happymom52003

We've done both on Celebrity, and honestly I can't choose a favorite!   But, I do like Vancouver much better than Seattle.  We were just on the Eclipse out of Vancouver  a couple of weeks ago.  I'd choose based on the ports of call vs. the glacier.  Sailing to the glaciers is really cool and very exciting, however its just a few hours out of your cruise.   When we went on the Solstice out of Seattle, we went to Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau, and Victoria Island.   The one we just did out of Vancouver went to Sitka, Ketchikan, and Juneau.   Skagway has the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad, which is one of my favorite excursions I've ever done, and since you will have a kid with you, would be fun.  However, you can't go wrong with either itinerary. 

Not sure who is there now, but Captain Tasos has left the Solstice and will be on the Equinox in November.  He is SO much fun!  

We've done the one that goes whale watching and the glacier visitor center twice....both times, we had very limited time at the glacier....not enough for us to hike to the waterfall.  Last week we were there again and did the smaller tour that does the  guided hike.  While it didn't go to Nugget Falls, it was a very nice walk that went to the edge of the lake with an amazing view of the glacier (much better than the view from the visitor's center).  As an added bonus, we even saw a bear with her two cubs at the end of the hike.

One thing to note that could possibly effect your choice.....the boats on these two tours are very different.   The boat they use on the smaller excursion (20 people) is small and on level with the water.  The boats they use on the other excursions are larger, two story boats.  There are pros and cons to each.  After experiencing both, my personal preference is the larger boat, but I can easily see how others might prefer the smaller boat.

I like the larger boat because it has lots of room to move around...you can be in the downstairs part that is heated, or go up on the top deck to be outside.  It has two regular bathrooms, and a concession area that sells warm drinks, snacks, etc...and binoculars are also provided for everyone.  You also do not feel the motion as much, which is better is you are prone to sea sickness.

The smaller boat....I didn't like it because it didn't have a normal bathroom.....it did have a very tiny "head", but you were not allowed to use it if the boat is in motion.   Three hours is a bit outside my comfort zone to not have access to a bathroom, especially when I have my kids with me!  The main issue for us though was the sea sickness.  I have been on many cruises, and my kids have been on four cruises....and none of us have never experienced sea sickness and have never had to take preventive meds for it....so I wasn't concerned about the smaller boat.  Ended up after about the first 30 minutes, my 17 year old son was very sick for the remainder of the time.  My daughter and myself started feeling really sick during the last 45 minutes.  My husband was perfectly fine, as were most of the other 14 people on board, but I did notice a couple of other people who didn't seem to feel well.  So, If you have never been on a smaller boat, you might want to take motion sickness meds as a precaution.

An advantage to the smaller boat is that they seem to get a bit closer to the whales...they can also go much faster.  However....on this particular day, we only saw two humpback whales.  The other two tours we did on the larger boats....we saw many, many humpback whales, Orcas, and seals....I feel like they went farther and to more places than the small boat did.  The smaller boat seemed to stay in a smaller area.

Just my two cents!  Honestly you can't go wrong with either choice.  Juneau is beautiful! 

Layers are key!  We just returned from Alaska, and it was definitely the warmest trip we've had there, however any excursion on a boat, such as whale watching, will be colder when the boat is in motion even if the temps are warm.  For example....we did whale watching and then a hike at Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau.  On the whale watching boat I had on a short sleeve base layer, a fleece, and my rain/wind jacket as well as a fleece hat.  But for the hike, I had to shed all layers down to my short sleeve shirt.   To avoid overpacking....keep in mind that the layers next to your skin are really the only ones that you need multiples of (I only took two short sleeve and two long sleeve base layers).  One fleece layer and one rain/wind jacket will be fine.  I also wore the same pair of water resistant pants on all three excursion days (I had packed two). 

We are in Boston on the Fourth of July, and our day long tour includes some free time for lunch and shopping at Faneuil Marketplace. I'm wondering what to expect as far as crowd levels while trying to get lunch since it is a huge holiday....we'd rather do a sit down restaurant vs. a food kiosk/food court, but will be be spending most of our time waiting for a table?

I was on the Solstice in Alaska last summer, and I wore sleeveless or short sleeves every night, and carried a cardigan with me just in case. I usually freeze in the public areas on cruise ships....but on this particular cruise, I never once needed the cardigan inside.

I saw this on Facebook this morning.........

" Posted on portbermudawebcam.com FB page See note by Willy Freeman dockmaster Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda Early Arrival". "Celebrity Summit is here early for a medical emergency debarkation. She will come to her berth later this afternoon after the Norwegian Dawn departure"

After researching nearly every binocular thread on here (there are a lot...lol) for our Alaskan cruise last summer, we ended up buying these and were very happy with them....they were great. We bought the first one for us, and the less expensive one for the kids. Honestly, we could not tell much of a difference between the two as far as how they worked. The smaller ones are obviously a bit more lightweight, which is helpful if you take them on excursions (we did).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B73JONS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B73JO8I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd choose the suite in a heartbeat! Luminae alone makes it worth it, in my opinion. We really enjoyed all the perks of being in a suite.

