Larison Family Alaska Cruise, Aug 24 – Sept 4, 2005
By Tim
Larison
Travel Agent
and CLIA Certified Master Cruise Counselor (MCC)
With
Contributions by Travel Agent Anne Larison
Cast of Characters: Tim, Anne, Andrew (age 11), and
Joshua (age 11) Larison
My family’s Alaska 2005 trip was a wonderful adventure,
filled with amazing scenery, wildlife viewing, excellent food, and good family
times. In this report I will first focus on the different places we visited,
and then tell more about our cruise ship – the beautiful Celebrity Summit. I
had been to Alaska three of the past four summers but this was the first visit
for Anne and the boys. Throughout the report I’ll make comparisons to what I
experienced on my 2003 Alaska cruise on the Island Princess to this trip.
I’ll rate different parts of our trip on an A (tops) to F
(bad) scale – as you’ll see we didn’t really have any bad experiences but some
parts were better than others. Anne will contribute her comments on various
parts of the trip preceded by the words “Anne’s take:”
Itinerary
Wed Aug 24 fly from Denver to Seattle,
stay overnight in Seattle
Thu Aug 25 bus from Seattle to
Vancouver, overnight at Pan Pacific Hotel
Fri Aug 26 board Celebrity Summit, set
sail from Vancouver
Sat Aug 27 scenic inside passage
cruising
Sun Aug 28 Ketchikan
Mon Aug 29 Skagway
Tue Aug 30 Juneau
Wed Aug 31 Icy Strait Point
Thu Sep 1 Hubbard Glacier
Fri Sep 2 disembark in Seward
Alaska, overnight in Seward
Sat Sep 3 Seward
Sun Sep 4 fly home from Anchorage to
Denver
Our Celebrity Summit cruise was a one way northbound
itinerary from Seward to Vancouver. In 2003 I did the opposite – a southbound
cruise from Seward to Vancouver. I had always heard it was better to do the
land portion of an Alaska land/sea trip first and then do the cruise portion.
The reasoning is that the land part is more strenuous and then you can relax
on a 7 night cruise.
I found doing a major portion of our Alaska land touring
after our northbound cruise worked well. I don’t think doing an Alaska land
portion before or after the cruise makes a big difference. Because the
southbound cruises are more popular sometimes you can find better deals and
availability on Alaska northbound sailings.
I booked a number of independent excursions on this trip
not through the cruise line. For Alaska I like this approach and often
recommend this to my clients – there are some excellent independent tours in
Alaska that are often better and less expensive than the cruise line
offerings.
Places We Visited
Vancouver
Anne and I hadn’t been to Vancouver together since our
honeymoon 16 years ago, so we were looking forward to our one pre-cruise day
and night here. We stayed at the Pan Pacific Hotel on the Vancouver
waterfront.
Our bus arrived from Seattle at 1 pm, giving us enough
time to visit Stanley Park in the afternoon. We walked from the hotel to
Stanley Park – the front desk clerk said it was a 20 minute walk but it was
more like 50 minutes. We found out later there was a free shuttle from the
hotel to the park at selected times. Still we didn’t mind the walk. The day
we were in Vancouver the weather was beautiful – 80 degree temperatures and
sunny skies.
At Stanley Park we really enjoyed a short visit to the
Vancouver aquarium. The aquarium is a small and intimate compared to other
big city aquariums. We especially enjoyed the Beluga whale show in a cozy
pool area. The 3 rows of seating for the show allowed you to get very close
to the whales. Beluga whales are very unusual – white in color. I had never
seen one before. On a previous visit 16 years ago this aquarium had an Orca
(‘killer whale’) show – I liked seeing the Beluga whales even better.
We found the Pan Pacific Hotel to be a great place to
stay for a pre-cruise night. Not only did it have a central downtown
Vancouver location, but it was located right over the cruise terminal. On the
morning of the cruise, we tagged our luggage with our Celebrity luggage tags,
called a bellman to retrieve the bags from our room, and the next time we saw
our luggage was in our stateroom on the ship. Very convenient!
Our room was very nice – on the 12th floor
with a view of the cruise port below. As we looked out the window at sunrise
on Friday morning of we could see our ship docking right below us!
We thought the main beds a little small (two double
beds). We managed with one of our twin boys sleeping with one parent (a
sleeping arrangement we often do when we are in hotel rooms with smaller
beds).
If you stay at the Pan Pacific ask for a room on the side
away from the new convention center construction. The noise didn’t bother us
as we woke up at 6 am, but if you are a late sleeper the noise can be a factor
as it starts around 8 am. The convention center addition is scheduled to be
completed in 2008.
We had dinner at a nearby shopping mall, and found lots
of other dining choices close by. We saw an IMAX film on Sharks (the theatre
was adjacent to the hotel) after dinner – another good activity to entertain
the kids.
Our overall grade for our time in Vancouver: A
We could have easily spent a few days in Vancouver – we
were glad we came in a day early to enjoy this beautiful city.
Anne’s take:
“One lesson I learned from previous cruises is that you
may not get your luggage right away once you are on the ship. It may take
several hours. So I keep one small suitcase with essentials. Fortunately we
had thought to put our swimming suits in the small suitcase. After out buffet
lunch we were able to get in to our stateroom by 1:00 pm. We explored the
ship for a while then they boys were able to change into their swimming suits
and take advantage of the pool. The weather leaving Vancouver was in the
upper 70’s and we enjoyed swimming for a few hours before the ship left the
port.”
