Northern Aurora

I know the location as you pass the sign when driving up to Chena Hot Springs Resort. But I have never been on the actual property and my friend (Dave's cousin) certainly doesn't live on her aunt and uncle's property. The blood relationship is through their respective mothers. And Dave's stepmother was an acquaintance of my own mother. My mother died 2017 and, if my memory is correct, Dave's stepmother is also now deceased. If she isn't deceased she must be approaching the age of 100. While I have never been on the property the Taste of Alaska has a very good reputation, and you have chosen well. While the actual city of Fairbanks is about 40,000 in population the general area is about 100,000. For many (and I mean many) years the actual population count has been great source of consternation for our local borough officials (we have boroughs not counties) as every borough mayor and assembly member for at least the last thirty years is thoroughly convinced that the US Census significantly undercounts Fairbanks as so many folks don't receive mail at their physical address but instead at PO boxes.

As has already been explained to you Zenith level Captain's Club members (ie.over 3000 loyalty points) receive free unlimited laundry. The Z. laundry perk includes wash and dry (clothes returned on hangers), free unlimited pressing and unlimited dry cleaning, It has been a Zenith perk since the introduction of the Zenith Captain's Club level. We use this perk every day or two when on a Celebrity cruise. Vey handy as we generally do at least B2B cruises, and generally longer series.

Since we are at that Captains Club level which offers free unlimited laundry services it has been some time since I've read the fine print on that Captain's Club info sheet which is in staterooms upon boarding, but I think Jim has a typo in his post. My recollection is that the number of items in the bag is a maximum of 30.

Friends spent a month on the Constellation, and on December 25th they e-mailed a photo of a boat of migrants which the Constellation rescued. The open boat didn't look very seaworthy at all and held about 13 individuals.

A Taste of Alaska Lodge -- Yes I certainly know of it. It is owned by Debbie and Dave Eberhardt. One of Dave's cousins is a good friend of mine!

You have mentioned "lodging on a homestead" -- can I ask where you are staying?

Ooooh -- for those are are interested in dog mushing the Seavey family (think Iditarod mushers) have a program in which folks can visit their kennels. How did I miss that in my post #6! But of course, Seward does not have a Diamonds International store nor a Tanzanite International store either. Just stores owned by Alaskans who hire locals and feature local artisans.

SeaAlaska Center, Exit Glacier, small boat cruise looking for whales and other wildlife, sea kayaking ......

Hands down -- stay in Seward and take the evening train to Anchorage. In Seward options include a day cruise (Major Marine is our favorite vendor), a visit to Exit Glacier, the SeaLife Center or a visit to the Seavey family dog kennels (they are Iditarod mushers). Seward is much more charming than Anchorage. Anchorage is simply "any town USA" with some mountains in the background. Anchorage does have a planning and zoning department but you would never know it -- cookie cutter buildings with a number of aging trailer parks. And the homeless issue is appalling. In downtown Anchorage be prepared for panhandling and folks who are intoxicated wandering around. Anchorage is the one community in Alaska where this is an issue -- we certainly don't have the magnitude of this problem in Fairbanks. Depending on which hotel you have booked in Anchorage options might include the Anchorage Museum (would the boys enjoy it?), or the Alaska Native Heritage Center (pre-covid there was a shuttle service). If you had a car you could visit the Matanuska Glacier, but then your husband may again be concerned about being too tired after the cruise.

Just a few random comments -- While every part of a communities economy is important, Fairbanks, in contrast to communities such as Ketchikan, Skagway and even Juneau, is not tourism driven. Major employers include both the Ft. Wainwright (with the incredibly large training area south of the Tanana River) and Eielson Air Force Base (which has an incredible air space and hosts air forces of US allies for training exercises), the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the associated research institutes, active gold mines (yet another large mine is being developed off the Elliot Hwy,), oil field services, headquarters for Federal and State government offices, the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital (212 beds with an expansion planned), and so forth. When the global suspension of cruises happened Fairbanks was not one of the communities screaming to our congressional delegation. Few businesses have summer only hires. Folks who live here actually live here year round. No Diamonds International, no Tanzanite International and no jewelry stores giving out free charms. This being said we do have tourists and some touristy attractions (Riverboat Discovery and Gold Dredge #8). We also have things which tourists like to visit (Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, Running Reindeer Ranch, Museum of the North, Morris Thompson Cultural Center and so forth). Tourists who enjoy Fairbanks tend to be on the outdoorsy type who like to hike or want to travel north. The aurora season for Fairbanks ranges from August 21 through April 21. From April 22 through August 20 we are simply too light to see an aurora. On average we have an aurora above us four out of five nights, but of course it has to be clear to see them. We are presently having an incredible aurora season and I think that that extends through the end of 2023. Check the website of the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute. If you decide to pursue aurora viewing in our area consider spending several nights at the Chena Hot Springs Resort. Lovely outdoor rock pool and inside hot tubs and so forth too. Visit their ice museum and take their geothermal energy tour to learn how they "harvest" the steam of the hot springs to create their electricity. We have been to Nome and the road to Teller is spectacular -- but only for those who find beauty in the tundra. No big trees. The historic buildings have essentially burned in the numerous fires. Nome is quite windy and once a building fire started it was very difficult to stop. Their historic walking tour takes you to sites where the respective historic buildings were and information about which of fires burned it. Regarding birding, while Nome is great since so many of the Asiatic birds nest there, in September they will be migrating.

