Any Infinity Alaska Feedback??

[MyDogRudy]

Welcome home Infinity Alaskan cruisers! Anyone off the first Infinity Hubbard Glacier cruise of 2017 ready to give us some feedback? It's been a whole four hours since you returned. I cruise next week and am dying to hear about the current ship/crew/weather conditions. It is great to not have to wait much longer, but that also means there is not much chance to get recent feedback before sailing. I promise to pay it forward and report back ASAP after our cruise so the others taking this journey the rest of the year have some good info.

[baronessk]

Following...and if anyone could post the dailies that would be most helpful. We sail in August, however it's out first X and Alaska cruise, so would be very interested to hear from past Hubbard cruisers!

[Sailawaytoday]

We leave on Infinity this Sunday, as well. Hoping someone lets us in on what's happening up there!

[jenZ]

We just returned home today from the 5/28 sailing of the Infinity. Up at 2:00 am PCT for plane this morning out of Toronto so a bit groggy, but reading the forums while I eat lunch- here is a quick response to those leaving soon:

 

1) ship was immaculate, crew was very friendly and visible.

 

2) Hubbard Glacier was a great weather day. We saw the top of Mt St Elias which was apparently a very rare event. It is the second highest peak in Alaska. We got about a mile away from the Glacier but saw no calving. We watched from the helipad, which allowed longer and more intimate views. No audio and difficult to get front row photos, however. Think I would watch the approach from the Constellation bar next time so I could hear the narration and then go to the helipad at the closest point

 

3) The Mickey Live presentations were awesome and available for replay on the interactive tv if you didn't attend live.

 

4) the music onboard was very good, I thought

 

5) went to two shows and enjoyed them. The first was a dance show and the second was the Motown show, which was a blast. Live band, three singing/dancing/joking leads. It was not well attended due to the late port day- think it was Icy Strait Point- which was a shame. Highly recommend.

 

6) I didn't receive notice of the roll call meet and greet. When I went to guest relations the next morning to find out when it was, it turned out to be right at that moment! It was held in Qzine and was a lovely venue and event. First sea day at 10:30 am on our cruise.

 

7) highlight for us: friendly mother whale and calf hanging around the ship for quite a while in Juneau. Another rare event according to crew. She was there as we docked and as we left. We sat at the Hanger on the Wharf and filmed. We also enjoyed our helicopter Glacier landing in Juneau.

 

8) more whales: we saw many whales just from the walkway and from the ocean view bar while in Icy Strait Point. AND we saw Orca pods twice: once when sailing the open ocean on the way to Juneau from Hubbard. And once, while dining in the Tuscan Grille at 8:30 or so: one flapped/ slapped his tail about 30 times! Amazing. And quite serendipitous. You have to be a good watcher, which my DH is the best.

 

9) we enjoyed eating at Qzine on the first night- the view is great and the waiter is fun. The food was good ( our second time).

 

10) my DH said it was his favorite cruise. For me, I missed the sun and warmth and higher ceilings in the public areas of our S- class cruises- no relaxing balcony time for me. But many beautiful vistas and amazing scenery.

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions- will try to answer before you leave!

 

 

 

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Edited June 6, 2017 by JenZ

[Sailawaytoday]

Thanks for replying! Glad you enjoyed your cruise. This will be completely different for us, and we are looking forward to it.

 

How was the weather? How did you dress to go ashore, and how were people dressed during the "sea days"?

 

Were people dressed for dinner, or was this more casual due to the late dining hours?

 

I guess we are concerned about clothes! We usually only need a bathing suit and Tshirts for most of the time, but not here!

 

Thanks!

[MyDogRudy]

Thank you so much JenZ!! I hope you're catching up on some sleep. I am happy to hear the ship was clean and staff were excellent.

 

I was also wondering about the semi-formal nights. Were there two? When was the second one? Were they also a bit casual?

 

I never take vacations in June and haven't been to Alaska, so it's hard to believe I leave Wisconsin in three days for such a beautiful adventure!

