Review: Celebrity Millennium Alaska North&South 15 day cruise May 12th-27th 2016

[FunInTheSun9]

My nine page review of our 2016 B2B Alaska cruise on the Millennium, with 27 photos, has now been posted on the cruisecritic review page. Here is a link. Be sure to look at the photos individually (double click on the first one, then right arrow scroll through the remainder), as they have descriptions telling you what you are looking at. I hope you find this helpful. Many thanks to those who helped me here on cruisecritic.com over my 9-month planning period. Enjoy!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=535553&et_cid=2633025&et_rid=85410920&et_referrer=Boards_Million_Member_Newsub

 

Also, if you are interested in seeing the daily in-cabin newsletters called "Celebrity Today" for these sailings, I have posted them previously and these links will take you to the posts for easy reference. Enjoy again!

 

Northbound May 12th-20th "Celebrity Today" (Note: Includes Sitka, which is only offered on the first northbound sailing of the Alaska cruise season to "reposition" the ship to a Friday-Friday schedule for the remainder of the season):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2364090

 

Southbound May 20th-27th "Celebrity Today" (Now on normal Friday-Friday schedule, notice Sitka is no longer in itinerary):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=50181294#post50181294

Edited June 6, 2016 by FunInTheSun9

[FunInTheSun9]

Here is a cut & paste of the review text from the cruisecritic review page, just to make it easier to read here without having to link away and potentially loose your search criteria. The photos are still only available in the review page though, FYI. I hope you find this helpful - enjoy!

 

Celebrity Millennium Alaska Northbound/Southbound May 12th & 20th 2016 Review

 

This is my opportunity to pay you all back for the great advice I have received from everyone here on cruisecritic.com. We planned this cruise for our 30th wedding anniversary and went hog wild on port excursions, thinking that if we were lucky and the weather cooperated we might be able to complete half of them. Well, when they tell you that the month of May is a great month to go to Alaska (less rain, more sun) – believe it. The weather Northbound was amazing and every single one of our excursions went off as planned. Southbound had more typical Alaska weather (cloudy), but still little rain and good temps.

 

We travel with a group, and had many of them with us on the first week. This was the cruise first we all had without the kids. In our case, the kids are all either married (Son), in grad school (eldest daughter), or entering their last year of college (twin “baby” girls). Did they want to go on this trip, yes; but could we afford it with all the excursions planned and tuition coming due, no. So be it. It was great even without them.

 

First, our sailing took us from Vancouver, BC to Seward, and then back again on the second sailing. Because this was the first sailing of the season, the Northbound trip also had Sitka, Ak thrown in as an additional port in order to reset the Millennium to a Friday-Friday schedule. So it was an 8-day cruise going North. Nice bonus!

 

Speaking about the ship, she was fresh out of her two week drydock on our May 12th sail date – and she looked S P E C T A C U L A R! New paint, new carpet, new rooftop terrace, new specialty restaurants, new furniture, new new new. Bottom line – she looked brand new. Everything worked. Could not have been happier with the ship and everything about her.

 

We had cabin #3116 for the May 12th sailing. GREAT cabin. It is a Cat6 OV that was installed back in the 2012 refurb, so it is basically new and had a little more wiggle room between the front of the bed and the cabin wall – we did NOT have to turn sideways to pass between the bed and the cabin wall. There is maybe an extra 20 square feet or so there. It also has a VERY large window. The area used to be where the old theater and a pleasant reading area was prior to the new cabins being installed. The windows are the size of the Main Dining Room windows, about 5 feet in diameter (compared to normal OV windows of about 4 feet). Being on deck 3 was also very convenient to get to the restaurants, all venues on deck 4 and 5, and when going/returning ashore. Needless to say, we loved this room. All cabins from #3112 to 3144 are like this cabin.

