Northern Aurora

We have flown to Hawaii a number of times in addition to taking the Vancouver to Honolulu itinerary. And years ago the now long gone Celebrity Century did RT itineraries from San Diego to Hawaii which we did only once. We have also done six full transits of the Panama Canal. We've done both directions and have no preference. During the actual PC transit there will be narration. We most likely will do another PC full transit at some point in the future. II recommend a PC full transit over the Vancouver to Honolulu. And read "Path Between the Seas."

I've never even been to Tampa let along boarded a cruise ship there. But, if you want to leave the ship on turnaround day you will leave the ship before the gangway is closed. It will be closed for about 1.5 to 2 hours as the departing passengers have left and before the embarking passengers start boarding. If you want to remain on the ship then you will meet with the documentation officer, be escorted off the ship, and ring out through Security. Once the ship reaches a zero count the B2B passengers will then line up and again pass through Security. You will be free to enjoy a nearly empty Cafe al Bacio or do whatever. All of this will be covered in the succinct instruction letter. Some passengers have posted copies of the B2B letter on Cruise Critic. Hopefully a search will find them, or someone will post another copy again.

I also packed them on our April and June cruises. I had them in checked luggage.

We spent two weeks on the Solstice in June on B2B Alaska itineraries. We were in a suite and received the nice grey bags on each leg. I didn't spend much time in the shops so didn't notice if the inexpensive ones were for sale. But if this is a new policy -- then shame on Celebrity for not providing a tote bag for all cabin categories.

The only thing I am aware of which you can't use OBC for is a deposit on a future cruise.

Neither I nor "canderson" addressed the transit pass issue. A transit pass included in your turnaround day info packet. If folks choose to leave the ship for the day the transit pass will allow B2B passengers to avoid the sometimes long lines of embarking passengers.

There is a small discount for B2B cruises so make sure the reservations are linked. Not having the same stateroom is not a problem. Your stateroom attendants will move your items on hangers and your luggage. You will need to pack the items in drawers and will also be responsible for items in your stateroom safe. There will be a succinct instruction letter delivered prior to turnaround day and likely a meeting for B2B passengers also prior to turnaround day. The turnaround day process (ie, where you will receive your new sea pass cards) will be outlined. Be aware that Celebrity handles each leg of a B2B as separate cruises. Any non-refundable OBC will not be moved over to the second leg. B2B passengers are invited to the concierge embarkation lunch. You will not be the only B2B passenger, and staff are well aware of the process. It will be go smoothly.

And your assumption is correct. And just to be clear these really aren't blanket sized but very generous throws. They are available on cold/cool weather cruises including South American, Norwegian fjords and Baltic itineraries.

@spleenstomper: You have found the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute's aurora forecast -- one of the best but I am somewhat biased. If aurora viewing is on your bucket list also consider a winter visit to the Chena Hot Springs Resort which is northeast of Fairbanks. Plan to spend several days there. And if you are not fortunate to see the aurora you will have soaked in an outdoor rock pool, taken sled dog rides, petted reindeer, ridden on a snow machine, visited an ice museum where you can purchase an appletini in your souvenir ice glass and visited hydrophobic green houses which are operated year round with heat off the natural hot springs.

The blankets were also on the Solstice in June. Also found in the same location.

While passengers in Suites receive much heavier bags it is my understanding that all stateroom categories receive the light weight non-zippered bag. Mention it to your stateroom attendant.

Quite frankly, to say that a number of additional folks in the MC/RL is "baloney" is ridiculous. It is a limited space. And access to the MC/RL for Blue Chip members and Zeniths has not been advertised for years.

Actually -- the number of Zeniths has more than doubled since we entered "Z world" seven years ago. We have been on cruises when the number of Zeniths has topped nineteen. On a cruise on the Infinity in 2018 there were actually eleven Blue Chip members granted access to MC. If 11 BC members were on a cruise with 19 Zeniths that would definitely impact MC/RL. It is unclear to me as to how many triple Zeniths there are currently sailing on Celebrity. And for your information, since you "need to know" and are challenging my knowledge on the subject, we have over 4300 loyalty points and will quickly exceed 4400 in September. So, how many cruises have you completed with Celebrity and how many loyalty points do you have? Just curious about your level of expertise.

Slightly off topic but I wonder if our OP has booked an accessible stateroom. With knee and hip issues an accessible shower may be helpful. My father had Parkinson's and a folding wheel chair was so helpful taking him to doctor's appointments and so forth. These chairs are lightweight and can be easily folded. I wonder if our OP is flying to their cruise as the folding wheelchair my parents had wasn't close to the quality of his "regular" wheelchair and I wonder how it would have held up in the cargo hold of an airplane.

There are some posts on the August 28th roll call. They are at sea.

Not only are Suites sailing full, there are simply too many Zenith Captain's Club members to allow for a return of Zeniths who are not sailing in a suite to be allowed access to Michael's Club/Retreat Lounge. This is my opinion as a Zenith CC member who since the resumption of cruising after the global suspension has only sailed in Suites, and all future reservations are also booked in Suites. I realize that a number of fellow Zenith members are highly upset about the lack of MC/RL access but that ship has sailed.

