Ariyel

7 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

That is the company that does those tours.  Great research...  The boat does get real close.  REAL close in August...

Yay, hopefully we are able to get close in early July too!  I went ahead and booked the excursion.  I'm REALLY looking forward to this one!

Found a little more information and I think the confirmation I was looking for!  I found the tour operator for the excursion was Allen Marine so I emailed them directly and got a great, quick reply back:

Greetings from Alaska! Thank you for your interest in our tours.

Endicott Arm is located 45 miles south of Juneau, the main difference between our one-way and roundtrip tour is travel time. The shorter one-way tour can only be booked through a cruise ship offering it through their shore excursion page. This is due to the fact that our catamaran will pull up right next to the cruise ship near the glacier, load guests directly from the ship, take guests on the up-close tour for great views of ice-bergs, waterfalls, any wildlife we may come across, and of course at least one tide-water glacier. Then our boat will bring you into Juneau.

Your research is correct. We do have an Endicott Arm tour scheduled with the Solstice that beings at 8:00am and ends at 1:30pm back at the ship that will be docked in Downtown Juneau. We do not have a 1:30pm to 10:00pm on our schedule. That being said, tour times can change but this one has been reoccurring for a couple seasons and no one from Celebrity has contacted us about any changes.

I hope you found this information helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions. We look forward to taking you out to see Endicott Arm this summer!

I think I found my answer, but posting in case it's useful to anyone else looking into this issue.

I did some more poking around and I was pretty sure from other posters that the tour operator for the excursion that leaves from the ship in the morning to get closer to the glacier was run by Allen Marine Tours, so I emailed them directly to inquire if they were the tour operator for the Solstice on my date (July 1, 2019).  

I got a very courteous and quick reply back confirming they are the tour operator and they have the tour scheduled for 8 AM at the Solstice in Endicott Arm, ending in Juneau at 1:30 and they do NOT have a tour scheduled to depart Juneau at 1:30 PM.

Here's what the email from Allen Marine said:

Greetings from Alaska! Thank you for your interest in our tours.

Endicott Arm is located 45 miles south of Juneau, the main difference between our one-way and roundtrip tour is travel time. The shorter one-way tour can only be booked through a cruise ship offering it through their shore excursion page. This is due to the fact that our catamaran will pull up right next to the cruise ship near the glacier, load guests directly from the ship, take guests on the up-close tour for great views of ice-bergs, waterfalls, any wildlife we may come across, and of course at least one tide-water glacier. Then our boat will bring you into Juneau.

Your research is correct. We do have an Endicott Arm tour scheduled with the Solstice that beings at 8:00am and ends at 1:30pm back at the ship that will be docked in Downtown Juneau. We do not have a 1:30pm to 10:00pm on our schedule. That being said, tour times can change but this one has been reoccurring for a couple seasons and no one from Celebrity has contacted us about any changes.

I hope you found this information helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions. We look forward to taking you out to see Endicott Arm this summer!

On 4/7/2013 at 7:31 PM, dacjam said:

Tmy cheap bear claw salad forks. I don't use the salad forks, but they were only 99 cents and they make me smile when I open my utensil drawer.

That made me laugh.  My grandparents did an Alaska cruise many years ago and that was what they brought me back (the bear claw salad tongs).  The best part is though, I use them at least weekly if not more often.  They make me smile too everytime I use them!

I hope someone can chime in!  I was looking at one of the train trips from Skagway that included a stop here.  Wondering if it's something we'd enjoy and would like to know more about it.

29 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

Last summer, a smaller boat came alongside the Solstice early in the morning to pick up cruisers for  this tour.   We were already in Endicott Arm.  The boat  then got really close to the glacier-- and later met up with the ship in Juneau around 1 pm.  That was in August, 2018.

Thank you for the reply!  This is exactly what I was reading about (2018's tours) and I'm hoping this will happen this coming summer, but the Celebrity rep's info and the 1:30 departure time listed on the Celebrity website are making me question it.  I suspect I may have to wait until the 2019 sailings start happening to find out what the story is for this year.  Crossing my fingers this tour still departs early in the morning from the ship!

Hi, firstly I cross posted this in the Celebrity forum.  If I should only have it one place or the other please let me know and I'll delete appropriately.

