Cruise #6 – Alaska 2009 – The Veranda Life

Back on the 2 year plan… 14 day Alaska Round Trip Los Angeles on Celebrity Mercury. This was an early season trip departing at the end of April, 2009

We asked Suzi’s folks to drive us to the ship. Figured we get there around noon. We did. No Ship. The porters were there, the check-in agents were there, no ship…

They did check us in and since we were early, we got a boarding card with an “A” for first boarding group. Now the ship wasn’t scheduled to set sail until 11:00 PM, however, was supposed to be in LA by about noon.

This was a re-positioning before a re-positioning cruise. The Mercury had been in the Caribbean. This cruise actually left Florida, went through the Panama Canal and dropped passengers off in San Diego (re-position # 1). Then it was supposed to sail, empty to LA to pick us up. After this round trip, it would head back to Alaska and stay for the season (re-position #2).

So now you have a terminal full of restless passengers. No Ship and worse, NO FOOD! We feel Celebrity and RCL Corporate stepped up to the plate. They went out and brought in a ton of sandwiches, pizzas and drinks. They also sent the Cruise Director and other officers by shuttle to the terminal to calm down the natives.

Suzi called her BFF who had heard it was a noro virus outbreak but when the staff arrived, they assured us that wasn’t the case. They said a vast majority of passenger were not US citizens, so when the ship got to San Diego, US Customs shut them down so they could process everyone appropriately. The staff went out of their way to make sure we we were kept up to date. About 5:00 PM, they told us the ship had been released and was on it’s way. Great.

The ship finally started coming through the channel at about 8:00 PM. By the time the Mercury was securely moored. it was 9:00 PM. Since we were first to board, we were still in the main dining room at 10:30 watching passengers board. We did not set sail until about 3:00 or 4:00 AM the following morning.

Our Stateroom was 1001 and our Travel Agent booked us as Concierge Class. It was a nice ship but didn’t have the wow factor of the Jewel Of The Seas. Definitely an older ship.

After a couple of sea days, our first stop was in Astoria, Oregon in the mouth of the Columbia River separating Oregon and Washington. Beautiful little town. Photos will be added later.

After another day at sea, we made it to our first port in Alaska, Ketchikan. As expected, the temperature was… 82 degrees? Yes folks. 82. We did our walking up to Creek Street to find the Salmon ladders.

The next day was Juneau. We booked the Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens tour. Weather was pretty good. Not 82 like the previous day in Ketchikan. The highlight as we were walking to the observation deck at Mendenhall was this little guy:

And Mendenhall Glacier is massive.

Our next port was Skagway. This has always been our favorite port. Touristy, yes but so nice to walk up and down all the streets.

Our next stop was cruising Hubbard Glacier.

Next stop, Sitka. After tendering into town, Suzi and I just walked around the downtown area.

The final port before heading home was Victoria, BC. We booked Butchart Gardens after a stop at the Butterfly Pavilion. Suzi HATES insects, so I had to make sure she wasn’t hiding a can of Raid.