Celebrity Summit Alaska Cruise (2005)
My family’s Alaska 2005 trip was a wonderful adventure, filled with amazing scenery, wildlife viewing, excellent food, and good family times. In this report I will first focus on
the different places we visited, and then tell more about our cruise ship – the beautiful Celebrity Summit. I had been to Alaska three of the past four summers but this was the first visit for Anne and the boys. Throughout the report I’ll make comparisons to what I experienced on my 2003 Alaska cruise on the Island Princess to this trip. I’ll rate different parts of our trip on an A (tops) to F (bad) scale – as you’ll see we didn’t really have any bad experiences but some parts were better than others. Anne will contribute her comments on various parts of the trip preceded by the words “Anne’s take:”
By Tim Larison Travel Agent and CLIA Certified Master Cruise Counselor (MCC) With Contributions by Travel Agent Anne Larison
Cast of Characters:
Tim, Anne, Andrew (age 11), and Joshua (age 11) Larison
Our Celebrity Summit cruise was a one way northbound itinerary from Seward to Vancouver. In 2003 I did the opposite – a southbound cruise from Seward to Vancouver. I had always heard it was better to do the land portion of an Alaska land/sea trip first and then do the cruise portion. The reasoning is that the land part is more strenuous and then you can relax on a 7 night cruise.
I found doing a major portion of our Alaska land touring after our northbound cruise worked well. I don’t think doing an Alaska land portion before or after the cruise makes a big difference. Because the southbound cruises are more popular sometimes you can find better deals and availability on Alaska northbound sailings.
I booked a number of independent excursions on this trip not through the cruise line. For Alaska I like this approach and often recommend this to my clients – there are some excellent independent tours in Alaska that are often better and less expensive than the cruise line offerings.
Places We Visited
Vancouver
Anne and I hadn’t been to Vancouver together since our honeymoon 16 years ago, so we were looking forward to our one pre-cruise day and night here. We stayed at the Pan Pacific Hotel on the Vancouver waterfront.
Our bus arrived from Seattle at 1 pm, giving us enough time to visit Stanley Park in the afternoon. We walked from the hotel to Stanley Park – the front desk clerk said it was a 20 minute walk but it was more like 50 minutes. We found out later there was a free shuttle from the hotel to the park at selected times. Still we didn’t mind the walk. The day we were in Vancouver the weather was beautiful – 80 degree temperatures and sunny skies.
At Stanley Park we really enjoyed a short visit to the Vancouver aquarium. The aquarium is a small and intimate compared to other big city aquariums. We especially enjoyed the Beluga whale show in a cozy pool area. The 3 rows of seating for the show allowed you to get very close to the whales. Beluga whales are very unusual – white in color. I had never seen one before. On a previous visit 16 years ago this aquarium had an Orca (‘killer whale’) show – I liked seeing the Beluga whales even better.
We found the Pan Pacific Hotel to be a great place to stay for a pre-cruise night. Not only did it have a central downtown Vancouver location, but it was located right over the cruise terminal. On the morning of the cruise, we tagged our luggage with our Celebrity luggage tags, called a bellman to retrieve the bags from our room, and the next time we saw our luggage was in our stateroom on the ship. Very convenient!
Our room was very nice – on the 12th floor with a view of the cruise port below. As we looked out the window at sunrise on Friday morning of we could see our ship docking right below us!
We thought the main beds a little small (two double beds). We managed with one of our twin boys sleeping with one parent (a sleeping arrangement we often do when we are in hotel rooms with smaller beds).
If you stay at the Pan Pacific ask for a room on the side away from the new convention center construction. The noise didn’t bother us as we woke up at 6 am, but if you are a late sleeper the noise can be a factor as it starts around 8 am. The convention center addition is scheduled to be completed in 2008.
We had dinner at a nearby shopping mall, and found lots of other dining choices close by. We saw an IMAX film on Sharks (the theatre was adjacent to the hotel) after dinner – another good activity to entertain the kids.
Our overall grade for our time in Vancouver: A
We could have easily spent a few days in Vancouver – we were glad we came in a day early to enjoy this beautiful city.
Anne’s take: “One lesson I learned from previous cruises is that you may not get your luggage right away once you are on the ship. It may take several hours. So I keep one small suitcase with essentials. Fortunately we had thought to put our swimming suits in the small suitcase. After out buffet lunch we were able to get in to our stateroom by 1:00 pm. We explored the ship for a while then they boys were able to change into their swimming suits and take advantage of the pool. The weather leaving Vancouver was in the upper 70’s and we enjoyed swimming for a few hours before the ship left the port.”
Scenic Inside Passage Cruising
A good majority of time on our first full cruise day was sailing through the Inside Passage. This was a very relaxing way to start the cruise. We were treated to mountains towering above us on both sides of our ship as we navigated through some narrow passages. We had lots of rain this day so we were able to watch the surrounding scenery from the comfort of the deck 10 lounge chairs in a covered area.
Grade: B+.
I always enjoy “at sea” days and this was only one of two of the non-port days on the whole cruise. In addition to the beautiful scenery this day gave us a chance to get adjusted to life onboard the Summit – a relaxing introduction to our cruise. We were to see even more spectacular scenery later in the cruise in the Hubbard Glacier area. Ketchikan On day two of our cruise we had prearranged an independent Ketchikan excursion with Northern Tours – the Totem Bight State Park tour. After docking at 7 am, we were soon off the ship and we met our tour guide Justin at 8:30 am. Justin drove us around Ketchikan and out to Totem Bight State Park in a passenger van that could hold 14. Our family was the only one on the tour – we had plenty of room! Along the way Justin provided a running commentary of the city and local folklore. We saw a local stream where salmon were spawning – there seemed like a thousand fish there. At Totem Bight park we learned about Totem Poles. We saw a re-creation of a Clan House where natives once lived. We walked through a forest of huge trees – not as big as the redwoods but it reminded me of our trip to Northern California walking through those forests.
Josh bought a small stuff sled dog toy animal at the Totem Bight souvenir store. Also next to the store was a Russian museum that had a historic collection of guns, dating from 1535-1868, along with displays of mammoth tusks, furs and ivory. In the tour description we read “It is not uncommon to see Bald eagles at the park and to hear the wisp of their wings as they fly overhead.” We were at the park for about an hour with no sign of a bald eagle. Suddenly as we were exiting the store I looked up and saw a bald eagle fly right over us with a salmon in her talons. This was the best bald eagle sighting we had on the entire trip (and we saw many)!
We liked the smaller excursion that Northern Tours offered compared to the bigger ship tour. We had our own private guide for four – we saw large busses with the ship tours that didn’t get this personal attention. Our guide Justin was full of local stories. For example, when we passed a football field I noticed it was all gravel. “Can’t play on grass here,” Justin said, “it would be too muddy. Our teenage football players are tough as nails playing on that field.”
The tour was more informal than we expected but that was ok. I enjoy finding a local to show us around a port rather than go with the ship tours. We had GREAT WEATHER! We had sunny skies which was unusual for Ketchikan – one of the rainiest places on earth.
Tour Grade: B+
While we enjoyed this tour, if you are visiting Ketchikan I recommend spending some extra dollars and take a float plane trip over the Misty Fjords. The Misty Fjord flight I did on my 2003 cruise was one of my favorite shore excursions ever – great views. But if you want a less expensive tour to learn about the native culture, the Totem Bight tour is a good budget choice.
Anne’s take: “We did compare prices when we were at the small store at the park against the prices in the town of Ketchikan. Our guide had advised us that the prices would be better away from the port shops. He was right and we saw the Josh’s stuffed animal at a few other stores in Ketchikan and other cities and it was more expensive at the stores near the ship.”
Skagway
At this port we took one of my favorite shore excursions of the whole trip – the Yukon Discovery tour by independent tour operator Frontier Excursions (website: www.frontierexcursions.com/ ) We found this tour cost less than the more popular White Pass Railway train (www.whitepassrailroad.com) . Our Yukon Discovery tour traveled farther into the mountains and included lunch when compared to the basic train tour.
Our 25 passenger tour van was driven by an Irish guide named James Coleman. James was wonderful in providing us entertaining stories of the Gold Rush, Skagway, and the Yukon – he talked almost non-stop for the entire driving portion of our 6 hour tour. In addition to James’ colorful narration, we were treated to some great views of the surrounding mountains, lakes, and changing fall colors of the Yukon. We made frequent stops for photographs – as an amateur photographer I really appreciated this.
For lunch we stopped at Caribou Crossing in the Yukon for a delicious barbeque chicken meal included in the tour package. Also the filling lunch featured coleslaw, donuts, rolls, and a baked potato. Our kids especially liked the donuts – they each had seconds!
After lunch we saw a wildlife museum with life sized stuffed animals. I was amazed at how big the stuffed buffalo was (much bigger than the University of Colorado buffalo mascot I see often back home)! Also featured were a huge life sized polar bear, moose, and other Alaska wildlife.
Caribou Crossing also featured a sled dog kennel. Our boys had fun playing with the sled dog puppies. One puppy bit Anne’s scarf and would not let go! The puppies were very gentle and just wanted to have fun. Some people paid extra for a sled dog ride here – we planned to do a sled dog ride later in our trip at Seward so we skipped that. While we would have a better sled dog encounter in Seward, this Caribou Crossing sled dog visit was fun and a good diversion for the kids.
After lunch James drove us to scenic Emerald Lake for more spectacular views, and then we headed back to Skagway. We stopped at tiny Carcross to get our passports stamped and do some additional souvenir shopping. We were back to our ship in plenty of time for dinner.
