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Honestly, surprised people are steering me away from HAL. Most things I’ve read said they’re the best one in AK. is it really just the typical age of passengers that makes you suggest it?

I don’t have to switch the Mendenhall one at all but all the ones I’ve booked are fully refundable

Other lines are way more expensive if they go to Glacier Bay - I haven’t seen anything much under $10K just for the cabins. I know HAL is an older clientele but we aren’t worried about that anyway. I’ll have to think more about the forward cabin. I’ll have them price midship, and see what that price is. I thought it would be ok since much of the cruise is in fairly protected waters, but maybe not.

Did you book an outside company? I see there’s kayaking through HAL at ISP as well.

Thanks for the info! I have so far ruled out whale watching as the last time we did it (Australia) my son got so sick. I don’t know that I could convince him to do it again. That said, 2/3 of the ship was puking that day (or wanted to) including my two older kids. My husband and I were fine but I had to take pictures from the deck one handed with my DSLR so I could hang on with the other! I would like another shot at it though - maybe I can convince them. We didn’t have any sea sickness meds last time due to my poor planning.

So initially I used an FCC on Celebrity to book Solstice going to Dawes Glacier for my family of 5 (kids ages 13, 18, and 19). It was a compromise since no Glacier Bay but it was considerably cheaper and I was happy with the plans we made. A canoe trip in front on Mendenhall which lands and hikes around the glacier, a kayak trip to orca cove, and a combo trip on White Pass railway. Then I found out about the possible issues with Skagway dock and while I know everything might be fine, it also might mean we miss that port. If we did, that would be 3 sea days and only 2 good port stops (Victoria is a short evening stop). so I started looking around again (I’ll only lose $400 of FCC if I cancel Celebrity). I found a good HAL cruise on Eurodam that does Glacier Bay, doesn’t do Skagway, and leaves only a day later. But, taking into account the fare, the FCC, and the OBC, it was going to be about $2500 more on an already expensive trip. I checked around and found a reputable TA that offered OBC and this got the difference down to about $450. I have it on hold and I think I’m going to go with it. I know most people say HAL tops others in AK, so is this a good idea? Assuming it is, I’ll need to replan and have some questions. We’ll be in Juneau same day/time so I can keep my glacier canoe trip. I booked this independently. It was expensive though - worth the splurge? The railway tour is out since no Skagway. We add a day at Sitka though. We still go to Ketchikan but for a bit less time so I don’t think I can do Orca cove - it’s just too tight a timeline to book independently for my comfort. My other Ketchikan excursion choice was kayaking to Tattoosh island and HAL offers that excursion so I’d probably book through them. I’m open to other ideas though. There are some good Kayaking tours in Sitka too so I could do one of those and something else in Ketchikan? I would love some recommendations for these two ports on the best things to do under $200 pp. We have short stops inIcy Straight Point and Victoria too - I’m thinking if we get off the boat at all, we’ll do something on our own. Ideas welcome here as well. One downside of HAL is that we’ll be in two forward cabins instead of mid ship (one balcony one inside on either cruise). My youngest gets motion sickness so I prefer to stick with mid ship. We’ve only been on one cruise before (western Caribbean) and had a day of particularly rough seas. He was fine until dinner which was at the very back of the boat. He made it through dinner but had to leave before dessert. Once back at our cabin, midship, he was fine. He was wearing Sea bands the entire time. Think he will be ok in a forward cabin? That feels like a book so thanks for reading. We are seasoned travelers but new to AK and almost new to cruising.

I’ve only used Carnival’s app before and it was just ok (in 2018 mins you) so when I tried Celebrity’s it was amazing. How does the messaging work through the app on board? That’s what we typically use it for most. Carnival’s was hit and miss so I was never sure if my kids got my messages.

I downloaded the app last night and let’s just say I don’t think IT is their thing LOL. It is so slow and frequently non-responsive. I thought I was actually on the ship trying to use WiFi! Celebrity’s app seems excellent but not HAL’s. Oh well…

I did find out that that the tour through Celebrity with train/bridge, does the bus back, so it is a combo tour plus the bridge.

Its sounds like mostly no (from this thread: ), but that's specific to HAL. I know for a fact with Celebrity you can use OBC to book excursions ahead of time, as I just did it last week. I'm considering switching my cruise to HAL, so this is disappointing, but I suppose not unexpected.

Great pictures!

Could point - the other ports need to have room as well. I'd be mostly OK with a port change, but would be pretty disappointed with an extra sea day. I know that can always happen, but this feels different since the issue was widely known before the season (except to me LOL). I just spoke to Celebrity about cancellation fees, as I'm thinking of switching cruises, and also asked about this. The person didn't have any information on it but assured me I'd be refunded if we missed a port. I of course didn't really expect them to know the answer - I'm sure they're equally frustrated with the uncertainty.

I had planned to book with them too, but had an OBC I used for it instead.

A disappointing response, at least based on what I've read. It doesn't seem like they have a solution for the dock (though if they actually have one that will be ready by May, I'd be thrilled to hear it, everything I read said there wasn't an option they could do in time for this season). But, if the port is missed, I'd prefer a different port rather than a refund, so that's a bummer.

Did they cancel it just for your ship, or all their ships/schedule? Did they divert to another port?

Scheduled yes, but probably not reality for 2023. They were trying to do a work around that didn’t work out

I found where they docked last year, if anyone is interested: https://www.skagway.com/cruises-and-ferries/cruise-ship-calendar/ My ship docked at the one that is no longer accessible, of course.

Is there anywhere that says which dock a particular ship uses? Is it true that 3 ships can dock, and just the 4th cannot? I know the railroad dock is for the larger ships, but not sure what constitutes larger in that context.

Has anyone taken this excursion recently? I was trying to find out if it's train one way and bus back. A post above implies it is, but not sure if it's still like that. The write up for the excursion doesn't say one way or the other. We are booked on Solstice on 6/23/23.

I booked the Suspension Bridge tour, but now am reading that the combo tour is great and I'm rethinking my choice. I booked the tour through Celebrity and it doesn't say if it's train or bus on the way back, so I'm assuming it'll be the train? Anyone do both of these tours and would be able to share more information?

I really wanted to hit Glacier Bay when we go, but ultimately, decided on Celebrity because it was significantly cheaper for my family of 5. If money isn't an issue, I liked the itineraries of NCL, but dang, since they are all inclusive rates are they expensive! I got two cabins on Celebrity plus my flights, for the cost of just the cabins on NCL. I am also looking forward to a smaller ship. We have only cruised on Carnival before (and really enjoyed it) so I'm sure this trip will be great.

Thanks! I wasn't sure how to determine that LOL.

I want to book the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Adventure Tour that canoes across the lake and then hikes around the glacier. I've found it at Liquid Alaska and Alaska Shore Excursions. I assume this is the same excursion and one of these sites is perhaps a reseller? I'd prefer to book directly, so anyone know where I should book this tour? Or perhaps they are different but similar tours, in which case anyone have any guidance on selecting one? They are the same price. Thanks in advance!

Helpful info everyone, thanks!

Hi, We've only been on one cruise, with a different line, so still newbies. We did have some FCC from 2020 on Celebrity, so just booked for Solstice this summer to Alaska. We are a family of 5, and not big drinkers (only 2 of us are of drinking age anyway) so booked the cruise only rate. I have no issues purchasing alcoholic drinks a la carte. What basic drinks are included without a drink package? I am assuming it's just water, coffee, tea (that's what it was on another line), but can't actually find it anywhere on their site. For the dining, is just the main dining room and buffet included? That's fine with us, just checking.