Friday, September 30, 2011

93 Cruise to Alaska day 2 - at sea

Vancouver departure Day one see post 92
Pools, hot tubs, deck chairs and bars
My previous post was all about day two of our last vacation, which was also day one of the Cruise on the Celebrity Century along the Inside Passage to Alaska.

After leaving Vancouver on day one at around 4pm and sailing through the night we moved into the next day with another day of sailing ahead.

Activities on-board meant that whilst at sea there was plenty to do with, Kids club (Fun Factory), shopping, theatre, plenty of bars and places to eat and hot tubs and pools (although the weather was OK for the hot tub but not the pool).
Julia instructs Reuben to stay
away from the guard rail.
Into the open water and away
 from land, but not for long

Whilst it may have been a bit chilly for a swim, at least the rain stayed away and the ocean was calm.

One disadvantage with taking this cruise at the end of summer is shorter hours when compared with the longer summer hours.


One of the dining places on Deck 11
Saying goodnight just outside one of the
 elevator areas in the aft section.
Had we had longer daylight hours we could have enjoyed the majestic vista from the ship whilst sailing the Inside Passage.

It was time for dinner and early bed whilst looking forward to the next days arrival at Icy Strait Point in Alaska.









Monday, September 26, 2011

92 Celebrity Century Cruise Alaska Hubbard Glacier Day One



Vancouver skyline as we depart on the Celebrity Century
A map of Alaska in Peter's
 back pocket or as Reuben
would say butt pocket
More seaplane operations this time
photographed from the ship,
Harbour Air

The seven night cruise was going to take us along the inside passage from Vancouver to Alaska with the first port of call being Icy Strait Point, followed by a visit to the Hubbard Glacier.

S76 lands at the Vancouver Heli Port
which is next to the cruise ship wharf.
A Vancouver Police escort as we
 leave port.
After arriving the day before (Saturday 10th Sep), it was now day one of the cruise, which meant a 12 noon boarding of the Celebrity Century, finding staterooms, finding your way around the ship, a lifeboat drill, and departure from port at 4pm.

A Harbour Air seaplane overhead
The ship, the Celebrity Century is a 12 deck 815ft or 248m cruise ship launched in 1995, with a capacity for 1,808 passengers and 843 crew.

Julia and Reuben as we sail under
the Lions Gate Bridge
It has a displacement of 71,545 gross tons and can do 21.5 knots or 39.8 km/h, the ships Wiki page is here and the Celebrity site for the ship is here.

Another commercial vessel at
sheltered anchor in Vancouver Port
It was interesting to see the agility of a ship this size depart port without the need for Tugboats.

The ships twin main screws and three bow and two stern thrusters enable the ship to port and depart without the need to use tugs.

Point Atkinson Lighthouse
Having said that it would appear that the Vancouver Water Police did accompany and assist in traffic control, intercepting weekend sailors who were skippering their vessels too close to our departing ship.

Once we were under-way it was hard to go below deck as the scenery was riveting, sailing along a calm waterway with blue sky, blue water and lush green mountains on all sides.

The Burrard Inlet is a great waterway enjoyed by many, a funny moment occurred when we were passing Passage Island not too long past Point Atkinson Lighthouse.
Passage Island, a great place to live on a day
like this,

Peter and I were on the back deck on the upper level capturing photos when we noticed two jet skiers following the ship and looking to catch up with us.

Then as they got closer we started to take photos of them as we were fascinated that they were this far out from shore.

Then they got even closer and we started laughing as we realized they were naked and proud of it :)

I have included three photos of the naked jet skiers to show the series of stages as they approached the ship, I have only selected the safe photos so as not to embarrass you or them, (it was cold water).
Jet Skiers far from shore.

Jet skier shows his
best side.
The two ended up coming alongside the ship to the shouts and encouragement of those in the aft Bar.

After that it was time to go below and get ready for dinner with a funny photo or two to show the girls.



Making sure that they are noticed
they came along side - up close :)

After dinner I had a chance to take a few more shots and then about midnight I took a photo at very high ISO showing the ship manoeuvring through a tight point in the inside passage.


It was a shame that we didn't have longer daylight to enjoy this part of the journey.

Sunset Inside Passage Vancouver Island

The next day was going to be all at sea and the temperature was going to start to drop, but more on that on the next post.


Midnight first night sailing
a narrow part of the Inside Passage 











 Cruise Itinerary Celebrity Century 7 Night Alaska Hubbard Glacier 
DAY
DATE
PORTS­OF­CALL
DOCK OR TENDER
ARRIVE
DEPART
SUN
11 SEP
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
D

4:30PM
MON
12 SEP
INSIDE PASSAGE (CRUISING)
C


TUE
13 SEP
ICY STRAIT POINT, ALASKA
T
3:00PM
10:00PM
WED
14 SEP
HUBBARD GLACIER (CRUISING)
C
10:30AM
2:30PM
THU
15 SEP
JUNEAU, ALASKA
D
7:30AM
8:00PM
FRI
16 SEP
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
D
2:00PM
8:30PM
SAT
17 SEP
INSIDE PASSAGE (CRUISING)
C



SUN

18 SEP

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

D

7:00AM

Saturday, September 24, 2011

91 A Cruise along the Inside Passage Vancouver to Alaska

Seaplane landing strip and the port of Vancouver

Just returned earlier this week from our very first cruise, and I can say it will not be our last.

Just in case you don't know what
the Canadian flag looks like
didn't see any mounties.

The cabin on the last day, Ivy still
 asleep everyone else is at breakfast
all the bags are packed and this
 was the last photo on the ship.
I will break up the posts covering the trip due to the number of photos I want to put up, and then there is the back story to the trip and the photos.

This is the intro and short post to start things off with a few photos from the first day in Vancouver and one from our last.


Seaplane port with probably the largest number of seaplane operations on the planet.

On short final
Vancouver is a very scenic
 working port. 
As our first day was made up of travel from Cupertino in California to Vancouver BC where we board the ship; it meant an early start to catch a United flight to Vancouver in time for lunch, with the other members of the family whom we were cruising with.

Cousins and grandparents
 Uncles and Aunts

After lunch we took the opportunity to walk around the port city and found ourselves attracted to the waterfront operations of cruise ships departing and seaplanes coming and going.

It was a brilliant day in Vancouver with warm temps and a bright blue sky against the backdrop of lush green hills and blue water.

Seaplanes play with cruise ships



A photo from our first night at sea.







Another cruise ship departs Van







A fantastic day to start a holiday :)
After sunset day one at sea Inside Passage Vancouver Island