Blog - Celebrity Infinity Alaska Cruise Day 1

That photo we snagged while over on West Seattle - the Blue Angels were in town and they very kindly did a fly-past over the Seattle skyline just as we pulled up to take in the view.

I've never been to Seattle before but have heard so much about the city, and it's also becoming a fairly major cruise hub in itw own right.

Everyone knows all the cliches about Seattle - it rains all the time, it's the home of Starbucks, it's the home of grunge rock etc etc.

The only problem I can see with the city isn't the rain - we were lucky and experienced none - but the food. There's way too much of it, and it's all amazing! Seafood and fish are the top picks here, and of those, salmon and crab, but during the summer months when Alaska cruises depart, the produce such as bing cherries and heirloom tomatoes take the phrase mouthwatering to a new level.

After a couple of days exploring the city, we boarded Celebrity Infinity for the start of a seven-day cruise to Alaska, calling at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria, and cruising the inside passage and Tracy Arm Fjord. A number of cruise lines operate week-long cruises out of Seattle today, including Holland America and Carnival.

The boarded process was relatively quick for such a large ship - the worst of it being the security checks now enforced to get inside the terminal to check in! Once on board, we enjoyed a glass of bubbly, headed off to our stateroom and explored the ship until it was time for the compulsory and very tedious safety drill. For this we mustered in the venue which is used for Elite Members - more on that later - and this was the first drill for which you didn't have to wear lifejackets - a blessing.

We sailed at four and the sun finally came out banishing what had been a gloomy day. It was pretty impressive and takes some hours to finally venture out into the open ocean…in particular, while enjoying a cold beer in the Constellation Lounge at the front of the ship, the mountainous vistas of Vancouver Island were impressive.

Tomorrow is a sea day, dinner with the Italian Captain and some more explorations of what looks like a pretty nice ship. More to come from Ketchikan, our first stop, where we hope to spot bears in the wild!

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