I went on a 8-day cruise to Alaska. Here are 12 things that surprised me the most.

I sailed on the Movie star Millennium for eight days.

My household of six took a cruise to Alaska on the Movie star Millennium, which took us to locations like Ketchikan, Icy Strait Level, Juneau, Skagway, and the Hubbard Glacier.

Despite the fact that I have been on 5 cruises with my household, this was the primary one because the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, and there have been some issues I did not count on concerning the general expertise.

Despite the fact that it was summer time, it was nonetheless chilly and generally too foggy to see something.

When most individuals e-book a cruise in the summertime, they image days lounging by the pool, consuming frozen margaritas, and sporting shorts.

The ports we visited in Alaska had been all fairly heat, however days at sea had been fairly chilly. It was typically too windy to get pleasure from any of the out of doors actions, equivalent to films on the outdoors cinema or video games by the pool deck. 

We additionally trying ahead to crusing by way of Alaska’s picturesque Inside Passage, but it surely was too foggy to see something.

There have been blanket stations all through the pool deck — I grabbed a number of to remain heat on my stateroom balcony, too — and on our very chilly journey to Hubbard Glacier, the crew handed out sizzling chocolate to everybody outdoors.

I believed there could be extra meals choices accessible all through the day.

Though there was loads of specialty eating for dinner and an enormous buffet on the pool deck, we would often come again drained and hungry from our excursions and notice there was nowhere distinctive to eat till our set dinner time.

The buffet was closed between lunch and dinner, apart from the pizza bar. Even the burger station on the pool deck wasn’t accessible. 

I am glad I packed eye masks for sleeping.

In Alaska, the solar rose as early as 3 a.m. and set as late as 10 p.m.

Because the solar was out so late, I did not really feel drained, however bringing a watch masks helped me preserve a daily sleep schedule.

I would undoubtedly advocate packing one, particularly if you happen to’re a lightweight sleeper like me.

Despite the fact that the ship offered hand sanitizer and masks, I did not see many friends utilizing them.

As this was my first cruise because the pandemic, I used to be interested by what well being protocols could be put in place, if any. For instance, friends wanted a unfavourable COVID-19 check to board the ship. 

I did not discover any social-distancing measures on board, however I noticed workers continuously wipe down buttons, tables, and different continuously touched surfaces. Plus, there was hand sanitizer close to the eating areas.

I additionally appreciated that they gave friends reusable masks with Movie star branding, however I hardly ever noticed anybody sporting them. Each workers member I noticed was masked, although.

The onboarding course of and security briefing was surprisingly simple.

In contrast to many different cruise strains I’ve sailed with, Movie star solely required us to observe a video and verify in on the muster station as a part of our necessary security briefing.

We checked in there with the workers as quickly as we stepped on the ship and had been then free to wander and go to our staterooms, making this the quickest briefing I’ve ever skilled.

Since our stateroom was a part of the concierge class, we additionally obtained to get pleasure from an unique lunch in the primary eating room. General, it was by far the smoothest embarkation course of I’ve skilled. 

We used our telephones much more than I anticipated.

Passengers may e-book eating reservations, verify the every day itinerary, and even have a look at dinner menus prematurely by way of Movie star’s app.

The overall cruise fare included a primary Wi-Fi package deal, which just about solely labored for the app.

We used the messaging characteristic to remain related, establishing a bunch chat to let one another know the place on the boat to satisfy and ship reminders about dinner reservations or tour occasions. 

It was vital to maintain my telephone charged to remain related with my household and simply know what was taking place across the ship.

We drank a lot espresso.

Movie star affords passengers a primary drink package deal as a part of the unique fare.

My household caught with the traditional drinks package deal, which lined any drink as much as $9. If we wished to purchase drinks that weren’t a part of our fare, like a premium cocktail, we solely needed to pay the distinction.

I do not drink a number of alcohol, however luckily, the ship had a espresso store that was lined by my package deal. Accessing limitless iced lattes and specialty sizzling teas was a serious spotlight.

Folks had been casually wearing the primary eating room.

Though there have been indicators about not sporting flip-flops or shorts within the eating room, that undoubtedly did not cease anybody.

I observed a number of friends not following the costume code throughout dinner however nonetheless being allowed within the eating room. 

Moreover, the formal nights known as for “night stylish,” which Movie star describes as a “fashionable tackle dressing up,” itemizing cocktail clothes and designer denims as examples.

Some passengers wore clothes and heels, however I used to be in a position to go for sandals and a sundress, which was extra comfy.

I may’ve ordered just about any meal to my stateroom with room service, even meals from the primary eating room.

One night time, I began to really feel bloated from the quantity of meals we would been consuming and skipped eating in the primary room.

My dad and mom let me know that our waiter requested if I wished any meals despatched to me. 

I may’ve ordered something from the primary eating room — even a plate of beef Wellington — and had it delivered to my stateroom.

By day six, we began to expire of issues to do.

Since this was a visit to Alaska and it was normally too chilly to lounge on the pool deck or swim, we had been shocked by the shortage of onboard actions — particularly throughout sea days.

We attended our justifiable share of trivia periods, in addition to silent disco nights, however would’ve loved extra choices like bingo or mini golf.

Le Petit Chef was an cute specialty-dining expertise that felt definitely worth the worth.

Usually, my dad and mom persist with consuming dinner in the primary eating room as an alternative of the specialty eating places, however once we discovered Le Petit Chef — an immersive 3D eating present that includes “the smallest chef on the earth” — was provided on board, we booked a reservation straight away. 

The eating expertise, which value round $55 per individual, contains a cartoon chef that is projected onto the desk and plates.

It was surprisingly heartwarming, and the meals was fairly scrumptious, particularly after watching the little animated chef cook dinner it in entrance of us.