Tour Grade: A
Frontier Excursion’s Yukon Discovery tour is an excellent one. I recommend the longer Yukon Discovery tour instead of the shorter tour they offer – the longer tour includes lunch and the stop at Caribou Crossing which was a definite highlight. We also enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the colorful narration of our guide James. I liked this Frontier Excursion tour better than a shorter “Yukon Photo Safari” tour I took with Southeast Tours in Skagway in 2003.
Juneau
We had no preplanned shore excursions in Juneau. Our day in this city was rainy and overcast. It was actually nice to take a break from daily excursions to do some shopping, and we found the stores in Juneau among the best we visited on the whole cruise.
We were docked adjacent to the downtown area – a very short walk from the ship. I found an internet café for $5.25/hr – much better than the ship’s rates of 75 cents a minute! (their website is at www.seaportcyber.com – they also have internet cafes in Ketchikan and Sitka). I spent 1 hour online checking my email and catching up with news back home. The public library also has free internet access here but doesn’t open until 11 am on weekdays.
Andrew said this was his 2nd favorite port on the cruise – he loved the shopping. He bought a small souvenir glass and miniature totem pole for his bedroom back home.
I also took the tram to the top of Mt Roberts ($25 per person). We all were going to do the tram ride but because of the cloudy, rainy conditions I decided to take a look by myself, and would bring Anne and the boys up later if I found it worthwhile. At the visitor’s center reached by the tram there were some interesting stores, a raptor recovery center featuring an eagle, and a good movie on the native Talkut culture. The views at the top were really restricted because of the clouds. While I thought the Mt Roberts tram ride and visitor center was interesting, it was not worth bringing the rest of the family up. The views from this attraction would be much better on a clear day.
Our Overall Juneau Grade: B+ (A for shopping, B for the Mt Roberts Tram)
Anne’s take: “While Tim took the Tram, the boys and I found other interesting sites in Juneau. There is a pavilion area near downtown with a path down to a public dock. A large post measuring the tide was prominently displayed. The ship’s crew had warned us that the level at which we got off and on the ship may change due to the fact that the tide can change within a matter of hours in Juneau. We also enjoyed a seafood cannery within a short walk that provided free samples of smoked salmon and inside offered windows where the public can watch the process for smoking the salmon.”
Icy Strait Point
This is a new port visited by only Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruises in 2005. I understand Holland America may visit this port on some itineraries in 2006. Much smaller and less commercial than the other ports – you will not find jewelry stores here. This is the only port where we had to take a tender boat to get ashore.
We had another overcast and rainy day here. Our whale watching excursion was set for 11:30 am. We attended the evening show the night before on our cruise ship and at the end of the show the cruise director said “if you have an 11:30 am excursion tomorrow, I recommend getting a tender ticket at 10 am.” Good thing he mentioned that! We did exactly what he said and the tender service took quite some time to us to Icy Strait Point. While we made it on time we saw some others that barely made it for their excursions. I thought Celebrity could improve their tender service (such as running more boats, and making announcements in the ship’s program or over the loudspeaker telling people to arrive early)
The highlight of our whale watching excursion was the excellent narration by our guide Howard (Howard is a native of the area – his Tlinget name is Koo Hook). Koo Hook was the perfect host – he had a real passion for sharing his culture and the beauty of this area. He posts frequently on the Cruise Critic website message boards – he had a warm welcome for me when I mentioned I enjoyed his writings on Cruise Critic.
Unfortunately we did not see many whales on our excursion, the whales were not close to the boat, and the number of people on the boat prevented us from getting a good view at times. This excursion was also the most expensive of all the excursions we booked.
Tour Grade: B- Whale watching is always a “hit or miss” experience. On other days we may have seen more whales than on this one. We enjoyed the tour thanks in large part to our excellent guide, but I thought my whale watching experience with Captain Larry on my last Alaska cruise was better (Captain Larry’s cruises are arranged out of Juneau by Orca Enterprises) Last time I saw many more whales from Captain Larry’s smaller boat. I liked Icy Strait Point as a port, though. Our whale watching and tender service took most of our time here. I would like to return and try one of the other excursions like the bear search.
Anne’s take: “After returning to the ship I was able to see 2 whales swimming around the ship for a while. I actually had a better view of these 2 whales from the ship where I was warm and dry than I did the one whale we saw on the crowded boat in the wind and rain…go figure!”
Hubbard Glacier
On the morning of the last full day of our cruise we visited the massive Hubbard Glacier. We had a beautiful sunny day for our cruise by the glacier. For me viewing this large glacier close up was the most awesome experience I had on the whole trip! The glacier towered over our ship – the glacier and the beauty of the surrounding mountains was an amazing sight. We also were treated to some huge displays of glacier “calving” – we would hear a loud crack like thunder to be followed by a huge section of ice crashing into the sea.
Celebrity allowed guests to go on the helicopter pad at the front of the ship for the best glacier views – we took advantage of this and we were one of the first to arrive at this vantage point.
