Galaxy2004

Excursions Part 5 - St Lucia

Well, my BFF has been riding horses for 40+ years and dreamed of riding a horse in the ocean so she booked us the Horse Ride Trail and Beach excursion. They divided us based on riding experience, which for me was ZERO. I got a 19-year-old horse named Tradition who kept stumbling, supposedly because of new shoes. She got a young mare named Geena.

We were led along a paved road through a residential section and then along an old rocky roadbed/trail, before reaching a beach. It was approaching the beach where Geena started to freak out due to very high winds, heavy equipment removing seaweed along the shore, and kite surfers. The mare was terrified and kept raring up. One of the handlers finally got a hold of her but then he jerked her bridle so hard that she buckled her rear and finally my BFF said a big “HELL NO” and was able to jump off. The handler proceeded to berate my BFF for dismounting. They then tied the mare to a tree where she jerked her head and stamped her feet trying to get away from the machinery before they finally moved her out of the area.  

We did get to ride in the ocean – on 2 pre-selected horses who were the only ones allowed in the ocean so we got to go in groups of 2 for about 5 minutes, which was plenty of time.

As we were preparing to load back up one of the other riders decided the episode with Geena was too much and she wanted a car ride back. The tour operators said they couldn’t arrange that!! Well, luckily the tour guide worked directly with Celebrity so he found someone to take her back. My BFF then took that lady’s horse. If only it ended there.

Well, next thing you know the horse in front of her decides to roll in the sand with its rider – another experienced rider. That rider was able to get off before the horse rolled on top of her, but she did have a some pretty good scratches on her leg. After seeing the other horse roll my BFF’s horse decided he wanted to roll in the sand, but my BFF was able to keep him under control long enough to dismount and elected to walk the rest of the way back.

The tour guide working with Celebrity took information to report the incidents, and was seriously concerned about losing his job. However, at no time did the tour operator’s employees (Cox and Company) – express any concern about the way the horses acted. We did all make it back, but several riders mentioned that they would never do another horse riding tour in the Caribbean.

We later ran into the lady whose horse rolled with her and she said she reported the incident at the shore excursion desk and all they asked was whether she wanted to go to medical. According to her, they did not document the incident or take any information from her about the incident. I do think some on the tour enjoyed it and for me it was neat to ride a horse on the beach.

Back on the ship we were treated to a Caribbean shower followed by a double rainbow while enjoying time at the Sunset Bar and then watched a private class at the Hot Glass Show.

Excursions Part 4 - Martinique

Again, you need a passport to disembark in Martinique. Celebrity will not let you off the ship. The port personnel are checking only for ship cards, but Celebrity has your card tagged so if you are cruising only with a birth certificate.

Martinque – My BFF had applied for a renewed passport but it didn’t make it in time so she could not go ashore in Martinque. They notified her when we first boarded in Fort Lauderdale and then put a reminder card on her door the night before Martinque. I visited a couple of museums and a really nice library and walked around the city. It was Saturday so it was busy and lively and I saw more locals than cruisers!!

Excursions Part 3

Grenada – We walked up to the fort where we ran into some passengers from our neck of the woods. Ended up joining them for lunch. It's a pretty good walk up to the fort but there are some good views after you get there.

Excursions - Part 2

St. Kitts –Small Group Discoveries: St. Kitts Culinary Experience and Rum Tasting – Nice that it was limited to 24 passengers. Short ride to Fairview Great House, a former plantation. Meal was prepared by a self-trained “chef” and her mother handled the rum tasting. Both were very entertaining. It was a tasty meal of coconut dumplings, chicken, fish, plantains, etc. Plenty of food. 5 generous rums samples. Had plenty of time afterward to tour the grounds. There’s also a slavery exhibit on premises. Highly recommend. The only issue we had is they had some problems getting a bus to take us back so ended up waiting about 30 minutes for that.

Excursions - Part 1

When traveling with my DH we always do private tours. However, my BFF has a pretty strong fear of missing the ship so we do ship tours. Plus, we both had onboard credit from future cruise books as well as the promotion at the time we booked AND we booked during the 35% off excursions promotion!

Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour – Small group and a great tour of the galley, laundry, recycling center, engine control room, and bridge. A good amount of walking and up and down tight stairs so not a tour for mobility-limited. Officers took time at each location to provide lots of information and answer questions. Captain took time to say hello while we were touring the bridge. After lots of COVID restrictions on our Apex cruises, it was great to get to interact with the officers – and the officers on Equinox are AMAZING. So many smiling faces out and about the entire cruise. The Captain was off greeting passengers as we disembarked in a couple of ports and we ran in to him several times around the ship.

Internet

I had the streaming package and it was the best it’s ever been for me on a cruise. I noticed it was a bit slower between 10am and Noon on the sea days, but otherwise it was fine for the work I needed to get done, watching videos, sending emails, and texting.