 

That said, we did have some issue the next week when we moved from cabin #3116 to 3114 next door. 3114 is the first cabin you see when entering the secluded hallway where these cabins are located, and in the main hallway before you enter you can faintly hear some machinery behind the decorative wall. Somehow, this noise seems to reverberate through cabin 3114 – faint but present. It sounds like a Mack truck is idling about 20 yards outside of your cabin window 24x7, in port or at sea. We dealt with it, and frankly would have likely not even noticed it had we not been in the quieter cabin 3116 on the prior sailing. Our neighbors in 3112 had no issue with it either. I only bring this up to say that if you are very sound sensitive when trying to sleep, you may want another cabin.

 

There, that was about the only negative thing I think I can possibly say about this trip. We have sailed seven times prior to these sailings, all in the Caribbean, on Disney and RCI. This was our first time on Celebrity. It was BY FAR our best cruise ever.

 

We arrived in Vancouver BC the night before our sailing and took a taxi into downtown for a $32 flat fee (Canadian $) plus tip. There is a lot of construction in this direction, so taking the Skytrain would have probably been a quicker and less expensive option ($8.75pp with $5 airport fee), but we wanted to be dropped off directly at our hotel – so we did the taxi and the 45 minute trip. On our return to port we did take the train from the port to YVR. The Waterfront train station is two blocks from port, an easy walk. It is $3.75pp (no airport fee when going to the airport), and was a 25 minute trip. Awesome.

 

The Vancouver Canada Place port embarkation process is smooth, quick, and efficient. It took well under an hour to give our bags to the porters, go through the short check-in line for our cabin key cards, and then on-board – and that includes the extra 10 minutes when we waited for others in our party to catch up to us. I have nothing but praise for the Canada Place facility and Celebrity’s embarkation process. We were on board and receiving our *first* glass of champagne as we entered before 11:30am.

 

We all had the classic beverage package as part of our booking amenities, and we had to learn by trial this first day how to properly manage it. Starting our day drinking at 11:30am, and then going straight to the Oceanview Bar at the back of deck 10 to keep the party going was probably not the best idea – although at the time it felt great. The next morning was another matter. Lesson learned.

 

Speaking about the classic package, it is awesome. One person in our group upgraded to the Premium package so he could get the Martini bar fare, but otherwise we all had the same thing: Any coffee drink we wished for at Café Al Bacio, Alaskan beer or mixed drinks in the afternoon, champagne (Prosecco) as soon as we sat at our table in the main dining room (MDR) each night, followed by wine paired by the sommelier (the one with the premium package did get better wines at dinner, but we are not the connoisseur types that can really tell the difference), and then mixed drinks at the martini bar after the show. The Martini Bar will make anything you want – only the Martini’s themselves are considered premium and are not available as part of the classic package, but the bartenders will make any mixed drink you can think of there too (with standard spirits), which is fine for us. It was our first time on a drink package, and we were in awe.

 

Since I mentioned the MDR, let’s go there for a moment. It was wonderful. The service was exceptional here our first week. This may have had something to do with our table. We had table #500 for 8 persons fixed at 6pm nightly. Undeniably, this is the best table in the restaurant. It is in the center of the restaurant and away from other nearby tables by virtue of it being surrounded by the left/right descending staircases from deck 5 to deck 4. We worked with the on-board restaurant operations manager via email to secure the table about a month prior to sailing – not sure how I ended up with Paola’s email ID, but we began by sending a note to CelebrityDining@Celebrity.com. After the refurb the MDR decks have changed for fixed and select dining. Deck 5 is now for fixed dining, and deck 4 is now for select. Our servers were very very good, and the meals were great too. You can order what you want, how you want it, and as much as you like. The servers won’t give your requests a second thought, as I’m sure they have heard it all, and frankly they are happy to delight you.

 

That let-me-delight-you theme is extended to the entire crew, and this is an area where Celebrity separates itself from the other cruise lines we have sailed on. Disney and RCI are no slouches when it comes to service, they are great, but when every person you come into contact with is friendly, asking about your day, asking what they can do to improve your vacation in a welcoming manner, and showing genuine concern when you do raise an issue and then doing something about it – that is what true service is about. I would normally mark this off as due to me being a friendly person myself, but for the entire 15 days on board we had nothing but positive encounters with the crew. All of them. There is something special happening here.

 

So, quick recap: Beautiful ship. Exceptional service and crew. Great weather. No kids. Drink packages. …What’s not to like?!

