For years, I have been telling people that you are much better off taking an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver rather than Seattle. One of the main reasons is the Canadian Inside Passage. This is our 13th Alaska cruise and our eighth (I think) from Vancouver, and it is the first time we have not taken the Canadian Inside Passage.

If you have never sailed the Canadian Inside Passage, it is one of the most beautiful places we have ever sailed. Think of a river cruise on a very big river. Sloping mountains of evergreens come right down to the water’s edge. Eagles fly overhead, and you can sometimes see bears and deer drinking at the shore below the trees. Because this area is protected by islands on the outside and the Canadian mainland on the inside, the temperatures are warmer, and the sun is often out. At the top of this page is a map showing the area I am talking about.

Well, we were very sad to wake up to almost an open ocean. You could see land, but it was quite far to our east. This was not the Alaska cruise I had hoped for. My buddy Bob (who is a strong believer in the Canadian Inside Passage) thought it might have something to do with the size of the ship, but we sailed this way on Infinity a number of times, and that ship isn’t that much smaller than this one.

Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful sea day yesterday. We had breakfast. Bob, Judy, and I went to trivia at 10:30, and then we met everyone for lunch. After lunch, I worked on a few photos, then did four miles on the jogging/running/walking track on deck 14. A major rant from me about walking on the walking track. This is a two-fold complaint. One small complaint I can deal with, but I will mention it so that maybe someone reading this can stop doing it.

Stop walking three people across a path built for three people. You are blocking everyone from going in any direction, whether they are walking for exercise or just getting from one end of deck 14 to the other. It is just plain rude. If you see someone coming your way and there is no place for them to go, walk single file for a minute or two until they pass. And while we are on the subject, maybe the real thing I need to say is this: BE SELF-AWARE! I can’t tell you how many people have just walked in front of me. Most of them were either talking to the person they were walking with, looking at the scenery, or looking at their phones. WAKE UP! You are not the only person on the ship or in the world.

My other quibble about the walking track is with Celebrity. And this happens on all the Solstice-class ships. Why is it that people walking, jogging, or running to stay healthy have to pass through one of the only smoking areas on the ship? WTF? Move the smoking area or shut it down. Every time I came around the track to that spot (about 35 times), I choked on the fumes from more than 20 smokers. There is a large smoking area in Sunset Park (one whole side of the aft of the area). That should be enough. Let’s close down the smoking area that coincides with the track. OK, rant over…back to yesterday.

After my walk, it was back to the stateroom to change for dinner (it was chic night). Kathleen says she saw some formal dresses, but I didn’t see any men in tuxedos and very few in ties. All of us had jackets on, so we were looking sharp. There was a pre-dinner reception with the captain and senior officers in The Retreat Lounge, which was very nice. Drinks and nibbles. The captain is a very nice guy who has been with Celebrity since before it became Celebrity.

I thought this might be a good time to talk about the food. So far, we have eaten in three venues on board. We had lunch at the Sunset Bar Cafe on deck 15 during embarkation. The salads and sandwiches were great. I do wish they had a bar there as well, because if you want something to drink besides water, you have to walk to the back of the Sunset area to the Sunset Bar and get your drink either before or after you get food. Now, it isn’t that far, but what was a pain was having to stand in two lines. One for food, one for drinks, and they are far apart.

We had dinner at Trattoria Rossa, and it was wonderful. If you go, have the lasagna or the lamb. That’s what we had. Dessert was also amazing with the made-at-the-table cannoli and tiramisu. It does pass the Steve Test with flying colors.

The rest of our meals (so far, 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 1 dinner) have been at the suites’ restaurant, Luminae. The food has been just fine. Nothing amazing to write home to mom about, but fine. So far, Luminae does NOT pass the Steve Test. For those of you who are new readers, this is what the Steve Test is all about:

The Steve Test

After our disastrous Celebrity Millennium cruise in May 2022 (the food was horrible), my brother Steve came up with a way to rate food and restaurants while traveling, which I have found to be more effective and easier to understand than any other method I have encountered. From then on, I have called this the “Steve Test”.

Here's the test: If you eat at a food venue during your travels, either on a ship (main dining room, buffet, grille, or a specialty restaurant) or on land (hotel, restaurant, street food, etc.), and that restaurant was near you once you returned home, would you go there again? Would you become a regular? Would you go there for special occasions?

That’s pretty simple. I think it's the best way I've ever heard of to rate food on vacation, and I will rate each place I eat while traveling using the “Steve Test”.

I have high hopes that they will improve. My personal feeling is that they are trying too hard to make the food look cool. It takes nice photos, but at the expense of taste, and things that could be great are just OK. My hope is that this will improve as the week goes on. I have included some photos of the food below, with comments to show what I mean.

Breaking news! It’s Tuesday (our day in Icy Strait Point, which I will report on tomorrow), and we had lunch at Luminae. We had a sandwich that not only passed the Steve Test but also made me want to drive across town to get this particular sandwich. More about that tomorrow.

We also want to thank two new friends we have made, Richard and Randy, who told us a secret about Luminae—you can order off the Main Dining Room menu if you just ask to see it. Thanks, guys.

Here are some food pics for you. Enjoy. Don't forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through using your arrow keys or by swiping to read the captions and see what you are looking at. And feel free to look at these on your phones. I took them with mine.