Summit Review - just returned

[redphoenyx]

OK, DH and I went to Alaska on our Honeymoon with Celebrity Summit Cruise Tour #2. We left on the 30th and just returned on the 11th.

 

 

 

GETTING TO THE SHIP-:mad:

 

We live in NJ and flew from Newark, NJ to Seattle, WA. No problems here. We were told to look for the Celebrity person with a sign in the baggage area. After looking for 8 minutes I found this representative in a far corner without her sign. How I found her? All the other people with the Celebrity luggage tags. Went back to get DH and then walked all the way back to the Celebrity Group. We were told that there wasn't any room on the cart for the guy to take our luggage but we could follow them. So we schlep our luggage clear to the other side of the terminal, outside and down a long sidewalk to the other end. We are then told to stand on this line to check in and then will be assigned to the correct bus. We stood on this line for about a half hour, and then were told to board bus number 1. (Keep in mind that there were 2 people working this checkout counter and about 200 - 300 people checking in). We finally get on this bus and we then sit there for another half hour. DH is pissed off and wants to go home at this time because of the amount of stupidity and lack of organization. There is a small boxed lunch provided for us on the bus. This helps a little. Bus driver finally gets on and tells us it will be about a 3 to 4 hour drive to Vancouver to meet the ship. This stinks, but fine. We drive and get to the U.S. / Canada border. The bus driver says, I don't have to have you there until 5:00, so let’s stop at the duty free shop. 3/4 of the bus now throws a fit. We are sitting at the border for almost an hour "shopping". We paid to be on the ship, not sit in a hot bus! DH and 3/4 of the bus are TICKED OFF! We finally start heading out again and we finally get to the dock. Bus driver goes to the wrong dock. A few more choice words from the passengers. We finally get the dock and the boat leaves in less than a half hour. NOT HAPPY!

 

 

 

EMBARKING-:(

 

This went fast since EVERYONE but we 45 people were already on the ship. We get on the ship; there is no Champagne to greet us. They are in the middle of the muster drill. GREAT! They finally find someone to take us to our room. After being trampled on by 100 people in the casino in their life vests. We get to the room, put our baggage down and there is a knock on the door. It's our room attendant welcoming us and was about to tell us to get our life jackets on and go to the drill. I think he saw the look on our faces and how ticked off we were at this point and told us to just stay quiet and stay in the room. (6 hour flight, over an hour at the airport and then a 5 hour bus ride from hell) The drill was almost over anyway. So we did what we were told and just relaxed for about 10 minutes. The drill was over then. We went to the dining room to make sure we received our table for 2. Which we did.

 

The rest of the time was MUCH better than the first day.

 

 

 

DISEMBARKING-:)

 

Very smooth and organized. No problems here.

 

 

 

PORTS-

 

We stopped in Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Straight and Seward. The ports were a little to centered around shopping, especially for jewelry. Just my opinion.

 

 

 

In Ketchikan we chose the Snorkeling Adventure. We had a blast with this one. Water temps were about 65 degrees and you had on a full wetsuit with hood, boots and gloves, you stayed quite warm. If you are from NJ, the 65 degree water is like the shore in the early summer, so I guess you could say I was kind of used to it too. We had a very very low tide that day and we saw so much sea life. It was fantastic.

 

 

 

In Skagway we had small showers on and off. We ended up going on the Helicopter Glacier Dog Sledding Trip. This was so much fun and these dogs are just wonderful. It rained the whole time and was a little cold but we didn’t mind.

 

 

 

In Juneau we booked the extended glacier trek. It was a very very rainy day with low clouds. You couldn’t even see the Tram in Juneau that goes up the mountain. We went to the dock and were taken to the location to get all suited up for the trek. Got all suited up and was told that we are being put on standby. The cloud cover was bad and they were waiting to see if it cleared up a bit. We sat there for about an hour all suited up and was then told that they were going to have to cancel our trip. The cloud cover was getting so bad that they were telling the guides to get off the mountain as fast as they could wherever they could. So we headed back to the ship, regrouped and then took the city bus to the Mendenhall Glacier. That was nice. We walked around there for a bit and then headed back into town. Hit the Red Dog Saloon (I think it was this port) What a fun bar! Had a few drinks and it was all good! We were refunded for the tour and were applied to our ship account. Celebrity now owes us money!!! That was very nice.

 

 

 

Icy Straight was our favorite port!!! Very picturesque and untouched. The way we thought most of the ports would be. True Alaska. Not all shops. Spent some times dipping our toes in the ocean. COLD!!!!! Walked the wonderful trails and saw the Native Dance Show and took a Walk through History Tour. Everyone very nice and friendly. We heard other people say they shouldn’t have gotten off the boat. I guess everyone has something different that they like.

 

 

 

Cruising Hubbard Glacier was nice. We arrive over an hour early and left and hour earlier than was stated in the daily newsletter. That was a bit annoying for a lot of people. Most people planned their days around the times that were given. They were way off. Needless to say, I didn’t get my pictures of us arriving there. But I made it up with some pictures of us leaving.

 

 

 

THE SHIP HERSELF-

 

We loved the ship. Very clean and beautiful. Everyone is very friendly. The food is CONSTANT and very good. There was only one dinner that I wasn’t overly pleased with and it was more a personal choice than anything being wrong with it. It was a pasta dish with seafood. The sauce was very plain tasting. I like food with lots of flavor. We were in a handicap stateroom with a balcony. Deck 6. Very nicely done. Lots of space. Shows were OK. We walked out of the comedian. He was horrible! Quite a few people walked out before we did.

 

 

 

ATTIRE-

 

I’m sure I’m going to set off some people on this one. Just my observations. A LOT of people wore jeans. Mind you, there were only maybe one or two people who wore jeans or shorts after 6:00 – 6:30PM, but during the day it was very common. There were 2 formal nights and 1 informal night. The rest were casual nights. Most of the men wore dark suits but there were some in tuxes. We had a good mix of ages. A month old all the way to 90’s. Most of the people were in there 40’s to 60’s. Some of the teenagers looked bored!!!

 

 

 

SPA-

 

DH and I treated ourselves to a couples spa treatment of a bath for two (basically a big hot tub for two) and then a mud and steam room treatment. It was very nice to spend some quiet time for just the two of us away from everyone else. DH was reluctant at first being the “manly man” but afterwards he said he wouldn’t be apposed to doing more things like that with me once in a while back home. YEAH! A reason to go to a spa for a few hours!

......more in a second post.......