#celebrity millenium

[crazycruises]

Vi affascinano i paesi dell’estremo oriente? Li visitereste in crociera?

Con Celebrity Millenium scopriamo Filippine, Vietnam, HK e Malesia – LIVE

Se la vostra risposta è positiva, seguite Cinzia nel suo prossimo viaggio a bordo della Celebrity Millennium che salperà da Singapore il 17 Gennaio 2016, alla volta del Vietnam, Filippine, Hong Kong e Malesia.

Cinzia ha iniziato la navigazione virtuale già da mesi, in preparazione della crociera: già dallo scorso maggio ha prenotato la sola crociera tramite l’agenzia di fiducia, successivamente ha iniziato a monitorare i prezzi dei voli da Milano a Singapore.

“Ogni lunedì sera controllavo se le quotazioni variavano e se uscivano offerte dalle maggiori compagnie. Ad agosto ho trovato un buon prezzo su un volo della Qatar Airways che farà scalo a Doha e poi proseguirà per Singapore”.

La partenza è prevista per il 14 gennaio mattina e una volta arrivata a Singapore, alloggerà per tre giorni presso il Pan Pacific Singapore, situato nella zona di Marina Bay: questo perchè è sempre buona norma nelle lunghe percorrenze, non correre rischi dovuti a maltempo, scioperi o quant’altro ma anche per riposare e arrivare pieni d’energia alla nave.

  La scelta è ricaduta su una camera con vista panoramica sullo skyline della città: le luci notturne di una metropoli simile sarà senz’altro mozzafiato! Non vedo l’ora che ci mandi qualche foto in notturna!

© Pan Pacific Singapore

Cinzia in questi mesi non si è solo limitata alla prenotazione di voli e hotel, ma ha iniziato anche a programmare le escursioni nelle varie tappe: è pur vero che a Singapore è la seconda volta che torna, ma stavolta utilizzerà il tempo per visitare l’isola di Sentosa, una specie di isola resort dedicata ai divertimenti.

Singapore è molto facile da girare con i mezzi pubblici e inoltre è una delle città più sicure al mondo: tra le altre cose che non intende perdersi, il giro notturno con cena sul lungomare, con annessa passeggiata per uno dei più vivaci mercati cittadini, sicuramente un’occasione da non farsi sfuggire!

Oltre naturalmente, ad una puntatina nel mitico Raffles Hotel, gustando il cocktail che è stato inventato proprio nel suo bar, il “Singapore Sling”.

© Raffles Hotel

Il 17 mattina è giorno d’imbarco: per Cinzia è la seconda crociera sulla Celebrity Millennium e la dodicesima con Celebrity Cruises e quindi è un po’ come tornare in un posto dove ci si sente in famiglia.

A bordo il ritrovo è con le persone conosciute “virtualmente” tramite il forum di Cruise Critic, il più famoso forum sulle crociere del mondo: tutte loro si sono iscritte al party che Cruise Critic organizza in collaborazione con la Celebrity Cruises,  dedicato a tutti i partecipanti alla crociera che postano nella board relativa a questa partenza.

Con gli amici americani e di altre nazionalità sono già organizzate le escursioni in gruppo per il Vietnam e per Manila, tutte preparate contattando guide locali, tramite forum e via email: per gli ultimi dettagli non resta che incontrarsi tutti a bordo di persona!

Nessuna escursione con la nave è stata al momento prenotata ma non è detta l’ultima parola perchè l’interesse per una escursione organizzata per visitare Hong Kong e Kota Kinabalu c’è tutto.

Il resto del tragitto si può fare in autonomia, dopo naturalmente uno studio precedente dei luoghi più interessanti.

Per quanto concerne i documenti di viaggio è obbligatorio il passaporto e per il Vietnam è possibile acquistare il visto a bordo nave, mentre per gli altri scali non è previsto.

Grazie alla gentile concessione di Royal Caribbean, Cinzia avrà il piacere di intervistare alcuni ufficiali dello staff a bordo, da cui ha intenzione di farsi raccontare tutti i dietro le quinte di questa crociera nel lontano oriente.

Cinzia non ti resta che finire di preparare le valigie e di stampare tutto il materiale raccolto in questi mesi: dopo, fine del viaggio virtuale ed inizio di una favola nel lontano oriente che noi tutti seguiremo LIVE tramite la piattaforma Storify che troverete qui sotto!

A me non resta che augurarti buon divertimento!

