crystalspin

@jthek is pretty tall and has sailed on a lot of HAL ships (he is 5*). What class/location of cabin are you booked in? I have never heard of mattress extenders being available, and in many cabin layouts there would be little room for one.

Very probably! when do you sail?

Like Nancy, I looked at photos of 5145 on CDP.com and all I can say is PINCH yourselves! Stay with this cabin (and balcony). You won't regret it.

Hi Leo! Welcome to Cruise Critic! Alaska rollcalls are often quiet -- DNK exactly why! You can also leave carry-on sized suitcases with the curb-side porters, but be sure you have something (daypacks) with you for any valuables or medications -- anything you could NOT be without. Very occasionally a suitcase will be delivered to the wrong cabin and take a while to get to you.

We had a portside balcony San Diego to Mex Riv in December/January. I would recommend starboard! Most of the sailing the ship is far from shore. You might see land between PV and Mazatlan from starboard. I recommend SB if you want to use your balcony in the afternoon on your way home. Portside was too hot even in January, sailing back north alongside Baja CA! Now, if you are a morning person or prefer breakfast on your balcony, the reverse might be true.

You should request a reservation time and table size before sailing through your PCC or travel agent. We had Anytime Dining on our 16-day B2B in Dec/Jan of this year. We were never able to get seated in the MDR -- great lines of people with pagers on either side of the MDR entrance! We watched the menus on the Navigator, and when we saw Lamb Shank (DH's favorite) near the end of the cruise, we thought maybe the push had lessened. So I called the reservation number and was told the only availability was very late and at a large/shared table! On the bright side, the Lido was never chaotic, and the specialty restaurants were all pleasant.

If you stand at the foot of the bed, the right side is towards the balcony, and the left side is towards the sitting area and desk.

I see you are on the Celebrity Reflection; do you want to share your cabin #? I would tickle my resources and see if I can answer your question.

I forgot to say, we liked this cabin (and its location) enough we are booked in the same one for a 35-day South Pacific cruise next February!

I think you will be fine. We just spent 16 days B2B in the bed-by-the-balcony arrangement. In that case, I like it if the side of bed by window is my husband's!!! he is the earlier riser. Seating area near the door is much handier for room service, or if you have friends or family also cruising, that might want to come in from the hall.

You can see the deck plan on the Public site and note that both 6015 and 6034 are called plain "Interiors" and have the same square footage in Details (170sq.ft). Neither of them have a sofa/loveseat; they may have an upholstered straight-back chair, or a padded backless storage stool for the desk/vanity. Do not get hopeful for the room shown in the thumbnail of interior cabin, that only applies to insides on Main Deck that EM referred to above. Chose the inside cabin that puts them on the same side and hallway as the SS.

@MTNest93's link led me to https://theworld.org/stories/2016-05-04/arctic-opening-business-summer-when-cruise-ship-plies-northwest-passage Confirming that it was indeed Crystal's Serenity that was set to sail that itinerary. I still don't know if they ever did -- what was the timing of their bankruptcy and defaulting on customers? There was a direct link to a NYT article as well, but it was behind a paywall. I cut the NYT headline and pasted it to a Google search which brought up the above link. Another write-up: https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-rctom/submission/crystal-cruises-llc-exploiting-climate-change-or-making-the-best-of-an-unfortunate-opportunity/ This one does imply the route was sailed, as it refers in past tense to the escort ship necessary for potential hazards.

It's a very long way (taking traffic into account). A fellow on my rollcall sailing out of LA/San Pedro is finding transport (vans) running $120 ish with Uber/taxi about $80. I suspect Celebrity doesn't provide a shuttle from Santa Ana... But you should call them to confirm one way or the other.

My memory says that Crystal Cruises offered that VERY EXPENSIVE itinerary before the pandemic. (Also before they went bankrupt and were acquired by A&K...) I cannot find any trace of it on their website. I don't know if they ever actually sailed the route...

Welcome to Cruise Critic! The cost for laundry has recently been reported to have increased -- Unlimited to $8.50/day from $7, so presumably to $10.50 or maybe $11 from the $9/day if either end of your journey is in Europe... but I assume the individual piece-rates have also increased so the savings are still there! The other thing about Unlimited is, no matter which day you turn in your first items, you are charged for every day that has a night (you also can't turn in any pieces on the last day or two, either, but are charged for the length of your cruise). So use away!

