FW: 2007 Alaska Brew Cruise

FYI - _____ From: Michael Weil [mailto:travel@magichappens.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 11:22 AM Subject: 2007 Alaska Brew Cruise Importance: High This e-mail is being sent to see if there is enough interest to do this Brew Cruise in 2007. If not, it will not be offered in 2007. Don't Miss Out on The Ultimate Beer Experience in 2007 Our Eighth All About Beer Magazine Brew Cruise Sailing through Alaska A 7-night Gulf of Alaska Cruise through the Inside Passage from Seward, Alaska to Vancouver: Friday to Friday cruise: June 29 - July 6, 2007 (with optional pre & post cruise nights in Alaska and/or Vancouver). Join us for seven days of beer culture, in a region of unique natural beauty... * Experience the unique world of beer from Alaska to Vancouver. * Savor hard-to-find regional beer. * Master new beer facts at tastings and presentations. * Meet your fellow beer cruisers at a beer reception as we sail from Seward, AK. * Visit small micro breweries. * Cruise the spectacular Inside Passage to Vancouver. * Luxuriate in Celebrity Cruises world class service on the Summit. * Experience breathtaking views and natural wonders of Alaska. * Visit Skagway, the heart of the Gold Rush Country and great beer! * View Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America. * Stop in Ketchikan, salmon capital of the world. * View whales in Icy Strait Point. Participate in optional beer cruise exclusive excursions in: Anchorage, Seward (the Kenai Peninsula), Haines, Juneau, and Vancouver 7 - Night Southbound Cruise Itinerary Day/Date/Port/Arrive/Depart Friday 6/29/2007 Seward, Alaska 9pm Saturday 6/30/2007 Hubbard Glacier (cruising) 2pm-6pm Sunday 7/1/2007 Juneau, Alaska 8am-8pm Monday 7/2/2007 Skagway, Alaska 7am-8:30pm Tuesday 7/3/2007 Icy Strait Point, Alaska 7am-4pm Wednesday 7/4/2007 Ketchikan, Alaska 9am-6pm Thursday 7/5/2007 Inside Passage (cruising) Friday 7/6/2007 Vancouver, BC, Canada 9am Pricing: Category / Prices Per Person / Based on Double Occupancy ----------------------------------------- Sky Suite Deck 6: 251 sq. ft. with 57 sq. ft. balcony $3670 Concierge Class Decks 8, 9: 191 sq. ft. with 41 sq. ft. balcony $2470 Ocean View Stateroom Deck 2: 170 sq. ft. $1830 Inside Stateroom Decks 7, 8 and 9: 170 sq. ft. $1450 Ship Facts: Celebrity Cruise's Summit / Occupancy: 2,034 passengers / Tonnage: 91,000 / Length 965 ft. / Beam 105.6 ft. / Cruising Speed: 24 knots / Maiden Voyage: Oct 1, 2001 Prices are subject to change until deposited. To book or for more information contact: Michael Weil Magic Happens Travel & Cruises 1020 Southhill Dr. Suite 140 Cary, NC 27513 919-678-9800 / 800-824-4968 travel(a)magichappens.com www.magichappens.com <http://www.magichappens.com/> Included in the price of the cruise: accommodations, all meals, the fitness center, entertainment, most activities on board the ship, all special ALL ABOUT BEER on-board events (see below), and all port fees and taxes. Optional events include: Anchorage Pub Crawl, Kenai Fjords Resurrection Bay Cruise, Skagway/Haines Brewery Tour, Juneau Alaska Beer Company excursion and a Vancouver Pub Crawl. Six (Included) All About Beer Events on the ship: Welcome Beer Reception, and the following Seminars / Tastings: Beer 101, The History of Beer, Food & Beer, So Many IPA's and a BIG Beer Tasting (to knock your socks off). Space is limited to 50 staterooms. Don't wait...call now to book your stateroom! Deposit of $250 per person due at time of reservation. Prices and space only guaranteed through February 26, 2007 - Final Payment due March 29, 2007. Note: To maximize your Beer Experience plan to arrive in Anchorage no later than Wednesday June 27th to participate in the optional events in Anchorage and Seward. NOTE: Do not make any air reservations as this group is not yet guaranteed to sail unless, we have at least 20 cabins booked for the beer cruise. BOOK A CABIN AND RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO ALL ABOUT BEER MAGAZINE If you would like to see pictures on line of our past All About Beer Cruises, please send an e-mail to: beer(a)magichappens.com and we will e-mail you a link to our photo albums. PS...IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS TESTIMONIAL BY ONE OF OUR PAST ALASKA CRUISERS. PLEASE DO SO. It is quite humorous... From: Gordon Haney Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 1:42 PM Subject: Boring Alaska Beer Cruise saga Hello All, Just wanted to send a few words about our Alaskan beer cruise last week, because it was really tops, at least the part I can remember.LaDon tells me there was also some good scenery, which may or may not have been true. Anyhow, we were on Royal Caribbean, the Radiance of the Seas, the best cruise ship I've ever been on. It was a 7-day cruise, starting and ending in Vancouver, with stops in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. We had beer tastings on board ship, and tours which included pubs and breweries. Also, select micro brews were available for the beer tour group at the ship's bars and in the dining room. The tour group included a beer "expert", and also the editor of "All About Beer" magazine, as well as a bunch of us sophisticated