Northern Aurora

Years ago there was a dedicated bar used for the Captain's Club happy hour. But now the "free" drinks are available in a number of locations throughout the ship. And yes, you can walk out of the bar with drink in hand and walk into the dining room with drink still in hand.

Just a quick comment -- for folks departing from Pier 66 the Marriott Waterfront is across the street from Pier 66. Also very convenient for Pier 66 departures. The Marriott Waterfront concierge also arranges shuttle transfers to Pier 91; last June the cost was $11 per person (each way -- not RT).

@Cruisedreamer1: The Classic package certainly covers lattes and so forth as long as you don't have a shot of alcohol in them. The coffees with Bailey's and so forth are covered under the Premium package. If you order something covered by the Premium package you will be charged for the differential in prices plus the extra tax. And for those who are tea drinkers Cafe al Bacio has Tea Forte which is also covered by the Classic package.

Well -- apparently several of us can't spell today and someone who is very familiar with the Celebrity fleet is calling the Constellation the Infinity. We have been to Kotor four times. The sail in and out is absolutely spectacular. Look for the WWII submarine pens. In any event, two times we essentially stayed in the old city enjoying the medieval architecture including the old walls, beautiful cathedral, a local museum and great food. The town is a Unesco World Heritage Site. One time we did a tour out to the end of the Bay of Kotor doing a walking tour of Herceg-Novi and then enjoyed local food. Other time we visited the town of Perast enjoying more old churches and took the ferry over to Our Lady of the Rocks. Again more local food was enjoyed. We have only been to Split one time and I was impressed. The Palace of Diocletian is impressive. This town is also a World Heritage Site. And the walk along the promenade was also lovely. We enjoyed a great meal at a local restaurant located just outside the Palace. It was hard to choose which restaurant as several looked great. In Zadar there are more Roman ruins and more great medieval architecture. Great number of old churches. Again we found a great local restaurant and enjoyed the local cuisine.

We have been to all of the ports with the exception of San Margherita. I also think the decision is a no-brainer and would select the Constellation. The overnight in Dubrovnik will be lovely. And we enjoyed Split and Zadar very much. We have been to Kodor several times, including in 2019 when we were B2B2B on the Constellation, and it has always been a tender port for us.

And if you folks are in Fairbanks we will have you over for dinner. But just another comment -- cruise lines are also starting to do the "up close and personal" excursions to Hubbard as well. While I post frequently on the Alaska CC board I have not followed the Celebrity situation regarding small vessel excursions to the face of Hubbard. Hubbard is an interesting situation since it is a tidewater glacier which actively advances as opposed to the dramatic retreat of Glacier Bay glaciers. The first time we visited Hubbard Charles was incredibly excited -- and that is from a geologist who has spent months on glaciers such as McCall in the Brooks Range. And I suspect the small vessels used for those "up close and personal" visits, are ported in Yakutat, which folks can see in the distance prior to the entrance to Disenchantment Bay. I've flown into Yakutat, and, along with the Alaska community of Nome, I don't think I could live there. Give me -40F in the depths of a Fairbanks winter anytime over that climate. Gerry

Totally agree.

It depends on the definition of "expensive." But it was on the higher price range of excursions. And it had to be booked immediately -- no waiting or all slots were gone. We were close enough to Dawes that when large ice chunks calved and created a wake the Allen Marine vessel was impacted as we had a roll. There was a good naturalist on the Allen Marine vessel, and food options (which was important as we left the Solstice to board the vessel about 7 AM). And the divergence in Fords Terror was spectacular with the vessel approaching waterfalls and so forth.

Just a few comments from someone who actually lives in Alaska -- I agree with the advice in post #27. It just doesn't make sense to me to fly to Juneau for several days to go to Glacier Bay and then fly to Anchorage (there is no commercial air service to Denali). If you want to go to Denali then fly to Anchorage, spend several days, and then take a cruise which includes Glacier Bay. But I wonder if our OP realizes that the single road into Denali National Park is closed by the Pretty Rocks rock slide issue. That means that folks can't reach the Polychrome Overlook (mile 46), Toklat River rest stop (mile 53), Stony Hill Overlook (mile 62) or the Eielson Visitor's Center (mile 66). It was closed in August 2021, and just this last January the National Park Service announced that the contract to bridge the problem area was signed. If all goes well they hope to have the road opened in 2025. I've always thought that folks who don't go into the DNP as far as Eielson Visitor's Center short change themselves. An alternative to Denali which isn't discussed as much as it deserves is the Wrangel -- St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Consider it.

For years Alaska did not have either Uber or Lyft as they violated one of our Wage and Hour regulations. Approximately 6 years ago (during the Governor Gary Walker administration) there was a change in the law. The issue you will have is that Sitka is sufficiently small in population there may not be someone driving when you need the service.

Actually, Celebrity does offer small boat excursions close to glacier faces. We did one on the Solstice last June in which we left the ship at sea, boarded a two level Allen Marine vessel (not a ship tender) and were able to get very close to the face of Dawes Glacier. The Solstice was stopped much farther out. The Allen Marine vessel then diverted into Fords Terror. We returned to Juneau shortly after the Solstice docked in Juneau. These excursions often sell out very quickly so folks have to book immediately. Celebrity will have a naturalist on board for their Alaska sailings. They are very helpful in spotting wildlife and will also present lectures. The Celebrity Alaska itineraries have a slightly different demographic than typical Celebrity itineraries. Many more multi-generational families and a fair number of teens.

@LEESRE: Unless there is a very small number of B2B passengers there should be a B2B meeting where Celebrity staff explains the process and answers any questions. You will also be provided with a succinct instruction letter outlining the process. You don't mention what stateroom category have booked, but B2B passengers are invited to the Concierge embarkation luncheon in the MDR.