We're taking the Celebrity Solstice RT Seattle cruise departing June 28, 2019.  The day we cruise Endicott Arm we are there in the morning and then have port in Juneau from 1:30 to 10 PM the same day.  In reading up on this I was interested in taking the excursion that leaves from the ship (around 7:30 or 8 AM) while you're approaching Endicott Arm and gets you closer to the glaciers in Endicott Arm before rejoining the ship in Juneau (shortly after the regular docking time).  I thought this was the excursion titled "Endicott Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer Excursion", however when I went to sign up for this excursion it showed as starting at 1:30 PM (the same time we dock in Juneau).  I called Celebrity and the rep I spoke to said this excursion does indeed start at 1:30, which would mean it would take almost our whole time in Juneau since it's listed as a 5 hour excursion.

Does anyone know for certain, or have personal experience if this particular excursion leaves from the ship in the morning when you're already in Endicott Arm or if you get to Juneau and then this excursion turns around and goes back to Endicott Arm and then back to Juneau?

Thanks for any insight!

Hi, firstly if I should only post this in the Alaska board, let me know and I'll delete this.

Here's my question - we're taking the Celebrity Solstice RT Seattle cruise departing June 28, 2019.

The day we cruise Endicott Arm we are there in the morning and then have port in Juneau from 1:30 to 10 PM the same day.  In reading up on this I was interested in taking the excursion that leaves from the ship (around 7:30 or 8 AM) while you're approaching Endicott Arm and gets you closer to the glaciers in Endicott Arm before rejoining the ship in Juneau (shortly after the regular docking time).  I thought this was the excursion titled "Endicott Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer Excursion", however when I went to sign up for this excursion it showed as starting at 1:30 PM (the same time we dock in Juneau).  I called Celebrity and the rep I spoke to said this excursion does indeed start at 1:30, which would mean it would take almost our whole time in Juneau since it's listed as a 5 hour excursion.

Does anyone know for certain, or have personal experience if this particular excursion leaves from the ship in the morning when you're already in Endicott Arm or if you get to Juneau and then this excursion turns around and goes back to Endicott Arm and then back to Juneau?

Thanks for any insight!

Checking the weather report for our upcoming port day in Puerto Rico and it looks like there's a better than even chance it will be raining on us! I had just planned a walking tour of the forts, but I'm not sure that'll be so fun in the rain.

Any thoughts or advice for better ideas for a rainy day?

Hi all. I'm going to be traveling with a group of 20 people, departing on the Westerdam this Saturday, November 7 (I can't believe it's almost here) from Port Everglades!

One of our group has an aft wrap balcony on deck 6 (starboard side). Would this be a good and visible spot for sailaway? Or is there a better spot you would suggest for a group?

Thanks for any ideas!

We ended up booking a hotel (Springhill Suites) on the SW side of the FLL airport for our pre-cruise stay. I know there's a shopping center (Oakwood Plaza) just south of there with what looks like some good basic options to pick up last minute necessities.

We were wondering if there's a good place nearby to pick up some wine for the cruise as well? We will not have a rental car, but we could get a cab, etc. It looks like it'd be a bit far, but manageable, to go over to the Total Wine near 17th Street that usually is suggested.

I know there was some question about if you could get wine at the BJ's in that shopping center if you're not a member (can you)?

Any other nearby suggestions?

Thanks!

I'm stumped and I am hoping for some advice! I'll have a group of at least 5 adults with approximately 10 bags (1 check, 1 carry on for each) to make arrangements for. We'll be disembarking around 9 AM and our flights out aren't until around 6:30 PM that night. This is for Saturday, Nov. 14.

Here are the options I've looked into so far:

1. Luggage Direct - Total Cost Approx. $160.00 (each person's $20 plus extra checked bag fees since our carryons would be checked through with the checked bags, otherwise defeating the purpose of taking care of the luggage problem).

2. Day Room - Tried for the Renaissance on 17th St. since I'd read they offer day rooms and the pool area looked nice. After a bunch of phone calls I was told they don't offer them on weekends, so no go there.

Looked at the Rodeway Inn - the price is right but the reviews are offputting and the pool area pics don't look too inviting. We could still drop our bags there and head out somewhere else.

3. Bags to Go or whatever it's called at the airport - $7 per bag (so approximately $70 for bag storage only) plus transport to airport and then to wherever else.

4. Rental Van or 2 Cars for the day - It looks like we could get reasonably priced rentals from the Cruise Port rental car facilities (Thrifty or Dollar?). About $45 for the day per car for a mid-size or $80 for a minivan. I'm not super excited about this option since none of us are familiar with FLL and then we'd have to figure out parking all day as well, but it might be what we end up doing.

