Pinkbudgie

Thanks for the recommendation. We were looking for something to do fairly low key in Ketchikan but with someone knowledgeable and didn't want to rent a car and drive ourselves. Booked the 3 hour tour. Looking forward to it.

Have fun! Today I was just going through my pictures from that tour and each one was better than the last! Some of those will be going up on my walls.

We didn't want to take any chances and we had about $70 left near the end so I bought a handbag during a "clearance" sale. Just to be on the safe side. ;)

Previously, we had eaten at Tuscan Grille, upgraded one drink package, bought two bottles of liquor, several t-shirts, and a nice warm jacket for me.

We then ended up eating lunch in the Bistro on 5 (yummy!) so we ended up with about $25 being charged on our credit card at the end. Not bad.

Birdie: You know you were invited because of the name. Run with it. (No one is likely to change their last name to get a Captain's Table.) And this comes from someone with the last name of "Chandris".:D

Oh I know. Just wondering how people generally got picked and who does the picking. Like the woman who was invited by the waiter. It sounded like they ate every meal in the MDR and got to know their waiter very well.

Just seems like anything is possible.

Just back from our first ever cruise which was on the Solstice. Never did make it down to the adult pool area even though we were not traveling with kids. I kept meaning to though.

We enjoyed the coffee place on deck 5. Bacio, I think. We usually stopped by once a day for a mocha and pastry. We also liked the Sky Observation Lounge and spent a little time reading up there on sea days.

I made a point to go see Brent Nixon several times- very entertaining!

Also we enjoyed the galley tour but I like to see how things work.

For formal nights, I brought a black and white long "summer dress" but wore it with a necklace, nice earrings, and high heels. And it was fine for the evening. The dress rolled up nicely in my suitcase. DH doesn't own a tux and never will. He brought black slacks, blue dress shirt, blue tie, and borrowed a black jacket. He was fine too and we did not feel under dressed even at the captain's table. We are not dressy up people (we are two teachers) but we were glad we brought those things to enjoy the formal nights.

Very interesting to see how others got invited. Our Captain's Club hostess told us she didn't know why we were chosen. (She said she guessed it was because we were all good looking! ;) ) Anyway, that tells me she didn't pick. At least this time.

One woman told us she knew how she was picked- she was wandering around the main dining room looking for her mom at breakfast when the waiter asked if she would like to eat at the Captain's table. She said Oh sure, and didn't realize he was serious. So somehow a waiter got to pick them. For us and the other family it was our Greek names, I'm sure. We were only in a balcony room (which we thought was totally amazing!!) But I never did find out about the other couple.

While we were dining. A man, maybe late 20's came by and asked how he could get roses at his table. The captain said "well I guess you'd have to eat here". And he said "Like that's going to happen". Later he came by again and said it was a young lady's birthday and could he have a rose from the centerpiece on the table. He said it would be from him and the captain. The captain gave him a rose and a business card to give to her.

You were at the end of North Tongass Highway just past Settlers Cove State Park. It's public recreation area and where lots of people go to hike the Lunch Creek Trail. This is a beautiful area. If you'd had a rental car you could explore lots of these areas around Ketchikan.

 

http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits/southeast/settlerscvsrs.htm

I knew it was a public park, but I tend to get mixed up on roads when I'm not driving. There sure weren't lots of people there when we went though. There were 3 or 4 cruise ships in port that day but we only saw one or two people on the trails. It was nice to get away from all the people. This place stood out to me the most of all the things we saw in Alaska. It was just so green and pretty. I highly recommend seeing it one way or another.

It was at the end of the road. It seemed like a big major road, and then it just stopped. There was a big sign that said, "END" and that's where the trail started. I suppose you could look up "Lunch Creek" trail and probably find it. There was one other car and a motorcycle parked there at the end of road when we got there, so not somewhere a lot of people go. Sorry, I don't know what the road was for sure, but it could have been that highway.