 

The only thing that did not rate a “10” on the first sailing was the entertainment. They were an 8 overall in our opionion. The dancers earned 10’s, as they performed great production shows. The several nights of comics though was a little much. Now, that said, the second sailing was a 10 all around for entertainment. They brought in some headline singers (e.g. Lovena Fox, Savanah Jack) so the comic routines were not a constant as they were before, and these headliners could entertain – engaging the audience, bringing audience members up on stage, funny - good times. The other entertainment options in Cosmos were good too. Game shows like “James Bond Trivia Night”, “60’s and 80’s music game shows”, and the classic “The Newly and Not-So-Newlywed game show” were very entertaining late night activities. They also had small group singers in the Rendezvous Lounge that were good, though the house band “Latitude” in my opinion was so-so, they still kept things going ok. If you are partial to mega-ships or in the very young crowd, the only complaint you may have is that there is not enough going on here all the time. Unlike a megaship, there are fewer venues and thus fewer options to steal away your time in. For us, though, it was perfect evening fare: Dinner, Martini Bar, Show, Cosmos, and then to bed or a Martini Bar night cap.

 

Each morning was our time to rehydrate and catch a group breakfast in the Oceanview Café. Plenty of selection here. We gravitated toward the tables near the windows just before exiting to the far aft bar area. We seemed to get great bar service there – but after that first day we learned that AM is the time for water and juice. The bar will bring you fresh OJ, which is nice. I tended toward the fruit, orange slices (rinds removed) and cottage cheese; but about anything you can image for breakfast is served. American, European, even Indian fare - it is all there. They even an eggs Benedict bar in the back!

 

The same continues for lunch at the Oceanview, though I tended to hit the lighter fare at the Spa Café near the Solarium Pool in the early afternoon. The smoothies there are included in the classic beverage package, another nice surprise. Some of us hovered at the Pool Grill in the afternoon for a beer, burger or hot dog. This fare sounds pedestrian, but I have to tell you – it was good! Love the fries too.

 

We did go to the MDR for breakfast on the second at sea day. It takes a little more time here, especially with a group of 8, but it’s nice to do it up once in a while and have an hour+ breakfast. Why not – we are on vacation!

 

On the first sailing we only did one specialty restaurant - the new Sushi on 5. Our entire table was offered to go for no charge. The restaurant had been fairly slow, so I think they wanted to just get some people in there. The Maître De, Chef, and an other officer all took some time after our meal to ask for our opinions. We told them straight: We are not “sushi” people, and had no idea prior to stepping foot in here that the fare could be so good. It is not ALL sushi. The menu is marked to show dishes that are raw (about half the menu), but everything else is cooked – at least half the menu. The presentation is amazing, and it is probably the most health-conscious food offered on board the ship. The portions are also huge. We ordered way too much thinking that the dishes were MDR sized. Took us a while to get through it all. We had such a good time that my wife (an unabashed “nothing raw for me” gal) and I went back a second time in our second sailing week. They need to market this better, else it will remain a hidden gem.

 

On the second sailing we also tried Qsine, and the new Tuscan Grill. We used the three specialty dining package deal ($89pp for the three specialty restaurants on board). We could book whatever day/time we wanted, and even changed our time one night because we knew that Sushi on 5 would be filling and needed more time off the food bag before going in. Both Qsine and Tuscan were good – much better fare than in the MDR, which really says a lot (unless you are used to eating at high end restaurants every night). Qsine is quirky (ordering as many courses as you can handle on an iPad), but very good, and again filling. We had a 6-hour tour in Seward before reboarding for dinner, so we timed Qsine and our appetite perfectly – we were “starved” and ready. The daily fresh made pasta at Tuscan was to die for, as were the steaks. I recommend trying all three specialty restaurants, but don’t miss lobster night or Chic/Formal nights in the MDR. It is their better menus. I also like to meet my servers the first night in the MDR – so that leaves three perfect holes in the schedule for the specialty dining alternatives on a seven day sailing on this ship.

