Booked our first Cruise

[1Kflyerguy]

Just booked our first cruise. We going to Alaska late next summer on Celebrity Edge.

My wife has pretty much been against cruising, however a Broadway celebrity she listens to, Seth Rudetsky, is doing a themed cruise, with some sort on onboard activities. My wife's best freind and some others are going, so now we are going as well.

I had wanted to try cruising, particularly to Alaska for a while, so I will consider this win.

We are both still working, and had pretty full travel schedule already planned/booked for next year, but will make this work.

 

[Passepartout]

Cool! Time was, we'd suggest folks join Cruise Critic's Roll Call for their cruise to virtually meet some of the other folks on their cruise, but now it's all gone to facebook groups for your cruise. look for the ship & sailing date.

Have fun! We are long time Celebrity cruisers, but haven't done an Edge Class yet. Others here can answer any questions you need answered.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Now we are working on figuring out which excursions to book in advance... Lots of options and ways to spend money...

 

[Passepartout]

Now we are working on figuring out which excursions to book in advance... Lots of options and ways to spend money...

That's one area where the fellow cruisers on the fb group may have self-catered tours planned for smaller groups than the cruise line's 45 pass buses allowing flexibility and more- or different- sights in less time or cost.

The Alaska stops are pretty well saturated with stuff to do, from sea-plane fishing or sight-seeing trips to helping socialize sled-dog puppies and having a ride on a wheel-mounted 'sled' being pulled rapidly along forested trails. Of course, there's always cedar plank cooked salmon.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Cool! Time was, we'd suggest folks join Cruise Critic's Roll Call for their cruise to virtually meet some of the other folks on their cruise, but now it's all gone to facebook groups for your cruise. look for the ship & sailing date.

Have fun! We are long time Celebrity cruisers, but haven't done an Edge Class yet. Others here can answer any questions you need answered.

True . . . that most are over on Facebook for roll calls, etc. And even worse, if you as much as mention (or reference with initials) Facebook, the moderators at Cruise Critic with delete your post and possibly put you on a moderator timeout.

I really dislike Cruise Critic . . . a lot!

 

[Timeshare Von]

Now we are working on figuring out which excursions to book in advance... Lots of options and ways to spend money...

Some experiences in port are best booked outside of your cruise line/ship. If you are going to Icy Strait (Hoonah) I can provide you with a fabulous local who does local tours beyond the actual port (which is free and no excursion necessary). Skagway is another easy port to navigate on your own . . . I would suggest renting a car to drive up and over to the Yukon rather than the rail/bus trips. So much to see and do in Sitka, Juneau and Ketchikan! You'll have a wonderful time.

Most significant suggestion . . . be sure to pack outwear to keep you warm AND dry.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Some experiences in port are best booked outside of your cruise line/ship. If you are going to Icy Strait (Hoonah) I can provide you with a fabulous local who does local tours beyond the actual port (which is free and no excursion necessary). Skagway is another easy port to navigate on your own . . . I would suggest renting a car to drive up and over to the Yukon rather than the rail/bus trips. So much to see and do in Sitka, Juneau and Ketchikan! You'll have a wonderful time.

Most significant suggestion . . . be sure to pack outwear to keep you warm AND dry.

I don't recognize Icy Straight, so perhaps we are not stopping there, will need to look at that.

I have been watching some YouTube videos of Alaska stops, and yes many seem easy to navigate. I am a train nut, and go out of my way find old railroads, so will probably catch the narrow gauge out of Skagway, but can understand that if your not a railfan, there may be better options.

 

[beejaybee]

@1Kflyerguy
Our first cruise was booked because family in Oregon chose an NCL to Alaska and we wanted to join them (23 friends and family altogether!).
You should have a great cruise on Edge. Definitely do the train if you are an aficionado- we rented a car in Skagway and drove into the Yukon while the gang went choo-chooing.
Sad to say that Cruise Critic roll calls are no longer chock full of information, offers to join others on private tours and plans for a meet-up on sailaway day. Our next cruise has @20 on the roll call vs. 128 on the FB group. However, I find the FB cruise groups too linear, often started by travel agents, and with limited information. That being said, sign on to the FB group and do join Cruise Critic- the Alaska forum alone is invaluable even if the roll call may not be.

