Northern Aurora

We let the Edge yesterday and the same wine was delivered to our suite the night before. It was from the hotel director. Have no ides why.

Like @emmas gran we also left the Edge in Sydney yesterday after boarding her in Rome on October 30. Again, all three legs were in the same Sunset Sky Suite. Our experience mirrored that of @emmas gran. We have four future B2B pairs booked — all in Sky Suites. Once we reach home we will decide how or whether to take those trips. We normally book future cruises while on board. Did not do so this cruise.

We were actually on the Solstice in Australian waters when the pandemic was starting and cruise ships ceased passenger operations. That was the last cruise in which I remember receiving the seapass card during pier checkin. The first time I remember picking up our seapass cards from the stateroom mail slot was the first cruise we did after the resumption of passenger operations.

Since the resumption of cruises embarking passengers now pick up their seapass cards from the mail slot outside their stateroom door. Folks are welcome to put valuables in their safe and drop off their carryon bags. If the stateroom attendants have not finished their preparations there will be a sign on the door stating “perfection in progress.”

Jim: Since we boarded in Rome, prior to Australia, we have had only one other tender port. The magic carpet was used at that tender port (Phuket). Unless the spouse and I have become utter dingbats during the last three weeks,we both remember using it. Again, we were told that it was damaged by one of the large private tenders in York’s Knob. Gerry

Goggle Salmon Tours and Travel. Highly rated.

Inquiring minds want to know — when you tendered back to the ship did you use the Magic Carpet? It was damaged by one of the private tenders and is now parked. Rumors are that it may be out of service for a while. Gerry

Island Wings was a guess as our OP did not mention the port. Always helpful for posters to mention the port.

Are you referring to Michele of Island Wings?

The Sushi on 5 menu has been posted a number of times so should be easy to find. It is the same on all the ships. And they do take reservations. On some sailings they can be quite busy and folks need reservations.

Did Celebrity dock at Ward Cove? Ward Cove is 6 or 7 miles out of Ketchikan.

The Zenith gathering has been held on all three of our legs. They are held in Eden at 10:30 am, and are similar to the Captains Club welcome toast/event. Limited to Zeniths. The captain and other top officers/strips are there. Premixed drinks and a large cake in the shape of the letter “Z”. We received our printed invitation for the one held yesterday on November 28th. Communication has been a serious problem on this ship since we boarded on October 30th. Several folks did not receive their printed invitations on the first leg and the one yesterday was attended by about half of the Zeniths onboard. Wonder how many received their invitations. The first leg there were two lunches with about 46 Zs on board. With slightly over 50 on the middle leg they held three lunches. We are back to the Z number in the high 40s and there were jokes about a very long table yesterday. With our VIP passenger boarding in Sydney the executive team may be concerned about getting their act together. Gerry

On our Antarctica cruise and on several cruises to Alaska packets of hot chocolate mix were available in the Ocean View Cafe, as were packets of hot cider mix. Just be aware that since the resumption of sailing following the pandemic Celebrity ships have been experiencing supply chain issues.

Jim: Your news flash has been fairly widely discussed for the last 48 hours. Our table discussed the rumor, which was broadly hinted by one of the stripes, at the Zenith gathering this am. I also think she should stay in a Sky Suite to evaluate the “team” butler concept. This ship has felt “off” since we boarded on October 30. Some situations the crew can not control, such as having to do a full face to face immigration in Mumbai. Celebrity offered to pay for Indian immigration folks to board at a prior port and then have days to conduct the immigration while sailing to Mumbai, but that offer was declined. That day in Mumbai was a mess, and was compounded by the Edge crew not returning many of the collected Indian evisas. Not only did we have additional printed copies we also had them on our phones, but a surprising number of folks did not. It was a mess for some. We leave the ship in Sydney. If this series of three cruises had been our first on Celebrity they likely would have been our only. Gerry

I am posting from the Edge. We are in the final leg of a B2B2B. The first leg the Luminae menus were the same as I remembered from a series of cruises on the Eclipse last spring. During the second leg some new items, both appetizers and entrees, began to appear some (not every) nights. Also some nights there were specials, such as Indian food or steaks. On this last leg we are seeing a few more new items.

