mom02

Test 2...

Testing photos...

Just arrived home from our first cruise ever and wanted to jot down some thoughts before I forget...

The ship was beautiful. Most of the staff were welcoming and friendly with just a few sour faces here and there. Unfortunately, the inconsistencies experienced with Celebrity agents on the phone continued on the ship.

Alaska was amazing and the views...! We had "connecting" aft balcony cabins (9378 & 9380) and were so spoiled by the almost 180 degree views we had. The rooms were beautiful and much more spacious than we anticipated. The photos we viewed from other travelers were great at giving us an idea of what to expect, especially the trip report from LouTheGlue (thank you!!), but when we were actually in the space, it felt much roomier. Having a balcony is a huge plus and many (more experienced) people got room service early in the morning of the day we sailed through Endicott Arm (we were supposed to got through Tracy Arm, but due to ice conditions, the Captain decided it was too dangerous) and had their breakfast on their balconies while listening to Brent Nixon speak about the fjord and wildlife. I was so jealous of the people in the balcony below me with their hot coffee and pastries! Next time I know! :p

Our stateroom attendants rocked! We were back and forth from our cabins a lot, and ALWAYS saw our attendants and a number of others in the hall and rooms. It seemed like they all worked non-stop.

All our excursions were either on our own, or with an independent vendor. More details and photos later...

Such an amazing trip and so excited for those whose trips are coming up - you're going to have an amazing time!!

Celebrity will send you a boarding time for the ship... You will follow it to a tee.:) (usually 11am or so)

When do they usually send out the boarding time?

When we booked our trip, the agent arranged the names so that my husband and I are in one room and our very young kids in another room. She said this was a better use of the perks offered. This is our first cruise and I didn't think much of it at the time. But now I'm wondering if the OBC that is under my kids' names will be wasted.

In your experience, do you think we'll be able to get the OBC moved onto one of our names? Or will they allow me to use my kids' OBC??

Which port and which Best Western?

Thanks for all the quick responses and reassurances about getting enough water throughout the day. Based on everyone's experiences, it sounds like we won't have a problem getting bottled water with our beverage package. Thanks everyone!! You saved me the hassle! :D

Sorry I forgot to mention we are leaving from Seattle and we're staying at the Best Western Airport Exectuel.

We do have the classic beverage package but were told that we're only allowed to get one drink at a time (???), so if I wanted 2 or 3 bottles of water for the night (I drink a lot of water during the night) would I be able to ask for that many at one time?

We read other cruisers' tips to bring our own pallet of bottled water onboard. We'd love to do that, but will be using shuttles to get around. We will be staying at the Best Western near the airport. Does anyone have suggestions on where to buy water before we take the shuttle to the pier?

I'm sorry you didn't see more replies here to your post. We are scheduled for this excursion on our upcoming cruise next week and I was wondering if you ended up taking the excursion and how you liked it? First time cruisers ourselves!

We ended up not booking through Celebrity since they weren't including bits and pieces that we really wanted (like riding on the dog sleds). But we did find out that they have a "shore excursions" department that can provide actual descriptions and answer specific questions about their tours. Their email is Shorex@rccl.com

It takes them a couple of days to reply, but they were able to answer my questions regarding specific excursions. In case you or anyone else searching these threads are interested, here's what they said:

Thanks for all the reassuring responses! We're so used to people asking for $ up front and confirmation numbers and the like. It's refreshing to hear how Dyea Dave operates his tours. We are really looking forward to our excursion with them!

Asking for feedback from those who have booked excursions through Dyea Dave. I've read great things about them and have contacted them for booking a private tour because we have a large group, but they didn't ask for a deposit, give confirmation numbers or anything of that sort. How do we confirm we are actually booked with them? Just want to see what other people's experience has been. TIA!

Your photos are truly amazing with fantastic composition! And I loved your narrative on the baby whale activity :)

Looking forward to reading and seeing more from your trip

My answers seem to differ a bit from others, but perhaps that's due to where I'm from. I am used to sunny California where the expected high today is 95F, and I just got back from my first Alaska cruise two days ago where the temperature was certainly quite different. Also, I tend to run on the cold side a lot of the time.