5. Priceline a hotel for the night and then let them know we're just using it for a dayroom - looks like the best option at the moment would be either blind bidding and hoping to get a good one or booking the Westin for $164 plus taxes/fees (seems high, but I know it's a Saturday night).

6. Everglades excursion - Price tag seems ok, but we still end up having 3-4 hours at the airport to kill which is what I was trying to avoid.

I know this gets discussed a lot, but what are your suggestions in this situation? Something I've overlooked? I'm not trying to be super cheap, but price is definitely a consideration.

Thanks everyone for your responses! I think we'll muddle through with cabin phones, post its, dinner, and word of mouth. The ships are big, but not THAT big, after all!

I just wanted to see if there was a tool out there for this purpose that I wasn't aware of. Perhaps HAL will come out with an app similar to NCL's in the future!

And POA1, I like your spending priorities. Give me champagne over the electronic leash any day!

I am traveling with a group of about 20 people. Anyone have ideas for how to efficiently catch up with people in a group this size or get messages to them while aboard the ship?

Usually we rely on texting, but I'm not sure how practical of a solution that is on board. I don't want to have to purchase a huge internet package or end up with massive cell phone bills.

A friend who cruised on NCL mentioned they had an $8 app that solved this issue. Is there anything similar for HAL? Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome!

Very excited and thought I'd share!

My parents and I both booked SZ Guaranty cabins for the 11/7/15 Westerdam Eastern Caribbean.

We both got cabin assignments today (10/13/15). I was happy to get the assignments so early, since I'd read it's usually closer to the sailing date.

We're also pretty happy with our assignments, we both got SS cabins on Deck 6, port side, mid/aft. Looks like these should be nice, quiet cabins without a ton of motion based on location.

Only a few weeks to go!! :D:D

Hi Lisa-Ann,

Just wanted to say a quick thank you for doing the "Live From" thread and your blog. I've been reading both and your enthusiasm for the Panama Canal transit is wonderful!

I'm especially excited since you're reporting from the Westerdam and I'm looking forward to sailing on her in less than a month! Looking forward to more updates from your trip!

I am looking into doing the Bioluminescent Kayaking excursion through HAL on a cruise coming up in November 2015. I can't find a lot of specific info on their website. Can anyone help with a couple questions?

1. Are the kayaks used single or double? And sit inside or sit on top?

2. Does anyone know what tour operator HAL uses so we can look them up to get more info?

Thanks for any help!

Thanks. The fact that it was on fluid dynamics makes it extra special. :D

I think I prefer the fluid dynamics discussed in your landmark thread "Wines and corkage and bars, Oh my!" :D:D:D

Thank you for the great feedback, it's super helpful!

I'm going to try to respond to each person's post here, so bear with me!

BlueHerons - thank you for the input on the Stirling Road area and for the info on the water taxi! Knowing the water taxi will not be running as normal is super helpful so we're not taken by surprise on that. Thanks for the input on the boat show too, I think it might be fun and might as well get the benefit of being there during the show!

Oncruisecontrol - thank you for more restaurant ideas! We actually have almost all of those same restaurants here in California, with the exception of the Hollywood Ale House, which I'll check out! My group can be a little hard to find the right spot for - as a general rule they're not big on chains, but at the same time it's hard to find a place that can accommodate a big group that's NOT a chain!

I did look into the other hotel options you mentioned - the Cambria Suites shows as sold out for the night I'm looking at. The Courtyard by Marriott on Gulf Stream is a great suggestion and I'm adding it to my list for my friends!

DanJ - It depends! I think we may end up coming in on a red-eye, so we'd have literally all day from 6:30 AM on (after getting to hotel and dropping bags with the bell desk). It looks like, due to the boat show, there may be some extra shuttles running to get us to more active places and we could always go check out the yachts as BlueHerons suggested!

If we take a "during the day" flight, then a lot of this planning is moot because we'll just be getting to the hotel, sleeping, and getting up and leaving the next day on our cruise.

So after all the hotel researching, I happened on a great deal (at least I think so)! I ended up booking at the Hyatt Place on Stirling (basically next to the SpringHill Suites I had been looking at) for only about $10 more. TripAdvisor reviews were very favorable, so I went ahead and jumped on it.

If anyone has good or bad input on the Hyatt Place on Stirling, please let me know also.

Thanks again for all the great feedback!

