Background: June 3 Summit NB from Vancouver was 3d AK cruise with X. Previously with X, the DW and I have noshed to Nassau, burped to Bermuda and punched thru the Caribbean. Like many, we were again drawn to this last outpost of the rugged individualist, an attitude aptly captured on a Tee shirt: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms -- who's bringing the chips? And the AK guys are even tougher! I also prefer the Alaskan itineraries because I am not blessed with the rugged good looks of Dr. Phil. In the Caribbean it's embarrassing when I lie on the sand and cats come over and keep trying to cover me up.

My inclinations for Celebrity sprung from early experiences as a bathtub admiral at age two. My azipod was failing once and I had to skip Port Rubber Ducky. Some pax complained and I had to give them a time out. Even then I had a habit of wearing formal diapers two nights every week. Being only two however, circumstances beyond my control often prevented me from wearing the formal diaper all evening.

Embarkation: Our party arrived a day early and took a limo from the Vancouver airport's ground transportation area (limos were waiting like cabs). It's a fixed fare of C$45 to downtown hotels and a good value for four adults with four large cases and four small roll-ons. I doubt one regular compact cab could have handled all this. The same limo cost C$64 for the 20-min trip to Balantyne Pier from Hilton Metrotown (at C$125 for standard room, Burnaby section of Vanc). We arrived at 12:30pm and lines were short -- we processed on board in about 15 minutes. Our last-minute cabin switch meant that our preprinted bag tags were wrong but the loaders had blank bag tags to fill out. Read more