My family & I do a cruise vacation every year, and while I never got the necessity to add a cruise to every summer trip initially, over time I finally get it!

This year my family and I visited Alaska among a few other places on the west coast, however we chose experience it via a cruise, unlike the other destinations. We picked the Celebrity Cruiseline, because its classy, modern and perfect for families. This was our second time with Celebrity, the first was the Norwegian cruise which was amazing as well! We set sail on the Celebrity Infinity from Vancouver and sailed through the inside passage, docked at 3 peculiar ports  (Icy Straight, Ketchikan & Junueau) and a breathtaking glacier!

There are a bunch of experiences and conveniences that a cruise offers that can’t be matched by a plain ol’ land vacation. Like what? Let me enlighten you…

  1. Classics are forever – While we have the convenience of air travel today, travelling by sea is one of the oldest and most charming modes of travel. Have your grandparents told you stories how they travelled across continents over months? Mine did and the stories are envious, besides the how long it took of course! Lucky for us, with cruises today we get to experience all that charm in about a weeks time!! Travelling from one city/continent to another with views that’ll become permanent pictures in your memories, cruising amidst fjords, glaciers, snowcapped mountains, and secluded islands with little homes is an experience like no other! But my favourite still remains gorging on chocolate dipped strawberries at midnight while the moon reflects on the sea. 
  2. Ease of Planning – (Unless you’re backpacking) Most vacations require a great deal of planning, especially family vacays – A cruise vacay on the other hand really eases down the planning with a well thought out itinerary, taking you from one beautiful destination to another while sailing through the most beautiful sights, without going through the effort of booking hotels, transportation and constantly packing and unpacking. While that covers everything on board, the cruise has a long list of vetted shore excursions, tours and personalised itineraries that you can pick from on each port and they can help you with planning each day to perfectly suit your needs! My favourite one which we did as a family was the helicopter ride which landed on a glacier where we dog sled! And the other one was dirt riding in Ketchikan – which only my brother and I did while the rest of the fam took my baby niece bear spotting and candy shopping. However for those of who enjoy sea food, you get the bet fresh water salmon in Ketchikan a.k.a salmon city! So theres endless options of what you can pick from and its all made really easy by the cruise line!      
    
  1. Access Another Great thing about cruises is Access, you end up going to little towns you’d never think of going to yourself and learning about cultures so interesting, like the legends of totem poles! The most special experience of the alaskan cruise has to be the Glacier though, it brought us so close to the the famed Hubbard glacier, and was rotating 360 degrees so we could get the best views of the icy wonder while hearing the explosions of the ice falling into the sea! It was truly sad to hear how the glaciers only been receding over time and it did feel great to be in the lucky small percentage of people to view this ginormous wonder. If you ask me a cruise is the best way to teach your kids about history and the environment 😉
       
  1. A world of its own – I’ve got this question a lot – 1 week on a ship? Doesn’t it get boring? Well, my answer is NO! The Cruise is really like a little floating world in the sea and if I may – this world is your oyster, theres a tonne of options for everyone! Especially on days on sea – these are my favourite! Its just perfect to spend quality time with the fam or just taking some time off and doing what to love like working out! The ship has top notch facilities and activities, from a top of the line gym, to Zumba, yoga & cooking lessons, from an indoor and outdoor pools to art auctions, outdoor movie screenings, live bands, violinists and comedy shows oh and barbecues by the pool – with burgers and hand cut fries oh my days on sea are just perfect for family time! Theres also an entire shopping floor where you can buy anything from luxury cosmetics, to apple products (which are tax free in the state of Alaska btw) or even good ol’ souvenirs to take back home. And the list is endless really so I’m gonna stop now!    
  2. Switch off Your phone and switch on Family Mode – A cruise is a great place to switch off from the outside world and spend time with your fam! Although wifi access is available on purchase the ship, the cellphone network is usually low on sail so one has the perfect excuse to keep all outside business on hold and spend some quality time with their loved ones! My favourite part was the evening sit down dinner where all five of us would get all dressed up & dine together AND watching the the outdoor movie screenings with everyone while we sailed through the chilli alaskan waters. Another advantage for people cruising with families is that there are so many activities for children across age groups and its so safe for them to move around the ships by themselves (what I noticed the kids loved most was the unlimited supply of ice-cream though) AND unlike a traditional vacation where everyone has different opinions of what they want to do and where they want to eat, being on the ship eliminates that issue and encourages more bonding time.
  3. Tailor Made experience – Many people also worry about smaller rooms sizes on a cruise, food and other such things but the truth is everything can be personalised depending on your needs! If you like more space the suites are great, and theres different kinds of suites too for example, if you’re big on wellness and health the Aqua Class suites have a special healthy menu, spa offers and lounge access) if you’re a sucker for good service they have a concierge class where you get priority check in and a personal butler. You can even get connecting suites (my family wanted connecting rooms so we could make sure my niece was around us at all times). You can pick your rooms depending on the kind of view you want, whether you want it close to the elevators or further away, the choice is yours. Even when it comes to meals, one has an array of options to explore on the ship – from their speciality restaurants to the buffet which offers cuisines from around the world to their sit down lunches and dinners the choice is vast! We tried everything but we would do the sit down dinner everyday because we loved the setting and service and our vegetarian preference was taken very good care of. We would pre plan every meal with a member of the staff and the chef would prepare it each night suited to our palette and requirements. It was so personalised that even the bread and dip that came to the table were made exclusively for us without egg! 
  4. Ambience – The environment of the cruise is like a resort – Happy people, chirpy staff who are extremely gracious and helpful, to buzzing music & unlimited ice-cream the entire environment of the ship is very uplifting! Once you’re off the ship you’re bound to feel a wee bit of a void because like I mentioned above, it really is a world of its own!    

My advice for any of you taking a cruise – A cruise is what you make of it, the experiences a cruise offers a vast and I strongly advice you to do things you wouldn’t usually do! Make sure to do outdoor excursions, especially the ones you’d think a million times before doing ( I wouldn’t be caught dead dirt riding usually, its too dusty and rugged for me but do I regret it? Not one bit) it makes for some real memories, watch at least 1 show – the groups they bring on these shows are so so talented they’re really worth watching! Make sure you take prior reservations for the sit down dinners, they have a really great vibe and I know a lot of people skip it because of they don’t end up taking reservations. Eat a lot of ice-cream and watch the live bands/violinists everyday (don’t be lazy).  Wake up early (even on days you’re on sea) because theres so much to do & definitely take a fun class over going to the spa – its so much more fun! Go up and chat with people on the ship, there are people and families from across the world and its a great place to make friends and the kids end up having some great company! And last but not the least, you must do this with your family, it really is the best kinda bonding experience!

Hope you enjoyed reading about my cruise experience!

Xx Fashioneiress