 

Some info about the weather on our cruise...the first few days were very cold and windy (high in the 50s). The last half of the trip was much more sunny and warm (high in the mid 70s). Thankfully there was no rain.

 

I definitely used my warm hat, gloves, and scarf often. I didn't need them by afternoon, but in the mornings (before about noon) I was quite chilly, on and off the ship. I don't think I used them much on the warmer days. On the sunny days I was wearing sun hats to shade myself.

 

In the beginning of the trip, when it was much colder, I wore long underwear under jeans, a short or long sleeved shirt, a fleece zip-up, and a larger coat over that. People told me to leave the winter coat at home, but boy was I glad I decided to bring it! The temperatures weren't what got to me, it was the wind! I couldn't spend more than a couple of minutes out on deck without my big coat and warm hat to cover my ears.

 

On land, I was wearing pretty much the same thing in the beginning (it seemed especially cold at Mendenhall Glacier), but on the warmer days at the end of the trip I was no longer using the big coat and long underwear. So, jeans, a t-shirt, and my fleece jacket were adequate. The only time I wore short sleeves with no jacket was when I was walking around Ketchikan on an exceptionally warm and sunny day (for them).

 

If you are used to colder temperatures where you live, you can probably do without the larger coat. Most people I saw weren't wearing them, but I was very glad to have mine as the wind seemed to whip right through everything else I had on.

Your answer is SO helpful! Especially knowing you're from California, it helps put things in context. I'm from SoCal, so I have zero tolerance for cold weather. 65 degrees to me is unbearably cold. Now I have a better understanding of what layers I should be packing! Thank you!

You'd do much better booking it through a private vendor like we did: https://chilkootcharters.com/

 

They don't squish you into a train car like the cruise lines do. We had a train car all to ourselves at the end which made for great pictures. We could move around, go outside on the back and take pictures, hear the waterfalls, etc.

 

They pick you up at the dock and drive you in a van to the train. It was well worth the money to do this and we got to see so much more than the cruise line tour. We went all the way to Emerald Lake, had a delicious lunch at the sled dog place, did a sled dog ride (additional cost) and stopped whenever we wanted for pictures. Def. the way to go but they book up early.

Chilkoot was our first choice but they are sold out! :eek:

We were really disappointed we couldn't book with them because we heard such awesome things about them from all the CC members. We also explored other independent vendors like Beyond Skagway and they were also not available.

Cruise newbie mistake and didn't book early enough! So now we are left with the excursions offered by the cruise

Has anyone here gone on this excursion through Celebrity? I'd like to find out more details like is it both train and bus/motor coach? Is there a car seat requirement? The excursion departs at 11:40am, is there lunch included? If not, what do people do about lunch? Can we purchase a dog card ride at the camp?

I'm having a hard time getting more information on this excursion from the Celebrity agents. They just read what's on the website, which is not helpful! CC members have been SO much more helpful in providing REAL information to us newbie cruisers! :D TIA!

(posting on Alaska board too...)

Has anyone here gone on this excursion through Celebrity? I'd like to find out more details like is it both train and bus/motor coach? Is there a car seat requirement? The excursion departs at 11:40am, is there lunch included? If not, what do people do about lunch? Can we purchase a dog card ride at the camp?

I'm having a hard time getting more information on this excursion from the Celebrity agents. They just read what's on the website, which is not helpful! CC members have been SO much more helpful in providing REAL information to us newbie cruisers! TIA!

(posting on Celebrity board too...)

We took the Celebrity SK85 that included the Gold Rush Sled dogs...everything was wonderful...but the Sled Dogs were the best part. We didn't know until that morning if we were on the bus up or down version of this excursion. Our bus was waiting right on the dock and we took a short ride to the Sled Dog demo for about an hour stop. Mark explained everything anyone wanted to know about sled racing with wit and charm, and we all were able to hold little puppies (awww...cute). Back on the bus, a few quick photo stops up to the border, then about a 20 minute wait to get though customs, then right from bus onto train for ride back to Skagway. Spectacular scenery! Highly recommend this flavor of X excursions. There is getting on and off a coach bus and the train, short walk to dog area that is flat. Arrived back at the depot that is on edge of town. From there could take another coach back to ship or could walk through town to see Skagway on own. Not too long a walk depending on use of wheelchair or whatever mobility issues involved, but not on dock either. Can see the distances on google maps.

