Jay Bee

Thank you all for the suggestions!:)

I read on another thread that the library on the Brilliance is gone. The library on all the ships is where I go to find a quiet place to read and have a cup of coffee. We'll be on the Brilliance next month. Can anyone suggest a substitute comfortable location, preferably where the noise is minimal or shut out entirely?

Thanks.

Can you please define a "hump" cabin, I want to make sure I am not booked in one of those? Thank you!

Take a look at the deck plans, and you will see an area around the elevators near midship where the outline bulges outward. That's the hump.

Thanks for all the input. Since we've enjoyed the hump in the past, we're going to risk the noise.

Incidentally, we booked this relatively late so there weren't a lot of choices. I booked a forward cabin and checked frequently to see what might open up on the hump, but nothing better did. Yesterday, I ventured to check the uk site, and there were lots of rooms not listed on the u.s. site, including a few nice hump rooms. Plugging the cabin number into the booking page on the u.s. site worked quite well.

Jan

We are deciding between a hump cabin (7604) and one forward of the lifeboat "obstructed view" cabins (7540). I've read that those forward balconies are a little larger. For anyone who has sampled both, how much bigger is it?

Thanks,

Jan

We're thinking of doing this, but I recall the galley tour we took on a Celebrity ship a few years ago. The tour itself was great, but the group was so large (and single file a lot of the time) that if you wanted to be sure to hear and see what was going on, you had to be a little assertive in your positioning.

How big are the All Access tour groups? Is the group size a problem?

Jan

The discount for a 3 night to 5 night cruise is $100 if booked less than 6 months. The discount for a 3 night to 5 night cruise is $125 if booked greater than 6 months.

Ah, thanks. My info was outdated.

Thanks for the input!

I called C&A instead of the main number and got a clearer answer:

The "Crown & Anchor Rates" $100 discount was for a balcony booked less than 6 months out. Always in the past, I needed to call to get that applied.

Jan

I haven't booked RCCL for awhile and am a little confused over a booking summary that accompanied my courtesy hold.

There are 2 discounts listed: one is the "30% Savings" for the current promotion on Caribbean cruises. The other is a $100 discount called "Crown & Anchor Rates." What is this exactly?

I am a diamond member and booked a balcony, expecting that I could get $125 off (booking less than 6 months out for a 5 night cruise). However, the guy on the phone quoted me the exact same final price if I applied that benefit. It made no sense unless the first $100 thing either IS the balcony discount or is not combineable with a balcony discount that maybe is no longer $125.

Can anyone clarify please?

Thanks,

Jan

Thanks, all, for the info and reminders...big breakfast, no bear bait. :)

We dock in Juneau at 7 a.m. in late June. I'm having trouble finding out how early the Blue Line/White Line buses start running. Anybody know or have a schedule link?

Also, I read in one place that the Mendenhall Visitor Center has a snack bar? What is the extent of this? Vending machines or something more substantial to sustain us for a hike?

Thanks.

I ended up making two reservations for Choice Air during the recent PYP promotion (because I had to change flights). The first time the $400 discount was applied almost immediately to my reservation. After the second, the discount did not show. I do see that the PYP option for Choice Air is noted on the reservation, but the actual discount is $0. I've called and they say, well, it's probably because it's so far away (June 2015), but I'm not buying that since the first time around it was applied so quickly.

Anyone else having problems getting the perk discount?

Thanks! So you get on right after we get off :)

Yep. Really looking forward to it. :)

Us too! So, how did you get a layout of the days already. All I see is what's on the website that says 1 night here, 2 nights there, etc.

 

I've asked celebrity ie when we get to Denali and they say afternoon and leave in mid morning 2 days later??

 

I would love to know how long I'm at Aleyska cause I would like to do gold panning at some point and thought I could do it there??

 

We are on 5B and the June 12 southbound cruise.

We are on the June 19 8a northbound, but there will be similarities in the land portion. If you go to rccl.com and look at the Alaska cruisetours, you'll see that they have the same numbers as the Celebrity cruisetours. On their site they have detailed descriptions for each day (not exact times though). To make sure these were the same tours, I asked the phone rep at Celebrity to read me the whole thing. It was identical, word for word.

Celebrity is aware that this info is not on the web site. They have apparently alerted IT.

When is your cruise?

June 2015

Are you traveling soon, do you have times? Since the information is minimal, I would be afraid to book on our own as I don't know exactly what time we arrive at Talkneeta, or Denali or Girdwood. Celebrity only says morning or afternoon??

 

I've started booking private excursions on cruise port days but thinking I'm just going to have to go with the flow on the cruisetour portion.

I only have the day by day outline, but that's good enough for a few of the days. For example, on our last day in Denali it says, "You have the morning and portion of the afternoon free to book an optional land excursion..." I figure it's safe to book something in the morning; they won't alter the departure...more likely an arrival would be off.

By the way, even the day by day descriptions of the cruisetours has been missing on the Celebrity site. I got it off the RCI site and had a reservations person read me the Celebrity version: they were identical.