//storify.com/CrazyCruises/con-celebrity-millenium-scopriamo-filippine-vietna/embed//storify.com/CrazyCruises/con-celebrity-millenium-scopriamo-filippine-vietna.js[View the story “Con Celebrity Millenium scopriamo Filippine, Vietnam, HK e Malesia – LIVE” on Storify]

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Con Celebrity Millenium scopriamo Filippine, Vietnam, HK e Malesia – LIVE Vi affascinano i paesi dell’estremo oriente? Li visitereste in crociera? Se la vostra risposta è positiva, seguite…

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2012 was a damn goooddd year. Completed my undergrad studies, went on 2 grad trips to Australia and Alaska with my favorite people. And after 8 months, I'm finally done with compiling photos/blog posts for the Alaska trip. There are a ton of pictures from Alaska, so i hope the links below helps! 

Now its finally time for me to move on to sorting out pictures from Aussie. Oy Veyyy 

Cruise 

We booked our 7 Night Northbound 'Celebrity Millennium' Cruise from Vancouver to Seward via Alaska Travel. Price of the cabins were the same and their website conveniently pinpointed on the deck plans where you cabin would be.  More importantly, they gave a free bus pass, on the Park Connection Motorcoach Service. The buses ran services from Seward - Anchorage - Denali.   

Our cruise ran from 10 Aug 2012 to 17 Aug 2012. 

Excursions & Other Inland Activities 

All cruise excursions (except the Zipline in Icy Straits) were booked independently. The cruise excursions do jam pack multiple activities in 1, promising "great value". Not quite, do check the specifics of where they're bringing you. You might just ended up with a long string of disappointments instead. 

Links for the whole trip :) 

Day 1: Vancouver, Canada - Pre Cruise 

Day 2: On Board The Celebrity Millennium

Day 3: Ketchikan, Alaska - Anan Creek Bear Viewing 

Day 4: Icy Straits Point/Hoonah, Alaska - Ziplining

Day 5: Juneau, Alaska - Whale Watching & Dog Sledding on Mendenhall Glacier

Day 6: Skagway, Alaska - Exploring the White Yukon Pass   

Day 7: Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

Day 8 & 9: Seward, Alaska - Kayaking & day cruising in Kenai Fjords National Park  

Day 10 & 11: Anchorage, Alaska

Day 12 & 13: Denali National Park, Alaska   

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Port of call 3: Juneau

I remember when our cruise first pulled in Juneau,  I panicked when I looked out the window. All I saw was a thick white sheet of fog - zero visibility. Our tour operator practically laughed in my face (well through the phone). He said the sun would 'burn' that fog right up! And boy was it a beautiful day :) Juneau had only seen just over 40 non-rainy days in 2012 when we had arrived in mid aug, and the mood of the locals was infectious. 

Juneau is NOT connected to the alaskan highway. So the only way of getting in, is via air/sea. Initially I thought that'd be something really unique to the Alaskan Capital, but as it turns out, 3 other state capitals are also cut off from the interstate (Delaware, Missouri & South Dakota). The people had already voted in the 70s to relocate the state capital to Willow - a town within driving distance from the state's economic hub - Anchorage. But funds fell short and that move never happened. 

Right outside the cruise docking area is a stretch of 10-15 tour operators. They may all seem like the exact same thing BUT the difference is in the details! For example, double haul boats are so much more stable and better for whale watching. I found out later on that you can haggle too! Haggling isn't just for kiasu asians apparently. Haha. 

Mendenhall Glacier 

We took a shuttle bus to the entrance of Mendenhall Glacier, but din't have the 4 hour turnaround time to trek to the edge of the glacier :( So don't bother if you don't have the spare time. Theres a strict no-food policy in the glacier area to prevent the bears from succumbing to snatching our food! If bears realize that they can get food easily from people, they'll start approaching more and at the end of the day, we're the one with the guns.  The shuttle bus driver told us someone's sandwich just got snatched from a bear the week before, right by the bus stop. whaaaaaat?  

So the whole fuss about global warming causing glaciers to melt? Most glaciers around Juneau has been melting at one of the fastest rates of 30 ft a year, and has actually caused the land around Juneau to rise! Relieved of the weight of the glacial ice, the land around juneau is rising faster than the rising sea levels. A NYTimes article likened it to "the land has risen much as a cushion regains its shape after some one gets up from a couch". Kinda cute side effect I suppose!

Whale Watching with Juneau Whale Watch

Even though it was a little foggy/cloudy in the morning, still good stuff. I mean, just look at the photos Andrew managed to capture!! We were very envious of those who chose to go out on a private 6-seater boat, but lets be realistic shall we. My family's mostly made up of pathetic weaklings when it comes to motion sickness. The tour cost about USD 110 and it was well worth it. We saw so many humpback whales!  There was a mama teaching her baby whale how to breach too.

