Infinity/Alaska Long Review 6/11/2010

Infinity Tracy Arm Fjord 6/11 LONG Review

Hello a little background on my travel group. My husband and myself mid 40’s our two son’s 21yrs and 13yrs.We have cruised several times to the Caribbean with RCCL and Carnival.

Over all we picked this itinerary because it had r/t Seattle my oldest son’s desire and met our budget. This review is a first for me and I do want to make an extra effort to hit on a couple of questions I see asked regularly on Cruise Critic.

So here goes…

1. What cruise line is best to Alaska?

2. How will my kids like Alaska?

3. What will the weather be like?

4. Dress attire?

In all fairness I did ask these or search them many times as well. Now a year later after completing the trip I will answer just as many faithful contributors do here on CC.

No matter how many times I read that the cruise line did not matter pick based on itinerary, I just could not wrap my head around the fact that the décor, dining style or stateroom would not be of major importance. Well now 3 days after my return I can tell you without any doubt pick based on itinerary. The life onboard is very sedate and calm. Activities are minimal and the overall vibe is not high energy as you would see sailing in the Caribbean for example.

As for children and kids programs on board, kids adjust to what ever options given to them. My 13 yr old had a blast on this sailing with approximately 30 kids between ages 12 -18 yrs. He made friends quickly and enjoyed the activities set up by “X” as well as just “chillin” with his buddies. I will be honest I was a little skeptical with “X” and my son but it was never a problem he found where the kids events were scheduled and off he went.

Weather will change with the blink of an eye no matter what I tell you about my week I assure you the next poster will come along to contradict me with in minutes. On some days we started out in 40’s with overcast and ended with upper 60’s and very sunny. Just be prepared and make sure to plan on re- wearing things. No one will notice or care. I wore jeans 3 times each. After enjoying all my dinners they actually became more comfortable by the third day.

Plan layers for daytime and for dinner in the MDR it is as with all other cruise’s There will be formal nights, it will be up to you how you handle them and just how much you want to participate. Just know they are observed and cruise lines do a great deal of organizing for them even in Alaska.

Onto The Infinity and Alaska…

Upon our Seattle arrival A1 Limo was waiting for us after our 8hour delayed arrival time. URG!!! Thank goodness for flying in a day early. That is a major tip…always fly in to your departing destination a day ahead. We were dropped off at Seattle Marriott Downtown with a great location and view. We were able to walk a bit but since our flights was so off kilter we were tired and called it a night about 9pm and decided to tour the next morning.

This was a great option since we woke refreshed and the hotel held our luggage until 2pm. plus our ship was right at the pier waiting for our later arrival. Weather was perfect for Seattle 55 degrees with no rain. First stop was the original Starbucks for a little pick-um up and just a few doors over was a shop with an aroma I could not resist. Peroshski’s (I cannot remember the spelling but I am close) I think LOL! This little shop had pastry dough filled with sweet or savory options. Very yummy!!! We tried a few while on the go. Coffee cake, Spinach and Ham&Cheese. Finding something to eat will not be a problem. Time to enter the Market, it seems to be a tourist must do and I loved it. We found the locals flair to be soooo fun. We toured for a while and found our way to the tram a few block away and headed over to the Space Needle. I am not fond of heights and my family felt content seeing it from ground level so I cannot give you any other info on that. But next door are the Duckboats, we had a tour scheduled for the prior day that we missed because of our flight so my husband explained our situation and we were on a boat within minutes. Way cool of them to take care of us since they were non-refundable and non-transferable tickets. This was a blast very corny and silly but we had a lot of fun and saw way more of Seattle than we would of if we hadn’t. Well time was ticking and we needed to catch the tram and get our luggage to board the Infinity.

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Boarding was a breeze really nothing to report other than it took about 20 minutes and before I knew it I had Champagne in my hands. More on the ship at the end.

First Sea day, it is mentioned here numerous times and I will again reiterate take sea sickness precautions. At 7am I woke up and gave my boys their Bonine put the Sea bands on and about noon we were never happier that we had. Many passengers were not prepared and I did feel bad for the crew who were cleaning carpets behind them. We had nice weather and it was only 5-6 foot swells but we could feel the sway of the ship. Please just take it with you and if you do not need them have the better safe than sorry attitude. We have sailed rougher weather in the Caribbean but for some reason these seas or with this ship we felt it more so.

