Before we booked I joined Cruise Critic and was glad I did....I was disappointed with some negative comments regarding the age of the ship...First these ships are made of steel and any sailor knows that rust can show up over night. I found the ship to be well maintained. Our cabin was better than advertised, meals were....well I put on 8lbs enough said...Wait staff superb....My wife had some special requests and they never forgot. They surprised us with a happy Anniversary cake and a song. Not sure about their voices but their hearts were in it. We had select seating so we never had the same waiters, but they knew and delivered. The Cabin steward we almost never saw him, he was magical. I can't believe the productions they staged at Sea...Top Notch! The entertainment was over the top.....I couldn't imagine a Violinist being headline entertainment....I was wrong again...Amy Lee was fantastic. The iBroadway production by the Celebrity Singers and Dancers was really energetic from the Phantom to Footloose. I am an entertainment Producer and I was impressed.
Their was an incident that deserves mentioning.
I went out on our veranda and got a big dose of cigarette smoke, which obviously not the fault of the ship or crew..some inconsiderate was violating the rules.....The staff jumped on it in minutes, didn't find the culprite....but believe me they looked......Then to our surprise we came back to our cabin after the show and there was a note of apology, a half dozen Dark Chocolate covered Strawberries, and a bottle of wine, compliments of Guest Relations...It wasn't their fault! but they showed some real Class. The excursions were better than advertised especially the Mushers camp and the Helicopter to the Glacier Pilots choice. Sandy thought it was to expensive, but afterwards said it was "Worth every penny". We were told it was cheaper to buy excursions off the ship...that may be true but!!! the crew makes sure you get there, always available to help you get on your way. It's about Service...Celebrity style. Disembarking went very smooth even with a delay...again not the Lines fault. The Taxi line was just plain to long, but we got some help from a baggage handler that fixed that. Our New Cruise Line is CELEBRITY. Pat and Sandy
I'll let Sandy comment...."it's bigger than I thought". Plenty of Hangers, comfy bathrobes, plenty of storage. Some we didn't need to use. So let's give that an A+
We planned or own excursions....went to St, Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral...Really some beautiful art and of course history. One place we went was the National Cemetery which a lot of folks didn't know about it. From there went to the Totem Park.....a walk through the forest.
Shopping was supper, Tongass Trading Post had everything, Don't miss Creek Street lots of Quality items there. There was a place next to the Library that had Reindeer sausage which was excellent, and reasonably priced.
We stayed at a really nice Victorian Hotel, the night before we boarded. Did experience the cab driver from hell on the way from the airport. Had dinner at the White Spot. It was excellent!