Fortress of the Bear has mixed reviews, but I wonder if the kiddos would enjoy it. The stream running through the Sitka National Historical Park (the locals refer to it as the totem pole park) is a salmon spawning stream. It is easily walkable from the Harrigan Centennial Center. The HCC is the drop off point for the shuttle buses from the Sitka cruise terminal

Please understand that ports like Haines and ISP are very different from a port like Skagway. Not only do I live in Alaska I also remember what the community of Skagway was like before they were "found" by the cruise industry. And I actually know why the cruise industry moved into Skagway. Ports such as ISP and Haines don't host as many cruise ship passengers or cruise ships as Skagway, Ketchikan or Juneau. They are not "fully booked."

I am aware of several ships which diverted from Skagway after the June 2022 rock slide. They diverted to ISP, Haines and Sitka. But which ships added sea days to their itinerary?

There is simply so misinformation with the speculation on this thread I don't know where to begin. First, there are more than one dock in Skagway. Only one berth is impacted by the rock slide. So I just don't understand the comment that Carnival has "the lease for the Skagway dock for another year." ISP was developed by Huna Totem. Please google the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act for some sort of understanding of our Alaskan native claims corporations. And NCL "gave their Juneau dock to the same Corp for improved development." This may be a surprise to the municipality of Juneau. Particularly a surprise for the Juneau Port Authority. The dock at Sitka is not owned by Royal Caribbean. The McCraw family, who live in Sitka, are the majority owners. RC has a minority ownership position.

My husband tested positive on the Eclipse in April, 2022. This was the "infamous" barnacle cruise. We had tested negative in Vancouver (a Canadian requirement) before boarding in Vancouver to Honolulu. But when he came down with what seemed cold we used a home test and he tested positive. Called medical and he indeed, based on a PCR test, was positive. I stayed in our suite and was tested daily. I had the opportunity to meet every butler on the Eclipse since I was tested daily with the butlers and never did test positive. I apparently wasn't as supportive as your spouse as I remained in our suite and he was moved to an ocean view stateroom on deck 3. However, I didn't roam much through the ship, remaining in a corner in Michael's Club, dining quickly in the Ocean View and ordering room service. We were in a suite and are also Zenith members of the Captain's Club. So we already had premium wi-fi. We were also treated very well. The Suite Manager remembered us from 2016 when he was a waiter in Luminae. The Luminae maitre'd and all the staff treated us very well. He was called several times each day to ask bout his food preferences. We would have been allowed to remain after the first leg of what would have been a B2B but elected to depart in Honolulu to continue his quarantine, spent a few more days in Honolulu and the fly for home. While it would have been nice if he hadn't contracted covid (we were fully vaccinated and boosted) we were treated very well.

Actually, when my husband was in covid-19 quarantine on the Eclipse he was on deck 3 along with the other quarantined passengers, and none of them had sea pass cards for those rooms. Now that some covid positive folks are being allowed to remain in their stateroom I wonder if sea pass cards are confiscated?

Goldbelt is the name of the native corporation which owns the Mt. Roberts Tram. For more history regarding the history of our native corporations google the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. ANCSA also explains the lack of reservations (Metlakatla is a reservation and Venetie at times has claimed reservation status but isn't official). While we enjoy the tram we don't go every time we are in Juneau. The hiking trails at the top are lovely, as are the views on a lovely day. I have always found the tram stable and there is some bench seating along the sides of the cars. And we never pre-purchase tickets as even if the ticket line looks long it moves very quickly.

We have stayed several times at the Pan Pacific, and the convenience of having a bellman show up at your hotel room and take your checked luggage to the porters is very convenient indeed. The last time we stayed there was in May, 2022. We have stayed several times at the Auberge several times and also like it. We spent several days there in 2018 and since then it has been totally remodeled. We stayed there for several days in September, 2022. The price of a one bedroom suite was equivalent to a standard room at the Pan Pacific. Walking from the Auberge to Canada Place is very easy. From the front door turn left for a very short walk and then it is down a slight hill for one block to the intersection across from Canada Place. From there is down into the parking garage to the luggage drop off. We also like the Sutton Place in Vancouver. While it isn't too far from Canada Place folks staying there most likely will take taxis to the cruise terminal. We certainly did.

As an Alaskan who lives in Fairbanks where a number of the cruise tours either start or end, and as someone who generally travels to Denali National Park at least once a summer (we haven't since the single park road was closed in August, 2021 and won't again until the road opens to Eielson Visitor's Center), I doubt that is true. I haven't observed folks on escorted tours having some sort of priority regarding restaurant seating.

If tours such as flight seeing are a high priority then they need to be booked prior to arrival. More unusual tours can possibly be booked on the pier, but don't count on it. For example, at the booths in Juneau vendors will be offering shuttles to Mendenhall Glacier, some whale watching and so forth.

If Celebrity offers an early morning train transfer in Seward that early morning train is a special charter and ends at the Anchorage airport. The "regular" Alaska Railroad run departs Seward in the early evening and ends at the ARR downtown station (with no stop at the Anchorage airport).

Are you asking about flights between Fairbanks and Anchorage? Alaska Airlines offers several flight each day. It is (obvious to those who live in Alaska) a non-stop and takes about 45 to 50 minutes.

I wonder if either poster has been to Skagway. We live in Alaska and have been there multiple times. We have both driven our own vehicles into Skagway and stopped on cruise ship port call. We were in Skagway twice last summer -- once a few days before the slide and the second time a few days after the slide. After the slide the ships which had issues were those scheduled to dock at the forward Railroad Dock berth. Those at the rear of the dock tendered. It was a very quick tender ride to the Skagway small boat harbor. Ships at the other docks were not impacted. While I can only report on my own experience through the years I haven't found serious issues with the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska schedule.