garyl62

Taking a one way south from Seward allows you a few days before to take in a land portion in conjunction with your sailing if you'd like.  You need to see inland areas to get a good complete Alaska experience.  Doing some land portion first allows you to relax onboard after your land trip and before you head home.  The Summit has been updated and offers great viewing options from many deck areas so I wouldn't be concerned about sailing on her. IMO, taking a one way gives you a more complete experience.

Thanks for posting the link, I haven't received the email yet, but watched it and saved a couple screenshots.  I enjoyed it, not sure I'll do anything they promo'd but it was interesting to see.

21 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

Asking this question because I suffer from Motion sickness and when lying in bed I have to sleep with my body facing forward (like driving a car 🤩).

 

The detail of the S-class spread sheets has always allowed me to choose the right Cabin but I'm at al loss with the E-class sheet.   

So.....just booked Ascent portside E1 Cabin #7259.......will I be a HAPPY CRUIZER😍or👎????

 

Thanks in advance for your replies!!

 

That bed is closest to the window/balcony and the pillows are to the bow of the ship.  Hope that helps.  (Just look at the deck plan and the head of the

bed fits into the notch that makes the cabin a little wider)

Huk apparel just launched a frequent shopper program that I received an email about called the "Captain's Club"  I can't imagine they didn't research it first, but it seems like a trademark infringement or something else that is going to become an issue between them and Celebrity.

Glad to join along early in your trip, sounds like it will be a great experience, looking forward to following along!

I'm wondering is anyone knows who is the Captain on Silhouette now and what their schedule is.

We had this suite just over a year ago so I looked through my photos, but unfortunately I don't have one in the bedroom with the door closed.  There is a sliding door between the bedroom and the living room, but there is a film on the door which blocks much of the light.  If you have the living room curtains closed the bedroom will be very dark and if you just open a portion of the curtains it should still be fine.  Although if she expects it to be pitch black she may wish to pack a sleep mask.  It won't take much room and she'll be prepared.

We really like this type of suite, the extra door to the bathroom was a great layout and allowed us to really be on slightly different schedules without interfering with each other's sleep pattern.  Enjoy!

Here is a link to my "Live from" thread.  No photos of the bedroom, but you may see other things of interest.  

Typically guests are not allowed in the Retreat deck or lounge, but can come to Luminae for a fee when available.  Exceptions may be made by staff at times, but only at their discretion.  For example our adult daughter (21 at the time) was in a balcony cabin when we were in a sky suite and she was welcomed into Michael's Club.  The host told us "we like to keep families together" and she dined with us anytime she wanted, for which we were charged a fee.  We've also had friends sail with us who were in a balcony cabin and we were in the PH suite and on that trip they were not allowed access to the Retreat initially, then after the Retreat manager found we were in the PH and sailing with friends, all things changed and they went anywhere we did and there was never a charge for Luminae either.  We didn't complain or question the initial decision by staff in the lounge, but though a completely different conversation the manager found out we were sailing with friends and he recommended we bring them in. Some things you just won't be sure of until you sail.

13 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Would knowing who the headline entertainers and the guest speakers are affect your booking in any way? Would you book in order to see a certain person or group as a headline act? Would you cancel if you found out that they weren’t going to be on your cruise?

We really enjoy "Jared Freiburg & The Vagabonds" and if we knew they were on a cruise in a time frame we were considering it would push us to booking. Doubt we'd cancel if they were canceled.

As many have said, the entertainers publish their schedule many times and back in January Jared posted their cruise schedule for all of 2024 so if someone is looking for a particular entertainer they could try searching online for the schedule and see if it corresponds to a sailing

Sign me up for the CC party!  Just booked with a refundable deposit so I could lock in the deal but still have an out when we closer to that date.  I tried to book a B2B but both sides were 1/2 as long and the same or more money.  Now let's hope airfare from ORD will be summer sale priced too!

1 hour ago, JUST TRIPPIN' said:

Falmouth is a docked port.  We just found out that is where we are going now too a month earlier.