 

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[Zoedokey]

Looking like a rainy week next week. I think we are prepared clothing wise, but hoping for the best.

 

 

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[jenZ]

For quick reference, here is a post I made about clothing and more current weather info:

 

'Anybody in Alaska Now - 60s and 70s'

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2502051

 

Also, glad I packed:

--performance underwear ( allowed easy dry lightweight nylon pants for rainy days)

--performance wool socks.

--hat with brim ( for sunny days)

-- gloves and neck gator for Glacier day. ( didn't use much, tho since it was so sunny our day)

-- comfy sweat pants for early morning walking on ship

 

Things I packed that I didn't need:

-- mosquito wipes ( still too cold)

-- hand warmers (not that cold)

 

Wish I had:

-- a rain jacket with a more substantial hood ( just took what I had, and it was good enough)

- a couple of warmer shirts: sweaters for on ship. ( lighter than a fleece jacket, so you could step outside for great views and not freeze without having to carry your fleece around )

 

Dress onboard is definitely more casual but not unstylish, in general. Really, probably anything goes. On chic nights I noticed heels and dresses ( as well as pants) for ladies, and dress shirts and occasional ties and jackets for men.

 

There were two chic nights, one a late port day. (Juneau?). Embarrassing moment: we didn't realize it was chic night and went to the MDR in our Glacier flightseeing clothes ( nylon pants and lightweight fishing shirts, sans fleece jackets). Figured it out when we were seated next to a nicely dressed couple and saw lobster, beef Wellington and lamb chops on the menu! We apologized to our neighbors- they were most gracious about it, acknowledging they were surprised it was planned for a port day when we sailed at 8:00! Three port days with late sailaways does make planning for dinner harder. We didn't want to plan around dinner so we spontaneously decided where we were going to eat once we returned to ship.

 

Hope this helps with your planning!

 

 

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[denatravels]

When I went last year in July, we had absolutely beautiful weather (although long sleeves and long pants). However, on glacier days both on the cruise and on the land tour, I was amazed at how cold it was!! Add cruise movement to that and I was glad that I brought a scarf, gloves, and ear muffs.

 

 

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[WestCoastFlyer]

Would love to hear about any shore excursions that are being offered on the Infinity - anything that was great or that you wouldn't do again?

[varoo]

Welcome home Infinity Alaskan cruisers! Anyone off the first Infinity Hubbard Glacier cruise of 2017 ready to give us some feedback? It's been a whole four hours since you returned. I cruise next week and am dying to hear about the current ship/crew/weather conditions. It is great to not have to wait much longer, but that also means there is not much chance to get recent feedback before sailing. I promise to pay it forward and report back ASAP after our cruise so the others taking this journey the rest of the year have some good info.

We found it to be a very enjoyable cruise with great staff and crew as well as good weather.

Our only real disappointment was not getting close to Hubbard Glacier but only seeing it far off in the distance.

 

After traveling all the way to get up there, the ship stopped and turned around about 5 or 6 miles away from the glacier, according to the ship's naturalist.

The reason given was that there was too much ice in the water.

 

We stopped much too far away from the glacier to see or hear calving, or even to get a true feeling of its enormous size.

 

The ship turned around long before reaching Haenke Island, which blocked off our view of the entire right side of the face of the glacier.

 

Hope the Infinity gets a lot closer to Hubbard on your cruise than it did on ours.

On the plus side, we did get to see whales up close to the ship while we were docked at Icy Strait Point and again at Juneau.

[Zoedokey]

We got within 3 miles I think last week. Could hear the cracking and then the calving. Beautiful sunny day, just remarkable.

 

 

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[thepoint]

Are there 2 chic nights on a 7 day Alaska cruise? I just assumed there would only be one. Thank you

[Zoedokey]

Yes the first on the first Sea day, Monday. The second on the day we went to Juneau, Thursday.

 

 

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