Chrissit

22 hours ago, mahdnc said:

I also forgot to thank you for posting your live review. It was well written and the photos were beautiful. We've been on Solstice before and it was interesting to me to see photos of her in her blue livery. 

 

We will be back on Solstice in Dec when she does her Asian itineraries. 

We really do love her, she’s a great ship and the one we’ve spent the most days on. I’d be very interested in following along as she does her Asian itineraries - we’ve been eyeing those up and I’m waiting to see if she will end up going back to Japan at some point. 
 

Thank you for the kind words, I tried to keep up with it, and now better appreciate the work that goes into the lives. 🙂

On 5/14/2023 at 8:19 AM, Ferry_Watcher said:

@Chrissit, sorry friend to hear that Covid hit one of you and the last couple of days were not what you had planned.  Fortunately there was some spectacular weather and you could make use of your aft balcony. Happy to hear that y'all are doing better, and that the amazing Solstice crew took good care of you.

We attended the Napa Lunch, and it was amazing.  Sadly, no commentative menu was given out, and we didn't remember to take a photo of the menu.  We did do the pairing option, and I found myself choosing a particular course because of the wine/champagne offering (Cakebread & Taittinger).  

 

Question for you - we will be on a 6 night Edge cruise in 2024 (first time).  I know that you can book Eden at least once before the cruise.  Since you have sailed on the Edge, do you recommend buying the specialty dining package, and if so, how many nights?

Which restaurants are a must try?  Raw on 5 is on our list, and we would be drawn to Cyprus. 

Any thoughts on the Daniel Boulud Chef's Table?

Any other must try dining venues?

Any thoughts about lunch on sea days? 

Any other Edge tips for us?

 

We hope that your trip home went well, and we wish you continued good health.

Thank you for any insights about the Edge!

 

Hi @Ferry_Watcher - the best laid plans as they say 🙂

We are bummed to have missed that lunch, but it gives us something to look forward to next time. 
 

We did Apex, but happy to give what insight we can for that class of ship. 

Book Eden ahead of time. 100% hands down, fantastic dining experience. We had booked, I believe, a four night package on a seven day sailing. Eden was a challenge to get into onboard… in the event that we book the E-Class again, we’ll book Eden out right and then possibly a package and see if we can score a second seating. 
Please do Raw on 5, it was excellent. We didn’t try the main dining rooms since we had a fantastic rate on a suite for that trip. Fine Cut was very good - but do be aware that the martini bar does get loud and will likely intrude on your dinner because of how the ship is set up/designed. Didn’t bother us, others are not fans.
Haven’t done the chef’s table in years (maybe 2018?) so we can’t help there. 
Lunch on sea days - try Le Grand Bistro at least once. Eden Cafe is a great little spot for lunch (and breakfast!).

As to other tips, grab a drink on the Magic Carpet, very cool. Shows in Eden are different - in a good way. If you like aerialist acts, we recommend getting there early. The walkway that curved around the back is a great vantage point. During the days you’ll normally find a quiet space with beautiful wake views.

Thank you for the kind wishes - the dogs are happy to have us home and don’t seem to mind that we’re under the weather. 
 

We enjoyed sharing dinner and wish you amazing travels in the upcoming year! 

10 hours ago, juanrod said:

Totally understand about feeling well enough to fly.  On our 10 hour flight home from Rome in October, got horribly sick half way home, so for 5 hours wanted to rip my head off from the pressure in my head from flying .  Ended up testing positive when we got home.  Make sure you feel like you are on the mend before flying  

I've had the pleasure of a six hour car ride where I was the sickest I can remember ever being. Chills, cough, exhausted, wanted to crawl under a blanket and not move etc... I have no desire to ever do something like that again!  I cannot imagine adding pressure in the head.

Thankfully everyone is on the upward trend and the airfare is fully refundable (plus we have travel insurance) so if we need to move something we can! 

9 hours ago, SSFrance69 said:

I'm so sorry to hear your party caught covid! I know that's not a good or fun thing on vacation, but I'm glad you were able to make the best of it, having gone through at least part of the cruise feeling well, the nice balcony you've been able to enjoy, and hopefully room service has treated you well. Were you able to order room service delivered from the dining rooms, or just the standard room service menu? In any case, I hope everyone is on the mend soon and feeling great. Thanks for sharing your cruise journey and all the food photos! 🤗

We were grateful that it happened towards the end of the trip. And we tried to take it in stride. Things happen and sometimes we can't fix them. 

Room service was great - heck, they called us about ordering most of the time. 

