Trip Report [May 10 2019] - Celebrity Millennium: Vancouver to Seward

[hvbaskey]

Another pre-cruise item checked off!  on line photo gallery set up 🙂
 

https://ponyshots.smugmug.com/Travel/X-Millennium-Alaska-2019

 

Edited April 20, 2019 by hvbaskey

[rick160158]

On 4/17/2019 at 7:20 PM, Gimpy McFarlan said:

Hi Heather,

Thank you for starting this trip report! My wife and I are also on the Millie 5/10 Alaska cruise. We are flying through Toronto, departing on AC105 at 9am for Vancouver. We also booked AQ Guaranteed and were originally assigned 1133; however, were able to move to 9058. We need shade available on deck 9 so the aft facing cabin was not preferable to us. We just purchased to Surf Internet package and have started narrowing down the excursions we want to take.

 

 

For shade, you should of stayed in 1133. Ship sails south to north, and on the return, north to south. Sun rises and sets east to west. In 9058, on the way north, you'll get the sun in the morning, and on the return the sun in the afternoon. In the back of the ship(1133) your pretty well guaranteed shade. I'd go back to 1133.
 

Edited April 21, 2019 by rick160158

[hvbaskey]

18 minutes ago, rick160158 said:

 

 

For shade, you should of stayed in 1133. Ship sails south to north, and on the return, north to south. Sun rises and sets east to west. In 9058, on the way north, you'll get the sun in the morning, and on the return the sun in the afternoon. In the back of the ship(1133) your pretty well guaranteed shade. I'd go back to 1133.
 

 

We were in 1130 and now in 1133 (away from the dreaded stair case of the rooftop terrace) 😉

Edited April 21, 2019 by hvbaskey

[Gimpy McFarlan]

39 minutes ago, rick160158 said:

For shade, you should of stayed in 1133.

 

Nope. Nada. No way.  We have no desire to be located directly above the Sunset Bar with a tiny white fabric shade above us.  Too noisy.  Too exposed.  No thanks.

 

9058 was a typo. We will not be going due north.  The Alaskan coast follows a southeast to northwest direction.  We are in 9085 going northwest and 9102 coming back southeast.

[hvbaskey]

1 hour ago, hvbaskey said:

 

We were in 1130 and now in 1133 (away from the dreaded stair case of the rooftop terrace) 😉

 

Misread that one wrong - it was for someone else!  ooopsie!

[hvbaskey]

42 minutes ago, Gimpy McFarlan said:

 

Nope. Nada. No way.  We have no desire to be located directly above the Sunset Bar with a tiny white fabric shade above us.  Too noisy.  Too exposed.  No thanks.

 

9058 was a typo. We will not be going due north.  The Alaskan coast follows a southeast to northwest direction.  We are in 9085 going northwest and 9102 coming back southeast.

 

How exciting that B2B will be!!!  

[olemissreb]

We did this cruise 6 years ago on the Millie - only we went Seward to Vancouver and it was the end of June/beginning of July.  It was magical and I want to go back so badly. One of these days when I can save up enough to pay the single supplement and still be able to do it up right!

 

Got to love those free flights! We were able to fly first class from Atlanta to Anchorage and then from Seattle back to Atlanta.  All the fees added on to the ticket for a trip from Vancouver to Atlanta was as much as a plane ticket!  So we took Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle and stayed a couple extra days and still saved money over the fees!

 

In Icy Strait Point, we did a whale watching tour with Glacier Winds.  It was awesome!  The owner was able to get us away from all the cruise excursions and a little way into Glacier Bay where we spotted a baby whale practicing his breeches.  We must have watched him for a good 30 minutes before his momma called him home.  We were the only ones there.

 

Enjoy the trip!

[cruisinatdawn]

I will be closely following your adventures, we will be getting on the ship, in Seward the day you get off!  It will be our first time in Alaska and our first cruise on Celebrity!

[Provence55always]

I will be following along....we have this cruise booked for next year in May b2b North and South. We were in the Canadian Rockies last September for 3 weeks on a road trip absolutely loved every minute. Ended up in Vancouver and did a few night in Victoria.....really did not think we would be back in this part of the world again so soon (if ever) flight are so long and expensive. Booked this cruise while aboard a b2b in the Caribbean in January on the Equinox.