 

[SmithOp]

I don't recognize Icy Straight, so perhaps we are not stopping there, will need to look at that.

I have been watching some YouTube videos of Alaska stops, and yes many seem easy to navigate. I am a train nut, and go out of my way find old railroads, so will probably catch the narrow gauge out of Skagway, but can understand that if your not a railfan, there may be better options.

We did the split van tour / rail with a private tour. It was a small commuter type van about 15 people that stopped at all the points of interest. On the way back they dropped us at the rail stop and we rode the train back down into Skagway. They will pick you up at the bottom but it's a short walk to town and the dock.

I don't know if you visit as many spots just riding the train up and back. The cruise tours use the big busses with 50+ people.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I don't recognize Icy Straight, so perhaps we are not stopping there, will need to look at that.

I have been watching some YouTube videos of Alaska stops, and yes many seem easy to navigate. I am a train nut, and go out of my way find old railroads, so will probably catch the narrow gauge out of Skagway, but can understand that if your not a railfan, there may be better options.

My bad . . . Icy Strait Point

 

[Timeshare Von]

@1Kflyerguy
<<SNIPPED>>
Sad to say that Cruise Critic roll calls are no longer chock full of information, offers to join others on private tours and plans for a meet-up on sailaway day. Our next cruise has @20 on the roll call vs. 128 on the FB group. However, I find the FB cruise groups too linear, often started by travel agents, and with limited information. That being said, sign on to the FB group and do join Cruise Critic- the Alaska forum alone is invaluable even if the roll call may not be.

Agreed . . . CC are terrible in my opinion. And make ANY mention of other social media outlets, especially Facebook, and they will delete your post and put you on moderated probation. I'm not a fan of their site, but no surprise since it's owned by Trip Advisor and they can be heavy handed in moderation practices too.

For Royal Caribbean, we have seen and participated in both CC and FB pages specific to the trips we're booked on and their port destinations.

 

[dioxide45]

I really dislike Cruise Critic . . . a lot!

I agree. I've stopped using Cruise Critic altogether. Their roll calls went way down hill. Facebook groups seem to be a much better option. It seems Cruise Critic really doesn't like Facebook. There are far better ways now to get information about cruising than Cruise Critic. The forum software they use at CC sucks.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I did join a couple FB groups related to Celebrity and Alaska, think I can get the kind of answers I am looking for there. Though the group i found for specific cruise only has 4 members, so hopefully more join over time..

Have not had a chance to join Cruise Critic yet, but sounds like that may not be worth it anyways.

 

[beejaybee]

I did join a couple FB groups related to Celebrity and Alaska, think I can get the kind of answers I am looking for there. Though the group i found for specific cruise only has 4 members, so hopefully more join over time..

Have not had a chance to join Cruise Critic yet, but sounds like that may not be worth it anyways.

I do think CC is worth joining for ports of call forum alone! Here is one of many current Alaska threads: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3024826-the-2025-overplanners-thread/

 

[TheHolleys87]

I do think CC is worth joining for ports of call forum alone! Here is one of many current Alaska threads: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3024826-the-2025-overplanners-thread/

In addition to Ports of Call, I find Florida Departures and Gulf Coast Departures to be helpful as well, with recommendations for transportation from/to the airports, local hotels and restaurants, and even sightseeing near unfamiliar ports. And when researching a cruise line that I haven’t sailed with, CC has been adequate for me, at least to get started.

 

[PigsDad]

On our last Alaskan cruise, in Juneau we simply got off the boat and there were many vendors there for tours. We decided on a whale watching tour. We took a van out to the marina where we boarded a very nice ~12 passenger boat with plenty of room. We saw all types of wildlife, including a pod of killer whales and even saw one breach pretty close to the boat! The cost was about half of what the cruise ship wanted, and we weren't on a big bus / boat, so our experience was much better.

