Review: Celebrity Solstice Alaska Cruise - Part 4 - Ship Features

There are a number of other features onboard the Celebrity Solstice. Let’s touch on what we did on the ship and provide our thoughts on our experience.

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Note: you’ll find a helpful graphical display of the Celebrity Solstice deck plans on the Celebrity Cruises website.

Basketball Court

Located on Deck 15 Forward, you’ll find a cage-like structure surrounding a half-court basketball court. Yes, there was a basketball sitting out here (we didn’t see any other balls), but it wasn’t optimally inflated. The other thing to note is how windy it gets up here. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that there is quite a breeze given you’re at the forward of the ship, but all that arctic air means you probably should wear long sleeves at least until your heart gets pumping. I found the breeze interfered a bit with my accuracy (or at least that’s what I told eight-year-old Alex when I couldn’t make a shot). The nice thing was that the court was mostly empty when we walked by.

Card Room

You’ll find the Card Room on Deck 9, near the central glass elevators. In theory, this is a nice area to pass the time. There is a nice selection of games, including chess, checkers, backgammon, mahjong, and puzzles. We spent some time here at the end of the cruise when we were waiting to debark and it was far more enjoyable here than being in the crowded Oceanview Cafe. However, it should be noted that many of the games seemed to be missing necessary elements. The puzzles were missing quite a few pieces while the chess set was also lacking a rook, pawn, and bishop. We improvised with some checkers, but I hope they replace the items here soon.

Celebrity iLounge

Perhaps the least utilized room on the ship, the Celebrity iLounge (a fancy name for the internet room) can be found on Deck 6 by the central glass elevators. I don’t think I ever saw a soul in here at any point during the cruise. If you purchase internet from the ship, you can use these computers in addition to your own wireless devices. I’ll talk more about internet in a separate post because it was perhaps the most disappointing thing about the ship.

Fitness Center

The fitness center could be found on Deck 12 Forward, right near the Spa. This is another area that just never felt crowded. I thought that people might be motivated to work out after all the eating that happens onboard the ship, but I was wrong. There was a contingent of guests who loved hanging out at the gym, but otherwise you had your pick of machine most of the time. There are good views from here and given it’s not too crowded and protected from the wind outside, this might be a quieter place to do some sightseeing (especially if you want to hit the treadmills as you do it). There is a morning stretching class here as well, something that Jenn enjoyed daily.

Hot Glass Class

The Hot Glass Class takes place by the outdoor grassy area on Deck 15 Aft. As a caveat, we didn’t actually purchase tickets to participate in the class, but we did watch others try their hand. If you’ve never worked with hot glass before, it can be a fun, engaging experience. You do get to keep your masterpiece, but note there are different price ranges (up to $200) depending on what it is you’re looking to make. If you’re looking for something to do on an at-sea day, this is certainly an option, but make sure you stop by here early to pick out your preferred time. I believe you can choose your time before the demonstration happens on the day of departure, which means you can choose before the crowds and help get you that time that works best for you.

While you’re up here, I should note that there is mini-golf that’s on the grassy area beside the Hot Glass Class. We were hoping the mini-golf would be available at all times, but unfortunately it’s only there during the specific times noted in the program. We always happened to be doing other things at that time, so we never got to experience it.

Lastly, I should also mention that right by the Sunset Bar is perhaps the best seat in the house. This is an excellent place to just sit back and enjoy the views, with a private table in between Decks 14 and 15. We didn’t end up staying here too long as the previous guests decided to light up some cigars and the smell lingered.

Kids Club (Camp at Sea)

The Camp at Sea kids club is up on Deck 15 Forward and is broken out into four different age-distinct groupings: Shipmates (ages 3-5), Cadets (ages 6-9), Captains (ages 10-12), and Teens (ages 13-17). Thankfully, while the groupings are distinct, our children (ages four and eight) were able to remain together while here at the kids club. There are certain hours for operation and a potential surcharge if your child remains at camp during a meal time or after hours.

Parents are instructed to wait in the lobby, just inside the entrance, and ring a bell when they’re here to drop off or pick up a child. While there are supposed to be controls in place to prevent other people from picking up your children, no one checked our IDs aside from the initial sign up. Indeed, there was one time when we went to go pick up the kids and staff sent out the wrong two children to come greet us because staff heard the wrong names that were shouted down the hallway. It would have been preferable if we could go into the hallway or if the staff member were to come closer to greet us without needing to shout across a noisy room. And it would have given me more comfort as a parent if they did check IDs rather than release children without any validation the right ones are being sent out.