Spa

Boy they were pushing spa deals this cruise. We had “mail” from them almost every day. We did visit the spa on the 3^rd evening to check on Persian Garden passes. We were able to get it for $99 each for the remainder of the cruise. Natalia was always super friendly when we came. The Equinox PG is not as nice as Apex, but it was never crowded and we often escaped there to relax. It was super clean, though a couple of days they had the temperature of the steam sauna high enough to burn your throat and the hairs in your nose if you breathed! Also, for those who go there, please don’t come there to chat with your friends😏. It’s the one place we are supposed to be able to escape to for some quiet time.

Entertainment

We go on cruises to relax and really don’t require a lot to keep us entertained. I’m not a fan of cruise production shows. I did enjoy Tree of Life on Apex, but that was probably more about the theater than the actual show. We did go to Topper one night. It was fine to see once. Abba and Queen nights were fairly popular in the Grand Foyer, but silent disco was nothing like it was on our Apex cruises.

We did Deal or No Deal 2 on the first 2 sea days. The first time I won $200 for matching 5 numbers and another attendee won a cruise. The second time we shared a 5-card package and my BFF was the contestant for the first round. She walked away with $5☹. Then the next supposedly randomly selected ticket was another one of her 5 pack!!  There was quite a bit of grumbling when her name came up again but the activities host promised it was random selection. I went up this time and we walked away with $216. It was fun. Did not do it the last 2 sea days. We did go by the Casino and give cashier Jerry an extra tip for selling us 2 good tickets!

We like to spend time in the Casino. It was kind to me this trip, especially at the blackjack table. The casino manager was great – really friendly and walking around chatting with everyone. Plus, they had low minimum tables on the last 2 sea days and several free slot tournaments. The casino was not kind to my BFF, who likes to max bet on the slot machines. They had probably 20 new slot machines since my November cruise. Most of those were $0.88 minimums – replacing $0.50-0.60 minimums. No matter the terrible odds, the casino had plenty of players each night and the $10 minimum blackjack tables (2 of them) were always full at night.

Drinks

Neither of us are big drinkers, but I purchased the zero-proof package in advance as I enjoy the convenience of grabbing waters and red bulls whenever I want. Something got mixed up and they gave me the premium package instead. No complaints on getting the premium alcohol upgrade for free!! I would never pay for either alcohol package as I’m not a big drinker, but I did enjoy a nice drink each day at the World Bar (loved the Banana Republic), Craft Social (Tito’s Punch), or the Sunset Bar (always let the bartender choose). Though Ocean View was crowded at lunch, we normally had a bartender visit each lunch and if I wanted something before they got there I just went to the Ocean View bar and grabbed it there. We often set in the chairs along the putting green near the Sunset Bar and we always had multiple visits from bartenders in that area. We also had good service when longing in the solarium (if we could just get those in the hot tubs to use their inside voices🙂.

My favorite on cruises is sugar free red bull and the Spa Slushes. Finding sugar free red bull on the ship was hard until day 3. After that I could normally find it at the Mast Bar, Ocean View Bar, or Craft Social. The only place to get a good Spa Slush was the Observation Lounge, though last November the best place was Craft Social. I do think if a bar has a drink on their menu, then all bartenders there should know how to make that drink. 

Food - Having cruised back when there were midnight buffets with ice sculptures, chocolate fountains, and fruit carvings as well as theme buffets at least one night a cruise on the pool deck, and having my most memorable cruise meal being in Ocean Liners on Constellation many years ago, I agree that things have changed and continue to change. We still had plenty of good food with enough variety to keep us happy. 

Murano - We ate the first night in Murano and it was good. Stars of that meal for me were the beef tartare and the grand marnier souffle. Table side deboning of the dover dole is always fun to watch and waiter Barin had obviously done it many times. After hearing about crazy long waits in anytime dining, we're glad we started the cruise off with a nice relaxing dinner.

Ocean View breakfast - We always had breakfast in Ocean View (along with grabbing an almond croissant in Café al bacio a few mornings!). This was a full sailing, so it was crowded at breakfast, especially if you wanted omelets or poached eggs, and finding a table always took a bit of time. As far as food, I still enjoy their waffles so a couple mornings I got a waffle and then topped it with whipped cream, dried cranberries, bananas, and nuts. Other days it was a croissant with butter and honey baked ham or Canadian bacon. We weren’t fans of the donuts or daily bakery highlights (cinnamon roll, banana bread, etc). There was always pineapple, oranges, cantaloupe, cereal, etc. if you wanted a bit healthier fare. 

Ocean View lunch – I miss the wider variety of cheeses and breads, but there are still plenty of options. I like the Indian and Asian focused dishes (rice, noodles, curry, etc.). Not impressed by the pot pies they had one day. I also like the chicken salad and egg salad so those as sandwiches with a side salad or one of their pasta salads work great for lunch. One thing we missed though was the stir fry station. That was our favorite on Apex!!

Ocean View dinner – Yes, the offerings have been reduced, but we had dinner here 3 nights and were fine. We would love to have had a grill or stir fry station though and hope they add something like that to the offerings. There were never more than 20 or 30 other diners when we were there (usually around 7).