As to ordering from the dining room, that wasn't mentioned until last night and I REALLY wish someone had spoken up sooner... The turkey sandwich left a lot to be desired. 

Thank for you the kind thoughts, everyone continues to improve.. wish I had been able to keep on track better and I really did wrestle with finishing things up, but it made sense to share the full story of the trip. 🙂

I hope your cruise, when you get there, is fabulous. 

We got a call about a change to our disembarkation last night. Originally, we were not to put out luggage, but that was changed and luggage was picked up along with everyone else's. 

When room service called us last night about what we might want to have for dinner, we told them we would likely try Sushi on Five to use our last meal in our dinner package, but if that didn't work, then I'd call them back. 

Normally, room service is not available on the final morning, thankfully the ship made sure we were taken care of. So during that dinner chat they took a breakfast order for us. Which was greatly appreciated. 

We were asked to remain in the cabin until someone came to grab us. Original time was estimated to be 9:20 and honestly they were pretty close to that! 

We were escorted to Celler Masters where we waited with everyone else that was were in quarantine (okay, that's what we suspect from chatting with a few people around us and the fact that pretty much everyone was masked up). 

It was weird to be some of the last people off the ship (even past the multiple "last call for all disembarking passengers!"). 

Rather than go through customs (copies of passports were made yesterday), we were escorted directly through the terminal and to where our luggage was chilling and then cut free. 

Two last pictures from our balcony.

I promised some food service shots ( I suspect we tried more of the menu than most opt for 😃). 

Shrimp cocktail 

Fruit plate

Soup of the day (some kind of tomato)

Antipasto platter

Turkey club (soggy and honestly not great)

Tuna Nicosie salad

Chicken noodle soup 

Cheesecake with blueberry topping

And if you'd like a laugh, our breakfast order where we requested two coffees and got two full carafes. 🙂

Apparently I took exactly zero breakfast pics. 

4 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

You don't need to do anything. There is no longer any law requiring you to refrain from traveling, using public transport, or mandatory isolation. Cruise lines should be prohibited from distributing this stuff.

 

Additionally, since 11:59 PM yesterday, all Covid related federal regulations and Presidential Proclamations are null and void.

I forgot about that expiring on 5/11. Thank you!
 

I’ll give them a slight pass in that the letter we have is dated prior to that and that was the “recommendation” and what the line was doing prior to that date. 
 

A big part of it is, does everyone feel well enough to travel… 

Wishing you a great cruise and hopefully you find her to be in good shape. 🙂

6 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

Sorry to hear about this, and glad you can get off the ship tomorrow.

 

I wonder how long they want to keep this isolation stuff going. I have a friend who just had the same situation on a Carnival ship, and they're telling her nonsense like she isn't allowed to use public transport or fly after arriving in Florida.

Our documents say we are supposed to quarantine for a total of five days. However that part is at our expense. There is a line in there about following current public health regulations. We’re in Seattle for the day anyways and will have to figure out the best plan of action. This comes with a humber of questions -not the least of which is can we switch flights and will the hotel be able to put us up for another day or two if needed.

58 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Oh, you're right. The third ship in port is the SCENIC ECLIPSE. 😄

Not a great pic, but here she is, caught her sailing away from the Solstice. 

Cool looking ship! 

53 minutes ago, juanrod said:

@Chrissit sorry your group caught Covid.   Hope you are getting rest and drinking lots of fluids.  At least it sounds like they didn’t make you move staterooms 

Thank you for the kind thoughts. We have more water in the cabin than you can shake a stick at. 

Happily they kept us where we were. And I'm thankful for that balcony - it's fresh air and helps circulate the air in the cabin. 

On 5/10/2023 at 9:16 AM, vanislandcruisers said:

Thanks for taking us along on your Cruise!!!... Enjoying each and every one of your posts!!!

 

The Asylum and Burger Queen are our musts each and every time we are in Ketchikan. Can't beat the Beer Prices and the Free WiFi at The Asylum and the Owner (Carlos) is one-of-a-kind!!!...and Burger Queen has some of the best Burgers we have ever had!!!

 

Jim

Carlos was great. He was behind the bar when we were there and we were chatting with him on and off. Didn’t try the burgers, but the halibut was really good!

So, I’ve been waffling back and forth for the last day or so to keep the live going. Because our views got a bit more static, but I figure the information is equally warranted and may help some. 
 

At this point, one of us is in quarantine due to COVID, which bites. The other person, while under the weather has tested negative twice and is allowed to roam the ship. 
 

