Vagabond Knight

Count us in with the "it depends" folks. We have taken some wonderful excursions in the Caribbean and in Alaska that were through the cruise line, and some wonderful excursions in the Caribbean and in Alaska that were booked through outside parties. We have been on a few lousy excursions in the Caribbean and one so-so excursion in Alaska, and all were booked through the cruise line.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, this is area in which Carnival is way ahead of Royal/Celebrity. Carnival allows their guests to rate and review the excursions they take that were offered by the cruise line. When browsing their excursions, you can see how many people reviewed it, the overall rating, and separate ratings for value, for reliability/convenience, and for fun. Not only are there number ratings, but guests can also provide detailed reviews of their experience which reeeeally helps others figure out if it's the excursion they want to take. In particular, I love being able to read reviews along with the ratings, because one person's "Oh, this was terrible because..." may describe something that would not be an issue for me. I really wish Royal/Celebrity would start offering this capability.

Hey, just found this! https://www.royalcaribbeancruisetours.com/content/uploads/2023/01/22003043_Alaska_CruiseTours_Land_Excursions_Brochure_HR_compressed-1.pdf

I'm pretty sure that's what we were told at the time regarding the land-based extra excursions when we were originally supposed to take this cruisetour on Celebrity a couple of years ago (didn't go because it got cancelled due to Covid).

Interesting that some of you are mentioning "upgrading" to the Tundra Wilderness Tour from the History Tour. Our itinerary lists the Tundra Wilderness Tour as the default tour, so I guess things have changed a bit.

Well, we made our decision. Though we usually sail Celebrity, we decided to give Royal a try this time. We and our friends booked the 8B southbound cruisetour starting June 29, 2024 in aft staterooms. We're very excited about the cruise and at least equally so about the train travel!

It is the 13-Day Alaska Wilderness Spectacular Cruisetour 8B or 8A. 8A does the 7-day cruise first, from Vancouver to Seward, then 6 days of land tour that goes north and ends in Fairbanks. 8B does the 6-day tour first, starting in Fairbanks and going south to Seward, and then you board the ship for the 7-day cruise that ends in Vancouver. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean do the same itinerary.

That was supposed to be "dome cars," not "some cars." 😁

Yup, but Celebrity and Royal visit Hubbard, which is cool with us. The big draw for us with the 13-day Royal family cruisetours is the three legs on the Alaskan Railroad. Trains are a big deal for us and the views from the Alaskan Railroad some cars look to be amazing!

Looking to book a 13-day Alaskan cruisetour (6 days on land, then 7 day cruise) for sometime in June, July or August 2024. Trying to decide between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean (we normally cruise Celebrity, but have been wanting to try Royal). I know most of the kids will be off from school, but don't know whether or not that itinerary would attract a lot of families with kids. Has anyone taken a 10-13 day summer cruisetour on Royal in the past few years and if so, was it more of an older crowd or was it full of kids? I know Royal has a lot of stuff for the kids to do during Caribbean tours with all the rock climbing, water slides, etc., but think the activities to keep the kids busy may be a bit more limited with the cooler weather of Alaska.

YOUR BUSINESS: Kids being where they are not supposed to be on the ship and staff not enforcing the rules. Cruise line advertising an adults-only area and then setting "family hours" that are not advertised when you booked the cruise and don't appear anywhere in the advertising. NOT YOUR BUSINESS: Whether someone took their kids out of school to take them on a cruise. They may be home schooling (or not), and seeing other parts of the country/world can be a welcome part of their learning. For all you know, they could be doing lessons during part of the day. If not, still not your business. One of my grandsons is five years old and reading and doing math at a 3rd grade level, can identify most of the dinosaur species, knows all the bones in the body, and can tell you details about many aspects of the space, including the planets, constellations and nebulae. He's partially home schooled and goes to a supplemental "enhancement" in-school program three days a week. Will he really suffer to miss a week of his in-school program? Again, doesn't really matter. Not your business. Not trying to being rude by saying this... it just really isn't.

Ship: Solstice length of cruise: 7 nights Cruise sail date: 25 Feb 2023 Date email offer received: 15 Jan 2023 Captains Club Tier: Select Booked through Celebrity or TA: Celebrity, then transferred to TA Current cabin: Inside Bid, Yes/No? Yes If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: Ocean View Bid Offer: Minimum ($50 USD pp) Notification Date: 3 Feb 2023 Accepted / Rejected: Accepted Bid Ranges: Minimum bid: Ocean View: $50 USD pp Veranda: $150 USD pp Sunset Veranda: $250 USD pp Family Verandah: $200 USD pp Concierge: $140 USD pp (PROMO) AquaClass: $300 USD pp

Yes, that is the more detailed version of what I did on the Solstice recently. The money amount went onto a slip that I put into the slot machine in order for it to go to my "bank." When I hit $108.50 within 10 minutes, I cashed out, took my slip to the cashier and got the green stuff, totally stoked to be up a whopping $58 (like, I said, not much of a gambler). The following days I just put cash into the machines because I wasn't going to gamble much..

