lakegirl16

@cruzin4us thank you for your posts. I'm on this itinerary in two weeks. Can't wait. Enjoying your food posts, the only thing that really concerns me is if the food isn't hot. If someone else cooks for me for 10 nights, I'm all good!! And if the entree wasn't great, I will have two desserts. 🙂.

Can you tell me which excursion this was? Thank you. Your pictures are fabulous!! SORRY i just saw where you posted this!

@jaycruising Thank you for taking us along. I'm on the Panama Canal Transit/Eclipse cruise next April. Enjoyed so much a glimpse of what we will see!

Interested in touring the North Pacific Cannery on our June stop in Prince Rupert. I've done some searching but am not finding any information. Is there any type of transportation from the cruise port? I looked at car rentals and it appears they are closed on they day we are there (saturday). Thank you!

Deckhand Dave's in Juneau. Best halibut and salmon tacos!

We spent 15 nights on the Solstice in December. As everyone says, ship has not been revolutionized but is a beautiful ship. Crew was amazing. Very friendly and attentive. I'd read many posts mentioning the ship looking worn. I didn't notice anything major, of course, like anything if you want to find something wrong, you can.

We stayed at the Doubletree in December. We did their cruise package, included parking, transport to and from port and breakfast. The hotel is in need of a refurb but was clean and breakfast was delicious. Fine for one night.

I have only stayed at the Pan Pacific. It was lovely. Beautiful views. Having the luggage taken directly to the port was so nice. Breakfast was wonderful and the setting is very nice. We also dined in the restaurant and the view was amazing. For us, it was a nice start to a our Alaskan cruise.

Nathan was the cruise director. Yes, I thought he did a great job!

Our fridge had 4 cokes in it, which we set aside. Other than those, it was empty. We requested beers, red bulls and water. No charges for any of them.

No issues. Typically they will meet with you on your first day and ask for your requests.

Thank you for taking us along. On the Ruby in May. Last Princess cruise was 2017. Have been sailing Celebrity. Will be interested to compare. Love seeing the menus! Thanks again.