Ketchikan 7am till 4pm It is raining but not hard so we plan to leave the ship before our tour and go walk Creek Street and Married Mans trail. So glad we did it just beautiful and the shops were so quaint. We did schedule one excursion with X and this one is it. Adventure Kart in the Tongass Rainforest. We met our bus driver at 9:30 and away we went. This was fun we were set up in groups of two. My husband and I were the drivers and the boys were the passengers. I made sure to hit every puddle and giggled the whole ride. We made a couple of scenic stops all were gorgeous but with Alaska all views are just breathtaking. I will give a bit of warning it did drizzle during our ride and the rain did feel cold so by the end of our tour we were frozen. Although we were dressed in gear so weren’t to wet. Now after we return to our ship we looked for our next tour guide and away we went. This time we are with Seawind Aviation and are doing a floatplane ride into Misty Fjords National Monument. Steve was our pilot and it is something to see. I will never be able to express the views and the landscape we witnessed. I had mentioned I was in need of a bear sighting and Steve helped scour the whole trip to find me one. Yep!!! He did it on our return he yell’s out a bear and before I can get my camera ready we are flying sideways and swooping around for a visual. I did see him and did get a shot. Not too great from that far above with such short notice but I did get my bear sighting via Steve’s tenacious eye’s. . But a word of caution the quick spin the plane made did make me queasy, so if you’re prone to motion sickness again be prepared. Love Love Love this tour and Steve a wonderful man with a mission to get me a bear. Customer satisfaction at its greatest.!!! Well now Leslie his wife returns us back to the ship and we have little time to shower and get ready for dinner. Again, more on that in the end.

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Tracy Arm Fjord 6am -10am Do not over sleep!!! This is spectacular!!! I was topside with my coffee ready bright and early. My boys on the other hand wanted to sleep in. They do not know what they missed…Sawyer Glacier at the end was just special. I know it was not Hubbard or Glacier Bay but honestly the experience is amazing. I just kept gasping at the beauty and sheer magnitude of this fjord. Now after running my camera batteries down to nothing, I need to put them on the charger and get lunch because soon we are in our next port.

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Juneau 2pm-10pm. Orca here we come… Well what else does one do in Juneau we went whale watching of course? As soon as we were cleared we were off and looking for the orca offices. Easy enough to find and went to check in. Okay there was a little confusion but we got it figured out. We were taken to Mendenhall Glacier and dropped off for an hour. We enjoyed the visitor center and walking about. The waterfall was impressive! After our time there a bus came and took us to meet with the whale watch portion of our group. We were with Capt. Larry and were with about 35 people total. Capt. Larry was a man of few words but without any doubt knew his waters and his whales. We loved this tour and his crew, they all worked insync with one another. We did witness approximately 14 whales at last count “bubble feed.” WOW!!! It was so cool and then again 2 more times. Capt. Larry did tell us it was his first for this season and they were early this year. Now this is my opinion and I know many differ but I believe no one on any of the cruise ship sponsored tours had near the experience we did. I turned and saw the vessel from a cruise ship, might have been Holland but regardless there must have been 100 people all fighting to get a shot and space to see what we could see with ease. Orca has a top observation deck which clearly made for super viewing. Again my opinion but I will go independent while whale watching in Alaska in the future. Just a side note, the ride to and from the actual whale sightings are approximately 20 minutes so again if you’re prone to motions sickness be prepared and take precautions. The day came to an end and we just hit the buffet and went nighty night…more on the buffet later…

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Skagway 8am-830pm Such an adorable port. We liked the port area in Skagway the best. Ed my husband awoke up bright and early to go straight to Avis for our car rental. He reported to me the girl was very friendly and he had no problems what so ever. He came back to the ship and again we were off. We walked around the port area in a few of the shops and made a quick stop in Lemon Rose Bakery, Kyle the 13yr old wanted a cinnamon roll. To the highway we go…We drove using Murray’s guide to Emerald Lake and back. We did take our time so it was about 5 hours for our trip. I found the guide to be very informative and as Ed did the driving I read between each stop. This kept the boys involved and alert as to what we were looking for next. After a few hours of driving we did make a stop at Cinnamon Cache, yes again Kyle wanted a cinnamon roll. He loved hers the best. This was a cute little shop with a sweet lady working all alone. She had a few items such as soups, sammies and a few sweets. We did snap a few pics’s since this was near the dessert area of this drive and it so reminded me of a place from Nags Head NC. Now onto Emerald Lake, it was just gorgeous!!! So quiet and tranquil. On our way back we did have a planned stop in Carcross for the Musher Camp. My boy’s did do the Dog Cart ride and loved it. The dogs were so excited when they saw the boys getting hitched. I loved that they were all barking as if you could here them say “Pick me Pick me” Afterwards we did make sure to visit the puppies who only wanted to sleep. To end our stop here we did walk through the museum. I thought it was very nice. I have read posts here on CC about it being small. For the $7.50 cost I thought it was plenty and a great educational experience for the boys. Now to be clear this is a working camp with a small museum with a few other catchy places. I would not plan a day around it but worth while in my opinion. These dogs are happy and healthy. They all had a dog house and umbrella to keep them from the elements. Yes it was dusty and muddy but in no way did that bother the animals. At this point we decide it’s time to get back to Skagway so on the road again. We did take a few more stops for photos of the train and dessert but were really making time back to port. Ed went to fill the car at the one and only station in town and return it to Avis before our 5pm deadline. So a little more sightseeing around port completed our day.

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Second Sea day, Take precautions again now we are going south back to Seattle. We did not go inland at any point of this cruise. We were out to sea west of any islands. Just for your reference.

Victoria BC. 7pm-12 midnight. The MDR opens early on this port day. This is such an eclectic area with its British charm. We took a shuttle bus for $7 each round trip to the inner harbor area. The area is nice clean and safe. The only regret is that we get there so late we miss many of the entertainers and shops are closing up. The Parliament Building and Empress Hotel make for very nice pictures along with the beautiful harbor. Gelato was in abundance and now I wish I had known not to get so full at dinner. We did a bit of walking around and saw some sights and were back to the busses for our return trip. I shared with the driver how we would have loved more time in his city and he concurs the locals want us there earlier as well. Time to get some rest tomorrow we have to say goodbye to our floating home.

Debarkation was a breeze. I have never been off a ship so easily or quickly. We were at the lounge as instructed at 8am and by 8:15 we were in the parking lot with our luggage waiting for our limo.

Now this is the part all about the Cruise line details. All of the following is what so many base a cruise line choice on. When taking an Alaska vacation it is quite a financial investment and we all want to be assured that the choice we are making will be perfect. Well to be honest perfect will probably not happen. Yet with an open mind and a heart to see Alaska it can be close.

Celebrity has a more formal and elegant reputation compared to RCCL or Carnival. I did not find this at all on our cruise. The Infinity is a nice ship with a little dated décor but overall in very good shape.

Dining was again very good. I had read so many reviews over the “FOOD” and again it was just very good. Our waiters were adequate but not nearly as personable as we had experienced with RCCL. I do not know if that is an “X” style or for just our table this cruise. I had purchased a soda card for my son and to get him a coke was next to impossible. We had to flag down our beverage server each night mid dinner to get him his drink. The bars where he is to get them filled closed so early (6:30pm) he had to keep going to the only open option which was a night club. (Constellations) Having a daily menu and an everyday option was great. My son’s tend to stick with what they know and my husband and I like to try out new things. So this met my family right in the middle.

So now the Formal Night and MDR attire. This seems to be an on going topic here in CC world so I will tread lightly. It was just not all that formal on this “X” sailing. Might be the itinerary, humm not real sure but I had read many posts regarding dress attire on formal nights. My husband and I observed ONE tux. About half of the men wearing suits one of which was my husband, but many shirt/tie combs or Jacket/shirt combos. Women were dressed nicely in what I would consider a regular Sunday dress jazzed with a bit of jewelry. This was such a concern for me since we are regular folk who enjoy a pair of Levi’s. All I can say is there was much a do about nothing. My Formal’s on the Infinity were just as they were on all other cruises I have taken. The smart casual nights again were simple and I did see jeans in the dining room. Quite a few actually. (Although most men wore Dockers type slacks with polo’s.) I did not care but after a year of reading about dress suggestions here on CC I did make sure to take notice. Now to be honest I did not cruise through the dining room to inspect what all passengers were wearing but I did glance around while entering and leaving. Either way we were fine and attention to dress attire seemed minimal by “X” staff and its passengers.

The buffet area overall was better than we had on other cruises but still buffet quality. We were fine with that for breakfast and lunch. One gentleman on this board often recommends the waffles. Have to say “he is on the money!” They were yummy I had them with strawberries and whipped cream. We all agree that the set up of stations makes it easier to navigate. For ex. Lunch it had meat/Potatoes, Pasta/salad, pizza and Sammy/soup stations.

