Celebrity Infinity to Alaska on 6/6/8

[vids1375]

Part of my complete report:

 

Summary: Fantastic and very memorable trip!

 

Flew to Seattle on Thursday, June 5th and stayed at the Renaissance in downtown. In retrospect this was a great idea (our original flights were on Friday morning). We were able to wake up at leisure, enjoy breakfast and head to the Pier by noon without feeling tired or the pressure to make it to the ship on time.

 

Day 1: Friday, June 6th: Arrived at Pier 66 around noon. Had already checked in online. Luggage checkin was a breeze. Checking ourselves in i.e. going through security, getting the room keys, filling all the forms took ~1 hour. Had to step out of the line to feed my son some food - I carried plenty of apple sauce and some gerber banana/plum fruit meals. This came in handy on many occassions including while I was waiting for the check in process to be complete. We boarded the ship immediately - strolled through the casino on the 4th floor. We reached our room on deck 7 a little after 1. Our bags were already there by then. Our room was forward/starboard side - loved the layout as well as the balcony. We unpacked, stowed the bags away and headed to the buffet. Filled our bellies - luckily for us, DS sleeps in the stroller, so he was fast asleep by the time we got back to our room. We also stopped by guest relations to sign up for baby sitting services - asked for "laney" as one of the other posters recommended but didnt get her. After the mandatory safety drill, we headed over to the Constellation club for a sailaway party. DS had a great time dancing to the music there while DH and I sipped some cocktails! Seattle was cloudy but it wasnt raining. Dinner (main seating) at Trellis restaurant was ok - wasnt impressed with our table - we were on the 4th floor (407A) by the entryway and we had no table mates. This disappointed me at first but in retrospect, it was fine since we spent most of our dinner time "manning" our son! The food was also pretty disappointing the first night. DH and I kept reminiscing our RC cruise on SoTC where food was very very good. We (DS and I) retired early the first night, DH headed over to the casino, where I believe he had a

pretty good time "donating" money to the ship coffers!

 

Day 2: Saturday, June 7th: Day at Sea: Woke up this morning feeling really sea-sick. The ship was rocking quite a bit as compared to my previous cruise. We went to Trellis for breakfast but I really couldnt eat

anything. I had to retire to the room and get some dramamine. We took DS to the fun Factory for some toddler play time at 10 am (they have this everyday from 10-11). I pretty much sat there with my head

stuck between my knees (that does really help with the motion sickness feeling). I started feeling better by noon. We took lunch at the Aqua Spa - the lunch there was really good - light entrees so u didnt have

to feel too guilty about gorging up at night! I slept in the afternoon while DH took DS around the ship. Today was formal night! We totally dressed up - including our DS - who wore a tie and a suit (he looked

pretty cute!) After posing for pictures, we headed over to Trellis for dinner. Surprisingly, food was very good today! We really enjoyed it. We carried books, crayons, etc to keep our son entertained. He was good

for the most part, ate his dinner (which was more often than not - chicken nuggets), then played with his book but sometimes asked to be taked down from his high chair. Our neighboring tables were most

entertained and did not mind him at all. After dinner we considered moving ourselves to the late seating thinking that we could have our DS asleep in the stroller and enjoy dinner by ourselves. But we reconsidered this idea and opted to stay with the main seating. Our baby sitter came over at around 8:30 pm. We requested her to come back at 9 to allow DS to fall asleep. While she stayed with him in the room, DH and I strolled around the ship, went to the theatre - cannot remember what we saw - and then sat in the Constellation club for a while. It was nice and relaxing.

Day 3: Sunday, June 8th: Sitka: We arrived in Sitka around 10 am. We had clear blue skies! It was just phenomenal - the view of the town, the mountains. I got a great picture of the Veendam, against the mountains from our balcony! We took the tender to the town. Walked around Lincoln street, went to the Sitka Historic National Park. We took the trails inside the park - the trails are gravel and we thought our chico stroller would fall apart but thankfully it held! From the park we walked a short distance to

the Raptor Center. I was really excited to show my DS all the birds but he fell asleep by the time we reached there. So we just walked back into downtown Sitka and had a very tasty lunch at Victoria's. we strolled around town, went to shops and walked up Castle Hill. Headed back to the ship by 3 pm. Went to the T-pool in the Aqua Spa (complimentary on the Alaska cruises) with DS who really enjoyed the warm pool. DH went to the Gym (almost everyday). Everning dinner was really good (again)! I took my sleeping DS in the stroller to the Celebrity show called "Lets Rock" (I think it was on this day - cant recall if it was on Sunday or Monday). DS sleeps very well in the stroller - nothing wakes him up. so I could sit down and really enjoy the show! I loved it...and would recommend people to go see it.

 

Day 4: Monday, June 9th: Hubbard Glacier: Had a lazy morning, breakfast at Oceanview cafe, toddler play at 10 am in Fun Factory. Went to Trellis for the "grand brunch". Wasnt very impressed - I thought the midnight buffet on RC SoTC was better. Thought of enjoying the glacier views from our cabin. I was simply not prepared for the beauty and magnificence of the glacier and its surroundings. It was breathtaking. From our entry into Yakutat Bay to getting up close with Hubbard glacier it was an extemely memorable experience. We had Brent Nixon, the naturalist on board who was the narrator during our Hubbard Glacier experience. While his presentations in the theatre were extremely good, I wasnt too crazy about his narration. We did get really close (within 3/10ths of a mile) to Turner and Hubbard glacier - a word of advice - the view is better from the 4th floor common balconies than from any starboard room balcony.

Since the captain spun the ship in a 360 degree turn with the port side facing the glacier, we did not get all the good views till we ran down to the 4th floor. It was simply one of the most amazing things I have

experienced - looking at the beauty of the glacier, feeling the peace and calm surrounding it and then hearing the glacier calve!

 

To be continued...

[tamicourt]

Thank you for posting your time at Alaska. It is always good to read reports about cruises especially when it is also the ship you are going on. It really get the cruising blood flowing! Great to hear you and your little family had a good time on the infinity and in Alaska and Now I am Looking forward to reading the next part. .................No pressure!:D

 

Cya

Christine

Cruising on the Infinity Alaska, 19th September