SELENE
On May 15, 2026, we boarded Celebrity SUMMIT at Whittier. Silver Moon had ended her sailing here the day before; we stayed the night in Whittier and boarded SUMMIT the next day — the same pier on two consecutive days, the most unusual stretch of this relay voyage. This post is about the port of boarding and the days ashore that followed in Alaska: Whittier, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan.
Whittier: The Harbour of Boarding
This view is from the hotel we stayed in, looking across to the pier on the far side. Whittier's harbour is ringed by mountains still patched with snow, and Celebrity SUMMIT lies across the water, her blue hull and white superstructure bright against the grey sky. She looks close; in fact, getting to her means a drive of more than ten minutes around the bay.
By evening the harbour looked different: a wooden pier reaching into dark water, white piles standing in a row, brown slopes and snow patches across the bay. On the first evening aboard, Alaska was exactly these colours — grey, blue, brown, calm and quiet.
Icy Strait Point: The Gondola over the Pier
On May 19 we reached Icy Strait Point and took the gondola up the hill. From inside the gondola, first the conifers: tall firs one after another, safety pictograms stuck on the window frame. The good thing about a gondola is that the view changes by itself, slowly.
Near the station the view turned to the pier plaza: wooden buildings, the Duck Point Smokehouse sign, a log fence, and SUMMIT's funnel in the distance. From above, the whole layout of the park makes sense at once.
On the way up, the cable ran straight over a grassy slope, conifers on both sides, another gondola ahead. Fallen logs and stumps lay scattered on the slope — Alaska's forest, untrimmed and raw.
Icy Strait Point: Ashore at the Pier
Back ashore, SUMMIT at anchor seen from the gravel beach: a blue hull lettered Celebrity X Cruises, a green gangway meeting the ship, driftwood and gravel in front. With the ship here, a few steps bring you back aboard.
By the boardwalk stands a red building with an old boat in front, and a park map on the wall reading Hoonah Cannery. The red building and the old boat are the most photogenic corner of this cannery park.
On the same boardwalk, fishing nets and orange floats are piled up, a boom and pulley slanting in front of the red building. The cannery's fishing gear is not decoration — it was really used, the paint worn off.
From the gravel beach, the bay opens out: calm water, snow-patched mountains, a few tiny figures far along the beach. Alaska's bays are that big — a person in them is barely a speck.
One last look at the pier before leaving: two Celebrity ships side by side, SUMMIT in front and another behind, green gangway, gravel path and conifers. Two ships of the same line in one day is a very Alaskan picture.
Ketchikan: Inside a Souvenir Shop
On May 20 we reached Ketchikan, and a souvenir shop held one remarkable wall: Alaska licence plates, a bottle fountain, old tools and a small scale, shelves crowded with goods. Alaska's souvenir shops sell more than souvenirs — they carry the cluttered feel of a gold-rush general store.
