travelbuds

My wife and just did the same-July '24.

Nice review. Thank you. Wondering if passengers have time to do more than one excursion in a day when not cruising. The ACL website doesn't give times in port or times of excursions. Did passengers do independent, non-ship excursions? Thank you.

I read the book, The Perfect Storm, by James Carrier. Captain Guyan was the captain of the Fantome at the time. He was the captain of our Yankee Clipper (Grenada) sail three years prior to the tragedy. We partied with the Mandalay when we tied up on Palm Island. Guyan's brother, Paul, was second mate on Fantome (Captain Pete) when we were on it in Mexico the year before disaster. We have a ship painting by Captain Max of the Polynesia on our first Windjammer. Other trip was on Flying Cloud with Captain Adrian in British Virgin Islands. Some of our best vacations! Too bad owner's kids couldn't keep business afloat. Now just to pick a boat for the Columbia!

Thank you for your comments. Regarding cabin location for this river trip, do you know if the scenery is nicer on the south side or north side of the river? I see that you have been on WBC cruises in the past. We enjoyed the 5 that we were on. We were on the Fantome two times, the last time the year before she went down.

Have been considering Lewiston airport rather than Spokane-----2-3 miles vs 2 hours drive-----if I could get good times.

Thank you all for your comments. We have never been on a river trip before. Deciding between paddlewheeler and riverboat that ACL offers. Any words of wisdom one way or the other? Thanks.

My wife and I are interested in a Columbia/Snake river trip. Looking for pros and cons cruising eastbound vs westbound. Flying in from Phoenix. Thank you.

We paid $299pp for the Hubbard boat tour this summer on Sapphire Princess. Signed up for next summer on Celebrity Summit for $276pp (Celebrity had a Labor Day sale).

2023 https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250 2024 https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551

We have used them the past 2 summers. Promptly picked us up.

Try the website. We did this the past two summers. Quick response for us. Also picked us up on time.

We enjoyed the chowder there.

Depending on how much time you have, you can do both, whales and Mendenhall. The past two summers we had to be onboard by 3:30pm for a 4pm departure. We did whale watching with Harv and Marv and got back to Auke Bay by 11:45am. We had made arrangements with Evergreen Taxi to pick us up at noon at the Auke Bay harbor (Statter Harbor) for the 10 minute drive over to Mendenhall. The other 4 on the boat were taken back to the ship. That saved us 40-50 minutes by not going back to the ship. We had time to go to Photo Point and hike to Nugget Falls. Didn't go inside visitor center as we had done that on other trips. Got the Blue Bus to go back to the ship. Blue Bus tickets from VC had to be purchased (half price of RT fare) directly from company (Tammy) via phone. Not sure how that schedule works now because of permit shortage. Could also make arrangement with taxi. Left the VC at 2pm and still had time to shop for fudge near dock. Guess it just depends on what you feel comfortable with.

The past two summers we had to be onboard by 3:30pm for a 4pm departure. We did whale watching with Harv and Marv and got back to Auke Bay by 11:45am. We had made arrangements with Evergreen Taxi to pick us up at noon at the Auke Bay harbor (Statter Harbor) for the 10 minute drive over to Mendenhall. The other 4 on the boat were taken back to the ship. That saved us 40-50 minutes by not going back to the ship. We had time to go to Photo Point and hike to Nugget Falls. Didn't go inside visitor center as we had done that on other trips. Got the Blue Bus to go back to the ship. Blue Bus tickets from VC had to be purchased (half price of RT fare) directly from company (Tammy) via phone. Not sure how that schedule works now because of permit shortage. Could also make arrangement with taxi. Left the VC at 2pm and still had time to shop for fudge near dock. Guess it just depends on what you feel comfortable with.

We have used this company twice in the past (once last month) for transportation from Auke Bay to Mendenhall. Shane picked us up right on time. No permit restriction then. Not sure how it works now with limited or no permits.

Thank you for your comments. Will google Sitka Tours.

Does this shuttle just make a continuous loop from Harrigan Hall to the raptor site, then the bear site and finally back to Harrigan? Works like a hop, on-hop off ride so you can spend how much time you want at each site? Does it go to the National Park as well? Name of company? Thanks.

Sounds like you had sufficient time at each of the Sitka sites. We're doing a ship tour early in morning and touring with a local tour operator in early afternoon. Afternoon tour is suppose to end at 2 pm at the visitor center, and ship all-aboard time is 3 pm. Not sure how fast the lines at the visitor center will move since there will be 4 ships in port---staggered every 1 to 1.5 hours. Ours is first ship in port.

Thank you for your comments. Did you notice if the shuttle lines were long at the cruise terminal or at the visitor center going back to the ship?

This is the tour company that my wife and I plan to go with next summer. Did you find that the 25 minutes allotted at each of the three sites were sufficient? Did the tour end on time? Thanks.

No "gratuity" anywhere on the site. No AI fare. Will talk with Celebrity tomorrow. Thanks.

Hi, When I opened up the Reservation Details section, there is no mention of gratuities, or pre-paying them, anywhere. Where does that option show up? Topics include guest names, packages, dining, add-ons, discounts and balance. Will call my Celebrity vacation planner tomorrow. Did not use a TA. Thanks.

Since we will be there the day before the cruise, we'll try for the earliest time available. Maybe only a 15 minutes walk from hotel to terminal, but pulling two bags apiece it may take longer. Any idea how much time ahead of scheduled time passengers start to show up for luggage drop-off?

That was the time frame given on confirmation papers. I just talked with my Celebrity planner. She said what is on the confirmation paper is just a general range and the check-in online or on app won't be available until 45 days prior to sail. App now says check-in "not available".

No Retreat. After reading some of the responses I got on this thread, I called my Celebrity cruise vacation planner to see if there is a narrower time frame. Waiting for a call back.