We were at the helicopter pad for about an hour, and then we decided to eat breakfast at the buffet at the rear of the ship. We sat at a balcony table adjacent to the buffet and we were treated to more amazing views as we sailed away from the glacier.
Grade: A+
I had visited Glacier Bay on my previous Alaska cruise and I had been told that was the premier Alaska Glacier viewing area. I thought Hubbard Glacier, while a different experience, was just as amazing! I saw lots more glacier calving at Hubbard Glacier compared to Glacier Bay, and I thought Hubbard as a glacier was more impressive than any of the glaciers I saw at Glacier Bay. Glacier Bay does have more wildlife viewing opportunities and on my 2003 cruise we sailed closer to the Glacier Bay glaciers than we did to Hubbard Glacier on this cruise. But if your Alaska cruise itinerary includes a visit to Hubbard Glacier instead of Glacier Bay (not all cruise lines have approval to go to Glacier Bay – like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity) there is no reason to feel cheated – both places provide a great glacier viewing experience!
Anne’s take: “When the ship first arrives at Hubbard Glacier it faces the glacier and the best view is from the helicopter pad. However, the pad fills up quickly and the crowds got thick. The boys and I found it difficult to see over taller people if you moved from the railing. We returned to the buffet for breakfast and the ship turned so that eventually the sides had a good view of the glacier. We had an amazing experience looking at the glacier as we enjoyed our breakfast. When the ship was turned so that the back of the ship was facing the glacier we had an even better chance to take pictures and see some calving. It is not easy to get to the helicopter pad, requiring many steps up and down and even stepping through ship portals (one foot high stoop). So if you can’t manage the trek, I recommend just waiting in the aft of the ship for the ship to turn.”
Seward
On my 2003 cruise I was only in Seward for a few hours – too short to experience any of the wonderful tours that this area has to offer. This time we stayed two and one half days before our return home from Anchorage.
Day 1
What a beautiful day we had (70 degrees, clear skies) as we said goodbye to the Celebrity Summit in the morning. We were off the ship by 9 am, and we spent a leisurely morning checking into our motel (the Marina Motel), walking around the town, and eating lunch at a local Subway.
The highlight of this day was a 1 ½ hour Ididaride Sled Dog tour hosted by the Speavy racing team . After taking a complementary shuttle van from the Railroad station to the Speavy homestead outside of Seward, we were met by an experienced Iditarod racer who explained to us the ins and outs of this annual Alaska sled dog race. The Speavys know their stuff as one of their own, Mitch Speavy, won the Iditarod race in 2004 and finished third in 2005. We were shown a short film showing how difficult competing in this event can be, we were given a demonstration of the equipment used in the race, and we got a chance to hold some sled dog puppies!
The best part of the tour, though, was being pulled by 13 sled dogs through a 2 mile course on a wheeled cart, and steered by an experienced sled dog racer. The course was very scenic – through a forest and by a mountain stream – with lots of twists and turns. The ride really gave you a sense of the power, coordination, and grace of these magnificent animals.
Tour Grade: A+ This tour was voted the best of the whole trip by our boys – a great tour for kids! We had loads of fun on the sled dog ride and meeting an enthusiastic bunch of puppies.
After returning to town, we found our room ready at the Marina Motel. The motel was a clean “mom and pop” place with a friendly staff. The Marina Motel was nothing fancy but well located close to the small boat harbor, and less expensive than many of the other lodging options in the area. We enjoyed our two night stay here. The only negative was that the motel was located on the other side of a busy highway – we had to take care to cross the highway when venturing out. But our room was good sized and quiet – within easy walking distance of a number of restaurants and the small boat harbor.
Next on our agenda was a visit to the Alaska SeaLife Center – a research aquarium in downtown Seward. We considered taking the town trolley at $6 per person into town to see this attraction, but it was such a beautiful day we decided to walk the 1 mile distance instead.
The SeaLife Center was a good small town aquarium with an emphasis on research. We especially liked the Puffin display (you could see these birds dive under the water through an underwater viewing area). Also there was an underwater viewing area for seals and a variety of fish. At the rear of the Aquarium was a magnificent view of Resurrection Bay. Grade B+ – our kids enjoyed the touch tank at this aquarium and I especially liked the underwater viewing areas.
To get energy for the 1 mile walk back to our motel we ate across the street from the SeaLife Center at Christo’s Palace. This was one of several good restaurants we dined at in Seward. Anne had a halibut fish and chips entrée – she said it was about the best fish and chips she’s ever had. I was equally satisfied with a jumbo prawn dinner. We rarely get good shrimp back home in Denver so this meal was a real treat. The boys enjoyed their kids meals (Andrew had spaghetti, Josh had chicken tenders)
After dinner we walked back to our motel, and watched the Disney movie “Snow Dogs” on a local cable channel. This was a great movie to see after our experience at the Speavy kennel earlier in the day.
