Infinity to Alaska - Route up and down .. Inside Passage or offshore?

[chuckchopper]

Does anyone having sailed on Infinity recently out of Seattle know if the route up and/or down the coast is actually via the BC section of the inside passage or does it go up the west coast of Vancouver Island to "save time"?

 

The Itinerary only seems to indicate that the inside passage viewing is out of Skagway on the way back (for a few hour before dark!)

 

When the ship sailed out of Vancouver on Infinity a couple of years ago, it was via the IP and was terrific, but I do know that some of the ships bypass this to save time and avoid extensive Pilot fees.

 

It also can make for a much rougher cruise on those sea days. :(

 

A quick reply from someone in the know would be appreciated.

[Ship Dude]

Going up and down is via the west side of Vancouver Is. But, Inside passage from Tracey Arm to Juneau is great and all in day light. Also, from Juneau to Skagway is IP but it is dark. From Skagway into the night is IP but all next two days is not IP - I think, it was so foggy July 28 and 29 that you could not see very far Port or Starboard side. Best place to watch IP is from Tracey Arm - Glacier (starting as the ship turns to go back) to Juneau sitting on the outside deck right behind the buffett. If weather is good enjoy breakfast/lunch there and just relax with a book, camera and binoculars. Stay warm with blankets - its worth it.

[chuckchopper]

Ship Dude ... Thanks for the update. Its a bit disappointing that we will miss the BC IP, but there will be plenty of other things to see over the trip anyway. We'll survive.

 

Also nice to hear from someone else that goes as far back in cruising as I do (ie. 1969). I did a Trans-Atlantic on a student-only ship (quad bunks in every cabin ... more like a troop carrier than a luxury cruise ship) from NY to Southampton (pretty small ship .... took 9 days) just out of high school when I was off to backpack around Europe for a year. Not quite the experience that it is nowadays, but it was my introduction to cruise travel nonetheless. Where was yours?

[Ship Dude]

Chuckchopper -

 

My first cruise I was 10. It was on one of Princess' first ships, the Princess Carla which was before the "Love Boat" and before the famous Pacific Princess. At the time Princess was running the 3 or 4 day'ers from San Pedro (Los Angeles) to Ensenada with a stop at an off shore island full of seals and/or sea lions - here we used the then very small life boats to zip around the island to see the sea life up close. It was Labor day weekend and we were on for 3 nights 4 days. I remember the cruise very well, my parents had a large suite and my brother and I were in an inside cabin, with the bunk style beds that had to be stored against the wall during the day becasue once down there was no room to get around, across the hall. We had no sense of time and would often get up in the middle of the night thinking it was morning. Everything was very formal - each night we had to be DRESSED for dinner. There was a small kid's program but it was nowhere near what they are today. If I remember we had more fun riding the elevators than in the program. That cruise set the stage for wanting more - the next cruise was my honeymoon on the 'old' Crown Princess. And the rest is cruise history. We have taken our kids on one cruise so far but, in December my Mom is taking them on the 14 day RT Hawaii with Princess. So, I guess the tradition is being passed on to the next generation.

 

Maybe other CC'ers would like to continue with their own stories of cruising back when pleasure cruising began.

[chuckchopper]

Shipdude ... Sounds like fun for a 10 year old. Thanks for sharing that with me.

 

As you can see from my signature, I sailed on the original "Love Boat" (the Pacific Princess) myself quite a few times in the early 80s. I recently sailed on the PPII to Hawaii and was surprized to find the same comedian onboard that performed when I sailed in the 80s - 27 years earlier :eek:. Even more surprizing ... he actually remembered me and what I did for a living :eek::eek:. I thought that was amazing! (However ... on the other hand, I did remember a lot of his old jokes that he was still using too, so perhaps in retrospect, its not as amazing as I had originally thought.)

 

Maybe other CC'ers would like to continue with their own stories of cruising back when pleasure cruising began.

 

Possibly, but I think we'd have to start a new thread ... 'cause there never gonna find that topic here except by accident ;). I'm not even sure what forum that would belong in. :confused: