13 night Great Frontier Expedition Cruisetour

[jonsmum]

Does anyone know how I can find reviews of this cruisetour? It starts with an overnight in Fairbanks, with a train journey to Seward and then cruise to Vancouver. I'm particularly keen to find reviews that include the overnight hotel in Fairbanks. Not had any luck with searches - probably entering the wrong criteria!

 

Thanks

[jonsmum]

Don't worry - have now found the answer I was looking for.......durrrr!!!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

From recent Alaska research I had done for myself related to Celebrity cruisetours it seems that most have been staying at Sophie Station in Fairbanks and some at Pikes Waterfront Lodge as well. Neither hotel meets up to the "Modern Luxury" branding that Celebrity touts, but they seem clean (if dated) and generally get fair reviews on TripAdvisor and other sources. My main issue with Sophie Station is it's location and the dated decor. Sadly it seems you cannot request a specific property and the property is not assigned until several weeks prior to departure and you cannot ask for a change once assigned.

 

I was looking at the same cruisetour as you for 2018 and just think I wouldn't be happy with the land aspects of the package through Celebrity (mainly hotel quality concerns) so have decided to book the land portion trough Princess Tours and then the cruise through Celebrity. Princess did not have the exact cruisetour option I want through the cruise division (not enough rail travel) but their land tour division (princess lodges website) does offer it, while Celebrity have the better vessel doing the North/South itinerary IMHO.

[jonsmum]

Thanks for that.. Our issue is that we need to book an extra night at our hotel and obviously don't want to change hotels for one night! So it isn't just Sophie Station as I had now thought? Will have to contact X to get a definitive answer|!!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Thanks for that.. Our issue is that we need to book an extra night at our hotel and obviously don't want to change hotels for one night! So it isn't just Sophie Station as I had now thought? Will have to contact X to get a definitive answer|!!

 

I seem to remember somewhere that another cruiser called Captains Club and they were able to get an answer. General reservations seem to have no info other than the fact that hotels are assigned only a few weeks prior to departure when the documents are ready to print (usually 30-45 days out).

 

Any information you get from Celebrity related to hotels can change up until the hotels ar finalized and docs are issued. Make sure any hotel nights you book independently can be cancelled without penalty.

 

Another option would be to see if Celebrity can add an extra night hotel in Fairbanks to your cruisetours package. I have never tried this with them, but have done so with Princess and Holland for several clients.

Edited January 8, 2017 by AtlantaCruiser72

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks for that.. Our issue is that we need to book an extra night at our hotel and obviously don't want to change hotels for one night! So it isn't just Sophie Station as I had now thought? Will have to contact X to get a definitive answer|!!

 

On our cruise tour a few years ago the hotel was able to tell us if our particular tour was booked at their hotel. You should be able to contact both Pikes Waterfront and Sophie's Station via their web site, e-mail. We were at Sophie's Station and it was a 13 day trip.

[jonsmum]

Thank you everyone. Other half is now on the case!!