Rare NBliving Posted July 19 #1 Share Posted July 19 This post was recognized by LauraS! "Congrats on your "Live from..." Thanks for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic! See your post featured on our: Click: Cruise Reports page. When you return, please consider submitting it to the site for publication as well: Click: Write a Review" NBliving was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' We board the Summit in about an hour! I really enjoy everyone’s Live reports, so I will give it a whirl. We arrived in Vancouver on the 16th and have really enjoyed the city. I’m traveling with my DH. He is in his early 60’s and I will be joining that decade later on the year. Neither of us has been to Alaska so we are really looking forward to it and the cooler weather as we live near Austin, Texas🥵 I’ll post more later! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Galaxy2004 Posted July 19 #2 Share Posted July 19 Safe travels and excited to follow along. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 19 Author #3 Share Posted July 19 We are onboard! I’ve seen horror stories about embarkation at Canada Place cruise termina, but it was as quick as it could be with all the winding around it takes 😂 We took a cab from our hotel (Hilton Vancouver Downtown) because the bellman told us cabs can get into the parking garage where you drop off your luggage. I guess a Lyft or Uber would have to drop you off at street level 🤷🏻♀️ We are in a verandah cabin deck 7. We first sailed with Celebrity on the Summit in 2016 so it’s nice to be back! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Norwaylady Posted July 19 #4 Share Posted July 19 Bon Voyage🤩 Have a great sailing, looking forward to follow your adventure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 19 Author #5 Share Posted July 19 The cruise director (Patrick) just announced our departure time will be delayed until 7 due to the Microsoft outage and flights being delayed ☹️ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisetonowhere10 Posted July 19 #6 Share Posted July 19 16 minutes ago, NBliving said: The cruise director (Patrick) just announced our departure time will be delayed until 7 due to the Microsoft outage and flights being delayed ☹️ That’s nice for those ppl but I bet your anxious to go under the bridge and be off!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 19 Author #7 Share Posted July 19 5 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said: That’s nice for those ppl but I bet your anxious to go under the bridge and be off!! Exactly!! It is nice for those arriving today though. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare hcat Posted July 19 #8 Share Posted July 19 Glad u went ahead of time...Many folks will be stranded at airports.. Enjoy the cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 19 Author #9 Share Posted July 19 Backing up to our arrival in Vancouver. This was our first time here. Vancouver is a lovely city. Very walkable we found. We explored Gastown, checked out Canada Place (lucked out seeing an Italian aerial team fly over the harbor), booked a full day tour to Vancouver Island to see Butchert Gardens and Victoria,rented e-bikes to explore Stanley Park, and took a water taxi to Granville Island! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 20 Author #10 Share Posted July 20 (edited) The late departure threw our usual first day cruise schedule off. We have late dining so wanted to go to the show at 7, but that meant missing the sail away. Oh well! We went to the show: Evolution: Motown. The 4 men did a nice job going through the decades of great music. Some of my favorites were “Brickhouse”, “Love Train” and “Uptown Funk”! Our table at dinner was at a window so I saw the sunset. 🤩 I’m happy to answer any questions. Through dining room window 9:48 pm from our balcony Edited July 20 by NBliving Typo 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basebare Posted July 20 #11 Share Posted July 20 21 hours ago, NBliving said: We are onboard! I’ve seen horror stories about embarkation at Canada Place cruise termina, but it was as quick as it could be with all the winding around it takes I'm curious what time you did you arrive to the cruise terminal? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midwife1021 Posted July 20 #12 Share Posted July 20 Looks like you are off to a good start! Is the ship wifi working well for you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 20 Author #13 Share Posted July 20 5 hours ago, basebare said: I'm curious what time you did you arrive to the cruise terminal? Our check in time was 12:30. We were dropped off at 12:25 and in our cabin at 12:45! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 20 Author #14 Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, midwife1021 said: Looks like you are off to a good start! Is the ship wifi working well for you? We have basic wifi and it’s working well. We've had to log back in every once in a while. We have 90 min free premium through our elite status. I may have to use that to post pictures on here, but I’ve posted to Instagram on the basic just fine! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 21 Author #15 Share Posted July 21 (edited) Today we are cruising the Inside Passage. We turned our clocks back an hour when we went to bed so woke up about 5:30. It was very foggy most of the morning. The ship blew its horn every so often it was so thick. We attended the Beyond the Podium presentation this morning. It was more about global warming than marine life. At the end we did learn how to tell the difference between whales, so that will be helpful lol. We took the Kitchen and Lunch ship experience today. I did this tour on a Royal ship last year and really enjoyed it. I thought my DH would enjoy it. Unfortunately, our tour guide, one of the chefs, did not use a microphone so he was very hard to hear. My husband and a few others gave up completely and just looked around the areas. Our lunch was very good as well as visiting with the other participants. Luckily, I bought it on sale! I did fill out a review form with my thoughts. I hope they tweak this a bit so it’s more enjoyable. We played bingo - didn’t win ☹️. The prize amounts were the highest I’ve heard. $900+, $1100+ and $1600+!!! Sitting in Cafe al Bacio now with a cappuccino and lemon tarts listening to a delightful duo playing. Edited July 21 by NBliving Spacing 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 21 Author #16 Share Posted July 21 (edited) Today we are in Ketchikan. The weather forecast all last week showed rain, but we got so lucky with temps in the high 60’s and no rain! 🙌🏻 I booked an excursion directly with Island Wings Air Service for a flight seeing trip over the Misty Fjords National Monument. It’s a two hour trip with a 30 minute stop on a pristine lake. Our pilot was the owner, Michelle, who has been in the float plane business for over 30 years. It was amazing!! Highly recommend. IMG_5264.dng Edited July 21 by NBliving Delete picture 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 21 Author #17 Share Posted July 21 After our morning adventure we walked around the town to look for salmon in the creek and do some shopping. We also ate lunch at the Fish House. Halibut fish sticks and fries. Very good! I’m posting a list of things to do in Ketchikan that I had saved during my research as well as our itinerary. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 24 Author #18 Share Posted July 24 (edited) We’ve been having to many exciting adventures to post daily! The weather yesterday was just gorgeous! We’ve been so lucky ❤️ Yesterday in Sitka, we took a tour with Baranof Tours. Simply Amazing Sitka Tour; Fortress of the Bears, Alaska Raptor & Totem Park with Baranof Tours Our guide Mike was terrific. We could have done this tour on our own, but we weren’t sure how crowded each spot would be. I don’t think it would have been an issue but we did enjoy the transportation and insight from Mike. The Raptor center is a rehab facility for injured raptors. They focus on returning the birds to the wild if at all possible. The birds in my pictures are too injured or tame to be released. The ones who are close to being released are in an area with a one way window so the pictures didn’t turn out. Everyone who works or volunteers at the center was very knowledgeable and friendly. The Fortress of the Bears is a facility for orphaned bears. They take them in as cubs, so these bears will not be going back to the wild, but the other option is euthanasia so this is a good option for them. Totem Park is a very nice National Park right on the coast. We hiked Totem trail and went over to Indian River where ww saw some early salmon swimming in to lay their eggs. IMG_9817.mov IMG_5528.mov IMG_5474.dng IMG_5478.dng IMG_5478.dng IMG_5474.dng Edited July 24 by NBliving Add photos 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 24 Author #19 Share Posted July 24 Today we’ve been in Juneau. 