So how was the kids club itself? Both Alex and Char said they didn’t care much for the activities here. They wanted to do their own thing, but it sounds like everyone is strongly encouraged to do the activity listed on the schedule regardless of their interest in that activity. Some kids respond well to that set programming but ours do not. Ultimately, our kids didn’t want to return after a couple of trips here, and so they accompanied us most of the time. I’d say the kids club here leaves something to be desired.

Sky Observation Lounge

The Sky Observation Lounge is located on Deck 14 Forward. This seemed to be a popular place to do some whale watching or grab a drink from the bar found inside. The observation deck is also where the trivia games took place. That being said, we ended up not staying in here all that much. For one thing, the reflection on the glass made for poor picture-taking. But the big problem was the lack of seating during the popular times of the day. We much preferred getting a similar view from our veranda room. Of course, if you want to be guaranteed to see whales, this is the place to come because of one specific window.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the most private seats at the Sky Observation Lounge weren’t actually inside the lounge. To the right of the entrance is a private area with two chairs and a table. It’s a bit unfortunate that there is a ladder right in front of these chairs, partially obscuring the view, but this is about as private as it gets in a public area on the ship.

*Private seating by the observation lounge*

Spa

The spa is located right next to the fitness center on Deck 12 Forward. For the last at-sea day of the cruise, we decided to take part in a couples massage. Be sure to make your reservation well in advance as the last at-sea day is a popular day for massages (we booked ours nine months in advance). At our designated time, we checked in with the spa desk.

The attendant then lead us downstairs to the waiting area, where we passed by a number of treatment rooms.

There were a few other guests in the waiting room with us, but we were assisted rather quickly and escorted over to the couples massage room.

The room itself didn’t have any unique theming or design to it, with plain white walls. Usually while resting your head on the Boppy (is it bad that I think of that pillow?), you’re looking at some relaxing image, but instead you’ll just see the floor below you. So the place doesn’t win any awards when it comes to the aesthetics. But I must say the masseuse does apply a lot of pressure, so it was an extremely effective massage. No, this experience isn’t cheap (we paid about $400 prior to gratuities for a 75-minute couples massage), but you should walk away feeling refreshed.

The Studio

You’ll find The Studio up on Deck 15 Aft, as high as the glass elevators will go. I thought it might be a good excuse to get some family photos (including of my parents who would normally refuse such a thing). We booked the basic package, which included 10 photos to take home, at a cost of $122 after a sizeable discount about a year before the cruise departed.

Once onboard the ship, it was a bit of a challenge getting the thing actually booked. We had to go to the photo gallery on Deck 4 multiple times to track down someone who would be able to assist. But eventually we were able to get a session booked (the original photographer ended up sick so I think that added to the complications we had).

The photographer was pretty good with children, so I think overall we made a good choice. After about an hour-long session of photos, we came back a couple of days later to select the 10 we wanted. You could choose to upgrade your package at that point, but it was an easy decision for us to stick to 10.

When I first purchased the package online, I was hoping for different shots around the ship, perhaps with something overlooking the beautiful scenery of Alaska, but that’s not what this is. There’s supposed to be a separate photo package you can purchase where someone takes photos of you, but we never encountered an employee taking photos of people around the ship. Oh well.

Other notes

There is a library on Deck 10 by the central glass elevators, but other than briefly stopping by, we didn’t have much of a need for it. I think it’s a nicer space if you bring your own books unless you want to take a gamble on whatever they have on hand. There isn’t much available for the children here.

You likely also notice the live tree suspended in the air by the central glass elevators. The kids loved looking at it as we went up and down.

The Guest Relations desk can be found on Deck 3 Port. We didn’t need to stop by here all that much, aside from requesting a new wristband for the kids after their photo session mentioned above. These days, you don’t need to come here before debarking to settle your bill as they will by default just charge the credit card on file.

I don’t have a picture of it, but I recommend stopping by the Shops on the Boulevard on Deck 4 Port. Why? Because shockingly, the price of the souvenirs here might be cheaper than they are at your ports of call. We didn’t find this out until our last day, but some of the stuff we ended up buying was actually much cheaper on the ship. It’s a good idea to stop by to take note of anything you might be interested in along with the prices, and then keep it in mind when you go to shore.

Lastly, do be sure to look at the scenery as you’re moving along between ports. You’re likely to catch glimpses of wildlife as you’re cruising. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of anything we passed, but just be prepared for plenty of wind.

Author

Chris Wada

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experiencing the world via gastronomy with our children

Review: Celebrity Solstice Alaska Cruise – Part 4 – Ship Features