Northern Aurora

While it can rain any time in southeast Alaska May tends to be the driest month with the rains much more frequent starting in late August. You certainly can have rain in mid-July and it could be heavy if you are in a storm. Definitely need a waterproof (not water resistant) outer layer. Your shoe requirement is dictated by your activity level. While we own waterproof hiking boots I take a waterproof pair of walking shoes. Not only do I use them at home they have been used in Iceland, South American and Northern Europe. We don't take a waterproof backpack. If you are concerned then pack a large plastic bag which can be used to protect the items in a backpack.

Princess is not the only cruise line to have naturalists on board during their Alaska sailings. For example, Celebrity also has them.

Have you considered just packing a couple of granola bars or a baggy of dried fruit in your suitcases? I've stayed eat the Captain Cook a great number of times through the years and there will be a coffee maker in the room.

We also thought Le Grand Bistro was excellent. We spent 40 nights on the Edge last fall and had approximately six lunches at LGB. The lobster bisque was incredible (caged with puff pastry) and the coq au vin was one of the best I've ever enjoyed. We had a Captain's Club specialty dining discount, but the cover charge is $30 per person (if my memory is correct).

When I read the OP's first post I wondered if he was referring to Le Grand Bistro when referencing something called the Grand Plaza Cafe. Le Grand Bistro is a specialty (extra fee) restaurant with a "French-ish" feel at lunch which becomes the Le Petite Chef venue at night.

Both passengers in Suites and Zenith members of the Captain's Club are not charged for room service. We spent 40 nights on the Edge last fall, had some wines which exceeded the premium level and were not charged for the differential when in the Retreat or Luminae.

After boarding passengers go directly to their stateroom where the Seapass card will be in the mail slot. If the stateroom attendant hasn't finished preparing your stateroom there will be a sign on the door. But you are free to drop off your carryon bags and put your valuables in the safe.

Several years ago we dropped off our luggage at 11 AM at the Seward cruise terminal. Consider the SeaLife Center in Seward. Also goggle their visitors bureau for ideas.

Depending on whether that August cruise is early or late August, if they experience heavy rain that balcony would not be used much.

Transportation between Seward and Anchorage is by either the Alaska Railroad or road. Despite the fact that we fly everywhere in this state there is no commercial air service. Motor coach transfers will be offered by the cruise line and there are also private companies; use google to locate them. Generally cruise lines offer an early morning chartered train from the Seward cruise terminal to the Anchorage airport. The Alaska Railroad offers early evening service from their Seward terminal to their Anchorage terminal. Between Anchorage and Seward a nice family friendly stop is the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Instead of spending a night in Anchorage following your cruise consider staying in Seward instead. Visit the Alaska SeaLife Center, Exit Glacier or the IdidaRide Sled Dog Tour offered by the Seavey family. There are also lovely day trips (by boat) into the Kenai Fjords National Park. And welcome to Cruise Critic. I hope you enjoy your time in our special state.

Use goggle to find the Ketchikan visitor's bureau. Should be able to locate a nice self guided walking tour. There are also a number of attractions located right downtown (assuming you are not on a NCL cruise which docks at Ward Cove).

As someone who likes to live in a clean and organized environment I am still wrapping my head around the fact that our OP has luggage tags from a December cruise in their home. We use plastic luggage tags sleeves. When on the ship, while we are unpacking, those paper luggage tags inserts are removed from the plastic sleeves and immediately tossed into the waste paper basket.

We board the Millennium on March 28 to start a B2B. We do not have the words "Captain's Club" on the tags. We are Zenith members of the Captain's Club and are traveling in a Suite. I find it best not to overthink situations like this. The luggage will find us.

We were with Harris on a set of cruises which required several visas. For the Indonesian visa we used the website he provided in post #2. And check your Cruise Critic roll call for your cruise as a fellow passenger may post how they completed the application. The roll call for the Edge sailing on November 25, 2023 has a number of helpful posts regarding the Indonesian visa application.

Since you have never visited Vancouver I would just stay in Vancouver. Also consider a visit to Grouse Mountain if that would be of interest.

