R
red stripe
Guest
CELEBRITY CRUISES CONNECTS TRAVELERS WITH TRUE ALASKA
Top-rated line unveils new Alaska shore excursions
MIAMI – February 8, 2007 – Whether guests long to glide along the Alaskan coastline in a 20-foot open-air fishing boat, travel by float plane to Anan Creek for a once-in-a-lifetime bear-viewing, or explore the wines and cheeses of British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, Celebrity Cruises’ new Alaska shore excursions are an ideal way to complement the line’s stunning cruise and cruise-tour itineraries through the Land of the Midnight Sun. Highlights of Celebrity’s new Alaska excursions include:
Ketchikan, Alaska
* Neets Bay Bear Cruise –
Guests can enjoy a narrated drive to Clover Passage before traveling by high-speed boat to Neets Bay to watch black bears search for salmon in their native streams. From the boat, guests may photograph and videotape the bears, eagles and seals in the area.
* Anan Creek Bear Watch – Nature lovers can travel by float plane to one of the only places in the world to watch – and photograph – both brown and black bears feeding on salmon. Guests also may spy bald eagles perching in the surrounding trees waiting for scraps left by the bears, seals feeding on the harvest in the lagoon, and mink, marten and wolf wending their way through the wilderness.
Exclusive Skiff Touring
– Guests can get closer to the beauty of Alaska aboard a private 20-foot, open-air skiff and customize the Alaskan adventure of their dreams, whether that includes fishing for salmon, halibut, or crab; scouting for wildlife; or hiking the ancient forest. A personal guide navigates and narrates, taking travelers to special, out-of-the-way places favored by the locals.
* Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour
– Guests set sail on the same vessel seen on the Discovery Channel's popular Deadliest Catch program, modified for safety and comfort, on the calm, protected seas of southeast Alaska. Seasoned fishermen share their stories of the Bering Sea and its plentiful catches. As lines are pulled up, species brought to the surface are placed in a live tank for observation or gently released back into the wild.
* Historical Steam Paddle Wheel Waterfront Cruise
– Guests who board an authentic steam-powered stern-wheeler are transported back in time to the days of gold fever. Steam engines from 1884 power the paddle wheel, musicians dressed in period-wear entertain, and a naturalist reviews the area’s history, including Creek Street, the town’s former red light district, and Whiskey Cove, where rum runners hid their whiskey during prohibition.
* Totem Bight State Park and Lumberjack Show –
This tour combines Southeast Alaska’s rich native heritage and the rough-and-tumble pursuits of hardy pioneers. At The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, lumberjacks put their skills to the test in an action-packed competition. Guests also visit Totem Bight State Park and walk through a hemlock forest to an old Indian campsite filled with ancient totem poles.
* Totems, Native Heritage and City Highlights
– This tour combines the best of Ketchikan’s culturally rich heritage, natural beauty and bawdy past. It includes visits to Potlatch Totem Park, where indigenous natives first settled; Deer Mountain Eagle Center, which features storytelling, totems, a bonded pair of American Bald Eagles and other birds of prey; and visits to the Creek Street haunts of bootleggers and gamblers.
Skagway, Alaska
* White Pass Railway and City Highlights
– Guests board an 1890's-style parlor car and retrace early gold seekers’ original route – built over 100 years ago – up to the Yukon’s White Pass Summit in Fraser, British Columbia. Other highlights include the historical areas of Brackett Wagon Road, Pitch Fork Falls, Dead Horse Gulch, the Tormented Valley, downtown Skagway and the Gold Rush Cemetery.
* Yukon Exploration
– Guests travel into the Yukon by deluxe motor coach along the historic Trail of 98 Degrees to the White Pass Summit and into the Yukon. This excursion features visits to Moore Bridge, Bove Island, Tormented Valley, and Carcross, and a photo-op at the “Welcome to the Yukon†sign. A stop at Caribou Crossing Trading Post includes lunch and a visit with Yukon Quest mushers and their playful pups.
* Yukon Exploration and Suspension Bridge
– This excursion includes the same features as the Yukon Exploration excursion, but also features a stop at the Yukon Suspension Bridge, located above the rapids of the Tutshi River. Guests experience jaw-dropping views when traversing the bridge at nearly 57 feet above the rapids.
Icy Strait Point, Alaska
* Hoonah Sightseeing and Tribal Dance
– Hoonah is Alaska’s largest Tlingit village, and this excursion offers guests the opportunity to glimpse authentic Alaska life. A local guide details the experiences of Huna Tlingits who were forced from their ancestral lands of Glacier Bay by the advancing glaciers, those who lived through the epic fire of 1944 that burned the entire village to the ground, and more. At the Native Heritage Center Theater, the Huna Tlingit perform and dance in their colorful regalia, proudly sharing their history through interpretive song, dance and storytelling.
