans for a closer look at the glacier. You then sail the Fjord and go to another SAwyer glacier which the ship can't get to. We then sailed for a couple hours meeting the ship back in Juneau for the port stop. We were lucky saw lots of whales and other wildlife. Highly recommend it, a very popular excursion.

The ship this past summer tendered every other week in Juneau, we were lucky and hit the week when it docked.

Also, Solstice had the naturalist Brent Nixon on who explained just about anything you want to know about Alaska.

Hello everyone. I just booked an Alaska cruise on the Solstice taking advantage of the awesome promotion Celebrity is currently offering. However, I noticed quite a bit of negative feedback for the solstice itinerary, ie. False advertisement for the inside passage etc. since I know absolutely nothing about Alaska, I would appreciate any advice you might have. We love the solstice class ships but really want to see the beauty of Alaska. Thoughts?

The Solstice is a beautiful ship, but it has the worst itinerary of the 3 Celebrity ships that do Alaska cruises.

2 days of the Solstice's 7 day cruise are spent cruising out in the Pacific Ocean.

Celebrity's other 2 ships spend that time cruising through the scenic Inside Passage instead.

Also as mentioned, the Solstice often tenders at Juneau instead of docking there. But even when the Solstice docks at Juneau, it gets the worst berth position there while the Millennium gets one of the best berths, right near the tram.

The Solstice's time in Victoria is also poor, arriving late in the day and spending only a few hours there on the last night of the cruise.

But if you want an S-class Celebrity ship for Alaska, it has to be the Solstice because Celebrity's other 2 ships that do Alaska cruises will both be M-class.

You say that you know absolutely nothing about Alaska, so I would suggest doing some research first to figure out where you want to spend your time and what you want to do in each port and which glacier area you want to see on your cruise before deciding on the ship.

If you can spare the time, you may want to consider taking a one-way cruise that would also give you the opportunity to visit Denali Park or other parts of the Alaska interior.

If you just want the experience of enjoying an S-class ship, you can do that for a lot less money on a Caribbean cruise than on an Alaska cruise.

Does it matter in your opinion which side of the ship the cabin is located? I have no clue if one side is better than the other! :-)

When travelling to Anchorage, take the right side (starboard) - to see the land.

And, the trip to Emerald lake was amazing - Canada is beautiful.

there are those who prefer to leave from Vancouver rather than Seattle because they go further north into glacier bay. Also taking a cruise + land tour would show you a lot more of Alaska if you have the time/funds. Others like the smaller ships like the Millenium class because they reportedly can go further into Tracy Arm or sail more time thru the inside passage or are smaller with less passengers.

Wow! Thanks for all of the great advice. I see I have my work cut out for me... But oh the fun! 😄

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Also, there is a very active and helpful Alaska forum here on Cruise Critic. Lots of information on the tours, ports, and different cruise lines that sail Alaska.

We're doing Millennium next August from Vancouver to Seward. After that we're renting a car and doing some things in Seward and then driving to Denali for a few days. Better doing our own "cruise tour". We've been twice before to Alaska, both times on Infinity r/t from Seattle.

For me Alaska cruising is all about the itinerary, especially if it is your first visit. I would only cruise an itinerary that included Glacier Bay, but that limits which lines you can cruise since not all cruise lines have the rights to sail into the National Park.

The Solstice is a great ship --- but yes, more time in the open waters vs the inside passage so it can tend to be a bit rough.

We did the Solstice 11 night ultimate Alaska in Sept and a 7 night Seattle roundtrip the previous Sept. The 11 night is simply awesome -- but the 7 night was fabulous as well....given the choice, I would chose the 11 night over the 7 night as Icy Strait Point is one of my favorite ports of call.

We also did it because wife loves the Solstice ships. Best excursion we did was at Tracey Arm Fjord. The ship pulls up a short distance from the Sawyer Glacier and you board Catmarans for a closer look at the glacier. You then sail the Fjord and go to another SAwyer glacier which the ship can't get to. We then sailed for a couple hours meeting the ship back in Juneau for the port stop. We were lucky saw lots of whales and other wildlife. Highly recommend it, a very popular excursion.

 

Do you remember the name of this excursion? I can't seem to find it for the May 8th Solstice sailing next year.

We also did it because wife loves the Solstice ships. Best excursion we did was at Tracey Arm Fjord. The ship pulls up a short distance from the Sawyer Glacier and you board Catmarans for a closer look at the glacier. You then sail the Fjord and go to another SAwyer glacier which the ship can't get to. We then sailed for a couple hours meeting the ship back in Juneau for the port stop. We were lucky saw lots of whales and other wildlife. Highly recommend it, a very popular excursion.

 

The ship this past summer tendered every other week in Juneau, we were lucky and hit the week when it docked.

 

Also, Solstice had the naturalist Brent Nixon on who explained just about anything you want to know about Alaska.

I'd also like to have details of this tour please dkjretired, sounds wonderful, is it one of Celebrity's shorex or a private one? Thanks in advance:)

Do you remember the name of this excursion? I can't seem to find it for the May 8th Solstice sailing next year.

I believe you need to contact Celebrity directly for that one. (Basing this off memory from reading reviews...)

I have done two great excursions in Alaska with Celebrity. From Juneau I took a helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier. We landed on the glacier and walked around for awhile. The sight from the air was beautiful and being on the glacier was an interesting experience. In Ketchikan I took a float plane to the Misty Fjords National Monument. Flying over the snow covered mountains was awesome. We landed on a lake and were able to get off the plane and stand on the floats. Both were great; Misty Fjords was my favorite. I'm sure these are available as private excursions, but if you want to use OBC these are two good ones. I used the ship's excursions for these because none of my traveling companions wanted to do these, so I was going alone. You will love Alaska no matter what you do.

