Infinity 09/12-09/19 Review - Day Three (LONG)

[flagger]

Day One

Day Two

 

DAY THREE

 

It is 7AM, and I see my beautiful bride sitting out on our verandah in her robe. I ask her how long she has been up and she replies since about 5:30. She has sat out alone enjoying the scenery and serenity as we pulled into Ketchikan.

 

We elect to try breakfast in the Oceanview Café this morning. I stuck to my usual omelet, picked up a waffle and fruit for my daughter, and Ms. Flagger went through the buffet line. I have to give kudos here for Celebrity keeping the flow of people moving. We never felt we waited too long while in lines for food at least in the Oceanview. As soon as Ms. Flagger sat down, she took a bite and immediately put down her fork. The scrambled eggs were cold. Not warm, lukewarm or tepid, these were cold. She eventually found something else to eat.

 

As we are in a Concierge Class stateroom, I had asked Jennifer, the social hostess, the night before where we will go to be called for tendering. I knew that one of the benefits for CC was priority tendering. She said she thought it was Michael’s Club. So after breakfast that is where we headed. As we entered we saw another cruise critic member we had met online and had begun to see again and again around the ship. She asked me if we had our priority tender tickets. I said we had not and asked where she had received hers. She said her stateroom attendant had left them in her cabin the night before. By the way her stateroom attendant was also ours. This again became yet another example of ‘I shouldn’t have to ask’. I didn’t know what to expect, as this was my first cruise. It was a bit of a rush as I left my wife in Michael’s Club and headed down to guest relations. A quick show of my SeaPass card and I was handed three priority tickets. About the time I made it back to Michael’s Club, we were led to the elevator to head down to Deck one from where we boarded the tender. Note to self: you cannot bend down far enough when carrying your daughter in a backpack without bashing her head into the top of the tender. It is much easier to carry her in the backpack as you board and disembark the tender.

 

We find the Ketchikan retailers and shops to be heavy on jewelry. While it is nice to look at, it is both out of our budget and not really the type of shopping in which we have interest. We did find our way back to Creek Street and based on recommendations from the Alaska Port of Call board stopped into the Blue Heron. We found the owners to be very friendly and picked up an Ulu knife that we had shipped home. One of the owners mentioned something we found quite telling about the way the shops in town operated. As we were talking about all of the shops located next to the dock, she said that the man who delivers water to them also delivers to the various shops. She said that for all of those shops, the bill all goes to one person. We didn’t realise until then that the cruise lines either owned or are heavily invested in the port shops. Now Ms. Flagger feels even worse about her “VIP Shopping booklet”.

 

While walking on Creek Street, we went into a kitchen store called Sam Magees. While shopping, I found this adorable “made in Alaska” wooden bear puzzle for my daughter. Finally something actually made in Alaska. Most of the stuff we have seen has been made in Taiwan or China. Speaking of which, I did manage to find a suitably tacky gift for my best friend. We have this contest during our travels to find at a low price the tackiest representative to the area gift we can find. We get bonus points if it has the area printed on it but is made in China or some other locality. She will love the genuine Alaskan (made in China) totem pole salt and pepper shakers.

 

Our prior research and docs had indicated that this should have been a docked port, however because we were tendered, it was cutting it too close to get back to the ship, eat and return in time to leave for our Island Wings Misty Fjords flight. We elected to grab a bite to eat at Subway. Yes I know it seems silly to fly all of this way, cruise 630 nautical miles to eat at a chain restaurant, but time was of the essence and we needed to get some food in us.

 

We walked back to the Visitor Center where we were to meet up for our van ride to take us to the Island Wings office/departure point. Another couple came up to us and said if we were waiting for Island Wings to arrive. Right at 11:45, a van arrived to take Ms. Flagger, my daughter and myself and two other couples to the offices (really a small trailer). Passengers were walking up from the dock just as we arrived and Michelle’s plane was being filled. They told us we were in for a flight of our lives. Michelle loaded the plane by weight so the smallest couple sat in the back, one sat behind us, the three of us sat behind Michelle and the other part of one couple sat in the right-hand seat in front. Being a pilot, I asked if I could be the one up front, but I am not exactly tiny and Michelle said bringing the yoke as far back as she had to for lift off from the water would have been very uncomfortable for me. Her assistant/van driver, the same build but about 50 or more pounds lighter, said it was difficult even for him. Darn it, no right seat time for my pilot’s log on this trip. :p

 

I have to be honest here and say that while the views were wonderful and the plane ride was great, I did not have the best time while with Island Wings. I am tall and I found I frequently had to contort myself into strange positions just to see anything and take pictures. Otherwise I would be looking at aircraft door. Please don’t get me wrong, she was very personable and the music made for a very relaxing trip. I just feel no matter what seat I had been in (unless the right front seat) I would have had a hard time viewing the scenery. I have never felt a smoother landing as we did that day on one of the many lakes. The cloud levels were above the tops of the surrounding cliffs and we took some marvelous pictures. It was wonderful that while other operators just have their passengers stand on the pontoons after landing on a lake, with Michelle you actually get to shore and can step off and walk around. There had been another plane in this lake that took off soon after we arrived. Unfortunately, our daughter took a nasty fall and her piercing screams interrupted the serenity of the locale. We were both extremely apologetic to everyone with us. They seemed understanding, but I am sure wished she had not started crying. Had daddy had a better grip on her, she would not have gotten hurt. (Nothing long lasting, but like her father, she can be the drama queen)

 

We took off and began the flight back to the ship. We flew through a bit of heavy rain. She turned down the music and everything got a bit quiet as we flew through the shower. Soon we were through that and it was on to landing. I did manage to get some great pictures of Infinity as we were coming in for what was a much choppier landing as the water was churning up more than that lake. It was back to the dock where we once again saw Jennifer, the social hostess. We said our hellos and made our way down to the tenders.