Scenic Inside Passage Cruising
A good majority of time on our first full cruise day was
sailing through the Inside Passage. This was a very relaxing way to start the
cruise. We were treated to mountains towering above us on both sides of our
ship as we navigated through some narrow passages. We had lots of rain this
day so we were able to watch the surrounding scenery from the comfort of the
deck 10 lounge chairs in a covered area.
Grade: B+.
I always enjoy “at sea” days and this was only one of two
of the non-port days on the whole cruise. In addition to the beautiful
scenery this day gave us a chance to get adjusted to life onboard the Summit –
a relaxing introduction to our cruise. We were to see even more spectacular
scenery later in the cruise in the Hubbard Glacier area.
Ketchikan
On day two of our cruise we had prearranged an
independent Ketchikan excursion with Northern Tours (website
http://www.northerntoursofalaska.com/ ) – the Totem Bight State Park
tour. After docking at 7 am, we were soon off the ship and we met our tour
guide Justin at 8:30 am. Justin drove us around Ketchikan and out to Totem
Bight State Park in a passenger van that could hold 14. Our family was the
only one on the tour - we had plenty of room! Along the way Justin provided a
running commentary of the city and local folklore. We saw a local stream
where salmon were spawning – there seemed like a thousand fish there.
At Totem Bight park we learned about Totem Poles. We saw
a re-creation of a Clan House where natives once lived. We walked through a
forest of huge trees – not as big as the redwoods but it reminded me of our
trip to Northern California walking through those forests.
Josh bought a small stuff sled dog toy animal at the
Totem Bight souvenir store. Also next to the store was a Russian museum that
had a historic collection of guns,
dating from 1535-1868, along with displays of mammoth tusks, furs and ivory.
In the tour description we read “It is not uncommon to
see Bald eagles at the park and to hear the wisp of their wings as they fly
overhead.” We were at the park for about an hour with no sign of a bald
eagle. Suddenly as we were exiting the store I looked up and saw a bald eagle
fly right over us with a salmon in her talons. This was the best bald eagle
sighting we had on the entire trip (and we saw many)!
We liked the smaller excursion that Northern Tours
offered compared to the bigger ship tour. We had our own private guide for
four – we saw large busses with the ship tours that didn’t get this personal
attention. Our guide Justin was full of local stories. For example, when we
passed a football field I noticed it was all gravel. “Can’t play on grass
here,” Justin said, “it would be too muddy. Our teenage football players are
tough as nails playing on that field.”
The tour was more informal than we expected but that was
ok. I enjoy finding a local to show us around a port rather than go with the
ship tours. We had GREAT WEATHER! We had sunny skies which was unusual for
Ketchikan – one of the rainiest places on earth.
Tour Grade: B+
While we enjoyed this tour, if you are visiting Ketchikan
I recommend spending some extra dollars and take a float plane trip over the
Misty Fjords. The Misty Fjord flight I did on my 2003 cruise was one of my
favorite shore excursions ever – great views. But if you want a less
expensive tour to learn about the native culture, the Totem Bight tour is a
good budget choice.
Anne’s take:
“We did compare prices when we were at the small store at
the park against the prices in the town of Ketchikan. Our guide had advised
us that the prices would be better away from the port shops. He was right and
we saw the Josh’s stuffed animal at a few other stores in Ketchikan and other
cities and it was more expensive at the stores near the ship.”
Skagway
At this port we took one of my favorite shore excursions
of the whole trip – the Yukon Discovery tour by independent tour operator
Frontier Excursions (website:
http://www.frontierexcursions.com/ ) We found this tour cost less than
the more popular White Pass Railway train (http://www.whitepassrailroad.com/)
. Our Yukon Discovery tour traveled farther into the mountains and included
lunch when compared to the basic train tour.
Our 25 passenger tour van was driven by an Irish guide
named James Coleman. James was wonderful in providing us entertaining stories
of the Gold Rush, Skagway, and the Yukon – he talked almost non-stop for the
entire driving portion of our 6 hour tour. In addition to James’ colorful
narration, we were treated to some great views of the surrounding mountains,
lakes, and changing fall colors of the Yukon. We made frequent stops for
photographs – as an amateur photographer I really appreciated this.
For lunch we stopped at Caribou Crossing in the Yukon for
a delicious barbeque chicken meal included in the tour package. Also the
filling lunch featured coleslaw, donuts, rolls, and a baked potato. Our kids
especially liked the donuts – they each had seconds!
After lunch we saw a wildlife museum with life sized
stuffed animals. I was amazed at how big the stuffed buffalo was (much bigger
than the University of Colorado buffalo mascot I see often back home)! Also
featured were a huge life sized polar bear, moose, and other Alaska wildlife.
Caribou Crossing also featured a sled dog kennel. Our
boys had fun playing with the sled dog puppies. One puppy bit Anne’s scarf
and would not let go! The puppies were very gentle and just wanted to have
fun. Some people paid extra for a sled dog ride here – we planned to do a
sled dog ride later in our trip at Seward so we skipped that. While we would
have a better sled dog encounter in Seward, this Caribou Crossing sled dog
visit was fun and a good diversion for the kids.
