Northern Aurora

During the dungeness season check Annabelle's (downtown in the Gilmore Hotel) for their specials.

It was last summer.

We also had snow on the upper decks when in Antartica. The crew built a penguin snowman. Layers are the key. Our outer layer was water proof (not water resistant). Other layers included fleece jacket and fleece vest. Water proof footwear.

While we are not great fans of the Martini Bar on the Edge this fall (remember -- we boarded with you on October 30th and left in Sydney on December 9th so overlapped with you for two of our B2B2B cruises) bar snack mix was served to us (without asking) in the Martini Bar. Nice mix of sesame threads, and so forth. Very similar to the photo in post #2. Served in a tall narrow neck container.

@Georgia_Peaches: I will be surprised if Alaska Airlines doesn't have any sort of counter presence at ATL. And I hope you are aware that don't just fly along the west coast. We use them to fly to Boston, Newark and Florida. Check their flight map. I may be wrong, but believe they are the fifth largest US airline.

We fly Alaska frequently and we do so in first class. It is very reliable. And we use their easy-to-use kiosks for boarding passes and luggage tags with no problems. No issues with luggage delays. They are presently in talks to purchase Hawaiian Air. And double check that statement that "they don't have an actual ticket counter with live humans either." While there may not be a ticket counter manned all day, generally when flying Alaska from a destination which offers limited service they open their ticket counter several hours prior to departure.

If you read this boards you will see this term often. SE Alaska means Southeast Alaska. When folks are on a cruise ship they are in SE Alaska.

Just a comment from someone who lives in Alaska and has traveled to SE Alaska on business -- there is a reason why those October cruises are so discounted. Expect rough seas and heavy rain. Some folks have reported that they were lucky with the weather -- but be forewarned if you decide to cruise SE Alaska in October.

We have boarded Celebrity ships in Buenos Aires twice. Both times suitcases were delivered to the cruise terminal porters. If you don't have Celebrity luggage tags on the bags the porters will have bags and tag them with your stateroom number. Your suitcases will be delivered to your stateroom. Once handed to the porters they will take care of them. You will not be responsible to hauling them onto the ship. Keep your passport, medicines, cruise documents and so forth in your carry-on bag. Buenos Aires is an industrial port so shuttles are used to transport passengers through the stacks of cargo containers to the cruise ship. You will only have your carry-on bags with you. Your suitcases are handled by the porters.

Is Temsco still operating in Juneau?

The RTs out of Seattle are generally very poor itineraries. Just spend too many hours reaching Alaska. The RTs out of Vancouver are superior to those out of Seattle, and the one ways between Vancouver and either Seward or Whittier are the best in my opinion. Don't want to be nosy, but unless you or a member of your party have a legal issue, such as a DUI which would make it difficult to enter Canada, Canadian Immigration is very easy. In addition to flying into Vancouver there are companies who offer motor coach transfers to the cruise terminal in Vancouver. And there is also Amtrak. And don't discount spending some time in Vancouver. Great city.

Check that NCL itinerary closely. NCL has been using Ward Cove (versus downtown) in Ketchikan. Ward Cove is several miles outside of Ketchikan and a shuttle is used to transport folks to the downtown area. If you want to do something in the Ketchikan downtown area that shuttle will eat a significant amount of time.

We left the Edge earlier this month. While having dinner in Raw on 5 the magic carpet moved by our window table. Fun to watch it slowly move up the side of the ship. And as already mentioned, no one was on it -- no passengers and no crew.

It has been years since we did a Suite GTY. But both times we were assigned a Sky Suite within days of booking. Not even a week before we were assigned a suite.

Elite and Elite+ are Captain's Club loyalty levels. Amethyst is a Blue Chip casino level.

We have done the Taj dinner six or seven times. We just completed a series of three cruises on the Edge, where it wasn't offered, but was offered last March and April on a series of four cruises on the Eclipse. We have never seen it offered at noon, nor has it ever been offered on embarkation day. They need time to sell it and our experience is that it will sell out. Frequently the maitre 'ds know about it. Each time we have done it the food was excellent. Served family style and many dishes to sample.

August 2024 on the Solstice -- is this an Alaska itinerary RT out of Vancouver? The Alaska itineraries always attract families including multi-generation families. There will be a number of other kids onboard and the popular Fun Factory will be busy.

Alaska is very easy to do a land tour on your own. Just book a cruise, and then spend some time on land customizing your trip to your own interests. In my opinion, as someone who lives in Alaska, you will not only have a more interesting experience if you DIY on land but will most likely save a bundle on costs too.

Just use goggle to find the Port of Seattle cruise ship schedule to determine which dock your ship will be using. That information may determine your hotel selection, but since taxis/uber are so reasonable in Seattle it may not be a factor. And even though the Marriott Waterfront is directly across from Pier 66 (Bell Street) they offer shuttle service to Pier 91 (Smith Cove) for a very reasonable fee.

There has been a modified welcome aboard sparkling beverage on at least some ships. In the Cafe al Bacio look for a tray of flutes with bubbly on the counter. I've seen four or five flutes. Folks are welcome to pick up a glass. Really isn't obvious unless you look for it.

No -- you do not need to book reservations for the nightly shows in the theatre. There is no mechanism in place to do so even if you wanted to. There is enough seating that you shouldn't have any issues with seats. Just be aware that on evening chic nights that there will be a reserved section for those passengers booked in suites and also Zenith members of the loyalty program.

An opinion from someone who flies in, out and through SEATAC frequently — save yourself some stress and book the 3pm flight. Flights before 11:30 are generally not recommended.

We were on the same three cruises with @emmas gran. We were also in the same sunset sky suite for all three legs. We were totally underwhelmed by the “enhanced” butler team experience. We have four more B2B pairs booked (8 reservation numbers), all booked in either Sky or celebrity suites. Doubt we will take all of those cruises. We are Zenith members of the loyalty program and for the first time in how many years left the ship without booking a future cruise. It was that bad.

We also stayed at the property prior to its purchase by Major Marine. After the purchase by Major Marine the breakfast room was modified to expand the seating area. And one of the meeting rooms has been modified and is now the check-ln area for the Major Marine excursions. So you check in for your Major Marine tour, finish your breakfast, drop by the hotel room to brush your teeth before heading out for your day trip.

We left the Celebrity Edge on December 9th. We generally take a taxi to the airport Rydges hotel where we stay before we fly out the next day. This time we had a significant amount of non refundable OBC. So we booked the Celebrity airport shuttle (using some of that NOBC) to the international terminal and walked across the street to the Rydges.