itsanita

The aft cabins on deck 10 are not covered. For Alaska it was an issue when raining. Fortunately we had very little wind on those balconies compared to open areas on the ship. So we were still able to enjoy with our umbrellas!

The Ovation OTS and Celebrity's Solstice are both at Pier 91 on Fridays, going and when returning. It was a cluster. I have never had such a chaotic experience at a port. And it is true about the luggage missing on our cruise that departed on July 15th. We spoke with a lady that had a missing suitcase...found on the Ovation. She had only one suitcase missing from their party of 5. All the suitcases were together and properly tagged. It was returned to her at our first stop, as that was also the Ovations first port. They gave her a 200.00 voucher to spend on the ship for clothes etc. They also gave her a little gift box with toothpaste, brush, deodorant, t-shirt etc.

We avoid the specialty restaurants on the last Chic night, as that is usually the lobster night in the main dining rooms. Personally, I would avoid them while cruising the Inside Passage, as the view itself is amazing and would take away from the relaxing diner experience. Same feelings about the sail aways....love them with cocktails in hand. Would not want to be trying to enjoy both. We always go for the sea days.

Just got off the Solstice Friday, and Brent and Amanda were both there. We all enjoyed their talks. If you miss them, they are recorded and played on "Celebrity Entertainment" on the tv in your cabin. Unfortunately it was hit or miss to find them. Our kids loved Brent's talks and did not miss one! I have our daily's, but don't have a clue as to how I would get them on this platform! If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to check for you.

Did you check with a whale watching excursion in Juneau? We used Juneau Tours and Whale Watch. We took the Juneau Whale Watch & Mendenhall Glacier Combo reservations@juneauwhalewatch.com It was a perfect day with whale watching and then hiking to the waterfall and Glacier. A very easy walk, about a mile round trip. As far as dressing. The kids each brought a sport jacket and wore it with jeans and a polo like shirt on the 2 chic nights. But that was not even needed. Their parents just decided they wanted some pictures for their Christmas cards. The only thing not allowed in the dining room at night were shorts.....not too many of them on this cruise anyway. Some people did dress up, but most did not.

Just back from our cruise. The kids had a great time. Ate most nights off the adult menu as the kids menu in the main dining is limited. They too enjoyed the pool, the kid activities and never missed a Brent Nixon talk.

We just got back from our cruise on Solstice to Alaska. I had 6 kids with me , 14,13,12,11,9, and 8. We were a group of 12. We ate everynight in the main dining room. The waiters were amazing...they took such great care of the kids. Some nights they finished before us, and would head up to the 'Camp at sea". The older kids loved it, made lots of friends and were all over the place. The outdoor pools are heated so they were in them a bit, as well as the hot tubs. The Camp at Sea was open every day from 9:00am - 10:00pm, with some planned activities that lasted about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. They had a small game room that was open all the time. From 13-17 they could come and go as they pleased...did not have to sign in or out. The younger kids could do the same, but they were supposed to sign themselves in and out so the counselors knew who was there. Kids 6-9 had to be signed in and out by an adult....but after they got to know us, they allowed our teenages to sign them in. The 'teens' had their own area....not sure what's in there.?? it was TEENS ONLY. The kids said some of the stuff was 'lame', but they went anyway and had fun. The kids menu was limited in the dining room, so our kids ate most nights off the adult menu...a great time to try new foods. We could not get chocolate milk anywhere on the ship. The waiter/bar tenders all had hot chocolate, so the kids ordered that with ice and it worked. White milk is most places. By the time we left the ice cream area knew our kids by name!

I was laying awake at night worrying about how to get this all handled before we flew from Fort Lauderdale to Seattle. No sense getting on the plane before we even knew we were all negative. But this was so very very easy.

We had seven, so they had us make two appointments. One was for 7 AM the second one was for 730. The first appointment had four of us and she had us do all four of them at the same time. She did ask us to show us the unopened box. We sat those four aside and then she immediately did the other three even though it was only 10 minutes later. We sat those three aside and then we showed her the first four that were negative and then we showed her that the last three were negative. We had to go onto the portal to get our results. I couldn’t do a screenshot because it was on two pages so I just printed them out.