After lunch James drove us to scenic Emerald Lake for
more spectacular views, and then we headed back to Skagway. We stopped at
tiny Carcross to get our passports stamped and do some additional souvenir
shopping. We were back to our ship in plenty of time for dinner.
Tour Grade: A
Frontier Excursion’s Yukon Discovery tour is an excellent
one. I recommend the longer Yukon Discovery tour instead of the shorter tour
they offer – the longer tour includes lunch and the stop at Caribou Crossing
which was a definite highlight. We also enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the
colorful narration of our guide James. I liked this Frontier Excursion tour
better than a shorter “Yukon Photo Safari” tour I took with Southeast Tours in
Skagway in 2003.
Juneau
We had no preplanned shore excursions in Juneau. Our day
in this city was rainy and overcast. It was actually nice to take a break
from daily excursions to do some shopping, and we found the stores in Juneau
among the best we visited on the whole cruise.
We were docked adjacent to the downtown area – a very
short walk from the ship. I found an internet café for $5.25/hr – much better
than the ship’s rates of 75 cents a minute! (their website is at
www.seaportcyber.com - they also have internet cafes in Ketchikan and
Sitka). I spent 1 hour online checking my email and catching up with news
back home. The public library also has free internet access here but doesn’t
open until 11 am on weekdays.
Andrew said this was his 2nd favorite port on
the cruise – he loved the shopping. He bought a small souvenir glass and
miniature totem pole for his bedroom back
home.
I also took the tram to the top of Mt Roberts ($25 per
person). We all were going to do the tram ride but because of the cloudy,
rainy conditions I decided to take a look by myself, and would bring Anne and
the boys up later if I found it worthwhile. At the visitor’s center reached
by the tram there were some interesting stores, a raptor recovery center
featuring an eagle, and a good movie on the native Talkut culture. The views
at the top were really restricted because of the clouds. While I thought the
Mt Roberts tram ride and visitor center was interesting, it was not worth
bringing the rest of the family up. The views from this attraction would be
much better on a clear day.
Our Overall Juneau Grade: B+ (A for shopping, B for the
Mt Roberts Tram)
Anne’s take:
“While Tim took the Tram, the boys and I found other
interesting sites in Juneau. There is a pavilion area near downtown with a
path down to a public dock. A large post measuring the tide was prominently
displayed. The ship’s crew had warned us that the level at which we got off
and on the ship may change due to the fact that the tide can change within a
matter of hours in Juneau. We also enjoyed a seafood cannery within a short
walk that provided free samples of smoked salmon and inside offered windows
where the public can watch the process for smoking the salmon.”
Icy Strait Point
This is a new port visited by only Royal Caribbean and
Celebrity cruises in 2005. I understand Holland America may visit this port
on some itineraries in 2006. Much smaller and less commercial than the other
ports – you will not find jewelry stores here. This is the only port where we
had to take a tender boat to get ashore.
We had another overcast and rainy day here. Our whale
watching excursion was set for 11:30 am. We attended the evening show the
night before on our cruise ship and at the end of the show the cruise director
said “if you have an 11:30 am excursion tomorrow, I recommend getting a tender
ticket at 10 am.” Good thing he mentioned that! We did exactly what he said
and the tender service took quite some time to us to Icy Strait Point. While
we made it on time we saw some others that barely made it for their
excursions. I thought Celebrity could improve their tender service (such as
running more boats, and making announcements in the ship’s program or over the
loudspeaker telling people to arrive early)
The highlight of our whale watching excursion was the
excellent narration by our guide Howard (Howard is a native of the area – his
Tlinget name is Koo Hook). Koo Hook was the perfect host – he had a real
passion for sharing his culture and the beauty of this area. He posts
frequently on the Cruise Critic website message boards – he had a warm welcome
for me when I mentioned I enjoyed his writings on Cruise Critic.
Unfortunately we did not see many whales on our
excursion, the whales were not close to the boat, and the number of people on
the boat prevented us from getting a good view at times. This excursion was
also the most expensive of all the excursions we booked.
Tour Grade: B-
Whale watching is always a “hit or miss” experience. On
other days we may have seen more whales than on this one. We enjoyed the tour
thanks in large part to our excellent guide, but I thought my whale watching
experience with Captain Larry on my last Alaska cruise was better (Captain
Larry’s cruises are arranged out of Juneau by Orca Enterprises) Last time I
saw many more whales from Captain Larry’s smaller boat.
I liked Icy Strait Point as a port, though. Our whale
watching and tender service took most of our time here. I would like to
return and try one of the other excursions like the bear search.
Anne’s take:
“After returning to the ship I was able to see 2 whales
swimming around the ship for a while. I actually had a better view of these 2
whales from the ship where I was warm and dry than I did the one whale we saw
on the crowded boat in the wind and rain…go figure!”
Hubbard Glacier
On the morning of the last full day of our cruise we
visited the massive Hubbard Glacier. We had a beautiful sunny day for our
cruise by the glacier. For me viewing this large glacier close up was the
most awesome experience I had on the whole trip! The glacier towered over our
ship – the glacier and the beauty of the surrounding mountains was an amazing
sight. We also were treated to some huge displays of glacier “calving” – we
would hear a loud crack like thunder to be followed by a huge section of ice
crashing into the sea.
Celebrity allowed guests to go on the helicopter pad at
the front of the ship for the best glacier views – we took advantage of this
and we were one of the first to arrive at this vantage point. Celebrity has a
“live” webcam of this area of the ship at:
http://tinyurl.com/dyayd
We were at the helicopter pad for about an hour, and then
we decided to eat breakfast at the buffet at the rear of the ship. We sat at
a balcony table adjacent to the buffet and we were treated to more amazing
views as we sailed away from the glacier.
Grade: A+
I had visited Glacier Bay on my previous Alaska cruise
and I had been told that was the premier Alaska Glacier viewing area. I
thought Hubbard Glacier, while a different experience, was just as amazing! I
saw lots more glacier calving at Hubbard Glacier compared to Glacier Bay, and
I thought Hubbard as a glacier was more impressive than any of the glaciers I
saw at Glacier Bay. Glacier Bay does have more wildlife viewing opportunities
and on my 2003 cruise we sailed closer to the Glacier Bay glaciers than we did
to Hubbard Glacier on this cruise. But if your Alaska cruise itinerary
includes a visit to Hubbard Glacier instead of Glacier Bay (not all cruise
lines have approval to go to Glacier Bay – like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity)
there is no reason to feel cheated – both places provide a great glacier
viewing experience!
Anne’s take:
“When the ship first arrives at Hubbard Glacier it faces
the glacier and the best view is from the helicopter pad. However, the pad
fills up quickly and the crowds got thick. The boys and I found it difficult
to see over taller people if you moved from the railing. We returned to the
buffet for breakfast and the ship turned so that eventually the sides had a
good view of the glacier. We had an amazing experience looking at the glacier
as we enjoyed our breakfast. When the ship was turned so that the back of the
ship was facing the glacier we had an even better chance to take pictures and
see some calving. It is not easy to get to the helicopter pad, requiring many
steps up and down and even stepping through ship portals (one foot high
stoop). So if you can’t manage the trek, I recommend just waiting in the aft
of the ship for the ship to turn.”
Seward
On my 2003 cruise I was only in Seward for a few hours –
too short to experience any of the wonderful tours that this area has to
offer. This time we stayed two and one half days before our return home from
Anchorage.
Day 1
What a beautiful day we had (70 degrees, clear skies) as
we said goodbye to the Celebrity Summit in the morning. We were off the ship
by 9 am, and we spent a leisurely morning checking into our motel (the Marina
Motel), walking around the town, and eating lunch at a local Subway.
The highlight of this day was a 1 ½ hour Ididaride Sled
Dog tour hosted by the Speavy racing team (website:
http://www.ididaride.com/sleddogtour.htm ). After taking a complementary
shuttle van from the Railroad station to the Speavy homestead outside of
Seward, we were met by an experienced Iditarod racer who explained to us the
ins and outs of this annual Alaska sled dog race. The Speavys know their
stuff as one of their own, Mitch Speavy, won the Iditarod race in 2004 and
finished third in 2005. We were shown a short film showing how difficult
competing in this event can be, we were given a demonstration of the equipment
used in the race, and we got a chance to hold some sled dog puppies!
The best part of the tour, though, was being pulled by 13
sled dogs through a 2 mile course on a wheeled cart, and steered by an
experienced sled dog racer. The course was very scenic – through a forest and
by a mountain stream – with lots of twists and turns. The ride really gave
you a sense of the power, coordination, and grace of these magnificent
animals.
Tour Grade: A+ This tour was voted the best of the whole
trip by our boys – a great tour for kids! We had loads of fun on the sled dog
ride and meeting an enthusiastic bunch of puppies.
After returning to town, we found our room ready at the
Marina Motel. The motel was a clean “mom and pop” place with a friendly
staff. The Marina Motel was nothing fancy but well located close to the small
boat harbor, and less expensive than many of the other lodging options in the
area. We enjoyed our two night stay here. The only negative was that the
motel was located on the other side of a busy highway – we had to take care to
cross the highway when venturing out. But our room was good sized and quiet –
within easy walking distance of a number of restaurants and the small boat
harbor.
Next on our agenda was a visit to the Alaska SeaLife
Center – a research aquarium in downtown Seward. We considered taking the
town trolley at $6 per person into town to see this attraction, but it was
such a beautiful day we decided to walk the 1 mile distance instead.
The SeaLife Center was a good small town aquarium with an
emphasis on research. We especially liked the Puffin display (you could see
these birds dive under the water through an underwater viewing area). Also
there was an underwater viewing area for seals and a variety of fish. At the
rear of the Aquarium was a magnificent view of Resurrection Bay. Grade B+ -
our kids enjoyed the touch tank at this aquarium and I especially liked the
underwater viewing areas.
To get energy for the 1 mile walk back to our motel we
ate across the street from the SeaLife Center at Christo’s Palace. This was
one of several good restaurants we dined at in Seward. Anne had a halibut
fish and chips entrée – she said it was about the best fish and chips she’s
ever had. I was equally satisfied with a jumbo prawn dinner. We rarely get
good shrimp back home in Denver so this meal was a real treat. The boys
enjoyed their kids meals (Andrew had spaghetti, Josh had chicken tenders)
After dinner we walked back to our motel, and watched the
Disney movie “Snow Dogs” on a local cable channel. This was a great movie to
see after our experience at the Speavy kennel earlier in the day.