The whole trip was a whole lot of "THERE!!!" click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click "DID YOU GET IT" and after an hour you hear "THERE" click click click click " I give up, my camera sucks".  

One lady fell for the guide's trick joke when he pointed to a random island and yelled "LOOK THATS RUSSIA!". She proceeded to loud hail this lie to her family, pointing and exclaiming "E LUO SI AH! E LUO SI!! Its Russia!" Lady, I'm just sayin'. Juneau is in Southeast Alaska and Alaska is one super huggeeee ass state. Get your geography somewhat right before visiting please. 

Glacier Dog Sledding with ERA 

In the afternoon, a helicopter took us up and landed onto a section of the Mendenhall Glacier, where ERA's doggy summer camp is! During the winter season, these huskies are hard at work, training to take part in cross country marathons like the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod.  These marathons are brutal. For example, the Iditarod trail is 975 miles long and even champions take approximately 9  days to complete. Hahaha, so dog sledding tours help to finance these dog sled teams and to keep the doggies in shape! 

The helicopter ride was SO GOOD. Views of the coast mountain range, looking at tell tale signs of a moving glacial ice field, finding out that glaciers are actually pretty murky looking... hahahaha.  

Oh by the way, we booked this tour on our own in advance. Turns out our cruise had the exact same tour excursion by the same company and it cost about a hundred bucks more. Don't be, can't afford to be lazy, annoying ripoffssss.  

It was actually pretty warm up there.But gloves were necessary though. Need 'em while sledding. The cold winds still numb fingers and plus, we gotta take pictures don;t we? 

Once we landed, there were just rows and rows of kennels! I think the dogs were kinda young and some were overly excited while others were wiped out tired. Only go for this tour if you've never been dog sledding and never intend to head back to the arctic during winter.

The dog sledding portion of this tour was what, 20 mins max, shared out amongst 3 or 4 tourists. 

These puppies are too young and they tire very easily 

The puppies are being trained to be professional race dogs so they're not particularly cuddly and are very shy/stern. 

I had so much more fun sledding the whole day in Kiruna. BUT, again, Andrew captured some freakin' amazing photos. I cannot stop raving.  

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Celebrity Millenium

Between the 8 of us, we booked 3 cabins that are pretty much like the one shown in the above picture. My parents booked a 'Family Veranda' cabin, which has almost the same interiors but a larger balcony, so that our family could gather and meet up there. 

But the travel agent screwed up (royally). And thanks to Celebrity Cruises' ultimately excellent but slightly cryptic guest relations manager, my parents and I got UPGRADED TO A ROYAL SUITE.

To put things into perspective,

I'm sorry for whatever reason that caused the wealthy couple to cancel their reservation at last minute. BUT THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. It made the 7 day cruise so so so much more shiok. 

Cruise Interiors and activities 

Most of the 'activities' took place in the main theatre. They had dance shows, acapella groups, comedians, 'iron chef' competitions and my favorite, BINGO. But I ain't got shit on those pro grandmas. 

There's always something going on while you're on the cruise. On our 7 day cruise, 3 were spent well, cruising. Even though the cruise is going along the inside passage, there are stretches where it can get kinda dizzying if you get motion sickness easily. So pack some meds and join the activities to distract yourself! Heh. A daily schedule will be given to the night before, so plan it out so you won't miss a thing. An interesting highlight that I missed was a tour of how the cruise stores enough supplies and feeds over 2000 people. 

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    On the second last day, the crew scooped up glacial ice, and dumped them into the small pool. So many different brave souls - 13 year old future jocks, 2 grandpas, ditzy girls and the cutest mother & son pair. Because they didn't tell the jumpers what to do after the jump, some stayed IN the icy water the whole time while the rest jumped in. A good 20 minutes, good golly. 

          Food 

The Celebrity Millenium's considered to be a mid-sized ship. It's a slightly older cruise but it was recently renovated in 2012. Daily meals were at the main dining hall. Cruises are made to fatten you up man - 4 course daily meals! Apart from that, theres a buffet at the cafeteria but you really pay a price in terms of food quality for casual dressing. 

On the 7 day cruise, there were 2 formal nights. People really do dress up and fix their hair. Guys must bring their suits and girls bring dark colored dresses!! I've seen many discussion forums of people complaining about having to bring formals along, and other commenters telling those people to shut up and accept that there are social conventions that even kids need to learn to adhere to. So, absolutely no jeans please. If you don't like the stuffy dress code, respect the others who made the effort and just eat at the cafeteria! No biggie. 

