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ALASKA CRUISETOUR


Pooch

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Ok, now that Celebrity is also open for 2020 bookings, I need help.  Hubby & I on an Alaska cruisetour (10 days-ish) in May 2020.  Can I ask opinions on:

Pre Cruise tour or post and why.

Royal Radiance or Celebrity Millenium?

Perk difference between Royal Jr Suite and Celebrity Concierge Class?

Looks like the cruise ports and where they go on land are pretty much the same but, if you have a preference there, love to hear it!!

Thanks guys.  Trying desperately to make a decision!!!

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I always advocate for a pre-cruise tour.  You will be moving from location to location on the pre-cruise tour and it's nice to finally get to the cruise and be in one place finally.  I would have been exhausted after the cruise and then had to deal with changing hotels every night on top of that..no thanks.  We did Fairbanks to Anchorage pre-cruise and then took the train Anchorage to Seward for the southbound on Radiance.  The pre-cruise was through Royal as well.

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The land tour we did was it's own package but included transportation to the port by bus from Anchorage..we diverted and bought our own train tickets since we thought we would enjoy that more.  The land tour hit up a museum in Anchorage in the morning and then went by bus to Seward.  We skipped the museum and took an cab to the train station and took the first train.  All we did was let the landtour guides know so they weren't looking for us in the morning.

Fairbanks flights was the tricky part for us as well..it isn't a huge airport.  We ended up driving 4 hours to Orlando to take a flight.

After the cruise ended in Vancouver we stayed a few nights and ended up taking Amtrak to Seattle to fly home.  Highly recommend the Amtrak as well if you have the time..the coastal views for this ride were amazing!

 

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And how did you book the land portion?  I am not very adventurous in places with which I am unfamiliar.  Was it through RCCL?  And I really want to take that train!!!  How did you get from the train station to the port in Seward?  You're gonna be sorry you responded to my post cuz I have LOTS of questions!!!

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We booked the train from Anchorage to Seward through RCCL. It was their afternoon train so you meet in downtown Anchorage in the morning at the Egan Center and they take your luggage by truck to the cruise ship and bus you over to the train depot for the great train ride. There is also a train that leaves before 7 AM if you want to get to Seward and do something in Seward before boarding the ship. The afternoon train pulls up along side the ship so short walk to get on the boat (you actually check-in for the cruise back at the train depot before you get on the train). If you take the morning train you have a little longer walk or shuttle from train station to the ship.

I have more info starting with this post in my live blog from last June:

 

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1 hour ago, Pooch said:

And how did you book the land portion?  I am not very adventurous in places with which I am unfamiliar.  Was it through RCCL?  And I really want to take that train!!!  How did you get from the train station to the port in Seward?  You're gonna be sorry you responded to my post cuz I have LOTS of questions!!!

The land portion was done through Royal...they call their land cruise combinations cruisetours and separate them by the number of land days.  There are several different versions and you end up with a dedicated bus that follows you for the land portion and the same bus driver and tour guides join you at all the hotels.  It was a nice mixture of planning and on-your-own.  There were excursions available at each stop to chose from with a lot of variety.  You were able to pack a cruise bag separately and have it stored on the bus and it was taken to the ship at the port for you.

The early morning train had a shuttle bus to the port available so that's how we got there.  We were able to drop our stuff off and explore Seward.  When you board the train in Anchorage there's a drop off for cruise luggage..put your tagged luggage there and it gets taken to the ship.  I watched them pull the luggage and load it into a truck.  There's a local bus loop that goes around the city.  We ended up visiting the SeaLife center in Seward.

I had so many questions and uncertainties before we actually went as information/reviews aren't as easy to come across as a Caribbean cruise.

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Just now, Pooch said:

I have asked my MEI agent for a quote for the 2B tour out of Fairbanks.  And am hoping we can do the train from Anchorage to Seward.  That wasn't a major problem for you all?

Might be an issue. In our case we overnighted in Anchorage. Looking at the 2B run, Anchorage is a midway stop on the way to Seward. Think the train only runs in the morning from Anchorage.

One possibility might be booking the train out of Denali. Just not sure timing and logistics of luggage.

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There is an afternoon train from Anchorage to Seward and (AFIK) is only for cruise passengers and booked through the cruise line. Not sure how you would get from Denali to Anchorage. Bus? But you would incur more costs for transportation that you already paid for. Are there pre-cruise tours that end in Anchorage?

 

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4 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Ok so southbound cruise, port or starboard?

We were on the port side.

At Hubbard it won't matter much since the ship should rotate 360 degrees giving both sides good views.

For me it was the southbound cruising from Hubbard that had great views of the mountains and a couple other glaciers that would not have been seen from the starboard side. Who knows - there could have been something cool over there - but we were never at a loss for great views from our balcony on the port side.

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34 minutes ago, mworkman said:

Did't i read somewhere that you also get point toward C&A status when you book the package deal thru Royal?  It would be interesting to see what points you get for JS 7 Days X 2 = 14 pts for the cruise, wasn't it 1 point per land day or 2 because of the JS?

Case when @AshleyDillo and I went this was accurate. 13 nights total, 26 points awarded.

Extra point was given for each night (including land portion) for staying in a suite on the ship. Land portion, room is standard as everyone else. No special land accommodations for suite folks on the ship.

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On 12/14/2018 at 10:36 AM, Pooch said:

Oh, so we have 18 points each currently and this cruise will give us 20 (10 days JR Suite) so what does 32 points get me?  Probably not a pineapple yet!!

I'll see what i can do to get these for you to display on your door when you cruise ?

https://www.amazon.com/Norma-Jean-Designs-DECORATIVE-PINEAPPLE/dp/B07CYMMY16/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1545151791&sr=8-10&keywords=pineapple+magnets

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