 

There is a lot of discussion on the boards about Evening Chic nights and what to wear. Celebrity makes it easy: Wear what you want as long as it is not flip-flops, t-shirts or shorts. I have always brought a tux for formal night, but I was able to pack large because we drove to the Florida ports from Georgia. I did pack a suit and a few ties for this trip. I just enjoy dressing up, as does our group. Frankly, we never look at what other people are wearing, as we are so engrossed in our own conversations during dinner. We are the table that is the last to leave as the waiters are gently hinting that they have to ready the place settings for the next seating!

 

It is time to talk about the ports of call. Many will tell you that you don’t necessarily book an Alaskan cruise for the Ship, but rather for the ports. I think this is generally correct, and going from Vancouver to Seward gives plenty of sight seeing opportunity at either end of the trip too. Anchorage and Denali are nice several day tours out of Seward (Celebrity offers land tour packages, but as you will see I’m more a DIY guy), and Vancouver is the prettiest and cleanest city I have ever seen – and I live in Atlanta, which is pretty nice in and of itself.

 

Day 1-2: Sailing the Inside Passage (at sea). This was better on the southbound sailing, as it was daylight most of the time (northbound we slept through most of it). Do not miss the naturalist presentations during this day. They will tell you about the wildlife and natural formations you are about to experience so you know what you are seeing. There are also talks about each port, not the shopping talks (though they have those too), but the history talks – what each port is known for and how it differs from the others. They provide interesting info, and an entertaining way to spend 45 minutes.

 

Day 3: Ketchikan. This is the shopping mecca of Alaska. We found great deals on shirts and trinkets at The Outlet Store at the far end of the pier near cruise berth #1 at the end of Front St., though there are many shops and galleries throughout the first several streets in town. Prices seemed higher, as were taxes, the further north we travelled. We took a floatplane tour here into Misty Fjords National Monument Wilderness Area with Family Air (Dave Rocke, owner) and had a fabulous time. The weather was amazing, sunny, clear and 75 degrees, so we had an exceptional day. Flew into and around the area for about 2 hours, including a water landing where we were able to leave the plane and hike (on our own) into the woods, which later opened up into a spectacular meadow with wooded views all the way down to the water. Spent about 30 minutes in our little green plot of paradise before taking off back to tour more by air and then return to port. I highly recommend Dave Rocke and Family Air Tours. After the tour we spent some time at Creek Street to visit the locally run shops. A very pleasant and neat place, as the entire “street” is built upon pilings over the creek (more like a river). If the salmon were running it would have perfect. Next time. On our second visit there I hopped on a local bus (silver line southbound, $1pp each way) and went to Totem Bight. Had a very pleasant ½ hour drive through the entire town, and the Totam Bight State park was wonderful. It is near the shore with picturesque trials leading to the totems (15 of them) and a Clan house. The Clan House is amazing. There are signs throughout the park depicting what life was like for the indigenous people and what the totems and Clan House represent and their purpose. I self toured here (no charge) and filled my camera with photo “souvenirs.”

 

Day 4: Sitka. This was our bonus port. The Millennium only stops here on the first cruise of the season. We docked rather than tendered (there is no tendering at any port anymore), and Celebrity provided bus transportation into town. It is about a 10 minute bus ride from the old Sitka deep water dock into town. What a culturally rich, historic and scenic city! We self-toured here and walked to several key sites, including: The Russian Bishop House, St. Michael’s Cathedral/Russian Cathedral, Pioneer Home, Totem Square, Castle Hill (old fort, and where the Alaska purchase from Russia was signed), and the Russian Cemetery. Everything was in easy walking distance, and it was a great city to walk through due to the abundant Russian architecture and influence. Part of our group took a Marine Wildlife tour with Paul Davis at Gallant Adventures and had a great 2.5 hour tour. They saw everything from humpback whales, to puffin, to sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals, porpoises, eagles and even bears on the shore! We could not get the smiles off their faces for the rest of the day. Paul even took them directly back to the ship rather than the marina so they would not have to bus it back to the ship. Nice touch.