 

As we were on cruise time, and over two hours had passed, it was time to eat again. I headed up to the outdoor hamburger grill to grab a bite to eat. While in line, I overheard other people who had gone on different excursions through the cruise line. I am not sure of the types, but one gentleman was extremely hungry, as he had only been fed a ‘stale oatmeal cookie’ the whole time he was gone. Hindsight being what it is, I wished I had found out what his excursion was to be able to write about it for future passengers. This is one area where I wished for a bit more efficiency on Celebrity’s part. Right as you started this line at the hamburger/hotdog outdoor grill, you had the opportunity to purchase a beer or canned soda. It took time as each person had to have their SeaPass card swiped, sign their name, print their name, etc. I felt that it would have been nicer to make the beverage purchase area last so that those not purchasing anything could move on after getting their food. It is set up where you grab a tray, silverware, napkins and boom right into the canned beverage sales area.

 

(Continued in next post)

[flagger]

(continued)

Part of what this cruise so far has been about relaxation so it was time to head back to our cabin and snooze and rest. Tonight was the night of our dinner at the SS United States. We had arranged for a babysitter to arrive at 7pm even though our dinner was not until 7:30. We fed our daughter early and as she has been starting to cut a new tooth, it was time to give her some medication. Our daughter really did not sleep much today even when we snoozed. At about 25 minutes of seven, she began the wailing crying she does when she is overtired and fighting sleep. I really felt horribly for the passengers on either side of us. I think even someone in the suite next to us said something loudly about quieting our child. Luckily, within 10 minutes this passed and she fell asleep cold on our bed. Ofelia, from the pantry, announced her prompt arrival at 7pm with a polite knock on the door. We told her she could watch television if she wanted and told her we would be back at 11pm and where we could be found from now until then.

We walked around the ship and bit and headed into the SS United States. It was a nice touch that sometime during the day on Monday we had received confirmation of our reservations on a beautiful silver card. I should also note that during our VIP tour on Sunday, we had been taken to the SS United States. The Maitre D’ Hotel, Oswald Pereira, saw our daughter with us on the tour and explained that there was an age limit of 12 in the restaurant, but special arrangements could be made. As with had with Jennifer, we explained that we had already made arrangements for a babysitter. Oswald also mentioned that the large group on board had booked the restaurant for a few days. It made me glad that we had reserved as soon as we boarded the ship.

Our Head Chef D’ Rang for the evening was Petar Hrsak. I really was in the mood for Caesar salad, but Peter talked me out of it saying I could get it anywhere. Ms. Flagger and I ended up getting the Goat Cheese Soufflé. It was as everyone had described…excellent. I am glad that I ordered it because I did find the clanging of the metal against metal, as it was prepared at other tables, to be distracting. At every other place where Caesar salad has been prepared tableside, it was in wooden bowls. It was bit humourous after we finished our first course as there were egg whites being whipped by hand at another tableside. After finishing our soufflé and the egg beating still going on, I mentioned to Petar jokingly that the egg was probably dead by now.

 

One of Petar assistants was named Giovanni, and he had a wonderful sense of humour. He really did crack us up during our meal. For our main course, I had steak Diane using a filet as the cut of meat finished tableside. At Petar’s recommendation, Ms. Flagger ordered the Chilean sea bass. In all honestly, she wished she had stayed with her first choice, which had been the scampi. Next it was time for the cheese course. Quite honestly, we could have done without this course. I should mention here that we have eaten at some very fine restaurant in our life with synchronized service with enough waiters for each person at the table. We have always been raised that you serve from the left and remove from the right. Either because of staffing or because this is how this is done in this venue, frequently one person would stand between us and serve from both the left and right or remove the covers from dishes from both the left and right. I found this type of service to be a bit odd from our upbringing, but it certainly didn’t ruin the meal.

 

Finally it was time for dessert. Ms. Flagger had the Waldorf pudding, which was excellent, and I had the Chocolate soufflé. After eating it, I honestly said, “That’s it?” I didn’t get the same ‘It is just so wonderful, you must eat it’ reaction that others have shared on these boards. We asked for and received a copy of the goat cheese soufflé recipe. We said our goodbyes and it was off to the casino. It was a nice, leisurely 2.5-hour dinner. I am glad we did it, but I am not sure if we would do it again. Maybe it was because the food was not piping hot to my personal liking or the fact that the food had been played up so much on these boards; but, if we never ate a meal again in the specialty restaurant, I don’t feel our cruise experience would be lacking.

 

Our big spending our first visit to the casino was $20 each at the slots. I played until my $20 ran out on one tight slot. Ms. Flagger played just until she cashed out $20. We were not in the casino very long. It had been a long day and even though we had the babysitter until 11pm, we headed back to our stateroom.

 

Ofelia was reading when we arrived back at our stateroom. She said that our daughter had cried out once but had pretty much not moved from the position where we left her. She had a receipt for us to sign. The cost of babysitting aboard Infinity is $8 per hour. At home, we pay at least $10 and round up for ½ hour increments. So I gave her $40 in cash, signed the receipt and noted PAID IN CASH.

 

“Day four – At Hubbard Glacier” will follow soon

[nannyny]

I'm getting ready for IV!

Regards,

N.