Celebrity Alaska Cruise & Land Tour

[missingyou]

Looking to book our 1st Alaskan Cruise.  Anyone here have recommendations for a Cruise and Land Tour (cruise tour?) via Celebrity?  

 

What did you like/dislike?

 

Would you do it again?

 

Is the Cruise/Land tour the way to go or just cruise only?  This will be a 1 time trip so want to make it count.

 

Also does Celebrity go to Glacier Bay?  Someone told me they thought only Princess goes to Glacier Bay

 

Recommended Ship?

 

We always cruise RCI or Celebrity, with Celebrity being our new go to.   So hoping to book this through Celebrity if possible, but had a friend that recommended  Princess and their cruise tour, so we will check that out as well.

 

Little background. Will be 2 of us in our early 60's. We enjoy shopping and walking/hiking. Enjoy local culture and history.  Pretty laid back and relaxed lifestyle.

 

[D. B.]

We did one with X  in June (2022) Tour first then Cruise.

 The Best part was the Wilderness Express Train rides and the Tour of Danali Park.

 The Hotels we Ok but the one in Fairbanks was way out of town.

 Way too much "On your Own Time" with not much to do because of the hotel locations.

    Limited Dining options and one night the only choice was $55 per person mediocre buffet or a $21 Hamberger in a stand up place.

    The pre cruise covid testing in Anchorage was complete Cluster (you know what) and the Excursions are way overpriced.

   If you want to see Alaska do a Tour on your Own and not with a cruise/tour.

 

 

[Northern Aurora]

Just some random thoughts from someone who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska ---

 

Fairbanks is the location where a number of cruise sponsored land excursions either start or end.  All of these land tours look very "herded" to me.  They tend to be a "one size fits all" and it seems to me,  from a number of posts on the Cruise Critic Alaska forum, that they are sold to people with the customers not having a clear understanding as to what is included.  

 

Definitely consider a DIY land trip.  Any attraction included on a cruise sponsored land tour can be done on your own.  And you can customize your interests.

 

The only road into Denali National Park was closed in August 2021 at an area called "Pretty Rocks" which is about 41 miles into the national park.  The road was sliding down the hillside.  The NPS has a plan to bridge the section of problematic road.  It is unclear to me as to whether the NPS has even settled on a contractor, and, baring a miracle, I doubt the road will be opened next summer either.  I've always thought that folks who don't go in to the park as far as the Eielson Visitor's Center (mile 66) cheat themselves out of the full Denali experience.  While a number of folks seem to feel that they "must" visit Denali  there are many other interesting places to visit.

 

Celebrity does not go to Glacier Bay.  Again, a number of tourists seem to think they "must" go to Glacier Bay and it seems to me that they think that a because they were told that Glacier Bay is a "must" from their travel agent.  

 

I wonder where "D.B." stayed in Fairbanks.  The hotel Celebrity uses for their land tours in Denali is the Denali Park Village which is located several miles south of the park entrance and away from the "glitter gulch" restaurants, souvenir shops and so forth located at the park entrance.

 

 

[D. B.]

Thank you Northern Aurora...!

I would like to mention that for those who are starting a Cruise Line Land Tour pre cruise Arrive one (or More) Days  Early in Fairbanks.

 We Did and I'm so glad we did because there is a Lot to See and Do in and around Fairbanks! 🙂

 I booked the same Hotel X had booked for the Start of our Tour. The Hotel had a free shuttle from the airport.

 We spent that extra Day exploring Fairbanks and the waterside walk,  The Cultural Center and Ate at a downtown restaurant and visited Pioneer Park.

 The next day on the first day of our X Land Tour they dropped us off in Fairbanks for only  1 & 1/2 hours to find a place to Eat then Back on the Bus.

[Northern Aurora]

So D.B. -- where did you stay in Fairbanks?  In the past Celebrity has used the Bear Lodge which is a Fountainhead property (and on the same grounds as the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum) and also Pike's Waterfront Lodge.  As someone who lives here I am curious which property/properties Celebrity is now using.

[beachluver9]

We took land cruise 7-B in June starting in Fairbanks and heading south (Tours ending in A go north and B tours head south).  We chose to go south for two reasons:

 

1)  many posts recommended to do the land tour first because it can be more tiring than the cruising portion.  We found this to be accurate as we were exhausted at the end of each land tour day, but the upside is that we slept very well at night!

 

2)  return flights at the end of our cruise tour had much better options/times in Vancouver vs returning from Fairbanks.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise tour and would do a cruise tour again instead of a diy without hesitation.  We didn't have to drag our bags each night as they were delivered directly to our hotel rooms, and our guide was extremely helpful while we were trying to plan our free time.  No fumbling with maps (cell service is sketchy at best in many areas so you need to bring paper maps because you can't count on a gps to work in many areas). We appreciated the amount of free time included in the schedule so that we could pick and choose what we wanted to do and where.  There were a wide range of options available and prices were comparable to booking direct (although expensive).  A few couples booked independent excursions during the free time in the schedule, but we selected from the optional excursion choices.