Day 2
We awoke to see the sunny skies of the day before departed – instead we had a rainy, overcast day with temperatures in the upper 50’s/lower 60’s. While we were hoping for clear skies, it turned out this weather was fine for our all day activity – a 7 ½ hour Kenai Fjords Cruise with Major Marine Tours.
Major Marine’s Kenai Fjords cruise was an excellent excursion. The tour was extremely well run with a dedicated National Park Ranger (“CJ”) narrating the cruise and pointing out interesting sights to us. CJ also ran a special “junior ranger” program for kids that kept our boys interested (and they learned a few things, too!). We saw lots of wildlife (puffins, bald eagles, a humpback whale, seals, sea lions, sea otters, and others). We cruised right next to a calving glacier – not as near as big as Hubbard Glacier that we saw a few days earlier – but we were able to get much closer to this glacier thanks to our smaller boat.
The tour boat was well laid out. Each party had a pre-assigned inside table by a window. It was easy to wander outside to see the various sights and then return to the warmth of the interior cabin. About 3 hours into the cruise we were treated to an all you can eat buffet of salmon, prime rib, rice, salad, and dessert. I wasn’t expecting much but the buffet was of surprising good quality! We all especially liked the prime rib.
Tour Grade: A- While this was an excellent tour overall, the “minus” was because our ride was extremely rough in spots. This was not the fault of Major Marine at all – in fact we were warned that seas could be rough and we were encouraged to take seasick medication beforehand. None of us had ever been seasick in the past so we ignored these warnings. Anne and I were fine but Andrew and Josh did get seasick near the end of our 7 ½ hour cruise, as did many other passengers. I highly recommend this tour (especially for families) but please take the seasick precautions beforehand even if you aren’t normally prone to motion sickness.
The boys quickly recovered from their seasickness after the tour, and we settled down to have another good meal at Terry’s – a Seward restaurant not too far from our motel.
We really enjoyed our two days in Seward. We were glad we had decided to extend our trip by two days to see the interesting attractions in this area.
The Celebrity Summit
We had a wonderful time with all the interesting excursions on our trip, and on short stays in Vancouver and Seward. But this vacation had something else – life onboard the Celebrity Summit! Below I will describe some of the features of the cruise and how Celebrity compared to some of the other cruise lines we have sailed on
This was our first Celebrity cruise. I had heard very good reports on this line from friends and from other travel agents, so I was anxious to experience a Celebrity cruise myself. We were not disappointed!
Our Stateroom
We sailed in an outside stateroom on deck 2 (stateroom 2061). While not as big as staterooms we have had on the Disney cruise and some other cruises, the storage areas were well laid out. We brought an extra suit case with cold weather clothes on this cruise and we were able to store everything efficiently – lots of hangers were provided for the closet area.
We had a queen sized bed for Anne and me, and above us two beds that came out of the ceiling for Andrew and Josh. We found the upper beds gave us more head room below than what we experienced on our March Holland America cruise. Still Josh and I bumped our heads early in the cruise on the upper beds and we had to be careful.
We didn’t have lots of room but we managed – we didn’t spend that much time in the room. We often sail in an inside stateroom on our cruises so it was nice to have a window for this cruise. I liked looking out the window each morning to dress appropriately for the weather.
Our stateroom attendant Lawrence was the best one we have ever had! Upon our arrival Lawrence came into the room, introduced himself, pointed out where our life jackets were stored, and went over the muster drill map with us. We had never had a stateroom attendant be so thorough! Throughout the whole cruise Lawrence kept our room in top shape, answered any questions we had, and always had a smile to greet us.
Stateroom Grade: B+ (B for the stateroom layout, A for the excellent stateroom attendant service)
Dining
Cosmopolitan Restaurant
The main dining room on the Summit was one of the most beautiful restaurants we have seen on a cruise ship – perfect for an Alaska cruise with many large windows. We loved our table location – right next to a window on the upper level. We didn’t miss out on the great views outdoors while dining. The first night as we sailed away from Vancouver we saw the impressive scenery as we sailed away from the city and under the Lions Gate Bridge. One night at dinner I gazed out over the water and saw the huge tail of a humpback whale right next to the ship.
On the restaurant’s main level there was a huge picture window in front. On the first full day of the cruise we ate lunch here and could see towering walls of granite surrounding us outside this picture window as we sailed through the Inside Passage.
Overall the main dining room food was very good. I particularly liked the shrimp cocktail as an appetizer each night (tip: you can order the shrimp cocktail each night even if it isn’t on the menu). For each dinner we were treated to a five course feast: appetizer, soup, salad, entrée, and dessert. I found the soups to be excellent all week – a bowl of hot soup was a welcome treat after the cold weather we encountered on some of our shore excursions. The only food items we found inconsistent were the main entrees. The steaks and veal dishes generally were not tender. I had a shrimp dish one night and the main entrée shrimp was not as good of quality as the shrimp cocktail appetizer. We did have some good entrees – Anne said her salmon one night was excellent and I particularly liked a pasta and pork tenderloin dish. The boys enjoyed ordering off of the adult menu each night instead of from a children’s menu. An ample supply of yummy bread and butter was provided each night.
