Alaska Southbound - Itinerary and Route?

Hello all

My wife and I are planning on doing the Alaska Southbound trip on Millenium in June 2014 (our first Alaska cruise, and in fact first cruise!). Depending on the sailing route map we look at though, the path appears slightly different from map to map. On the expanded Celebrity map, it shows the ship seemingly leaving the Inside Passage on the way to Ketchikan, before almost "doubling back" to get to Ketchikan itself. This is quite different to the Northbound map, which shows the route sticks very closely to the shore of the mainland all the way through the Inside Passage.

I have two concerns with this:

1) You lose out on the sailing through some of the beautiful inside passage by taking the Southbound cruise, compared to the Northbound. For example, whilst the Northbound looks like it sails past Tracy Arm, the Southbound looks like it bypasses it.

2) We are considering a Celebrity suite, which is on the "wrong" side of the ship ie. the starboard (right) side of the ship, which is the opposite side to the main land for the Southbound cruise. This is probably not a problem if you spend a large portion of your time cruising the Inside Passage, with views on both sides, but if the ship actually departs the Inside Passage (as per the map), are we better off booking a cabin on the port (left) side?

If anybody who has sailed the Southbound on Millenium recently, and can advise on the actual route taken, it would be appreciated.

In addition, would you recommend a Celebrity suite on the starboard side of the ship, for a Southbound cruise? We are the kind of people who may like spending a bit of time relaxing in our cabin, perhaps having breakfast/lunch, and watching the world go by, so it would be slightly dissapointing if most of that "world" was open sea...

Have not sailed that but I do know that there are numerous cases where the maps provided in Celebrity brochures and on lone are wildly inaccurate. So you are wise to be asking those who are on the comparable sailings this year to report on what actually happens. Suggest you go to each comparable Roll Call and get to know some of the passé version doing it this year who might be willing to send a report to you post cruise

Have not sailed that but I do know that there are numerous cases where the maps provided in Celebrity brochures and on lone are wildly inaccurate. So you are wise to be asking those who are on the comparable sailings this year to report on what actually happens. Suggest you go to each comparable Roll Call and get to know some of the passé version doing it this year who might be willing to send a report to you post cruise

Thank you, I will do just that :)