Back from Summit 5/27 Alaska!

[wa.mama]

Alaska was perfect, due partly to the great advice from y’all at Cruisecritic. Here’s our review; hopefully it will help someone as much as other reviews have helped us. Our group consisted of 20 family members ages 2 through 76. The majority of the adults were in their late 30’s to 40’s, experienced travelers but mostly first time cruisers. We booked all excursions independently except where noted.

 

Day 1 – Seward

We took the 6 a.m. Alaska Rail train from Anchorage to Seward. Beautiful scenery. Saw two black bears, multiple moose and eagle. The Summit was in port, which was a welcome sight after it’s many delays. Embarkation was a breeze since we arrived before the Celebrity train. With the Xpress passes, we checked on and were on the ship in 15 minutes. After a snack, we took the X shuttle to the Alaska Sealife Center, which was OK, but nothing special. The Summit was clean and beautiful; staff were helpful and welcoming. Our cabin, 7199, corner aft FV, was large with an even larger veranda, and was spotless and comfortable. We also had the next door FV, 7201, and in comparison 7199 was better hands down. It is larger, both with the veranda and the cabin space. The extra hallway also adds privacy and noise protection as well as storage spac.

 

Day 2 – Hubbard Glacier

Beautiful cruise to the Glacier – we arrived around 2:45 pm and stayed until 6, approached extremely close, and were able to watch it calve and hear the constant cracking of the ice. The weather was superb – sunny and clear. Again, the veranda was a perfect place for glacier viewing; had hot chocolate, room service snacks – what a great day!

 

Day 3 – Skagway

Group 1 rented cars from Avis and drove up to Emerald Lake. Murray’s guide was a huge help. We stopped at the new suspension bridge (not worth the $10 pp) and at Caribou Crossing, which was a big hit with the kids. Caribou Crossing had gold panning and husky puppies as well as sled cart rides. Emerald Lake was beautiful; we didn’t stay long as there was nothing to do there.

Group 2 went on the rock climbing excursion through X. There were 4 belayed climbs up a vertical shale-type face, probably around a 5.9 climb, and not difficult for either our 11 yr old or her slightly out of shape dad.

 

Day 4 – Juneau

Group 1 went on the Northstar Trekking (2 hr) and had a blast. There was no vertical ice climbing, but they did hike to glacier lakes and crevasses and drank glacier meltwater. Northstar staff were very accommodating, knowledgeable and friendly. Helicopter ride was reported to be bumpy but beautiful.

Group 2 went up the Mt Roberts tram, which is a few steps from the dock, and caught the $6 mendenhall bus. Both places had easy 1-2 mile trails to hike – 6 yr old loves to hike. Some people rented bikes and rode the 24 mile roundtrip to the glacier.

 

Day 5 Icy Strait Point – Hoonah

Excellent excursion with FISHES / Floyd and Marjorie Petersen. Floyd is a retired commercial fisherman with decades of experience around ISP. His expertise with the area made him an ideal guide for locating wildlife. We had close-up experiences with humpbacks bubble-feeding on herring, complete with underwater audio of the humpbacks calling. It was an amazing experience. (see my photos, if I can figure out how to post them) We also saw grizzlies (5), eagles (52), and sea lions in addition to the whales. For an additional $25, we trolled for salmon and halibut, catching both kinds. I can’t imagine any company-run whale watching expedition that could be better than with FISHES, and we’re glad we waited for ISP instead of going in Juneau with crowds of people. The ISP shops and exhibits were quaint but a little pricey.

 

Day 6 – Ketchikan

 

I’m running out of adjectives!. Went on Misty Fjords flight with Island Wings/Michelle. Absolutely beautiful scenery, the seaplane ride was smooth and quiet, and we landed on an alpine lake with a waterfall. Others from the group went kayaking and had a great experience, saw whales, etc. Hint – if you want to see eagles, go out to where Michele keeps her plane – there is a flock (no kidding, 50+) of eagles constantly circling and diving for the chum from a nearby fish factory. It was totally amazing to us even though we have resident eagles at our house.

 

Day 7 – at sea

Entered the inside passage around dinnertime. Talk about restaurant with a view! Whales again seen from the boat. Busy packing and tipping, etc.

Disembarkation –

Key hint here – if traveling with many bags, use the Luggage Direct program. This is different than the US Direct Program. With Luggage Direct, X will take your luggage the night before and check it onto your flight in the a.m. as well as obtain your boarding passes. At U.S. customs in Vancouver airport we did not have to take our luggage through; it was automatically placed on our plane and claimed in Seattle. The main difference between US Direct and Luggage Direct is that with the latter service you do not have to go directly to the airport. We spent the day in Vancouver on our own (without the hassle of luggage) then proceeded to the airport, boarding passes in hand. At Ballentyne Place there are a number of car rental agents – we rented a car for the day, and found it less expensive than doing the airport transfers for the 6 of us.

