garyl62

Thanks again to everyone who has chimed in.  We've booked our excursions on the cruise portion and almost finalized everything on the land portion.  We will go to the theater at Denali but decided to wait to book until we arrive as we feel it might be nice to stay with everyone else on the tour, we do have Seven Glaciers dinner booked, and just decided to do the Brooks Falls fly-in so I'll make that reservation tonight. 

We're doing a whale watching and glacier trip, electric bikes for a day, small group cooking experience, and a crab boat trip on the cruise portion.

We like to pre-book some things, but also leave some open days in case we're tired or want to just take the day as it comes.  It's funny, we have a trip on Apex in March, but DW is already shopping for "cruise needs" for Alaska 😄

@Banana15 We are taking a land tour this summer which leaves from Anchorage so while not the same one you will be on, I've had many of the same questions.  There are a few threads here and on the Alaska page that I started, but this one seems to give the best overview of what you're currently asking about.  

Besides the 2 loungers on your balcony, what other furniture was out there? Could you have comfortably had a meal out there? 

Thanks for continuing through the week, always enjoy following along on your journeys. 

Or see if you can open a chat window on the Celebrity website and discuss it with someone that way.

Best of luck to you, hope you recover well and can take this trip in the future.

One size definitely does not fit all... spoken from experience as I tried to throw one on in a hurry as our butler Daisy came in to our cabin. 😍🤣

I know you said Aqua, but I would expect suite robes to be the same size.

My opinion is Luminae.  We always eat in Luminae on the first night as we feel it sets the tone for the cruise.  If staff know you're celebrating your birthday they will make it special and it will be a great way to kick off the week.  While I also love Murano and I'm sure it would be great, it will be a one and done (unless you are returning for your husband's birthday) with the staff.  I'm sure others may disagree, but my vote is Luminae.

I'm sure this will cause me to up my bid on the Edge Villa for our March trip, looking forward to following along!

My invitation must have been lost in the mail.....What is the sail date? We're also on a March Apex trip in the Retreat so maybe we'll be able to meet up this time we're on the same ship 🙂

For those of you who mentioned going to the dinner theater, or signing up for additional excursions with the tour guide after you arrive, would you recommend booking as many things as you can before your trip, or do you feel there was adequate room to sign up when you arrive? 

For example, sounds like there could be a good selection of thing to do through the guide in Denali including the theater, but something more specific like the Seven Glaciers restaurant reservation needs to be done on your own early.

Thanks Patty.  You're right, the Brooks Falls is pricy, that's one of the reasons we're trying to figure out how many things we'll do. No reason to feel "pushy" as we understand the advantage of booking early.  We've already booked everything we're doing on the cruise portion of this trip, and with the info I'm learning we will be able to book any extras we intend to do on the land portion in the next few days.  So far (within the past couple weeks) when I've checked availability everything we're interested in is still available.  I have been mainly concerned about the land portion and how many extra trips we'll have time to do so we figure out if that Brooks Falls will be an option too.  Appreciate the feedback for Island Wings.

Gary

Thanks so much for the replies and details!  @PRH for not having access to your "specifics" you have provided a lot of detail and information which is great.  @Jim_Iain the attachment you provided has some of the details I was looking for related to arrival times which is very helpful.  I knew I had seen something similar before that gave suggestions about adding excursions and free time but I couldn't find again.  I'm sure that was it so thanks.

The things we have heard about that we were trying to see if we'd have time to add were something in Denali like the Dinner Theater or maybe even a late afternoon rafting trip, making a dinner reservation at Seven Glacier's Restaurant in Alyeska, or while in Homer taking a flight to Brooks Falls one day.  With the mix of experiences you all have provided and the brochure I'll be able to work on some added experiences.

Thanks again, I may pick your brains some more as time goes on.

We are booked on a Celebrity land tour this July (Tour 10B which is 6 nights & includes Denali, Homer plus other locations) and I'm looking for more details than what is listed on website.  Specifically wondering about times we arrive or depart different places.  The sailing portion always lists the times a ship is in port, but this just states what city you'll overnight in.  Is a more detailed schedule distributed closer to the tour date?  Or is there a way to learn more leading up to the tour date?  I'm looking at booking some additional excursions in one or two locations but without having a more detailed schedule it makes things difficult to know how much free time you'll have.  Considered posting this in the Alaska Forum, but since it is Celebrity specific I placed it here. Thanks for any feedback someone can provide.