Yesterday morning we got up. Pretty much business as usual. Both of us had a sore throat. One of us really didn’t want to get out of bed. So, I pulled out the handy dandy test kits that I bring from home and pack “just in case”. First person tested - positive. Second person tested - negative. 

Called medical shortly before they were closing for the morning, we were told to the person who tested positive needed isolate and come down at 4:00pm. No problem. The person not positive can still use the ship (I’m still somewhat baffled by this). 
 

So the person not positive masked up and headed out for tea and water. And lunch. Which is important because, well, food! Other than that, we stayed put. We were also somewhat bummed because yesterday was the wine lunch at Murano and we’d been looking forward to that. 
 

At 4:00pm, we did as had been requested and headed to medical. For the person that tested positive - forms were filled out, temps were taken, along with a few other tests. Due to other medical things that are preexisting, paxlovid was provided along with a few other items - cough drops, Tylenol, and a thermometer. For the person who tested negative, since there were symptoms (even having tested negative) a test and cough drops. They gave us the nurses number, the room service number and again told us that the positive person was in quarantine but the other person could roam the ship.

The ship has been great. Zero arguments from us about that. 
 

When we called room service for dinner, they briefly questioned when we went to medical, but the charge for delivery was refunded (before we asked). The Quarantine Concierge has been great - when they told us something would happen, it absolutely did. A letter was delivered last night outlining what the ship requirements are and what next steps would be. Additionally, because we are so late in the sailing, disembarkment information was provided. 

Access to Wi-Fi, movies and room service is open to us. Room service called us today about ordering lunch. We’ve heard from Guest Services, the medical team and when we called with a specific medical question due to the short hand they used, the question was answered immediately. We’ve heard from the Quarantine Concierge a number of times, actually just got off the phone with them because some thing changed about disembarking tomorrow. 
 

I highly suspect that we don’t have the only COVID case on board in our cabin - there are a few reasons for this, but it’s speculation on my part based on observations.

Our last dinner in our package was cancelled and since Sushi on Five does carry out, we plan to ask if it can be used there.  More to come on that. 
 

One more comment to add to the wall of text above (sorry about that everyone! The goal was to provide as much information as we could) our stateroom attendant has been WONDERFUL to us. He makes sure to check in on the sicker person at least daily, handing off plenty of water, ensuring that our old water bottles are removed and asking what else he can do (within what he can of course). 
 

We’ll be able to provide a few shots of room service meals and if you really want it, reviews of a few movies. I can now understand the desire for a Chrome Cast on the cruise. 

We are both doing well all things considered. Would far rather be out roaming the ship and enjoying everything that she has to offer, however, we are content and very happy with the support coming from the ship. 

On 5/8/2023 at 7:58 AM, SSFrance69 said:

Those photos of the food in Blu look great! I'm curious what the dishes were. Looks like beef carpaccio? Not sure what the others are but they look yummy. If you can remember I'd like to know so I know what I want to order. 

Thanks to your comment, I'm trying to remember to add the names of the dishes going forward. Sorry about that! 

In order it was: 

San Danielle Prosciutto

Seafood Ceviche

Snow Crab and Avocado Timbale

"Daily Vegetable" Tandoori cauliflower steak 

That cauliflower would be a light main dish or a good side dish for two. It is heavily spiced, but not in a bad way at all. I'd happily order that multiple times over. 

Icy Straight Point. 

Before I get into the day... I want to take a moment and talk about the Solstice here. This is the first cruise we have really, really noticed the azipods.

This morning, we got to Icy Straight around 6:30am. And the reason that I know this pretty well is that when the azipods kicked in for docking, it was very jerky and heavy vibrations in the aft. Woke us up. I've booked aft cabins before and this is the first cruise where we have experienced this. It's not the first time either. This is the third time we've felt these heavy vibrations. And, for other aft lovers, more soot than normal...

Okay, back to the port. This stop is somewhat amusement parkish. We were the only ship here today and I don't know how I'd feel with another ship in port... It would be a lot. 

But a cool stop for wild life. We saw starfish, Bald Eagles, Sea Lions, pretty sure there was an orca, darn sure there was a whale, heading out we also saw tons of little sea otters floating around the ship. (Grab your binoculars they are totally adorable floating on the backs.) To spot the starfish, walk down by the cannery dock at low tide. 

Oh, and some crab. 

We did not spot bears. 

Now let's chat prices here at Icy Straight Point (ISP). 

To take the Zipline down, if you bought today at ISP, it would run you approx $232 usd. We saw it as low as $185 in the cruise planner and this does include unlimited access to the Gondola ride which takes you to the top of the mountain. 