Day 2
We awoke to see the sunny skies of the day before
departed – instead we had a rainy, overcast day with temperatures in the upper
50’s/lower 60’s. While we were hoping for clear skies, it turned out this
weather was fine for our all day activity – a 7 ½ hour Kenai Fjords Cruise
with Major Marine Tours (website:
http://www.majormarine.com/ )
Major Marine’s Kenai Fjords cruise was an excellent
excursion. The tour was extremely well run with a dedicated National Park
Ranger (“CJ”) narrating the cruise and pointing out interesting sights to us.
CJ also ran a special “junior ranger” program for kids that kept our boys
interested (and they learned a few things, too!). We saw lots of wildlife
(puffins, bald eagles, a humpback whale, seals, sea lions, sea otters, and
others). We cruised right next to a calving glacier – not as near as big as
Hubbard Glacier that we saw a few days earlier – but we were able to get much
closer to this glacier thanks to our smaller boat.
The tour boat was well laid out. Each party had a
pre-assigned inside table by a window. It was easy to wander outside to see
the various sights and then return to the warmth of the interior cabin.
About 3 hours into the cruise we were treated to an all
you can eat buffet of salmon, prime rib, rice, salad, and dessert. I wasn’t
expecting much but the buffet was of surprising good quality! We all
especially liked the prime rib.
Tour Grade: A-
While this was an excellent tour overall, the “minus” was
because our ride was extremely rough in spots. This was not the fault of
Major Marine at all – in fact we were warned that seas could be rough and we
were encouraged to take seasick medication beforehand. None of us had ever
been seasick in the past so we ignored these warnings. Anne and I were fine
but Andrew and Josh did get seasick near the end of our 7 ½ hour cruise, as
did many other passengers. I highly recommend this tour (especially for
families) but please take the seasick precautions beforehand even if you
aren’t normally prone to motion sickness.
The boys quickly recovered from their seasickness after
the tour, and we settled down to have another good meal at Terry’s – a Seward
restaurant not too far from our motel.
We really enjoyed our two days in Seward. We were glad
we had decided to extend our trip by two days to see the interesting
attractions in this area.
The Celebrity Summit
We had a wonderful time with all the interesting
excursions on our trip, and on short stays in Vancouver and Seward. But this
vacation had something else – life onboard the Celebrity Summit! Below I will
describe some of the features of the cruise and how Celebrity compared to some
of the other cruise lines we have sailed on
This was our first Celebrity cruise. I had heard very
good reports on this line from friends and from other travel agents, so I was
anxious to experience a Celebrity cruise myself. We were not disappointed!
Our Stateroom
We sailed in an outside stateroom on deck 2 (stateroom
2061). While not as big as staterooms we have had on the Disney cruise and
some other cruises, the storage areas were well laid out. We brought an extra
suit case with cold weather clothes on this cruise and we were able to store
everything efficiently – lots of hangers were provided for the closet area.
We had a queen sized bed for Anne and me, and above us
two beds that came out of the ceiling for Andrew and Josh. We found the upper
beds gave us more head room below than what we experienced on our March
Holland America cruise. Still Josh and I bumped our heads early in the cruise
on the upper beds and we had to be careful.
We didn’t have lots of room but we managed – we didn’t
spend that much time in the room. We often sail in an inside stateroom on our
cruises so it was nice to have a window for this cruise. I liked looking out
the window each morning to dress appropriately for the weather.
Our stateroom attendant Lawrence was the best one we have
ever had! Upon our arrival Lawrence came into the room, introduced himself,
pointed out where our life jackets were stored, and went over the muster drill
map with us. We had never had a stateroom attendant be so thorough!
Throughout the whole cruise Lawrence kept our room in top shape, answered any
questions we had, and always had a smile to greet us.
Stateroom Grade: B+ (B for the stateroom layout, A for
the excellent stateroom attendant service)
Dining
Cosmopolitan Restaurant
The main dining room on the Summit was one of the most
beautiful restaurants we have seen on a cruise ship – perfect for an Alaska
cruise with many large windows. We loved our table location – right next to a
window on the upper level. We didn’t miss out on the great views outdoors
while dining. The first night as we sailed away from Vancouver we saw the
impressive scenery as we sailed away from the city and under the Lions Gate
Bridge. One night at dinner I gazed out over the water and saw the huge tail
of a humpback whale right next to the ship.
On the restaurant’s main level there was a huge picture
window in front. On the first full day of the cruise we ate lunch here and
could see towering walls of granite surrounding us outside this picture window
as we sailed through the Inside Passage.