For us, our first time in Alaska, it was nice to have guide. She knew all of the plants and pointed them out to us. We asked a lot of questions about living there and that was interesting. (Like how the high school kids had to travel 48 hours just to run 20 min in a track meet. Or they now have two airlines and that brought the price down) But, if someone has been there before and just wants to hike, it was beautiful! I was stopping every minute to take another picture.

Brent Nixon - in my opinion the best Alaska naturalist there is. If you're fortunate to have him on a sailing, go to every lecture and listen to him over the PA when you're in the fjord, etc.

 

We've had lovely lectures that run the gamut from the photographer at the PGA tour, an expert on weird phenomena, a CIA agent, a WWII specialist, an Everest climber, etc.

Agree about Brent, he is excellent and his talks everyday are very interesting. He now has his wife on board who also gives a couple of lectures.

We loved Brent Nixon! His first lecture I missed because I wanted to take the galley tour, but I caught it on tv in my room later. He was so entertaining and I learned so much! I definitely made a point to go see him. His wife was on ship too as "Miss Amanda" but I never went to those. Just too much to do!

Birdie: If you want to make the Captain's table again, I would be telling everyone that you are his long lost cousin.:D

Who knows? Maybe we are!

We just got back from the Solstice. It was our first cruise ever so I can't compare to other ships but we were impressed! Oh, if he stays on the Solstice- Bent Nixon is a point in that ship's favor. He was very entertaining and I learned a lot about the Alaskan wild life. The evening entertainment was very good too.

In Tracy Arm, we went up park way and had to turn back because there was too much ice in the water and to continue wouldn't be safe. The captain said earlier in the season, they could go all the way up, and probably would be able to in Aug and Sept. But in June and July it was unlikely.

In Juneau, we did have to tender. I wasn't sure how it would go. We ended up getting there a half hour earlier than scheduled so that helped some. We were number 16 for tender boats and got on land about an hour and half after they began. We had no tours scheduled, we just found a tour bus on the docks to take us to Mendenhall Glacier. So, tendering wasn't horrible, but still if you can get the non-tendered day, that would be better.

A strong chance of that with X.:D

Yes, that's what I gathered. A waitress asked us if we were related to another Captain who had our exact last name.

You're welcome. Have a good trip!

Note to Celebrity: You successfully reeled in another cruise addict. This one is a pink bird.:p

:D Yep! Husband is already saying, "Next time we should..." and then lists off what we should do or bring. Guess we should always sail on ships with Greek captains!

We just got home from our very first cruise ever on the Solstice to Alaska. We were very surprised to find an invitation to the captain's table. It was on the second formal night of the cruise. First we met in the Cellar (or something like that- a little room with a bar and some tables and seats). We were given appetizers and champagne. Then the captain came in and we all walked with him down the stair case in the main dining room to the captain's table. I ended up being seated right next to Captain Berdos. He stayed and talked and ate with us the entire time- about two hours. He was friendly and talkative. The food was wonderful and the dessert twice as wonderful. I have food allergies and all of that was handled perfectly just like all the times we dined in the main dining room.

We don't know why we were invited but we think it is because we have a Greek last name and the captain is also Greek. He explained how Greek names tell you what area of Greece you are from. My husband's grandfather was from Greece but we didn't know about that. Another Greek family was across from us.

They took a picture of us and gave it to us along with our personalized menus. Each woman got a rose at the end. The next day we also received an invitation to take a bridge tour which we also enjoyed. It was like a dream! I still can't believe that happened.

We used Wild Wolf Tours. We did the 3 hour tour for $80 per adult. Our guide was Tracy, the owner, who grew up there. They have a five star rating on trip adviser which is how my dad found them. It was a light hike and we just loved getting out there. I think we may have passed one or two other people the entire time we were there in the forest.

They provided bottled water, and some samples of some Alaskan products- salmon dip and a lip balm made from a local plant. I refrained because of my food allergies but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. I noticed she also had a bunch of umbrellas in the back but it didn't rain the day were were there, which she said was odd. However hiking with an umbrella would probably not be very easy- I'd suggest a rain coat and/or poncho.

