My Dream Cruise Alaska
Written: Jan 10 '08
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great scenery and fantastic photo opportunities.
Cons: A little expensive and the side trips weren't worth it.
The Bottom Line: I would go again and I would probably go on Celebrity again, it was the dream cruise I always wanted to Alaska.
|
|
|
| LRai's Full Review: Celebrity Infinity |
I took this cruise a while ago and I am just now getting around to doing a review sorry about that. Before I starting traveling abroad to teach I wanted to treat myself to my dream cruise. I always wanted to go to Alaska and travel the inside passage by ship. I'm not sure why but it could have been all the times I heard other people take this trip and say how wonderful it was.
Now I had planned to take this trip with my mother after her 3rd open heart surgery but as things happened it wasn't meant to be. Then I had planned to take this trip for my 25th wedding anniversary but as things happened that too wasn't meant to be. I had then pretty much given up on the idea that I would ever take this trip until my good friend was about to have her 50th wedding anniversary.
As we talked about that event I mentioned that they should take a cruise to Alaska, and her husband promptly said, "Why don't you two go." So for her 50th wedding anniversary she and I took the cruise.
Now when I decided what ship to take I had read about Celebrity and was told they were the best around. I felt this might be my one and only cruise so I wanted to do it right no matter the cost. I had a friend who could book the trip for me and with $100 dollars to hold my place we were good to go.
I planned this trip at nearly the end of the season which was the last week of August into the first of September. I think our cruise was the second to the last one for this ship before it would head south for the winter. The weather was fairly good being so late in the season. If I had it to do over I would probably go in July next time.
The first thing we did was book a few extra days in Vancouver, BC. I figured if I was spending the money I might as well do it right and make this trip worth the time. I had 10 days and the cruise would take 7 days. We flew into Vancouver and stayed at a very nice hotel. I would like to tell you the name but it was almost 4 years ago. The two days in Vancouver convinced me that I would love to return someday and spend more time.
While in Vancouver we went to Stanley Park which was wonderful and I could have spent alot more time just there. As it was we spent nearly a full day going around this huge park with beautiful grounds and totem poles and views of the city. It was a great way to just relax. Then the next day we went to a Chinese garden, again I would love to tell you the name of the place but it has been too long. However it is a very famous place in the city so if you asked someone for the Chinese garden they could probably tell you where it is. Again I could have spent more time and since I love to take photos this place was perfect.
We had a great time in the city and the hotel arranged for us to be taken to the ship. It seemed to take a while before we could board but once we got on the ship our cabin was perfect. Like I said I didn't want to be cheap so I booked the trip to have a cabin with a deck. We could sit out on the deck as we cruised and just relax. My travel buddy is an older lady with a bad hip so everything we did was at a slow pace.
We choose to eat at the 2nd seating just in case any of our side trips got back late. We planned side trips at every stop along the way. It was not cheap to do but I would say the entire trip was about $3000 per person, which included the air fare, our stay in Vancouver for three days and all our side trips at each port. Not bad really since it came to about $300 per day with meals.
Our first stop was Ketchikan where we had a side trip to the see some eagles and then some totem poles. The eagles were a waste of time since they were injured birds and there wasn't much they did but walk on the ground. The totem poles were interesting but to be honest once I saw the ones in Stanley Park I was pretty done with totem poles.
The next stop was Sitka where we had a side trip to the Yukon. It was on a bus and they took us to Carcross, which is a little place not worth seeing. However I did get my passport stamped there and it has been a source of mirth on my other travels since. The stamp is a silly moose and the people in Almaty had a great time passing my passport around for everyone to see the stamp...then it happened in Frankfurt and in London. Who knew a silly moose would have such an effect? We also on our Yukon trip went to a place where they had wild life on display that had been stuffed. To be honest I could have probably skipped that one too. The side trips at this point had not been very good.
Next was Juneau where we booked a trip to see whales. This was worth every penny as we had a great time and saw many whales, and even one killer whale. Later we took the tram to the top of a lookout where you could see all of Juneau and that was very nice. I tried to avoid shopping in the towns as I knew most of the stuff would be over priced and probably not worth it. I did end up with one pair of earrings of a stone they say is only in Alaska...but to be honest I just thought it was pretty.
Next came a unique stop as we went to a private island Icy Point. This is not a stop I was told by Celebrity that any other cruise makes. They negotiated with a tribe to make this a stop on the cruise. Since it was the first year they had to work out alot of "bugs". Our side trip this time was a brown bear experience. I had joked when I booked this side trip that I would be up close and personal with the bears, little did I know. As we got off the bus to walk out to the observation platform we were given the "if you meet a bear" speech. Something to the effect that we were all suppose to get real close and make alot of noise. I think my response was "what the heck?". In fact I think I told the one native guide that since he had a gun it might be a good idea to use it if we got that close.
We walked out on planks and halfway there I spotted bear droppings so that didn't make me feel to comfortable. Then on the observation deck I looked down stream and saw some idiot chasing three bears in our direction. I thought I could almost hear him saying, "get downstream now the tourists are here, it's showtime". At that point the bears hurried down toward us and then one bear suddenly disappeared and as it turned out the group behind us was surrounded by the bears shortly thereafter. That was just a little too much brown bear experience for me.
Our final stop took us past Glacier Bay and then it was onto our last stop in Seward. Here we got off the boat and took a train to Anchoridge where we caught a plane home. The train ride was a few dollars more but a great way to end the cruise.
Now as for the food on the ship I have to admit it was good for the most part. The table we got stuck at was not great and I could have done with a better crowd but in the end the fact that I could eat just about whenever I wanted and how much I wanted was good enough for me.
The ship entertainment was not the best but the fact that I could sit on my deck and watch the scenery go by was what I paid to do. Finally the spa on the ship was okay but a little expensive.
We had one day of bad weather as we left Glacier Bay for Seward. The waves were very bad and even the crew had a hard time...needless to say the dinner service that night was far from crowded.
Overall this was the cruise I had always wanted to take and I was glad I did it. Would I go again, in a heartbeat and would I go on Celebrity again, yes indeed.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
LRai
|
|
Member: L Rai
Reviews written: 190
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
Business consultant, Business Instructor and English teacher working abroad China and Kazakhstan.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.