 

 

Food - Good, but not great. One member of our group was trained at the CIA and was not impressed at all. Another member owns a restaurant in Chicago and was very impressed at the level of service and variety of food. We did like the available options, including the sushi bar (standard fare but fresh) and the daily ice creams and sorbets. Pizza and pasta always was a hit with the kids. Beef entrees were more on the level of Black Angus than Ruth Chris’. Ethnic food was scarce, and when available, bland and uninspired. Waffles were the best ever tasted. Loved the panna cotta and crème brulee. Menus were a little on the meat and potato side, but that’s a personal observation. The kids loved ordering room service and skipping the formal dining; we loved eating without the kids!

 

Kid’s Club – OK, but it was hard to convince the kids to go there unless there were no other options. Standard crafts and activities were available, staff seemed nice but not really inspired. We did go to all the family events and appreciated the hard work of the staff.

 

Entertainment – the entertainers themselves were beyond what we expected – very skilled and professional. However, the productions were, hmm, not something I’d actually pay to see in the real world. Michael’s Club was a favorite. The piano man has an unbeatable repertoire. Not much nightlife, but we expected that because of the age group and type of cruise. We enjoyed the taste of Cirque, but the broadway shows were definitely aimed at the senior crowd. The White masquerade ball was fun. Newlywed show was hilarious.

 

In summary, great trip. We would definitely go with the Summit and X again, but have qualms about their level of pre-cruise customer service and dependability of their M-class ships. Once on the ship, the service was impeccable on every level.

[Texed]

Thanks for the review. We leave for our Summit Cruisetour tomorrow. Glad you liked FISHES, we have them booked also.:)

[Andy]

Thanks for the review. We leave for our Summit Cruisetour tomorrow. Glad you liked FISHES, we have them booked also.:)

 

Hi Ed !

 

Have a wonderful time on Summit. Please let us know how everything is going !

[catmand]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review, good reading. Glad you have a wonderful time. I did notice you mention the Mendenhall bus was 6 bucks, so that has gone up a whole dollar each way since last year, with the price of gas I am shocked it's not more. Hubbard Glacier, isn't that something........we will be going next year a few weeks earlier.

One thing the puzzles me...........in your FOOD REVIEW, you mention one of the group was "Trained at the CIA." I would think they would want to keep that quiet, and what does the Central Intelligence Agency have to do with food preparation? OK, except when they are maybe trying to cook something for Castro, or one of "those" guys.

[Texed]

Hi Ed !

 

Have a wonderful time on Summit. Please let us know how everything is going !

 

Thanks Andy. We will report in when we get back.:D

[hancock]

CIA=Culinary Institute of America. It's a well known school.

[soooo excited!]

Just wanted you to know the time you took to post your review is appreciated by those of us going later - next year for us ! but I'm planning now - so I printed your review for my file for later reading.

Never cruised before - need all the help I can get !

thanks !

[mason525]

Thanks for great post! Do you remmember which night the White Masquerade party was held? Meg

[gkm]

Ed, tell Floyd Bob and Garry say hello! Have a blast!

 

Garry

[Texed]

Ed, tell Floyd Bob and Garry say hello! Have a blast!

 

Garry

 

Garry, we will. Maybe I can get you royalties for your picture.:D

[cruisin'mama]

Quick question regarding the Luggage Direct program. Is that something you can "book" or arrange once onboard, or do you need to take care of the arrangements ahead of time? Thanks... and also thanks for the great review. I leave in 19 days on Mercury!

Cathy

[wa.mama]

Hi,

 

White night masquerade was 3rd night I think.

 

Luggage direct is something you can sign up for onboard - there is a sheet delivered to your cabin on Tuesday or Wednesday that you fill out.

 

Texed, tell Floyd and Marjorie hello. I heard he enjoyed our king salmon. That was the only excursion I would repeat if I go back to Alaska. Fishing, whalewatching, bear sighting, all in one tour. Their boat is great - it's a catamaran with a very smooth ride and plenty of viewing areas. It had a warm cabin, and Marjorie makes a good cup of coffee (esp compared to the Summit's).

 

We had such a great time, largely due to info gleaned from Cruisecritic. We missed the CC party however - never got the invite - all twenty of us were bypassed. That was sad.

 

Check out my slideshow - we took over 900 photos, but only posted 65. If there's something specific you're interested in, I probably have a photo of it.

