catspaw1

Yeah we sailed our own boat under the VZ once & had to dodge big ships as well as weekend warrior boats. You have to be on your toes there watching the boat traffic. We have also previously been on a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda and that was a lot easier than being on our sailboat in NY Harbor.

Amazon has the cookbook

Thanks for the info on the food tour. I don't think it's worth it. FYI we've been on about 10 cruises & have never done a ship excursion. We are going to do one in Bermuda but only because we have OBC to burn. Next year we are going on the Flora so all excursions are included in the price. Sometimes we get a local guide depending on where we are. But I always call tourist info & they give ideas where to go & safely get back to the ship in time. We have never had a problem. Since you like to cook, my very favorite cookbook is of TYDE & Time by the Annapolis MD Ladies rotary Club. Their crabcake recipe is the best. I've had the book for over 25 years. I have about 50 cookbooks! I do have cooks illustrated also. Thanks so much for the info. I loved your TR & description of the food as we are foodies also. We have a regular balcony on the Eclipse in 3 weeks so no Blu or Lumanie. We tend to go to OV so we can go on more trips. We just came back from 17 nights in CO, WY & SD. Loved the Black Hills! We were in Great Smokey park for 10 days late April. & have to plan a few more trips for this year left! So that's our trip thoughts. Thanks for all your help!

I've driven over the VZ literally thousands of times & have been beneath it twice before. It truly is an awesome sight. You can also clearly see Coney Island amusement park. It's specular seeing SOL & Manhattan shoreline from the ship. It's a not to be missed event from this native NY NYer

Thanks for the info! Do you think the food tour was worth it? I have never taken one

Sorry to hear you got covid on board. We are sailing on the Eclipse in 3 weeks so hope we don't get it either. I loved your TR so thanks for posting. We are going to AK next year but won't sail with Celebrity since they don't go into Glacier Bay. That was the highlight on a HAL AK cruise We did 30 years ago so we are returning. Going to spend 3 nights at a bear/fishing lodge in Lake Clarke NP & do another independent car trip besides the cruise. I learned a lot from your port visits. Do you have the link on your Juneau food tour? Was Juneau or Sagway better for a fish dinner out? I think you mentioned it but I couldn't find it again. Hope you have a swift recovery!

Pelican, we stayed in Aguas Calientas & took the first bus up in them am each day. No problem. The sanctuary lodge was significantly higher price than all hotels in Aguas Caliente so we didn't want to spend all that extra money. There was no problem with Aguas Caliente. There was a lot of restaurants & shopping. It was also at a lower altitude which definitely helped a lot.

We did Peru on our own independent tour. Very easy to do on your own even if you don't speak Spanish although we do. We spent 2 days in MP staying overnight in Aguas Caliente. This was before they instituted the half day only & mandatory guide. We are so glad we went 2 days. The altitude kicked our buttons so we couldn't walk as fast & had to go at a slow pace. You will get more out of the trip, it will be cheaper also, than going with a group IMHO. We also went to Arequipa & Colca Canyon. Loved both & far less touristy. Do it yourself!

I had to look it up because I hand wrote the recipe. Yes it's Melissa Clarke recipe - the one without the barley & has 28000 likes. I puree it in a blender & double the recipe. Love it - fast, nutrious, great & cheap. NYT cooking would make a great Christmas gift. Maybe I'm prejudiced since I'm a native NY, NY & have been reading the NYT daily for over 45 years. I love their cooking recipes!

I guess it depends on your sailing as we had to rebook within a few weeks of our original date. June is a very popular month. We wanted the beginning of June to have less kids onboard since school is still in session. Flora for the outer loop guarantee only now for the first few June sailings so it booked quickly.

Sierra, have really enjoyed your TR so thanks for posting. I cook, mainly from scratch & saw you liked Cooks illustrated. I used to have that also but now do the NY Times cooking & find that much better. I have used a ton of recipes from them & most have been excellent. The lentil soup is to die for!

Thanks Mahdnc, for alerting me via email about the sale Wirhout your email, I'm sure we would not have been able to rebook on the Flora. So a big thank you!!!! Today only guarantee cabins are left & many sailings around next June booked at the lower levels. I'm also glad I used a TA instead of just booking through Celebrity directly. She was able to quickly rebook us without waiting on hold since they have a TA phone number. Lesson learned everyone- book through a TA. I have one so if anyone wants her info ( not the big box store) just PM me as I'm not allowed to post it here. & thanks again mandhc!!!!

Thanks Ken. I had previously read your outstanding TR when we were thinking of booking in January. Wr chose the Xploration as we wanted a smaller trip & we ate very mobile. Flora was so 8G more. So we wanted to use those funds for another trip. Which we did just returning from the Black Hills in SD, WY & CO & our whole trip was way less than 8G. We are off on the Eclipse in 3 weeks!

We were booked on the Xploration next June. Our TA did send an email regarding the cancelation but it went to my junk mail folder. We were on a 17 night independent car trip to CO, SD & WY with limited cell service in many areas. Fortunately Mahdic sent me an email about the cancelation. Thanh you Mahdc! I was able to contact our TA although our cell service was spotty since we were in the boondocks of WY. Celebrity originally wanted us to take a mid June trip but that would not work as we are going to AK next July so the turnaround between trips would have been short. We got them to move it to the June 1 sailing. We just returned from our trip last night & I checked to see if maybe we could move to another cabin. Nothing left but guarantees. We really wanted to sail on the Xploration & are not thrilled about going to a much larger ship so we are hoping it works out. Anyone have any comments on the Flora? The Flora would have been over $8G more expensive.