Kurt

 

[elaine]

CC Roll Call is hit/miss, but I always find good info with searches or asking questions on the cruise line or region forums. Our Japan CC Roll call had 100 people. One cruiser shared his DIY plans. For some ports, up to 50 people asked to join his cheapo (highly researched) DIY excursions. We did a couple and they were great. We also met some great people. One is one our cruise in 2026--with that Roll call already having many joining. The prior cruise to NZ had few joining.

 

[gwberg]

True . . . that most are over on Facebook for roll calls, etc. And even worse, if you as much as mention (or reference with initials) Facebook, the moderators at Cruise Critic with delete your post and possibly put you on a moderator timeout.

I really dislike Cruise Critic . . . a lot!

I’m getting frustrated with Cruise Critic, too. I guess I’ll try Facebook.


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[gwberg]

Some experiences in port are best booked outside of your cruise line/ship. If you are going to Icy Strait (Hoonah) I can provide you with a fabulous local who does local tours beyond the actual port (which is free and no excursion necessary). Skagway is another easy port to navigate on your own . . . I would suggest renting a car to drive up and over to the Yukon rather than the rail/bus trips. So much to see and do in Sitka, Juneau and Ketchikan! You'll have a wonderful time.

Most significant suggestion . . . be sure to pack outwear to keep you warm AND dry.

Thanks for the tips. We are considering an Alaska cruise.


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[Passepartout]

Thanks for the tips. We are considering an Alaska cruise.

Have you already booked, or are you still in 'shopping' mode? For 'last minute' (90 days out, actually) cruises, unless you have some brand loyalty preference, I like www.vacationstogo.com/ and check their 90 day ticker. They also have pretty good port-of-call info. You can also filter by port of departure, and if you have some affinity, like if you are retired military or interline deals if you or your spouse work in the travel industry. There are significant price reductions there that you can filter for automatically.

Jim

 

[gwberg]

Have you already booked, or are you still in 'shopping' mode? For 'last minute' (90 days out, actually) cruises, unless you have some brand loyalty preference, I like www.vacationstogo.com/ and check their 90 day ticker. They also have pretty good port-of-call info. You can also filter by port of departure, and if you have some affinity, like if you are retired military or interline deals if you or your spouse work in the travel industry. There are significant price reductions there that you can filter for automatically.

Jim

Still shopping. I’ll definitely try that site.


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[Glynda]

Have you already booked, or are you still in 'shopping' mode? For 'last minute' (90 days out, actually) cruises, unless you have some brand loyalty preference, I like www.vacationstogo.com/ and check their 90 day ticker. They also have pretty good port-of-call info. You can also filter by port of departure, and if you have some affinity, like if you are retired military or interline deals if you or your spouse work in the travel industry. There are significant price reductions there that you can filter for automatically.

Jim

I clicked on a few of the 90 day ticker dealA but didn't see an itenerary. Seems that Norwegian has the big discounts. I've only been on one of their small old ships which wasn't a bad ship but it was the worst food I've ever had on a cruise ship.

 

[Passepartout]

I clicked on a few of the 90 day ticker dealA but didn't see an itenerary. Seems that Norwegian has the big discounts. I've only been on one of their small old ships which wasn't a bad ship but it was the worst food I've ever had on a cruise ship.

You have to click on the 'Fast Break', or whatever it's called in the left column of the screen and you'll get all the details, itinerary, perks, ports, etc.

Yes, we agree on NCL. That's why we are Celebrity loyalists

Jim

 

[GrayFal]

WhatsInPort is an informative website with lots of good information even for land based tours.

 

[pedro47]

Suggestion only on the Celebrity Edge you may need to book early to dine in the speciality restaurant called The Eden.

I would also suggest you should read Cruise Critic Reviews section about the Celebrity Edge ship.

We are Elite Plus with Celebrity Cruise Line.
We prefer Celebrity Cruise Line for it service and restaurant food.

Celebrity is not a party cruise line. IMHO