This was our 7th cruise up to Alaska, 3rd on Celebrity and the 1st on the Solstice. We've sailed on the Equinox before so cannot say we were wowed and surprised by the S class. For us, the S class is absolute perfection on the water.

We arrived early in Seattle from the SF bay area and were greeted by a friend that took us on a tour of the Emerald City and out for breiakfast at this New Orleans style restaurant -- simply delicious.

We mentioned that we were on this 'Chef John Howie' cruise and she was impressed. I had never heard of him before but the TA said we would not be sorry -- well, she wasn't kidding!! More on that later but the special events set up for this rather small group (I would say it was no more than 50 passengers) were phenomenal. Read more