PRH

We just did this this morning on Equinox. I made the jellyfish $120 (purchased pre-cruise with discount) and my husband made a vase $150 (we paid the difference from the $120 “voucher”). Here are the items you can make with their prices (first 2 pictures). You choose your colors and they will advise based on the item you want to make. Come 10-15 minutes earlier than your appointment to make decisions. Closed toe shoes and recommended no white clothing because of ashes on equipment. It was great fun.

No longer docking in Mallory Square. Further “down” at a more commercial location. We were just there.

I requested dumbbells and bands. Neither was in the room. The steward said the “dumbbells” are really heavy duty weights and rack. The bands are not available. This is on the Equinox right now. Disappointing as I have a conditioning program I watch daily which is not really compatible with going to the gym.

No

Found the handout they gave us. Times were not always adhered to. Luckily everyone on our bus was pretty prompt so that was great.

You are correct on the Denali information—going from memory. True also on the Conservation Center—moose, musk ox, brown, black and grizzly bears, reindeer and caribou, buffalo and Alaskan deer (smaller) among the animals you will see. There were two baby moose whose mothers had been killed by cars who were there to rescue. The Homer hotel was the Aspen Suites—very basic but included kitchenette. Also pretty centrally located with the hoho shuttle across the parking lot so easy to get down to the peninsula.

10B starts in Anchorage. I would suggest spending a few days in Anchorage. Incredible flowers and lots of history. We took the trolley tour (hour long) and went into the NP museum to see the videos of the earthquake and the building of the railroad. Cafe 817 near the Anchorage Marriott (Celebrity uses)has great coffee and sandwiches. Alaska is so vast that more people fly than drive. Costco is near the lake where many seaplanes come in for supplies.

I am not home so I cannot give you the specifics but we did this last July. Celebrity tells you very little. 3pm check-in amd “on your own”. Next morning is train from Anchorage to Talkeetna. Get off train and something like an hour and a half there. We ate at the brewery—very good. The bus meets you in Talkeetna on the way to Denali Lodge. There will be a stop at a grocery store outside Talkeetna—take advantage for dinner and breakfast for the next morning as the Lodge buffet is $55 and breakfast is $21. We also bought alcohol at the IGA as you won’t have many chances. Once you arrive, there is an hour presentation before you get your room key—it was difficult to listen as there was a lot of sitting and another hour immediately after getting off the bus was tough. We got put yogurt and fruit on ice in the room for breakfast—there is a coffeemaker in the room and the coffee was good. The Denali bus trip is on a bus—a box lunch is provided even though Celebrity will tell you there is not. Take binoculars! We saw lots of animals. We went to the dinner theater that evening—decent food and fun evening. We asked for early seating but the guide said “full”—it was NOT but apparently all the ship tours were assigned the later seating. Then luggage out early to get on the bus and a lunch stop at the Talkeetna IGA—the sub sandwiches are huge—and on to Alyeska resort. Beautiful resort. Make reservations several months in advance for Seven Glaciers Restaurant—spectacular views and dinner includes the tram. There were no available reservations for those who did not have them already. Ate breakfast at hotel cafe—expensive. The Wilderness Reserve was fantastic. We were able to convince the guide to let us stay a little longer as they originally gave us 45 minutes and there is ALOT to see. Then to visit a farm and see the peonies and chickens. There was supposed to be a wine tasting with apps but that did not happen. Then back on the bus for Homer—a long ride with a fast food stop along the way. Immediately we were taken to an hour long presentation on the sea life at Homer—was nice to be outside! The hotel in Homer has a guest laundry so many of us took advantage. There is a kitchenette in the room so a number went across the street to the grocery so they could have salads, etc. for dinner. We walked to a restaurant for a real sit down meal. The next day we went to the museum next to the hotel and then the HOHO to the peninsula. Walked a lot! Luggage out to head for Seward. We got to the ship around 3pm as everyone voted to not stop at a brief wilderness presentation and half an hour to walk around to see some cabins. So we got to the ship an hour early. Everyone was SO ready to have some real “not fast food” and to relax. Homer was really the only place where you could arrange a tour—there is one full day there. Alaska is huge so be prepared for two things: long driving distances and very expensive food. None is included in the 10b tour. We saw moose along the road, many eagles, and so on. Binoculars are your friend. Dress in layers as the weather was very changeable. If you have questions, please ask.

You can bring two bottles of wine onboard per person. Given our recent experience, we are definitely taking advantage of this to have nice wines we really enjoy rather than hoping for something that doesn’t seem to be “stocked.”

We did 10-B last July. Due to the vastness of Alaska, you will spend many hours on a bus. We were frustrated before arriving with the total lack of communication regarding schedules of what, where and when. Be prepared for lots of quick carry out as most lunches were stops in towns on the way. We saw bears in Icy Straits. Moose during the wilderness train and along the roads as we traveled. Enjoyed Denali wilderness bus—great guide and saw many animals (includes a box lunch that Celebrity does not tell you about). Take advantage of bus stops at grocery stores as food in Alaska is very expensive—especially at Denali Lodge. The Wildlife Refuge outside Anchorage and the Alyeska Resort were favorites—we were able to get dinner reservations at Seven Glaciers months in advance.). Homer was a great breather and chance to do laundry and not be on a bus! I did a review some time back of our experience.

In July we had premium but the wines and liquor selections were very limited. The wines on board for premium were pitiful. We’re taking our own on next week. As far as premium liquor, they only had ONE bottle of Woodford Reserve on the ship which was gone by day two. Not worth it to buy premium when they don’t stock liquor that we prefer. This dramatic increase is crazy. Looks like a good time to stop cruising as the costs have risen to the place where we can vacation elsewhere and with food/drink we prefer for the same or less. We sail next week on a b2b but it will probably be the last time.