 

We stayed at Pikes Lodge in Fairbanks with the cruise tour and chose to arrive a day early so we were well rested when the trip began.  Pike's has a free shuttle to the downtown area that runs on demand (but not late at night) and taxi service is readily available.  

 

The only hotel that we stayed at that either didn't have a shuttle to town or wasn't within walking distance was in Denali.  The area with all of the tacky shops and the monstrous Princess Lodge had zero appeal to us.  From the Denali lodge, you could walk across the main road to a local restaurant if you wanted to save some $.  Because food at the lodge was expensive (no doubt about that!), our guide also arranged for us to have a one hour stop at a huge grocery store (comparable to super Wal-Mart) for incidentals and food items since she knew that the options there might not appeal to everyone.  From what I understand, not all guides made this stop for their travelers, but we easily could have used the Pike's shuttle to do a grocery run before hand also.  Several couples bought sandwich items, fruit, drinks (including alcohol) etc for the land tour portion.  For my husband and I it worked out well, however some people thought the grocery stop was tacky and the food options not acceptable.  

[D. B.]

To Northern Aurora.

 We started our Land tour at Sophie Station Suites. Our room was like an extended stay with a kitchen.

 It was way out of town so we used Uber to get around.

 There was a Big Fred Meyer (Like a walmart) nearby, so we bought some Steaks and canned goods and did our own meals.

 We are one and done with Cruise Line land tours.

[frenchsp]

Jumping in late here. Beachluver9, thank you so much for the specificity! I'm also looking at 7B. I'm hesitant only with the Talkeena overnight, as I'm not sure what there is to do around there for that much time. Other itineraries only stop there for lunch. What did you think of that overnight?

 

D.B. were you on the 6B land tour? Did you feel you had enough time in Denali to explore with only one overnight there.

 

Anyone, the other itinerary I'm looking at is 10B, has anyone done that one?

[garyl62]

41 minutes ago, frenchsp said:

 

Anyone, the other itinerary I'm looking at is 10B, has anyone done that one?

We're on 10B at the end of July.  Can't speak from experience yet, but I've been doing some research regarding options for DIY tours during the "on your own" time windows and it seems we can find something almost everywhere.  One thing I wish I could find is the general time table for each day so we know if we would have time for something once the Celebrity activities are done.  Homer seems to be the place for flights to Bear sightings, but price is $800+ per person.  While it's a once and done trip for us probably, there are several other excursions during the sailing which all add up.  I've really appreciated the insights @Northern Aurora provides so often as well so Thanks!!

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, garyl62 said:

......  I've really appreciated the insights @Northern Aurora provides so often as well so Thanks!!

 

 

Thanks to @garyl62 for my comments.  I am not sure they provide much insight but I certainly have my opinions as my husband frequently tells me!

 

In any event, regarding Talkeetna:  Since the Princess McKinley View Lodge was built it seems to me that Talkeetna has become much more touristy.  The PMVL is about a 45 minute drive away but it has had significant impact on the community.  Some tourists describe it as the "quintessential" small Alaska community but I see it as the "quintessential" tourist trap.  That being said it is a nice community for flight seeing over Denali.  And consider a river trip.  MaHay's Jet Boat Adventures overs several options, has been in business a number of years and is highly reputable; you can book directly with them.

 

The single road into Denali National Park was closed in August 2021 at the Pretty Rocks area due to unstable ice rich land melting.  I have always thought that folks who don't go into Denali as far as Eielson Visitor's Center (mile 66) cheat themselves.  Only recently (about ten days ago) did the National Park Service issue a press release stating that they have signed a contract with a company to start the bridging repair.  The NPS hopes that the full length of the single road will be open in 2025.  Given supply chain issues and the fact that the road past Pretty Rocks has not been maintained since August 2021 (the park maintenance camp is near the park entrance) that date may be optimistic.  So one night in Denali may be all folk now need.  

 

Homer is one of my favorite places.  It is a funky arty place but I am not sure I cold tolerate the dampness of their winters.  There are flight seeing opportunities to Katmai National Park & Preserve where the famous Brooks Falls bears are located.  Some companies don't actually land in Katmai but just outside the park boundaries to circumvent some regulations.  Another option to research in Homer is the private fast ferry from Homer to Seldovia.  And for those with more limited time there is the Pratt Museum.

 

Just a few random thoughts.

[PRH]

We did 10-B last July.  Due to the vastness of Alaska, you will spend many hours on a bus.  We were frustrated before arriving with the total lack of communication regarding schedules of what, where and when.  Be prepared for lots of quick carry out as most lunches were stops in towns on the way.

We saw bears in Icy Straits.  Moose during the wilderness train and along the roads as we traveled.  Enjoyed Denali wilderness bus—great guide and saw many animals (includes a box lunch that Celebrity does not tell you about).  Take advantage of bus stops at grocery stores as food in Alaska is very expensive—especially at Denali Lodge.  The Wildlife Refuge outside Anchorage and the Alyeska Resort were favorites—we were able to get dinner reservations at Seven Glaciers months in advance.). Homer was a great breather and chance to do laundry and not be on a bus!  I did a review some time back of our experience.