Georgia Peaches heads to The Last Frontier…Seeking Answers…Will She Love Alaska? Live-May 31-June 7th…Teetering on The Edge

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

if this trip was a one and done for us. DH and I agree that it is in fact, a one and done!  

 

 We've done four Alaska cruises and I'd venture to say that given the right opportunity we would gladly do another.  We both enjoy the scenery and the tranquility of the bays and Inside Passage.  We both can just sit on the balcony and watch the world go by.  

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

7 hours ago, RK-NC said:

What are the bits of green on top?

I had to go back and look. They were little sprigs of mint. 

[Ergates The Ant]

We didn’t hear any comments about survey scores, but we didn’t have an evening turndown. We just received an e Mail survey after our return home. I think if I’d been pestered about giving high scores, I’d have been straight down to Customer Services to complain.

I didn’t go to the last night show either, but someone on this forum said that the cruise director had made a big speech about the importance of giving scores of 10. Again, I’d have walked out, and made a complaint. 
 

[CTSandy]

Enjoyed your report - done Alaska three times and I hate the way the party is over in Victoria☹️.  The last Alaska cruise, we took the ferry over to Victoria and spent 3 nights at a wonderful inn.  Managed to enjoy Butchart Gardens, farmer’s market, Fisherman’s Wharf, etc.  Extended our cruise vacation in a wonderful way.

 

For some strange reason, Celebrity no longer sends me surveys so I don’t have to worry about those 10’s!  Thanks for sharing your adventures.

[RichYak]

5 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

To that end, I see a cruise to the Norwegian fjords in our future!

This is on my short list as well.

[NMTraveller]

6 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

. I also really enjoyed the cool weather aspect of this cruise. To that end, I see a cruise to the Norwegian fjords in our future!

 

 

This is our next cruise ...

[abbydancer2003]

11 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

This is our next cruise ...

Not our next, but in August of this year.

[DaKahuna]

6 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

2.  Can’t recommend enough the free port luggage valet service. Yesterday afternoon our boarding passes and luggage tags were waiting in our room.

 

 We love this program and have taken advantage of it  every time we've sailed out of Seattle.  I am glad that it has also returned to FLL.  We normally take a 1 PM flight from FLL to IAD and that works perfect for Luggage Valet.  

 

 Thank you again for taking us along on your journey.  Thoroughly enjoyed your review and looking forward to your next one. 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Just now, DaKahuna said:

 

 We love this program and have taken advantage of it  every time we've sailed out of Seattle.  I am glad that it has also returned to FLL.  We normally take a 1 PM flight from FLL to IAD and that works perfect for Luggage Valet.  

 

 Thank you again for taking us along on your journey.  Thoroughly enjoyed your review and looking forward to your next one. 

 

In FLL, usually the only nonstop we can make is 6pm.  If we use Luggage Valet, we can go straight through security and hang out at the United Club, instead of pre security (UA has a 4 hour limit).  Last time in December with 7 ships in (that I counted), the line, even for Premiere was at least an hour, so we took our overnight bag through, and DH went out mid afternoon to check it.

[bjahil47]

On 6/6/2024 at 11:38 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Over cocktails in the martini bar DH and I perused the evening dinner options. As it was the second chic night, most of the dining rooms were serving lobster in some form or fashion. I’m allergic to lobster so this is never a special event for me but Luminae was also serving scallops…and pigs feet carpaccio so Luminae was the clear winner. 
 

After grabbing a glass of wine to take along, we headed to Luminae around 8 pm. We were seated at a 2 top next to the window

(our first all week). The water was much calmer and the view was spectacular. 
 

For starters we ordered the creamy Tuscan  kale soup, octopus pasta salad and yes, the pigs foot carpaccio. I asked for an explanation of the dish before ordering. Was told that an actual foot would not appear on the plate. Instead, the meat is shaved from the foot and rolled into a carpaccio…whatever that means. 
 

The soup was delicious!

 

 

The octopus pasta salad was outstanding!  I’d order this as a main if doing it again. 
 

 

And here’s the pig foot carpaccio. The round wafers you see here were very thin, like a crepe and the marbling was a mixture of meat and fat. The carpaccio part of the dish is the dollop of pate-like sauce in the middle. I ate a whole disc in one bite. And with great horror soon realized that I wanted to spit it out!  With no safe or discreet way to do so, I had no choice but to swallow. The taste wasn’t as bad as the texture, which was slimy leather. If I had the trained pallet of a true food critic I’d say it needed salt but even added salt wouldn’t convince me to eat more. 
 

I think our server was watching from a distance because almost immediately he appeared to remove the plate. I asked him if he had tried the dish and he said he had but he doesn’t like it. At least I’m in good company!!  
 

