Celebrity Solstice - Oceanview Café

While on our pre-inaugural cruise on Celebrity Solstice, one of the first experiences we had was dining in the Oceanview Café.

We were immediately struck by the eye appeal of both the dining area and the serving area. Especially appealing was the serving area which was very spacious. The color scheme included beiges, and other light colors, yellow, gold, and blue lighting. Signs overhead clearly marked each serving station.

Passengers collected a plate from one of the many serving islands and filled their plates as they made their way easily from station to station. There were duplicates of some stations so that if the line was long at one of them, you could simply go to another one and not have any wait.

The stations included a beverage station, salad bar, fromagerie (cheese selections), pasta kitchen, pizzeria, BBQ, chefs corner, the carvery, the bakery, and desserts. At each station, the food was arranged meticulously - nothing was out of place.

We've seen many buffets on ships and this was the most efficient and elegant setting that we've ever seen. It goes without saying that the quality of food was very good also. Celebrity has definitely raised the bar on fast food.

We enjoyed all of our breakfasts in Oceanview as well as our lunches. If you didn't want to eat inside, you could go out on deck and enjoy the ocean views in an open setting. Don't miss this treasure while onboard a Celebrity Solstice class ship.

Celebrity Equinox Sails Early

Celebrity Equinox to Soft-Launch in Norwegian Fjords

Celebrity Cruises announced this week that the construction of Celebrity Equinox is ahead of schedule and a Soft-Launch in the Norwegian Fjords is being added to the 2009 cruise schedule.

The Equinox is a sister ship of Celebrity Solstice which debuted last November. Since that time it has received rave reviews from everyone that has had the good fortune of sailing on her (including yours truly).

You may recall that there was some controversy last year when pre-inaugural cruises were added to the cruise schedule. Passengers that were booked on the maiden voyage felt like they were cheated from being the first to set sail on the Solstice. This time, Celebrity Cruises is extending a special offer to passengers that are already booked on the ship's maiden voyage of August 8. Celebrity has invited them to combine their 10-night “Best of Europe” cruise with the 8-night soft launch, for a spectacular 18-night voyage on the new ship. Celebrity is offering those guests an onboard credit of $200 per stateroom or $300 per suite if they add the 8-night cruise to their reservation.

The 8-night cruise through the Norwegian Fjords features visits to Stavanger, Flam, Geiranger, and Oslo, Norway. The 10-night maiden voyage, which will include an inaugural gift and commemorative activities, will visit Paris/Normandy (via Le Havre) and Cherbourg, France; Vigo, Cartagena and Barcelona, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal, and Gibraltar, UK, ending in Rome (via Civitavecchia), Italy.

We had the good fortune of sailing on the Solstice last year and enjoyed the half-acre Lawn Club with real grass, The Corning Museum of Glass glassblowing show, the various new dining venues, entertainment, and the modern decor of the ship. We have also had the good fortune of sailing through the Norwegian Fjords and the European ports that will be visited on this 18-night voyage.

According to Celebrity, reservations are now being accepted for the 8-night cruise which will depart on July 31st. If you are looking for something special in the July/August timeframe, I would definitely put this cruise at the top of your list for consideration.

I've written about the Solstice in past posts and will cover it again in the near future. As always, I'd be happy to help you plan your cruise and answer any questions you might have.

Celebrate a Special Occasion at Sea

Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, Honeymoons, Graduations are some of the special occasions in our lives. If you are like most people, you surround yourself with family and friends to celebrate.

Sometimes you are surprised when family and friends get together and have a party or recognize your special day in some other fashion. When you look back on your life, those occasions may stand out more than others.

Perhaps you went with family and friends to a fancy restaurant and had a nice dinner to celebrate the event. The restaurant staff may have brought you a special treat and sung to you to recognize the occasion and help to make it a special day for you.

Celebrating your special day while on a cruise vacation is a great way to make your occasion memorable. Your cruise specialist can assist you in planning a special recognition during the cruise. Most cruise lines can provide a special treat with your dinner and many have decorations for your cabin. Gifts can be delivered to your cabin. The wait staff at dinner will even sing to you, in serveral different languages at once, if you'd like.

Couples celebrating special anniversaries, such as Silver or Golden, can be recognized by the Captain of the vessel with a special certificate and perhaps a party. You don't have to celebrate alone if you don't want to - you can book several cabins for family and friends and have your own private celebration.

There are many options for celebrating special occasions. We have had many celebrations at sea over the years and have really enjoyed them.

Cruise to Europe in 2009

It's hard to believe that February is almost behind us. Before you know it, spring will be here and soon after that, summertime.

Spring and summer can't come fast enough for me as I bundle up and head out in the snow one more time. The snow had melted, but it has returned once again. So, I let my mind wander to cruises that we went on the past few years.