[hvbaskey]

All of our planned excursions are now booked and paid for.  

Costs for Juneau have not been calculated, as we are doing it ourselves on the day of - so will update my budget tracker after it happens!  Also outstanding is activities post-cruise in Anchorage.

Since this was a “last minute, exciting deal” that we booked and it was an “unforeseen event”, I decided to track all expenses from a planned budget of $5,000 CAD (3700 USD or 3300 Euros).   So far, so good!  

As much as I was tempted to put in a “MoveUp Bid” for a Sky Suite, I refrained, as it was not in the planned budget.  I was a good girl! and stuck to the plan 😉

• Transportation category = Airfare, Seat Upgrades, Shuttles, and Rental Car in ANC.  I went over on that one, but all the rest is in check thus far.   
• Cruise Fare category = cabin base fare, taxes/port fees, and gratuities.   This was a no perks/exciting deal “AquaClass GTY”; we were assigned an AQ1 cabin within 72 hours of booking.
• Food category = meals in port and ANC ... not likely accurate, but just threw a number in there to start.
• Activities = all excursions paid for thus far.  Outstanding are Juneau and Anchorage (post cruise).  Likely will go over a wee bit, but really trying to stay within the allotted budget of $1,000. Canadian exchange rate is pfffffff at the moment 😞

Edited April 24, 2019 by hvbaskey

[hvbaskey]

On 4/24/2019 at 10:34 AM, hvbaskey said:

 

 

and just like that - we have gone over budget!  we lost our battle with temptation (note original post, where we had restraint!) and had placed a “MoveUp” offer for a Suite and it was accepted today.  

We never thought it would go through as according to the Celebrity “indicator meter”, it was weak (deep red LOL).  We bid slightly over minimum.   I don’t think the “$3” that was available in my Budget Planner is going to cover it.

Never say never (as we did)!  Although we are now unexpectedly over budget, I am deep down over the moon excited to have a suite for our Alaskan adventure on board the revolutionized Millennium.   

Now to reprint luggage tags ... again ...

Edited May 2, 2019 by hvbaskey

[hvbaskey]

The conversation ....

DH: but that would put us over budget ...

Me: it’s “very weak” on the indicator meter; Celebrity will never accept it. Seriously. Never.

DH: Never say never 

Me: Oops.

[rick160158]

On 4/24/2019 at 7:34 AM, hvbaskey said:

All of our planned excursions are now booked and paid for.  

Costs for Juneau have not been calculated, as we are doing it ourselves on the day of - so will update my budget tracker after it happens!  Also outstanding is activities post-cruise in Anchorage.

Since this was a “last minute, exciting deal” that we booked and it was an “unforeseen event”, I decided to track all expenses from a planned budget of $5,000 CAD (3700 USD or 3300 Euros).   So far, so good!  

As much as I was tempted to put in a “MoveUp Bid” for a Sky Suite, I refrained, as it was not in the planned budget.  I was a good girl! and stuck to the plan 😉

• Transportation category = Airfare, Seat Upgrades, Shuttles, and Rental Car in ANC.  I went over on that one, but all the rest is in check thus far.   
• Cruise Fare category = cabin base fare, taxes/port fees, and gratuities.   This was a no perks/exciting deal “AquaClass GTY”; we were assigned an AQ1 cabin within 72 hours of booking.
• Food category = meals in port and ANC ... not likely accurate, but just threw a number in there to start.
• Activities = all excursions paid for thus far.  Outstanding are Juneau and Anchorage (post cruise).  Likely will go over a wee bit, but really trying to stay within the allotted budget of $1,000. Canadian exchange rate is pfffffff at the moment 😞

Is your cruise fare and transportation per person ?

[hvbaskey]

11 minutes ago, rick160158 said:

Is your cruise fare and transportation per person ?

 

Not per person in that screenshot - that’s the full cost for both of us.  

Note - I have to update it with blowing the cruise fare budget to bits.