Just a quick comment -- Butchart Gardens is lovely but is not located in Vancouver. It is outside of Victoria which is on an island. In addition to Stanley Park, goggle the Vancouver Art Gallery. Lovely art museum which frequently hosts very interesting shows.

Actually, from the docking position of that HAL ship in Kodiak in 2016 we would have had absolutely NO problems walking to the down town area. Very flat along the waterfront.

Kodiak and Valdez both have visitor's information centers. Use google to find their respective websites. We were last in Kodiak for a few days in 2016 before boarding a state ferry to go out to Dutch Harbor/Unalaska. One of the days we were there a cruise ship was docked at the ferry dock just outside of downtown A school bus was used as a shuttle to move folks downtown. In downtown Kodiak both the Alutiiq Museum and Kodiak History Museum (at times referred to as the Baranov House) are right downtown. A Russian Orthodox cathedral is also downtown. Ft. Abercrombie is a distance away. Car rental agencies are located at the airport, but in 2016 one of the rental agencies would leave a car at a downtown gift shop where we picked up and dropped off the keys. In Valdez the Valdez Museum is downtown. Another consideration is a day cruise using Stan Stephens Glacier and Wildlife Cruises; excellent company. I don't know if your ship will be docking at the state ferry terminal or if it will be out of town. If out of town expect a school bus type shuttle.

While there will be shampoo, soap and such in your stateroom, many folks bring their preferred brands on board. You can bring what ever size you want to lug around. Also, if you run out of the Celebrity supplied toiletries your stateroom attendant will resupply. You can also bring aerosol bug spray, but personally I find the pre-moistened intellect repellant wipes to be much easier.

Our OP could also take a ship transfer to Anchorage and rent a vehicle there.

@abbydancer2003: Just a quick comment from someone who is a Zenith member of the loyalty program -- it seems to me that since the resumption of sailing after the height of the pandemic that not only are more countries requiring e-visas (they seem to be "head taxes") but also that Celebrity is not "covering" such costs by rolling the costs into the cruise cost. When Celebrity pays to bring on border force/immigration officials they are brought on to process the immigration process. They are not brought on to process visas. We boarded the Edge on October 30 and left on December 9, 2023. That series of cruises was somewhat of a visa challenge and it was clear that the ship Captain, Hotel Director and other stripes were frustrated, and I will state angered with the lack of visa compliance by passengers (ie, folks who thought that they could just stop by Guest Relations and have a GR staff person do their paperwork). We had all of our visas "in hand" with paper copies, copies on our i-Phones, copies on our i-Pads and even copies on a thumb drive. While that seems very redundant, we actually needed that redundancy in India.

I must admit I am confused by your post. Celebrity definitely knows their own port schedule. Celebrity knows the order of the ports of call. Jim's post (#4) referred to the Singapore to Sydney leg on a leg of what was marketed as part of a "world cruise." His post referred to the third leg of the B2B2B we were also on. That B2B2B series required a number of visas, and I thought that it was very clear with based on the communication with Celebrity that the responsibility rested on the passengers to obtain the necessary visas.

Celebrity has had a long standing policy of offering to purchase flights for customs and immigration officials to board prior to a first port call at the next foreign port. Celebrity pays for the flights, provides accommodations, food and so forth to do so. But not every country accepts the offer. On or Edge B2B2B last fall (Civitavecchia to Sydney) the Indian government authorities declined the offer (according to Cap. Matt the face to face Indian immigration took 7 hours for passengers at Mumbai). In contrast the Australian Border Force had a least 5 of their staff onboard prior to our arrival at our first Australian port. Indonesian officers will be forewarned. We called at Benoa, Indonesia on that B2B2B series. Passengers who had not obtained their Indonesian travel documents prior to boarding had a serious problem.

@JJean: You started a thread about the Indonesian visa yesterday. Did you read the response by Jim? Since we went through the process last fall I realize the Indonesian visa is a pain to deal with but you will need to deal with it before you leave.

When we boarded in Auckland in March 2020 (yes -- that March!) there was no embarkation lounge for Suites/Zeniths. But since that was pre-pandemic the situation may have changed now.