MississippiMom

Do any of you happen to know if Celebrity offers any religious services during their Alaskan 7-day cruises?

Sorel is the brand that was recommended to me by a Northern mom, when our youngest headed to a northern college with lots of snow. I have never put them on my feet, so I can't comment on comfort, but I know that brand has LOTS of boot options.

The many opinions on this Alaska board can get overwhelming. I read and read and read, then had to step away (due to a family member's health issues), which was great for me, because I had time to think about what WE needed and not what everyone on the board needed out of a cruise to Alaska. My elderly parents LOVE musicals, so I get it. For my father, who refuses to wear his hearing aid, the musicals are loud enough to enjoy the show. They also need the safety features of a handicap cabin and we have learned that those are not all created equal on ships. RCCL's was LOVELY, midship, with plenty of space for the one scooter. CCL's available option was too forward on the ship and really too small. Neither needed a scooter, when we traveled NCL, so I have no comments about their handicapped cabins. I would encourage you to spend some time on the various cruise line websites, as well as look at some YouTube reviews (pick shorter ones, because some can drag on), and see what different types of entertainment are available. For example, my elderly parents LOVED the ice show on RCCL and would have gone every day, if it had been offered. (My brother picked the ship.) Best of luck. There is so much to consider.

I’m so excited to have come across this thread. Our daughters really wanted Le Petit Chef in New Orleans, but that seemed like a silly option in a city known for so many great restaurants. But on a Celebrity Cruise, with some OBC from the travel agent . . . perfect time to try LPC.

Your post definitely makes me think you can help me with my question. I am helping a friend plan her travel to a Vero Beach wedding. Flight prices are almost identical to MCO or to WPB. I’ve driven from MCO to Melbourne as well as MCO to Port Canaveral, but I have never attempted the northern route from the West Palm Beach airport. Which airport drive to Vero Beach might you recommend?

Makes perfect sense to me.

As a never-sailed-Celebrity cruiser, I am finding this entire thread very educational. You bring up a great point. We are considering our first Celebrity cruise in 2025; we will be in our late 50s. We certainly don’t have the energy level of our young adult children, but we also aren’t looking for an early bedtime every night. We are VERY different than our parents at our age. Is it a different world or just a different income level? For us, it’s a bit of both.

Charters are typically booked by a large corporation, using the cruise vacation as a reward incentive. That’s how we sailed on Crystal Cruises over 20 years ago.

No final decision made, yet. I definitely appreciate you sharing the details on how your selection was made to book with Carnival. We are pretty confident that HAL and Princess are definitely not our thing.

Hello to my fellow Mississippian!!! It sounds like “you get me.” Life got in the way, but we are now back to researching what might work best for us. We would like to put down refundable deposits for an August/September 2025 cruise, before all of our family’s 2024 summertime activities get into full swing. (For us Southerners, that could potentially be as early as the second week in April.) By complete coincidence, I was looking at RC and NCL last night. I know most cruisers on this board will cringe at that, but we would like to have a port stop in Sitka and/or Haines, which REALLY limits our cruise ship choices. We had almost convinced ourselves to try HAL’s Eurodam, but that’s a whole lot of vacation money to spend on a cruise line that doesn’t sound like the right fit for us, so we are still thinking on that one. Celebrity is a consideration, but their ridiculous pricing strategy with non-refundable deposits vs refundable deposits means we wait to see if that big box warehouse club offers a special deal on them one day. Cunard feels very over-the-top for this casual family, but I do enjoy looking at their website. Let the research continue . . .

I could "kiss you" for posting this. 🙃 Off/on, we have been looking at the mid-August through mid-September 2025 sailings, and the number of times we have changed what we want to prioritize is comical at this point. Like you two, we live too far away to ever go a second time to Alaska, but we also want to enjoy that dining/entertainment/other you reference. We have tossed around the combination of land & sea, as well as the longer 10 day cruise options, with no final decision made. I keep thinking we have plenty of time to book for 2025, but our preferred balcony cabin locations definitely decrease as the weeks go by. @Ajg601 - What made you rule out Holland America? We are concerned it might be too quiet in the evenings and we might still be too young for HA. But their ships look beautiful, and we like their itineraries.

Thanks for the quick breakdown. That side-by-side number crunching is something that we need to definitely review.

I have never cruised Holland America before, but have been looking a lot on their website at possible 2025 options. Yes, I registered, but I don't think that makes me an official "Mariner." However, just yesterday, I got an email from HA advising of the $400 onboard credit and the Have it All offer for many sailings. Am I now considered a "Mariner" or are they marketing to me as a Carnival VIFP (only gold, not platinum)?

Thanks for posting the link, and for the detailed review. Much appreciated!

Old thread, but excited to find it. I am on the opposite quest as the original poster. NO BATHTUBS for us. We cannot step over that bathtub edge on a moving ship every day. One, and possibly both of us, would most definitely bruise a leg and/or fall. I had completely taken HAL off of our possible 2025 cruise wish list because of the dreaded bathtubs, but now it looks like I need to dig further into each specific ship floor plan.