I was told the same thing on the Infinity pre-covid. The butler was able to deliver dinner from the MDR menu but not the Luminae menu.

Definitely wrong, wrong, wrong. We almost always do at least B2B sailings. We were actually on the Solstice in September for a B2B (Pacific Coastal followed by their first Mexico itinerary). We absolutely did not have to take "things" off the ship, and we have never had to remove belongings from any ship while on a B2B. On our Solstice sailings a great number of the 200+ B2B passengers had to move staterooms. In September the B2B passengers gathered in the Sky Lounge to receive our new sea pass cards (we were in suites for both legs and did not receive our new cards in Michael's Club). We never left the ship as we were "rang out" at the entrance to the Sky Lounge, new cards were distributed, and we ring-dingy-ed back in with our new cards at the entrance of the Sky Lounge.

We boarded in Honolulu several years ago. The boarding procedure was the same as was in place fleet wide at that time. We checked in around noon and once we received our sea pass cards were free to leave the ship. Many people checked in, then left the ship, returned for overnight and then the following day left the ship again. My memory is that the ship left Honolulu just before midnight and drifted over to Lahaina. The ship was a floating hotel.

My preferred cruise line provides a time for the earliest air departure from Anchorage for those who book the cruise line chartered ARR. I don't remember what that time is so hopefully someone will respond. But the train trip is about four hours in duration.

@laurobella: A number of these small communities have gas stations which rent used vehicles. When we flew to Nome, Alaska for several days of birding we rented a 4-wheel drive truck from a gas station -- the only place in Nome to rent cars. So contact (goggle) the Cooper Landing visitor's center (they have a combined chamber of commerce and visitor center, which is also common in these small communities) to ask, as they may know. They can certainly provide a list of local gas stations.

In the 60+ cruises we have done on Celebrity we never had decent binoculars. They were simply rubbish. My husband is a birder so we always have at least one pair with us, and on itineraries when we know we will be using binoculars we have two pairs with us. Bird magazines have reviews. One bird magazine which my husband subscribed to for years had a binocular review in every issue. So head to the local library to check their magazine section. But folks really need to hold binoculars in their own hands to get a sense of how they "fit" your grip and hands. My husband's favorite pair (he as a number) are too heavy for me. I can't even stand to have them hanging around my neck. So go to a local sporting goods supply store and test drive a few pairs.

I wonder if our OP has checked with gas stations in the Cooper Landing area. In a number of small Alaska communities gas stations have used cars they can rent for the day.

The Alaska Railroad does daily runs to Seward during the summer. These runs are to/from the Seward train station to/from the Alaska RR Anchorage station which is downtown. These runs do not stop at the Anchorage Airport; only the cruise line chartered early morning runs go to the Anchorage Airport. You would book the Seward to Anchorage downtown rail station directly with the ARR. The distance from the Seward cruise terminal (think warehouse) to the Seward ARR station is not far at all. Many folks just walk between them. Double check the ARR website, but in the past the Seward ARR station has been the only ARR station which allowed folks to check their luggage early in the day. Seward also is very compact so easy to explore on foot.

The Alaska Railroad has a daily early evening run during the summer. This ARR trip is from the Seward train station to the downtown ARR station (not the Anchorage airport). Tickets are purchased directly from the ARR. Check the current ARR website. In the past this was the one train option which allowed luggage to be checked in early at the Seward ARR station.

The Alaska RR timetables are not relevant to a cruise line charter. The cruise line charters are that -- a charter and are not available to the public (ie, someone not on that cruise). The charters do not appear on the ARR timetables. The travel time between Seward and the Anchorage Airport rail station is about four hours in duration. If Silverseas uses a motor coach transport the duration will be two to two hours 15 minutes (assuming they do not include a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center). Opinions regarding scenery are subjective, but the scenery from the road is also lovely.

Kaye: The number of folks who will be dining onshore may surprise you. Folks really want fresh Alaska seafood -- even though a number folks don't realize much of it is freshly frozen Alaska seafood. I am always stunned at the lines in Juneau for Tracy's Crab Shack, which I think is highly overrated. When I express that opinion (that Tracy's is overrated) on the Alaska CC forum it seems to stun some folks. Given the closure of some crab fisheries (due to collapsing crab stocks) this upcoming year, I wonder how some of the SE Alaska restaurants which suggest (the language can be "creative") they are serving fresh king crab will respond. Gerry

Please don't over think this issue. We have done at least ten Alaska itineraries on Celebrity. Even though we live in Alaska these itineraries give us an excuse to visit a different part of our very large state. We don't dine in the MDR but instead are in more frequently Luminae and occasionally Blu. We tend to dine late. I've never found either Luminae or Blu particularly crowded later. Alaska itineraries tend to attract multi-generational families. The new changes to the Ocean View Cafe may impact families. Another factor is that a number of folks want to eat Alaska seafood, and it seems to me that more folks dine on shore before returning to the ship than would do so on Caribbean itineraries.

For those cruising out of Pier 66 the Marriott Waterfront is across the street from the Bell Street cruise terminal. And the Marriott Waterfront has a contract shuttle service which offers, for a reasonable fee, service to Smith Cove (Pier 91).

I am sorry, but I don't understand why you would think that your cruise fare may increase.

Even though we live in Alaska we have done a number of Alaska itineraries. We''ve even done B2B Seward to Vancouver and back, in addition to boarding in Vancouver, having the turnaround day in Seward and returning to Vancouver. I really don't think it matters regarding which side the stateroom is located.