We've got a free day in Homer and are considering a trip to Brooks Falls.  We will be there the last week of July so I believe that will still be a good time for the bears feeding on salmon making their run.  It seems like the prices are all around $850 PP which is a lot more than we really want to spend for a one day excursion.  If anyone has some experience doing this I'd love to hear about it.  Was it a high point of your trip, something you thought was nice, or did you think you could have done something else for the day and been better off?  Everyone's opinion is different, but it's nice to hear from someone who has done it before.

We are on a Celebrity land tour with a one night stop here this summer.  I'm trying to learn about what time we'll be getting to the resort as they have a nice restaurant there which is reservation only and I've heard it books up often.  Trouble is if you are late or a no show there is a $50 cancel fee charged to you so I want to make sure we make a reservation well after our arrival time.  Anyone recall when your tour arrived?  I know ours could be different but starting to research it now.

Differing info on this right now.  

A few days ago I could find it on the app by going through some steps to get to the individual menus and at the very end of the drink section (after pages of wines) the option was there so it seems you had to purchase it onboard.  Then someone who tried to purchase it in the past couple weeks (after January 1) said they were told it wasn't available.  I don't recall if that info was posted in Cruise Critic or some other social media group.

41 minutes ago, frenchsp said:

 

Anyone, the other itinerary I'm looking at is 10B, has anyone done that one?

We're on 10B at the end of July.  Can't speak from experience yet, but I've been doing some research regarding options for DIY tours during the "on your own" time windows and it seems we can find something almost everywhere.  One thing I wish I could find is the general time table for each day so we know if we would have time for something once the Celebrity activities are done.  Homer seems to be the place for flights to Bear sightings, but price is $800+ per person.  While it's a once and done trip for us probably, there are several other excursions during the sailing which all add up.  I've really appreciated the insights @Northern Aurora provides so often as well so Thanks!!

40 minutes ago, Markator said:

On Celebrity Beyond right now and Capt Kate just announced as we leave Cozumel only the pool bar will be open due to local laws in Grand Cayman tomorrow which is the next port. 
Currently at the Retreat Sundeck bar typing this and they said yes they have to be closed as well so only the main pool bar is allowed open while in port. 
Maybe a 2023 thing as they said same thing happened  on the previous western itinerary going to Grand Cayman. 

Nice to get plenty of advance notice.... start stocking your fridge now!

39 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Also curious to know current pp charge. When we did it last it was approximately  $110 pp. we had OBC to burn. We enjoyed it immensely and I was definitely in no condition to drive the boat by the end but not sure I’d pay for it without OBC. 

Last March on the Equinox it was $200 PP.  

I'll admit I can't tell you about this tour, but I will say I signed up for it for our upcoming March trip on the Apex because I've done it on both M and S class ships and I thought it was very good.  I'm looking forward to comparing the Edge class to those others.

Price adjustment or OBC IMO is not likely, upgrade to a Celebrity Suite or higher should be ok as long as you pay any increase between what you paid and the current price of something else.

I asked the same question last month and after looking at the menu, price point, and the fact are in no ports past 6:00 I canceled my booking.  Here is the link to the previous thread although it doesn't contain much more than this one does.

I'm on Apex sailing March 18 so I looked at the March 19 sailing of Beyond and the prices between the two for suites are very similar.  Maybe they realized they can't get a premium for Beyond like they thought.

I always enjoyed and respected the contributions and information you have provided to this board.  My condolences to you and your family and may you cherish the memories you have.

23 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

......     I decided to get back in at $32 kicking my self for not buying in when it hit the 20's.   

 

I haven't looked at the price since July when I bought back in.    I'm happy.

 

While I didn't buy RCL as an investment -   The amount I've received as OBC's has tempered the risk factor.

I jumped in at the bottom of the pandemic down turn and then took my profit when it got into the 50's as I wasn't sailing and I figured I didn't need the OBC for a while.  I thought I'd watch it and jump back in to get some OBC at time.  Now I'm kicking myself for not buying back in this past July when it was back in the 30's.  I figured I'd hold off, but now with trips coming up I would have liked that extra OBC.

I thought we all needed a diversion from everything and while it's just a 10 day run, and probably unrelated to the "cost cutting measures" everyone is lamenting over, at least it's a different perspective on cutbacks. 🙂

So many threads about reduced experiences since the first of January.  Yet most days I see the stock price going up so I just did a quick evaluation and as of noon EST today the stock price has gone up about 18% this year.  I guess the investors like the cutbacks most CC posters are complaining about.