Jota62

So, as you can see from all the pictures, after we left the margerie glacier, we kept sailing towards more glaciers. We ended at the John Hopkins Glacier and there the ship did turn again. No matter where you are you will get a great view, I'm sure. If you are on the top deck you can view from one side and then go over to the other side once the boat turns. If you stay on your balcony then you will see it from our side, or from the back like we did. I liked being on the aft for the end so we could see the glaciers as we sailed away. I definitely loved having our balcony.

The ship then sailed out and we exited the park around 3pm.

The Margerie Glacier was spectacular. When we knew we were getting close we did go up to the top, forward deck to see us sailing up to it. The ship stays there for about an hour and fully rotates so everyone will get a view. We stayed up on the top deck until the ship turned and went back to our balcony to get another look. It was great from our balcony too because we had a completely unobstructed private view. The view was amazing from the top deck, but there are lines of people all along the rail so it was nice to have your own private place to enjoy the view also. Plus, I liked being at the aft because we were able to watch the sail away from the glacier and it was warmer, which was a definite plus.

Day 5 - 9/5/15 - Glacier Bay

We were scheduled to be entering the Glacier Bay National Park around 6am, I believe. We woke up at 5am and got ready and headed to the Lido for breakfast. We enjoyed breakfast while sitting at a table near the window and watching the amazing scenery.

That whole morning there is scenery all around as you are sailing, but we didn't reach any of the glacier's until about 9:30ish. Before then the rangers boarded the ship and they did have tables set out with information and they were answering questions. They had a map of where we were sailing and you got a good idea of where you should be and what you should be looking for.

That morning was really cold, in my opinion. Standing out on deck was really cold with the wind. I had my fleece, rain jacket, and gloves. I was definitely layered to the max that morning. Because we were so cold, we decided to head back to our room to watch us sailing by from our aft facing balcony. It was so, so much warmer from our balcony. The back of the ship really cut the wind. We had amazing views and I don't feel like we missed out as we were sailing along, but it was difficult at times to hear the announcements by the rangers. I have a lot of pictures of the day sailing through Glacier Bay so I apologize in advance if you don't like reviews that are filled with pictures, but I know when I was researching I really wanted to see and idea of what I would be seeing. Also, if you are narrowing down your choices of itineraries I would, without a doubt, recommend a sailing with Glacier Bay on the itinerary.

My first glacier sighting!

I really loved the water sailing through Glacier Bay. I've never seen water that shade before. It was absolute gorgeous!

Your photos are amazing ! I was on this cruise four years ago and my photos are nice but yours are so much better !

Thanks so much! I really enjoy taking pictures. I do it as a hobby, but I was happy with what I was able to capture form this trip!

I really love you're photography skills. Amazing!!

Thank you! I took most of the pictures with my canon T3i and the rest were from my cell phone.

It probably took us 15 minutes to walk back to where the ship was docked so I would recommend making sure you allow time for that. We had a great time, but we got back around 6ish and then went to dinner.

That night we went to the British Invasion production and it was probably my least favorite of this ship's productions. I love the beatles and everything, but I thought the costumes and backgrounds for this one were the most hooky. The singers weren't bad and it was entertaining, but like I said it was my least favorite of the 3 productions offered on this ship.

We ended the night with some comedy shows and headed to bed so we would be rested to wake up early for our day sailing Glacier Bay.

Sorry I'm posting so many pictures, but I took so many. They can't even do the area justice. It was amazing views. I liked that we were able to stop and take time to look around and snap a few pictures on the way there and back. If I go back to Alaska, and I would like to, I would probably do the White Pass train ride.

I think that is what was so great about this trip. No matter what you were looking for I'm sure you could find an excursion that interested you. In the end it is your vacation and find the activity that you personally would enjoy. I felt like I learned a lot on the scenic drive and loved that we stopped at both the Yukon and Alaska signs.

At the end, Doug gave us the option of being let off in downtown Skagway or being brought back to the ship. We opted to get off downtown and do some shopping. We were probably back around 2pm and had until 7, I believe, to be back on the ship.

We used that time to do some shopping for our souvenirs and wander around. It is definitely a cute town!

Then we headed into the small town of Carcross. We spent probably 35 minutes or so there. My sister and I walked around the town, stopped in some of the local stores, and checked out the visitor's center.

I took a few pictures there, but most on my cell phone because the rain picked up. It was pretty little, but interesting. After that little stop, we were on the road again back into Alaska.

