Alaska 14 day Cruise – Summit:The Good The Bad & The Ugly!

[oceanbear]

I won’t bore you with a detailed account of our cruise. Suffice it to say that, overall, we enjoyed the cruise. The weather could have been better in Alaska, but it could have been worse too. We enjoyed cruising with our friends and meeting new ones too. We especially enjoyed the people, snacks and open bar at a “Sailaway” party hosted in a Penthouse Suite by Aron The Cucamonga Kid, a friendly and generous “Cruise Critic” member. We also enjoyed our return visit to Aron’s Penthouse suite where we viewed the Hubbard Glacier while enjoying some hot chocolate and Baileys. We were lucky the mist and fog did not enter the area in front of the glacier and the Captain was able to get us closer to the glacier than any other ship this season.:) Thanks so much to Aron for his hospitality and generosity.:) We enjoyed the “Misty Fjords” flightseeing excursion with “Island Wings”, and the “Whale Watching” excursion with Captain Larry. We actually saw a family of 3 whales where each member breeched completely out of the water. The last time we did the Inside Passage was 1999 on the Mercury. Things have certainly changed. There were many more ships and many more jewelry stores in each port. I’ve sailed Mercury several times now, so I made the inevitable comparisons between the two.

 

The Good::)

Fast and efficient embarkation in Vancouver. We were onboard within minutes.

Overall service was excellent aboard ship

Clean public spaces

Very good exercise facilities

Nice Persian Gardens. Cruise length pass a great value at $99 vs. daily use fee of $35.

Enjoyed having the Spa Café option for lunch

Nice Martini Bar – Much larger and nicer than Mercury’s

Nice large and pretty theater

Main Dining – Beef and some appetizers were the strong points.

Breakfast - Omelet bar, waffles, and Danish/croissants are the best

Normandy – Excellent food, wine, and service. Well worth the $35 service charge.

 

The Bad::(

Overall food quality continues to drop; especially the seafood & the Sushi bar

Midnight Gala Buffet – Still beautiful but ingredients used continue to get cheaper

Lunch - Buffet was very average. Grill needs to keep the burgers from sitting in grease.

Cova Café – Smaller than Mercury and not as well arranged

Michael’s – Nice room but needs more comfortable chairs

The Bar at the edge of the world - Interesting looking at night, but ugly during the day. Drapes hinder view and it definitely needs more comfortable seating. Mercury’s view bar is much nicer.

Spa changing room cramped– Needs rearranging – Storage lockers too close to sinks, and not enough benches. It also needs a swimsuit dryer/centrifuge.

Pushing money making events especially the art auction

 

The Ugly::mad:

A flagrant appeal for higher gratuities by the cruise director during the disembarkation presentation.

Smokers! – The ship needs to sanitize and deodorize cabins after smokers have occupied them. From the start our cabin (8003) had a very strong odor of cigarette smoke smell, an obvious burn hole in the couch\sofa, and a couple of cigarette burns on the edge of the lavatory counter. Some heavy smokers had obviously occupied the room. My wife and I are non-smokers and the smoke odor was offensive, making the condition of the cabin unacceptable. Air freshener/deodorizer, only masked the smell for a short time. A full ship meant we could not be moved. After enduring 2 nights in the room, it was finally given a special deep cleaning and an air purifier too. The couch with the burn hole and the smelly curtains were never replaced. The air purifier did continue to improve the smell of the room over the next few days, and we only really had 2 more uncomfortable nights. I don’t understand how we, or anyone else, could be allowed to occupy a room that had such an offensive odor. If this had been a 7 day cruise, I would have regarded it as completely ruined Luckily, we had 10 more days to offset the bad start. Hopefully this will never happen to us again.

 

[Captain Cosmo]

Hi Oceanbear - we carry a can of Ozium spray in the nuetral fragrance; its what hotels and hospitals use to deal with strong odors. Not making excuses for X placing you in an "ashtray", but given what passes for service these days we find we have to use it about half the time we stay in a hotel room and sometimes even for a rental car.

[Drew B]

I'm sorry you had that happen. I'm a smoker, but I don't smoke in the cabin because I don't want people (myself and future guests) to have to deal with the aftereffects of cigarettes in an enclosed space. There are plenty of open decks (as well as several indoor areas) where smoking would be so much less offensive!

[oceanbear]

Hi Oceanbear - we carry a can of Ozium spray in the nuetral fragrance; its what hotels and hospitals use to deal with strong odors. Not making excuses for X placing you in an "ashtray", but given what passes for service these days we find we have to use it about half the time we stay in a hotel room and sometimes even for a rental car.

Thanks! I bought some Ozium in Ketchikan and it helped on the curtains which were not replaced.

 

Dennis

[oceanbear]

I'm sorry you had that happen. I'm a smoker, but I don't smoke in the cabin because I don't want people (myself and future guests) to have to deal with the aftereffects of cigarettes in an enclosed space. There are plenty of open decks (as well as several indoor areas) where smoking would be so much less offensive!

Good for You! I wish everyone was that considerate!

 

Dennis

[Banditdoggy]

My only complaint was the slow internet connection coupled with the high price.