Live - 13 Day Alaskan Land Tour & Southbound Millennium Starting July 22, 2023

[garyl62]

Once again I'll try to bring as many of you that are interested along with us as we head out tomorrow to start our first Alaskan cruise, to which we've added a 6 day land tour at the beginning.  We'll be on Celebrity tour 10B sailing on the Millennium in Aqua class.  The last time I did a live from thread it worked well for us, I won't be on all the time, and I'll throw some photos in and share some thoughts as I can without this becoming the focus of our trip.  Back in March I was able to make at least one or two posts each day so I hope to do that again but I don't know what to expect since this is our first trip to Alaska.

 

We fly out of ORD tomorrow (Saturday July 22, 2023) and arrive non-stop in Anchorage just after 9:00PM local time.  From there we transfer to the downtown Marriott and get a few hours sleep before an early morning departure time to take the train to Talkeetna and then a bus on to Denali.  We spend a couple nights there, then a night in Alyeska, and then two nights in Homer before joining the ship in Seward on Friday July 28th.  The ship will cruise Hubbard Glacier, stop in Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straight Point, and Ketchikan before cruising the inside passage and then arriving in Vancouver on Friday August 4th.

 

We have a few excursions planned for the cruise portion, and reservations for the Chef's Table.  We only have dinner plans on the land portion for the night in Alyeska with a reservation at Seven Glacier Restaurant.  As the trip unfolds I'll share more details about those plans, as well as the things we encounter along the way.  This will also be our first trip in Aqua class and we feel fortunate to have booked an aft cabin on deck 11 almost in the exact middle of this ship overlooking the Sunset Bar and that great wake view as we sail. 

 

Well off to finish up a few work emails then to bed so I can wake up early and start to pack.  That may be a shocker to some of you and I should say I've thought through the packing and made sure I have what I need, but I figure with 5 hours of "awake" time before we leave I'll have time to do that in the morning.  Of course my DW just has a couple things left to put in and then she's ready to go.

 

Hope I can share some experiences and answer some questions along the way so that's all for now!

[perfect match]

I really want to do a land and sea tour to Alaska some day so I’ll be following along with you throughout your journey.

[Sunshine Bob]

Following... 

[macsford]

6 hours ago, garyl62 said:

This will also be our first trip in Aqua class and we feel fortunate to have booked an aft cabin on deck 11 almost in the exact middle of this ship overlooking the Sunset Bar and that great wake view as we sail. 

 

This was us in 2018, we were in 1141. It was my most wished for cruise and did not disappoint. We loved the ship, the cabin and Aqua. Everything was wonderful. You will be glad you chose these.

We had your itinerary and also Sitka, Northbound then Southbound.  I just couldn't face the flight to or from  Anchorage from the U.K. but if we return I might !  We did different things each time we repeated the ports, were very fortunate with sunshine and only one rainy day. 

You will enjoy your balcony's views where the sail out of Skagway and Hubbard Glacier were my scenery highlights. 

 

Enjoy every minute. Looking forward to enjoying your reports.

[ladylemondrop]

Ooo exciting! I am following too. 

[garyl62]

6 hours ago, macsford said:

This was us in 2018, we were in 1141. It was my most wished for cruise and did not disappoint. We loved the ship, the cabin and Aqua. Everything was wonderful. You will be glad you chose these....

 

We are also in 1141 🙂

[garyl62]

All set to go, still almost 3 hours until we head to ORD and while I know many of you pack over a longer time, doing everything this morning was great for me.  Even got in 2 loads of laundry and a trip to run a couple errands. 

 

Looks like it is going to be warm in AK the next couple weeks so that made the packing a little lighter.  Ended up with a mid sized bag to check and a small bag just a little bigger than a briefcase that I bought to use when I'm on a small regional jet when the normal carry on isn't allowed.  That bag is only 1/2 full and will be the bag I won't need until we board the ship.  Brought along a backpack also which will be the daily bag we take with us on the land tour.

[Jim_Iain]

Gary -

Look forward to reading along with your new adventure.    We did an Alaska Ground Tour a couple of years ago and loved it.     Hope you are as lucky as us and have clear sunny conditions at Denali.  

[cinderellen]

Have a wonderful time! We did the same cruise on the millennium several years ago in Aqua Class also. We did a different land cruise prior which was great. I can’t wait to go back. 

[capsplace]

We will be in 1140 on Millie in August.  When you get settled, please share the names of the "expert speakers", the cruise director, and the captain.  We have the same itinerary, just the opposite direction.

Bon voyage!

Edited July 22, 2023 by capsplace

[capsplace]

Our dentist shared their experience on their Alaska cruise in an aft cabin.  They said the ship would toss food items off the back of the ship daily, which created a fish feeding event.  Let me know if you see or experience this.  It was not on Celebrity. 

[vickykay]

Will be following along as thinking of Alaska and cruise tour in the future.

[garyl62]

Traditional start to a trip, Champagne in the Admirals Club at ORD! It's really happening now!

Edited July 22, 2023 by garyl62

[JLMcruise]

4 hours ago, capsplace said:

We will be in 1140 on Millie in August.  When you get settled, please share the names of the "expert speakers", the cruise director, and the captain.  We have the same itinerary, just the opposite direction.

