Alaska Hubbard Glacier on the Celebrity Solstice
6/13/2026 to 6/21/2026

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Page 1 – Embarkation, Ship
Page 2 – Ship (Continued),
Page 3 – Cabin, Entertainment, Activies, Ports of Call: Icy Strait Point, AK; Juneau, AK
Page 4 – Ports of Call: Ketchikan, AK; Inside Passage; Disembarkation, Vancouver, BC

Preface

When my buddy Jim contacted me about going on an Alaska cruise, I wasn’t very excited since I have been on 3 prior ones and Cathy has been on one. We also had another cruise that would end just 12 days before this one. What did pull me in was that one of our other friends, Bob, was going to go on the cruise, and this would be his last cruise. Bob, Jim and I met on a short Celebrity repositioning cruise in 2005. On that cruise we had a very active Cruisecritic.com rollcall where we met a lot of great people online before the cruise. One of the subjects that was discussed was martinis. So, we came up with the name for our group, the Martini Mates. We would meet in the martini bar each night before dinner and have a great time together, even though most didn’t like martinis. Since that time, we have cruised with the same people and added more Martini Mates. Several of us have lost our spouses over the last 21 years including Bob and myself. Jim is the only original Martini Mate that is still fortunate to have his wonderful wife, Kathleen. This reunion cruise would be the last for the original mates. The below photo is of Jim, Bob and me with our empty martini glasses indicating the end of an era.

The below photo is of our fun group. From the left it is me, Cathy, Judy, Bob, Kathleen and Jim.

When we booked the cruise, we knew that we would be starting it in Vancouver, where there would be World Cup soccer games being played while we were there. This meant that it would be difficult to get airline tickets and hotel prices would be exorbitant. Other people on our Cruisecritic.com roll call for this cruise were shocked that they couldn’t find hotel rooms under a $1,000 per night. Since Bob lives about an hour and a quarter east of Vancouver, we stayed at a hotel there for a much more reasonable price.

When I checked on my flight times with United Airlines a few days before the flight, it showed that our flight to Vancouver had been cancelled. We had never been told about it by the United or our flight booking agent. We were very lucky they were able to find flights to get us there a day before we left. When I accessed the internet during the flight to Chicago, United told me that our flight from Chicago to Vancouver had been cancelled. They re-booked us on a flight to Toronto and then to Vancouver. We would also have to sit around Ohare Airport for 6 hours before the flight to Toronto. Not desirable, but at least we would get to Vancouver at around 10:00 PM that night and not miss boarding the ship the next day.

Embarkation

Bob picked us up from the hotel and took us to his house where the six of us took a van to the cruise terminal at Canada Place. On the way there, we saw the massive Canadian flag on Grouse Mountain. It is about the size of two football fields at 525 ft wide by 262 feet tall and weighs 3,300 pounds. It is the largest flag ever put on a mountain. It was put up to celebrate the FIFA World Cup games and festivities being held in Vancouver.

For this cruise we all booked suites, which made embarkation very easy. We just walked into the terminal and were told to head to the ship after they looked at our boarding passes. We were on board by 11:15 PM. Too easy. When we got on the Solstice, we had a great view of Canada Place and the floating helicopter pad where tours were taking off regularly.

Ship

This would be my fourth cruise on the Solstice. My first was when I was invited to be on the naming ceremony cruise in November 2008. It was quite an honor to be invited to this event for Celebrities’ newest class of ship at that time. So, I have always been fond of her. This would be my 74th cruise and 30th on a Celebrity ship. Since we have been cruising on much smaller ships over the last several years, it was quite different being on a ship with over 3,000 people and a whole lot of children.

Although we have been in many suites, this was the first time we have been in a suite on a Celebrity ship with the Retreat and Luminae restaurant. With the ship being so crowded, it allowed us to be in areas that were much quieter and peaceful, which we did enjoy. It helped me to understand the term “ship within a ship.” It did make for a different type of Celebrity cruise.

The Solstice was recently refurbished to revitalize the ship. We were most impressed with the changes, especially those that replaced underutilized areas with ones that are now very popular.

