Karin&Isaac

6 minutes ago, doghog said:

How's it any different than the reciprocal program between Celebrity and RC? 

If you get points from RC, I assume you had to earn them by sailing on RC, not using your credit card to buy things.

4 hours ago, miched said:

No.   
 

I wouldn’t like to see that happen.   If it did it would turn out like many other loyalty programs where there are so many getting into the higher levels that those levels becomes meaningless and the benefits become reduced or eliminated.   It would dilute the program.  
 

I belonged to a casino rewards program like many others.   They started applying points for credit card use.  The highest level was  diamond.  Now that level has few benefits or status. It was replaced by ruby, platinum, and now I think black plus there are also a more exclusive level that is obtained thru gaming and not from credit card use.  .  Zenith is hard to obtain as it should be,  but it will become the equivalent of select if they start rewarding points for credit card use.   
 

 

Happy  cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I agree. It would be terribly unfair for someone to buy loyalty points when elite and above have sailed for years to get to that point. 

On 2/29/2024 at 12:59 PM, Jim_Iain said:

The App can be used without an internet package while on the ship but very limited capabilities - view your account, control lights and AC on some ships,  messaging to other guests on the ship etc.    All you have to do is select the Ships Guest Wifi.    You then create an account with a User Name and 4 digit code using your Portfolio Number (found on seapass).    You can the select either your Wifi Package or choose the free option.   

 

You should put your phone on Airplane Mode while at sea to prevent surprise charges to your cell carrier.  

Thanks for the info!

We haven't cruised since 2018, and have never used the app. We have the app on our phones. How do we use it on board without getting roaming charges? Thanks.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

🤩

It's been a while since we have cruised. Are jeans shorts acceptable during the day on sea days? We will be on Celebrity.

Thanks.😊

Dinner in Luminae is always smart casual, including Chic Nights.

 

At breakfast and lunch, you can wear shorts. My DH has been asked to remove his baseball hat at those meals.

Great to hear. We will be cruising to Alaska next July and first time in Luminae. We don't want to overpack. This will work out just fine for us. :)

We are going on the Radiance of the Seas June 14th 2019, when should we book our hotel for the precruise?

Thank you in advance!

We are going on the Millie in July 2019. We booked our hotel last Sunday. We booked the Auberge Vancouver Hotel.

Yes. Absolutely. You will be within range of the dress on board...if more toward the casual side of the spectrum. Which is exactly where we landed. DH wore a short sleeved one night and a long sleeved button down for the other with nicer cargo pants and his Brooks sneakers (which we decided were just fine because they are basically all black). DS wore a sweater each night with nice enough looking casual pants and Converse... My guys like dressing up so they would have enjoyed being more dressy but they were not uncomfortable or feeling out of place.

 

There were people who were dressy than casual. I distinctly remember a family with two younger school aged boys. They were among the more dressy people I saw, with the Dad and boys wearing long-sleeved dress shirts with ties, dress pants, and shoes. Mom was in a cocktail dress. Still...point being, MORE dressy is still pretty darn casual for being dressy.

 

By and large...Alaska dress code is the most relaxed I've encountered...and there seems to be a general feeling on board that recognizes that Alaska requires a range of clothing that makes including dressier items challenging with today's luggage rules and regs. So no worries... *thumbs up* on chinos and sweaters.

 

PS--thank you! I'm glad it was a good read! It's fun to relive the vacation and it really helps to solidify the memories to take the time to go over it all afterwards.

Thanks so much. That makes it so much easier to decide what to pack. :)

I'm back. Just wanted to check in here and say that I'm available for continued Alaska wardrobe discussion!

 

I think we were blessed with really good weather overall. Vancouver was dry and warm.

 

Ketchikan had rain, no surprise, but it wasn't especially cold because the wind wasn't high. The rain was more of a light rain, not a southern gully washer...and it would come and go. Temps were in the 60s.