Our main waiter, Milton from Honduras, was pleasant and efficient – giving us good recommendations on what menu items to order. For the kids Milton brought a special salad each night on their request (iceberg lettuce with Celebrity dressing). The assistant waiter brought me a hot chocolate each night after dinner.
We did not drink wine with our meal, but every night the wine steward would come to our table, greet us, and ask us how our day was. We only ate breakfast and lunch in the main dining room the first couple of days – we found we preferred the buffet for these meals (see below). The lunch entrees in the Cosmopolitan restaurant were exotic – we preferred the burgers, pizza, and pasta offerings of the buffet!
Main dining room grade: A- (B+ for the food with most everything excellent except for some of the main entrees, A for the setting, and A for the service)
Waterfall Café and Pool Side Grill
As we entered the Waterfall Café, the ship’s buffet, shortly after boarding the ship my first impression was “is this all there is?” I was used to larger buffets I have seen on other ships, like Holland America and Royal Caribbean, with different stations featuring different types of international cuisine. At first glance this buffet seemed to have four or five choices in a cafeteria type setting, and that was it.
We came to love the buffet as the cruise progressed. While there weren’t as many choices as some other cruise line buffets, the quality was very good. The Waterfall Café also has some good features, including:
A “create your own pizza” area open from noon until 1 a.m. each day – we have seen pizza areas on Holland America and Carnival, but this pizza was of better quality. Josh loved having a piece of pizza or two before bedtime (“Dad, can we go for late night snack?” he would ask each night). You could have your own pizza made with the ingredients of your choosing, or pick one from one of several freshly cooked pizzas on a hotplate.
A Homemade Pasta And Salad Bar – also open from noon until 1 am each day. This was Andrew’s choice for his late night snack. The made to order pasta was also a good alternative at lunch if none of the entrees on the main buffet line looked appealing.
Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream – open from noon until the late afternoon on most days. Different from some cruise lines (like Princess) there was no extra charge for ice cream. We found the ice cream to be of good quality.
A Waffle station – open until 10 am most mornings, this was my favorite area of the buffet. The made to order waffles were delicious; with a variety of toppings available (I liked fresh blueberries on mine). While the main breakfast buffet would often have long lines, I found this waffle station at the extreme aft of the ship relatively uncrowded. I could always get a quick breakfast here. As an added bonus right next to the Waffle Station was an outdoor seating area – we had some incredible views here as we ate breakfast and sailed away from the Hubbard Glacier one morning.
Omelet Bar – open until 10 am most mornings. Made to order omelets were available each morning. The lines here were longer than for the waffle bar, so I only had omelets two or three times during our 7 day cruise, but the service and food were excellent! This was my favorite place to visit after some early morning sight seeing on the outside decks. At the buffet opening (7 am) the lines here were non-existent and I was served quickly.
After the first day or two of the cruise we ate all of our breakfasts and lunches at the buffet. We liked the quick service and the food quality here. The adjacent Poolside Grill (open noon to 7 pm most days) was a good choice for freshly cooked burgers and hot dogs.
Buffet Grade: A- (“minus” because there could be more choices in the main buffet line, but otherwise everything was excellent)
Normandie Restaurant
The Normandie was the Summit’s Specialty restaurant with a $30 per person cover charge. Anne and I ate here one night with the boys eating with their kids’ club friends in the buffet. We found the food and service to be excellent.
We started our meal with a Caesar Salad prepared fresh for us tableside (very good!) Next we both had a scallops and lobster dish – the scallops were the best I have ever tasted, and the lobster was of better quality than what we would get in the main restaurant a few nights later. Following the main entrée we were given a choice of a variety of cheeses. Our meal concluded with a superb chocolate soufflé for dessert.
Grade: B While we enjoyed the intimate atmosphere of this restaurant and the food, we found we had less to eat than the normal evening fare in the main restaurant. There were only four courses here (salad, entrée, cheese, dessert) with the cheese portion being nominal. In addition, the $30 per person cover charge was the most we have paid for any cruise line specialty restaurant. This was a good dining experience, but I’d rate Disney’s Palo and Holland America’s Pinnacle Grill as superior cruise ship specialty restaurants when compared to the Normandie.
Anne’s take: “There were two sides of the menu to choose from. We chose the basic menu, but the other side caters to wine lovers. You can get a different glass of wine with each course of your meal and you have more courses than if you choose the side without wine. I believe the restaurant caters more toward those ordering wine. The wait staff was extra attentive and professional and the food very good, but I’m not sure worth an extra $30 per person (the selections with the wine at each course is an additional charge above the $30 per person, so rather pricy).”
