Alaska Cruising with Celebrity & Tips for a Cruising Newbie

Tips for cruising newbies

As soon as you have booked your Celebrity cruise—or at least a couple months prior to sailing—install the Celebrity Cruises app on your phone. You’ll need this for check-in a few days prior to your sailing date. The app is wonderful because it allows you to make dinner reservations, book shore excursions, and see what’s happening on the ship throughout your journey.

Arriving at the cruise port: As a first-time adult cruiser, I took a transfer directly from the airport, which was super simple and easy (highly recommend if you fly in the same day). You may choose to fly in a day early and take a taxi or Uber to the cruise port. The cruise port, for me, was super overwhelming with lots of people and lines. Luckily, the staff is phenomenal, and I had a lady walk me through the entire process. What I did not realize was how much time you should allow to get through the cruise port. This can take hours. You will receive an email prior to sailing with your check-in time, but I would suggest arriving early—as early as you can! You don’t want to cut this too close. Make sure you have passports, birth certificates, etc.

Once you are on the ship, they will have lunch at the buffet. Holy cow, I had never seen such craziness at a buffet. This was overwhelming on the first day, but trust me, it gets better! After that first day, you can go to the buffet at various times, or you may choose to have lunch in the Grand Epernay Dining Room or one of the specialty restaurants, so it’s not as crowded and a little more relaxing. I was super impressed with the food on Celebrity! Everything I ate was delicious.

Grand Epernay Dining Room

Luggage: As a first-time adult cruiser, I did not realize that they take your luggage at the cruise port and deliver your bags to your room once you are onboard. Even if your bags don’t arrive by the time the ship departs, don’t worry, they will arrive!

Shore excursions: You may choose to book a few shore excursions in the app prior to sailing, but you can also book shore excursions throughout your journey in the app or by visiting guest relations. The ship provided several discount coupons on shore excursions during our sailing.

Your room attendant will visit your room twice daily—once in the morning to clean and once in the evening for the turndown service.

Celebrity will place a hold on your uploaded credit card on about day one or two on the ship (it was around $100). Don't worry, any onboard purchases will be taken from this amount once your final bill is settled and any unused funds will drop off the hold charge. I went to guest relations really confused about this on the morning of day two, and they said this is normal. I ended up using all of the hold charge after purchasing a couple last-minute shore excursions.

I would recommend making your dinner reservations for the entire week in advance prior to departure. You can always go back and modify anything you don’t want later, but at least this way you’ll have a guaranteed spot at the dining time you want.

The airport transfer process was seamless! They’ve got it down! There will be a Celebrity representative waiting for you at baggage claim so they will put you on a bus with your luggage and other travelers.

Having just returned from cruising with a baby, I cannot rave enough about how accommodating and nice the staff was! Everyone on that ship loves children! It took us a few days, but I discovered there is a play area for babies and toddlers at Camp at Sea. They have dedicated play hours for babies and toddlers and a wonderful program for older kids and teens. Your child will need to be at least 4 years old to participate in the Camp at Sea activities.

Overall, this trip was spectacular, and even as someone who doesn’t consider myself a “cruise person,” I actually can’t wait to do it again!

Tours to consider during your Alaska cruise

• Whale-watching: One of the best whale-watching destinations is in Alaska. Everyone I talked to who went whale-watching got some spectacular photos and loved this activity.

• Visit a sled-dog camp: There’s no better sense of place than visiting a sled-dog camp and learning the history of Juneau or Skagway.

• Do a kayaking or canoe tour to see some wildlife up close.

• Visit Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and stroll the downtown area with cute shops.

• In Skagway, take the White Pass Yukon Adventure full-day tour through Canada.

Skagway

• In Ketchikan, watch the Alaskan Lumberjack show. This was super fun. It’s about an hour and a half, but I really enjoyed it, and it’s within walking distance from the ship.

• Splurge on a helicopter ride for the best views.

• Attend a salmon bake. You can’t leave Alaska without having some local salmon.

• In Skagway, take the Klondike Summit and historic city tour. You’ll ride on a bus all the way to the summit, pass through Canada, and learn some history along the way. This is a great tour for those who don’t want something super active or may have limited mobility.

• Ride the Icy Strait gondola. The red one is a must-do! This was a highlight for me. If you are into photography, you’ll get some really great shots!

Icy Strait gondola summit

As your travel advisor, I can help you arrange prepaid gratuities, airport transfers, and arrival time information.

For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our cruises page.