 

Icy Strait Point was dry. The sun was shining for a bit...but it was cloudy. It was cool on the water (we went whale watching)...but it also wasn't blustery cold. Definitely wanted gloves and hats though. Same moderate 60s temp.

 

Juneau was rainy off and on and overcast, with some patches of sunshine. Same temps.

 

Skagway was sun shine and beautiful. Probably the warmest weather...until we hit a spot at the lake that acted like a wind tunnel. The wind chill is severe...but getting away from it and into the sun shine was an immediate relief. Temps probably pushed toward 70.

 

Hubbard was sun shine and no wind. It was freezing cold on deck in the morning at 6:30 am...the wind was blowing. DS went back to the cabin to put on his long underwear pants and was much happier. I wore a cami, a long sleeved smart wool shirt, a furry fleece vest, my fleece pullover, and my raincoat. I also had on a hat, and I pulled my fleece hoodie on AND my raincoat hoodie on. I wore wind stop gloves. I wore my smart wool socks and my hiking boots, which really helped my feet and my core stay warm. I was wearing lined leggings and probably could have been more comfortable with a pair of jeans over those...or something else. As soon as the sun came out though...I was fine.

 

Seward was rainy and overcast and chilly on debarkation day.

 

Traveling to Anchorage that day, Anchorage was sunny and warm.

 

Traveling back into the Kenai Peninsula...it was overcast and had been raining, but the weather was on the clear and we had some clouds and a lot sunshine. There could be rain that could be described as the sky was dripping. The weather was warm and lovely on the Peninsula.

 

We were back in Seward over the weekend as well. It was also warm and sunny there. The locals were calling the 75+ degree weather a heat wave and were wearing shorts and spaghetti strap tops.

 

I didn't think to do this until we hit Anchorage on Friday (debarkation day):

 

Saturday Kenai Peninsula (this was taken in the evening...the high was higher earlier in the day):

 

Sunday Kenai Peninsula:

 

Sunday Seward...again in the evening...it was much warmer earlier in the day (I don't know why the actual high of the 24 hour day goes away if you pass by it):

 

Monday Anchorage:

Hi Anita. Do you think chinos with a nice sweater or a long sleeve dress shirt would be ok for Chic night for my husband? We don't want to have to bring dress shoes to go with dress pants. We will be on the Millenium next July. Karin ps - I enjoyed following your trip to Alaska on the Celebrity boards. :)

We did not. We went up mid-trail and exited at the westernmost trailhead, which is on the property of the University of Alaska.

 

Is it a moderate trail? Yes. For sure. Once you are ON IT. And it's super easy to follow, even on the westernmost 'undeveloped' part of the trail. However, getting up is no joke. Between the half mile of paved roads before you hit the trailhead and the maybe thousand stairs up to the trail itself, it's STEEP. We are not in the best of shape (you can see this in the video, sadly) and we did it without pain. So it's not a 'be an experienced hiker' kind of thing. It's more of a 'be able to walk up several really steep hills and then climb maybe ten stories of stairs' kind of thing. If you can do that, you're good. And the stairs were made of logs (also seen in video) so there's no danger. Just...strenuousness. ;-)

 

Hope that helps!

Thanks so much! This sounds doable for us if we take our time. :)

Thanks for posting this. I have questions about Rainbird Trail. Do you come back the same way that you went up? Is the trail moderate or "don't even think about it if you aren't a very experienced hiker"? :)

Looking forward to the next installment.

Last post of the cruise and it's been a real blast. First time to Alaska, first Celebrity cruise and ALL our expectations have been exceeded. We were overwhelmed both with the magnificent scenery and the friendliness of the Alaskan people. The crew members on the ship were the best we've ever encountered in all our previous cruises. They made a great cruise even better. We can't wait to visit Alaska again and Celebrity will be our first choice.

 

Our flight doesn't leave Vancouver till late so we will drop our bags with CDS baggage service at the port; they will transport them to the airport and hold them till we pick them up at 8pm. We bought transit passes and will be touring Vancouver for most of tomorrow. Should be fun.