Main dining dinner – A quick disclaimer – I’m a breakfast and lunch person, and usually have a small dinner so I’m not into eating a big meal at night. I’m the same when I cruise so I’ve never really enjoyed the 1.5-2 hour multi-course dinner, especially late seating, which is always my DH’s preference. Luckily my BFF is like me so we did anytime dining with no reservations because we like the flexibility. We are also fine with waiting. We waited 15 – 30 minutes most nights but did have a hour wait one night. We also saw some with reservations being told they would have to wait. I was disappointed in how some of our fellow passengers treated the hostess, who honestly was doing the best she could. For us, we just grabbed the pager and lounged in Craft Social or went to the Casino until it beeped. The food was fine, but, honestly, that’s always how I’ve felt about the main dining room meals. Items worth noting to me: chickpea-tomato soup; the escargot was better than it was on my November Equinox cruise; I got the timeless salmon one night and it was cooked perfectly; I actually like the pork and beans everyone’s been laughing about. I’m a sweet dessert person so seldom like the desserts but their chocolate torte is good.

Main dining lunch – We did eat in the dining room on the last day to avoid the chaos in Ocean View. Fried chicken was a pleasant surprise and the key lime pie was my favorite dessert for the week. We'll have to visit this venue more often in the future on sea days.

Ice cream – always busy. After eight and pistachio remain good picks for me.

Spa Café – I like the refuel smoothie and salmon salad for lunch but the offerings are repetitive so not a highlight to me.

Ship and Rooms

I was in 6246 (above lifeboats) and she was in 6234 (hump cabin). Rooms were clean but we look forward to them being updated and boy we missed all the outlets in the Apex rooms. Our room attendant was Jan from the Philippines. He was awesome. Always there when we needed him, but not intrusive.

Don’t book 6246 if light bothers you as the lifeboats are lit up and so there’s always light outside your room. If you are like me and like to wake up by natural light, this was a bit of a bummer. Also, we and passengers in a couple of rooms in between us also heard some banging and clanging below us – maybe from the restrooms near Ensemble Lounge?

I love the Solstice class because of the multi-story atrium. I love to spend time in the library - though it's not always quiet because of all the activities they do in the Grand Foyer, and I use the 6th floor concierge/captain's club area for checking in at work. All areas were clean and saw only a few spots of wear and tear. I would love to see them do away with the lawn club and put in the Roof Top Garden area like on the Edge class.

We were always able to find places to lounge in and out of the sun, even with a bit of chair saving going on around the pool area.

@countess5 has a live thread going and this voyage was part of their 47-day trip. Didn’t want to intrude on that thread, but here are my thoughts on this 10-night segment.

Background – 15^th cruise on Celebrity, with the first being on Galaxy in 2004. 3 cruises last year (2 on Apex, 1 on Equinox). Normally cruise with DH and in-laws, but this trip was with my BFF, who also did Apex 2 x with me last year. We had separate rooms thanks to a great solo supplement promotion. Love good food, but do no expect 4 or 5-star dining on a cruise ship. I normally book non-suite balcony rooms and seldom do specialty dining. I cruise this time of the year in the Caribbean to RELAX and get away from Tennessee winters. I'll break down posts based on different subjects to keep the posts shorter. Happy to answer any questions.

Embarkation - We had 11:30 boarding time, having reserved that through the app as soon as we could. Arrived about 10.45 and walked straight into the terminal. BFF had to meet with Guest Relations at the check-in counter so they explain to her she could not get off the ship in Martinique since her renewed passport didn't make it in time for the trip. She did get different answers on this when she called a couple of weeks ago, but we were prepared for this based on our own research. Completed our safety briefing in the app while waiting. Though there was already a full house waiting to board, we were onboard by 11:20. Embarkation is soooo much better than it used to be.

On 2/2/2023 at 11:50 PM, Luvtoeat said:

Had you made reservations in advance of the cruise? Was on the Equinox in Sept. and Reflection in Dec. and did not wait more then 2-3 minutes with advance reservations. Getting the times you want can be a problem if not making the reservations far enough ahead of time.

We don't make reservations because we enjoy the flexibility of going when we want each night. We understand there may be a wait and don't have a problem with that. Similar to eating out when not on the ship. 

On Equinox now. Have anytime dining. Went 2nd night at 7.15 and had a 1 hour wait. Went tonight at 6 and waited 15 mins. Both times got a pager and enjoyed drinks at Craft Social until buzzed. Wait will depend on how many of your fellow guests decide to eat at the same time. Ate last night at Ocean View/buffet and though choices were more limited than in the past (15+ cruises with Celebrity), we were fine with the options. Agree with others that it would be nice to have grill options available at the buffet in the evening.

49 minutes ago, pilot said:

Yes, that is how it works. Agent should know how to do it. One week price is $237.93 with pre cruise and Elite discount. 

I recently had to push back with an agent who said they did not stack. This is verbiage from the cruise planner saying they are combinable. Drink packages say otherwise. He swore his system wouldn't let him stack the wifi discounts so he did the pre-cruise price then added on-board credit for the difference. This past November, I had an agent that stacked the discount without any problem. Sure wish we didn't have to call to get the discounts and they would simply apply to your account as you book it since your status is there.

