Recent Infinity cruisers - give us the scoop!

[handy4u]

Thank you for the link very helpful!

 

So by looking on a map of the Sep 3 itinerary of the Infinity one can assertain that they only go through the southern part of the inside passage. Therefore, the ship DOES cruise through the IP at night and people could miss it due to darkness or sleep. Correct?

 

Thanks again

Chris

[LeftcoastBC]

Well Handy my guess that is correct...

 

But from my own experience on the Infinity Last year (I repeat last year.)

 

We spend almost a day northbound travelling through an area that I thought was the inside passsage because it was only a bit over a mile wide here and there with wider spots. Whales were jumpin', kayaker's were kayakin' ,small fishing boats were using it an all that sort of stuff. I really couldn't tell where we were exactly from the map on board. If you go to the BC ferries charts one can see a real small channel most of the way up to Rupert after leaving the shelter of Vancouver Island but whether the big boats use this (and especially when they can't do full speed) I really don't know.

I do know that the HAL ship I was on this year did not go "Inside" other than the Vancouver Island area.

 

Last evening of cruise south bound on both ships we went through between Vancouver Island and the mainland popping out into Georgia Straight at Campbell river.

[cechase]

handy4u and LeftcoastBC thanks for the comments re: the Inland Passage. The map was really helpful to understand a little more of where we are going.

 

Our first port is Sitka on Baranof Island [named after a famous Russian pioneer - am just finishing reading Alaska!] which is on the west side of the island, the ocean side. I would think that a good navigator would want to approach Sitka from the ocean side.

 

It will be interesting to see if they wind through some of those very narrow channels on a vessel which is almost as big as an aircraft carrier. I certainly would not want to be the officer of the deck!

[handy4u]

I am going to try and track parts of our voyage using Street and Trips using a GPS reciever on my laptop. You can have it trace a route. I don't know if it will work but if it does it could be very interesting.

 

Oh well, thanks for the information! I am less worried now about having the passage skipped. I bet the earlier passengers didn't even know they went through. I can understand why.

 

I am one of those who want to get what they paid for, but I want to be absolutely sure about my paranoias. Maybe I should have bought night vision binoculars instead of the Winchesters that I did!:p

[goldenprincess53]

We just returned from our trip yesterday - at the outset we had a great trip despite the weather and quite possibly some changes in the passages we took.

 

I purchased a book on board, which included a map that you could follow along with on the tv in the room. The map showed the various alternate routes the ships could take. We did not see as much of the inside passage as I thought we would see and the timing was such that some of the scenic places we went through were at night and therefore not visible to us.

 

We had an aft cabin at the very back of the ship. We watched the wake and the pods were not running at full capacity. We were told this when we boarded the ship that the one pod especially was running less than the other. We also had a dinner table at the back of the ship by the window and it vibrated a bit back there. We enjoyed the company at the table rather than dwell on the pod.

 

We went to the Totem Pole Park (all within walking distance). Because we visited the shops before the parks, we lost some time and missed getting to the Raptor Centre - everyone who went said it was a must see. (shopping details later) - it was a misty day in Sitka, but the sun did come out for a very short bit.

 

Hubbard Glacier - AMAZING - lots of calving. We thought we were headed for a thunder storm because the weather was so cold and rainy - but it was actually the sound of the glacier ice falling into the water - very loud. Suddenly the rain didn't matter at all - it was a wonderful experience witnessing this event. Rain did eventually let up and we got great pictures.

 

Juneau - Most helicopter and plan flights were cancelled due to the very low cloud cover. We were very disappointed because this was to be a highlight - landing on Mendenhall Glacier as well. All was not lost though - we managed to book a whale watch excursion through Orca Enterprises (Capt. Larry) right at the docks and they also dropped us off at Mendenhall Glacier. Again - amazing experience - rain and all - watching the whales and even saw two of them breech for us. Mendenhall Glacier - we saw salmon making way up the creek and then a bear came wandering down the path beneath the boardwalk that went along the creek (we were protected and there were rangers all around).

 

Ketchican - probably the best place to shop but we didn't get a chance to enter stores because we had a kayaking trip booked as soon as we got off the ship that afternoon. This port was switched with Sitka and I wish we had more time in Ketchican. We literally ran up to Creek Street to see the stores and Dolly's place and made it back to the peer in time for our trip booked through Southeast Kayak. There were 6 of us in 3 kayaks - very good quality kayaks and paddling was not a problem at all for any of the inexperienced paddlers. We saw the same bald eagle flying about, a harbour seal about 20 ft. in front of us - we crossed the main channel used for the float plans and boats. Although it was raining in the beginning - the sun gods shone came out around 4 pm for our paddle back to the boat.

 

Sea day on Saturday - we didn't see much until 2 pm that afternoon when we entered the top of Vancouver Island down through Johnson Straight. This is where I think we did the outside passage rather than come down between the Queen Charlottes and the mainland - never saw land. This is where the alternate routes are shown going up the outside or inside.