 

I will be posting a wrap-up review in a few days. Till then, so long from the Celebrity Millennium.

 

Harry

Thanks for this review! We are taking our first Alaska cruise July 2019. Reading your review has made me so much more excited about going. :)

Thanks so much for posting this. We were just wondering how many cruises and what ships we sailed on. :cool:

I was looking for more information on this trip. Can you provide some more data?

 

Ship, dates, etc.

 

It sounds amazing!

We are very excited about it. We are doing this for our 20th anniversary. We booked on board our Hawaiian cruise earlier this month. It starts in Calgary, Canada, then goes to Banff/Jasper, rail to Vancouver, ferry to Victoria, 6 days, then they take you to the ship for your 7 day cruise. After the cruise you go from Seward to Anchorage then Talkeetna, Denali, and Fairbanks. (another 6 days) They transfer you to the airport from there.

We had a choice of Southbound and Northbound, we picked northbound, so I don't know if the towns are the same.

Alaska included experiences: Calgary Tower, Explore Banff Sightseeing, Banff Gondola, Glacier SkyWalk & Ice Adventure Tour, Overnight Rail Jasper to Vancouver, Vancouver City Tour and Lookout Tower, Butchart Gardens.

Canadian Rockies Land Tour: Alaska Native Heritage Center, Rail Talkeetna to Anchorage, Rail Denali to Talkeetna, Tundra Wilderness Tour, Rail Fairbanks to Denali, Riverboat Discovery Cruise, Fairbanks City Tour.

The above is copied from the brochure, but it seems like they transposed Alaska and Canadian Rockies.

This will be our first time in Alaska after about 25 cruises, and we have wanted to take the train to Banff, so it will check off a bunch of bucket list items. :)

I would suggest you Contact Cruise Critic since they run the roll calls.

Hi. I posted to the roll call for the week's cruise. I checked another roll call, and someone said they were doing a post cruise tour, so I posted the same on our roll call.

Thanks Arzeena. I'll do that. :):)

We just booked a 19-Night Ultimate Alaska & Canada Cruisetour for July 2019. I found the roll call for the cruise itself, but are there usually roll calls for the pre and/or post cruisetours?

Thanks in advance.

Karin

We just booked an Arabian sea and India for March 2019. So cant be too long before they open up for later in the year.

Thanks bluwes!

:)

We took a 3 year break from cruising, and now have cruises booked for this year and next year. We are interested in Aug 2019 cruise to Ireland and Iceland. Does anyone know when this cruise will open up? Thanks for any info. :cool:

Karin

I am not a moscato drinker, but I recall on my Summit sailing in October that there certainly was moscato onboard because they had it out for a wine pairing event. My fiance was surprised at how much the wine changed with lemon!

 

We are on Equinox in a few weeks and I hope the wine selection will at least be reasonable.

Thanks SusieV! :)

I drink Moscato and could not believe there wasnt one bottle on board. I know its not the connoisseur's wine but I love it. Royal has a great Moscato available....why cant Celebrity? They dont even have a nice German Spatlase either. Yes, I like sweet wine;p I only drink these wines...no liquor and no other wines. My drink package was pretty useless.

Oh no! I only love sweet wine too, and especially Moscato. Did you find any wine that you liked? We sail May 5 and have the premium package.

We loved it too! We had cabin 6135 with an extra large balcony which we almost lived on!

Hi Karen. We have 6135 on the Connie next year. Does the balcony furniture include footstools? They had them in concierge on Solstice class, and really enjoy them, but heard that they were not available on Connie.

Karin

Was there this March and can only answer no 4 and 5.

 

4. There is at least one or even two bars at the beach

5. It very nice and sandy, but in the water there are some rocks, so be careful

 

It's only 10 min by foot to your ship, so no worries about bathrooms or changing rooms. That's the beach and our ship:

 

Nice! Thanks for posting the photo.

Thanks hulamoon and Orator. Iced Chai sounds great too. If I can't get it iced, I will just add ice to my mug than I bring from home. ;)