 

Day 5: Icy Strait Point. This port is different. It is not cruise line owned and only one ship can be in port at a time. The local Tlingit Indians run most of this port and they provide a more wilderness oriented experience – there is some shopping here immediately off the ship dock and in the boardwalk gift shop, but otherwise there is little commercialized build up. Read: There are no Del Sol, Diamonds International, etc to be found here. The nearby old cannery is now a museum and a good spot for history buffs. The nearby town of Hoonah, the largest Tlingit Indian settlement in Alaska, is about 1.5 miles away and provides a view into what real Alaskan life is like. A bus will take you for $5pp round trip ($3 one way), or there is a paved path that runs along the shore and provides good whale watching opportunities while you walk into town. Many in our group decided to do a ZipRider here – the largest one in the world. They screamed for 90+ seconds straight all the way down, and would have gone back again if it were not for the $139pp fee. We then walked on a short shore line beach trail that starts to the left of where the ship’s dock ends on shore. The trail proceeds into a woodland area that is very green with ferns, etc. Seemed like “Fairyland.” The walk was not long, maybe ½ mile total, and fun. Then we walked into Hoonah. There is a shelter here just outside the local clan house where they were building canoes in the traditional Indian style. This was not being done for the Tourists, but rather for use in future clan activities. They were very friendly, even when we interrupted them to ask what they were doing, and they described how the canoes are made. We were told that they also make the totem poles (think of them as family crests) there too, and on any given day you can see something different going on here. The group then bused back to the ship. I was told that a humpback whale was circling the ship while it was docked on both occasions we ported here. I never saw it, but others did. Our cabin steward told us it is often there when the ship is in port, and that a good place to see marine wildlife is at the ships stern (Oceanview Bar) when pulling away from port.

 

Day 6: Juneau. The Capital of Alaska. This is a bustling city, and everything is available here. Excursion opportunities are seemingly endless, though just walking the town can be very satisfying. We signed up for our most adventuresome excursion while here: Coastal Helicopter’s Dog Sled Tour with and extra glacier landing. This tour takes 3.5 hours total dock to dock. The ship is in town for nine hours, so no worries. Coastal helicopters are the Lamborghini of helicopters, and as such they can take more weight/passengers than others: 5 + the pilot. It was our first time in a helo, and it was marvelous to have us all together. The typical Alaska weather had caught up to us this day, and it was raining – but not enough to cancel or even delay the flight. Coastal even provided rain jackets, rain pants, and spiked boots, so we were all very comfortable. Once we took off , the tour was 2 hours to/from the airport. The helo ride to the Blue Kennels Dog Camp is only about 15-20 minutes. They are on Herbert glacier were there is ample snow accumulation for sledding. The sled is actually two two-seater sleds connected with a line, allowing five to go at once with a musher guide (sixth person). The musher is on the first sled and stands behind the two sled seats, then the second sled has two sitting and one standing (“driving”). There are two stops during the mush run, allowing those in your party to meet the dogs and switch seats or “drive.” About the dogs, they are the real deal. All of the dogs with our sled had run the Iditarod, and finished in the top 15 (of 72 racers). They love to pull, and are excited at the prospect of doing so when the helo lands, as is evident by their excited yapping. The sled ride was about 45-60 minutes. We talked our musher’s ear off, so we probably got closer to the hour. Then it was back into the helo and off to another part of Herbert glacier to land and walk about. There are rivers of water there; beautiful blue topaz water and ice is everywhere. DO NOT FORGET to bring an empty water bottle or two or even three so you can bring some of this water back with you. It is a great conversation piece to share with those at home: “You are now drinking water that is millennium old!” Needless to say, this was definitely a trip highlight. On our second pass through Juneau we rented a car from Juneau Car Rental ($86 for a full size vehicle) and drove off the beaten path – well, as far as you can drive anyways as the road is only about 40 miles long before it ends. We did the touristy visit to Mendenhall Glacier, and then got hungry, so we Googled “best fish and chips in Juneau” and were surprised to see that the chosen restaurant ("The Sand Bar") was only two miles away. The place was an old barn, kind of looked like a dive inside and out, but the fish and chips were definitely amazing, the Alaskan beer was good too. The best part was the conversations we had with the locals. They told us about the first moose sightings they have had in decades, and pointed us to where they were seen. We did not have the fortune to see them in person when we went there, but it gave cause for an awesome off-book adventure. The Shrine of St. Therese is about halfway between town and where the road ends. It at first seems an odd place for a shrine, until you walk to it on it’s extended peninsula that juts into the bay. There you are filled with awe as you are surrounded by the natural beauty. It is the perfect place for a chapel and the outdoor stations of the cross.