Thanks for your quick reply. 🙂

We just used Onpoint to virtually test this am at 7am via zoom. We are flying out later today for our cruise on Friday. It was very very easy for the 7 of us. Done in about 20 minutes. However, the report does not have a QR code. Hopefully that is ok.

I answered my own question! just went online to purchase...adults only.

Do you have to be over d18 to play? Are kids allowed to play?

We are using a company called On Point Testing. https://onpoint-testing.com/help-center/ They will do the proctor testing via video 24 / 7. You can buy tests from them or use the ones we all got sent to us or ones you can get at CVS (or other pharmacies). They will do up to 4 people at a time. We have 7 (3 kids) so we have 2 back to back appointments. 7am and 7:15. $14 if you supply your own tests. They do children from 6 months of age. "We test children starting at 6 months of age and older. Parents may choose to perform the test on young children by oral or nasal swab".

YES!! Someone says layer to me, that means put a cover up over my bathing suit. But it's fun to wear sweatpants and jeans and boots for us. A change of pace. Our friends take 2 carry ons, we take humongous suitcases... filled to the brim. I always take way more than I need.

We are leaning towards Juneau Whale Watch tours for a couple of reasons. We are a larger group, 12, and they include Mendenhall Glacier. Has anyone had experience with them this year?

thanks so much!

We will be with 6 kids on a Celebrity cruise in July. All but 2 of them have a phone. I am wondering how the ship app work for kids. We adults have downloaded and created passwords and user names. Can the kids use the same ones? Or do we have to create their own user name and password? The apps have a 'communication' area that we are hoping we can use to keep in touch while on the ship with the kids. I also read that Princess has some kind of app that will allow you to see where the kids are at all times. Does Celebrity have this capability? Can anyone fill me in on how this works?

We have done 2 cruise/tours in Alaska, one on Celebrity and the other on RC. We thought they were both amazing..... just saying you might want to look at other ship itineraries. To me, sometimes that is more important than the ship.

Both times were in late August, early September. We chose that time as we felt it would not be as busy, as most kids were back in school, no mosquitos, and we were told the animals were active as they were all preparing for the winter season. We are going again in 2 weeks!! Taking all our kids/grandkids. But only the cruise. Very excited. Anyway, Anchorage. Not sure if its even open post covid, but you may stop at Millers General Store on Park Highway on the way to Denali from Anchorage. It was a bathroom stop but they have great ice cream. Probably the best homemade ice cream I've ever had! We had a fair amount of free time in Anchorage. I remember we had a Anchorage City Tour & visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center as an included excursion. We asked some cops and locals about places to eat....I think all meals were on our own. We chose to have lunch in a little local bar called Paris, that a police officer suggested and visited the museum that was nearby. We enjoyed, but would probably bore small children. We stayed at the Anchorage Marriott, located in the middle of town. Everything was walkable. We had lunch at Humpy's bar, again a local sent us there. Great good, battered halibut and local brews. We had breakfast at Snow City Cafe, highly recommend again by locals for breakfast. It was 1 block away from the Captain Cook statue in Resolution Park. This was an area where you could hook up with the trail that seemed to wander around the outskirts of Anchorage…biking, walking etc. If you have the time and extra $$ in Anchorage, our friends did the “26 Glacier Tour”and said it was wonderful. They got a package out of Anchorage that included round trip via train or a bus (can't remember which). I think it was an independent tour but might have been offered by Celebrity. 6 hour glacier boat trip (with lunch). Because the boat was smaller then the cruise ship they were able to get very close to several glaciers and saw lots of wildlife. They said it was well worth the money. Something to look into if you have the time in Anchorage.

Once you have completed Port Valet, what happens if you flight changes? It has been happening a lot lately....cancelled flights, changes in flight times, flight numbers. Are you able to go in and change?

Does anyone know which of the 2 docks Celebrity uses in Bonaire?

Not sure if still following this thread??? Can you tell me what docked the Equinox was at?

We are renting these carts and are also interested in any suggestions for a nice swim along the way.

Thanks for the suggestions. We should be done with the wallabies by 4pm so I went on line to check and Remlinger Farms closes at 4:30, except for the brewery. And the Museum of Flight closes at 5pm. DARN We all would have loved that. Any other suggestions?... I hate the thought of sitting at the airport for hours.