100% chance of rain forecasted and it was pretty close to that! Luckily not torrential downpours. This day is our only excursion through Celebrity. Up until two weeks ago we were signed up to do the Mendenhaul Glacier and whale watching tour. We ended up switching to the Tracy Arms Fjord and Glacier Explorer. I don’t know if this option was added recently or was always there, but I noticed it a few weeks ago and after looking into it, decided to switch. I’m so glad we did! This is the highlight so far!! And we’ve had some incredible days. We saw a mama black bear with two cubs lunching in barnacles, seals relaxing on icebergs, and the amazing South Sawyer Glacier 🤩 This excursion was 7.5 hours long but well worth it. After our excursion, we had a #1 Combo meal with a King Crab claw at Tracy’s King Crab Shack. Not the one at the port but about 1/4 mile from it. It was delicious!! We were in port from 7 am - 9 pm. IMG_5582.mov IMG_5605.dng IMG_5606.dng 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 26 Author #20 Share Posted July 26 (edited) In Icy Strait Point we took a whale watching tour with Hoonah Travel Adventure. We booked it through TripAdvisor. They picked us up at the Excursion Hub in Icy Strait and then drove us to Hoonah which is the real town in the area. The boat held about 30 people. Right away we spotted a brown bear on the shore looking for crabs. We saw around 4 different whale groups ranging from a single whale to a group of 4. All humpbacks. We mainly saw their blow and then they would roll and we saw their tail or fluke. Nothing very dramatic but if you like whales (like me!) it was exciting! We also saw two otters chilling and a pod of sea lions who came over to check us out. We decided to walk back to town - about a 40 min walk along the coast. Back onboard, we sat in the Sunset Bar (really to me the Ocean View Bar) and continued to look for whales. No luck but the scenery is amazing too! We ate dinner at La Petite Chef for the first time. It’s a one and done for us. The food was good, but just on par with Main Dining Room. The show tonight was an Elton John concert performed by a very talented man, Colte Julian. We really enjoyed it and his stories about Elton John. IMG_5662.mov Edited July 26 by NBliving 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 26 Author #21 Share Posted July 26 Heading to Seward to disembark, we first went into Disenchantment Bay to see the massive Hubbard Glacier. It is 7 miles across and it is categorized as an Advancing glacier so it is gaining mass which is good!! We had a good day for viewing even if the ride in was very foggy. We spent the rest of the day reading, listening to different musicians, gambling, and of course eating. Our favorite musicians on this cruise is a duo called The Storytellers. At dinner, we mentioned to our waiter that we have been on the Summit 3 times and our favorite memory was on our 2nd cruise 8 years ago we had a fantastic waiter who played the guitar and would serenade his tables. He knew who we were talking about and brought Marcilino over to us to say hi! He was happy to hear that we remember him! We all agreed we were much younger then 😂 For us, the service on Celebrity is what brings us back! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NBliving Posted July 26 Author #22 Share Posted July 26 We are now sitting in the waiting area for Zenith, Elite Plus and Elite Captain’s Club members. This cruise has definitely had a different demographic. Lots of multigenerational family groups. Not a lot of CC members. It was fun seeing some of the kids excited about seeing the glaciers. What an experience for them - and all of us! This cruise has had some truly unforgettable sights. Tomight we will stay in Seward and then take the train to Anchorage for our red eye flight home. I’m happy to answer any questions. Thanks for following along! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barwick Cruiser Posted July 27 #23 Share Posted July 27 I don’t know how I missed this report until today 🤦🏼♀️. I’m so happy for you that the weather mostly cooperated and it looks like you had a wonderful cruise! Agree about the great service on Celebrity…it’s what keeps us coming back even tho we only book lowly verandas 😂. Did you book another cruise onboard? Thank you for posting! Safe return home! Cathy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Cruiser 6143 Posted July 28 #24 Share Posted July 28 On 7/21/2024 at 5:58 PM, NBliving said: Today we are in Ketchikan. The weather forecast all last week showed rain, but we got so lucky with temps in the high 60’s and no rain! 🙌🏻 I booked an excursion directly with Island Wings Air Service for a flight seeing trip over the Misty Fjords National Monument. It’s a two hour trip with a 30 minute stop on a pristine lake. Our pilot was the owner, Michelle, who has been in the float plane business for over 30 years. It was amazing!! Highly recommend. So glad you got to fly with Michelle. Of all the excursions I've ever done on my many trips to Alaska, that was by far my favorite one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisestitch Posted July 28 #25 Share Posted July 28 There was a headliner in the theater on Wednesday who also did a matinee on Thursday. Friends who were on your cruise wonder if you know his name or if by chance you kept the daily program and could look it up, please 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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