We didn't do any whale watching or plane or helicopter tours. We were more interested in land type excursions and this was perfect for us.

Just got back from our Alaskan cruise. We went with a private tour for Ketchikan. LOVED IT! They picked up our group of 4 in a van, then picked up 4 more people from the other ship, and off we went. We went first to Totem Bight park, then to do some light hiking in the Tongass rain forest at the end of road, literally. The road just stops and we got out and walked. We were not there to see any bears. But we did see eagles and some slugs. :) Our tour guide was very knowledgeable.

After that we had time to look around the town where we were dropped off.

Ok, good. I feel justified in cramming in my scarf, gloves, sweatshirt, rain jacket, and heavy winter coat into my packing. I think my winter days of 50s-60s are cold so I know I'll be cold. And I'm bringing an umbrella too. All winter I told myself I was practicing for summer in Alaska! Leaving tomorrow so good to know I'm packing the right things!

We are actually leaving tomorrow to drive up to Seattle for this cruise on Friday! Seeing the pictures is very exciting. :D We are traveling with my parents too. They have cruised before and this is our first one. Hopefully I'll have wifi at our hotels on the way up so I can check in and see more of your trip report before I board!

Just off Solstice, we were the "top cruisers". I think Alaska may not be a repeat cruise for frequent cruisers, we only have 1200~ points :confused:

 

 

 

 

We took excursion JU94, the Tracy Arm and glacier excursion. If seeing Sawyer glacier interests you, I highly recommend it. The ship turned around in Tracy Arm where we got off the ship and on to the catamaran and the passengers did not see the glacier. We were back on the ship eating lunch in Bistro on 5 around 2pm and by 3pm they were no longer calling numbers, you could disembark at your leisure.

 

I am not a seafood eater, at all. There are plenty of other choices so don't worry about that! Just be sure to let them know about your allergies.

 

Brent Nixon is the best at what he does. I don't usually go to the educational talks, I am easily bored but he is so passionate about each subject.

Thanks. I could check once on board and see what's still available.

I've heard so much about Brent Nixon, I'll have to make a point to see him.

Welcome! I'm new to cruising too and we leave for Alaska this week! I just would come on the boards here and read threads so I could start learning. I also went to my port of call board to read more about our destination. We leave tomorrow so I'm here trying to pick up and last minute info I haven't learned yet.

The Caesar drink doesn't have anchovies :confused:

 

It has clam broth, though, so you may still be unable to drink it.

Oh, I did a search online for it and it said it had Worcestershire Sauce in it which has anchovies in it. Maybe it depends on who makes it. That's the one I saw.

If she has ever heard of a drink, you can find a bartender on most Celebrity ships that can make a quite tasty version of it without alcohol. Even that crazy Canadian Caesar is good sans booze.

Oh great! I have a severe fish allergy and I never would have imagined I'd have to worry about anchovies in my drink!!! :eek: Well, now I know if I get something different to drink, I had better check the ingredients. Thanks for the heads up!

It's probably being done to ease the congestion at the Seattle pier. We received the same information 3 times so far lol .

We have too, by text AND emails each time.

I had to re-read that 20 times. I couldn't figure out why she needed to know about drinks if she will not be on the upcoming cruise. :p I realize you meant she won't be old enough on the cruise!

I'd be interested to hear the answers also. I don't drink alcohol because I just don't like the taste. And last time I had a sip of wine I had an allergic reaction. So no alcohol for me either even though I'm getting the classic drink package free.

Thank you. We are going on our very first cruise ever to Alaska on the Solstice next week. I'm trying to cram information in my head because I really have no idea how it will go or what to expect.

Two things have me concerned- the tendering at Juneau ( we do not have an excursion through the ship for that one) and hearing about all the fish served on an Alaskan trip. (I'm very allergic but have heard they are good with food allergies and have gotten great tips on this board for what to do. But I still don't like the fish! :p )

I'm just excited to be doing something different and seeing new things!