Summit Review Land/Cruise Tour #15 Part 2

[boston1733]

Day Seven

Before we got off the coach our tour guide gave us our pre-registered package, which included our room keys. We boarded the ship around 4:00 pm. Since we where pre-registered all we did was go thru security. We had our picture taken (smile) and we were on board. Once on board we got our champagne and we were escorted to our room (we’ve cruise before, and never have we been escorted to our room). I’m liking this. Our luggage was in our room already (very impressive). Peter, our room attendant was there to great us and to go over things with us, he was great throughout the trip. We were very hungry because we had missed lunch, so we headed to the dinning room, which started serving at 4:00 pm. Great dinner. Back to the room to unpack. After packing and unpacking for the last 6 days it was nice to know our bags weren’t going any where for the next 7 days. We did a small tour of the ship, and retired early. After all tomorrow is another day!

 

Day Eight

We finally get to sleep in. Yeah! We got to relax a bit this morning. At 11:00 am we were invited to an Anniversary, Newlywed Party. (Did I mention that it was our 25th wedding anniversary?). It was a nice gathering with champagne and wedding cake, they also had a photographer there to take our picture, it was short and very nice. Also at 1:30 pm, Celebrity scheduled our Cruise Critic get-together, bad timing, we were just about to get to Hubbard Glacier and everyone was anxious to get on deck, unfortunately we did not get to spend enough time with the group. Hubbard Glacier! What a spectacular show. We had a front row seat, we had a verandah room, but we also went up to the top deck to get the feel of the whole experience. The waiters came around with some hot pea soup in a bread bowl. Very cute. They also, were selling hot chocolate in a mug. The hot chocolate was very good, it was dark chocolate. Tonight was the first of two formal nights. Every one looked great, except I was expecting people to dress-up a bit more than I saw, still very nice. Tomorrow onto Juneau.

 

 

Day Nine

Juneau, the weather was overcast this day, but still very pleasant. We went up the Mt. Roberts Tram for a quick peak at Juneau from above, great view. Came back down and took a bus (five dollars each way) to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was beautiful, and by the time we got there the weather was very nice. We took a short hike to the water fall and got as close as we could get to the glacier. Back to town for some shopping and a stop at the Red Dog Saloon. We did the evening Whale Quest (through Celebrity). We were taken to Auke Bay, about 20 minutes out of town, where we got on a powered catamaran, very cool. We had a very nice buffet set up for us, something we were not expecting. It was beautiful, we saw lots of Humpback whales and a few seals, something we didn’t get to see too many of. There was a naturalist onboard which made it even better. We had a wonderful time. Juneau was a nice port, would like to visit there with more time.

 

Day 10

Skagway, first thing we did was get on board the White Pass Scenic Railway. Three hours of nothing but beautiful scenery. Everyone kept telling us to sit on the left side of the train, but it didn’t matter because we booked thru Celebrity and the first three cars were reserved for Celebrity passengers and on our car there was hardly anyone in it. It was great, I spent most of the time on the observation deck taking pictures. Bring gloves because as you get closer and closer to the summit it gets colder and colder. Skagway is a very busy port, the day we were there their was three ships in port. It was wall to wall people which is not my favorite thing. We went in the Red Onion Saloon. My husband had his picture taken with the Girls. I felt like I was back in the times of Deadwood (a show on HBO). Not enough. time to do everything we wanted to do so we will have to go back, oh well.

 

Day 11

Icy Strait Point, I think this new port was my favorite of all the ports. It’s unspoiled by all the commercial stuff of the bigger ports (did I mentioned that I hate shopping?). It’s a simple and beautiful place. We had to take a tender into port, which wasn’t as bad as other tenders that I’ve taken. While we walked along the beach we saw a whale swim by, we heard it before we saw it which was very exciting. The trails there are not to be missed, they are incredible, so take the time to do at least a short walk through the woods. We walked about a mile and a half in to town, saw tons of eagles. It was great, you really get the feel of the people in the town. For you shoppers there are some stores very nicely done in a fishing village setting very quaint. By far the most true Alaska we had seen since we left the interior. Don’t miss it. We left Icy Strait at 4:00 pm, this was the second formal evening. Very nice evening, the dinning room staff did the a Baked Alaska Parade. Onto the next port.

 

Day 12

Ketchikan, we got off the ship very early this morning, we were going to see the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show at 9:30 am. We had a blast! At first I did not want to do this show, but my husband said it would be fun, sure enough he was right, it’s a family oriented show and the audience gets very involve in it, great show. In the afternoon we went snorkeling, yes you read right, my husband once again talked me into doing this great excursion. I’ve never worn a wet suite before, I had some experience getting into that wet suit, (I’m a bit phobic). It was beautiful, we got to see lots of star fish, sea urchins and something I never heard off, sea cucumbers. It was a guided tour and they were great, I highly recommend doing it, (by the way it was booked thru the ship). We toured the town for a bit and did some shopping against my will.