We did the gold panning in 2011....the train up and bus down. I wouldn't suggest the gold panning.....so many more worthwhile options. Our time could have been better spent. Also didn't like riding the bus back down after the amazing train ride.

I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks

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Saved pics on phone just click on the picture button

 

 

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I think my issue is I don't have the cruise critic app. I'm on the mobile site and when I click on the picture, I get a pop up asking for the URL of my image. I'll get the app and try again.

Does x club have a schedule ? I thought the teens just hung there and did their own cool stuff ,?!!!

 

 

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They did have a schedule, however they didn't always follow it. Depended on how many kids were interested. They usually ended up just hanging out.

Probably a dumb question, but nonetheless I can't figure it out. How do I post pictures from my iPhone in a thread? I have pics of the teen schedules.

Thank you for the replies. I didn't think to check to see what the website said about occupancy since we were able to have four people in the same type of suite on the Solstice.

Thank you Orator :D

 

Do we know when he boarded?

Based on his Instagram posts, looks like maybe early May

I'm very confused. We just got off of the Solstice where we had a Celebrity Suite for our family of four. I'm trying to book another cruise in a Celebrity Suite on the Summit, and when I try to add the second child, I get a message that the selected stateroom can not accommodate the number of guests. Can any one shed some light on this? Makes absolutely no sense to me.

Any dinner recommendations for Seattle or "must see"? We only have 1 1/2 days, sadly!

We had a fantastic time in Seattle. I'll list what we did.

-Space Needle

-Chihuly Glass Museum

-Museum of Pop Culture

(all three of the above are located right next to each other, and there is a monorail that can take you there from downtown Seattle....very easy

-Mariners baseball game

-Pike Place Market

-Aquarium (skip if you have limited time....was ok, but have seen much better)

-Restaurants we loved: Blueacre Seafood, Anthony's Fish Bar, Cutter's Crabhouse

Just left the Solstice this AM, July 14. We too had a soggy, chilly and windy week. The sun came out in Victoria. Service in the Martini Bar was terrible the first two nights and Select Dining was total chaos. Fortunately, this improved as the week went on.

Totally agree about select dining. We had all but two of our dinners in Luminae. We were traveling with 12 family members, so we planned two dinners in the MDR all together. Both nights felt like total chaos. My family members all agreed that they will not do select dining again, even though it is nice to not be tied into a set time for dinner. However, I feel that you definitely get better service and things run more smoothly during the set dining times.

I have the ones from the teen club from last week on the Solstice....I will try to post later today.

Check out the price for the unlimited package direct from the company that supplies the photographers. It will probably be more than $200 - but likely not that much. $200 sounds steep to me for the package you got.

 

https://www.mycruisephotos.com/

 

Good luck -

 

Mike

Agreed. I paid $200 for the the digital package that included a USB with all of our pictures on it. Also, just a warning about sharing the photo package.....we were traveling with family, and most of the time it worked out for the other members to give our cabin number so their pics would be on our USB. However, one of the photographers caught on and got very upset with us and refused to take any more pictures of our family, and told us it was not allowed. We were not trying to be sly or anything....I honestly thought it would not be an issue to put my family members pictures onto my account, since I am planning on making a photo book of the cruise for everyone.

Also, check your photos carefully. They totally mixed up all of our borders and I didn't notice until I got home (evening chic borders on non evening chic nights, Tracy Arm borders on a pool deck taken the first day at sea, and a Pool deck border on our glacier photo in Tracy Arm). Not a huge deal because I can crop the pics out of the border, but I also like having the borders on the pictures.

I saw someone who is onboard post on facebook that there was too much ice to get up Tracy Arm, so they went to Juneau early.

I did a lot of research and this is the transportation we decided on....http://seattleroyaltowncar.com/

When are you going? We arrive in Seattle on July 5....I'd be happy to post a review of what we think of the company.

My daughter loves the fun factory too she said it is better then pando. Although we paid $180 for the VIP package on our 10 nt cruise which was cut down to 8 nts

 

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Is there info online anywhere about the kids clubs and VIP packages, or is this all info you find out once you board? We will have a 9 year old, 12 year old and 15 year old with us and I'd love to know beforehand what all of their options for activities are, but am having a hard time finding any info.

How funny....I searched for the same topic and this is what popped up...I have a feeling based on your signature that you are going on the same cruise that I am! NKOTB?:)