Dinner buffet was organized the same and was set up every night. I have read on this board about a $2 alternative option but on this cruise I did not find one. There was not any area of the buffet set up for table service. The stations had fewer options than for breakfast and lunch at dinner but were still plentiful. Overall we did not go hungry or gain weight.

We chose a balcony stateroom deck 7 midship. We were cozy but it did serve our needs. The room was a bit small but storage was ample. As for TV viewing or movies I really did not make that much of an effort to watch but I did see Terminator and The proposal listed on the dailies. We did not ever see our stateroom attendant where as with RCCL we had always met them, but she did a great job and we never had any needs she did not provide. We are pretty easy to please in this area. Again I do not know if this is “X” practice or just for our stateroom.

Celebrity entertainment…Our main objective was to get the most out of the Alaska ports and hear all we could from Brent Nixon. We did not make it to any of their Broadway shows or comedians. Brent Nixon did not disappoint!!! My family loved his fun teaching style. He is a man in love with the land and wildlife. He has an energetic giggly spirit you have to adore. His knowledge will leave you amazed and yet saddened for our wildlife. I highly recommend his lectures to all ages. It is listed in the dailies as a lecture but in all honesty it is anything but a “lecture”. He will speak on wildlife such as Bears, Eagles, Whales and Otters, these are so informative. Brent also commentaries during the Tracy Arm Fjord sailing. All I can say is make every effort to attend!!!!

Wildlife is not on every corner waiting for a snap shot. If you are looking for whales, bears or doll sheep it will take great effort unless you are very lucky. Yes it happens but do not plan on it. We did see all of the above but it was with a constant eye and from a far distance. Just to make you aware when you see these pictures of doll sheep on a cliff right near the roadway, this is not to be expected. They are truly specks in the mountainside.

This review comes from my perspective and I hope it is helpful to many of you making your vacation plans for the coming year. Alaska is beautiful and using photographs to gain a perspective of just how massive it is I find comical. My photo’s are from an Olympus stylus 9000 12 mega pixel camera. We had many people on tours with us who had great cameras with fancy dancy lens but for me I chose to keep it simple so I did not become obsessive with the shot rather than the moment. This is just personal choice.

Alaska is an amazing experience!! We had a great vacation and loved having our family time together. I apologize, this rambles at points, but I just did not know what else to take out to make it more concise. This is just my opportunity to pay it forward…

What ever you decided to do in Alaska it is bound to be wonderful,

Patty :p

Concise....just enough travel log to keep it interesting and fair analysis of food, entertainment, etc.

Good Job, Patty

So there are now no 7 day ships for sure that go "Inside" Vancouver Island from Seattle !

Patty, I have been yearning to take the Infinity cruise to Alaska and appreciate your very thorough review. Would you believe that our 17-year-old daughter doesn't want to go because she thinks it would be boring? I might have to show her your pictures to try to change her mind! :)

Brent Nixon is fantastic.Standing room only on our cruise

:cj

Thank you for your review, Patty! I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to our turn! :)

Do you by any chance have a copy of the dailies?

Very nice review. Thanks!:)

Thank you for your review, Patty! I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to our turn! :)

 

Do you by any chance have a copy of the dailies?

Sorry but no, I did not keep them

I will be going on this trip next month and have been searching for anything and everything to do with the voyage. Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with us. I can not tell you how much I appreciate your time and efforts!

:)

Hi Patty

Very, very good and right on review, Thanks!!:) I, too noticed that formal nights were a bit less "formal" than on the Infinity thru the Panama Canal. Lots of tuxes on that one! Hum, maybe because on that cruise there were probably 4 children at most and really my dh and I were among the youngest ( 56 & 55 ) on board. I guess the older folks tend to dress up a bit more, hehe!

Great pictures, lookes like you got to see your whales. We did see a few one day from the ship. Also in Ketchikan, a bald eagle, or several, kept flying around the ship in the late afternoon. Living in the Pacific Northwest we are priviledged to see whales and bald eagles almost on a daily basis. So I tend to forget that people from other parts of the country don't In fact we have a bald eagles nest on the lake a few blocks away from us. Thanks for the beautiful pictures and the reminder not to take the beautiful whales for granted.

I'm so sorry that I missed meeting you and your family:( Would have loved to. Your boys are very handsome, dh, too!!

