Cruising Southeast Alaska- September 2009
Introduction
As soon as I returned home from Spain, I was ready to book my next trip. This time, I wanted a trip that was mainly focused on nature and was in the USA. I narrowed my search down to an Alaskan cruise or a group camping trip through southern Utah (Bryce, Zion, etc.) Alaska won when I saw how low the cruise prices were this year.
For the best of both worlds – seeing southeast Alaska and designing my own itinerary – I first looked into planning a trip using the Alaska ferry system. After spending hours looking over ferry schedules and compiling information, I came to the conclusion that not only is a cruise much more convenient, but it is significantly cheaper as well. I was shocked – especially since my ferry trip would have included a lot of camping (versus hotels) and fast food/picnics for meals (versus the delicious dinners on a cruise) and no nightly entertainment. So I settled on a mainstream cruise and gave up the freedom that comes with customizing your own trip. Once I had decided on cruising to Alaska, I set these criteria:
(1) I wanted at least 4 full days in port (a few hours in Victoria in the evening wasn’t a worthwhile port stop in my opinion),
(2) I wanted to see Sitka,
(3) I had to start my vacation no earlier than September 12 (limited by my work schedule ),
(4) I wanted a cruiseline that offered traditional dining (I loved NCL but freestyle dining didn’t appeal to me as a solo cruiser).
This narrowed my search down to a one-way cruise on either Holland America’s Ryndam or this “Ultimate” end of the season cruise on the Celebrity Millenium. I ruled out the Ryndam because I didn’t think I’d enjoy cruising HAL and found myself with the Millie.
Before the cruise even began, I spent months chatting with a wonderful group of people on Cruise Critic. There were many helpful cruisers who had been to Alaska before who were willing to share advice. Better yet, there were friendly cruisers who were booked on the same sailing as I was who were willing to chat and get to know each other before we even stepped foot onto the glorious Celebrity Millennium.
For the best of both worlds – seeing southeast Alaska and designing my own itinerary – I first looked into planning a trip using the Alaska ferry system. After spending hours looking over ferry schedules and compiling information, I came to the conclusion that not only is a cruise much more convenient, but it is significantly cheaper as well. I was shocked – especially since my ferry trip would have included a lot of camping (versus hotels) and fast food/picnics for meals (versus the delicious dinners on a cruise) and no nightly entertainment. So I settled on a mainstream cruise and gave up the freedom that comes with customizing your own trip. Once I had decided on cruising to Alaska, I set these criteria:
(1) I wanted at least 4 full days in port (a few hours in Victoria in the evening wasn’t a worthwhile port stop in my opinion),
(2) I wanted to see Sitka,
(3) I had to start my vacation no earlier than September 12 (limited by my work schedule ),
(4) I wanted a cruiseline that offered traditional dining (I loved NCL but freestyle dining didn’t appeal to me as a solo cruiser).
This narrowed my search down to a one-way cruise on either Holland America’s Ryndam or this “Ultimate” end of the season cruise on the Celebrity Millenium. I ruled out the Ryndam because I didn’t think I’d enjoy cruising HAL and found myself with the Millie.
Before the cruise even began, I spent months chatting with a wonderful group of people on Cruise Critic. There were many helpful cruisers who had been to Alaska before who were willing to share advice. Better yet, there were friendly cruisers who were booked on the same sailing as I was who were willing to chat and get to know each other before we even stepped foot onto the glorious Celebrity Millennium.
Even though the ship departed from Vancouver, I made plans to fly in and out of Seattle, 3.5 hours away. Not only was this a huge money saver, but it had an added bonus: it would let me visit Seattle! One of the items at the top of my "bucket list" is to see all 50 states and I had never been to Washington before.
My plan was to fly to Seattle the day before the cruise and spend the rest of that afternoon and evening touring Seattle before taking the scenic Cascades train to Vancouver the next morning.
Day 1: Seattle, WA, USA
Day 2: Boarding the Celebrity Millennium in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Day 3: At Sea
Day 4: Ketchikan, AK, USA
Day 5: Juneau, AK, USA
Day 6: Skagway, AK, USA
Day 7: Icy Strait Point, AK, USA
Day 8: Cruising near Hubbard Glacier
Day 9: Sitka, AK, USA
Day 10: At Sea
Day 11: Victoria, BC, Canada
Day 12: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Day 13: Seattle, WA, USA and returning home
My plan was to fly to Seattle the day before the cruise and spend the rest of that afternoon and evening touring Seattle before taking the scenic Cascades train to Vancouver the next morning.
Day 1: Seattle, WA, USA
Day 2: Boarding the Celebrity Millennium in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Day 3: At Sea
Day 4: Ketchikan, AK, USA
Day 5: Juneau, AK, USA
Day 6: Skagway, AK, USA
Day 7: Icy Strait Point, AK, USA
Day 8: Cruising near Hubbard Glacier
Day 9: Sitka, AK, USA
Day 10: At Sea
Day 11: Victoria, BC, Canada
Day 12: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Day 13: Seattle, WA, USA and returning home
Continue to Day 1: Seattle