The various public rooms are shown below by category.

Restaurants (Link to Menus) –

I have included copies of the menus for the main dining room along with photos of some of the food items at the Menus link just above and at the top of each page of the review.

Grand Epernay Restaurant – This is the main dining room of the ship and is located at the back of the ship on decks 3 and 4. It is a large open elegantly decorated room. Anytime and set time seatings are available.

The two-story wine rack is a unique feature of this ship class.

Blu - This is the dining room reserved for guests in the Aqua Class cabins. It is located at the back of the ship on the port side of deck 5. It is a lovely smaller dining room with anytime dining.

It was increased in size during the recent makeover, since additional Aqua cabins were added. It took over the space to the back of the ship that was a part of the former Tuscan Grill.

The rose wall decorations are just stunning.

Luminae – This is the restaurant that is only for suite guests. Guests can eat anytime the restaurant is opened. It is located on the starboard side of deck 3. It is a tastefully elegant room and a much more intimate dining experience.

With it being our first time to eat at Luminae, we did enjoy the quieter environment and more personalized service. The menu is much more limited than the main dining room and the selections are fancier. We found out a few days into the cruise that we could also order off the main dining room menu. That added a lot more options. However, I normally found something that sounded good on the Luminae menu. We ate almost all meals in Luminae. For the most part the food was very good, especially the breakfasts. We all had issues with some of the meat dishes. They served very thick pieces of meat that didn’t have much taste to them. Below is a photo of the prime rib we had. We have always had wonderful prime rib in the main dining room, so it was rather disappointing.

The service in Luminae was exceptional. We enjoyed everyone that waited on us and they became friends. One person in particular that made a big difference for us was Mary. She was so upbeat and kept us well taken car of and happy. Besides always smiling, she would sing us a song. We just loved her.

Oceanview Café - The large buffet area is located at the back of the ship on deck 14. We prefer the island style buffet venues over the traditional long serving table type, since it allows more people to serve themselves at one time. With there being plenty of space between the islands it allows traffic to move well, which is important when lots of people are running between islands with plates in their hands. There are always lots of tasty options at the buffet at every meal, but we only went for one breakfast and one lunch. With the weather being cooler and us only being in a port for lunch on one day, it was very difficult to find a table, since we didn’t want to fight the crowd. One of the problems was that people would take up tables playing cards, board games or playing on the phones rather than eating, while other people were walking around with their trays looking for tables.

On the port side where you enter the restaurant is a small bar, primarily used by the waiters. There are also several coffee/tea/juice beverage stations around the area

The area just outside the buffet offers a large covered space; as well as an open area with a view to the ocean to dine. The extension coming out from deck 15 is part of the Sunset Bar. It provides the covered area for the buffet.

Murano – The French style restaurant is the most elegantly appointed of the specialty restaurants. The charge to eat there is $60 per person plus a 20% gratuity. The six of us were offered a free dinner at any of the specialty restaurants on the last night of the cruise. We chose Murano and the meal was just outstanding.

The wine room offers a private area for a large group dinner.

Trattoria Rosa – This is the new Italian restaurant for the ship on deck 5 aft on the starboard side. It was formerly the Silk Harvest Asian restaurant, then Qsine and lastly Le Petit Chef. This one is a real winner! The food was outstanding. It is the smallest specialty restaurant and is very nicely appointed. The cost is $55 pp for dinner and $35 pp for lunch plus a 20% gratuity.

A special treat served at dessert is the tableside preparation of cannoli. It is both entertaining and delicious.

Fine Cut Steakhouse – This steakhouse is located at the back of the ship on deck 5. It was formerly the Tuscan Grill steakhouse. It was reduced in size to allow Blu to expand to the port side of the restaurant. I liked the smaller size. We didn’t eat there on this cruise. The charge to eat there is around $60 per person plus a 20% gratuity. But they do offer cuts that cost up to $95.