Summertime conjures up images of sandy beaches, swimming in the lake, children building sand castles, and people enjoying other water sports. Of course, that could also be wintertime if you were lucky enough to escape to the Caribbean or other warm destinations.

I'd like to paint a non-traditional picture of summertime for you. My picture includes castles, royal palaces with guards protecting their gates, cathedrals, people walking along busy avenues, and strolling through well-groomed parks. These are among the sights you can see in Europe.

Cruising to Europe, especially this year, is an exceptional value. With the exchange rate lower than it has been in years you'll be able to make purchases ashore, should you wish to do some shopping, at better pricing than you could for a long time. Your ship serves as your floating resort allowing you to visit many destinations easily while keeping expenses for food, lodging, and entertainment to a minimum cost.

The cruise lines have many ships deployed in Europe for the Summer of 2009. Every day we see several offers for fantastic savings on European cruises. These include 2-For-1 savings, free airfare, onboard credits, and even free shore excursions. With all these choices, you'll be able to find an itinerary that matches your interests with your budget. But you'll have to act quickly before these deals expire or the ships fill up.

Having cruised to Europe several times, I can assure you that this will be a memorable experience should you take advantage of these offers. I've written about some of our European cruises in past posts. These should give you some ideas, or you can check-out my website.

Cruise to Hawaii for Golden Anniversary of Statehood

On August 13, 2008, members of Hawaii's 50th Anniversary of Statehood Commission announced a comprehensive plan to commemorate Hawai‘i’s golden anniversary of statehood, with a year-long series of events and activities.

50 is a landmark anniversary to celebrate, and Hawaiians plan to do it in style. There's plenty of time to join in the festivities which will be held around the state. A cruise is an excellent way to see the Islands of Aloha.

Hawai‘i’s Governor Lingle spoke about the Commission's plans saying “In emphasizing education and passing on of Hawai‘i’s rich history to a new generation of leaders, I believe that we are giving this milestone the weight and attention it deserves".

"The plan’s varied components will provide residents and visitors of all ages with opportunities to reflect on how statehood has contributed to the Hawai‘i of today and the direction we are headed as the youngest and most ethnically and culturally diverse state in America,” the Governor added.

Road to Hawaii Statehood

The road to statehood began on May 18, 1959 when Congress passed a bill proposing that the Territory of Hawaii become the 50th state of the union. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill making it official on August 21, 1959.

Planned Events

To commemorate the day in 1959 that the U.S. Congress passed the bill which allowed Hawai‘i to be admitted as a state, the Commission will host a public event at the State Capitol on March 18, 2009, which will include various family activities from noon until 1:30 p.m. in the Rotunda and Capitol grounds. A special joint session of the Hawai‘i State Legislature has also been requested.

In addition, a Memorial Day commemorative event and an arrival ceremony for the first commissioned submarine named for the State of Hawai‘i, the USS Hawai‘i, are being planned for summer 2009 to recognize the invaluable contributions made by the military to Hawai‘i both before and after statehoodCoordinated by neighbor island representatives to the Commission and their local planning committees, each county will host several island-specific events to commemorate statehood.

The year-long activities will culminate with a one-day public conference on August 21, 2009 called Commemorating the 50th State: New Horizons for the Next 50 Years, at which local, national and international leaders will gather to discuss topics about Hawai‘i’s past, present and future, including technology in our daily lives, education for the next generation, the 21st century economy, and a break-out session entitled “Native Hawaiians: Cultural Navigation in a Sea of Change.”

For additional information see the following websites:

• Hawaii 50th Anniversary of Statehood Commission
• Hawaii the Islands of Aloha - Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau
• Statehood Hawaii
• Hawaii Statehood Postage Stamp
• U.S. Mint - Hawaii Statehood Coin
• Cruise Destination - Hawaii

I'll take a closer look at the Islands of Aloha in future columns.

Cruise to Alaska for 50th Birthday Celebration

Alaska’s celebration of 50 years of statehood

It's the morning of January 3, 2009, and the temperature in Anchorage, Alaska ranged from a low of -14.4 °F to a high temperature of -4.7 °F. That did not stop the native Alaskans from celebrating a historic event - the 50th Anniversary of Statehood. The celebration actually began the night before with the 50th Anniversary Gala at the new Dena’ina Convention Center. National and International dignitaries attended this historic event for a sit-down dinner and entertainment which included dance, symphony, and opera.

January 3rd saw the downtown area of Anchorage taken over for a huge birthday bash. A procession of Alaska’s diverse people kicked it off with performances at three separate venues. And, of course, there was a fireworks show.

50 is a landmark birthday to celebrate, and Alaskans plan to do it in style. Alaska’s 50th birthday will be celebrated all year long so there's plenty of time to join in the festivities which will be held around the state.