9 hours ago, nunuc2000 said:

We cruised on the Summit Jan 29 to Feb 10, which I think was the second to last cruise before her big refurbishment, and we found no issues with any "headstart" kind of work at all.  There were a couple of minor dings and wear and tear that appeared to be ignored since the big refurb was just days away, but it definitely didn't impact our enjoyment.  Happy cruising!! 🙂

We were on this same cruise and I agree with nunuc2000. The only thing that we encountered to do with the pending dry dock was all the talk with the crew about what they would be doing during the dry dock. Some were heading home but most had special assignments. We found it interesting that our server would be responsible for fire prevention at welding areas🙂.  

justcrusn, Trump announced that they are now grounded in the US. 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2019/03/13/grounded-boeing-aircraft-could-affect-mitchell-spring-break-travelers/3156613002/

We'll be boarding the Summit on the 29th!!! We'll be in 7203 peeking down on that wonderful Penthouse Suite balcony and dreaming of the day we can enjoy that extra luxury. Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us and for including so many positive comments as well as being honest about some things that were not so good.

Thank you for your review. I see you took the local bus in Juneau. I assume it was easy to find and catch? We are thinking of doing that and just heading to Fred Meyer's to pick up some items that we can't get in Canada.

Yes, it was very easy to find and catch. https://juneaucapitaltransit.org/ is the website and it shows the various stops and routes or we downloaded the android app to our phones while we were in the city. When we asked anyone close to the ship they kept referring us to the high cost shuttles but we finally asked a crossing guard and he told us how easy the city bus was to use and pointed us to the closest stop.

Very interesting review. We have done two round trip Seattle to Seattle Alaska inside passage cruises but never into the interior. We plan to. Your review has convinced me that our decision to rent a car and spend up to two weeks there is what we need to do, not get on a bus with a set schedule. We want to pick out where we eat, where we stay, when we stop, and what we do. I know we want 4 days on the Kenai Peninsula, a couple in Anchorage, a couple on the way to Denali and about 4 there, and then down to Anchorage to fly home. Does that sound about right?

 

We did totally different things than you did on our days in Alaska. Interesting to read what others do.

Claudia B, I'm still happy we did the land tour so that we could get an easy introduction that did not require a lot of planning on our part at the time. But, when we are able to return we will do what you plan to do - rent a car, stay where we want to stay, etc. I know there are wonderful places to eat in Alaska and we felt we did not have time to explore that to any extent. With this being our first visit, I'm certainly not a good one to advise on the time required to visit any area and I think how much time you will need depends on what you want to do and how you travel. We love driving through the varied landscapes, watching wildlife, and day hiking (not backcountry camping style), and we tend to stop at every turn in the road. It takes us a while to get from point A to point B when we do it at our pace. In talking with our coach driver Ashley as well as the shuttle drivers in Denali and Seward, all 3 having spent years working in Alaska, I think you can spend weeks in each area and still have more to see.

It is so interesting to read what different cruisers chose to do at each stop. We had such a hard time deciding with such limited time in each port and so many suggestions on this wonderful board. In the end were happy with what we did but we know we barely scratched the surface and it certainly has us planning a return. What would you suggest for the ports we visited if we did another cruise?

Final words on the Cruise

Day 6 / Wednesday- 8/16/17 - Ketchikan (9a – 6p)

Another rainy day greeted us in Ketchikan. We took our time getting off the ship and wound our way to Creek Street. Because the salmon were not running, it was rather disappointing. The boardwalk area is neat and there were several shops with interesting local art. From there, we walked to the Totem Heritage Center. It was interesting to see the various totem poles that had been retrieved from abandoned villages near Ketchikan but note that other that the few in the main entry area the totem poles are displayed laying flat so the effect is somewhat minimized. There was a local student there to answer questions and provide historical context of the totem poles. I realized how little I knew about totem poles and really enjoyed the visit – except for one moment. This is where the most distressing thing I experienced during the cruise happened. While I was reading some of the information on exhibit, I heard this person ask the student whether it was true that the fish oil in the salmon is what caused the locals to have darker skin. I almost fell on the floor. How can someone be so brazen or ignorant? The student didn’t skip a beat and simply said he did not know the answer to that question and provided the gentlemen with some information on his tribal heritage. I was amazed at how well the student handled this.

After visiting the center, we walked a short distance to the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery & Eagle Center. We saw quite a few salmon working their way up a stream and saw several tanks containing small salmon to be released later. It was still raining pretty hard so we decided to return to town.

After walking through the various shops, we returned to the ship.

The was the second chic night. Again, most people wore jeans or khakis with us seeing only a few suits and a couple of tuxedos and cocktail dresses. The main dining room offered lobster tail and our waiter encouraged us to combine the steak offering with the lobster for a surf and turf. I prefer crab to lobster but the lobster was good but the winner of the night was the very good grand marnier soufflé. Though it had fallen by the time it reached our table it still tasted great.

Day 7 / Thursday -8/17/17 - Inside Passage (cruising)

This was a typical day at sea.Late breakfast in a crowded Oceanview Café – again, we still found a table for 6 fairly quickly. After breakfast cleared, we found a table and played cards for a couple hours. Lunch was busy and they brought out some of the better food of the trip – namely, cheese. For the first time during the cruise, the buffet had a cheese area that contained offerings beyond cheddar and swiss. It was still not like what we’ve experience on prior cruises, but at least we had a few other choices.

