My husband and I have just retired in our early fifties and have been scoping out cruise lines, trying to find "the one." I think we've found "the one" that we will cruise with most often--that is, Celebrity. We cruised the Pacific Coast, leaving from Seattle and going all the way down to Ensenada, Mexico. The Pacific Coast cruise on Celebrity Solstice was an excellent experience overall. We had a fabulous time and high recommend the Celebrity Solstice to all interested cruisers.

Let me start from the beginning. We boarded at Seattle, Washington. We were met at the airport and bused to the ship. This process was smooth as silk. We did not have to wait too long in line before we were given our ship identification cards. Once inside, we were greeted with champagne and mimosas and were able to go to the Oceanview Cafe' for lunch. It was a bit crowded because everyone was waiting for their luggage and access to their staterooms.

Once in our stateroom, we were delighted with its amenities. Although we had only a balcony stateroom, it was well appointed and seemed larger than the stateroom we had on the Princess cruise line. The room had ample electrical outlets, both European and American. It had a couch in addition to a nice size bed. It was pretty and fresh in appearance. The bathroom, in our stateroom, only had a shower but it was glassed in, and didn't have the nasty shower curtain we had in one of our previous cruises. The only down side to a cruise ship room is the hard (extra firm) mattresses. Although our mattress had a mattress pad on it, the mattress itself was so hard that I rarely slept through the night. I asked for extra pillows so that I could sleep on top of them for more comfort. Because the mattress had no give (and I mean none), I woke up with a back ache every morning. I never got a good night's sleep. The hard mattress phenom, however, is not unique to Celebrity. I haven't slept comfortably on a cruise ship mattress yet. When will a cruise line offer a "real" heavenly bed option (something like Sleep Number)? The only thing that could lure me away from Celebrity is if I find a cruise line that offers a comfortable mattress. Read more