Overall the main dining room food was very good. I
particularly liked the shrimp cocktail as an appetizer each night (tip: you
can order the shrimp cocktail each night even if it isn’t on the menu). For
each dinner we were treated to a five course feast: appetizer, soup, salad,
entrée, and dessert. I found the soups to be excellent all week – a bowl of
hot soup was a welcome treat after the cold weather we encountered on some of
our shore excursions. The only food items we found inconsistent were the main
entrees. The steaks and veal dishes generally were not tender. I had a
shrimp dish one night and the main entrée shrimp was not as good of quality as
the shrimp cocktail appetizer. We did have some good entrees – Anne said her
salmon one night was excellent and I particularly liked a pasta and pork
tenderloin dish. The boys enjoyed ordering off of the adult menu each night
instead of from a children’s menu. An ample supply of yummy bread and butter
was provided each night.
Our main waiter, Milton from Honduras, was pleasant and
efficient – giving us good recommendations on what menu items to order. For
the kids Milton brought a special salad each night on their request (iceberg
lettuce with Celebrity dressing). The assistant waiter brought me a hot
chocolate each night after dinner.
We did not drink wine with our meal, but every night the
wine steward would come to our table, greet us, and ask us how our day was.
We only ate breakfast and lunch in the main dining room
the first couple of days – we found we preferred the buffet for these meals
(see below). The lunch entrees in the Cosmopolitan restaurant were exotic –
we preferred the burgers, pizza, and pasta offerings of the buffet!
Main dining room grade: A- (B+ for the food with most
everything excellent except for some of the main entrees, A for the setting,
and A for the service)
Waterfall Café and Pool Side Grill
As we entered the Waterfall Café, the ship’s buffet,
shortly after boarding the ship my first impression was “is this all there
is?” I was used to larger buffets I have seen on other ships, like Holland
America and Royal Caribbean, with different stations featuring different types
of international cuisine. At first glance this buffet seemed to have four or
five choices in a cafeteria type setting, and that was it.
We came to love the buffet as the cruise progressed.
While there weren’t as many choices as some other cruise line buffets, the
quality was very good. The Waterfall Café also has some good features,
including:
A “create your own pizza” area open from noon until 1
a.m. each day – we have seen pizza areas on Holland America and Carnival, but
this pizza was of better quality. Josh loved having a piece of pizza or two
before bedtime (“Dad, can we go for late night snack?” he would ask each
night). You could have your own pizza made with the ingredients of your
choosing, or pick one from one of several freshly cooked pizzas on a hotplate.
A Homemade Pasta And Salad Bar – also open from noon
until 1 am each day. This was Andrew’s choice for his late night snack. The
made to order pasta was also a good alternative at lunch if none of the
entrees on the main buffet line looked appealing.
Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream – open from noon until the
late afternoon on most days. Different from some cruise lines (like Princess)
there was no extra charge for ice cream. We found the ice cream to be of good
quality.
A Waffle station – open until 10 am most mornings, this
was my favorite area of the buffet. The made to order waffles were delicious;
with a variety of toppings available (I liked fresh blueberries on mine).
While the main breakfast buffet would often have long lines, I found this
waffle station at the extreme aft of the ship relatively uncrowded. I could
always get a quick breakfast here. As an added bonus right next to the Waffle
Station was an outdoor seating area – we had some incredible views here as we
ate breakfast and sailed away from the Hubbard Glacier one morning.
Omelet Bar – open until 10 am most mornings. Made to
order omelets were available each morning. The lines here were longer than
for the waffle bar, so I only had omelets two or three times during our 7 day
cruise, but the service and food were excellent! This was my favorite place
to visit after some early morning sight seeing on the outside decks. At the
buffet opening (7 am) the lines here were non-existent and I was served
quickly.
After the first day or two of the cruise we ate all of
our breakfasts and lunches at the buffet. We liked the quick service and the
food quality here. The adjacent Poolside Grill (open noon to 7 pm most days)
was a good choice for freshly cooked burgers and hot dogs.
Buffet Grade: A- (“minus” because there could be more
choices in the main buffet line, but otherwise everything was excellent)
Normandie Restaurant
The Normandie was the Summit’s Specialty restaurant with
a $30 per person cover charge. Anne and I ate here one night with the boys
eating with their kids’ club friends in the buffet. We found the food and
service to be excellent.
We started our meal with a Caesar Salad prepared fresh
for us tableside (very good!) Next we both had a scallops and lobster dish –
the scallops were the best I have ever tasted, and the lobster was of better
quality than what we would get in the main restaurant a few nights later.
Following the main entrée we were given a choice of a variety of cheeses. Our
meal concluded with a superb chocolate soufflé for dessert.
Grade: B
While we enjoyed the intimate atmosphere of this
restaurant and the food, we found we had less to eat than the normal evening
fare in the main restaurant. There were only four courses here (salad,
entrée, cheese, dessert) with the cheese portion being nominal. In addition,
the $30 per person cover charge was the most we have paid for any cruise line
specialty restaurant. This was a good dining experience, but I’d rate
Disney’s Palo and Holland America’s Pinnacle Grill as superior cruise ship
specialty restaurants when compared to the Normandie.
Anne’s take:
“There were two sides of the menu to choose from. We
chose the basic menu, but the other side caters to wine lovers. You can get a
different glass of wine with each course of your meal and you have more
courses than if you choose the side without wine. I believe the restaurant
caters more toward those ordering wine.
The wait staff was extra attentive and professional and
the food very good, but I’m not sure worth an extra $30 per person (the
selections with the wine at each course is an additional charge above the $30
per person, so rather pricy).”
