So, after much dithering back and forth over which cruise line, itinerary, and embarkation/debarkation ports, we have narrowed it down and made our decision! We will be sailing on the Celebrity Millennium on an eight-day, seven night cruise. We will fly into Anchorage, Alaska on Thursday, May 26, 2011. The next day we will take a train to Seward, Alaska, where we will board the Millennium. The ship will visit Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, and the Inside Passage before arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday, June 3. We will follow the cruise with a brief weekend in Seattle, Washington, before flying home on Sunday, June 5.

Here is the full itinerary:
Thursday, May 26 – Arrive Anchorage late evening. Stay at a hotel near the airport (Microtel?)
Friday, May 27 – Take the Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic to Seward. Spend the afternoon touring Seward then board the Millennium.

The Millennium itinerary is as follows:

Following our arrival in Vancouver we will spend the morning and afternoon touring the city, then take the 5:45 PM Amtrak Cascade train to Seattle, arriving at a little after 10 PM. We will check into a downtown hotel there and spend Saturday and part of Sunday touring the city, then fly out on Sunday afternoon.

So all of this sounds awesome, right? The next question is, how much will it all cost? Well, figuring airfare from Chicago O’Hare, and adding together the costs of the cruise plus all other food, lodging, and transportation here are the estimates we have come up with. Please remember that these are costs per person, based on double occupancy in hotels and on the cruise:

Note that there are levels available (and various types of suites and amenities), but this should give you a good idea of what we’re talking about. Because we are celebrating our tenth anniversary, takaza and I are splurging and getting the Sky Suite; we hope to host our friends there throughout the cruise. Now, this may seem like a crazy amount of money but there is a bit of good news: the cost of the cruise doesn’t have to be paid all at once (though if you prefer to, you can do it that way). Instead, you can put down a $250 deposit with our travel agent, with the balance being due by March 11, 2011. As for the other costs, airfare will be up to each person. We will probably book the train trips and hotel reservations for the group and ask that you send money along to us – that won’t be until later this year, though.

There is still the question of shore excursions. Our travel agent recommends excursions through ShoreTrips or Port Promotions. The nice thing about these is that we can book them as a group, solo, or not at all – great flexibility! Once we know who will be joining us we will dig deeper into this.

So – who’s interested? Leave a comment or contact us by mail or IM if you are. If you have questions, let me know, too! I’ll be happy to provide what answers I can.