Just finished a B2B Mexican Riviera on the Solstice and wanted to share my thoughts. We did this itinerary 16 years ago on Princess. We have done land vacations to Cabo. A little about us, we are in our early 60's and from Las Vegas, Nevada. We cruise on Princess or Celebrity. This is our first cruise since COVID and our 10th cruise. I was a bit nervous about cruising and COVID but I think this first cruise has helped calm my nerves. We wore masks in all public areas on the ship, all excursions, on transportation, etc. We tested after cruise 1, just to ensure we were negative. Tested again after cruise 2 when we arrived in LA. NEGATIVE! mainly because we were heading to see our grands before our drive home. There were some passengers wearing masks, not many. Very few staff wearing them. I'd read a lot of comments about the condition of the ship. Yes, she has the old color scheme and is in need of an update but still a beautiful ship. Honestly, I had to really look to find areas that might need replacing or repair. Like anything, if you want to find something wrong, you usually can. The staff was fabulous, friendly and accommodating. I wouldn't hesitate to book this ship again.! We had a wonderful, relaxing vacation!! PreCruise: We stayed at the Doubletree San Pedro. As many have mentioned, the hotel is VERY tired. It was clean and fine for one night. We did their cruise/park package. Included breakfast, transport to and from the port and parking. Breakfast was excellent. Transport was quick and timely. We took the 10:30 shuttle, just us in an SUV. Upon return, called them for a shuttle back to the hotel to pick up our car and waited maybe 15 minutes. When we book out of LA again, we will try the Crown Plaza, I liked that location with so many places to walk for dinner. Our first time to drive to the port, loved it. No worries about luggage weight or number of bags. The only downside was our drive home yesterday. Traffic and back ups from LA to Vegas were terrible. But as we said, it was a holiday weekend and we also weren't dealing with the flight nightmares many people were, so all good! Embarkation: We were assigned an 11:30 time. Arrived around 10:45. We went to the Suites line and were escorted upstairs to the lounge. We waited maybe 15 minutes and were on the ship. Our room was basically ready, we dropped off our suitcase and went to explore. Rooms: We were in a Sky Suite both weeks. Deck 12 Aft first week and Deck 6 Corner Room Second Week.Deck 12 room was noisy, not terrible unless you were on the balcony and then the dragging of chairs from the Oceanview was pretty bad. I wouldn't book that location agin. Deck 6 second week. I loved this room, one of the best we've ever had. Balcony is so private and quiet. We used it for enjoying the sun instead of going to the pool. Loved the porthole in the room. There is the dreaded pole in the middle of the room. I only walked into it once in the night. HA. Learned my lesson quickly and put my hand in front of me. I know I've read lots of comments on the pole but it would not stop me from booking this room again. Butler – We don't request much of our butlers. They were both fine. First week, we were never offered afternoon canapes. Second week we were but he seemed to always deliver them very late, 4:30 – 5:00. Timeliness of ice delivery and drink replenishment was a bit off, both weeks. Room Stewards – First week, he seemed to struggle with timing on cleaning our room. Second week, she was on point, always appearing quickly while we were gone and room was clean when we returned. My favorite was the way she wrapped our charging cords that were in tangled mess on the dresser. 😀 Food: Luminea: We ate almost all of our meals in Luminae. Dining in Luminae is our main reason for booking in a Sky Suite! The service, atmosphere and food were outstanding. Yes, from time to time the service was a bit slow but we're on vacation, where do we have to be? They mentioned in the mornings if we needed to be off for an excursion to tell them and they would rush our food. Our sommelier was fantastic! Entire staff friendly and so accommodating!!! I'm not a big meat eater, lots of pasta and fish for me. The pastas were very good and all of the fish cooked perfectly. My husband had a couple of steaks which he said were cooked perfectly and tender. You can order from the main dining room menu and they are accommodating with special requests. One night I wasn't feeling 100% and requested pasta with butter and parm, no problem! Sushi on 5: We ate one lunch at Sushi on 5. It was delicious and service very good. Never seemed to be many people in this venue. Tuscan Grille: We had quite a bit of OBC, so we booked one night at Tuscan Grille. It was just okay. Service was not great. Didn't receive bar service prior to the waiter coming over to take our order and then we had to ask about ordering cocktails/ wine.. Restaurant was not crowded. Food was good. I wouldn't book again unless I had OBC. Oceanview Buffet: We had a couple of lunches here on port days. I've never loved the set up of Celebrity's Buffet. I always feel people are walking into you, in front of you and it's confusing to know where you've been or not been. I like the buffet set up better on Princess where there is more of a line. Food in the buffet was fine. Cafe Al Bacio:: Staff is super friendly. Pastries and cookies delicious. The coconut macaroons are especially tasty. We did get our free scoops of gelato but honestly felt the gelato was not the great. Michael's Club – We went here a few times prior to dinner. The staff is very accommodating and friendly. I like the set up in the Retreat on the Millennium where you can self serve the breakfast or evening snacks. Not sure if this is different on the Solstice because it isn't refurbished or because of COVID? Entertainment: We didn't go to any of the shows the first week. The second week we went to Rock City and Uptown. Rock City was okay. I felt a couple of the singers weren't great but my husband thought it was fine and I was too critical. :-). Uptown, very talented and fun show! As I was watching the show, I said to my husband, have we seen them before? Yes, 2019 on the Millennium. Spa: Using up that OBC, I enjoyed a haircut, massage and pedicure. They were all excellent. Of course, the usual push to sell products. I only bought one product. . Pretty good, I thought. 😀 Ports: Normally I book independent tours but due to the amount of OBC we had I booked through Celebrity. Cabo: The first week the ship had an overnight in Cabo. First day we took a water taxi to The Office. My husband needed to get a new tee shirt. This is favorite spot on our land vacations to Cabo. The second day My husband did the ATV Tour. Second week we did the Todo Santos Tour. My favorite excursion of the week. I'd always wanted to visit Todo Santos, charming town and beautiful drive from the port along the ocean. Cabo was very crowded due to the time of year. Mazatlan – We did the city tour. It was fine, nothing special but gave a good overview of the city. Puerto Vallarta – First week we did the Jeep and Hidden Villa Tour. NOT my favorite tour. I felt the tour wasn't described very well. It was very rough, very dusty over dirt roads, high up with no guardrails. The jeeps were very old, my seat belt didn't work properly. Other people on the tour loved it but not for me. Second week we did whale watching. LOTS of whales. Great tour, food and drink were very good. Ensenada – We had never been to this port and it ended up being our favorite stop. We did a tour through Celebrity to two wineries. Beautiful landscapes and wonderful wine. Disembarkation – We were off the ship before 8:00, it was a breeze! Internet---Overall very good. I worked some from the ship and had no issues! There was the occasional buffering but I get that at home, sometimes. Deal or No Deal – we did this once first cruise. It was fun. We weren't chosen but you can win even if not chosen. My husband won $5.00 in casino credit. I miss BINGO (yes, perhaps I'm old, ha) Casino – Did not walk away a winner but was able to cash out my remaining OBC with no issues. Enjoyed my first ever slot pull, thank you @shiptraveler Negatives are very few but here are a couple: There seemed to be a challenge with picking up room service dishes in the hallway. Noticed this much more on our first week on Deck 12. Dishes sitting there all day. Doorstops – the doorstops were a rag and not a doorstop. Come on Celebrity, let's use real doorstops. I'm happy to answer any questions, anyone might have! On to planning the next cruise, Princess in May RT Alaska out of San Francisco!