The views through the inside passage were amazing. We had not traveled on a ship where land was so close on both sides. The captain even spotted a pod of orcas off the starboard side in the afternoon and alerted us to them. The sunset was also beautiful.

We played some more in thecasino, then packed our bags, which were to be outside our doors by 10 pm. Later went to dinner and enjoyed some final moments with the dining room staff.

Disembarkation day/ Friday- 8/18/17 - Vancouver (7 a.m.)

Our flight was scheduled to leave Vancouver at 2.30 so we were in no hurry on disembarkation day. We went to breakfast at 7:30 and had a final waffle. The Oceanview Café was scheduled to close breakfast at 8:30 a.m. We finished breakfast around 8 and headed to our room to pack our toiletries and clothes from the night before. We checked the disembarkation gangway and saw no line so we went ahead and disembarked. This has always worked for us in the past but this time our bags were still not unloaded. The port had an elevator not working so they were behind in unloading the luggage. We stepped out of the way and watched while some panicked passengers with earlier flights searched desperately for their bags.There were some heated statements from some of the passengers but the port personnel truly appeared to be moving as fast as they could. Even with our flight scheduled for 2.30 we had our bags by 9:30. It took another hour to work our way through Canadian customs and then through US immigration.

We grabbed a taxi to the airport. The trip took about 40 minutes and cost $45 for 4 people with 8 bags of luggage. We could not check our bags at the airport until 11:30 but that process went quickly when we did. Our flight departed late as did our connecting flight in Seattle. We finally made it Nashville around 1 am.

Overall, it was a wonderful cruise. I thought the ship was in great condition and the food was as good as in the past, though the main dining room service might be hurting some from all the new pay venues, with me assuming those venues are cannibalizing some of the main dining room staff. After the first day, the food in the Oceanview Café was always the appropriate temperature and I feel there was plenty of variety. I still prefer the island style layout on the Solstice class ships as the flow during even busy times is so much better. We are unlikely to do another Alaskan cruise as we would prefer to see much more of the Alaskan frontier but this cruise and the land tour introduced us to the beautiful Alaskan landscape and we are very happy we did both and that we did it with Celebrity.

Day 5 of the Cruise / Tuesday / 8/15/17- Icy Strait Point (6.30a – 3p)

After sleeping in and grabbing breakfast around 10 am, we walked into Icy Strait Point village off the pier and visited the warehouse shops and museum. It was nice that the pier leading to the village is mostly covered and is was raining. The shops were a nice break from the very touristy shops in other locations but still had plenty of t-shirts, salmon, and other typical gifts. After spending an hour or so touring the village, as recommended on these boards, we decided to walk to Hoonah even though it was raining. This was an easy walk along the coastline and there’s a large paved walking path the entire way. There is a shuttle available that runs constantly. I think it was $5.

Hoonah is an extremely small fishing village so the onlything to do was maybe grab a bit to eat for lunch, which we passed on as wewere not yet hungry. We did stop in the local grocery store and checked out theprices - $6.69 for a gallon of milk, $3.99 for a dozen eggs, $4.59 for 8 oz. ofcream cheese, and $10.55 for 1.75 quarts of Tillamook ice cream.

We talked to several people later in the day who had gone on a whale and bear watching tour and were extremely disappointed as they did not see anything except a few seagulls and got very wet during the trip. We also saw several groups doing a canoeing excursion in the rain. Didn’t seem like fun to us. Because of the weather (rainy and cloudy) only a few people did the zip-line, which appears to be the most popular excursion here.

We were back on the ship by 1 pm as were many of the other passengers. Lunch in the Oceanview Café was packed as people abandoned the village area and chose to eat on board. We all took naps in the afternoon, a well-needed rest.

So, why the stop in Icy Strait Point? Hopefully it helps the local economy and raises awareness about and provides revenue to the Tlingit population. All the shops in the warehouses are supposedly local-owned. Estimates are that since this stop began in 2004,and with the new dock being finished in 2014, the impact of the cruise business has grown and now accounts for half of the Hoonah economy. I’ll leave debate on who benefits the most – the cruise lines (who benefit from selling excursions where the port has limited activities to offer) versus the locals - to others but I will say that as cruisers who like to venture outside of the cruise line offered excursions,we found little to do here.

Day 4 of theCruise / Monday, 8/14/17 - Skagway (7a – 8.30p)

The ship arrived at 7:00 and the other 2 couples in our group had to be downstairs at 7:30 for an excursion that included a ride on the White Pass Train, a salmon bake lunch, gold mining, a trip to Liarsville, and a stop at Red Onion Saloon. The cost for their excursion was $259 pp. They enjoyed the train ride (they stopped around the summit and returned via a coach) and said that the salmon bake was very good and that they had a good time with the “madam” at the Red Onion Saloon. For the price of one excursion, we rented a large SUV for the entire day! DH and I also got to sleep in and have a leisurely non-crowded breakfast in the Oceanview Cafe. We reserved a car through Avis (basically the only game in town) and headed out to pick up the car around 9:30. Avis was in a small office in a hotel located a short walk (a mile or so) into town. We picked a Hyundai SUV for the comfort. Total rental for the day was $254 plus gas to fill back up was $19.