Bon voyage!

When are you on the Millie in August? We are too. The 4th Northbound and the 11th southbound. We were on the Panama Canal with you.

[capsplace]

13 hours ago, JLMcruise said:

When are you on the Millie in August? We are too. The 4th Northbound and the 11th southbound. We were on the Panama Canal with you.

Hi there!  So great to hear from you!!!!

Sadly, we never did meet up on the Panama Canal trip, but wasn't it amazing!

We are doing the Aug 18 northbound on Millie out of Vancouver.  Guess we will pass each other as you get off the ship and we get on 🙂 

[Stem to Stern]

Best wishes for a fantastic trip.  We have sailed in 1130 and 1138 on M-class ships.  Love love love those staterooms.  Hmmmm.  It looks like if we ever get to Alaska ORD might be the way to go.  One way flights RSW to ORD and ORD to ANC look like they could be somewhat reasonable.  We could even spend a couple extra nights in Chicago along the way.  What made you decide to do the land portion first?  I forget what the consensus is on this, but I would think the land segment might be more rigorous.  The cruise might offer the opportunity to unwind a bit from that?  I enjoyed your last report and look forward to this one.

[garyl62]

Following a uneventful flight we arrived in Anchorage and were met by celebrity reps in baggage claim who assisted us to collect our bags and then escorted us to the transportation which took us to the hotel. Everything went great. At the hotel however our agent had left due to our later arrival (after 10:15) and the front desk people said they did not have anything for us but 2 room keys.  Thanks to a previous thread on CC we have a general idea regarding what time to meet in the morning and off to a welcomed sleep we went.

 

This morning we awoke to a clear sky and early sunrise.   I went down to the lobby and was able to speak with the tour director who apologized as she had left a packet with a hotel that never made it to us. No problem, we have plenty of time before we leave and it looks like it will be a great day! 

 

 I know many people complain about lack of information prior to arriving for a tour so here are copies of the most important details people are usually looking for. 

 

Sorry the last are upside down,  i will work on fixing that in the future. For now off we're off to begin our adventure!

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by garyl62

[garyl62]

Well a good 1st day is almost in the books. We started out with a train ride to Talkeetna with a good breakfast which was really enjoyable. Several miles of uninterrupted wilderness with the occasional town and as we traveled North peekaboo sites of Denali which everyone scrambled to take pictures of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little did we know we'd have excellent picture taking opportunities when we arrived in Talkeetna so that we look back in laugh and everyone including us on the train scrambling for their cameras.

 

 

The weather was fantastic, clear skies and temperatures in the 70's.  We had time to walk around and enjoy some of the local sites as well as stop for a great lunch.

 

 

 

 

 After leaving Talkeetna we made one more stop for another Denali photo opp since the weather is so good before heading to the park.

 

 

From there we came to our lodge and are looking for relaxing couple of hours this evening, then we'll need to get a good night's sleep because the bus for the Wilderness Tour into the park leaves at 5:15AM!

 

 

[TPCRUISER2]

Following! Been to Alaska, not land tour or that far north. Beautiful pictures!

[ladylemondrop]

Beautiful photos! Just what I dream of seeing one day. Thank you 😊 

[garyl62]

23 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

 What made you decide to do the land portion first?  I forget what the consensus is on this, but I would think the land segment might be more rigorous.  The cruise might offer the opportunity to unwind a bit from that?  

 That is what we had heard as people discussed the order for the trip so we decided to do the land first.  Only being here for 2 days I can say I feel like we made the right decision already.  So far we've had early morning activities so it's been nice to do those while our body clock is still on Midwestern time as it makes it a little easier to get up in the morning. If we have accommodated to a 3 hour time change on the ship I'm not so sure how well I would have been doing with 4:30AM wake up calls! 

 

Still need that morning coffee in my mug from home. This scenery is a little better than home though. 

 

[Stem to Stern]

2 hours ago, garyl62 said:

This scenery is a little better

Thank you so much for answering my question.  Your photos are absolutely incredible.  What awesome shots you are getting with the clear skies.

[garyl62]

Quick summary of yesterday before we head out again today and lose our connectivity.

 

Sorry I don't have many pictures to show, I took them with my other camera so I'll provide more later in the trip. In the morning we took the Wilderness Tour of Denali and we were fortunate to see a bear, moose, dalls sheep and caribou, 4 of the big 5!

 

 In the afternoon we took an ATV adventure which was another good experience in the wilderness for good weather.

 

 

 

 

Off to the Palmer Farm now then on to Alyeska where we have dinner reservations at Seven Glaciers tonight. 

[garyl62]

Just left Palmer where we visited the Moon Stone Farm. This is a local organic farm that was settled in the early 1900's when there was a federal program that provided assistance and free land for farmers to move from the upper Midwest to this area to establish a farming community. We were given a tour and some background information by the current owner who is the grandson of the original settlers. We also had the opportunity to enjoy a great lunch on the deck overlooking part of the acreage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't sure what to expect when we first arrived but it was a nice break and chance to enjoy the outdoors and a good meal. If you get a chance to visit you'll enjoy it!

[Hazelwoodp]

We are headed to Alaska in two weeks.  How are the mosquitos?