Celebrity Solstice Review
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We had a blast on the 7 night Alaskan Solstice!. It was beyond my wildest imagination of what to expect Alaska to be like. We would like to go back again in the future. It is definitely among the best vacations I have experienced. We purchased 2 non-alcoholic drink packages, one classic and one premium. Had I known you could get free juices at breakfast and iced teas for lunch/dinner, I wouldn't have bought the classic one for myself and saved the $19 per day plus 18% gratuities. The food was above average to great. We had some prime rib that was excellent. A couple of the other entrees were so-so. The servers were excellent. Sometimes the staff could be a little slow checking your drinks but we still didn't go thirsty. We didn't try any of the pay restaurants but if I ever go back I would like to experience a couple of those. I wanted to try the Bistro on Five but unfortunately it had just changed to Sushi on Five and we are not big sushi connoisseurs so we passed on that.
The Corning glass show was a definite "glad you didn't miss" experience. I read other reviews mentioning the lack of entertainment on the Solstice but we were definitely pleased with the shows and comedian we saw. Don't waste your time doing the free galley tour. It's a basic 30/40 minute tour that ends up where they are pushing the premium restaurants that you can check out for yourself. You do no get to see hardly any of the kitchen and the tours are so "back to back" that I couldn't hear my tour guide talking. If I go back I would love to pay the $150 pp and get the REAL TOUR of the bridge and other places that we do not get to see. They only take 30 people and I understand after it reaches 30, it becomes a raffle as to who gets to go and who does not.
The internet is slow slow slow. We purchased the unlimited package for $179. I used the wifi as much as possible and it's somewhat slow as well. Some days from the ship I could make phone calls and send text messages back home and some days I could not. I definitely could while we were in port - but in the waters...it was random.
Cabin Review
Concierge Class 3
The room was great. I wanted to make certain we had an unblocked view and we did.
We were on deck 10 (Room 1166 though) and the view was not blocked. We didn't get any folded animals out of our towels at night and I supposed that was my biggest disappointment in the room...still, not a big deal! I didn't ask for them, so I possibly could have gotten some had I requested them.
The mini refrigerator did not work but was fixed on day 2 or 3. We didn't make purchases from it, but it was great to keep your drinks cold in there. We would bring drinks into our room after we picked them up at the bar or restaurant.
The waste basket in the bath needed re-attaching and was fixed on day 3 or 4. It actually fell out and onto the floor and hit my big toe (ouch) so be careful how far you pull that door open until you know for certain it's secure. The nightlight in the bathroom worked the first night and then went out. We had it fixed towards the end of the cruise; it was great. The shower is small, but still not as small as the ones in Rome. Even with these 3 minor problems, the room was absolutely GREAT. It was cleaned twice a day and we received the 4 pm canapés platter (request the fruit platter if you don't prefer olives, dip and crackers).
Port Reviews
Seattle
We did not take a Seattle excursion.