We drove to Emerald Lake following Murray’s guide (Murray Lundberg) (available for download on-line for only $5), which was extremely helpful for pointing out all the great photo spots. At many of the lookouts there are interpretive posters explaining the history of the area, including one at Deadhorse Gulch that emphasized how brutal and short-lived the gold rush era was for man and animal.

We stopped in Carcross for lunch.This town is maybe 10 miles before you reach Emerald Lake so a good place to stop for lunch either before visiting the lake or after. We ate at Chilkoot Trail Authentic Sourdough Bakery and had sandwiches put together by grandpa in the back. Literally, I could see the elderly gentlemen take out 2 pieces of bread and slather them with mayo and add some ham. Somehow that made it taste great. This shop did not take credit cards and that was true of most in the town. The owner explained that internet was not available so no way to process the cards. There was a family there at the same time we were and they had to rethink their order because they had limited cash. Be aware of this if you venture outside of Skagway. We got ketchup flavored potato chips (something not found in Tennessee), a yummy cinnamon bun, a chocolate chip cookie, and a rootbeer to go with our sandwich and enjoyed the lunch on their outdoor patio. We drove through town and took pictures along the beach and at the railroad. Also saw a family with a son wearing shorts and no shoes then we saw his shoes floating down the river. Not for sure on the story behind that one.

After lunch we stopped at the Carcross Desert, yes a desert surrounded by lots of water. There were several people hiking in the area.

We then finished the drive to Emerald Lake, which produced some amazing emerald shades, especially as the sun came out and really lit up the lake. We did not think the lake itself was as beautiful as the rest of the drive and the lake is hurt by a power line running along the road side of the lake that is hard to keep out of pictures. There’s a private home on the edge of the lake and another built on a hill a bit up from the lake. Both appear to have awesome views.

The entire drive was beautiful.We had wind and rain the first 15 minutes or so, but then sunny for the rest of the drive to Emerald Lake. It was overcast and raining for the drive back. With all the stops we made for pictures,lunch, and later ice cream, the entire trip took us just over 6 hours. You also pass through Canadian customs going out then US Customs coming back so you must take your passport on this trip. For us, this drive was the highlight of our entire trip and if you come to Skagway I recommend renting a car and driving to Emerald Lake.

When we got back into town there were some roads blocked off and the next thing we saw were the Royal Canadian Mounted Police performing in Skagway for the first time since 1995. A surprise treat. We returned the rental car and walked through some of the downtown gift shops. We finally headed back to the ship and walked over the salmon creek and watched some silvers swimming around with quite a few that had already died. Locals said that the town will start smelling of dead fish as the salmon die off over the next few weeks.

Cell coverage for Verizon was very good in Skagway but not available during the drive to Emerald Lake.

After getting dressed we headedup to the buffet for some snacking and they had “KFC – Kentucky Fried Chicken”– as it was labeled on the ‘gourmet food” section. I got a kick out of that having worked at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken in Corbin, Kentucky when I was a teenager. Not for sure how they are getting around the KFC trademark issueJ.

We again had dinner in the main dining room. I had a caprese appetizer and a rigatoni entrée, then chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream.

After dinner we headed to the casino to contribute more to its upkeep and then turned in for the night around 11:30.

Day 3 of the Cruise / Sunday, 8/13/17 - Juneau(9a – 9p)

As everyone here has warned, be prepared, it will rain in Juneau. That said, we had good weather until late in the day. It was a bit overcast in the morning but cleared up and then the rain started in earnest around 5 pm. Plenty of time to see things before then.

We were out for breakfast around 9.00 and off the boat by 10. We went straight to the Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway. You can purchase tickets on the boat or at the tramway, the cost - $33 - being the same either way. The ticket is valid all day and with the late departure in Juneau would have been nice to do again if the weather had cooperated. This was the highlight of our day at Juneau and one of the highlights of our trip. The car rises 1,800 feet from the cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau through the rain forest to the Mountain House, offering expansive views of Juneau and Gastineau Channel. When we got to the top of the tram, a patch of clouds had moved in and you could barely see anything below so we prepared to be disappointed; however, since we were there we decided to go ahead and walk some of the trails and within 15 minutes the wind started moving the clouds out. Before long we had wonderful views down to the cruise terminals and all around. We hiked the trail to Father Brown’s Cross and the loop above it for some amazing views and saw a hoary marmot along the way. This is a steep trail but not that difficult if you take your time. We did not hike the 5 mile roundtrip to Mount Robert’s 3,819 foot summit because we did not know how much time we would need to see the Mendenhall Glacier. There’s also a trail you can take back into town but the signs warn that it is a rough trail and you need to allow a couple of hours to do that. After our Mendenhall Glacier visit, we would have preferred to stay in this area and complete some of the hikes. I haven’t yet mentioned that flowers in Alaska are amazing. They are large and colorful and everywhere!