Entertainment On most nights the Summit had a song and dance show in the main theatre. The performances were similar to what we have seen on other cruise lines. We skipped a couple of the song and dance performances to have family game nights with Andrew and Josh instead.
The best show of the week was by comedy/juggler Michael James – the “Ladder Guy”. James had a number of amazing acrobatic and juggling feats, mixed with good comedy. He even picked a woman out of the audience and balanced her on his shoulders as he rode a unicycle around the stage (if you attend this show – don’t sit too close or you might be picked to do this stunt!). For the last 30 minutes of the show James balanced himself on a ladder onstage while performing a variety of tricks.
Another good show was by magician Greg Gleason Greg performed a number of impressive illusions in the ship’s main theatre. Later in the cruise the boys and I attended a close up magic session by Greg where he did a number of card tricks just a few feet from the audience.
The main theatre on the ship had an unusual appearance – the lighting was done by artificial torches and flames on the sides and in the back of the theatre. This gave the illusion that you were watching a show in an ancient Roman theatre – very unique!
There were a variety of other entertainment options on the cruise. Celebrity features Cirque Du Soleil on their Millennium Class ships like the Summit. Cirque had several performances in the “Bar At The Edge Of The Earth” on deck 11 on top of the ship. Rather than shows that you sat and passively watched, the Cirque performers would interact with the crowd at this bar. A special “White Night” where guests wore all white and masks to the bar was the talk of many of the adults on the ship. Anne and I did not attend any of the Cirque performances – White Night was too late for us and an earlier Cirque performance was on the same night we dined at the Normandie restaurant. Andrew and Josh did attend one Cirque performance with the kids club and described the experience as “weird”.
The Celebrity Cinema showed movies throughout the cruise. The movies were dated (such as the Bourne Identity and Spiderman II) – not recently released movies like you find on a Disney cruise. We were so busy with all the other activities and shows onboard that we did not attend a movie all week.
There were also a number of bars and lounges onboard with singers performing in the evenings.
Overall Entertainment Grade: B+ The singer and dancers were average, we thought, but Ladder Guy Michael James and magician Greg Gleason had interesting and entertaining shows. The main theatre was a great place to watch the shows – with a unique “roman” atmosphere and good sight lines to the stage from most seats. The alternative Cirque entertainment was not for everyone (including us) but I was impressed with the variety of entertainment options offered.
Onboard Lectures
The Summit had one of the best educational series I have experienced on a cruise – the Celebrity Enrichment Discovery Series. The Naturalist onboard, Dirk Younkerman, had several interesting slide shows and talks in the ship’s main theatre about Glaciers, Whales, Bears, and other topics. I thought Dirk was better than the Naturalist that was on my 2003 Princess Alaska cruise. In addition to his informative talks, Dirk was available at other times of the cruise and was very open to answering questions from the guests. I saw him arrange a private bear excursion for one couple after one of his talks. Another morning as we sailed towards Skagway he welcomed any early risers to join him at the Bar At The Edge Of The Earth at 6 am as he described the surrounding scenery. I made myself comfy on one of the beds at the “Bar”, propped myself up with a few pillows, and listened to Dirk talk for over an hour on the different glaciers and mountains we saw.
The Summit also featured Astro-journalist Dan Benedict who gave several talks on Astronomy (see his website at www.astrocruises.com/celebrity ) and an Acupuncture at Sea lecture.
Grade: A For some the idea of attending a lecture while on a cruise may seem boring, but I thought the quality and variety of educational lectures on the Summit was outstanding. There wasn’t enough time to attend them all – the ones I did attend were very well done.
Internet Access and Computer Classes
Celebrity offered onboard internet access from the ship’s internet café for 75 cents a minute. Packages were available to reduce the cost per minute if you bought 100, 200, or more minute packages in advance.
I thought the computer program on board was extremely well run. There were a good number of computer staff people to help out with questions, problems, and to teach classes. Being a former software engineer, I also thought the interface to the ship’s computers was more straightforward and secure than I have seen on other cruises. When you bought internet time, for example, you had your own login to Windows and your own environment – there was no danger of the next person using the computer getting access to your settings (when you logged out your settings disappeared).
I brought my laptop on the cruise and there were several wireless “hotspots” that worked well. For an additional fee you could even get internet access through your laptop in your stateroom – I declined this when I found out the internet café and wireless hotspot speeds were faster than stateroom access. I liked that if you bought minutes in a package you could share those minutes between laptop access and the ship’s computers. Sometimes I wanted to use my laptop, while other times it was more convenient to use the ship’s computers. I didn’t have to buy two separate packages to do this.
I found the internet access to be good – only a few times web access was unavailable. This was much better than what I experienced on my Princess Alaska cruise, where the ship’s computers were down over 50% of the time.
Grade: B+ Excellent computer access and support – minutes were a bit pricey. I suggest buying a package onboard and using minutes sparingly. The internet cafes in some of the ports had much better rates.