Folks who are Zenith level of the Captains Club and B2B passengers are also invited to the Concierge lunch.

We departed a cruise in Yokohama and then stayed several days in Tokyo before flying home. I contacted our Tokyo hotel and the concierge set up a car for the two of us. And the price was very reasonable.

We have been to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. Unalaska is the name of the town. The smaller expedition ships dock at the berth used by the Alaska Marine Highway ferries. Larger ones use the berths also used by the commercial fishing fleet which is farther out. We have been there when a cruise ship was docked and there were shuttles (using school buses) to allow folks to easily visit attractions such as the WWII museum. For those not familiar with Alaskan history this community as interesting WWII history. We have also been in Kodiak when a cruise ship was in port. Also shuttle service was provided using a school bus.

Interesting post. We drive to Denali frequently during the summer and have probably stayed at the Denali Princess Lodge around thirty times. We have also stayed at the McKinley View Princess multiple times (over ten times) as it is a convenient place to stop when driving home from Seward. We have also stayed at the Copper River Princess. None of these stays were while on a cruise tour. We just call the facility and book. Never had an issue.

Just want to expand slightly on post #3. Not only is there one road between Whittier and Anchorage, there is also a long tunnel which is shared by vehicles and the train. There are references to “timing the tunnel” as the road is closed when the train is using the tunnel.

Capt. Matt has been the official captain since boarded in Rome. Capt Matt is listed as the captain in the “In the Spotlight” info sheet for the October 30 cruise. Capt. Kostis left in Piraeus which is where he lives.

A few ideas: Juneau: Hanger on the Wharf Sitka: Bay View Pub Ketchikan: Annabelles Victoria: Bard and Banker Pub

There has not been a change captains since we boarded on October 30. Capt. Matt has been the captain the entire time we have been on board. According to Capt. Matt Singapore officials told the executive team that they could process 500 persons per hour. At a public Q & A session he stated that he doubted that they could do 400 per hour. And another “happy birthday” to Jim. Was that a special birthday hat which you were wearing in Luminae at lunch? Gerry

It was clear at the Zenith lunch we attended that the executive team expected delays, hence the decision to depart two hours later than originally planned. They have been burned several times (such as the debacle of embarkation in Dubai in which some of the embarking passengers took 4 hours to board and those with transit cards had to stand in the same lines; the immigration inspection in Mumbai which, according to the hotel director, required seven hours to get all passengers processed; the debacle in Cochin where we left five hours and fifty minutes late; the almost three hour delay in arrival into Colombo). Several of these countries have complex governmental bureaucracy. We stayed on board in Singapore as we have spent some time there on a land trip and the attraction we would have liked to revisit requires a full day. We waited in the Retreat Lounge which was stacked up with departing passengers. Announcements through the ship started — first they were reporting delays of an hour to get to Singapore immigration, then the line was reported to be 1.5 hours to get to immigration. The final departing passengers left the Retreat a few minutes before noon. These issues will not happen in Sydney. We have both embarked and disembarked there a number of times through the years. Most recently we were on a B2B2B2B with all TADs in Sydney and all were as smooth as could be. Jim: During the first leg the evening Luminae menus were the standard ones. But some of the lunch dishes were new. During the second leg the Luminae chef began offering some dinner specials which were not on the printed menu. The waiters told you. Also during that second leg some of the printed menu offerings were different than the traditional ones. We have used the same head waiter since we boarded, and he says the Luminae menus are being updated. Gerry

I hope Jim doesn’t mind but I will respond. We boarded the Edge on October 30th and there have been several debacles. Not only were there issues for embarking passengers yesterday but the turnaround process for B2B passengers was a mess too. We are in a Suite and also are Zenith. Took an hour and twenty minutes for us to be processed. Absolute mess. In any event at our Zenith lunch on November 21 (there were so many Zeniths on board that three lunches were held) Captain Matt announced that we would depart Singapore at 7 PM instead of the originally scheduled 5 PM. We left at 8 PM as they were still loading freight.