That same Gondola right (minus the Zipline) will run you approx $53 usd. If memory serves, we saw that at about $58 in the cruise planner. 

Just something to keep in mind. 

We were invited to the Helipad for Sailaway out of ISP. After cruising the glacier yesterday, we knew it would be cold and did the layers thing. Which was smart. We made it about 45 minutes and then headed back to the cabin and watched the rest of sailing out from there - the sea otters kept us entertained. 

Hubbard Glacier sailing day. 

Breakfast was at Blu. I have had zero complaints about the food in there. Everything has been delicious. Until this frittata. Maybe I just got a lousy piece, but it was highly unimpressive. Which, after everything else being delicious... Was baffling.  

Back to the glacier goodness, it is a beautiful spot. The Captian ended up doing a full turn in front of the Glacier so that no matter where you were you had a chance to see it. 

Also there was a colony of sea lions parked just to right of the glacier. Loud bunch of fellows. We heard them before we saw them... Sadly too far off for my DSLR. They were even tiny in the binoculars. 

For lunch we tried to stop by Sushi on Five - they were only seating reservations. Guess it wasn't just us wanting soup for lunch. 

Some how that translated to us eating at Mast Grill. 

Dinner was Murano. We had prebooked a four night dining package. When we added the Veuve Clicquot dinner, well, we've been eating very well. 

Amuse

Spinach and Frisee Salad

Mushroom Cappuccino 

The Cheese Tray they currently have available. (I originally thought those were cheese curds in the middle, nope, those are dried apples). 

And the smaller plate we split. 

Apologies, I didn't grab a picture of the main. It was too good and we tucked right in! 

The evening sky up here is lovely. 

17 hours ago, gymden said:

We are sailing from Seattle on 19th May and after seeing your photos our excitement is growing. 

Happy to help! 

It's been an amazing trip and I wish you an amazing time. 

Okay, dinner. We did the Veuve Clicquot dinner tonight. So, I'm going to start with the menu, add the wine/champagne/bottle and the plate. Price was at $199 per person, inclusive. 

This is held in the wine room of Murano on Solstice... And we had a group of four. Which surprised us since they had to add a second night. However, four of the other attendees weren't feel well. 

We still had an amazing time! 

Amuse

Poached pear salad

Sea bass crudo (my husband asked if Murano could please add this to their menu....)

Sea Scallops

Filet

Peach Souffle 

Okay, this is a great meal.

The Amuse was excellent. Watermelon and basil will be on our table this summer. Watermelon, basil, poached lobster and lemon.

Still not a raving fan of the Pear Salad. It felt like the spice level on the poached pears were off. The pairing with the Rose was lovely and it helped cut that spice. 

The crudo is FANTASTIC. (I could use less banana chips, but that's a personal thing. They don't even taste like bananas, but... It's a hold over from childhood.)

The Sea Scallops could have used a harder sear. That's the only comment. Beautiful, great paring.

The filet was great. Cooked as asked and wine paring was good. 

The souffle was lovely. The ice imperial pared well. Now, keep in mind, we were five wines in... But very good. 

And, for giggles, a comparison between the May '23 Solstice (left) sailing where we did this and the April '22 Apex (right) where we tried this the first time. Pardon the wrinkles, this was a stowaway in my "cruise purse" that we found. 

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Revolution was put on hold and thus no Retreat Sun Deck which regular cruisers enjoy.   No Retreat but the original Wood Paneled Michael's Club.  

 

She is in beautiful condition and the staff are amazing.   We were on the cruise when Starlink was brought live.    Originally the Speeds were as fast as home on the first cruise then they Capped it to what I've seen on other ships -   about 5-6 up but only 2-3 down. 

We're seeing those caps on Solstice. I do wish they would open them up a bit. 

The staff have been AMAZING. Truly a happy ship. 

Okay, on to Skagway. I seem to be running about a day behind here... 

We pulled in nice and early. 

Breakfast was continental room service. And it was delivered on time and... not hot since it was continental. Although the coffee was hot and STRONG.

We did the White's Pass Train 

Pro tip - sit in the last car. You get a clean view down the tracks. Although, keep in mind, many people are trying to grab the same shot and many may love time out there. 

We did ask at the train ride at their station after the excision how much it was to book direct - they said $150 per person. Pretty sure those individuals were loaded into the cars further up the train.

Water line/tide in Alaska is interesting and varies wildly. Think 18-24'.

You can end up with some wild inclines. This was pretty much gone when we got back 4-5 hours later. 

Lunch was in town at Skagway Brewing. 

Smoked Salmon Rillette.

Fish and chips (okay onion rings). Servers were husting... But friendly. 