If you are going to visit Mendenhall Glacier you will want to purchase the combo tram/glacier package (available at the tramway ticket office or through Celebrity), which includes a shuttle to the glacier for an additional $30 (sorry, can’t remember exactly). If you purchase the shuttle pass from a vendor separately it will be $45 or so. We opted to take the city bus(only $2) though the locals said it would take an estimated 1 hour to get there, but that was because it included a 1.5 mile walk from the bus stop to the entrance to the park. There’s a paved path the entire way and a couple of good looks at the glacier along the way and some stream crossings where we saw some salmon running, but if you elect to do the city bus you must prepare to walk the final 1.5 miles. Though I had read on this forum that some were uncomfortable with some of the bus passengers, we did not have any issues and were comfortable the entire time. We had great cell coverage and downloaded the Capital Transit bus app to our cell phones and the app gave us all the route sand the real-time location of all the buses. This was great because we timed our visit to the glacier by monitoring the location of the buses scheduled to stop at the glacier bus stop as the last one runs around 4.30.

After we made it to the glacier we found that the only fee area is the visitor’s center and one of the trails called the photo trail. The rest of the areas were free so we took pictures at the sandy beach then walked the trail down to the waterfall. It was an easy walk and there were a lot of people there. Maybe because it was Sunday. The glacier was a treat, but certainly nothing compared to our visit to the Hubbard Glacier, though we were much closer. We saw some icebergs floating below the glacier. We spent about 1.5 hours walking around and taking pictures. Others in our group did a whale watching/glacier combo tour ($179 pp) and the bus gave them only 1 hour at the glacier so not enough time to walk any of the trails, which was fine for them. They said they say some water spouts and several whale tails but that was about it.

We were tired and thinking of taking a shuttle or taxi back but when we got to the stands none of the shuttles were scheduled to leave immediately and no taxis were there. We checked the transit app and realized a bus would be at the stop in 30 minutes so decided to hoof it to the stop. The app indicated we would need to get off around the Museum and do a 10 minute walk back into downtown as it would not run all the way to the harbor. We did that and then it started raining. We lucked up on the weather as we got in about 6 miles of walking without getting wet!

We decided to stop at Tracy’s Crab Shack. This placed lived up to its good reviews. We got a king crab combo, which consisted of 1 very large crab leg, 4 small crab cakes with a very taste dip, a cup of crab bisque,and 2 rolls. The cost was $40. It was plenty for the 2 of us and the food was great. The restaurant has large picnic tables and you eat with others. It was bustling but comfortable. The ship was parked in front of this restaurant and since it was really raining by that time we passed on shopping and went back to the ship to get ready for dinner. Others in our group shopped around the terminal area but said the shops offered typical tourist fare - t-shirts, canned salmon, etc.

Dinner that night was very good. The starter – short ribs ragout with gnocci was the best first course we had on the trip. Then I had the seafood pasta. For dessert I had chocolate lava cake with caramelized banana and vanilla ice cream. It was just the right size and tasty.

A trip to the casino after dinner reminded all of us that the house always wins, but the casino staff were friendly and the casino was clean. Our last cruise was a Panama Canal cruise on Holland America and we saved money on that cruise because they still allow smoking in the casino and we were driven out by the smoke several nights. We appreciated that Celebrity is smoke free in the casino. We stopped by Cafe al Bacio for some treats. We miss the shortbread cookies and other offerings we remembered from our Caribbean cruises but we did have a delicious cup of hot chocolate (covered under the classic beverage package).

Day 2 of the Cruise (Saturday, 8/12/17) - Hubbard Glacier (cruising) 2p - 6p

First day was at sea and cruising in to see the Hubbard Glacier. We slept in late then headed to the Oceanview Café for the breakfast buffet. We had forgotten how crazy it can be the first full day and it being at sea. People everywhere but we found seating for 6 fairly quickly. Celebrity also had personnel helping with finding seating.

I started with my favorite – the Celebrity waffle. Sadly, it was cold. Tasted good, but it needed to be hot. Ends up the bacon was cold and the ham was cold. Also had a soft boiled egg from the eggs benedict station.This and the other to-order egg stations were busy the entire cruise with waits of 10 minutes or so for to-order eggs. As usual, the cantaloupe and pineapple were delicious. We do not eat in the dining room for breakfast or lunch as we like the variety available from the buffet and have never had a problem finding something good.

After breakfast we walked around the ship. We’ve been on the Millennium before and on each of the other Millennium class ships. We felt the ship was in great condition and saw only small signs of wear. Our cabin was in great shape. The bedding was good and the pillow selections (another Elite perk) were great. We had reserved an aft balcony for this cruise mainly for the views. We had 2 loungers, 2 upright chairs, and a small table on our extra-large balcony. It was windy, cold, and rainy during much of our cruising time so we didn’t venture outside much but we did enjoy the covered deck a couple of times each day.

We all grabbed some lunch buffet food around 1 pm then some ice cream. As expected, the buffet was extremely busy but the offerings varied and plenty of good items. The ice cream was also as good as I remember from prior cruises but the stations were always busy.