users. The users included home brewers, the 2002 "Beer Drinker of the Year" runner-up, a family who had just bought a brewery in Oregon, and some plain old beer-slammers. The guy who set up the tour also accompanied us and acted as director. In addition to the special beer-related tours he had for our group, there were a number of standard tours available as alternatives. Our group was about 40 of the 2000-plus passengers. The beers involved ranged the full gamut from lighter pilsners to full-bodied barley wines, all quality products which were in more than ample supply (if you get my drift...). Some details: -As soon as we boarded, there was a get-acquainted and tasting party, which was great, because a beer is wonderful after going through the boarding process. Since we were still in port, there were brewery reps there with their products. The reps got off when the ship sailed, but not the products. -First stop was Juneau, a nice little town where we saw a salmon hatchery (unbelievable numbers of salmon), a glacier, and the Alaskan Brewing Company, where we had a great tasting and tour, and a lot of good food. There was a lot of good salmon available on this tour in various forms, and, like all other foods, it goes great with beer. I was surprised to learn that realty prices are high in Juneau, because it's the capital and there's not much space between the shore and the mountains, and also surprised to learn that the town is landlocked-no way out except boat or plane or really long cold swim. Possibly you could hike out if you were in good shape and had Cherney with you to handle the bears. -Next we hit Skagway, also landlocked, a nice little town with a main street of tourist shops. We took a side trip up a fjord to the tiny nearby town of Haines/Fort Seward. The fjord is a great place to see wildlife, and we got to see a group of 5 humpback whales. (At least it looked like 5 to me, but it may have only been one, since this was after the beer tasting.) Haines is a neat little town with a few hundred inhabitants, each of whom has some useful skill which enables them to earn a living. They don't have (or need) any lawyers, certified public accountants, Lockheed Martin Build Coordinators, or golf instructors. The lack of a hospital means you have to get to Juneau if you're injured or pregnant, which is a really long time to bite on a stick or hold a bandaid in place. Our tour guide's wife was expecting, so they have to go to Juneau, get an apartment, and wait for the big event. They actually get government funding to help with this. Anyhow, back to Haines- this is the town where "White Fang" was filmed, and they still have the movie town set buildings there. In fact, they are now used as businesses, including the Haines Brewery. Imagine the effect on this little town when a whole movie crew hit town and spent a number of months there. Most of the locals appear in the film as extras. The famous Haines Brewery produces about 80 barrels a year, as much as Alaska Brewing does on one night shift.(Alaska Brewing in turn produces less than one per cent of, say, Molson). The Haines beers were very good, including a spruce ale which I hadn't seen before. The brewmaster was a laid-back dude from the Woodstock era who really enjoyed his work. I think his second job may have been tending a few acres of hippy lettuce back in the country...Haines actually has a road out of it, unlike our other stops, but it's a long way to, well, anywhere. -Next, the ship cruised up to Hubbard Glacier and stayed awhile. Got some nice pictures there, really an awesome sight. No beer there, so that's enough about the goddam glacier.... -Last stop was Ketchikan, which is (guess what) landlocked. Mostly tourist trap places, but found a really good local brewpub, which saved the day. (Like, we really needed more beer at this point, right?) -Too many beers to list here, but my favorite, at least for a tee shirt, would have to be Glacier Brewhouse's "Big Woody" Imperial stout, named of course for the cask-stored wood overtones in the flavor. Honorable mention to Paddywack IPA, Alaskan Smoked Porter, and Sockeye Red Ale. Also tried some Sam Adams Utopia, which is a heavy duty barleywine about like port wine. Comes in a great little cask/decanter, which my son Evan won in the raffle. Even empty it's neat. I learned (and re-learned) a lot about beer and home brewing on this trip, plus the cruise was off the meter. The tour company is setting up another next year out of Seattle, plus a an eastern version out of Boston to Maine, Halifax and Nova Scotia. I'm hoping we can make both. The change to Seattle will provide access to some new brews and places, plus there's a whole bunch of Alaska tours we didn't take this time. Check out <http://www.magichappens.com/> www.magichappens.com for tour info, or just say "Alaska" to LaDon. I recommend these tours highly. Having the tour group gave us some instant friends, and having some good friends along would really make it nice. Believe it or not, I didn't gain any weight on this run. I think if you eat in the dining room where you don't have the option of creating a gigantic heaping platter, you come out OK. cheers/g ------------------------