What ship/cruisetour?

Millennium - cruisetour 8a

The tour leader will provide you with a list of optional excursions at each stop on the land tour. You fill out the order form and turn it in. If times are not listed the leader will be able to provide them and will often recommend the best day to do a particular tour if there are options. He/she will schedule those interested and take your credit card information. There will be a central meeting place at the hotel and your guide for that tour will meet you and provide transportation to the tour. You do not need to arrange anything on your own.

 

Mary Lou

Thank you. That is very specific. After I posted, I actually did call the Celebrity Cruisetour line and ask, but I wasn't sure I could trust what they said (seeing how my record of getting accurate information from Celebrity isn't all that great). And, wouldn't you know, they said the exact opposite: they said, you arrange all optional activities on your own, period. They also said you can't arrange your own excursions ahead of time because there might be delays of one sort or another.

Looking at the itinerary, there do seem to be a few blocks of time that are relatively safe bets, and if an independently arranged tour has a good cancellation policy, I don't think that would be a problem. So now I'm wondering, even with the procedure Mary Lou described, if it might be an advantage to book ahead independently for a few high-demand activities--maybe doing it through the cruisetour people costs more, maybe there would be a larger group, maybe you'd get closed out.

Opinions and/or experience with this?

We have booked an Alaska cruisetour and I'm wondering how the optional excursions during free time on the land portion work. I read that the program director will provide information about various options, but the implication was that we then make arrangements on our own. Anybody have experience with this?

And YOUR advantage is the peace of mind knowing that you've bought a ticket that ENSURES you will get on the ship... Either by it waiting for you or Choice Air making arrangements / pay to have you catch up to it.

 

No other Airline is going to do that for you... And certainly not for $ 70

 

In this case, particularly so as it a Cruise to Alaska, and we are talking a rugged Cdn & US Coastline with not many Big City Airports along the Ship's course to fly into easily on your own if you needed tothink you got an excellent deal.

 

When I use Choice Air I do so primarily for Cruising peace of mind... I find their pricing very competitive for the same flights (like yourself I check my Airline choice first). They can be anywhere from cheaper, spot on, or a little more. When more it is under $ 100 in my experience (most often around the $ 50 mark). Considering that on a plane rarely do seats sell at the same price (intentional price changes by the Airlines) I don't find Choice Air's mark up bad at all knowing the EXTRA that I am getting that others on the fight don't get / need.

 

Cheers!

I agree with you completely which is why I bought the Choice Air. My complaint isn't in the value but in the misleading implications. People who may not need the extra security that a Choice Air ticket provides should be aware that they may be able to do much better arranging their own airfare. Being drawn to Choice Air because it has a Low Price Guarantee when it essentially doesn't, is not honest.

You didn't mention the airport transfers offered by X but not by Delta

Airport transfers are not included in Choice Air. I believe they are included in the standard cruise air.

Yesterday, before I booked Choice Air with Celebrity for an Alaska cruise, I did my homework. I knew exactly what the Delta price was for economy class seats on the flights that I was pretty sure Choice Air would offer. The flights were exactly the same, yet the price Choice Air quoted was about $70 more than what was on the Delta website.

When I brought up the Low Price Guarantee, the representative asked me to look at the letter class of economy on Delta. Choice Air was offering Economy(K), whereas on Delta it was Economy(L).

I realize there are (very) minor differences between these classes, but since a customer has essentially no way to choose one over another, the Low Price Guarantee becomes meaningless. Celebrity's offer is like those offensive appliance ads that guarantee the lowest price, but the models they have bear unique numbers so you will never find the exact thing elsewhere.

I booked the Choice Air anyway because I wanted the security of the emergency help on this trip (tricky timing), but I would have appreciated less misleading hype from Celebrity. We should be able to buy the same air from them as we can independently. Their advantage in providing Choice Air is that they will have fewer problems getting people on the ship if they are in on the process.

Thank you, all. :)

Thank you both. In the combined interest of not being obnoxious AND not driving ourselves nuts with thousands of laps, we will do the smart thing and jog on land, seeing the local scenery.

If a Viking trip is billed sometimes as a "7 night," other times as an "8 day," what number do you use to compute gratuities? And is the Program Director tipped for all days of the cruise even if excursions/activities are not planned (like the day of boarding)?

Thanks.:)

We'll be river cruising for the first time soon. The deck plans for the Viking Tor show a walking track that is sometimes referenced as a jogging track. It probably isn't that good for jogging since it's got to be small. Does anyone know the laps per mile? And would fellow passengers consider it out of place or obnoxious if someone was jogging?

thanks.:)

I guess it's the "exept things looked newer" part! If I'm paying X amount for my cabin and there is one next door for the same price where "things look newer", then I want the newer one! But having said that, if it's vacation in an original room or stay at home and work..........Well I'm not insane enough to go to work!!!!!!:) :D

I agree. I'll take "things looked newer" any day, given the choice. But the thing that clinches it for me is the shower door. I loathe those stupid curtains that hug you like some slimy, wet groper.