Have you checked out Homewood Suites on Griffin Rd in Dania Beach on the south side of the airport? Or the new Residence Inn on Anglers Ave in Dania Beach? Regarding the group dinner, not sure of your budget, but The Rustic Inn Crab House on Ravenswood Rd can handle a large group. But it is a famous place and a little pricey, but it is seafood. Tropical Acres Steakhouse on Griffin Road can probably handle a large group also. These restaurants would be convenient if you stay in a hotel south of the airport.

Thanks for the ideas Oncruisecontrol!!

Just checked out Homewood Suites (it has available rooms but they show at $250/night) and the Residence Inn is fully booked up, but it was definitely worth looking into.

Thanks especially for the restaurant suggestions! I was struggling to find good ideas on the South/West sides of the airport. Tropical Acres looks especially promising (we have a few non-seafood eaters in our group, so I think they'd feel very limited at the Rustic Crab Inn). I really appreciate your post!

Hello! I've been reading tons of threads here and I can't say enough how great all the information is!

I'm trying to make some decisions for our pre-cruise night and day and thought I'd ask for advice, opinion, and input from all of you lovely folks. I'm wordy, so my apologies for the long post!

Here are all my dilemmas:

1. Hotel for 1 night pre-cruise. The problem/challenge - our 1 night pre-cruise happens to be November 6 (departing November 7), 2015. This is right in the middle of the big Boat Show ... which I didn't find out about until just recently. Oops. Due to the Boat Show, the usual suspect hotels which are most recommended are either sold out or sky high. I think we've decided that it's more practical to stay on the SW side of the airport (Stirling Road and 95 area) since there are some reasonable rooms there still.

I'm debating between the Quality Inn and the SpringHill Suites there. Any input? Prices are pretty comparable (around $150 for Friday night).

The other option would be to stay much further north (i.e. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea or Cypress Creek areas). That seemed like it would make getting there from the airport and back to the port the next day a real hassle though.

2. Group Dinner. We are cruising with a group of 19 people, but everyone is making their own arrangements. I thought it would be nice to have a group dinner for those who are in FLL the night prior to the cruise. Suggestions for a place that can handle a group well, especially during the boat show? It seems like most suggestions are more NE of the airport (near Las Olas/17th St. areas). Extra credit for transportation solutions for this many people who won't have cars!

3. Water Taxi during Boat Show. I had seen a post mentioning that the water taxi service was changed/interrupted during the boat show. Does anyone have any info on that? I looked at the boat show website and the water taxi website but didn't see anything about it.

Thanks for reading this far and for any input/advice you can give!!

For anyone else going through the same hunt for information, you might want to contact Don of White Sands Charters and Tours. I emailed him directly today (use the email address on the website, not the "contact us" web form) and got a quick and positive response.

Don's response said in part:

"We use two boats for our snorkel tours. We do not have a weight limit. Our boats are equipped with ladders at the rear of small platform. However our staff are always very helpful and will assist you every step of the way."

Our cruise isn't until November so I'm in the early planning stages, but this was helpful information to me. Hopefully it's helpful to someone else too!

Hi David,

I was wondering if you found out anything about the types of water entry/exits the different tour operator's boats have? I had a similar question for my party of travelers!

Thanks for any info you might share!! :D

I am cruising with a group of 19 people in November. Most of the group is interested in snorkeling at Grand Turk. I'm exploring our options as to booking a group tour or charter independent of our cruise's shore excursions.

It looks like the most often mentioned companies (Blue Water Divers, Grand Turk Diving, Crystal Seas) all only accommodate up to about 10-12 people in a group.

It may be that not all of my group would want to go on this excursion, so 12 might work for us. However, I was looking for a company that could handle the larger group. The only one I found was a review of White Sands Charters & Tours that mentioned a larger group.

Does anyone have input or suggestions on companies that can handle a group larger than 12 and/or specific input about White Sands Charters & Tours?

Thanks! :D

Thanks so much for the fantastic recap! I'm going to be on the Westerdam with a group of friends in November and I'll be sharing your recap with them. Just adding my voice to the others complimenting your writing style and how much information you covered!

Do you by chance recall (or have printed in the Explorer) which were the formal nights? Do you know if that remains the same from cruise to cruise? We'll be doing the same Easter Carib. itinerary I believe.

Also, did you notice if there was a Chef's Table/Sommelier's Dinner available on your cruise? It's something I'm particularly interested in, but it seems like this varies a lot from cruise to cruise and some cruises it doesn't happen at all.

Thanks again!