Thanks, I realized I had mis-read the notice from Celebrity.  The new itinerary listed each day and included the information that Grand Cayman was a tender port.  I just skipped over "Grand Cayman" and assumed all the information included was about Falmouth.  

On our March 23, 2024 Ascent sailing Labadee was changed to Falmouth, Jamaica.  We've never been there so will look into options on land, although the port times are 7:00 - 3:00 and it's a tender port.  This is already a "stay on board" trip as we have 3 sea days, Grand Cayman and Nassau as the other ports.  

Can the AARP cards be used for final payment if you go through a TA?  The charge on my CC always shows as "Celebrity Cruises" and not the TA so wondering if that's possible.

Glad to learn this, @NorthStarStateCruiser we're also on this sailing and I've been looking to book some specialty dining times too. Glad you asked the question.

6 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I’m from a school of thought that says nothing in life is free.

 

So for me, large obc means I’m probably paying for it myself somewhere in the price.

 

So the lower the obc, the better I feel about what I paid for the cruise to start with.

 

Completely agree.  One of the differences is the non-refundable vs the refundable.  I look at the Non-R as just a credit for my overpayment and that's what I try to spend.  The refundable goes back to my CC or I get it in cash out on the last night of the cruise.  So that's just money I let them borrow for a while.  I guess it cost me a little, but at least I knew it was coming back to me and I wasn't forced to spend it with the cruise line someway.

We typically have sailed in suites and many times there is 2-300 OBC per person as part of that package so that OBC, coupled with OBC we receive from our TA we always have over $1,000 OBC for a 7 day cruise. I think the most we've had is about 2,300.  Our next trip is in March on the Ascent and we are in a Sky Suite. Our OBC break down is 300 for booking onboard, 50 bonus, 600 Retreat Guests, and 1000 from our TA so 1,950 total.

7 hours ago, Shami said:

 

Maybe there is a chance to contact the cab company and pay to have your backpack mailed back to you if they have it.

I'm hopeful something like this will be possible. Unfortunately lost and found for the cab company is currently closed and won't reopen until Tuesday so I'll have a few days of waiting to see if it was turned in. Really hope it works out to get it back as there's a few items in there that are important to me, but not of value to someone else. It's really put a negative ending on the trip but there's nothing else I can do about it right now. 

We made it home safe and sound.  Unfortunately I left my backpack in the back seat of the cab when we got out at Vancouver airport.  I had my camera in that bag with the SD card that contained all my wildlife photos. So unfortunately I will not be able to add any additional photos to this thread. At least I have the memories of those images in my mind and a few that I had taken with my cell phone.  Once again I hope you all enjoyed following along.

53 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

We’re torn between adding a cruise line land tour or just flying in and doing it on our own before embarking the ship. Would you do it the same if you were to repeat or do you think you’d see more and have more flexibility doing the land portion on your own?

 I have been wondering about that same question if we were to ever come back and do it again. For the first time I am glad we did it with a cruise line and may even do it that way again if we ever come back. We saw so many small out of the way places that really gave us a local feel for the area that I'm not sure we'd get if we did it ourselves. We also learned a lot from the narrative our tour guide provided as we drove through different areas.  

6 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

How where the shows? 

We only went to a few, magician and comedy were fine, not always our favorite shows so I'm a bad judge. The aerialists were very good and we liked the new Broadway production show. 

Last day on the cruise today. It's been a wonderful 2 weeks and as I've repeatedly said the weather could not have been any better. Every crew member has said this has been the best weather they've seen all season and we should be thankful which we are. 

This morning started out with breakfast and Blu and then a behind the scenes tour in the theater.  After that we just enjoyed being on board and looking at the scenery as we sailed down through the inside passage.

We chatted with many friends and crewmembers to say goodbyes throughout the day. I will say the production show On Broadway tonight was very good. It is a new show for Celebrity and it's just being rolled out on the Millennium now.

Bags are due out in 90 minutes so we've started to pack which is always bittersweet but with this view out our balcony door it's a little more enjoyable. 

Hope you've all enjoyed following along. I'll try to get some of the wildlife photos from Denali and the whale watching excursion off my DSLR in the next few days so keep your eyes out for some future posts on the thread.

Yesterday was another beautiful sunny day in Alaska while we visited Ketchikan. It was 70° and sunny all day while we were in port. We walked around town for a couple hours before taking our excursion. Looking back at my pictures I realized I didn't get many from town so I apologize. We did walk the Harbor and were able to see a crew filleting salmon that they brought in that morning. We continued past the donut shop and several gift shops before stopping for lunch at Annabelle's Keg & Chowder House. 

After lunch we headed out on the Bearing Sea Crab Tour. It was really interesting and we are so happy we went on this excursion.  They had set some long lines and crab pots earlier in the day so we were able to travel around and recover both of those as well as an example of a king crab pot that they have set In a bay. They caught a couple different types of crab and a few fish so we were able to see some live fishing.

We also made a stop along a area with several eagles nests. We saw several eagles flying around and feeding extremely close to the boat. There were also a couple juvenile eagles they estimated to be about 2 or 3 years old. 

On our return to the ship we were able to get a good view of the Millennium against the pristine sky we have experienced all week.

We later enjoyed dinner in Blu and I needed to share at least one food picture which was having Baked Alaska in Alaska. Sorry the quality of that photo is poor, the lighting was difficult to manage.  After dinner we went off to enjoy the show and the other activities on board for the evening and we were treated to a beautiful sunset as well.

Our final day on board will be Thursday when we will be at sea and sailing through the inside passage. It will be hard to come back to reality after such a great 13 days with Celebrity. 

6 hours ago, capsplace said:

We will be on board Millie is a couple weeks!  Who are the captain, cruise director, and expert speakers?

I'm sorry I didn't respond to this question earlier, but Captain Theocharis is in charge, Hotel Director is Andrea Muegge, she is all over the ship and very visible. Patrick is the cruise director and Celia Garland is naturalist currently on board. 

Good morning from Ketchikan!  It's a busy morning already as we sail into the dock, we've seen several boats and float planes taking off or landing and at times they come right down the channel directly at the back of the ship. It's made for some exciting times as we enjoy our coffee on our balcony.  Weather looks to be beautiful again today with a high of about 70 and only a 4% chance of rain.

We had our 1st rainy day of the trip yesterday in icy straight point.  We had no excursions planned so it was nice just to wander around the port area, learn the history of the area and the cannery before coming back to the ship to take an afternoon nap and just relax for the day.

 Hard to believe it was August 1st and the raspberries were just starting to ripen.

 Later today we have an excursion based off the TV show The Deadliest Catch. We will be going on a crab boat that has been modified to include bleacher style seating and we will venture out to see some demonstrations about crabbing and the other types of fishing in this area.

After that we'll wander around town and find a local spot or two to stop at. This is our last port so time to make sure we have all our souvenirs! 

We ended up having a beautiful sunny day yesterday in Skagway even though the day began with overcast skies.  We started out the day going to the Gold Rush Cemetery and Reid's falls.

The main activity of our day was renting bikes from the Klondike Bicycle Company and going on a 22 mile round trip self guided bike tour.  The total ride took us about 3 1/2 hours. It was out and back on the same route and we made several stops along the way.

The end of the ride took us to the town of Dyea which was once the jumping off point for the Chilkoot Trail however with the introduction of the railroad from Skagway town fell out of favor and is now a ghost town which consists of a forest and some gravel paths marking the former streets.  It's a picturesque spot that is a National Park today.

After exploring Dyea we started back to town but stopped at the Chilkoot Trail Outpost for an excellent homemade lunch that would have been worth the bike ride by itself! 

 From the outpost we headed back to town and still had a little bit of time to walk the streets and explore the shops before our departure time.  We stopped at the infamous Red Onion for a drink and a quick bite to eat. I had to take this photo that showed a lot of men lining up outside of the old brothel. Seems there's a few other places in town trying to capitalize on the historical red light reputation the town has.

The rain ended up coming after we boarded the ship and we sailed out of town around 8:30 PM. Off to Icy Straight Point next. I'll try to post again later today after we spend some time onshore. Nothing planned there so we'll just explore the port area and have a relaxing day.