We stopped along the way at some more scenic spots. We even stopped to walk down to the water. The rain was at its worst, but the clouds looked cool over the water.

We stopped at the Carcross Desert, which is considered the smallest desert in the world.

We stopped for lunch at a small little place. The lunch provided was sandwiches or a chicken wrap and then there were homemade soup options. I had a chicken wrap and some homemade chicken noodle soup. It was good on a cold day. My sister had a turkey sandwich and cream of spinach soup and she really enjoyed the soup. They also had homemade pie. My sister had some strawberry pie, I'm not much of a pie fan myself so I skipped that, but she enjoyed it. The meal wasn't anything crazy amazing, but it was a good little lunch. Plus, we were there to just refuel and get back on the road to have more time to see more.

Right near where we stopped for lunch was Emerald Lake, it was gorgeous.

Day 4 - 9/4/15- Skagway & the Yukon

I was pretty tired after staying up to try and see more of the Northern Lights, but Day 4 was an early day. We docked around 7am, but my excursion was to meet in the Follies Theater at 7:30am. If you buy your excursions through Carnival they issue you tickets and on the tickets it will let you know the time and location for where you are to meet your group. When we got to the Follies Theater they had it divided into sections and each row was labeled.

For Skagway we decided to do the Yukon Scenic Drive excursion. A popular activity seems to be the white pass train ride, but we opted for the drive. After reading the reviews and seeing how on the drive there were lots of stops for picture opportunities we decided to give it a try. It was a small bus and our group was 16 people, I believe. I really enjoyed our tour guide, Doug. He was a ranger, had worked in Antarctica even, and had been coming to work in Alaska for the last 20 years. He knew so much information about the area and gave such a detailed account of the history of the area. If we saw something interesting from the side of the road we would just pull over and you had the option to hop out and take a look. We saw a Bear up the mountain, but unfortunately my picture didn't turn out too well. We also saw some goats and sheep along the way.

The scenery was breathtaking! The whole drive there was something to look at. Saying that, I would recommend sitting on the right side of the bus, so not behind the driver. I'm sure those on the left had plenty of great views also and I enjoyed the ride back on that side, but I read in 1 review that as a tip to sit on the right and I really was glad I followed that tip. I felt like there were more expansive views from that side for the majority of the drive into the Yukon. Obviously on the way back the views switch, but I feel like in the morning where more of the talking is happening you are looking around more. Either way, you'll have a great time I'm sure. Just something to consider.

Doug also was a great photographer. At certain spots he was more than happy to take a picture for you. Because he has done the tour so many times he had it down to a science for how to get through everyone quickly to get a good angle on the sign.

As you can see from the picture above, we no longer had Juneau weather. In the Yukon it was much colder. I don't know the exact temperature, but I would say it felt like maybe low 50s. It was drizzling rain at some points, but didn't pour, thank goodness. We both wore jeans, waterproof shoes, a shirt w/ a fleece over it and then as necessary the raincoat. Layers are definitely key in Alaska. I never felt freezing or anything like that and I didn't need to use gloves, but if you are coming form a warmer climate just be prepared and pack some layers.

The summer will be warmer than September, but we were able to see a little fall foliage.

The views were stunning all around.

How was the ship/decor/food?

I can't compare the Legend to any other ship, but I thought it was fine. It was easy to navigate once you figured out where everything was. The decor was a bit over the top, but that didn't bother me personally. A lot of the reviews I read about the Legend mentioned that there were a ton of urns everywhere and they were right! Every where you turned you saw them. You can youtube the ship and find some tours if you want to see all the various areas and the decor.

I did't find any issues with the condition of the ship. There were a few areas where you could see a little wear, but nothing crazy that I saw.

Food is so subjective, as is decor I guess. I liked the food. We enjoyed eating in the dining room more than the Lido for the atmosphere. Every night the dinner menu had every day items that had some good go-to options if you couldn't find anything you liked, for example a grilled chicken breast. The other half of the menu changed daily. I found something on the daily menu that I enjoyed. I wouldn't say it was 5 star or the best meals I've ever had, but they were all good. The ship, overall, had so much food. The pizza was a good late-night go to and from 11-12:30 they had hamburgers and hot dogs with fries and such.

HI all!

 

Jota62 ~ wow what an amazing first cruise you had!:D So jealous you got to see the Northern Lights, what a thrill that must have been!

Loving your review & waiting for more adventures!