Edited May 2, 2019 by hvbaskey

[hvbaskey]

Revised luggage tags printed (Celebrity web site e-docs were updated within a few hours after the MoveUp upgrade).

Had to add the “meme insert” into the bottom right hand corner.  That’s me giving the new tags to DH.

Edited May 2, 2019 by hvbaskey

[hvbaskey]

2 minutes ago, hvbaskey said:

Revised luggage tags printed (Celebrity web site e-docs were updated within a few hours after the MoveUp upgrade).

Had to add the “meme insert” into the bottom right hand corner.  That’s me giving the new tags to DH.

@lakegirl16 - #1133 is open “again” ... see you on Deck 6 soon!

Edited May 2, 2019 by hvbaskey

[lakegirl16]

5 hours ago, hvbaskey said:

@lakegirl16 - #1133 is open “again” ... see you on Deck 6 soon!

@hvbaskey exciting!  Love the "meme"!  🙂

 

[RoyalVisit]

Have a great cruise! We're on the Nieuw Amsterdam, May 11th round trip Vancouver.  First time cruising to Alaska.  Excited to get onboard! 😍

[hvbaskey]

Six (6) sleeps away from our Alaskan adventure.  Preparing my travel journal today.  
Semi Scrapbook / Semi Journal - hoping to keep it “up to date” as we mosey along up the pacific northwest coast ...

[stunned]

This is interesting reading as I work on planning our June 2020 B2B Alaskan cruise on Millennium.  I am as excited to read about your adventures as you are to sail and partake in them.  Thanks for sharing.

 

Judy

[hvbaskey]

On 5/3/2019 at 3:20 PM, RoyalVisit said:

Have a great cruise! We're on the Nieuw Amsterdam, May 11th round trip Vancouver.  First time cruising to Alaska.  Excited to get onboard! 😍

 

Thank you kindly!  since you are on the Nieuw Amsterdam next week; you might be interested in this hot off the press news story!   Everyone is OK! 

Cruise ships collide at Canada Place
https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/05/04/two-cruise-ships-collide-near-canada-place

[hvbaskey]

The travel journal / scrapbook final prep has been completed and is now ready to pack!  Looking forward to filling it out throughout our travels.  I have also prepared a very small craft bag to take along with me, in case I have any spare moments during our down time 😉

Edited May 5, 2019 by hvbaskey

[hvbaskey]

Final clothing prep! and then “done”; ready to go!  Fluffing / airing out the Spring outerwear.

[hvbaskey]

Mendenhall, TRAM, hiking trails, tours, tours, tours for Juneau and yet until today, we had nothing “firmed up” and were going to wing it and DIY the day of.  We had set a budget aside for the day, but nothing was leaping out at me or striking the home run.

 

@ T-36 hours until departure to the airport, I finally found an excursion for Juneau that gave me goose pimples (a great indicator for me)! 

We’re off on a cruise to Tracy Fjord Arm to get up close & personal to the glaciers.   Universe, as always, works in mysterious ways and I came across a photo on MickeyLive’s FB page (Celebrity’s semi-retired “destination expert extraordinaire”).   Anyhow!  in a nutshell, followed the path from the picture to the tour - and called the reservation in today and arranged two tickets for us to go on the 10 (YUP 10!) hour adventure to Tracy Arm.  

We have a very long day in Juneau (docking at 7 AM and not departing until 9:30 PM) - so we have the time to spare to take on the “ice adventure”.    I am over the moon with excitement!

Edited May 9, 2019 by hvbaskey

[AKfamily]

On 4/21/2019 at 11:49 AM, rick160158 said:

 

 

For shade, you should of stayed in 1133. Ship sails south to north, and on the return, north to south. Sun rises and sets east to west. In 9058, on the way north, you'll get the sun in the morning, and on the return the sun in the afternoon. In the back of the ship(1133) your pretty well guaranteed shade. I'd go back to 1133.
 

 

In the summer here, the sun actually rises more to the south-southeast and sets in the northwest. And you could quite possibly never see the sun at all, but will have a wonderful time anyway. 😀