MistyRo76

Excited for this one....I was literally just looking at this cruise on the same ship for 2026 - for my 50TH birthday/spring break cruise! 🙂 I've done one Mex. Riviera cruise but it was in 2010 and and didn't include La Paz. So I'm totally here for this one! 🙂

Here is John's full post this morning on the plans for the current and next sailings on the Carnival Legend due to the bridge collapse in Baltimore. Good Wednesday morning everyone and it’s 8:30am here so time for me to start answering your questions. Last night our President Christine and the beards made the decision that while rescue and remediation efforts continue in Baltimore Harbor following the collapse of the Key Bridge, it will temporarily move Carnival Legend’s Baltimore operations to Norfolk, Virginia. Carnival Legend is scheduled to return from its current voyage on Sunday, March 31. It will now return to Norfolk on Sunday, and guests will be provided complimentary bus service back to Baltimore. Carnival Legend’s next seven-day itinerary on March 31 will then operate from and return to Norfolk. Guests on the current and upcoming cruises are being informed of this change. I see many of you have been asking “ what about my cruise “ and understandably so. Obviously we want to return to Baltimore as soon as possible but it is impossible at this time for us to say when that will happen. So for now we will be informing guests about embarkation for the cruise departing on Sunday, 31st only. We will promise to let guests know for future voyages as soon as we are able. I am sure, I am positive you understand. I read the thousands of comments here yesterday, many from people who live in Baltimore. The overall sense I get is that the city hasn’t just lost a bridge, it has lost something that was a massively important part of everyday life. If you are from the Baltimore area please do share your thoughts below, I will be here, we will be here to listen. Thank you, John

We took our 9-year-old daughter on a cruise last fall and she would be in the same age group as your 11-year-old. We took her the first night of the cruise for their welcome aboard event just before our dinner. We were hoping she would meet a couple of kids her age that she could play with throughout the week. She did make a couple friends, but she did not enjoy Camp Ocean at all. It was too regimented for her. If they would have just let them play as they wanted to, she would have enjoyed it more. But they seemed to have limited "free play" times. It was usually structured activities. And it was very chaotic in there. Maybe that settled down later in the week?? She only went back one other time during one of their late night "Night Owls" parties. But again, she only wanted to stay for an hour or so and then she was over it. Again, this was just her experience, and your kiddos may feel completely differently about it. I will also say that on the Sunshine, the pick-up/drop-off was a challenge as well. When I went to pick her up the first night, there was a huge line of people dropping kids off. I waited in line close to 10 minutes, then finally just made my way up to the front to see if I could just grab my kid. She had privileges to sign herself out and I could see her in the back. She kept telling me they wouldn't let her go. Finally, i got the attention of one of the staff and told her that she's allowed to sign herself out and they finally let her go. I would have been in that line an hour if I hadn't just gone up front. They need to have a better system for differentiating between people dropping off and those picking up. We also did the Halloween Trick or Treat Scavenger Hunt. We had to go to the check in desk to get our map for the hunt. It was a zoo again! Just a bad layout for an area that can get really busy. This aspect will likely vary by ship though.

I haven't gotten an upgrade offer in many years. Last one I recall was on a cruise where we had a large group sailing together and the majority of our cabins were near each other, including our cabin being next to my mom and my sister's cabins. We had our young toddler with us and they were going to help with her a couple nights so the hubby and I could go out and enjoy the nightlife. We didn't want to be separated so it was a no for us. In my younger years (20's to early 30's), I booked our cabins more for price than location. We were young, single adults and didn't spend hardly any time in our cabins. I didn't really care what was above or below us. But now - that is the first thing I check! I also tend to book balconies these days. Nice to have the extra room when traveling with the kiddo!

I saw another video that shows the lights going off on the ship as it was coming under the bridge, then turning back off. Then you can see dark smoke coming from the ship. Then the lights go off/on one more time before it finally makes contact with the bridge. It seems like there was some loss of power or a mechanical issue prior to the impact. What a horrific accident. Water temps are around 48 degrees in that area right now with overnight air temps in the low 40's. Hard to believe someone could sustain life in those temps for very long. Praying for everyone involved in this tragedy!