 

BTW I've bought FTTF each cruise & always got to go to my cabin upon arrival. Somebody steered you wrong.:(

 

~ Jo ~ :)

Thanks so much! We definitely were lucky with a great first cruise :)

Also, yeah I'm not sure how that miscommunication happened. I was told that by the lady who checked us in and then when actually on the ship we tried to go to our room and were stopped by 2 seperate people who told us with FTTF that we couldn't go through. Oh well, now we know. You would think with the program there would have been a universal understanding of what is included. As first time cruisers, and having seen how quickly policies seem to change, we didn't know if something was different. We were fine going to the lido though, just probably wouldn't jump at buying it again.

Really enjoying your review so I think I will follow along! Thanks in advance for doing it. :)

Thanks! I'll update more tonight after work :)

Probably the most memorable and personally meaningful parts of our trip happened by pure luck - we saw the Northern Lights!

As we were leaving Juneau the all-aboard time was 9:30pm. We got on right around then and went to the Lido for dinner. This was the only night that we did not have dinner in the dining room. We actually were not fans of the Lido. We didn't like how when it was busy there you couldn't really eat together. It seemed like someone had to grab a table, the other got food, came back, you went and got your food, and by the time you were back the other person was done eating. We much preferred dinner in the dining room where we could relax, have good conversations, drink some wine... you get the idea. Speaking of wine, we did buy the "Cruise the Vineyards" package. It gives you 5 bottles of wine at a discount. You just gave a voucher to the waiter when you were seated. It was good for us because we did have a bottle of wine most nights at the dining room.

Ok, so back to my story. The next morning we knew we were going to have to be up very early for our day in Skagway, so we decided to head back to the room after eating. It was about 10pm and we were hoping that because it was such a clear day in Juneau that we would have a chance for Northern Lights. The night before we tried to stay up to see them, but eventually gave up. The naturalist told us that if the conditions were right, which they seemed to be, we would have the best chances of seeing the Northern Lights between midnight and 4am. So my sister decided that maybe we should nap and set our alarms for 11:45 and head out to look for them again. So as she went to bed I started organizing things for the next morning.

Well, leaving Juneau the Aft of the ship is facing North for a period of time. While we still had our balcony facing North I decided to check occasionally. At about 10:30pm I looked outside and there they were! I shouted my sister's name and she about fell out of bed. The 2 of us enjoyed the amazing night sky from our balcony for about 20-25 minutes. It was gorgeous and not like anything I had ever seen. It was odd though because we looked around and nobody else seemed to be out. We decided to head up to the Lido to the Serenity deck area to see if the view was even better. We got up there and literally it was like the 2 of us and 4 other people. I think most people were thinking, like we were, that midnight and later we would have the opportunity to see them. Well, they surprised us early!

Now, I didn't have a tripod and the ships light was interfering with my camera. I am not a pro photographer, by any means, and I've never really shot at night so I wasn't even able to capture how really amazing they were in person, but I do have some pictures to give you a little idea.

Another passenger who was up on deck, she was so amazing! She was very good at photography and helped me with my camera settings. I set it to a 6 second shutter speed and tried to hold the camera as still as possible. The white squiggly lines are blurred stars because of the movement of my arms and the ship.

So here are what I was able to manage to capture:

I wish I knew better how to have taken the pictures while I had been on my balcony earlier, but I'm so thankful to the kindness of the other passenger in helping me at least get these shots. I stayed up probably until almost 1:30 seeing if I would get another glimpse, but didn't see them again and decided to get some rest before our adventure in Skagway and the Yukon the next day.

Beautiful pictures of such an idyllic location. My husband and I hope to go in the next few years. I really enjoy your perspective as a new cruiser! Our first cruise is coming up in a few months and the seasoned vets' reviews, while entertaining and informative, can feel overwhelming for a newbie.

I hope you have an amazing first cruise! I know I looked to so many reviews before this cruise and so I really wanted to pay it forward. If you have any specific questions I'll try my best to answer based on what we experienced. As I'm writing this up I'm trying to think of everything that happened because it is overwhelming when you are trying to figure things out, but we had such an amazing time. Everyone told us we would be hooked on cruising and they may be right!

What a great review so far! I'd have been really annoyed about not getting to my room right away. Ugh. You have the patience of a saint.