This sounds great! We are looking for alternatives because Chilkoot was sold out! :eek:

Did you have the option of purchasing a dog cart ride?

What time was your excursion? Did it include lunch? TIA!

Yes, there is nothing they could do because it is past the final payment .

the only thing that he was willing to do was to upgrade if one came available.

That's disappointing. Thanks for updating!

Just spoke to rep at Celebrity he has all the info and will check and let me know

I am not getting an upgrade to sky suite the difference is several thousand not hundreds

dollars

Did the rep get back to you with a solution? We also noticed a price drop after final payment and are trying to get OBC through our TA.

You need two things to use the service - At least 20 people to sign up and a flight that gives you enough time. The second part varies from cruise to cruise. The airport in Seattle/Tacoma is a ways out from town. A few minutes on the weekend and maybe 45 minutes or a bit more unless you use light rail during the week.

 

Again - need the OP to answer where are they going?

Tagging on to OP's question... :D

We are flying r/t from Seattle on our Solstice cruise to Alaska. Just read about Luggage Valet and am trying to find out more information and how it works. Our Alaska Airlines flight back to Los Angeles departs at 1:55pm. Is that too early to use the Luggage Valet service?

Has anyone had any issues with using this service?

What cruise line are we talking about?

 

From our experience there really isn't a lot of reason to be at the Terminal before 11am. But again, some cruise lines do things a little differently.

Sorry I forgot to mention we'll be cruising Celebrity Solstice out of Seattle

I've read that the cruise line will send me info on what time they want me to check in at the pier. But what time should I REALLY be there? Is it better to get there early or late to avoid long lines and the majority of the crowd? Will they still check me in if I arrive before the time they gave me? TIA!

We've never seen them on the ship or tour boat and rarely see them in port unless venturing out more rural away from town. While looking for moose I did see one last week which was early although we have had very little snow and warm temperatures.

I hope that's the case! My parents visited Alaska a couple of years ago and told us they couldn't finish their hike because of the mosquitoes! We will be there mid - late June and were worried especially for the little ones. Thanks for the encouraging words! They help put my paranoid mind at ease :D

I would also contact your child's physicians office to get a recommendation.

 

Keith

My pediatrician's office put me in touch with a group that works with the CDC and could offer me the most current info. They recommended for children over the age of 6 months to use insect repellent with Deet at a concentration between 30-50%. They felt that the extended release (where you only apply every 8-12 hours) works best for little kids as there's no need to reapply unless you're sleeping out where there's mosquitos. I asked about non-Deet formulas and they couldn't speak to their effectiveness. They assured me that the 30-50% Deet formulas were safe (ages 6 months and up) to use on children all day.

Sawyer brand was recommended and lotion applications rather than sprays. That way it's easier to tell where it's been applied and won't accidentally get sprayed in a child's eyes or mouth. Apply sunscreen first, wait 30 minutes, then apply the repellent. Oh, and they felt using Permethrin wouldn't be necessary for an Alaska cruise. :o

We were all set to explore Mendenhall Glacier on our own until I started looking into the logistics and price.

If we did it on our own, we would probably take the shuttle from AJ Dock ($8 r/t per person), take the white or blue bus to the glacier ($30 r/t per adult $25 r/t per child), pay the fee at the visitor center ($5/pp).

If I booked the excursion through the ship, it's $45.99/adult and $29.99/child. I'm assuming everything is included.

After calculating the total cost for our group, there is only a $3 price difference. I'm wondering if we should just book through the ship so we don't have to worry about anything. This is our first cruise so we'd love to have as little to worry about as possible.

What do you think Cruise Critic members? You haven't steered us wrong yet! ;)