By 1.30 we were heading into the glacier area and the captain announced that with the wind and the rain he didn’t think we were be able to make it all the way in. To our delight 30 minutes later he came on and said the clouds were lifting and the rain slowing down. Next thing we know he says we are 5 miles out and it looked like we were getting a break in the weather. We made it within 1 mile of the glacier and the views were amazing.Felt like we were so close! He said that was the closest the ship had been all season. He did a full 2 rotations of the ship giving us remarkable views. He also exited around a small island giving us a continuous view of the glacier from our wonderful aft cabin. There was no calving while we were there. He said the blue on the face of the glacier indicated there had been recent calving and so it was unlikely there would be more. We also ventured up top during the Hubbard Glacier time and there were many people up there. The captain also opened the helipad for viewing after the wind and rained died down and there were quite a few people that took advantage of that. Chandru, the future cruises director,stopped and talked with our group while we were on the top deck and provided us with a lot of information about the glacier and the changes he has seen in his 10+ years with Celebrity. He was extremely nice and helped us locate a couple of seals on floating icebergs.

Around 5 pm our room attendant dropped off the laundry we had sent out the prior night. Less than a 24-hour turnaround. Note that though the items were clean, they were folded in a manner that had things very wrinkled. It was a free bag of laundry and nice to get those done in case we wanted to reuse them or be less laundry to do when we got home. Just be aware that if you want items pressed you must request pressing. An elite perk is one pressed item per cruise but we did not use that perk.

That night was the first of 2 “chic” nights. That was defined as designer jeans and a nice top or a nice dress for women and similar for men. My black levis (hey, they didn’t define designer) and a black sweater worked fine. We saw passengers of all dress level – even a couple of tuxedos and evening gowns. We did not see anyone in shorts or t-shirts that night but did see many diners in jeans. I know many members of this forum dislike the loss of the formal nights and the shift to a more casual dress code. I am not one of those. I dress up for work every day and enjoying being casual on vacation. We packed fewer closes for this cruise than prior Caribbean cruises because we reused most of our jeans and because there were no formal nights. With the increased baggage fees from the airlines,I was happy with the change. It was certainly the most casual dress I have experienced on any cruise.

We had dinner in the main dining room. We always find something good on the menu and don't normally visit the specialty restaurants, though the staff pushed the restaurant packages quite a few times. Our wait staff issues from the night before had been resolved for the most part but throughout the cruise we experienced problems getting wine and cocktails at dinner. The wine staff (I hesitate to call them all sommeliers as our wine waiter was not that knowledgeable and had difficulty recommending anything other than the selections listed on the menu) and the bar staff seem overwhelmed by the number of passengers ordering drinks, I assume because of the popularity of the drink packages. Our cruise fare included 1 perk and we chose the classic beverage package. We were able to buy any drink we wanted and the difference (if the drink was above the classic limit) was charged to our account. Neither of us drink enough to warrant any package but for us the classic beverage (covering bottled water also) was the perk of the most benefit to us. I do think the service level from the sommeliers and bartenders was better before the packages but it may just be that they have a lot more people filling these positions due to demand and, like many employers, have a hard time finding the right employees. We received 90 minutes each of free internet as another Elite perk. With us being in US ports almost daily, and us having Verizon cell service - which worked throughout most of our land tour also, we found this to be plenty as we could check email every day in port (except Icy Straight Point).

Embarkation and first night

We were through check-in in a breeze as we are Elite and staying in Concierge this trip. 1 of our bags was already there so we started unpacking it. Our travel agent had sent a bottle of champagne and a vase of flowers. Later in the evening we also received a cheese tray from her. Within another 30 minutes we had our remaining 2 bags. By 6.30 we were unpacked and had met our room attendant. We also prepared a bag of clothes to be laundered.We got 20 pieces per person (1 bag up to 20 pieces) laundered for free as an Elite perk. We walked around with for a few minutes then headed to our designated area for the muster drill, which was at 7.45. The muster drill took almost 20 minutes as people were slow to get in place. After the drill we went straight to dinner.

This was the first night so we forgave the disorganization we faced in the main dining room. We were quickly met by our assistant waiter, Wilmex, who brought us waters but disappeared. Our waiter, Sumantra, came by and introduced himself but you could tell things were a bit off. I ordered escargot and it was ok but not as good as I remembered.You know how that goes. I had salmon for dinner and it was good. For dessert I had a banana-blueberry crepe and it was fine. We had to have our waiter track down a wine sommelier and a bartender for us as it was 30 minutes in and no one had checked in with us. By then we also had also not seen Wilmex. We ended up asking our waiter for teas and more waters. By the end of the night things had gotten better.

On the dress code - With it being the first night many diners, including us, wore jeans, t-shirts and sandals to dinner. We had heard that Alaska is super casual and we experienced that during this cruise.

Walked around the ship after dinner checking out the other evening snack offerings – pizza (not much out), pasta (fairly busy), and sandwiches (mostly crew). Also walked through the cosmo lounge, which was playing disco music and had maybe 50 people in there with a few dancing.

Grabbed a cup of hot chocolate from the café area and achocolate macaroon and headed back to the room.

It had been a busy week and a long day so we decided to turn in around 11.