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