Sushi on Five – This is a for charge a la cart restaurant serving sushi and some other Asian delicacies. As would be assumed, it is on deck 5. It is mid-ship on the port side. We did eat there one day for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it, as we have on previous Celebrity cruises.

Spa Café – This small restaurant is located next to the Solarium. It has healthier food items for breakfast and lunch. The spa food is pretty tasty; but they only have a limited menu. There is also a charge for some of the items.

Mast Grill – We can always count on the Mast Grill to have very good hamburgers and hot dogs. It is the go-to place when we have had enough fancy food and just want something we know will be good. It is located on deck 14 above the pool area. They also have a juice and flavored water bar.

Lounges (Link to Menus)

Being in a suite, we went to the Retreat Lounge each evening before dinner for happy hour. As a result, we never went to any of the other bars, which is kind of a shame since we normally enjoy them.

I have included copies of the bar menus for the lounges and dining rooms at the Menus link just above and at the top of each page of the review.

Ensemble Lounge - This lounge is one of the largest on the ship. It is mid-ship on the starboard side of deck 5. It is normally very dark and cozy. At night they have musicians playing there.

Before entering the Ensemble, there is a small sort of foyer type room. It has an unusual decoration

Sky Observation Lounge – This is the largest lounge on the ship. Being located at the front of the ship on deck 14, it is a popular place to sit and watch the sea go by. It is used for late night entertainment and dancing, as well as other large functions.

Passport Bar – This bar is in the main lobby area on deck 3 across from Guest Relations. It is particularly popular in the evening when musical groups entertain guests in the atrium right next to the bar.

Martini Bar – This is always the most popular bar in the evening. It is on the port side of deck 4 mid-ship. The martinis are very good and the bartenders entertaining. It is fascinating to watch them throwing the bottles and glasses around as they are making the martinis. Plus, they have great personalities. The bar surface is chilled to create frost on it. It probably doesn’t do much to keep the drinks cold; but it is fun to play with.

Crush – This bar is in a corner of the Martini Bar. It is also an ice bar. The area is mainly an overflow for when the main Martini Bar is full.

World Class Bar – They serve expensive exotic drinks. Some of the drinks are higher priced than the maximum for the standard and premium drink packages, so there can be an additional chargel

Retreat Lounge – This is a lounge for suite guests. It is located just off the Ensemble lounge on deck 5. We really enjoyed this lounge. It wasn’t crowded, so the six of us could always sit together. The three Retreat Concierges, Melissa, Melody and Rosanne, were just awesome. From the time even before we boarded the ship and all during the cruise, they were always around trying to help us. Plus, they were so much fun in the lounge trying to make our cruise more enjoyable. They succeeded.

Pool Bar – This is always a popular bar when the sun is shining and warm, since it is right next to the pool area. With the cooler weather most of the time, it wasn’t that busy on this cruise.

Mast Bar – This bar is on deck 14, right above the pool deck. It is there to service people who are out on the upper sun decks.

Oceanview Bar – This is the bar located in the Oceanview Café. It is handy for those eating in the buffet or hanging out in the area at other times of day.

Casino Bar - Since we don’t gamble, we don’t normally hang out at this bar. But the gamblers made good use of it on this cruise in the evening when the casino was crowded.

Sunset Bar - This bar is at the back of the ship on deck 15. It is a wonderful location and right near the new Sunset Park. There is lots of seating with great views from the back of the ship.

Café al Baccio & Gelateria - This premium coffee bar is always a very popular venue. It is right across from Sushi on 5. The various coffees and teas are very good; but there is a charge. With us having the premium drink package, we were able to try some of their very nice coffees with various spirits.

The Gelateria is at one end of Café al Bacio. With there being a charge for the ice cream, I never saw any guests there. From my previous visits to this venue, the ice cream isn’t any better than that in the buffet. We didn’t even go down to get the free scoops we were allowed for our Elite Plus status.

Cellar Masters – This is the wine bar located on the starboard side of deck 4 across from the Martini Bar. It did not appear to be a popular place.

Alaska Hubbard Glacier on the Celebrity Solstice 6/13/2026 to 6/21/2026