Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Silhouette, Alaska Review

Celebrity Silhouette, Alaska

Vancouver, renowned as one of the better places on Earth to live, is a vibrant city, and was to be our (my wife Julie and two friends) starting point for the first week of our extended three-week British Columbia excursion, with an Alaskan cruise with Celebrity. We did the cruise on board the Century, but any other Celebrity ship would be sure to provide the same level of service, based on our other cruising experiences with the company.

The pre-cruise overnight hotel in Vancouver was well-placed for a steady walk to the harbour area, where we found the ship being readied for the following day’s departure from Canada Place. There has always been something quite exciting about viewing a ship being prepared for a holiday, knowing we would be aboard the following day, for what would turn out to be a remarkable 7-day holiday cruise.

The night before we left Vancouver we went to an Italian restaurant near the harbour at Canada Place, only mentioned because both Steve and I each had a pint of pear cider. It went down so well, we had another, and it was only when walking back to the hotel, I thought how much the cider had affected me, which was not normal. It was only the following day when I checked the menu in the window, when I found out what I thought had been a 4% proof cider, was in fact an 8% proof. It had indeed been a very nice drink, and for sure, they make the stuff strong in Canada.

The cruise itinerary and ship were excellent from start to finish, with a number of outstanding photographic opportunities presenting themselves. Moving up through Icy Strait Point (ISP), Ketchikan, into the Hubbard Glacier, and further north up to Juneau, were the sort of experiences we had waited a lifetime for.

At ISP we took a small boat out into the Bay and viewed at close range breaching hump-back whales, where I was fortunate to get a set of photographs, just as the enormous flukes disappeared into the water. Four-wheel buggies in Ketchikan also extended Sandra and Steve’s bravery, as a group of 10 were led by an instructor through the forests.

Launching over a large lump of earth banking just needed a lot of throttle, but no one else seemed to be able to do it, whereas I just wanted to do it again! A lot of the drivers were also unable to go with the leader’s pace, as we bounced along gravel strewn paths, with Julie saying she was not too surprised by me remaining in the leader’s exhaust fumes! With my racing background she had expected it from the moment the seat-belts were fastened, and I would hate to have disappointed.

We saw a bear at one stage, but it was only when the lead driver brought us to a halt, when things took on a more serious note. As we stopped he said he had received a radio message of an incident further back, and he needed to go to investigate.

With Julie and me sat alone as we awaited developments, there was no way I was turning the engine off. If we had to bail out quickly should Yogi re-appear, I needed to be able to do this very quickly. And it was at this point Julie looked over at me. “I am a bit worried it could be Sandra and Steve?” The same thought had gone through my mind… and indeed it was!

Going into one gravel strewn corner, Steve’s steering had snapped, and but for a tree trunk on the outside of the corner, the two of them, plus buggy, could have had a wild ride over a 30’ drop, and put any James Bond action scene to shame! When we became a holidaying foursome, it was always thought we would take our friends out of their comfort zone, although this one was perhaps pushing the envelope just a little more than any of us could have planned.

Husky sledging was swifter than anticipated, the animals accelerating with astonishing speed, as they pulled a four-wheeled 'buggy' behind them. It was certainly enough to leave a "wind in the air" feeling, as they pounded through the forest.

The Hubbard Glacier on the other hand certainly made any potential hardships worthwhile. As other passengers were togged up in winter gear, us hardy Brits were in shirt sleeves and shorts, and getting funny looks because of it too!

The temperature may well have been in single figures, but the sun was warming, and undoubtedly the alcohol helped. As we lounged away on deck chairs, receiving strange looks from thermally dressed passengers, the Celebrity staff were plying us with hot chocolate and Baileys, or more to the point, maybe it was Baileys with a small amount of hot chocolate? Whatever, Julie and Sandra looked very relaxed as they merrily sipped away in the surprisingly, at least for us, mild weather.

The day was gloriously sunny, with the Captain announcing it as quite possibly the best weather conditions he had ever experienced during the last 10-years he had been in charge, when compared to similar cruises he had been responsible for.
As we ventured further towards the Glacier 'wall', we had ice mountains on either side of the ship, which was dwarfed by the ice. Approaching the Hubbard Glacier was an awesome experience, as the 300’ high ice grew in size as we approached.

Loud cracks announced a picture taking opportunity, as large masses of ice calved away from the mountain side, before splashing into the water, and re-appearing back on the surface as small icebergs, which floated past the ship. The sight of some of these masses of floating ice was then made all the more unusual, with the appearance of seals ‘sunbathing’ on top of them, the creatures having wasted no time climbing on board!

The book of photographs I made after the holiday helped to show just how dramatically beautiful the landscape was.

Whilst in Juneau we were talking to a woman who claimed to have spent time in Monaco with Graham Hill and Jim Clark, who had four F1 World Championships between them between 1962 to 1968. People can talk, so to be sure I needed to test her, as I had a lot of inside, detailed information from that era of the sport that very few people could ever know. She was not only aware of it, but was able to expand further on what I knew, which was an added bonus. She was either an exceptionally good story-teller, and able to spin a decent yarn, or maybe more pertinently, she actually was on the Monaco scene through the 1960’s? On balance she had me convinced and I opted for the latter.

On the way back from Juneau early the next morning, with the gentle ‘thrum’ from the ship’s engines, I was high up by the front of the ship, with glaciers on either side, and no other passengers around, breathing in unpolluted cold, crystal clear air. I felt fit, well, and relaxed, and life had never felt so good at that stage in my life.

An Alaskan cruise with Celebrity cannot be beaten for the enjoyment it can provide, and yes, I would certainly do it again.