Going by CruiseDeckPlans and the principle of alternating layouts, I agree that 8566 has sitting area by the window/balcony.. This also agrees with the OPPOSITE (port-side) cabins being opposite-layout (and then alternating), which can be seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpCrEMB6dk0

Hi Mary-Jo! The roll call is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2832921-february-17-2024-hawaii-and-tahiti/ I can remember when the smaller HAL ships had self-laundry. They were small and often a problem to find a machine! They would be locked down during Noro outbreaks (just when needed) leaving one to disembark with a suitcase of dirty laundry looking for a laundromat if continuing the journey. But, I was convinced that the cruiseline would ruin our clothes! After a 28-day transAtlantic doing all of our laundry in the sink, I finally listened to Jacqui @kazu and others telling me that HAL really did follow directions on low temperature, etc. I just recently learned they even have a room with circulating air for drip-dry! Subsequently we joined the pack-smart and use-the-by-the-bag option. Unlike RCI (where they only let you but items smaller than a t-shirt in the bag), HAL takes any and all plain-wash items in the bag. Here is a list we fit:

It's already figured into the equation...

Mac: All cruise lines do not have one-way sailings to Hawaii. They would have to leave from Vancouver (or Mexico but haven't heard of that one). Here is a list from Cruise Critic's own app, to give you a starting point. This list includes one way AND round trip, you can figure which are which from the length! https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseto/cruiseitineraries.cfm?port=131&depcity=236

Speaking as someone who has sailed that itinerary on the Volendam, and the 14-day AK cruise on the sister ship Zaandam -- but never in a Neptune! -- I can answer some of the questions. 1- Try a hardware store for STRONG magnetic hooks. Particularly rare-earth-magnets which will be smaller for their strength. 2- I believe your transfer will run pretty close to 11, allowing you to get on the ship, probably right to your suite, have some lunch, do the muster requirements (which are not terrible), look around, get a feel for the ship. 3- You do not need all that luggage. I took a 24" suitcase (and a daypack) on the 14-day, but I was the ring-leader for a family group of 10 and carried many un-needed things, including two folding stools for my two COPD patients! My husband and I have travelled everywhere including a 28-day transAtlantic cruise with carry-ons and not-over-sized daypacks. Alaska cruises in particular, do not need formalware for dinners. The gentlemen in my groups wore Hawaiian shirts one dressy nignt, and goofy ties with no jacket the other. As far as cold layers, it will not be that cold in August, although a rain-layer is a good idea year-round in Alaska. 4- as I said I have not been in a Neptune Suite. I looked at all the photos on Cruise Deck Plans and there were none that showed bed-side outlets. But I know from many posts on CC, that the room steward will tape the extension cord to the floor so it should not be a tripping hazard. (But also the ceiling should be magnetic metal for your new rare-earth Magnet hooks!) ETA: whatever you do, do not bring an electric power-strip with a surge protector as it will be taken from you! Should you sneak it on, it would be a fire hazard for the particular type of cruise-ship electricity.

We spent 16 days (back to back) in 4100 on the K'dam. It was the only mini-suite that was bookable for both legs, at the time. Alignment of the elevators on the deck plans made it above the Future Cruise desk, but that is next to Front Desk. It was very quiet AND convenient to the stairwell to the Dutch Cafe, and elevators to upper decks.

Never did get a cookie, but DH and I shared the apple tart at least once and the Friet & Mayo several times. The latter goes well with a Hoegaarden ale.

Mac: I think the Miracle is not considered a BIG ship (any more), but how a ship rides is not only due to size. You might ask about people who have sailed to Hawaii on the very ship (or her sisters, which I believe are the Spirit class) on the Carnival Board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/ ETA: my second cruise was Hawaii from San Diego on the small Statendam. I had no trouble but my husband did have a few queasy days...

What ship?

There is a small roll-call for your cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2904660-may-6-13-alaska-inside-passage/#comment-64580690 My experience with three HAL Alaska cruises is the roll-calls tend not to be very active, but the more who post the better! Recommendations for port activities are whale-watching in Juneau (done twice), train trip in Skagway (done twice, perferred the "train up/bus back" version for two views of the back country), in Ketchikan you can either self-tour Creek Street (old-time looking tourist shops) with lunch at the Alaska Fish House back at dock level -- or tour one of the Totem Pole displays. Have been to all of them, they're all fine with the state park giving you a nice walk in the woods as well, and bald eagles a numerous as seagulls!