Northern Aurora

There are staterooms on deck 9 so you would have a stateroom above #8185. The Sunset Bar is located aft on deck 10. Bands do not play there. The Sunset Bar music is generally something rather soft (no drum sets). Sometimes a singer playing their own guitar or possibly two folks.

I just checked another article about the situation. According to Dan Bross (reporter for our NPR station KUAC) work is scheduled to start in July so possibly the camp for the construction workers will be done by then. It is a 50 employee camp so I suspect we are talking about pre-fab ATCO units. Bross's reporting indicates that thermosiphons will be installed. Originally it was thought that 30 thousand cubic yards of clay would be removed, but now it appears that 80 thousand cubic yards will need to be removed. I have no idea how long they will be able to work. I do know that there is a minimum temperature for applying road paving. Does anyone know if there is a minimum temperature for working with concrete? @wolfie11 had suggested a CC pool be started in one of her posts several months ago. At that time the NPS was still projecting a 2025 completion date. The NPS website has quietly updated a completion date of 2026 on their website. Even though our local Fairbanks newspaper has a full time reporter in the Denali area we are hearing/reading very little about the issue.

My recollection is that the shops in the old cannery structure do stay open as long as there is a ship docked. But the last time I was there was in September, 2021 on one of the limited cruises which were allowed due to the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act legislation.

I have flown both in and out of Juneau. The airport is not a 45 minute drive from downtown.

Don: This was reported several weeks ago (possibly a month?) on CC. Tonight's Alaska News Nightly radio program was interesting -- apparently the company which was awarded the contract had planned to build their construction camp in May and now won't even build their camp for their workers until July. They are planning to construct a 50 worker camp at mile 27 (a gravel pit). And more clay soils have been discovered on the west side of the project. I am starting to wonder when this project will be completed. The single park road beyond the Pretty Rocks area has had no maintenance since the road was closed at Pretty Rocks in 2021. After several years of no maintenance one can only speculate about the condition.

While I haven't read the description of this particular excursion on the Celebrity website I have taken the Mt. Roberts Tram (now named the Goldbelt Tram) a number of times. The tram is located right near the cruise ship docks on South Franklin Street. So the first question is where your ship docks. My experience is that the Solstice uses the AJ docks while the smaller X ships are at the South Franklin docks. Check the Juneau cruise ship schedule to find your docking location. If your ship is at the AJ docks a for fee shuttle (about $5.00 per person if my memory is correct) moves folks from the AJ dock to a parking lot right beside the tramway. Also, how limited in mobility is your father? If you are at the S. Franklin docks there is an incline up the pier. And finally, the tramway is spectacular on a nice day but not, in my opinion, worth it on a cloudy day. We never purchase tickets until we actually are in Juneau. While the lines to purchase may look long it goes really fast.

The site I just checked reflects six DV (same as @Cruise Gopher) and thirty V1s.

We are not supposed to name travel agencies, but I just looked at an online agency which lists all available staterooms on their website. I certainly didn't check all of the categories, but it didn't appear to be sold out. I wonder what stateroom category our OP is considering? If they post it, I'll check.

We have been on both multiple times. The Eclipse is a S-class ship while the Summit is a M-class ship. We book based on itinerary and like both classes of ships, but some others have definite preferences. We just spent six weeks on the Eclipse. While the ship is very clean it has a dated color scheme. Didn't bother us, but may bother some. And then there are those who hate the new decor designed by Kelly Hoppen, so they would consider the dated color scheme on the Eclipse a plus.

According to your post #1 your ship docks at Ward Cove in Ketchikan. Since that dock is out of town and folks are shuttled into Ketchikan you may want to consider a ship excursion that day. And Seward is a great little community. Not as touristy as so many of the SE Alaska ports. Have you considered spending a night in Seward before boarding your ship. There are some great Kenai Fjords tours. Our favorite vendor is Major Marine.

Actually, I quickly checked one national hotel booking website and then confirmed on the Westmark Fairbanks website that the date you needed was indeed sold out. The check-in times on the Pikes Waterfront reflect their definition of a "day" at the hotel. This information is often buried in the fine print of a hotel website. The arrivals into Fairbanks after about 1:30 AM are delayed flights. FAI has only two baggage carousels. Even in the summer there are very few, if any, scheduled arrivals arrive after those last early morning flights.