The rest of the meal included the scallops for me and a lobster dish for DH. We shared the rack of lamb. the scallops were very good and DH enjoyed his lobster. The lamb was just meh. 
 

We finished out the meal with a glass of port and shared a baked Alaska. 
 

 

 

Here is the Pigs Foot Carpaccio my husband had on Beyond in March.

 

[bjahil47]

Thank you for taking us along on your Alaskan adventure!

[Georgia_Peaches]

32 minutes ago, bjahil47 said:

Here is the Pigs Foot Carpaccio my husband had on Beyond in March.

 

Yep looks about the same 🤮😊

[Pushka]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Yep looks about the same 🤮😊

Oh my. That looks incredibly .... vomit worthy. If not actual. What on earth are they thinking? 

Edited June 8 by Pushka

[cruisetonowhere10]

Great trip report—loved reading it as we go in July.  Question…I have been before and I wished I had a blanket that was waterproof in one side to sit out on deck watching the world go by if it’s misty or damp or even raining on the glacier day.  I bought one but I’m now second guessing the space (it does pack smallish) it’ll take up.  Thoughts? (I know this is a silly question lol)

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Great trip report—loved reading it as we go in July.  Question…I have been before and I wished I had a blanket that was waterproof in one side to sit out on deck watching the world go by if it’s misty or damp or even raining on the glacier day.  I bought one but I’m now second guessing the space (it does pack smallish) it’ll take up.  Thoughts? (I know this is a silly question lol)

Well if you're like me..."I bought it for Alaska, so I'm taking it, doggonit!"  The fact is, they have PLENTY of blankets available.  They aren't water proof on one side but if a blanket gets wet, you can trade it for another.  

 

Wishing you a wonderful cruise!  

[Georgia_Peaches]

11 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

Here is the Pigs Foot Carpaccio my husband had on Beyond in March.

Question is...did he eat it?  All of it?  What did he think?

[Georgia_Peaches]

13 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I am glad that it has also returned to FLL.  We normally take a 1 PM flight from FLL to IAD and that works perfect for Luggage Valet. 

Is it the same exact type of service?  And is it complementary like in Seattle?  We may consider it for FLL...

[bjahil47]

4 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Question is...did he eat it?  All of it?  What did he think?

Yes, he ate it all and said it was ok.  But he eats anything, except cucumbers, and was taught to eat everything on his plate even if he does not like it!  He did say he would never order it again!  

[cruisetonowhere10]

52 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Well if you're like me..."I bought it for Alaska, so I'm taking it, doggonit!"  The fact is, they have PLENTY of blankets available.  They aren't water proof on one side but if a blanket gets wet, you can trade it for another.  

 

Wishing you a wonderful cruise!  

Ha ha.  I may leave it at home.  If I shovel my have room…I did just by a new pair of black heels that will work with all my potential outfits for dinner so I’m leaving my navy items at home and going with all tops that have black in them.  Yet another “bought for Alaska item.” 😂

[abbydancer2003]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Is it the same exact type of service?  And is it complementary like in Seattle?  We may consider it for FLL...

I think they charge 29.00 for it, plus any baggage fees from the airline.  When I used it, I don't know if they charged it, since I don't recall seeing it on my account.  In our case, I bought it for me, and I checked both of our bags, since I get two free.

[DaKahuna]

8 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Is it the same exact type of service?  And is it complementary like in Seattle?  We may consider it for FLL...

 

 If you are in the Retreat there is no shipboard charge, only any charge your airline imposes.  We have free bags with United so we received it for free in FLL.  

 

[abbydancer2003]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 If you are in the Retreat there is no shipboard charge, only any charge your airline imposes.  We have free bags with United so we received it for free in FLL.  

 

Thanks, I thought that might be the case, but it wasn't spelled out.  Hopefully still good the next time I need it, on the Ascent in January.

[yoshi]

Finally finished your great live thread 😄

Thank you Georgia_Peaches!

[dctravel]

Thanks for doing this! We head to Alaska on the Solstice next month! Glad to hear more about Celebrity (it will be our first time on this cruise line) and Alaska!

[BuckeyeMark]

On 6/7/2024 at 11:52 AM, Stem to Stern said:

We have heard the please give us a perfect score spiel on more than one occasion in the past, but thinking back to our last two cruises, Summit in December 2023 and Silhouette in April 2024, I do not recall any of that.

The last night of our recent Norway cruise the cruise director spent 10 minutes pleading for a ten. He went on and On and ON AND ON AND ON about it. It was ridiculous.
And what's the point of sending surveys if you let employees "rig" the results? How much more effective would a survey be that said, "We hope your experience with us was a 9 or 10 and you will cruise with us again soon, BUT CAN YOU PLEASE SHARE ONE OR TWO WAYS WE COULD IMPROVE?" Now that would show a commitment to being the best!