Northern Aurora

I also can not think of suite perks which have been diminished post Covid. Retreat/Suite cabins are selling out very quickly.

We are also booked for the March 24,2024 and April 9, 2024 cruises. There is a well known a travel site, which we are not allowed to mention on Cruise Critic, which I have found to be reliable. When a cruise is sold out that travel site lists the cruise but every stateroom category is waitlisted. As last minute cancelations happen you can signup to be contacted. I just checked a few minutes ago and both of these cruises are missing in action so to speak. Simply not listed on that site. The exact situation happened to us on a b2b pair of Japan itineraries several years ago. Turned out they were full ship charters for the Chinese market. This is starting to smell like a similar situation. @Bruin Steve: Are you a travel agent?

When actually at the face of Dawes do not stay on your own balcony, but instead go to the Sky Lounge or one of the upper decks. In good weather the helipad may be opened. When we were at Dawes in 2022 we did a Celebrity excursion in which we tendered onto a Major Marine vessel early in the morning and raced ahead of the Solstice. We were much closer to the face then the Solstice. We did not follow the Solstice back to Juneau but took a different route diverting into Fords Terror. We rejoined the Solstice just as it docked in Juneau. Pricey but worth every penny.

OK — theEclipse is rocking and rolling tonight and I lost my text. Unless K sees something I do not the additional seating is not inside Sushi on 5 but is outside in the hallway which extends toward Park West.

After reading several accounts of crown issues through the years we also now travel with a OVC kit too. Until reading about them on CC I had no idea they existed. Amazing what you learn on this community.

And those of us who live in Alaska remember what happened to Treadwell and his girlfriend. For those who do not they were both dismembered and eaten by a bear. Audio recording documented the attack.

We essentially did the same as we tested at our home in Fairbanks, Alaska before flying to Honolulu for several days. In Honolulu tested again before flying to Sydney. I should also add that there were sufficient cases on the March 15th leg that near the end of that leg masks were asked to be worn in the casino and theater. We are aware of both staff and passenger cases.

We boarded on March 10th. At that time we had to show the boarding staff in Sydney our negative Covid test strips. Our first turnaround day on this b2b2b2b was March 15th. We were provided test kits and tested in the privacy of our staterooms. The Retreat Concierges told us only to report if we tested positive. I had asked her if she wanted to see the actual test strips. The answer was no. I also asked the butler if he wanted to see them and was told the same thing. No one wanted to actually see the negative test strips. Our second turnaround day was March 26th. Again test kits were left in the staterooms. This time we had an instruction letter. Any one who tested positive was asked to call Guest Relations by 5 pm. If you tested positive and did not opt to remain in quarantine for seven days you could leave the ship and receive a full refund. Again no wanted to actually see the test results. So far we are on the honor system. Our final turnaround day will be April 6th so we will see I’d anything changes. We leave the ship the day you board.

I am posting from the Eclipse which is in NZ/Aust. waters. B2B passengers have been provided with Covid tests and we are on the honor system to report positive results.

Certainly is possible. Just goggle the name of the community and the words “car rental” for a list of vendors.

Apologies to K. for jumping on her thread. We boarded on March 10th. Yesterday Captain Leo left the ship at 5:30 pm and Captain Zisis boarded yesterday morning.

I don’t recall food trucks in Ketchikan but we would miss them as we always dine at Annabelle's. But there are definitely food trucks in Juneau.

Just to slightly expand @wolfie11 post —the fall colors in interior Alaska are indeed stunning, but the timing is hard to predict.

We have seen the clock. Would be easy to drop off luggage to the porters before walking over to view it.

So glad your cruises went well for you. We we B2B on the Solstice in June and again in September. While the color scheme is dated the service was wonderful.

The Sitka National Historical Park is definitely walkable from the downtown area (ie, the Harrigan Centennial Center).

The RR dock is long. The slide area impacted the forward (town side), The aft portion of the dock was not impacted. Tenders pick up passengers from ships docked in the aft or rear berth and transport them past the problem area to the small boat harbor.

I am posting from the Eclipse which we boarded on March 10 for a b2b2b2b. First leg in a Celebrity Suite and no lip balm. The remaining three legs will be in the same Sky Suite. No lip balm for leg number 2 in the Sky Suite. Turnaround day is tomorrow and our stateroom attendant is prepositioning toiletries. We now have two tubes of lip balm. No rhyme or reason, but this is the first time we have had lip balm since the resumption of cruising.

Captain Leo provided advice information about the size and strength of the very large low pressure system, but it seemed to me that some passengers were very surprised. We have been to both Australia and New Zealand several times on both land trips and cruises, and also are on a b2b2b2b so we’re not upset. The ship did go into Gisbourne as a substitute. That community was badly hit by the cyclone and the community clearly appreciated the business generated by the surprise ship stop.

The March 15th cruise did stop at Napier. Even though they were badly hit the downtown area looked in great shape. Since the March 26th cruise will essentially be a repeat with slightly altered port times we should stop again. The March 15th cruise did experience some rough weather and we missed both Wellington and Chrisrchurch. K: We will be looking out for you tomorrow. There will be several Zeniths onboard you know.

We had a number of cruises cancelled due to the pandemic (a familiar story to so many of us). Is my memory correct — I think that I remember that they were non-transferable.

We also enjoy the French Onion soup and order it frequently. While occasionally there will be slight variations it is rather consistent across the Celebrity fleet. Never have had any real surprises.

Enjoyed your review. I am posting from the Eclipse nearing the end of the second leg of a b2b2b2b. While we are dining in either Luminae or specialty restaurants, we have checked the buffet several times. After some of the dire reports posted on this forum we found the buffet to be very similar to this description. No Indian food but decent choices.

Our OP has asked this question in March. The Alaska cruise ship season has yet to start. But since for a number of years vendors have sold excursions at the Harrigan Centennial Center it is a reasonable guess that they will do so this coming summer.