On 5/5/2023 at 8:12 AM, westcoastsue said:

We just got off a B2B on the Solstice as you boarded. We were also in Aqua Class cabin 1600 - everyone seemed to love that number! Blu service was amazing - Sherwin was the most attentive Maitre’d we have ever had and Milrose the hostess was just lovely. All the wait staff was friendly although the first cruise, which was at capacity, they seemed a bit slammed. We loved the Veuve Cliquot dinner in the wine room of Murano. It was well paced and very informative. Our table mates were good fun after a couple of the champagnes were served.

We stayed at the Pan Pacific for one night post cruise and we’re very sad to see the Solstice sail away without us.

I cannot agree with you more about Milrose. She is fantastic - warm and kind. We had a chance to watch her interact with some non-Aqua guests that may have been a bit confused as to what Blu was for she handled the situation beautifully and with such tact. We've spent less time speaking with Sherwin, but I'm sure that will change. 

Our Veuve Clicquot dinner is tonight and we're very excited. Fingers crossed for an amazing group. 

All in all, a great staff on board. 

Okay, back to it! Juneau was a long day and Skagway was early. 

For now -

One of the places we hear people love is Tracy's King Crab Shack. And, here are the prices as of now. 

Here was the line around 11a. 

And the hustle with the crabs. 

This was the line around 1pm. (Before the third ship arrived in port mind you.) 

We opted for Alaska Brewing. 

Apparently their second day serving food, and we'll look at what's parked on the menu! Crab! 

And maybe some halibut for food measure? 

We finished up lunch and headed back to the shop for our 2p excursion for whale watching and lighthouse tour. Which was a brand new excursion as of yesterday. The vessel the put us on - the Beacon - was beautiful and made for whale watching. Crew was still in training (and double the number they would normally bring, but training day, so cool!) and everyone was great. We had Captain Louis and he was fantastic. 

Spotted humpback whales and sea lions plus bald eagles. 

Er, sorry for the not great pic of the whale, I was mostly using my DSLR.

The sight of where the old lighthouse was. 

We also got to see the new one, but there are a lot of people and try to keep things a bit low key when posting others without their permission.

We came back on board and had to decide between dinner and pictures.

Sunset won until about 8:30p. Because come on! 

(Yes, I posted it twice and I'm not sorry! It was stunning!)

Then a light dinner at Blu. 

We honestly couldn't have had better weather. 

Oh! I almost forgot. Solstice was parked at the AJ Terminal. Which was the furthest one out. There was a local shuttle running back and forth. But if she parks there, it's a good little walk into town. 

Juneau - beautiful weather. Seriously. Sunny all day long. 

A few pictures from around the ship yesterday morning (it was a full day and one of my posts got eaten). 

We stopped by Blu for breakfast. Now I could keep posting the same plate with smoked salmon and a bagel, but, since that gets boring... So you get variations 🙂

This was a tasty little omelet with mushrooms, and spinach. 

1 hour ago, jerseygirl732 said:

I am loving your live review.  How is the weather?  Views from the ship look amazing. We are leaving on the Millennium inside passage next week. 

Weather has been great! Running between 40-60 if I pay attention to what the ships app says and the fact I don't want to keep my jacket 

Apparently the sunny day we had in Juneau was rare... We were told, pretty much all day long, that it's never that sunny. 

But it made for a glorious sunset. 

Well Cruise Critic ate my next post, so I'll skip around a bit. 

This is an example of what I've seen around the ship as to condition. Panel in elevator that needs to be replaced. 

Apparently someone was feeling frisky with a cart on deck 11. 

They were doing work on the paint today... But you can see there is still work to be done. 

Like I mentioned, some soft goods that need to be changed out, but over all she's beautiful.

Persian Gardens anyone? You can see there is a window that needs to be defogged.. but this is the quietest we've seen it this cruise. (Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate Alaska in the background?!?)

Also, first time we've seen these. I suspect these were sample pots that people sampled...

However this was being sold by the spa. A scrub, a mud and a lotion that were sold at $49 for a trio. I think there was also an option of 7 of them for $99. 

Dinner was Murano last night. 

A few old favorites, and at least one new to us dish. 

The service in this restaurant is outstanding. And I say that with it also being the Chef's Table night. Didn't notice a drop in service. 

The Amuse was a shrimp ceviche. 

An order of Peekytoe Crab and Smoked Salmon.

Lobster Bisque

Pork belly to share

Murano Lobster

Dover Sole

Grand Marnier Souffle

Balon Rouge

And after dinner treats. I'm a raving fan of the orange peel.