We were in Alaska in September, 2008, for our National Conference. Celebrity Cruises was our host for our 8 Night Alaska Northbound cruise. You can see the Alaska 50 banner on the lightpost in Juneau.

The cruising season in Alaska is from May - September. The cruises usually book up fast, but there are still cabins available. I always recommend extending your stay in Alaska to include some time on land. A cruisetour is the best way to really experience Alaska if you can spare the time.

Road to Alaska Statehood

The road to statehood began on May 28, 1958 when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill proposing that Alaska become the 49th state of the union. The bill was passed by the Senate in June of that year. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill making it official on January 3, 1959.

For more information about Alaska consult the following websites:

• Alaska Statehood Celebration Commission (ASCC)
• State of Alaska
• Alasks Turns 50
• Arctic Focus
• Cruise Destination - Alaska

In a future column I'll describe our most recent Alaska cruise on Celebrity Mercury.

Making Memories

"Taking pictures is making memories. Capture little pieces of time, making them yours making them mine." (words taken from a Disney song sung by Minnie Mouse).

In this column I'll explore several ways of making memories which can last well beyond your return home from the cruise vacation.

Photos - video clips

Photography is probably the most popular way to capture little pieces of time. In the age of digital photography, it is very easy for you to become a photo journalist using your cruise vacation as the subject matter.

My husband has always had a fascination with how the mind works. How is it that if just the right "trigger" is present, you will remember all about some past event? Photos make excellent "triggers" that unlock memories about past cruises and experiences.

Those of you that have been reading my column for awhile know that my husband and I take lots of pictures on our cruises (He takes more than I do). I don't always get time to write about our cruise just after we return. The photos we take help us to remember the various excursions we took. Video clips with sound are even better, but we don't take as many videos as we do photos.

Taking photos in the digital age is much easier than in the days of film. It's a lot easier to travel with several memory cards than it was to travel with several rolls of film. It's not uncommon for us to have thousands of digital images from a cruise vacation. We had to be more selective when you'd only get 36 pictures on a roll of film. Not to mention the fact you needed different film depending on the weather conditions. Perhaps that's a topic for another column.

There are many ways to store the photographs that you have taken. In our mind, we don't want to keep the memories to ourselves, so we share them. One of the easiest methods is to put photos in albums. Another is to share them online with one of the many services. Again, I could devote an entire column to this topic alone, so that's about all I'll say for now.

Scrapbooking

Taking photo albums a step futher, scrapbooking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia contained in decorated albums, or scrapbooks. This has become a very popular hobby recently and even the cruise lines are finally starting to capitalize on this new market.

When we were on Celebrity Solstice for the pre-inaugural, we purchased a scrapbook album and the accompanying scrapbook page kit which consisted of pages, stickers, and other complimentary decorations. These materials could only be purchased onboard.

Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to recognize that passengers had an interest in scrapbooking, and they added scrapbook workshops to their daily activities. You supplied the photos (ideally purchased onboard) and they supplied paper and all the equipment to make your first scrapbook page for your trip. Other cruise lines have also started offering similar programs.

Scrapbooking takes some pre-planning. Since I knew that I'd create a scrapbook for our Galapagos trip, I collected some items to be incorporated in the pages.

Items that are good for this purpose include boarding passes, room keys, admission tickets, and stickers.

You'll want to keep the daily planners that are delivered to your cabin each night. They will help you remember various activities that you did as well as provide destination information which will help you when doing the journaling part of the scrapbook page.

Warning: Scrapbooking is addicting and can be expensive!

When we were in Alaska, many of the souvenir shops had scrapbooking supplies such as pages and stickers which were specific to the port of call. Your local hobby or arts and crafts store typically has materials to help you get started. They may even offer classes if you don't know where to begin. There is a wealth of information on the web as well as several scrapbook suppliers.

If you think you'll want to create a scrapbook for your cruise, take some pictures, purchase some onboard and at the excurisons that offer professional photos, and collect some memorabelia to embelish your album. We can talk more about scrapbooking in another column if there is interest.

Collecting Post Cards

Not everyone likes to take photographs while on vacation. That doesn't mean you can't make memories to take home with you. Souvenir shops and the ship have a selection of post cards which capture the highlights of the destination.

Post cards can be used to supplement your own pictures and memorabilia. You can put them in albums or use them in your scrapbook pages. They can be mailed home to add a postmark or packed in your luggage.

Another advantage to post cards is that they capture a moment in time that perhaps you weren't able to see personally. For example, if your ship sails before nightfall, consider adding a post card that depicts the city at night. While you might have experienced a sunset, it might not have been as intense as one of the ones captured on a post card.

"Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them. "

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American naturalist, poet and philosopher.