Little Nell

Thank you Calico cat. Looks like we've bought the right kind of jackets. Your son is so sweet :)

Inland areas can get quite warm that time of year but for the cruise the cool to cold water temps will chill the area - as can areas near glaciers. Layers are the best bet. Also there are synthetic fabrics that hand wash very well and dry very quickly - as well as being light weight. Avoid cotton, except for jeans. A lightweight waterproof outer shell can be very handy. Also a rain hat with chin strap for when it is windy is handy although a snug fitting knit stocking cap that covers the ears can be a lifesaver out on cold decks viewing glaciers - even in July.

Thank you so much. This is very helpful information.

Thank you Northern Aurora. We were on Infinity a few years ago but I didn't need to do washing as it was EX UK and we could pack everything we needed. It is great to know there will be a line in the cabin and for larger items we will use the laundry. We will dress for evening chic night but less formally than usual. Thanks for the information about dress on the land tour and ship. It really helps with planning what to take.

Depends on the definition of summer... and what you think of when someone mentions down jackets. :D

 

I'm referring to fairly lightweight down jackets such as the Patagonia Ultralight jacket I have, rather than big thick winter parka style jackets. Mine came in real handy standing out on the WPYR rail car platform taking pictures as well as on the bow of a catamaran approaching Aialik glacier... :) A big heavy down parka would of course be overkill.

 

My goal in choosing down was low weight and small size when packed away in my day pack. Yes, it requires more caution than fleece or synthetics, but this jacket also packs down to the size of a softball and weighs 9 ounces.

 

Anyway, it's just a suggestion based on what worked very well for my wife and I during our trip these past two weeks. The OP is free to choose whatever works best from the various ideas presented.

I've just bought one of these lightweight down jackets which zips inside the waterproof jacket. Ideal.

That's the best idea I have heard yet, separate suitcases for cruise and land tour.

Thank you, Mapleleaves. That is very useful information. We are going with Celebrity so no washing machines on the ship unfortunately, just an expensive laundry service. I don't mind having a few items laundered but not a whole wash.

We are coming to Alaska in July for a 3 week holiday encompassing Alaskan land tour, cruise, stay in Vancouver and the Rocky Mountaineer. I would be delighted for advice on what to pack and what not to pack. We are restricted to 23kgs of hold luggage and hand luggage. What would you say is the best balance between lighter and heavier warmer clothes? I have read that the Alaskan land tour is very casual and I assume the port days will be the same. What about on the ship? I know this is the Alaskan forum but I am sure some of you will have been on the RM and can give a view on this. Do people dress for dinner while on this tour? I would normally wear shorts or capri trousers on holiday. Would I look out of place wearing white trousers for example?

Any "must take" or "don't bother" to take advice would be much appreciated.

do you know if anyone went to Moscow on the tour and should we?Also how was the weather

I would say don't do it if you haven't been to St Petersburg before. There is more than enough to see in St P for 2 or 3 days. It is a truly magnificent place to see. We have been to most European cities but St P outshines them all.

We also went on the Eclipse in 2015 and 2016 and did a private tour each time with the same guide from Alla Tours. It was worth every penny. We skipped all the queues and there was no hanging about waiting for coaches to fill up to go on to the next thing. Our guide was wonderful. Russian regulations require them to sit an exam each year to qualify to be a tour guide and it shows!

We are in Skagway on a Monday and the only way to do the White Pass railway is by ship's tour so I am tempted by Chilkoot's "Discover the Yukon Adventure" tour. It is 6.5 hours long. Have any of you done it?

We did a wonderful week in Vancouver prior to our four day Canadian Rockies Bus tour, then coming back to Vancouver, then an NCL cruise to Seward, Alaska, finally three days including Denali.

 

Here is my review of our trip.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=547125&et_cid=2764671&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

 

There is a lot to do in Vancouver, check out the tours we did and activities.

 

Also, regarding the Canadian Rockies, I highly recommend that you consider the Key West Tours rather than the Rocky Mountaineer. The Rocky Mountaineer is more than three times the cost and you don't see as much of the great sites.

 

Key West has a tour that starts in Vancouver and ends in Calgary.

 

The tours are excellent.

 

Regarding Alaska, highly recommend a tour with the White Pass Rail trip in Skagway. Denali is special.

Thank you so much for replying. I will certainly consider Viator for Vancouver, especially since we won't be visiting Whistler and Buchart Gardens is a must for us as we are all keen gardeners. I loved your review which is packed full of really useful information that will take me a little time to digest. The tips on the private tours is particularly useful.

Little Nell: Even though we live in Alaska we've done several Alaska cruises, with a B2B set scheduled on the Millennium this summer. We could be on the same southbound sailing.

 

But regarding clothing you will find that we dress very casually here in Alaska. I have always found that passengers on Celebrity's Alaskan itineraries are more casually dressed than on other itineraries. At the land based lodges you are likely to see a number of folks wearing jeans and casual pants.

 

While visiting our state you can encounter a great range in temperatures. Fairbanks generally reaches +80sF in the summer but temperatures here can reach into the low 90sF in late June and early July. Even though Denali is about a two hour drive to the south (assuming no road construction) the weather there will likely be cooler with some winds possible in the "Glitter Gulch" canyon area. You are correct in assuming that a waterproof (not just water resistant) outer layer is necessary. While you may have no rain in southeast Alaska there is a reason why we call that area of our state "rain country."