 

I wish in some respects we had taken the late seating because some of the best scenery is viewed during the main dinner seating. However, the you likely wouldn't finish dinner till 10:30 or so with the late seating.

 

Would I do it all again - in a flash. IMHO - great food and service; the ship is in very good shape. Oscar was our Waiter and Ruby the Maitre D.

 

Would be happy to answer any questions you have.

[sherry4]

Thanks Charlie, I think I signed up for the CC. Look forward to the gathering.

Sherry

[klausi]

Would probably help if posters would supply the date of their cruise. I say this as we too are just back from our Alaska Infinity cruise, 8/13/06 - 8/20/06 which was after the other "just back" cruise report.

We arrived in Vancouver on Saturday the 11th, the day after the security crackdown. What a mess. There had to be 3,000 plus people waiting in line to go through immigration at the airport. Took a little over an hour to go through, then to find checked baggage sitting all over the place next to the luggage carousel so to make room for more incoming bags. We (4 of us) were advised to take a limo in to town $ 46.00 (Canadian) as the bus would have been $ 13.00 each, one way and would not have return trips before 8:30 am on our return day (too late for our 10:00 am flight home).

Arrived at the ship terminal just after 1:00 pm on Sunday and were on the ship in about fifteen minutes.

By now I assume you have heard about the cancellation of the September 17th? cruise (into dry dock, pod problem again). We were originally on the May Summit cruise that was cancelled do to "pod problems". I believe that the rearrangement of ports (Sitka & Ketchikan) was done as a result of the "pod problems" which prevents them from cruising at their normal

23 knot speed.

Arriving in Ketchikan at 2:00 pm caused the Neads Bay float plane Bear

viewing to be cancelled. I had enough notice of the cancelled 2:00 pm tour from Celebrity so that I was able to book the same tour ( at 5:00 pm) on my own. Arriving as originally scheduled on Tuesday was better than arriving on Friday at 2:00 pm with FIVE other large cruise ships already there. Overload for the tour companies especially with the other ships there first. You can probably book almost any shore excursion in Ketchikan on your own as Celebrity has been unable to offer all of them due to the change in arrival day and time.

Although this is my 12th cruise, 3rd with Celebrity, this was my first one to Alaska. As far as I knew we did cruise the inland passage and the seas were calm for the most part.

Compaired to Scottsdale (350 days of sun a year) where we live, the weather was foggy and rainy half the time. The people in Juneau said they have had ten days of sunshine since January 1st. The rain and fog caused the cancellation on any tour involving an aircraft which ment we didn't get to do the glacer dog sled helicopter tour. I get the impression that these tours tend to be cancelled due to weather more often than they go. Would be nice if us cruisers were told that the possibility of cancellation was good.

Have nothing bad to say about the ship, on the whole the service people were very good. Think the speciality restaurant on the Constallation was a little better than the SSUS restaurant.

We had no problem with the tendering at either Sitka or Ketchikan. The sushi was O.K. but not to die for. Could use some improvement.

We too enjoyed Matilda, really funny and Noodles got better after a slow start.

Have a great cruise and I hope your weather is better than ours was.

 

Hey KeyDoctor,

as you have mentioned in your posting you have been on a shore excursion to Needs Bay! How has it been? Did you see some bears? I'm thinking of taking this excursion on the Summit mid of September as well! Do you think this is a good choice? Please let me know!

Klausi

[Welshlady]

If you'd sailed up through it you would know - very narrow and very beautiful! People I know recommended it as part of the itinerary and to book a cruise with it on. We missed it on the way back and were very diappointed to be at open sea instead. It is very scenic, green and lush, lots of bald eagles, etc. The Captain announced that we were going through there so you would know.

[Gramps25]

Pecoraro--Why is it you think your view is all that matters? They don't agree with you and you don't agree with them. Case closed. We've heard both sides. Move on.

[Allis154]

We just returned from our trip yesterday - at the outset we had a great trip ......Would be happy to answer any questions you have.

 

Thanks, goldenprincess53, for the great review. I'll be on her next month and was wondering how things were.

[C 2 C]

 

Would be happy to answer any questions you have.

 

Could you please give me the names of the Master/Captain and Cruise Director. I'm trying to keep an updated list at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=7603684#post7603684

[mhedoct6]

Golden Princess - I was on the same cruise as you (8/20-27). I had a wonderful time too; in my opinion everything went smoothly 99% of the time, at least for the adults in our group (more below on the kids). I especially enjoyed the food and entertainment (I watched the shows every night)! Service was great, and since I'm Filipino I like to think that I received extra attention from the Filipino staff! My husband and mother went on this cruise without any expectations, as they didn't participate in the planning or research, and never read (or heard of) this board on cruisecritic.com. They enjoyed the trip tremendously, and now my husband is talking about going on a cruise again. I'm also dreaming about the next one!