 

Day 7: Skagway. It is hard to have a favorite port, because they are all so good or unique in their own way, but for me Skagway was the best. I just like the smaller, picturesque nature of this town. It also does not hurt that you can drive from here into Canada and onto the Alaskan highway. We did this on our second trip here during the southbound sailing, renting a car from Avis ($142 for a full size vehicle) and driving on the only road you can go on to get to the Canadian border. It took about 25 minutes to get into British Columbia (Canada) over the mountain range, giving you some idea how closely southeast Alaska hugs the coastline. The views are astounding here. Honestly, it looks like those perfect model train tables or dioramas – it is heavenly. The scenery does not give up for about 70 miles, through BC and into the Yukon Territory and up to Emerald Lake. The only real town on the main highway is about five miles from the lake: Carcross (was originally called “Caribou Crossing”). Nice shops, restaurants, and a visitor center are there. Just before the lake is the Carcross Dessert. It has sands dunes and everything, but is not actually a desert as the climate is wrong – but it sure looks like one, and it seems out of place there. It is really a dry lake where glaciers once stood and the glacial silt remained after the glaciers disappeared. If you do this drive, I recommend that you bring two things: 1. Your Passport. Canada may let you in without one, but the USA will give you a more difficult time getting back in without it, and 2. A “Murray’s Guide.” The Murray’s Guide is a $5 document you can download and print from *****************. It gives mile-by-mile (by milepost marker) highlights of what is flying by your car window and it will take you from the Skagway port all the way to Whitehorse (another 30 miles past Emerald Lake). Best $5 tour guide you will ever have. We did a tour with Mountain Flying Service on our first visit to Skagway. Paul & Amy Swanstrom are the proprietors, and Paul provided us with an exquisite air tour into Glacier National Park. Since the Millennium does not sail into Glacier Bay, we thought this would be a nice trip so we could see it. The weather again was perfect this day, sunny and clear, so we had an extra treat added to our tour – Paul’s plane had skis and he was able to make a landing on a glacier. After seeing so much beauty day after day, you begin to get a little jaded…”Oh, yet another spectacular view, nice.” BUT, landing in that view turned it into a three-dimensional experience. First thing to know, snow blindness is real. You MUST have sunglasses on. My photos were taken here without the ability to see my cameras screen, it was so bright. Second, you have never before heard real silence until you have walked 30-40 yards from the group and the plane. Nothing. Period. Nothing. It was magical. I was waiting for the angels to come and welcome us home. This was an amazing experience. After the tour we shopped in town a little and took a few photos at the brothel (why not!). Everything here is clean, and you can get a photo from the far end of town looking all the way down Broadway Street and see the bow of a ship docked there looking as though it is coming right up the avenue. Neat photo. I love this port.

 

Day 8: Hubbard Glacier (at sea). We were spoiled again with perfect weather. Clear and sunny and warm. (I know, monotonous!) We neared the glacier by 7:30am. The ice was present, but not thick, so the Captain took the ship seeming right up against the glacier – up to the legal ½ mile limit, where we stayed and spun for the next 1.5 hours. This glacier is huge, the front face is 6 miles wide and several hundred feet tall, towering over the ship. Due to the warm weather the face was calving about every 30 seconds, with bus size and larger pieces cracking like thunder and falling into the sea with a splash and a large wave. The entire face and the mountain range behind the glacier was clearly visible the entire time we were there, which is probably why the Captain stayed as long as he dared – it is rather rare to have all the conditions so right. Our return here three days later was also good, again getting close to the glacier, but the weather was foggy and much of the mountain range was obscured. The calving though was going full force, and was the highlight of both visits. The naturalist (Milos) on board can be heard over the ship’s loudspeaker the entire morning (it is in the afternoon on southbound sailings). Milos is entertaining and informative. One word of advice: Do not look at this glacier through a window, get out on deck and see and hear it first hand. They opened the helipad on both sailings, which is an excellent vantage point from which to see the glacier.

