Somehow it’s just plain strange that some things, even after many years, comes back to you and feels very comfortable.  That was certainly the case this past Friday when I boarded the Celebrity Infinity.  This is my second cruise on this ship, the first being a 10 day Hawaii to Vancouver, Canada in May of 2003.

I have also sailed on one of her sister ships, the Celebrity Constellation back in September 2005 as well as just last September doing a ship inspection on yet another sister ship, the Celebrity Millennium.  Each of these ships has the exact deck plans.  The Infinity was refurbished just last fall but it appears as if it was only minor changes and the familiarity and comfort of knowing where all the public rooms and venues were came back almost instantly.  It felt like I was home again in a strange way.

One of the many guest programs that Celebrity Cruises includes on their ships is an enrichment program and on their Alaska itinieraries they bring onboard a naturalist to give presentations on the history and wildlife of Alaska.

The welcome home feeling was enhanced even more when I found out that the enrichment lecturer was Brent Nixon, a research naturalist based in Alaska for over 30 years.  This is the same naturalist that was onboard the Celebrity Mercury on an Alaska 12 day sailing from San Francisco that I did in September 2004.  What a pleasant surprise.

Mr. Nixon’s presentations are captivating and entertaining, complete with whale sound imitations and the use of props, video, audio, and slides.  His delivery is really a performance executed with enthusiasm in a very unique way.  Actually very mesmerizing.  Not the college professor from behind a podium approach.

Yesterday he had two presentations.  The first on the history of Alaska, the second on Humpback whales.  Today his presentation will be on black and brown bears.

The welcome home surprises did not end with the naturalist.  At the first nights production show, an accapella quartet, Top Shelf, performed.  This is the same quartet that my wife Mary and I enjoyed immensly during our one week Mediterranean cruise in October 2009 onboard the Celebrity Century.

This is only day two.  What will the next five days bring?

If you want more information or have any questions, email me at www.cruisewithole.com.  You can also visit my website, http://www.cruisewithole.com for an almost endless amount of general cruise information.

Until tomorrow,
Bon voyage