Carolyn

1. Itinerary

2. Length of port visits

3. Port arrival times

4. Port departure times

5. Ship

DON

Do you remember the name of this excursion? I can't seem to find it for the May 8th Solstice sailing next year.

The vendor is Allen Marine.

Here is a link to a description of the excursion on the vendor's own website, but you need to book this one through the cruise line.

Allen Marine Tours - Juneau Alaska - Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer

The other thing I would add to the list of considerations is money. Is was a sizable difference getting in and out of Seattle vs. RT or one through Vancouver.

We did Solstice in 2013. Ignorance is bliss. Having never been, we did not know what we were missing.

That being said, I will add a couple comments:

We made a bucket list for the trip:

Whales, bald eagles, bears, beautiful vistas, family time, etc.

We ticked them all off the list. We did see the glacier calve from the ship. That, a whale coming up about 10ft from our little tour boat and seeing a bear come out of the woods to feast on salmon were the highlights and all happened the Juneau day..

We went in August and many of the outdoor venues (bar, glass blowing, etc.) on Solstice were quite chilly (especially if the ship was moving). I had this vision of abusing the drink packaging in every evening in one of the back bars and every night it was really too cold to enjoy.

We docked in Juneau but from what I recall that was an every other week thing with tendering.

That is because Shore & Land Excursions for next May are not currently available on the Celebrity website, but when they are available this excursion is listed under Juneau so it is assigned a number that begins with the letters JU on the Celebrity website.

 

The vendor is Allen Marine.

Here is a link to a description of the excursion on the vendor's own website, but you need to book this one through the cruise line.

 

Allen Marine Tours - Juneau Alaska - Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer

 

well you may want to check again because I've already booked mine for next July (2015) thru the Celebrity website.

well you may want to check again because I've already booked mine for next July (2015) thru the Celebrity website.

The Celebrity excursion number for it is JU94

Here is a link to it on the Celebrity website:

Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer - Celebrity Solstice

Looks like it is displaying on the screen, but when I tried clicking the "Book Now" link, it said Server Not Found.

Yay, I just tried it again, and this time it continued on to the next screen.

So hoping it will be up and working for liquix tomorrow.

If it doesn't work the first time, go back and try again.

Oh well, at least liquix should be able to see the cruise description and prices and can always call to book it over the phone even if the online booking feature isn't working.

The other thing I would add to the list of considerations is money. Is was a sizable difference getting in and out of Seattle vs. RT or one through Vancouver.

 

 

 

We did Solstice in 2013. Ignorance is bliss. Having never been, we did not know what we were missing.

 

 

 

That being said, I will add a couple comments:

 

 

 

We made a bucket list for the trip:

 

Whales, bald eagles, bears, beautiful vistas, family time, etc.

 

 

 

We ticked them all off the list. We did see the glacier calve from the ship. That, a whale coming up about 10ft from our little tour boat and seeing a bear come out of the woods to feast on salmon were the highlights and all happened the Juneau day..

 

 

 

We went in August and many of the outdoor venues (bar, glass blowing, etc.) on Solstice were quite chilly (especially if the ship was moving). I had this vision of abusing the drink packaging in every evening in one of the back bars and every night it was really too cold to enjoy.

 

 

 

We docked in Juneau but from what I recall that was an every other week thing with tendering.

I just checked the flight prices and they are double what it costs to fly in to Seattle... So Seattle it is! Actually the other celebrity ships are more expensive too... Probably due to the more popular itinerary. We are booked in Aqua Class... Did you get an opportunity to check out the spa or Blu? I am thinking heated tile loungers will be a winner after a chilly day. 😄

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I just checked the flight prices and they are double what it costs to fly in to Seattle... So Seattle it is! Actually the other celebrity ships are more expensive too... Probably due to the more popular itinerary. We are booked in Aqua Class... Did you get an opportunity to check out the spa or Blu? I am thinking heated tile loungers will be a winner after a chilly day.

 

 

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We had our first Aqua Cabin on Solstice in Alaska and loved it. I particularly enjoyed the heated loungers and aromatherapy sauna in Persian Garden. We also really loved Blu-the food was great! Breakfast is wonderful there too...the Oceanview Cafe was crazy busy (busier than any other Celebrity ship that I ever have been on!), so Blu was a wonderful place for breakfast (chocolate croissants were usually warm there!! plus they have amazing parfaits and fresh squeezed OJ). Another option was the expanded room service menu which we also used several times....was especially nice the day we were cruising Tracy Arm Fjord to eat breakfast in our room and be able to view the scenery and hear the commentary from the naturalist on our TV.

And.... I will second the previous accolades for the naturalist Brent Nixon. He is completely fabulous. We have heard talks on previous ships, but nothing like this ....he is amazing, a researcher and quite gifted entertainer/speaker - definitely go hear him when you can. He is much more than boring lecture (which I like anyway lol)....he DEFINITELY was a great asset to this ship and taught us so much about the wildlife and scenery we were going to see!!

Oh...and to your previous question about side of the ship...I don't think it matters really - plenty of scenery on both sides of the ship from what I could tell. We were in Aqua Cabin 1540 and loved the location.... so much so that I booked the exact same cabin for our Equinox cruise coming up in March.

I'd also like to have details of this tour please dkjretired, sounds wonderful, is it one of Celebrity's shorex or a private one? Thanks in advance:)

This was a Celebrity excursion, believe we had four boatloads of people get off for the excursion, very popular. We were lucky in that we saw quite a few whales and loads of seals. That does not always happen.