 

Do you have any specific ports at which you are interested in private tours?

Thank you so much! That is really useful information for us. We particularly want to see wildlife both at land and sea so if you could help with that we would appreciate it very much.

Bumping this up. I have just realised that we have been given the Select Drinks package on our upcoming cruise. We've always had the Classic Package and there is no mention of the Select Package online. We always upgrade to the Premium Package. Can anyone explain how that works if you have the Select Package?

I am now turning my thoughts to our summer holiday. We are travelling from Edinburgh to Fairbanks (not directly), doing the 6 day land tour then joining the Millennium for the southbound cruise to Vancouver. We are staying for 4 nights in Vancouver and then taking the Rocky Mountaineer and flying home from Calgary. It is a total of 21 or 22 nights.

I am looking for some advice. I would appreciate any tips from people who have experienced at least part of what we are doing. Names of any tour companies for private tours would be welcome. Information on dressing for dinner on the ship and in land based hotels would be useful. I am concerned that we take only what we know we are likely to wear to leave luggage space for warmer, waterproof clothing and different types of footwear. It is so expensive to have have items laundered onboard that I only want to do that if absolutely necessary.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. I know there is an Alaska board but it is pretty overwhelming to be honest.

No, I think the cc said that the beginning price was $299. I guess they had dropped the price on the "manage" site to $269 and that's what we thought we would be paying. But when we called cc as suggested on here, he said we had a discount coming.

We booked it yesterday and our sail date is April 22, 2017 for 16 days.

 

I see where I typed the incorrect amount of $169 instead of $269! I do apologize. I have to admit, by this time and all the reading, my mind is turning to mush!

Thank you for clearing that up. I must admit I was bewildered too :D

We called cc because of comments here. The $299 was the original amount but $169 was listed on the net. When we talked to cc, he gave the discount that our status affords at this point. Don't know if the system would have picked up on that had we not called.

Are you saying the standard price without discount was $169? If this is the case there is a huge discrepancy between the prices on the US site and the UK site because I paid a lot more than $169. I suppose the other important question is when did you book it and in particular how close to your sailing date?

This whole internet pricing thing is confusing me greatly.

I booked unlimited internet yesterday for our cruise this weekend through Captain's Club and got the CC discount. I asked them to check the onboard price for our 14 night cruise and it was 299$. I paid considerably less than that, even taking the discount into account.

I did try first to book online but there didn't seem to be a facility for Captain's Club discount but in actual fact the price that showed up online included the discount and was identical to the price I bought at.

Thank you for your review. We sail on Eclipse on Sunday and are very encouraged by your positive comments. We loved the Eclipse last year and are hoping for the same excellent experience this year.

Hi. We visited the Vasa Museum last year and didn't book in advance. We simply turned up and had to queue but it didn't take too long. The museum itself was incredibly busy but it was school holiday time so really to be expected. It is a wonderful museum. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Filled mine in last week and as previously said, option b definitely. I have a Halifax Clarity credit card applied for it for this cruise specifically as they don't charge fees as my other cc charges 3%.

We have the Halifax Clarity card too and it is a winner. Definitely option B.

I just tried to purchase and the price was £186 which at today's exchange rate is 243 dollars. The price didn't change and I didn't see any Captain's Club discount. We are going at the end of this month for 14 nights on the Eclipse.

I will wait until I am onboard if the price is £199 dollars for 10 nights and above. I should get my Captain's Club discount and my own credit card company will give me a better exchange rate than Celebrity.

We completely over-packed. Just bring plenty of jeans and long sleeve shirts that you can wear over an undershirt or t-shirt incase you need to remove it. There do have Chic nights but it is hardly formal. I brought a pair of slacks and wore that with a button up shirt. Next year when we go back I will pack MUCH lighter.

Thank you.

We've just booked for Alaska next year and I was already trying to work out how we could take all the clothes we might need. Am I right in thinking there is no formal night and people dress quite casually?

I am more than a bit miffed by this (mis)information from Eclipse. We are due to sail in under 2 weeks and were expecting 2 evening chic nights, not 3 and DH is not taking his tux or suit but a jacket and trousers and I will be wearing cocktail dresses. I do not want to take extra luggage that we won't need so it would be really helpful if someone could clarify the situation.

Regarding someone producing a copy of an out of date daily, on our last cruise the Celebrity guide to Copenhagen contained a tourist map showing the Resistance Museum which was something we really wanted to visit. Imagine our surprise to find out from the Tourist Information that it burned down 4 years ago! We did inform Destination Services on our return.

Our Med cruise next year on Reflection removed Ephesus and added Malta. It also switched a lot of our days around.

Personally, a change for the better (as Malta seems like a much better stop).

Ephesus is awesome.

My goodness this is a long thread! I have really enjoyed you super photographs and reading about your experiences on your cruise. We are going on 31st July sailing, having done the same itinerary on the same ship last year and reading this thread has raised the excitement levels considerably. Thank you for taking the time to do it.