Kids Club
The Summit had a well run childrens program, with 6 full time staff members. There were 22 kids in Andrew and Josh’s age group on the cruise (age 10 – 12), with about that same number in each of the 3 to 5, 5 to 7, 7 to 9, and teenage groups. I liked how the children’s programming was open from 9 am until 1 am the next morning non-stop. During some of these times there was an extra fee (such as after 10 pm in the evenings) but having this excellent coverage allowed Anne and I to do more things and not be concerned about the kids. For example, we ate at the “no kids allowed” Normandie restaurant from 6 to 8 pm one night. That night our boys had dinner with their friends and a kids club counselor in the buffet.
Our boys liked the size of the group. They found it easier to make friends with a smaller group than what you would find on a Disney cruise. In the 10 to 12 year old group kids are allowed to check themselves in and out of the program without parent permission. This worked very well for us – it gave Andrew and Josh some independence. We knew they would eventually meet up with us in the stateroom if they decided to leave a kids club activity early.
The club activities included arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, talent shows, sports competitions, and more.
Grade: A- With all of our shore excursions we used the kid’s club less than what we have on other cruises, but it was good to have that option available for Andrew and Josh when needed.
Anne’s take: “The kids mostly liked the kids club. They especially enjoyed the staff and the activities such as the arts and crafts, games and other group fun (‘dance contest and scavenger hunts). The minor complaints were that there were not enough video game screens available and the games that were available were too few and too boring. Also they complained that the teens did not have a place of their own and so the 10-12 crowd and the teens ended up hanging out together. The boys expressed that they were around too many little kids in the kids club room and too many teens in the tower (the tower offered foosball and a hang-out area).”
Other Activities/Features
We had some beautiful sunny days on the cruise – the boys really enjoyed swimming in the ship’s pools. Yes it can be warm enough to go swimming on an Alaskan cruise! In the spa area was a covered adults pool that was very popular.
The ship had a well stocked game room – on a couple of nights we played games like Scrabble and Sorry instead of going to the evening show. We were not the only ones – one evening every table in the game room was taken with small groups playing board games.
There were so many other activities on the cruise I haven’t begun to mention them all – for example we didn’t use the spa area at all. Anne and I like to play trivia on our cruises but on this cruise there were so many things to do that we didn’t get the chance.
I can’t imagine anyone being bored with nothing to do on this cruise. With activities ranging from Astronomy lectures to unusual interactions with Cirque Du Soleil characters, there really was something for everyone.
Embarkation
We flew into Seattle instead of Vancouver to save some dollars on airfare, and this worked out well. We took QuickCoach bus transfers from the Seattle airport to Vancouver the day before our cruise (website: www.quickcoach.com). At first the thought of a 5 hour bus ride wasn’t appealing, but the time passed quickly as we made some rest stops and traveled through scenic areas.
Going through Canadian customs at the border was an interesting experience, too. The next day embarkation at the Vancouver cruise terminal was extremely easy and quick – especially since we stayed at the Pan Pacific Hotel above the cruise terminal the night before. We just took the elevator to the terminal, checked in with no wait at all, and we were on the ship by noon. Disembarkation/return to Anchorage
Getting off the ship in Seward was also efficient. We waited for our “color” group to be called in the ship’s theatre, and then we were quickly off the ship. We had hoped to call a local taxi to take us to our hotel, but we found all the phones in the Seward cruise terminal taken and my Sprint cell phone service didn’t work. Instead we got a ride from a friendly representative of Iditaride tours to the train station, and we walked to our Seward motel from there. I suggest pre-arranging your transportation, instead of relying on phone calls, if you need a ride to your destination in Seward after the cruise.
After our two days in Seward we used PJ’s Taxi to transport us back to the Anchorage airport and our flight home. We found this was similar in cost to the train transfers, and gave us much more flexibility. Renee our driver offered to give us a personal tour of the Seward area and made some special stops for us on the way to Anchorage.
Summary
Overall Grade: A
Alaska is one of my favorite cruise destinations. I love cruising and on a trip like this you get all of the benefits of a top rated cruise line like Celebrity, and you get to visit some amazing and interesting places. This trip was a real thrill to me to share Alaska with my family for the first time. I especially enjoyed meeting and talking to the people with a passion for Alaska – from Howard (Koo Hook) at Icy Strait Point, the Celebrity onboard Naturalist Dirk, the Kenai Fjords Park Ranger CJ, and others. I too share this passion and I can’t wait to return on a future trip!
Tim Larison
I was very happy with our overall experience on Celebrity Summit. It is a beautiful ship and overall met our needs and expectations. Since all of our cruises were to warm weather destinations I did have concerns about whether Alaska would keep the interest of our 11 year old sons. There was no need to worry! We had swimming weather on 2 of the days, which was important to the kids. They enjoyed all the shore excursions and activities we booked. We all finished the trip feeling well fed, rejuvenated and in awe of the many sites and experiences that we know we cannot find anywhere but Alaska!
Anne Larison