Maybe we will meet one of these days on a future cruise? Anything coming up?

Melody:D

Great review and thanks for the photos, even though we were on the same cruise we were doing it more for R&R, to see if we liked cruising in the cooler temps and to get an idea of what to do next time. I feel like we missed a lot but we had a great time. ;)

I was surprised to hear how many people were not feeling well that first day out and to see the bags tucked away for those who needed them. We like the motion and wished for more!

Totally agree with your comments about Brent Nixon, I would plan my day around his "lectures". I wish I had teachers like that in school.

Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet.

Danna

Hi Patty

Very, very good and right on review, Thanks!!:) I, too noticed that formal nights were a bit less "formal" than on the Infinity thru the Panama Canal. Lots of tuxes on that one! Hum, maybe because on that cruise there were probably 4 children at most and really my dh and I were among the youngest ( 56 & 55 ) on board. I guess the older folks tend to dress up a bit more, hehe!

 

Great pictures, lookes like you got to see your whales. We did see a few one day from the ship. Also in Ketchikan, a bald eagle, or several, kept flying around the ship in the late afternoon. Living in the Pacific Northwest we are priviledged to see whales and bald eagles almost on a daily basis. So I tend to forget that people from other parts of the country don't In fact we have a bald eagles nest on the lake a few blocks away from us. Thanks for the beautiful pictures and the reminder not to take the beautiful whales for granted.

 

I'm so sorry that I missed meeting you and your family:( Would have loved to. Your boys are very handsome, dh, too!!

 

Maybe we will meet one of these days on a future cruise? Anything coming up?

 

 

Wow you found me...:eek: Nothing gets by you does it girly? I so wish we could have connected!!!

 

Your such a hoot and I swear I was always on a lookout for a girl breathing in a brown bag. :p Poor Monica will get you for telling me that one.

 

Yes we were very excited to see the whales. They do not migrate here in Ohio. :D So for us it was a treat. As for future cruise Ed and I are on the Allure this December for the Labadee Extravaganza. I will keep a watchful eye on you so maybe on another sailing one day we will meet face to face.

 

Smiles,

Patty

Wonderful review, thanks so much for taking the time to do this! We will be on the same cruise in 52 days, so we love reading everything we can find on it. It will be our first trip to Alaska and second cruise on the Infinity. Very nice photos, too.

Thank you for taking the time to post your excellent review. Enjoyed reading it very much.:)

Doris

. One gentleman on this board often recommends the waffles. Have to say “he is on the money!” They were yummy I had them with strawberries and whipped cream.

Patty :p

I don't know who you are talking about, but I sure am glad you liked the waffles. ;)

Thanks for the review.

Of all out cruises on Celebrity our Alaska cruise on Summit was the most casual. Infinity is a decade old now and will be solstized shortly. We love Celebrity esp the Solstice class and always have found them much better the RCCL in all areas other then overall entertainment.

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise.

I don't know who you are talking about, but I sure am glad you liked the waffles. ;)

I just knew it was a matter of time before you popped in here. :D Now I am home and it is back to Raisen Bran :eek:

BIG shucky darn, :p

Patty

Hi Patty!

Yes, I found you! You can run but you can't hide! hehe!

WOW, a cruise in December! That sound fantastic, unfortunatly I work in retail, I'm a florist, so taking off ANY time around the holidays is just about impossible. DH has to work cruises around his court schedule, he's an Attorney. Oh well, a holiday cruise will just have to wait until I retire or my poor little fingers wear out, whichever comes first. Today the fingers are winning, but it changes day to day. hehe!

BTW, Monica REFUSED to wear the bag on her face! Apparently, I was NOT funny and a bag is NOT cool, imagine that! She was not doing to well on Saturday our rough sea day, but I didn't think it was too bad;) Iv'e been in 20 foot seas on a cruise, now THAT was bad:eek::( We spent most of that day down on deck 3 by the large round porthole windows, kind of behind the center glass elevators. Thats a good place to go if the motion bothers you - low and center of ship! If you used those elevators you probably saw us at some point.

Melody:D

 

I was surprised to hear how many people were not feeling well that first day out and to see the bags tucked away for those who needed them. We like the motion and wished for more!

Danna

I am exactly like you... it totally relaxes me and puts me right to sleep. I think I must have been rocked a lot as a child. We had a storm on one of our voyages that made a lot of people sick. I slept soundly!