Vancouver, British Columbia
* Chef and Chauffeur with Airport Drop-off
– After debarking the ship and claiming their luggage, guests embark on a culinary adventure through some of the best food and wine experiences that the Fraser Valley has to offer. This first-class culinary adventure includes secrets gleaned from trail-blazing local chefs, farmers, fishermen, winemakers and cheese artisans, all of whom produce common things uncommonly well. Farms and vineyards include Swift Aqua Culture, Farmhouse Natural Cheeses, Limbert Mountain Farm, Fort Wine Company, and either Vista D' Oro or Domaine de Chaberton. An al fresco gourmet lunch is included.
Guests sailing Celebrity’s Alaska itineraries can enhance their vacation by choosing from over 158 Alaska shore excursions. Beginning in May, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Summit, and Celebrity Mercury will sail a variety of seven-, 10- and 14-night Alaska cruises from Seattle and Vancouver. Ports of call include Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Ketchikan, Alaska, and Nanaimo and Victoria, British Columbia. The vessels also cruise through the Inside Passage and beside ice-blue Hubbard Glacier.
Celebrity presents exceptional pre- and post-cruise land-based adventures in the Pacific Northwest with Celebrity Summit and Celebrity Infinity. Celebrity Summit’s pre- or post-cruise itineraries range in length and destination, and include highlights such as the historic gold rush town of Fairbanks, the coastal town of Seward, and Denali National Park, home of the famed Mt. McKinley. Seventeen of the cruise-tour packages include segments on Celebrity’s luxurious, glass-domed railcars, Wilderness Express®, the most spacious in the industry.
Guests sailing on Celebrity Infinity’s Hubbard Glacier cruises can choose from four fully escorted cruise-tour options in the majestic mountains of western Canada. The five-night Canadian Rockies packages visit cities including Vancouver, Calgary, Kamloops and Banff, with each including two days of rail travel and meals in Rocky Mountaineer’s RedLeaf Service rail cars. The three-night Whistler, B.C., cruise-tours offer the best of both urban and rural Canada, with stays in both Whistler and Vancouver.
Top-rated line unveils new Alaska shore excursions
MIAMI – February 8, 2007 – Whether guests long to glide along the Alaskan coastline in a 20-foot open-air fishing boat, travel by float plane to Anan Creek for a once-in-a-lifetime bear-viewing, or explore the wines and cheeses of British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, Celebrity Cruises’ new Alaska shore excursions are an ideal way to complement the line’s stunning cruise and cruise-tour itineraries through the Land of the Midnight Sun. Highlights of Celebrity’s new Alaska excursions include:
Ketchikan, Alaska
* Neets Bay Bear Cruise –
Guests can enjoy a narrated drive to Clover Passage before traveling by high-speed boat to Neets Bay to watch black bears search for salmon in their native streams. From the boat, guests may photograph and videotape the bears, eagles and seals in the area.
* Anan Creek Bear Watch – Nature lovers can travel by float plane to one of the only places in the world to watch – and photograph – both brown and black bears feeding on salmon. Guests also may spy bald eagles perching in the surrounding trees waiting for scraps left by the bears, seals feeding on the harvest in the lagoon, and mink, marten and wolf wending their way through the wilderness.
Exclusive Skiff Touring
– Guests can get closer to the beauty of Alaska aboard a private 20-foot, open-air skiff and customize the Alaskan adventure of their dreams, whether that includes fishing for salmon, halibut, or crab; scouting for wildlife; or hiking the ancient forest. A personal guide navigates and narrates, taking travelers to special, out-of-the-way places favored by the locals.
* Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour
– Guests set sail on the same vessel seen on the Discovery Channel's popular Deadliest Catch program, modified for safety and comfort, on the calm, protected seas of southeast Alaska. Seasoned fishermen share their stories of the Bering Sea and its plentiful catches. As lines are pulled up, species brought to the surface are placed in a live tank for observation or gently released back into the wild.
* Historical Steam Paddle Wheel Waterfront Cruise
– Guests who board an authentic steam-powered stern-wheeler are transported back in time to the days of gold fever. Steam engines from 1884 power the paddle wheel, musicians dressed in period-wear entertain, and a naturalist reviews the area’s history, including Creek Street, the town’s former red light district, and Whiskey Cove, where rum runners hid their whiskey during prohibition.