Entertainment
On most nights the Summit had a song and dance show in
the main theatre. The performances were similar to what we have seen on other
cruise lines. We skipped a couple of the song and dance performances to have
family game nights with Andrew and Josh instead.
The best show of the week was by comedy/juggler Michael
James – the “Ladder Guy”. James had a number of amazing acrobatic and
juggling feats, mixed with good comedy. He even picked a woman out of the
audience and balanced her on his shoulders as he rode a unicycle around the
stage (if you attend this show – don’t sit too close or you might be picked to
do this stunt!). For the last 30 minutes of the show James balanced himself
on a ladder onstage while performing a variety of tricks – to get an idea of
how this might look visit his website at
http://jimmywallis.com/ladderguy.html
Another good show was by magician Greg Gleason (website:
http://www.gleasonmagic.com/index.htm ) Greg performed a number of
impressive illusions in the ship’s main theatre. Later in the cruise the boys
and I attended a close up magic session by Greg where he did a number of card
tricks just a few feet from the audience.
The main theatre on the ship had an unusual appearance –
the lighting was done by artificial torches and flames on the sides and in the
back of the theatre. This gave the illusion that you were watching a show in
an ancient Roman theatre – very unique!
There were a variety of other entertainment options on
the cruise. Celebrity features Cirque Du Soleil on their Millennium Class
ships like the Summit. Cirque had several performances in the “Bar At The
Edge Of The Earth” on deck 11 on top of the ship. Rather than shows that you
sat and passively watched, the Cirque performers would interact with the crowd
at this bar. A special “White Night” where guests wore all white and masks to
the bar was the talk of many of the adults on the ship. Anne and I did not
attend any of the Cirque performances – White Night was too late for us and an
earlier Cirque performance was on the same night we dined at the Normandie
restaurant. Andrew and Josh did attend one Cirque performance with the kids
club and described the experience as “weird”.
The Celebrity Cinema showed movies throughout the
cruise. The movies were dated (such as the Bourne Identity and Spiderman II)
– not recently released movies like you find on a Disney cruise. We were so
busy with all the other activities and shows onboard that we did not attend a
movie all week.
There were also a number of bars and lounges onboard with
singers performing in the evenings.
Overall Entertainment Grade: B+
The singer and dancers were average, we thought, but
Ladder Guy Michael James and magician Greg Gleason had interesting and
entertaining shows. The main theatre was a great place to watch the shows –
with a unique “roman” atmosphere and good sight lines to the stage from most
seats. The alternative Cirque entertainment was not for everyone (including
us) but I was impressed with the variety of entertainment options offered.
Onboard Lectures
The Summit had one of the best educational series I have
experienced on a cruise – the Celebrity Enrichment Discovery Series. The
Naturalist onboard, Dirk Younkerman, had several interesting slide shows and
talks in the ship’s main theatre about Glaciers, Whales, Bears, and other
topics. I thought Dirk was better than the Naturalist that was on my 2003
Princess Alaska cruise. In addition to his informative talks, Dirk was
available at other times of the cruise and was very open to answering
questions from the guests. I saw him arrange a private bear excursion for one
couple after one of his talks. Another morning as we sailed towards Skagway
he welcomed any early risers to join him at the Bar At The Edge Of The Earth
at 6 am as he described the surrounding scenery. I made myself comfy on one
of the beds at the “Bar”, propped myself up with a few pillows, and listened
to Dirk talk for over an hour on the different glaciers and mountains we saw.
The Summit also featured Astro-journalist Dan Benedict
who gave several talks on Astronomy (see his website at
www.astrocruises.com/celebrity ) and an Acupuncture at Sea lecture.
Grade: A
For some the idea of attending a lecture while on a
cruise may seem boring, but I thought the quality and variety of educational
lectures on the Summit was outstanding. There wasn’t enough time to attend
them all – the ones I did attend were very well done.
Internet Access and Computer Classes
Celebrity offered onboard internet access from the ship’s
internet café for 75 cents a minute. Packages were available to reduce the
cost per minute if you bought 100, 200, or more minute packages in advance.
I thought the computer program on board was extremely
well run. There were a good number of computer staff people to help out with
questions, problems, and to teach classes. Being a former software engineer,
I also thought the interface to the ship’s computers was more straightforward
and secure than I have seen on other cruises. When you bought internet time,
for example, you had your own login to Windows and your own environment –
there was no danger of the next person using the computer getting access to
your settings (when you logged out your settings disappeared).
I brought my laptop on the cruise and there were several
wireless “hotspots” that worked well. For an additional fee you could even
get internet access through your laptop in your stateroom – I declined this
when I found out the internet café and wireless hotspot speeds were faster
than stateroom access. I liked that if you bought minutes in a package you
could share those minutes between laptop access and the ship’s computers.
Sometimes I wanted to use my laptop, while other times it was more convenient
to use the ship’s computers. I didn’t have to buy two separate packages to do
this.
I found the internet access to be good – only a few times
web access was unavailable. This was much better than what I experienced on
my Princess Alaska cruise, where the ship’s computers were down over 50% of
the time.
Grade: B+
Excellent computer access and support – minutes were a
bit pricey. I suggest buying a package onboard and using minutes sparingly.
