Infinity 7/11 - Getting Ready to Go Questions

[ngraystark]

32 days until we board Celebrity for Alaska - I have a few questions as we are getting ready, that I would appreciate anyone's help with:

 

1. What nights are the Formal nights on Infinity?

 

2. What night would be the best for reservations in the United States?

 

3. Any problems with booking tours on board? We have booked independently in Ketchikan (fishing) and Juneau (Capt. Larry) but will probably have time for another tour in Juneau and have not booked anything for Sitka yet. We are trying to decide whether to go ahead and book something now or just wait until we are on board? Any advice?

 

4. We have not received cruise documents yet -what are boarding times? We are staying at the Pan Pacific (pre-cruise package). Any advice as to the best time to board?

 

5. How soon might we expect cruise documents - this is our first time with Celebrity - all other cruises we have had documents by this time pre-cruise.

 

6. Luggage first evening - about how long has it taken to be delivered to your stateroom after boarding - can we expect late afternoon or evening? (trying to decide what to put in carry-on).

 

7. We will be leaving from Seattle airport several days post-cruise - any advice on the security lines and how early to arrive - we have a 6:30am flight out of Seattle?

 

8. Any recent Infinity travelers - any problems at Hubbard glacier? Have read (port boards) that the glacier is moving and there is a potential for an issue with viewing?

 

9. Should salon appointments be booked when first boarding? Any problems with getting appointments?

 

Those are the burning questions for now!! Thanks to everyone who responds for your assistance!

[swamprabbit]

We were on the Infinity last week and can help with some of your questions.

 

1. Formal nights were Monday(at sea) and Friday(Sitka). Informal nights were Tuesday(Ketchikan)and Wednesday(Hubbard).

 

2. We had dinner in USS United States on Tuesday. It worked well; we left Ketchikan about 4:00pm, dined at 8:30.

 

4. We arrived at Canada Place about 11:30 am and checked in. US Customs officers did not arrive until noon, at which time boarding began.

 

6. We received our luggage mid-afternoon.

 

7. We had no problems at Seatac; our flight departed 10:30 am.

 

8. We were unable to get near Hubbard Glacier because of ice in Yakutat Bay. Other ships last week apparently were able to get much closer.

 

Hope this helps; we'll be happy to help with other questions.

 

k

[mromoff]

You will love the Pan Pacific. We stayed there the night before our cruise last year on the Infinity. Call the bellman when you are ready to board and they will come and get your bags and deliver them directly to ship.

 

We boarded early, by 11:00 a.m.

 

Go to the salon and book appointments as soon as possible. Appointments fill up fast.

 

I would defintely make some calls about the documents. Check with your TA or Celebrity. I wouldn't be too concerned yet, but sometimes rattling the chains will get the documents to you faster.

 

I hope you will be able to get close to the Hubbard Glacier, because it was truly amazing.

 

If you click on REVIEW in my signature below, you can read all about our Alaska trip and there is also a link to the pictures that we took. The review may answer some of your other questions too.

 

Have a wonderful trip!!

 

Mindi

 

Constellation - Southern Caribbean

 

Infinity to Alaska 8-03 Review

Millennium to Eastern Carribbean 11-02

[ArtM]

I think most of your questions have been answered. One with conflicting answers was boarding time. As of this cruising season, it is noon since US Immigration pre-clears all Pax for arrival into Ketchikan. You can check-in first and get a immigration priority ticket as part of the process. Suite and CC passengers go first. As CC pax in the terminal at 11:30 AM, we were on board by 12:05 PM.

 

In Juneau, we went to Mendenhall Glacier on our own, lots of busses at the dock - $10 RT. We also went up Mt Roberts on the tramway, also adjacent to the dock - $21.95.

 

In Sitka, we walked out to the National Historic site, about a mile. There is also a nature trail thru a tall pine forest; about a dozen totem poles along the trail. Across the street is the Alaska Raptor center - a rest and recovery facility for injured eagles, hawks, owls and other nasty birds. Then walked past the Sitka National Cemetery on our way back into town for shopping. By my GPS, we walked about 5 miles over flat ground in 3 hours.

 

We had dinner in the SS United States on Wednesday, the Hubbard glacier day. One of the reasons for this choice is that there was no concern about being worn out doing things in port.

 

On the May 30 Infinity cruise, there was enough ice, including 3 large ice bergs, in the water that we could only get to within 6.5 miles of Hubbard. The Captain did a 360 Degree turn of the ship to see if he could find a safe route in, but had no luck. The issue wasn't that the smaller ice chunks couldn't be pushed out of the way, but that any contact with ice chunks could damage the pods. Check any one of about a hundred other strings on the board to see why Celebrity is protective of its ship's pods The ice was sufficient to keep the Royal Caribbean ship ahead of us at Hubbard from getting closer than 10 miles to the glacier.

 

Art