* Totem Bight State Park and Lumberjack Show –
This tour combines Southeast Alaska’s rich native heritage and the rough-and-tumble pursuits of hardy pioneers. At The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, lumberjacks put their skills to the test in an action-packed competition. Guests also visit Totem Bight State Park and walk through a hemlock forest to an old Indian campsite filled with ancient totem poles.
* Totems, Native Heritage and City Highlights
– This tour combines the best of Ketchikan’s culturally rich heritage, natural beauty and bawdy past. It includes visits to Potlatch Totem Park, where indigenous natives first settled; Deer Mountain Eagle Center, which features storytelling, totems, a bonded pair of American Bald Eagles and other birds of prey; and visits to the Creek Street haunts of bootleggers and gamblers.
Skagway, Alaska
* White Pass Railway and City Highlights
– Guests board an 1890's-style parlor car and retrace early gold seekers’ original route – built over 100 years ago – up to the Yukon’s White Pass Summit in Fraser, British Columbia. Other highlights include the historical areas of Brackett Wagon Road, Pitch Fork Falls, Dead Horse Gulch, the Tormented Valley, downtown Skagway and the Gold Rush Cemetery.
* Yukon Exploration
– Guests travel into the Yukon by deluxe motor coach along the historic Trail of 98 Degrees to the White Pass Summit and into the Yukon. This excursion features visits to Moore Bridge, Bove Island, Tormented Valley, and Carcross, and a photo-op at the “Welcome to the Yukon†sign. A stop at Caribou Crossing Trading Post includes lunch and a visit with Yukon Quest mushers and their playful pups.
* Yukon Exploration and Suspension Bridge
– This excursion includes the same features as the Yukon Exploration excursion, but also features a stop at the Yukon Suspension Bridge, located above the rapids of the Tutshi River. Guests experience jaw-dropping views when traversing the bridge at nearly 57 feet above the rapids.
Icy Strait Point, Alaska
* Hoonah Sightseeing and Tribal Dance
– Hoonah is Alaska’s largest Tlingit village, and this excursion offers guests the opportunity to glimpse authentic Alaska life. A local guide details the experiences of Huna Tlingits who were forced from their ancestral lands of Glacier Bay by the advancing glaciers, those who lived through the epic fire of 1944 that burned the entire village to the ground, and more. At the Native Heritage Center Theater, the Huna Tlingit perform and dance in their colorful regalia, proudly sharing their history through interpretive song, dance and storytelling.
Vancouver, British Columbia
* Chef and Chauffeur with Airport Drop-off
– After debarking the ship and claiming their luggage, guests embark on a culinary adventure through some of the best food and wine experiences that the Fraser Valley has to offer. This first-class culinary adventure includes secrets gleaned from trail-blazing local chefs, farmers, fishermen, winemakers and cheese artisans, all of whom produce common things uncommonly well. Farms and vineyards include Swift Aqua Culture, Farmhouse Natural Cheeses, Limbert Mountain Farm, Fort Wine Company, and either Vista D' Oro or Domaine de Chaberton. An al fresco gourmet lunch is included.
Guests sailing Celebrity’s Alaska itineraries can enhance their vacation by choosing from over 158 Alaska shore excursions. Beginning in May, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Summit, and Celebrity Mercury will sail a variety of seven-, 10- and 14-night Alaska cruises from Seattle and Vancouver. Ports of call include Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Ketchikan, Alaska, and Nanaimo and Victoria, British Columbia. The vessels also cruise through the Inside Passage and beside ice-blue Hubbard Glacier.
Celebrity presents exceptional pre- and post-cruise land-based adventures in the Pacific Northwest with Celebrity Summit and Celebrity Infinity. Celebrity Summit’s pre- or post-cruise itineraries range in length and destination, and include highlights such as the historic gold rush town of Fairbanks, the coastal town of Seward, and Denali National Park, home of the famed Mt. McKinley. Seventeen of the cruise-tour packages include segments on Celebrity’s luxurious, glass-domed railcars, Wilderness Express®, the most spacious in the industry.
Guests sailing on Celebrity Infinity’s Hubbard Glacier cruises can choose from four fully escorted cruise-tour options in the majestic mountains of western Canada. The five-night Canadian Rockies packages visit cities including Vancouver, Calgary, Kamloops and Banff, with each including two days of rail travel and meals in Rocky Mountaineer’s RedLeaf Service rail cars. The three-night Whistler, B.C., cruise-tours offer the best of both urban and rural Canada, with stays in both Whistler and Vancouver.
