Italy52

Ashland, who did you book with? Did you have a problem navigating the bus from the port to the vendor? Cost of tour? We will be going to Sitka in July and want to go back to the Raptor Center and the Fortress of the Bear -- didn't know if we should just hop a cab or if there was an organized tour we could get somewhere. TIA.

We are also fans of Hubbard Glacier. In ISP, Glacier Wind Charters is a great independent whale watching company. We have gone out with them numerous times and looking forward to seeing them again in July of 2023.

Your welcome. I know this excursion is not everyone's cup of tea. However, the excitement of being close to the glacier, hearing the boom of the calving and watching the incredible ice falling from the glacier is so amazing. Hope you have a wonderful experience.

We have taken the Hubbard excursion about three times and have never had issues with crowding or rough weather -- maybe we just got lucky. We have also had two experiences where we had one vendor cancellation and one cancellation due to fog so we know it can sometimes have its drawbacks --- but, it is a chance we are willing to take. We have also been to Seward quite a few times and taken the Kenai Fjords boat tour as well as a trip to Exit Glacier. Our cruise does not go to Seward but I am sure others will find your post helpful.

What ship and date are you sailing?

Here is another shot.

We sailed with Princess in June and did the Hubbard Glacier & Wilderness Exploration tour that off loaded from the ship --- absolutely wonderful. We were very fortunate and saw lots of calving. Lots of space to move around on the tour boat and we were able to get lots of good photographs. I have attached a couple of my favorite pictures. We are sailing once again with Princess in July and will be taking the same excursion. Pricing is $299.95 per person.

I did not log into my Holland America account, I just randomly searched their site without providing any info. Yet, somehow they found out who I was.

Have taken this tour before and yes, it is a very nice tour. For us, we use Juneau for our whale watching tour.

Two weeks ago I was on the Holland America website looking at an itinerary for Alaska. One day later, I received a call from a Holland America personal consultant asking if I need any help choosing an itinerary or if the person could answer any questions I might have. I asked how did he know I was looking at the HAL sight and was told that the system sends a signal to a personal cruise consultant that I was searching the HAL website and that I might need some assistance. Hence, the call. I thanked the consultant for the call and politely told him I was just looking at my options on various lines and not ready to book anything. I also told him that if I did book anything, I would be doing it through my TA. Even with explanation, I received an email from the consultant showing me all the benefits of booking with him and Holland America. BTW, NCL used to do the same thing, called me at least once a month even when I told the representative that I was not interested in sailing NCL again -- that didn't stop her from trying. Now, whenever I see her number on my caller ID, I just ignore it.

Here is the other picture

So happy to hear that the Hubbard excursion appeared. Previously, we attempted the excursion twice and it was cancelled (once due to vendor issue and the other too much ice in the water). However, we were able to go on the excursion this year and it DID NOT disappoint. I have attached a couple of our favorite pictures --- hopefully, we will have the same experience on our upcoming July cruise. Wishing you many wonderful cruise memories.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Wonder when Celebrity will post itineraries for their Alaska cruises --- any ideas? Haven't sailed with Celebrity in a few years but the a announcement mentioned above caught my eye.

That happened to me as well. Earlier this morning, I saw the posting saying check back and I kept checking all day. Went into the excursion listing tonight and it still said the same. Ate dinner and went back to see if anything had changed and it finally posted. Cost is $299.95 per person.

FYI. My Hubbard excursion just showed up and I booked it. So glad it was available for 2023 -- went on it last year and it was outstanding.

The group that we encountered was a very LARGE cruise group. Even with the ship being quite large, it seemed like we were always running into them. Just an observation as they didn't hamper us from having a good time.

Is the bistro free? We were on the Quantum in August of this year and had a hard time accessing the facility as there was a very large group occupying most of the space. So we never really got the chance to eat there.

Thanks in advance for letting me know if you see an excursion for Hubbard, I appreciate it.

Happy to hear that you were able to book your excursions as well. Is your excursion listing showing anything for Hubbard? I am still waiting to see if that one will be available this year. Happy sailing to you as well.

We had a port stop in Catalina that we could not do as a result of winds --- no refund was given.

Just a heads up ---- I went into our 7/14/23 Alaska booking and I was finally able to book our excursions. As I looked at the options, it appears there will be more excursions posted down the road. For now, I have two that I wanted so I am good with that.

We had the opposite experience. We sailed in August on the Discovery and were on the ship rather quickly. We had a 11 AM check in and it went very smoothly. Perhaps there was a glitch in your boarding process that day??

I have been on the Celebrity Millennium for north and south itineraries to Alaska a few times --- although it has been a while since we have gone with Celebrity. We had a nice experience, no complaints. After researching itineraries, perhaps the OP found that Celebrity had checked off all her boxes. njsmom, have a wonderful cruise to Alaska.