Thanks, it was definitely annoying. I was confused because I was sure that with FTTF the perk was going to your room early, but more than one worker told me no. I was just happy to be on the ship and starting a much needed vacation so we just said ok and headed to the Lido for lunch. While there we did run into the women we shared our shuttle with going to the pier and they also had FTTF and had dropped their stuff off at the room so we were like ok we are just going to go back. I think being that neither of us had been on a cruise ship before we weren't 100% sure what to expect. In the end, it all was fine and didn't ruin anything for us, but I probably wouldn't worry about FTTF again unless I had a tender because I didn't find it worth it overall, maybe because of the miscommunication we experienced.

After an amazing day of whale watching and enjoying the scenery we headed back to Juneau. We got back around 6:30. We decided to get tickets and go up the St. Roberts Tramway. It was an interesting little ride up and we were able to enjoy some great views, but sadly the eagle, Lady Baltimore, is not visible after 6:30 so we just missed her. With the sun going to fade and us wanting to explore a little more of Juneau and do some shopping we didn't spend too much time up there. If you are more interested in seeing the eagle and you are getting back late you may want to skip this and save your money. In the end it all depends on what you are looking for on your vacation.

All in all Juneau was a cute little city. I know we barely got a glimpse of it, but we had an absolutely amazing day. In summary - I would recommend this excursion, but you don't get a ton of time at the Glacier and only get to the beach in front of it, as pictured. However, the whale watching on a boat for 14 was amazing and David, the guide, really helped ensure that everyone got some great pictures.

Whale watching cont'd

So after some time at the glacier we got back in our little bus, were given a snack and some water, and headed out to meet our boat. David was our guide and he is a professional photographer living in Juneau and he was great. During the drive he gave tips on how to take better pictures and what settings cameras should be on for the best odds of getting great whale shots. He actually went around to each person and looked at their camera or phone and set it to the best setting for the conditions.

When we got to our boat it was great because it was all enclosed during the ride out, but once we got closer to whales the windows would come down so you could either shoot out where you were sitting or go out to the bow and get some shots. It was also great because during the ride you were cold form the wind, but you didn't have to shoot through glass either.

We were lucky to see a lot of whales, but no bubble net feeding. I was hoping for that, but we were so extremely lucky seeing all the whales we did see. The surrounding scenery was breathtaking also.

Also, David was great for giving you a heads up for when the tail of the whale was about to appear. They have a distinct pattern so he would give a warning so you could be all set with your camera and I was happy to leave with a few different whale tale pictures.

As you can see, we had a GORGEOUS day in Juneau! It was in the high 60s, I was wearing only a t-shirt and jeans. The sky had very few clouds and everyone was telling us how lucky we were. The forecast was for rain the rest of the week, but we fortunately had clear, beautiful skies for the entire day!

I really was in awe of the glacier, it was the first one we saw. Sorry for all the similar pics of it! Being in Alaska you are reminded of how small you are with all the wonder around you.

The negative about this tour was that we really didn't spend a ton of time at the glacier. Other tours that spent more time at the glacier were able to go closer to it, but with the time allowed and us wanting to have plenty of time to whale watch it is a balancing act. I guess I'll just have to go back someday!

In Juneau we decided to try the Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari and Whale Watching tour. We decided we wanted to book our excursions through carnival because we liked the security in doing so vs. going through a vendor. Now that I've experienced a cruise that could change, but I was happy with all of our excursions. We also choose this excursion because it hit the 2 things we really wanted to do in Juneau: visit Mendenhall Glacier and see some whales.

I should also note that the excursion was limited to 14 people so it was awesome being part of such a small group. No one had to fight for space to see the whales or anything like that.

This excursion met off the ship at the port. I think the ship actually docked at 1 and we were to meet our group at 1:30. We did walk around a little bit and then went to our designated spot. They had people holding signs everywhere so it wasn't hard to find your group.

Our tour first went on a short hike through the rainforest to the glacier. The hike was probably a little over a mile and calling it a hike really is a stretch. There were some uphill bits, but nothing strenuous. However, if you had mobility problems you could have an issue. Again though, with our small group, it was very manageable so the guide really managed the time well with stops discussing what we were seeing and so forth if anyone needed a little break. The walk through the rainforest was beautiful. At the end of the trail there was an opening with a perfect, panoramic view of the glacier.

We did walk down to the little beach in front of the glacier and it provided a great view.

Day 3 - 9/3/15 - Juneau

We were scheduled to arrive in Juneau at about 1:30 and were on time. As you got closer to Juneau the scenery was great so I would recommend getting up and enjoying some of the views.