 

My youngest son, who turned 13 during the cruise, did not enjoy it as much as the rest of us. Unfortunately on boarding day he came down with a terrible cold, and he didn't feel like doing anything for a few days. Also, being a very young (and short) teen he felt out of place in the 13-17 year old group so did not join most of their activities. He could have joined the younger group of 10-12, but he refused to wear a wrist band (his own fault). Plus he preferred to be with his 16-year old brother (who did participate in many of the teen activities). In retrospect I think this was not the right cruise ship for them. Also, looking at the schedule of activities I thought it was rather lame (for both age groups). Perhaps RCCL would have been better for them than Celebrity?

 

In conclusion it was a mixed bag for us, but I think that everyone's experience is somewhat different. Your attitude is extremely important! For me, although not all my expectations were met, I still will tell everyone that I had a fantastic time and would definitely recommend Celebrity to anyone.

 

p.s. cruise director was Eric Bohus, captain was Dimitrios Kafetzis. Both wonderful.

[waunabcruizin]

Just an additional short note regarding the Inside Passage. This 'passage' is not 'one place'. It refers to being able to navigate from Vancouver, B.C. to Southeast Alaska without having to sail in the open ocean; instead remaining behind islands that protect from the rough seas found in the open ocean (mostly....there are a couple of places where you run out of protecting islands). There are myriad channels and passages that a vessel might take to navigate this area and the choices are mostly dictated by the size of the ship, as well as the state of tide/current at the time. There are many areas where pinpoint navigation is required to avoid hitting submerged rocks and the tides/currents in this area can be ferocious.....even, I would imagine, for a large ship. The lack of full power may well preclude the attempt to sail in the narrower, more difficult, passages. To gain an appreciation for the complexity of this area, obtain a map, or even better a nautical chart, for this area and try to figure out where you would go through if you were driving your own boat. It's quite enlightening. The entire area has gorgeous scenery, so if you miss one piece you'll still see others just as beautiful.....it's quite impossible to see it all, even if you have your own boat and spend every summer exploring.

It's all worth seeing.

 

Carol.

[golfnkitties]

Thanks, goldenprincess53, for the great review. I'll be on her next month and was wondering how things were.

 

Could you name some of the Asst. Maitre'ds you encountered ? We were on Infinity in April and go back in October and wondered if we'll see any of our old friends. :D:D Thanks !

[goldenprincess53]

Golden Princess - I was on the same cruise as you (8/20-27). I had a wonderful time too; in my opinion everything went smoothly 99% of the time, at least for the adults in our group (more below ...............

 

Great to hear from you. Yes, I wondered about the kids on this ship. It didn't seem geared towards children and the pools were quite small (regardless of our cool, foggy, rainy weather :) I think RCL is a better avenue for active kids. Nothing like the white glove treatment with Celebrity though - kids will appreciate it in their later years.

 

My husband was the one that was brought onto the stage when all the dancing girls had to sit on his lap. I think he enjoyed it more than he let on!!

 

Great cruise and memories - we met a group of really good people whom we have kept in touch with!

[mhedoct6]

Could you name some of the Asst. Maitre'ds you encountered ? We were on Infinity in April and go back in October and wondered if we'll see any of our old friends. :D:D Thanks !

 

Ours was Alex Caguin (my compatriot from the Philippines). Super nice and friendly guy; he made sure that my kids got chicken noodle soup one evening.

[Susie22]

Had a great time. Weather was chilly and rainy most of the time.

We found the best weather in Ketchikan of all places. Food was good-plentiful, of course, and pretty much up to the standards of our other cruises on Celebrity. Our only disappointment was that we never entered the Inside Passage, which went by without comment from the bridge.

We asked about the bypass at the Customer Relations Desk, and were told we would enter the Passage later. Never happened. DH and I could understand if mechanicals were the problem-actually we would have understood any problem, but Celebrity chose not to say anything.

Would sail on Infinity again without a care. Hope they get things fixed while they're in drydock in Canada this week.

[SFcruiser16]

Just returned and trying to get adjusted...the cruise was EXCELLENT. I was concerned after reading so many negative posts but it goes to show you that you get what you make of it. I was disappointed that we did not do the inside passage but we enjoyed the wonderful scenary that we did see and all of the beautiful ports of call. The service was AMAZING. The food was solid during the evening. Buffets, etc. were adequate. I disclose now that we suffer from some food snobbery since we live in San Francisco and have access to the best. The service, again, was impeccable wherever you were dining.

 

My parents were in CC 8086. We were in 8089 on the inside. The CC room was totally worth it...balcony was great. We viewed Hubbard from up top and then down below. Stateroom service was terrific. CC had all sorts of nice amenities. Our room was comparable to a holiday inn but it was not like we were paying for the Four Seasons every night. It was hard adjusting to the linens/bed after staying four nights at the Westin in Vancouver right before boarding!

 

I've only cruised Carnival (no thank you, never again) and Disney (great but the service/food pales to Celebrity) and I would highly recommend Celebrity to everyone.

 

I also cruised with my 16 month old son..who did great. Only major drawback was the 85 year old lady we kept smoking in her bathroom in her inside cabin room next door. Customer relations did their best but you can't force people to stop...didn't let that ruin our good time.