 

Seward: Turnaround day. We stayed on board as everyone in our group left on this embark/debark day. The back-to-back sailing process was as easy as it gets: Leave by 9:15am, and as you leave the ship they collect your old seapass card and provide you with your new one. You can either reboard the ship, or leave as you please. If you leave you are provided with a transit pass so you can skip the security/check-in line for new passengers boarding the ship (we received our pass at a short B2B meeting the day prior). We also changed rooms, but with them being right next to each other our steward made a point to ready our next room first before we left so we could move everything quickly into the new room – freeing our old room to be cleaned for it’s new guests. If we had left before our new room was ready, or if it was not nearby, the cabin steward would have taken our belongings and moved it for us – you pack everything but leave all garments on the hangers in the closet. They then use a hotel-type dolly to move your bags and garments to the new room. Easy peasy. We did leave the ship that morning and headed into town. A free city bus took us first to the Kenai Fjords Tour office where we checked in for our 11:30am 6-hour National Park Tour, and then hopped back on the bus to go into town. I was captivated by a local artist’s hand carved stone indigenous man figure (they do not say “Eskimo”) on display at a local folk art gallery, and had to buy it on a whim. The figure’s face was so happy, and it seemed to impart the raw, rugged, beauty of this magnificent land. What a great find. Then it was back to bus for a return to the tour office and the beginning of our tour. I have to tell you, once outside of the protection of Resurrection Bay, the water was a bit rough that day. Even though this was a 150-person boat, the 5-6 foot swells tossed us a bit. Fortunately, we were soon back in the protection of another bay and the real fun began. Orcas!!! Several pods. Including a baby that would flip it’s tail out of the water every 5 minutes or so. It was like Disney animatronics, it was so great. Next up: Humpbacks, two of them. We got a spout followed later by a deep dive tail flip up and out of the water. So cool. Then the line up began: Sea Otters, Sea Lions, Puffins, Eagles and many other bird species. There were several “birders” on board and the Captain delighted in finding them something to photograph. We also were within 100 yards of a glacier face for 30 minutes as it calved. This was a very good tour.

 

Then it was back on board and we were soon heading southbound again on the Millennium, doing the prior trip in reverse (though without Sitka). This trip was special in it’s own right, as we did not have our group, nor the kids, just us – no better way to celebrate our 30 years of marriage together. It was like a second honeymoon. We also met so many fun and exciting people on-board, and spent way too much time at the Martini Bar (I miss that place!). We joined Persian Gardens on this sailing ($150 for two for the week), and languished in the Turkish bath and aroma therapy rooms. So relaxing. We were spoiled.

 

So there you have it. Our amazing 15 day trip on board the Celebrity Millennium. After sailing 20+ foot swells in the Caribbean all of these years prior to this trip, I was amazed at how smooth this entire sailing was. Rarely even felt the ship move, and most times looking out over the ship or from our cabin window you would swear that we were on a lake rather than an ocean. We were definitely blessed to have such good weather, but even on the return where the weather was less sunny with occasional rain, the passage was smooth and the experience was wonderful. I had always been a Caribbean bigot: Love my beaches and umbrella drinks. I am now an Alaska convert. It is a magical place, and Celebrity did a superior job in facilitating the overall experience.

Edited June 10, 2016 by FunInTheSun9

[wallie5446]

Very well done! Thank You for taking the time to do this.

EW

[Amishcountry]

Thank you so much! [emoji3]

 

 

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[Keith1010]

Excellent review.

 

Thank you.

 

Keith

[raks]

We are on the Millie southbound in July thank you for the review!

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[atlgants]

Thank you so much; particularly for the Celebrity Todays!

[DebbieMacG]

Great review thanks :)

[easyboy]

Great detailed review!