My husband just received an email from Celebrity inviting him to choose three in-room amenities such as stretch bands, dumbbells, kettle ball, etc. Has any one had experience with this? Assuming these are for use during the cruise and not meant to be taken? Very curious as I did not get an email and the reservation is under my name.

April 2023 will be our fourth attempt at this cruise! So many cancellations! I noticed that many of the excursion choices have changed from earlier offerings. Some that I was truly interested in, are no longer. Was disappointed, for example, that there is no longer a historical/political walking tour in Belfast regarding the troubles, peace walls and murals. Found an excellent Tours by Locals tour for the 6 of us which includes transportation to/from the port. This cruise is going to require a lot more investigation as we have vouchers which must be “spent” before embarking and we already have silver spirits.

I wonder if it’s possible to order the specialty drink in Blu if you knew the name and restaurant? We’ve had sommeliers go out of their way to make something happen. The worst that could happen is”no.”

We got an email two hours before boarding telling us we did not get a move up.

Frank is unfortunately no longer doing his Asado meals. I spoke with him this spring. He gave me a couple of recommendations but they never returned my queries. Frank was lovely and his Asado fantastic.

Try a food tour—we loved trying foods and drink! An Asado is also great. Iguaza Falls are well worth the time & trouble to get there.

We are on the Canadian Discovery cruise right now—Toronto to NYC. Fabulous ship and crew but the excursions have definitely been disappointing. For what we were “sold as a description” more than three years ago for discovery of wildlife and indigenous peoples, we paid too much for what was billed as a premium cruise. The excursions rarely came close to matching the descriptions and Guest Services/Excursions said there was nothing they could do about it as the information came from “the home office” down to the scripts used for the daily briefings. In addition, the included excursions were all sold out by the time we could reserve and we were in ND. The optional excursions were expensive ($99 to hike?) and as it turns out, usually replicated most of what was in the included ones. There were some angry people who paid for an excursion only to find themselves in the same venues with the included tours. On one hike billed a a hike in a National park followed by a picnic lunch—we boarded the school bus (typical for most of these ports) around noon, sat for 30 minutes and then a stop to pick up the bag lunches (most of us had just eaten) then off to the park. When we arrived, we were handed the heavy bags—sandwich, container of ramen salad, a bottle of water—I guess with the expectation that we would carry them for the hike? We told the guide we would wait until afterwards—she wasn’t too pleased. Then as we approached the information center (none provided on the bus), we were told that a naturalist had been reserved but it would be 45 minutes to an hour wait for them. Given that we had two hours total (and that had been reserved by the wait time at the pier), very few waited around. It was a beautiful day and the trails were well marked so a great time but balanced with the rest—an average rating. The “toys” were available only two days and the outings were half hour and more to show off the toy rather than explore local shores. Granted, the weather on the first day was less than optimal—windy and raining. Two ports—Saguenay and Cap-aux-Mueles could have been easily skipped—aluminum plants and paper mills were the important parts of the day. We wished for much more time in PEI. We did enjoy the weather balloon releases, the science lab, the bird lectures and the many nooks and crannies in the ship. I will be hard pressed to recommend this particular cruise until I hear more positives about the quality of the excursions.

We board the Octanis on Oct 1 in Toronto so the question is whether Viking staff will agree that no pre-boarding lab test is required. I won’t even bother calling Viking as customer service rarely seems to have up-to-date information in my experience.

PS, this unfortunately happened on the day before debarkation and though there was nothing to spend the $300 on at that point, Viking insisted “too bad.” We continued to protest as we had paid for other excursions with credit card and given how late in the cruise this came up, we were not happy with their response. Ultimately they agreed to do some swapping of how excursions were paid for so that we were refunded to our credit card a month or two later.

Our experience is that if it was paid for by voucher, you must spend it on something else before you debark. If it was paid for by Viking obc or TA OBC, same situation. If paid for by credit card, they refund to your credit card.

Regarding excursion descriptions, I’m not sure any one writing these descriptions has actually be3n on the excursions. There are many “generic” phrases in these descriptions which are misleading. I’ve gone down to guest services after some excursions to compare the descriptions to the reality. It is too bad there are not excursions which specifically cater to those who are physically challenged by steps and terrain. I’ve been on excursions where the group was held up and lost out on parts of the excursion due to those who could not manage. On the other hand, I’ve been disappointed by excursions saying they were “difficult” only to find out there was minimal exertion or terrain challenges. I wish Viking would update excursion descriptions based on passenger and crew feedback rather than keep th3 same potentially misleading information.

Glad to hear we aren’t the only ones to wonder about the excursions! I called Viking yesterday and was told they hope to add additional included excursions soon—but probably more of the same. It is frustrating when you are asked to pay $99 to hike! Especially when many of the included tours are ye old panoramic bus tours! And who knows what the zodiac or kayak situation is onboard. Again, this was billed as a far more inclusive cruise with the price tag to go with it.

When we did it several years ago, it was fairly calm and warm. We did the spring crossing this year and again, mostly calm but chilly. We did have itinerary changes which changed our locations slightly. It is hard to say as it is so variable but I think the southern crossing is probably always going to be calmer than the North Atlantic.

We board October 1, 2022 in Toronto to NYC. Already I am disappointed as most of the included tours are already “sold out” but more so because the Viking “advertising” for this cruise shows more nature and native peoples tours. And why are the not included tours so expensive when this expensive cruise was touted two or three years ago as being all-inclusive far as excursions? For anyone who did this cruise this spring, were there particular tours which were memorable? Having difficulty justifying the cost of this cruise. Thanks