The saddest thing is cruise ports hardly have any eateries, cafes or restaurants. Towns know clearly that passengers aren't willing to spend extra on food or are busy on excursions. So unless you rent a car, there's little hope of getting to know the Alaskans way of life. Also, do note that lunches are not provided on port days. So if you have an excursion, get up early and have a really full breakfast! The cafeteria was not stocked well enough for when passengers started coming back from excursions. It was a rather ugly battle.

Theres a huge buffet in the main dining room on the last day of the cruise. We might have loaded up too much on Alaskan King Crab. Yum. 

  Views

We had such amazing views from the cruise, and the suite's deck chairs really came in handy. As the cruise progressed north, the landscape changed drastically. From thickly forested fir trees and pristine green waters, to snow capped mountains and wildlife sightings. 

Comparing with the routes of other cruise lines 

An important difference between choosing to go with Royal Caribbean Cruises (Celebrity is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean), is that Royal Caribbean cruises is not allowed to enter Glacier Bay National Park. They were banned in 1999 for illegal dumping. Other cruises usually sail through and hover around the park for the most part of a day. 

I was bummed that we weren't going to get to see but honestly, after seeing a couple other tidewater glaciers, ~meh. But I hope I'd be able afford to go to Alaska again, fly into Gustavus and join a kayak tour around Glacier bay.

Secondly, the similar 7 day north or southbound Princess Cruises docks in Valdez. Valdez is right next to Prince William Sound, which is supposedly really good for viewing tidewater glaciers. In comparison, Royal Caribbean cruises dock in Seward, which is the gateway to the Kenai Peninsula. The Kenai Peninsula is really good for wild sea life viewing. Choose away :) 

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Pre-Cruise: Vancouver

We hardly had any time to Vancouver (<1.5 days) but we managed to squoosh in a little sightseeing! Prior to this, all I knew about Vancouver was that the state of Victoria's pretty broke after 2010's Winter Olympics. 

Apparently the city's always raining, and the best time to visit is between July - October. 

Stanley Park 

False Creek and Granville Island

There's the cutest fleet(s) of little ferries serving the False Creek area. Tickets are bought on the ferry itself, and the cheapest option is to buy a book of 10 tickets. Each ride might require up to 3 tickets, depending on distance traveled. 

These ferries by Aquabus and False Creek Ferries are tiny! Many of them can only fit 6 people comfortably. They take you across a the river to handful of locations, e.g. Granville Market and Yaletown. Makes for a leisurely sunday :) 

    Chinatown 

Canada Place Pier 

  Isaac 

Hahaha, look at the sign my dad told me to make. Precious. 

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America's last frontier

"Is there anything to even see in Alaska? OH WAIT!! Are you going to see the northern lights??". "Nope, that only happens deep in the winter. I'm going in summer" "Then there's nothing to see what..." 

WELLL my dear, the landscape is pretty freakin' beautiful? The wildlife roam free and in locations that have minimal human intervention? Calving tidewater glaciers, fjords, long and cozy summer days and all that wholesome arctic summer goodness. 

The state is so huge that it's equivalent to 20% of the landmass of the continental US. Most of the state is inaccessible by car or boat, so 1 in every 64 Alaskans have a pilot's license - the highest per capita in the world. Seeing Alaskans making a trip to Costco's probably an interesting sight in itself. 

Sissy and I were going a little nuts from studying, and chanced upon a celebrity cruises road show. After a couple calls and quotations, my entire family jumped on board the idea of cruising to Alaska. We booked the entire thing just 5 months shy of the cruise date [not recommended, choice cabins were long long gone!] And there you have it, a loud family of 8 ranging from ages 3 to 60 aboard the Celebrity Millenium. 

We took a 7 day cruise from Vancouver to Seward (Alaska), and extended another 7 days to tour a little more of inland Alaska on our own. A couple tour guides were saying, that most people first visit Alaska via a cruise. Sure, you'll feel like a tourist sellout, and tire of the endless gift shops. But honestly, its a pretty convenient and informative way to be introduced to this last frontier. They say many return for a second, third and fourth time independently. So here's hoping. 

Amongst the 8 of us, we had 6 cameras. So there's a lot more pictures to come! A large portion of them are by my camera crazy brother-in-law, Andrew. The man has got skillssss. 

[lado-minimalista-blog]

FLOAT PLANE ...Inner Passage to Ketchikan by strandviewphotos on Flickr.