We are a family of 4: me (mom), DH (dad), DD (big sister, age 10) and DS (little brother, age 6). This was our 3rd to 7th cruise; you can figure out who missed out on prior cruises by not being born yet (well, 4th if you count in utero)! This was the second time to Alaska, last was in 2002 on NCL. This was actually a last minute decision because our vacation time has been tied up elsewhere; our last cruise was a Baltic cruise in 2007 (I know there are some cruise enthusiasts out there, snorting in disbelief that we were able to abstain for 3 years!). DH and DD had just been lamenting how much they missed cruising when Celebrity's exciting deals called out to me, and we were lucky to get a quad balcony cabin.

Pre Embarkation

We took a 9 pm flight from SFO to Seattle, arrived after 11 pm in Seattle, waited what seemed to be a really long time for the Best Western Airport Executel shuttle to pick us up. I suspected that maybe we were waiting for more people until the shuttle headed out to get us; despite this being close to midnight, the shuttle was overflowing when we headed back! We chose this hotel because it fulfilled our basic pre cruise needs: close to the airport, has a 24 hour shuttle, rate was good, and breakfast was included. The previous cruise, we arrived earlier in the day so had time to enjoy Seattle some and had stayed pre cruise at the Edgewater, which was a beautiful hotel and very convenient being within walking distance to Pike Place Market but especially to Pier 66. However, the rates were just not enticing enough this time around considering we needed it mainly for its beds for one night. After a quick if not necessarily delicious breakfast (the breakfast staff was harried but very helpful), Natasha, our enthusiastic front desk person (hope she gets to go on her cruise someday soon!) called a town car for us. It was a toss up between taxi and town car, but she explained that the town cars have a flat rate ($45 not including gratuities) whereas taxis are metered and can go higher depending on traffic. Our driver Dimitri was cordial enough and got us to the pier about 11:45 or so. Check in was painless; lines moved quickly, and we were on board in no time. Unlike our two previous Celebrity cruises, where there was a long receiving line of enthusiastic Celebrity staff to welcome you on board, offering you mimosas or champagne, there seemed to be a paucity of greeters, maybe 2 or 3, if I recall correctly. Read more