2024 Our Cruise to Alaska on The Celebrity Edge

 June 7th - June 14th 2024

We finally got to go on the cruise we thought we were going on in 2020... We had signed up as "interested" when we signed the lease in February 2020 for our apartment at Campus Towers but before that could get organized Covid shut all the cruises down.   

I brought the idea back to life at a resident council meeting in October 2023 when I raised my hand and asked "What about organizing that Alaskan cruise?"  A month later when the organization meeting for the cruiser's was held, we were getting the test results back on Lou's throat and it wasn't looking very good that we would be going on this cruise either.

As the next few months went by and the others were booking their rooms, Lou was going through another round of 35 radiation treatments. Finally in May, when the doctors gave us the "okay", we booked ours.  Along with our room, I booked a foldable electric scooter to help Lou get around the ship and rented a car in Juneau for us to drive ourselves rather than try to get on a bus to see things.

We weren't involved in selecting the ship or cruise dates.  We let the others figure all of that out. We were part of a group from Campus Towers. So all the details were pretty much worked out by them. All we had to do was get our stuff figured out and organized so we wouldn't take too much along.  I have no idea how anyone goes on a cruise with just one suitcase and a carry on. Lucky for me, we weren't flying.  Our group rented the Campus Towers shuttle bus to take all of us to the ship.  They had to remove the back to seats to get all the suitcases to fit though. Not just mine.  Everyone's!

We sailed out of Seattle on the Celebrity Edge.  This was the FIRST season for the Edge to be in North America.  It's usually in Australia / New Zealand waters. Captain Matt was as much of a legend for being a little gutsy as the buffet was known for being spectacular. Neither one was a disappointment.

Since we booked in May and our cruise was June 7th to the 14th, our room selection was narrowed down for us. We might not have picked this room in November but by May it was one of about 20 left. It had a bit of an obstructed view but it was still very enjoyable.  It came with special room service as well. Waking up to a nice breakfast on our room's enclosed veranda balcony was simply wonderful.

My niece, Roberta Kottsick, had sent us squeaky rubber chickens at Christmas and I carted them along to be our room mascots.  I ordered special magnets for the outside of our door and that helped us find our room more easily when we returned from eating.  Lou brought his must-have clock but the batteries decided to fail on the 2nd day. We didn't want to get off the boat in Ketchikan to shop so Fawn and Marchelle,  two of our cruise mates, brought batteries back for him. They saved the day! We weren't sure just how much battery power the electric scooter had to venture off the boat and my hip was limiting my walking.

Captain Matt certainly knew everything about his ship.  We were very confident we were on the best ship with the best Captain at the helm.  The ship was amazing.  It took us all week to see all of it.

After Ketchikan we cruised up Endicott Arm to see Dawes Glacier.  That was a very early and very cold morning.  I was glad we packed our ski coats and gloves. 

Then it was on to Juneau to see the Mendenhall Glacier. Since the city tour buses did not allow scooters to be brought on board,  I rented a 2020 Subaru Outback thru the TURO app.  It went very well.  It was easy to load the electric scooter into it.  I don't think we would have been able to see Mendenhall Glacier any other way.  Neither one of us could have walked any further than we did.  We were wore out by the time we got back to the ship.

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska

Skagway was breathtaking.  The sun was shining.  The water and the mountains were awesome!

Our entire group went on the Yukon Route Train to White Pass and it was worth the price of the ticket!!

Train ride to White Pass

I know I took 2,000 photos during our week long cruise but I think over 600 of those were taken while we were in Skagway.  It's surrounded by mountains.  I could spend a few days there if we ever go again  but I don't think the weather is this good all the time.  We were really blessed with all of it!  Lou even found the red gloves we thought he had lost!  We had a lot of fun.  Learned a lot trying to get ready for this cruise and learned even more once we were on the ship.  This ship was a great choice and we're grateful to the ones that organized it and made it a GREAT TRIP!

I think the residents of Skagway have their own brand of humor and way of looking at the "tourists" taking photo's of the wildlife.  (and by the way...  you need a very special excursion to go see the penguins.)