I just got off the Solstice nine days ago. I couldn't remember how to get money onto my Sea Pass card and so I had to ask an attendant (I was thinking I could do it at the slot machine, but "no dice."). 😁 Had to go up to the cashier window to do it. Don't know if there's a limit or not, as I only put $50 into my "bank." I'm not a big gambler. I played in 10-15 minute increments on four days and went home $420 to the good playing the quarter slots. 🤑

I don't know about the rest of you, but by the time I eat my shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, escargot, and save room for dessert, that lobster plate will be plenty for me. That said, the presentation is dreadful.

You may not get points that are equivalent to today's points even if you come up with the documentation, so be prepared for that. My first cruise with Celebrity was for five days in Concierge in 2006. Today, five days in Concierge would yield 25 points, but my points back then converted to only two current day points for that cruise. They did a change some years back in how they do points.

A very hard curved bench... sort of like lying on a rock slab. 😄

Glad to hear it! My friend and I have purchased the Zero Proof for our upcoming cruise and with our OBC applied and the pre-cruise discount it came out to just over $18 for each of us. I was already positive that we'd get our money's worth of cappuccinos, lattes, soft drinks, bottled water and virgin mango daiquiris, but hadn't even thought about non-alcoholic "wine." That will be a lovely treat to interleave with glasses of the regular wine we'll bring onboard!

I came across a post on here where someone had posted the Cafe Al Bacio menus from July 2022, and sodas were listed at $3. Don't know if fountain or can, and of course it seems like everything keeps going up and up, but I'd guess it shouldn't be too far off that these days.

Heading out on the Solstice in a few weeks (Los Angeles, Catalina Island, Cabo San Lucas, San Diego, Los Angeles). I will NOT be purchasing Celebrity's onboard Wi-Fi. I have a U.S. T-Mobile plan that also covers me in Mexico. How do I ensure that I don't pick up the ship's Wi-Fi/cellular, while still being able to use my T-Mobile service when I'm in range? "Being connected" during the week is a much lower priority for me than making sure I don't come home with a big roaming/connection bill that will cut into my future cruise budget! 😉

Thank you for all the information, @mariners. I will be on the Solstice in 19 days (but who's counting, eh?) with a friend of mine and found your posts to be very encouraging and helpful. If you don't mind me asking, how much was the taxi from LAX to San Pedro?

> If it’s the one where you go on a large catamaran and cruise the coast we do it every year You'd think that by the name of excursion, wouldn't you? But this one uses busses. Personally, I'm not interested in doing any shopping or eating/drinking in Cabo, so I hope that's not the majority of the excursion time. Here's the description: Coastal Highlights Tour Overview Take in the dramatic scenery of Baja California's peninsula and discover the region's rugged coastline, unique rock formations and Cabo San Lucas' main highlights. Begin your adventure by boarding a luxury motor coach to explore the two quaint towns that make up Los Cabos. Visit a local Hand Blown Glass Factory and Jesuit mission church. Enjoy leisure time to explore the shops, restaurants and bars nearby. Highlights Learn about the history of Los Cabos and its indigenous flora and fauna on your scenic city tour. Break to enjoy an amazing panoramic view of the Bay of Cabo San Lucas. Sit back and relax with some leisure time or enjoy some light shopping. Important details and advisements The last tour stop is a short walk from the pier. Shopping is also available at the pier. Guests may remain in town for shopping and independent exploration, returning to the ship on their own.

Park 'N Go worked for us. They were quick to head us out in a shuttle with a few other couples after we parked. No sitting there for half an hour waiting to fill the shuttle. We did have to wait a while for a shuttle after the cruise since there were a LOT of people for their shuttle service and it kept filling up, and for some reason there was quite a wait at one point (traffic, I assume). Also, it was more like gang loading than proper queueing, which was kind of annoying. Still, we would still use again. Not a terrible price, and it worked.

The friend I'm traveling with at the end of the month on Solstice for the "Mexican Riviera" cruise is interested in us doing the "Coastal Highlights Tour" in Cabo. This would be a Celebrity excursion. Does anyone have any feedback on this one?

Thanks, all!