Review: Celebrity Millenium 10-night Ultimate Alaska 9/18/09

[bqkali]

Where are your photos?

 

My photos are still unorganized, unedited, and have no captions...but if you're interested these are the albums. There are almost NO pictures from on the ship (sorry, not my priority) but the pictures should give a good overview of the ports.

 

Seattle http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=259909753805%3A104962221

Vancouver http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=359909753805%3A102683384

Ketchikan http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=559909753805%3A1547929096

Juneau http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=659909753805%3A811130897

Skagway http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=759909753805%3A1298591037

Icy Strait http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=859909753805%3A183631203

Hubbard http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=959909753805%3A1776713431

Sitka http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=169909753805%3A1439332324

Victoria http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=669909753805%3A1742419389

[coka]

bqkali,

I usually hang out on the NCL boards. Since I am cruising solo soon, I went over to the solo boards, read your thread, and got linked to here. Thank you for writing such a well balanced, fun, interesting to read review! I wish I had your sense of adventure at 23. Oh well, better late than never for me! Your review was such a joy to read. I totally agree with you regarding vacationing with others being fun yet so appreciate the times it can also be done solo. Kudos to you for being safe, outgoing, detailed, and comprehensive of expenses. I look forward to your next review.

 

coka

[nimrod1940]

Thank you. Your photos where great to see. My wife and I are going next year on a 13 day cruise/tour of Alaska on The Millennium for our 25th anniversary. While 10 month to go, we are very excited and your trip report and photos only make us more excited. Thank you very much! :):)

[ilovefridays]

 

Skagway (7am-8:30pm)

I was a little nervous about Skagway because I had booked a tour with Dyea Dave who has mixed reviews here on Cruise Critic. I figured it would be okay – while I would love to head to Emerald Lake, there were plenty of hiking trail right around town that could easily fill the day and left me just as satisfied.

 

Around 5:00, Dave pointed me in the direction of Yakutania Point for a short “hike” (more like a walk, especially after the REAL hike in Juneau). It was really pretty and I sat on some rocks at the point and called home. It was really peaceful and quiet with hardly anyone on the trail.

 

Icy Strait Point (7am-5pm)

 

I went directly from the zipline tour to meet Floyd for my whale watch, who was there an hour early. It caught me by surprise, but it was okay. I joined a group of 4 others, from Texas, on Floyd’s boat for a whale watch. Floyd was a quiet man, with little to say on the ride out, which kind of disappointed me. By booking the private tour, I had hoped for a little more individualized tour and to have no interaction with the guide hardly made the extra cost seem worthwhile.

 

Upon return to Hoonah, I stopped in the Office Bar for some lunch. It’s past crab season, so there was no fresh Dungeness, so I had a crab cake and chowder with a beer. Prices were reasonable IMO. Frankly, I didn’t think the Office was anything special but maybe that was because there was no crab for me!

 

 

That was a phenomenal review! Thanks for putting so much effort into writing it. It truly brought back wonderful memories of our Alaskan RCI cruise this June.

 

We toured with Dyea Dave as well. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get seats on his bus but it worked out well with his assistant, Becky. The scenery along the way was amazing. I imagine you stopped at the same places as us. Emerald Lake, Windy Arm of Tagish Lake, Bove Island had views that were simply breath-taking! We also enjoyed our hike to Yakutania Point and even stopped by at Smuggler's Cove.

 

It's a pity you didn't enjoy your time at ISP. The point you made about Floyd was quite objective, I guess. We went whale-watching with FISHES as well but despite him being quiet and reserved, he did open up when I pestered him with endless questions about the town and the wildlife. We had together with us a family of four which included two exceptionally well behaved little boys. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I felt as if I were in the library throughout the entire journey! Even my oohhing and ahh-ings were kept to barely audible levels. It was quite excruciating considering that I was seeing humpback whales for the first time ever! LOL! On hindsight, I shouldn't have given a hoot and made as much noise as I wanted! I will the next time I go whale-watching and I'll be sure to pack the boat with the people from my roll call!

 

It's too bad they didn't have any Dungeness Crab during your visit to the Office Bar. They were so incredibly sweet! Was the Alaskan King Crab in season while you were there?

 

Anyway, thanks again for the fantastic review. :D

[bqkali]

It's too bad they didn't have any Dungeness Crab during your visit to the Office Bar. They were so incredibly sweet! Was the Alaskan King Crab in season while you were there?

 

It sounds like you had an amazing trip as well :)

 

Unfortunately, we were there "in between" crab seasons - king crab is late fall/winter (by my understanding). The crab cake I had was good, but could never come close to REAL crab :D

 

Alaska in September was truly breathtaking, even though it was at the end of the season and the weather didn't always cooperate. But next time, I'll probably go earlier in the season to see things in a whole different light...I'd really like to check out that midnight sun that I completely missed!!!

[heidik]

Fabulous review - I loved it and felt I was right there with you. Thank you for taking the time to share your "wisdom" - I feel alot more comfortable now with sailing on the Millie for the first time.....keep on cruisin' and keep on writing your wonderful reviews!

[Ms. J.]

Hi, bqkali.....

Wonderful review! Okay, now it's time to get serious. You could write the guide books of various ports or destinations, improving on the ones that were little help to you. Your writing style is easy to read (I was a journalist for years) and I can't believe I read every word! Great job.....now consider the guide book business! Jini

[bqkali]

Hi, bqkali.....

Wonderful review! Okay, now it's time to get serious. You could write the guide books of various ports or destinations, improving on the ones that were little help to you. Your writing style is easy to read (I was a journalist for years) and I can't believe I read every word! Great job.....now consider the guide book business! Jini

 

Thanks for your kind words :) Writing guide books...that doesn't sound like work...I do that anyway :rolleyes: Haha guess it's time to talk to Frommer's ;)

[eztymz]

I didn't think I wanted to see Alaska until reading your terrific post. Now I can't wait!

[TheMiz]

Very nice review, thank you for sharing.

My trip begins the first week of June.

[Patrick IL.]

This is an incredibly detailed and wonderful review, Thanks so much for taking the time to write it.

We are looking at Alaska long term, probably a year from this coming summer. The new itinerarys are not out yet, but we would probably do a "cruise tour" spending some time in Denali ect...

Thanks again :)