Yup, you are right - the cabins filled up fast! We loved Custer state park & did not pet the fluffy cows! Loved seeing the bison! We spent 3 full days in custer Park & loved it. Devils tower is something to see - the pictures don't do it justice. So grateful for your help as I don't look at my junk folder much & especially on vacation! We are going on the Eclipse in a few weeks! A big thank you to you!!!!!!!

MAHDC, thanks so much for the heads up about celebrity selling the ships. My TA did send an email yesterday but it went into my junk mail folder! We are currently in CO. Flying home tomorrow after spending 18 days in CO, WY & SD. Loved the black hills! Because of your heads up, we were able to book the last cabin on our preferred sailing on the Flora next June. So a big thank you as they went fast!

WILCO. Thanks so much for the heads up. Will call TA today. If we can go on the Flora for the same price, we will do it!

Wow we are scheduled to go in June 2025 but haven't received anything from Celebrity yet. Although we would love the Flora, it was 8G more expensive. Can you tell us what options you have been given? Sailing October- December is not the season we want to go there. We specifically chose early June as its the start of the summer season & we can see the waved albatross. Is there any extra charge to switch to the Flora? I'm going to contact my TA today. Please report anything you get. We are really upset over this as we wanted the Xploration. Thanks for letting us know

The Navy, where I retired from, sends vessels in port out to sea. A quick google will confirm this. Ships are safer at sea if they can get out of harms way- sonetimes thats not possible. That's what I told you & you ignored. You were wrong to state the NE quadrant of a hurricane that I referred to, is not the safest quadrant to be in. It absolutely is the worst quadrant. A lee shore is the worst in regular weather let alone in a storm. In addition to my Navy experience, (I retired as an O4) as I already told you, I detailed to Coast Guard. In addition to that experience, we have owned a boat & sailed in excess of 40 years, lived aboard for 10 years & were blue water sailors for 7 years full time. We are also ham operators. So yes I have mega experience in weather. & I repeat, going out with bad weather is fool hardy. Navy ships sometimes have to do that but why should a cruise ship take a chance? We don't take chances on our 44' boat. We have sailed short handed, crossed the pond & have over 20,000 blue water miles just in our sailboat. So do NOT call me uneducated about marine weather!

Yes both reservations showed but it asked for all the other info on my friends which I didn't have. I only did the checkin time as I was away from home & didn't want to bring our passports with me. I was able to do when I returned several days later. BTW live your live posts & I've read all of them. Thanks for posting as they have been extended helpful.

Hi everyone, just checked in a few days ago for our upcoming cruise & wanted to give back some helpful hints. I tried getting in starting at midnight & it was not available until 1203am. I got the earliest boarding which was 1030am. I then tried to checkin get another couple linked on our reservation. However, since I didn't know their DOB or reservation number, I couldn't check them in. So have this readily available if you want to check others in. We are also going on a separate trip tomorrow to SD, CO & WY & I checked in with Southwest today. I checked in immediately at the earliest boarding time exactly & still got B30. That means there is at least 45 people boarding before us.

There's zero risk of bad weather on a ship if you don't venture out when the forecast is not good. That's the difference between a cruise ship & a personal boat. We never set sail on our boat if the forecast was not favorable! Keeping to a schedule, regardless of weather, is where ships have a problem. Cruise ships are too rigid to having to keep to a schedule, they have a choice not to go, but then the cruise line will not like this, so they go anyway. We have seen this time & again. We do have over 20, 000 Bluewater miles experience just on our own boat.

Wolfie, it's common knowledge about the storms in AK in winter. Everyone has probably seem Deadly Catch. But our experience was with a low in mid - late August causing a gale storm. Cruise ships don't like bad weather as sick passengers don't spend money.

Heidi13, not sure your experience, but I'm retired Navy. Also did a detail in Coast Guard. We sailed our 44 foot sailboat in the Atlantic full time for 7 years. So yes we are very familiar with weather. It's the first thing we did every day checking weather while cruising. Over 40 years, we were sailing near Martha's vineyard when there was a hurricane off the NC coast. Yes we had swell from the hurricane but even though the swells were about less than 10', the interval was long & not an issue. So it depends how close you are to the storm & most importantly what quadrant - NE being the worse. Yes you are correct that shallow water makes the waves higher. That's why Navy ships put out to sea when a hurricane is coming. I am not as familiar with AK waters but do know storms seem to be more frequent in August - September. Do northerly winds come down in early summer? Confused seas are the worse for me & wind against current like a northerly in the Gulf Stream. Just IMHO.

We went on a HAL cruise southbound about 30 years ago in mid- late August. Hit a gale storm & missed a port of call. We are blue water sailors so weren't bothered by it too much. When we went to the dining room it was over 90% empty. Everyone was seasick & in their cabins. I think better calmer seas are best in June - July. Once the northerly winds start, the seas get rougher. Bring seasickness meds & take a full 2 hours before it gets rough.