garyl62

One more!

A few more pictures of the Alyeska Resort before we head out this morning. 

Arrived at Alyeska Resort and it is great!  Now we feel like we're on a Celebrity land tour. The resort is very nice, rooms are well appointed with comfortable bedding. Lobby is welcoming and classic. 

We had dinner at the Seven Glaciers restaurant located 2,000 feet above the resort itself which offered wonderful views of the area below. 

Dinner was the best we'll have on this portion of the trip and made us feel like we were in a specialty dining room onboard. Reservations are not always easy to get so if you're staying here be sure to make your reservation early. 

Off to Homer tomorrow! 

3 hours ago, Hazelwoodp said:

We are headed to Alaska in two weeks.  How are the mosquitos?

They're around. We spend time in the northwoods of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and I don't think they're much different here. If you're outside for 3 minutes you'll have 5 biting you. 

Just left Palmer where we visited the Moon Stone Farm. This is a local organic farm that was settled in the early 1900's when there was a federal program that provided assistance and free land for farmers to move from the upper Midwest to this area to establish a farming community. We were given a tour and some background information by the current owner who is the grandson of the original settlers. We also had the opportunity to enjoy a great lunch on the deck overlooking part of the acreage.

I wasn't sure what to expect when we first arrived but it was a nice break and chance to enjoy the outdoors and a good meal. If you get a chance to visit you'll enjoy it!

Quick summary of yesterday before we head out again today and lose our connectivity.

Sorry I don't have many pictures to show, I took them with my other camera so I'll provide more later in the trip. In the morning we took the Wilderness Tour of Denali and we were fortunate to see a bear, moose, dalls sheep and caribou, 4 of the big 5!

 In the afternoon we took an ATV adventure which was another good experience in the wilderness for good weather.

Off to the Palmer Farm now then on to Alyeska where we have dinner reservations at Seven Glaciers tonight. 

23 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

 What made you decide to do the land portion first?  I forget what the consensus is on this, but I would think the land segment might be more rigorous.  The cruise might offer the opportunity to unwind a bit from that?  

 That is what we had heard as people discussed the order for the trip so we decided to do the land first.  Only being here for 2 days I can say I feel like we made the right decision already.  So far we've had early morning activities so it's been nice to do those while our body clock is still on Midwestern time as it makes it a little easier to get up in the morning. If we have accommodated to a 3 hour time change on the ship I'm not so sure how well I would have been doing with 4:30AM wake up calls! 

Still need that morning coffee in my mug from home. This scenery is a little better than home though. 

Well a good 1st day is almost in the books. We started out with a train ride to Talkeetna with a good breakfast which was really enjoyable. Several miles of uninterrupted wilderness with the occasional town and as we traveled North peekaboo sites of Denali which everyone scrambled to take pictures of.

Little did we know we'd have excellent picture taking opportunities when we arrived in Talkeetna so that we look back in laugh and everyone including us on the train scrambling for their cameras.

The weather was fantastic, clear skies and temperatures in the 70's.  We had time to walk around and enjoy some of the local sites as well as stop for a great lunch.

 After leaving Talkeetna we made one more stop for another Denali photo opp since the weather is so good before heading to the park.

From there we came to our lodge and are looking for relaxing couple of hours this evening, then we'll need to get a good night's sleep because the bus for the Wilderness Tour into the park leaves at 5:15AM!

Following a uneventful flight we arrived in Anchorage and were met by celebrity reps in baggage claim who assisted us to collect our bags and then escorted us to the transportation which took us to the hotel. Everything went great. At the hotel however our agent had left due to our later arrival (after 10:15) and the front desk people said they did not have anything for us but 2 room keys.  Thanks to a previous thread on CC we have a general idea regarding what time to meet in the morning and off to a welcomed sleep we went.

This morning we awoke to a clear sky and early sunrise.   I went down to the lobby and was able to speak with the tour director who apologized as she had left a packet with a hotel that never made it to us. No problem, we have plenty of time before we leave and it looks like it will be a great day! 

 I know many people complain about lack of information prior to arriving for a tour so here are copies of the most important details people are usually looking for. 

Sorry the last are upside down,  i will work on fixing that in the future. For now off we're off to begin our adventure!

Traditional start to a trip, Champagne in the Admirals Club at ORD! It's really happening now!

All set to go, still almost 3 hours until we head to ORD and while I know many of you pack over a longer time, doing everything this morning was great for me.  Even got in 2 loads of laundry and a trip to run a couple errands. 

Looks like it is going to be warm in AK the next couple weeks so that made the packing a little lighter.  Ended up with a mid sized bag to check and a small bag just a little bigger than a briefcase that I bought to use when I'm on a small regional jet when the normal carry on isn't allowed.  That bag is only 1/2 full and will be the bag I won't need until we board the ship.  Brought along a backpack also which will be the daily bag we take with us on the land tour.

6 hours ago, macsford said:

This was us in 2018, we were in 1141. It was my most wished for cruise and did not disappoint. We loved the ship, the cabin and Aqua. Everything was wonderful. You will be glad you chose these....

 

We are also in 1141 🙂

Once again I'll try to bring as many of you that are interested along with us as we head out tomorrow to start our first Alaskan cruise, to which we've added a 6 day land tour at the beginning.  We'll be on Celebrity tour 10B sailing on the Millennium in Aqua class.  The last time I did a live from thread it worked well for us, I won't be on all the time, and I'll throw some photos in and share some thoughts as I can without this becoming the focus of our trip.  Back in March I was able to make at least one or two posts each day so I hope to do that again but I don't know what to expect since this is our first trip to Alaska.

