Enjoyable overall. Alaska is beautiful. I wasn’t fully sold on Celebrity with this cruise, but I’d try them again.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Not sure if it’s the port or the Celebrity process or both, but this was definitely the least efficient cruise check-in I’ve been through so far (compared to NCL and Princess, in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively). The process was slow, there were *a lot* of queues and terminals to walk through, and the staff herding people along were doing just that—herding, not helping.
My mother was wearing a soft cast very visibly on her foot at the time. Not once was she offered any kind of special assistance. Even though there was a special line for people with mobility issues, no one directed us to it until someone in our party asked. Not the greatest experience.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining was ok. Buffet was decent. It had some of the best Indian food I’ve had at sea, which I loved. The macaron day in the buffet was also great.
Specialty dining experiences were good—except for sushi. Sushi was basically inedible. Nasty. Avoid it.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Entertainment was geared more toward the older crowd or wasn’t of interest to me. Offerings were standard though. I did go to a silent disco one night that was marginally fun.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
At the time of our sailing, the ship was showing some wear and tear. I believe she’s been refurbished since.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
This was a corner aft family veranda cabin. The balcony was one of the best parts of this cruise lol. Seriously, it is enormous. Nearly as large as the room. It was amazing for the inside passage and our rainy glacier viewing day as it had a covered section with *ample* room for five of us (two were visiting from another cabin). There were two loungers, a full size round table, and I think four or five chairs. I’d absolutely book this cabin again just for the balcony. It has 270-degree views.
The cabin itself was mediocre in terms of both layout and appearance. The ship has been refurbished since we sailed so some of these criticisms may no longer apply. The bed wasn’t particularly comfortable, and it had sharp edges at the metal base that were painful to bump into. The soft-surfaced furniture was in pretty shabby shape (sofas, throw pillows, chair upholstery, etc.).
I found the room layout to be very inefficient. There’s a lot of open space near the door and closet, but the desk is crammed into a small area directly in front of the bed so that if anyone was sitting there, it was impossible to pass by. Just poorly laid out.
I did appreciate the sliding door between the “main bedroom” and the smaller sitting area with the sofa bed. It provided some privacy for my mom.
The bathroom was ugly, all-over beige, and a bit worn. There were some squishy tiles. We had issues with our toilet not flushing but maintenance resolved that quickly.
Ship tip
Snag an aft corner family veranda if you can - humongous balcony with 270-degree views!
We took a boat tour of the fjords. Nice scenery, even some eagle sightings. The old volcanic pipe rock formations were cool to see.
We didn’t have enough time afterward to enjoy the shops in port as the captain wanted to leave early to avoid poor weather. He kept blowing the horn prematurely and scaring the snot out of everyone. We thought we were going to be left behind, but it was still well before all-aboard time!
Did a Mendenhall glacier, whale watch, and salmon lunch tour. We saw several whales. Good excursion, with some time left to grab delicious king crab and chowder back in Juneau.
My mother and I took the forest tram tour with a wonderful local guide. He was a knowledgeable older gentleman. He gave us a lot of interesting information about his community, their history, and the land. It was touching the way he welcomed us all as guests. The tour was relaxing and pleasant.
It was rainy but we could still see the glacier pretty well. The captain brought us in quite close and we had great views from our balcony. Amazing experience.
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