We did a bear watching excursion in Icy Strait Point in May. Saw several bears. Great excursion.

Everyone's favorite topic ... tipping. I've read previous posts on this subject and am trying to confirm if "extra" tips for the Luminea staff are pooled? We're on the Solstice and have been seated in the back part of the dining room. Would tips be combined with all staff in Luminea or just in our section of the dining room? Also, I know there may be varying opinions on this but what would be considered "extra services" where a butler is concerned? Thank you!!!

Always hard for a cruise to come to an end! Time to look forward to the next one. B2B for us, so we have next week to look forward to! Less than 20 for B2B, so no in person meeting. I was hoping to win one of the prizes you'd posted about last week. 🙂 Thank you so much for all of your posts the past two weeks. I so enjoyed them before boarding and have been following along this week, while I on board. It was a pleasure to meet you after following your posts over the years. Perhaps our paths will cross again. Safe travels home and have a wonderful holiday season!

Photo Credit to my husband. I have a video too but not sure how to load here. 😀. We are whale watching here next week. We did the Jeep Excursion today. A bit more rugged than I anticipated. 😩

Just saw whales and dolphins on sailaway in Puerto Vallarta.

Enjoying our cruise. The ship is beautiful, the food has been fabulous, the staff is wonderful and the sunsets divine!

Thank you, Jim!!!

@Jim_Iain Wonderful meeting you yesterday! My DH has gotten the Firestick hooked up per your instructions. THANK YOU! However, it's not giving him the option to log in for the Wifi. Is there a trick for this? Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate all of your help! Enjoy your evening!

Thank you good to be aboard! Thanks for the correct spelling for Abdule! We'll be requesting him for sure!!

@Jim_Iain curious when you hook up your Firestick, what do you use for power?

We are onboard for a B2B starting today. Check in was quick and easy. We were on the ship by 11:00. I'd read quite a few comments over the past few months that had me questioning our decision to sail on this ship. Just confirming what Jim said earlier, no need to question! The ship is beautiful, I've yet to see any signs of wear. I'm guessing you have to look and I am too busy enjoying myself to look for things to be unhappy about! The staff has been so friendly. Lunch in Luminea was delicious and Abdula our waiter outstanding. The sun it out and we are so looking forward to our first cruise since May '19.