Thursday we arrived in Skagway, which is an old, quaint town. We saw hundreds of bald eagles in Sitka - very exciting. We heard a very informative lecture by a park ranger about totem poles and their history. The National Park Service had two interesting and free places to visit: the Russian Bishop's House and the Sitka National Historical Park which had a large totem pole collection. This was the only port where we were tendered to shore. Wednesday morning we arrived at our first port, Sitka, a former Russian fur trading town. One of the lecturers on board the ship said he has been watching Hubbard glacier for 21 years and this was best he has ever seen. We were served hot chocolate (with rum if you wanted it) as we watched this spectacle. We docked for over three hours and watched as the glacier "calfed" and made the most incredible sounds as the large chunks of ice fell in to the sea. The ship was able to get within 1/2 mile of the glacier. We departed Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon, we arrived at Hubbard Glacier. There were several bars where you could relax and have a drink. There were lots of entertainment options: lectures, classes, card games, swimming, casinos, computer training, movies, dancing, a spa, a nice gym with classes such as spinning and shows. Mixed drinks were included as well and the ingredients were "top shelf." In addition, there were expensive bottles of premium wine if you wished to purchase them. There were wine selections from all over the world. We drank our "fair share" of French Sancerre. You could drink French champagne 24 hours a day if you wanted to. We never had tea - too full from lunch and did not want to spoil dinner.Īll drinks - including alcohol - were included. There was a Ben and Jerry's ice cream bar, which was VERY popular. There were a number of dining choices which were available at different times of the day. The menu was heavily into sushi and raw fish and that is not the type of food we prefer. We had a reservation at Silk Road, but canceled it after looking at the menu. We ate at Prego one evening and quite honestly I did not like it as much as the main dining room. Each cabin is permitted one free reservation per specialty restaurant per voyage after that reservations cost $30. There are two specialty restaurants on board - Prego - an Italian restaurant and Silk Road - an Asian style restaurant. The cantaloupe tasted like fresh picked and the croissants were still warm. and the hot items were available an hour or so later. Opening hours varied daily but the times were posted in your daily newsletter. We had lunch and dinner in the main dining room, but had breakfast in the Lido dining area (on the top - 12th deck) because they served it earlier in the morning and you could get coffee, fresh fruit, cereal, fresh baked pastries, lox, cheese and lunch meat. At nearly every meal there was a type of fresh local fish. There was a huge variety for each meal and you could have as much or as little as you wanted. On the day of departure, we were served both lunch and dinner. As soon as we were processed - photo taken for card swipe I.D., we were plied with glasses of French champagne. Boarding began at noon and the ship sailed at 7:30 p.m. From Anchorage, the cruise line provided shuttle buses for the 1 1/2 hour journey to Whittier, where the ship was docked. and the four hour time difference can take its toll. It is a very long flight from the east coast of the U.S. We traveled to Anchorage a day ahead of time. I did some in depth research about Alaska cruises and knew I wanted a smaller boat (our ship had just over 1000 passengers - others have thousands more), I wanted an all inclusive rate where drinks and tips were included, I did not want to back track and return to the same port from which I had departed and I wanted a cruise line that was highly rated. We booked our cruise at the end of March 2017 - on a whim. I have never taken a cruise before so I have nothing to to compare it to, but this cruise was amazing. We took the Crystal Serenity 7 day cruise which departed from Whittier, Alaska and disembarked in Vancouver.
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