You really need to book a hotel room for August 30 and warn the facility that you will be arriving early the morning of August 31. I just checked a major booking site. The LaQuinta is closest to FAI and is priced at $359 on August 30. Pikes Waterfront is also very close to FAI ($288). Best Western Chena River is a little farther from the airport ($399). The Clarion Hotel & Suites is very close to the Westmark ($339). The Bear Lodge is across town ($259). I have no idea if the Fairbanks Airport actually totally closes during the period between the last early morning flight arriving around 1:30 AM and the first flights departing about 6 AM. Even if you could "hang out" for a few hours you would have no food offerings and limited seating (lots of seating past security but limited if the baggage claim area). And there are no places near the Westmark that are open all night. The Westmark is a full service hotel. I would be very surprised if they did not offer secure luggage storage. Contact them to confirm. And just so you are not disappointed, the Riverboat Discovery is a sternwheeler, not a steamboat.

Assuming that plane lands on time I totally agree with "Gardyloo" that if all goes well you will arrive at Pier 91 (which is the farthest from SEATAC) around noon. And we have done the underground tour. It has been a decade since we did it, but my memory is that they had no place for secure luggage storage. And there is absolutely no way you could walk up and down those steps with a suitcase.

I see that our OP is in Australia. Double check if there are different rules/protocols for Australian bookings. But for a US booking the sales person is 100% wrong.

As a general answer to this question, at ANY port it is so easy to "goggle" the port cruise ship terminal cruise ship schedule. But, yes, Celebrity uses Pier 91 (Smith Cove) for embarkation and disembarkation. Celebrity uses Seattle's Pier 66 (Bell Street) only for the periodic port calls.

I am curious if our OP is asking whether they should take a cruise line sponsored land tour or DIY?

Both the McKinley Chalets and the Denali Princess are very comparable. Both are decorated in "north country lodge" decor with lots of photos/prints of Denali itself, moose, bears and so forth. I find that both feel rather sterile. They are also very similar in that the bulk of the rooms are in two story individual lodges (generally no elevator) spread out through the property. Both over look the Nenana River. Restaurant quality is generally very similar with multiple options. Both are only open during the summer and are designed to be closed during the winter (ie, water systems are drained). We have stayed in two room hotel rooms at the Chalets but only one room hotel rooms at the Princess Denali. Both are located across from the "glitter gulch" development on the other side of the George Parks Hwy. It is very easy and quick to walk from the Chalets to the Princess. The front desks of each property is similar with possibly more seating at the Princess. Both are similar in age. They are very similar in quality. I would not characterize one as being more "Alaskan" than the other. I don't have a preference for one over the other. The Chalets were not purchased from the NPS. The former owner is Aramark, which is a NPS concessionaire. The McKinley View Princess is essentially the same.

Hopefully roupa has made a decision. But just can case they have not I will offer a few more comments. We have never stayed at Beluga Lake Lodge. The Lands End Resort has nice hotel rooms and a lovely restaurant; it is located at the end of the famous "spit." The condos, which are referred to as their "lodges" are individually owned condos managed by Land's End Resort when the owners are not occupying their unit. The condos are right beside the resort and are also on the beach.

Somehow I am confused about the question. I have read the entire thread, and which hotels are you asking as being the most "Alaskan?" And which hotels are closer to what? We have stayed at the McKinley View Princess, Denali Princess and McKinley Chalets. Let me know and I can offer opinions.

The distance between Skagway and the Canadian border crossing is about seven miles. If your passports don't arrive in time and your goal was to drive to Emerald Lake the answer is, for most of us, rather clear.

The company which, as I admit don't remember the name, did not operate actually within the confines of DNP. They did walks/hikes outside of the actual park borders. The one really detailed description I remember reading was along a stream south of the DNP entrance.

We spent six weeks on the Eclipse from March into April. We met with two different future cruise sales persons. Since a full Panama Canal crossing is one of my husbands' favorite itineraries (we have done six full transits) we asked about a full transit in 2025. I have looked at my notes. The answers were vague, but they tried to sell us a partial transit.

@nodumblond: Have you been in contact with the Denali area visitor's bureau/Chamber of Commerce. I know they have one. There was, at least pre-covid, someone in the Denali area who did private walking tours/simple hikes for visitors. I have no idea of the name, but when trip reports were posted (in a thread sorted by year at the top of this index page) at least one trip report from several years ago mentioned taking one. There also is at least one of the BnBs or a small lodge (not associated with a cruise line) which has rented used vehicles in the past. Is that the local rental car company you have mentioned? My memory is that they are located in Healy.

Since our OP is only at Denali for what they describe as half a day I also wonder what their options are. They may not have time to rent a vehicle and drive into the park. Is the Jeep tour a HAL excursion?

The Eclipse is large enough in terms of passenger capacity that if you don't have tender priority due to Captain's Club loyalty level or are not in a Suite then folks will want to get tender ticket as soon as possible. While we have tender priority due to CC club status there were some long lines on the Eclipse when we were on from March 10 to April 19. And there are some tender ports which are easier for the crew than others, such as those with shorter distances to shore.