The internet cafes in some of the ports had much better rates.
Kids Club
The Summit had a well run childrens program, with 6 full
time staff members. There were 22 kids in Andrew and Josh’s age group on the
cruise (age 10 – 12), with about that same number in each of the 3 to 5, 5 to
7, 7 to 9, and teenage groups. I liked how the children’s programming was
open from 9 am until 1 am the next morning non-stop. During some of these
times there was an extra fee (such as after 10 pm in the evenings) but having
this excellent coverage allowed Anne and I to do more things and not be
concerned about the kids. For example, we ate at the “no kids allowed”
Normandie restaurant from 6 to 8 pm one night. That night our boys had dinner
with their friends and a kids club counselor in the buffet.
Our boys liked the size of the group. They found it
easier to make friends with a smaller group than what you would find on a
Disney cruise. In the 10 to 12 year old group kids are allowed to check
themselves in and out of the program without parent permission. This worked
very well for us – it gave Andrew and Josh some independence. We knew they
would eventually meet up with us in the stateroom if they decided to leave a
kids club activity early.
The club activities included arts and crafts, scavenger
hunts, talent shows, sports competitions, and more.
Grade: A-
With all of our shore excursions we used the kid’s club
less than what we have on other cruises, but it was good to have that option
available for Andrew and Josh when needed.
Anne’s take:
“The kids mostly liked the kids club. They especially
enjoyed the staff and the activities such as the arts and crafts, games and
other group fun (‘dance contest and scavenger hunts). The minor complaints
were that there were not enough video game screens available and the games
that were available were too few and too boring. Also they complained that
the teens did not have a place of their own and so the 10-12 crowd and the
teens ended up hanging out together. The boys expressed that they were around
too many little kids in the kids club room and too many teens in the tower
(the tower offered foosball and a hang-out area).”
Other Activities/Features
We had some beautiful sunny days on the cruise – the boys
really enjoyed swimming in the ship’s pools. Yes it can be warm enough to go
swimming on an Alaskan cruise! In the spa area was a covered adults pool that
was very popular.
The ship had a well stocked game room – on a couple of
nights we played games like Scrabble and Sorry instead of going to the evening
show. We were not the only ones – one evening every table in the game room
was taken with small groups playing board games.
There were so many other activities on the cruise I
haven’t begun to mention them all - for example we didn’t use the spa area at
all. Anne and I like to play trivia on our cruises but on this cruise there
were so many things to do that we didn’t get the chance.
I can’t imagine anyone being bored with nothing to do on
this cruise. With activities ranging from Astronomy lectures to unusual
interactions with Cirque Du Soleil characters, there really was something for
everyone.
Embarkation
We flew into Seattle instead of Vancouver to save some
dollars on airfare, and this worked out well. We took QuickCoach bus
transfers from the Seattle airport to Vancouver the day before our cruise
(website:
www.quickcoach.com). At first the thought of a 5 hour bus ride wasn’t
appealing, but the time passed quickly as we made some rest stops and traveled
through scenic areas. Going through Canadian customs at the border was an
interesting experience, too.
The next day embarkation at the Vancouver cruise terminal
was extremely easy and quick – especially since we stayed at the Pan Pacific
Hotel above the cruise terminal the night before. We just took the elevator
to the terminal, checked in with no wait at all, and we were on the ship by
noon.
Disembarkation/return to Anchorage
Getting off the ship in Seward was also efficient. We
waited for our “color” group to be called in the ship’s theatre, and then we
were quickly off the ship. We had hoped to call a local taxi to take us to
our hotel, but we found all the phones in the Seward cruise terminal taken and
my Sprint cell phone service didn’t work. Instead we got a ride from a
friendly representative of Iditaride tours to the train station, and we walked
to our Seward motel from there. I suggest pre-arranging your transportation,
instead of relying on phone calls, if you need a ride to your destination in
Seward after the cruise.
After our two days in Seward we used PJ’s Taxi to
transport us back to the Anchorage airport and our flight home. We found this
was similar in cost to the train transfers, and gave us much more
flexibility. Renee our driver offered to give us a personal tour of the
Seward area and made some special stops for us on the way to Anchorage.
Summary - Overall
Grade: A
Alaska is one of my favorite cruise destinations. I love
cruising and on a trip like this you get all of the benefits of a top rated
cruise line like Celebrity, and you get to visit some amazing and interesting
places. This trip was a real thrill to me to share Alaska with my family for
the first time.
I especially enjoyed meeting and talking to the people
with a passion for Alaska – from Howard (Koo Hook) at Icy Strait Point, the
Celebrity onboard Naturalist Dirk, the Kenai Fjords Park Ranger CJ, and
others. I too share this passion and I can’t wait to return on a future
trip!
Tim Larison
I was very happy with our overall experience on Celebrity
Summit. It is a beautiful ship and overall met our needs and expectations.
Since all of our cruises were to warm weather destinations I did have concerns
about whether Alaska would keep the interest of our 11 year old sons. There
was no need to worry! We had swimming weather on 2 of the days, which was
important to the kids. They enjoyed all the shore excursions and activities
we booked. We all finished the trip feeling well fed, rejuvenated and in awe
of the many sites and experiences that we know we cannot find anywhere but
Alaska!
Anne Larison