Just some random thoughts from someone who lives in Alaska. We live about a two drive north of the entrance to Denali National Park. As @Gardyloo has mentioned the only road into Denali National Park was closed in August 2021 at the section road called "Pretty Rocks" which is located at approximately mile 42. The road was originally built on an area of ice rich land, the ice is melting and the road is sliding off the mountain side. While the NPS has obtained funding the bridge the problematic area this is a major project given the magnitude of the problem. No one knows when the road will be re-opened past Pretty Rocks, but it could be several years. I've always thought that visitors who don't go into the park as far as Eielson Visitor's Center (mile 66) short change themselves as not only are the displays at EVC great some of the prime wild life viewing areas are between Pretty Rocks and EVC. An interesting idea for our OPs to consider is a visit to Wrangell -- St. Elias National Park & Preserve. Princess does land tours in this area of Alaska. In addition to Wrangell -- St. Elias the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark is in this area, as is the interesting community of McCarthy. The community of Valdez and Prince William Sound are also in the area. The Princess Lodge in this area is the Copper River Princess.

Just some random thoughts from someone who actually lives in Alaska and has also done a number of Med cruises (always in the fall). When fellow cruisers ask us where we live and we tell them we live in Alaska we have had a number of folks tell us that that they have been "all over" the state in one or two cruises. If I find them really irritating I ask them what they thought of Utqiagvik and they respond with the deer in the headlights look. A SE Alaska cruise is at best a small taste of an enormous state. I have no idea what cruise tour 10B entails but unless folks are traveling with someone very infirm I suggest they DIY in Alaska for their land portion. Alaska is a very easy place to navigate. When I type the following it sounds snarky and obnoxious but in Alaska we drive on the same side of the highway as the rest of the US, you will find ATMs exactly where you would expect to find them, and we don't have bandits or pickpockets. If tour 10B includes Denali National Park folks need to understand that in August 2021 the sole road into DNP was closed at the Pretty Rocks section (approximately mile 42). The original road was constructed on an area of ice rich land in that section, the ice is melting and the road is sliding off the mountain. The NPS has secured funding to try to bridge the problematic section. It is unclear to me how far along the work has progressed or if in fact if the actually bridge construction has even started. No one knows when road access will be possible past Pretty Rocks. I have always thought that tourists short change themselves when they don't go into the park as far as Eielson Visitor's Center (mile 66) since prime wildlife viewing is past Pretty Rocks. Given the issues in DNP an interesting alternative would be a DIY to Wrangell - St. Elias National Park & Preserve. Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark is extremely interesting as is a visit to McCarthy. Valdez and Prince William Sound are also nearby.

Scott: I hope you report on your Solstice experience. We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront last September and also this past June for Alaska cruises. The Solstice has used Pier 91 (Smith Cove) for some time. Celebrity uses Pier 66 (Bell Street) for port calls but last summer did actually use it for most Millennium embarkation and disembarkation as NCL wasn't using Pier 66 at that time. @misha1: We used the Marriott shuttle service to Pier 91 in June. I don't recall the name of the company. The Marriott concierge arranged it, and the cost was approximately $11 or $12 per person. After our two weeks on the Solstice the shuttle returned us to the Marriott. It was an extremely organized operation.

I, like Linda, was also booked B2B on this cruise in 2021. The 2021 cruise filled very quickly. We booked the day after it was opened for booking and were fortunate to obtain a great suite. Only a few days later a great portion of the inventory was already sold.

We were in Skagway twice in June. The first time was a few days before the slide and the next week was after the slide. We were B2B on the Celebrity Solstice. While the Solstice is significantly smaller than the Ovation of the Seas it isn't a 800 passenger ship either. The Skagway small boat harbor is generally very "sleepy." It was definitely not over taxed. The tenders had multiple slots to tie up to the pier. But to @johnintx : Someone has posted a detailed description of their Ovation tender process in Skagway. Since I don't read the RC board it must have been on one of the threads about the Skagway rock slide on this Alaska forum.

Last fall we did B2B late season Alaska cruises. We used our balcony every day. But we also have never seriously considered an ocean view or inside stateroom. My husband always wondered about ocean view staterooms and when he was in covid-19 quarantine in an ocean view stateroom last April he now really knows he couldn't tolerate one.

We were B2B on the Solstice in June. We were on Alaska Standard Time. You will be on local time in the Alaska ports.

We are Zenith level Captain's Club members. For years our laundry has been returned on hangers. We book Aqua class, Sky Suites and Celebrity Suites. Since the resumption of cruises after the global suspension we have only been in Sky Suites, and on the three ships we have lately cruised (Millennium, Solstice and Eclipse) all laundry has been again turned on hangers.

A Juneau attraction not frequently mentioned is the Sealaska Heritage Institute. There is a free to tour the collection but no admission fee for the gift shop. The gift shop is one of the nicest in Juneau.