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/551049554DrRynV

[themirsk]

Your pictures are exceptional !!!! Glad you enjoyed our favorite ship.......

M&M's

[Mancuso]

Great review!

 

We're leaving on the 6/24 cruise. What time did you board? Were your bags taken directly from the train to the ship for you or did you have to carry them?

 

Thanks,

[aznails]

Great review and AWESOME pictures!! Were you able to keep the salmon and halibut you caught? If so, what did you do with them?

[misha1]

I am even more excited now that I have seen photos from the actual cruise that I am on...in Sept.! We have an aft cabin (not an FV) and it appears that the views will be spectacular. Could you please tell me what the dining schedule is? I want to make my speciality restaurant reserves.

[tromvest]

wa.mama:

 

The cruise sounded great! We will be taking the Infinity next May, and one of our stops will be ISP. How did you find out about FISHES? We want to do a whale-watching tour, but when you said you saw grizzlies as well, that sounds great! Any information about FISHES with Floyd would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, did you see any Orcas?

 

Thanks!

[cruisin'mama]

Thanks for the luggage info. your pictures were awesome! Now for an ignorant question...what is White Night Masquerade? Is it on all X ships? I'm going on Mercury. Thanks,

Cathy

[misha1]

Can you tell me please, how was dining accomplished the first night? Was the life boat drill the first morning on board?

[mason525]

Your photos are excellent! thanks for sharing them & getting back to me on my question. Meg

[Mancuso]

One more question. What was the schedule of formal, informal & casual nights?

[Cabb]

Dinner Saturday was open seating. Sunday was formal, as was Wednesday. The only informal night was Thursday. Not sure if you can count on this; they seemed to time formal night for a day we were at sea or left port early. To tell the truth, I prefered the buffet to the main dining room. There were nights I didn't really like anything on the menu.

 

Wa.mama, never did get to meet you, glad you enjoyed your trip! We missed all the shows except Circ, usually did at least one excursion/hike or the gym and headed for the Persian Gardens, a whirlpool and bed. Must have worked, we each gained two lbs.

 

Just looked at your pictures- we did meet someone in your family. I can never remember names, but I recognize the couple from our kayaking trip. That was our favorite excursion, even if I had a terrrible time catching on at first. Too bad the whales were faster than we were.:D

[wa.mama]

Mancuso,

We boarded in Seward around 1 p.m. The luggage was taken straight from the train to our room, even though we did not go with the X train. You can walk easily from the train to the Embarkation place.

 

Aznails,

X will not let you take fish on board. Apparently you can pack and ship through an agent in Hoonah, but I believe Floyd and Marjorie enjoyed the salmon! the others were catch and release.

 

Tromvest,

I found out about Floyd via this board. Go to the Alaska section and search for F.I.S.H.E.S. We did not see orcas - was still a little early for many pods, though there were some sighted nearby. According to Floyd they are "travellers" and do not feed in regular areas like the humpbacks.

 

Mischa,

the dining schedule is - early seating 6 pm, late 8:30 p.m., specialty restaurant reservations are easily made on board (we made and cancelled several - never had enough time to do it all) Dining the first night was open seating casual or buffet. Muster drill was first morning at 10 a.m.

 

Cabb,

 

I missed meeting everyone! X never did send any of our group an invite - all twenty of us were clueless as to when and where the meeting was. I did meet OzyBill at a family function on the last day. You met my sister Sandra on the kayaking trip - she said everyone on that trip were "experts" so you must have done something right! Did you have a good time? Post some pics - maybe I saw you also.

[Cabb]

It will be a while before I get pictures posted. I went through them yesterday and today and am only up to Anchorage. You were so fast- review written, pics up, and even labels! Love the shot of the whale at ISP. We were on our excursion and missed seeing him- I may steal a copy of your photo, if you don't mind. On the plus side, we saw a bear nursing her yearling cub on the excursion. Even the guide grabbed his camera!

 

Back to laundry and cleaning.:(

[catmand]

I started to take notes while watching your slide show. I wanted to comment on the pictures I thought were exceptional. I stopped taking notes at number 10..........they were ALL exceptional. The pics of the whales, and fish, bears, the landscape, lakes and mountains................................just beautiful. Thanks so much, you saved me a few bucks, I feel like I was on the float plane with you.

I was paid a very nice compliment while on our Hawaii cruise this past March. A CC member told me he and his wife had been "thinking" about going to Alaska but they were really warm weather cruisers. He then told me that they decided to do Alaska after seeing my pictures of our cruise. I don't know if anyone will ever tell you that same thing, but I can bet these pictures of yours will convince more than a couple people, Alaska is a great place to see.

PS: Your picture of the eagles in flight.........................?? and I'm never speechless.