We fly out of ORD tomorrow (Saturday July 22, 2023) and arrive non-stop in Anchorage just after 9:00PM local time.  From there we transfer to the downtown Marriott and get a few hours sleep before an early morning departure time to take the train to Talkeetna and then a bus on to Denali.  We spend a couple nights there, then a night in Alyeska, and then two nights in Homer before joining the ship in Seward on Friday July 28th.  The ship will cruise Hubbard Glacier, stop in Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straight Point, and Ketchikan before cruising the inside passage and then arriving in Vancouver on Friday August 4th.

We have a few excursions planned for the cruise portion, and reservations for the Chef's Table.  We only have dinner plans on the land portion for the night in Alyeska with a reservation at Seven Glacier Restaurant.  As the trip unfolds I'll share more details about those plans, as well as the things we encounter along the way.  This will also be our first trip in Aqua class and we feel fortunate to have booked an aft cabin on deck 11 almost in the exact middle of this ship overlooking the Sunset Bar and that great wake view as we sail. 

Well off to finish up a few work emails then to bed so I can wake up early and start to pack.  That may be a shocker to some of you and I should say I've thought through the packing and made sure I have what I need, but I figure with 5 hours of "awake" time before we leave I'll have time to do that in the morning.  Of course my DW just has a couple things left to put in and then she's ready to go.

Hope I can share some experiences and answer some questions along the way so that's all for now!

There have been several threads on this topic with good information. If you use search box on the upper right of the page and search this forum for "Dinner on the Edge" including the quotation marks you'll find a lot of information. I would have provided a link, but that search returned several threads and over 80 individual posts when I just tried it so too many to list here. Good luck. 

In 8 days we'll be leaving on Celebrity Land/Tour 10B which is 13 nights total, 6 on land, 7 cruising southbound from Seward to Vancouver.  We'll start the land portion with a night in Anchorage, then spend 2 nights in Denali, 1 night in Alyeska, and then 2 nights in Homer before boarding the ship and doing the typical southbound itinerary of Hubbard's Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straight Point and Ketchikan before traveling the inside passage to Vancouver.  It will be our first trip to AK so I can't comment on other lines or itinerary's but I'm planning to do a limited "Live from" thread so follow along and I'll try to post some highlights and details each day.  Maybe it could be helpful to the OP or anyone else trying to get some information about a similar trip.

As I said before, we're doing this same itinerary next summer, but so excited to hear you got a CS! We have sailed from veranda to penthouse and the Celebrity Suite fits us best so that adds even more interest for me to follow along! We currently have an aft concierge booked to enjoy the aft views and the sail away from the ports but will be interested to hear what you think about the view from your balcony. Are you on the front or back of the hump? 

Looking forward to following along, we will be doing this itinerary next July, but on the Equinox. It will be interesting to read about your experiences. Many of our friends tell us it will be to hot in July to enjoy the sites.

Sorry, they state 30 days so that is the cutoff.  BTY, three days is 72 hours... yup... not 36

I cannot speak to the casino actions, however I can say I have received refundable OBC on the second or third day of my cruise 3 months ago from guest services. I did not need to wait until the last day or two. Even after my withdrawal we still had a large amount (about $1,500) of non-refundable OBC remaining so maybe that was a factor in getting it early. 

17 minutes ago, letsgogogo said:

Or at some point will they lower the very high minimum move up bid? Cruise is about 50 days out? I don’t think many are biting on $1700 x 2 for a 7 night cruise. This cruise has tons of availability in all cabin categories. 

Minimum bids will vary by current cabin.  I agree that is very high, but what type of cabin do you have currently?

5 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Yes, We are using Bonvoy points left over from my years of traveling for work.  

 

Just booked for next March also using Bonvoy points.  Rate was $377, or 45,000 points.  Booked with points now, will change to use a redemption night for 40k and add 5k points to it after I earn that award later this year.  Never been at this location, but looking forward to it after reading your comments.

Looking forward to following along, we will be on the Millie for the first time this summer on a SB from Seward so it will be nice to hear your impressions of the ship.  We have sailed the Summit so we have a little idea what to expect.  What type of cabin will you be sailing in?  Looks like your trip is off to a great start already, enjoy FL today!

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow.  That sound terrible.   Most of my big posts load in 1 minute or less

Sorry I was misleading in that post, I meant the total time I spent in a day to keep up with the live thread I did recently was 10 to 15 minutes.  That was to answer a few questions, write up the days activities and add a few photos.  Actual time to upload was like you said just a minute or less.  You put so much into your threads I'm sure you spend more time than I did (and it shows!) but even with just a few minutes a day it's easy to keep something going.  I'd love to follow along on a 94 day trip with @Cruising Is Bliss so I hope you'll give it a try!

Interesting to see this list and while it's obviously on the app so published by Celebrity, I think it still changes often. When we sailed Apex 5 weeks ago Caymus was not available by the glass but it was available by the bottle. 

9 hours ago, Cap_D said:

Gary and Jim, do either of you transfer or duplicate your reports in your cloud photo service or albums for the trip?   I realize menu, cruise planners, etc., and all the photos dont start here on CC, but I'm curious about your narratives (and how you keep your photos). 

There are several other members who have done many more and better live threads than me so my simplistic method may not be the normal for others. All I did was open the thread on my phone, dictate my post and then added photos in the same order of my comments. I usually needed to make a few adjustments and then I submitted the post. I didn't do anything with cloud services or other ways of organizing my thoughts or photos.