 

Day 13

Inside Passage, we had breakfast in the room and sat on the veranda for most of the morning. The Inside Passage is a very beautiful and picturesque sail. We did all our packing early, so we could enjoy the rest of the day and evening without worrying about the nasty task. It was 89 degrees on this day, lots of people by the pools no hot chocolate man today, only Pina Coladas. By the way I forgot to mention that every time you came back to the ship from a port the was a crew member with a hot chocolate table, a very nice touch, specially on those days that were cold or rainy. The evening dinner was spent saying good-byes and exchanging e-mail addresses of those we met along the way. Until next trip.

 

 

Recap

The Ship--The smallest ship we have been on, it was the perfect size. It took us a while to find our way around (me longer of course) but over all it’s a beautiful ship with lots of great amenities.

We were very happy with all of the service that we got on the ship, from all the food staff to our room attendants. We were very happy with our room attendant and the service that he provided for us, we were kind of messy at times. All the crew members that we encountered were very friendly and courteous.

 

The Food–Excellent, everything from the main dinning room to the pasta bar and all the other buffets it was all very good. We especially enjoy the pizza and burger bar, many days we came back to the ship after lunch and enjoyed having those yummy turkey burgers. Oh, and my husband loved having ice cream twice a day.

 

Alaska is a beautiful and great place to visit. We are glad that we did the land tour before the cruise, because you get to see the true Alaska. The cruise was great doing it on the last week, it gave us a chance to recuperate from a very active week. Take lots of film, I shot 38 rolls of film, hopefully in the next couple of weeks I’ll have the pictures ready to post.

 

Overall we had a wonderful trip, everything that we expected, and more. We had great weather, everything from rain, sunshine, cold and hot, everything you could experience. We met great people that were traveling with us. Celebrity treated us like celebrities. We would sail with them again in the future. You ask three people about the same trip and most of the time you ‘re going to get three different opinions. It’s what you make of it that counts, for us, on this special occasion, it was the best. We thank God for all the blessings in our lives

[kelmac]

Glad to hear you had as much fun as Lauren and I!! What's the next cruise going to be?

Enjoy! Kel

[DELFIN]

Hi Boston, glad I found you - love the wonderful positive review! I was beginning to think that my group had been the only one to find the whole cruise experience a totally awesome one! I'm sorry we didn't get to meet you, but we had three of our guys down with some sort of virus at the onset of the trip and were barely able to get them up on deck to see the glacier. By chance, we did meet Boo's Mom, Kelmac and even Photogirl, all in different places. Although I'm pressed for time and cannot write a detailed review, I will state here that Celebrity, Alaska and all the people along the way made this a beautiful unforgettable experience for all ten members of my family group!

 

God Bless and may we meet again soon!

 

Susana

[boston1733]

Hey Kelmac, We would like our next cruise to be the Eastern Mediterranean. I know you guys have been there, you'll have to tell me how to $ave on this trip. Delfin my husband was also sick that first morning on the ship I had to drag him everywhere that morning, but he got some of those pink pills from the nurses station and he made a fast recovery,(thank goodness, there is nothing worst that a sick grown man, LOL).

[Bruin Steve]

Thanks for the great review...Exactly what I've been hoping to find on this board...and just in time...

My wife, my daughters and I are booked on the SAME exact Summit Cruisetour #15...and leaving a week from tomorrow!!! We are booked into a pair of Sky Suites for the cruise portion and have an idea what to expect having sailed on the Summit's sister ship, the Millennium, back in August...But the exact workings of the Land portion were sort of a mystery to me...and you answered many questions...

The information you provided is invaluable to us...

 

Thank you so much...

[LoneStar72]

Hi Boston, glad I found you

I've re-established our roll-call thread at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44673 -- welcome back!

I'm sorry we didn't get to meet you, but we had three of our guys down with some sort of virus at the onset of the trip and were barely able to get them up on deck to see the glacier. By chance, we did meet Boo's Mom, Kelmac and even Photogirl, all in different places.

Sorry y'all were ill :( I looked for your group all week, but didn't see anyone that fit your description. I also kept looking for Liz and her camera bags, but, again, no luck (I especially wanted to collect on the drink she owed me because our lifeboat drill was on Saturday, not Friday :D )

Although I'm pressed for time and cannot write a detailed review, I will state here that Celebrity, Alaska and all the people along the way made this a beautiful unforgettable experience for all ten members of my family group!

Ditto!

 

John