Northern Aurora

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.

On the Edge the Captain's Club office has two shelves for donated books. Is there a similar arrangement on the Beyond?

Elite is your Captain's Club loyalty level. Pearl is your Blue Chip gambling level.

last fall we were on the same set of cruises with @omeinv. His statement is spot on. Definitely obtain the visa before you board the ship. The B2B2B set of cruises we were on required several visas. It was surprising how many folks didn't obtain them before boarding. The captain and hotel director were becoming quite frustrated.

No. You would need to to take a taxi or Uber to the closest light rail stop.

Goggle Seattle Express.

Regarding Skagway, the NPS has several buildings opened to the public (not just the Soapy Smith Museum). My beer drinking husband thinks that the beer at the Klondike Brewing Company is superior to that of the Skagway Brewing Company but the KBC didn't offer food when we were there last. The Skagway Brewing Company has a restaurant. For anyone who quilts -- there is a great quilting shop in Skagway -- the Rushin Tailor.

We have stayed at both the Pan Pacific and the Auberge. We make our decision between the two of them based on price. Both are great.

The early July time frame would also offer more hours of daylight. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, which is considerably farther north than southeast Alaska. On June 20 (summer solstice) we have 21 hours and 49 minutes of daylight.

We spent 40 nights on the Edge last fall. The Magic Carpet was used at the tender ports, even when private tenders were used. At Airlie Beach, Australia one of the private tenders hit the Magic Carpet and damaged it. That was our last tender port and we were told by crew that it would be repaired in Sydney.

@omahabob: As already noted no one rides the Magic Carpet. It also takes some time for the MC to move. We were dining in Raw of 5 on the Edge when it was moved, and it moves very slowly indeed.

We also have done the exact same route (Seward to Vancouver back to Seward) on the Celebrity Millennium in 2017. This is a "legal" route under the PVSA.

Not only does Alaska Airlines/Horizon have multiple flights, but have you considered keeping your current flight out of Seattle and taking Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle? Have no idea about the current Amtrak schedule, but 8 or9 years ago we took Amtrak from Seattle toVancouver prior to a cruise out of Vancouver and found it very enjoyable. Lovely scenery.

The last time we booked a single cruise was in 2017. We book B2B or longer, and generally book while onboard a Celebrity ship. I have had questions regarding the PVSA, and was told by a future cruise staff person that Celebrity software is supposed to "flag" sets of cruises which would violate the PVSA. Wonder if both cruises were booked at the same time.

When raised it is a very pleasant outdoor bar. But when lowered to deck 2 it is the tender platform. Makes tendering much easier for anyone with mobility issues.

While Seward has a small landing strip there are no commercial flights between Seward and Anchorage. Options are either by rail or road. Cruise lines generally offer an early morning cruise chartered train service between Seward and Anchorage. This rail service must be purchased from the cruise line and delivers passengers to the Anchorage airport. The Alaska Railroad offers daily service from Seward to Anchorage, but this service is much later in the day (early evening) and delivers passengers to the downtown ARR terminal. There are also motor coach transfers. These transfers will be offere by the cruise line, and there are also private companies as well. For a private transfer consider Salmon Berry Tours; prices are on their website.

We have done whale watching at both ports -- but definitely recommend ISP over Juneau.

What can I say -- truly amazing break from reality.