We will be in Juneau from 7AM to 3PM and would like to do both a Whale Watching Tour and the Gold Creek Salmon Bake. Has anyone done both of these tours on a cruise stop with a similar amount of time in port? I was initially looking at using Harv & Marv or Jayleen, but I did find a couple tour company sites that offer tours that include both activities. The sites are Alaska Travel Adventures and Alaska Shore Excursions. Are there any other companies who offer this combo tour? Is anyone familiar with Alaska Travel Adventures or Alaska Shore Excursions? Would love direct feedback on these companies! Has anyone been able to use Harv & Marv or Jayleen and been able to combine the tour with a drop off at Gold Creek for the Salmon Bake? Also, how early do these Whale Watching tour typically start? It looks like the lunch Salmon Bakes are at 11AM and 12PM. Thanks!

I'm looking at Harv & Marv...but also looking at Jayleen as well. Jayleen will work with you on timing and drop off locations if you have a second tour booked. And we would love to try to fit in the salmon bake along with whale watching. So that may tip us toward Jayleen instead. But if not, Harv & Marv are my next choice!

We're still 500+ days out and we have quite a few people still deciding if they want to go with us or not. But I want to get excursions booked asap so all the reasons you mentioned!

Thanks for the photos! They are gorgeous! The excursion is already listed and they actually have it under Tracy Arm Fjord. We have already planned to book it and I can't wait! It is pricey, but I've read from several people that it is more than worth it!

Thanks for the detailed info! I think we'll definitely do that sled tour in Skagway! Do you know if there's time to do both the sled dog and a train tour? Did you book the sled dog tour through a local company or thru the ship? I also think we will do whale-watching in Juneau. For Ketchikan - I would love to do a bear encounter. But one would be $1500 for our family and the less expensive one says it's for 12+ only. But that Bering Tour caught my eye as well. I think my girl would love that! And so would the hubby! Wonder if there's time to do that and the lumberjack show? If not, we may just do a chill day in Ketchikan with the lumberjack show and just exploring Creek Street and checking out the totems downtown and trying all the food!

Nice! Never knew to do that! Thank you!

Who did you book this through? And was this in Skagway?

Yes - it's just the 8-midnight stop to satisfy the international requirements. But I've read it's still nice to get off and take the shuttle into the city and walk around. The pics I've seen show that Victoria is really beautiful at night all lit up! We have 8:15 assigned dinner, but I'm thinking we may do the Steakhouse this night earlier and get off and walk around for an hour or two. But we'll see! We may be wiped out by then and want to just chill!

Can't wait!

I'm already about 1/2 way through your Alaska posts! And I showed my kiddo your pics and videos of the bears. She was in love! Thank you for sharing your travels!

Thanks! I think I did come across some of their video's from looking at cabin videos posted on cruiseshipdeckplans website. Then I went somewhat down their rabbit hole! LOL But I'll need to circle back and check them out again! Thank you!

Yes! YouTube is my next stop! 🙂

Hi all! I tried to use the search function, but I'm either terrible at it or it's just not a user-friendly search engine (it's probably me, TBH! 😆). But I am looking for any detailed trip reviews w/ photos on Carnival Alaska cruises (bonus points if it's also on the Spirit!). In major info gathering mode for our first Alaskan cruise! I know we likely want to do a whale watching tour and my daughter really wants to interact with some sled dogs (don't need to pay the $$$$ for the glacier sledding tour - and that probably won't be happening based on our cruise date anyway). But still very open to things to do on our port stops - Juneau/Skagway/Ketchikan/Victoria. Thanks!

We aren’t looking to spending $1500 on one excursion. So the encounter at the farm and pulling on wheels would be fine. Thank you!

We’re going next August - 2025. Would Jayleen’s tours already be full a year and a half out? I’ll check out the YouTube video…thanks!

We’re going the very beginning of August.

We depart from Seattle.

How long does the Salmon Bake take including the shuttle there and back? Would this be possible to fit in after a whale watching tour? We're in Juneau from 7-3. Thanks,

I didn't go through the whole thread, so you may have already made your decision. But I was in the same boat (no pun intended) as I looked into planning our first Alaska cruise. My initial research, like yours, was pointing more to Princess. We will have our 10-year-old daughter with us, and HAL did not seem like the best fit for traveling with children. We are typically Carnival cruisers for our Caribbean/Bahamas sailings, so that is very much my comfort zone. I initially wasn't even going to look into Carnival based on the recommendations for Alaska being so skewed toward Princess. I was also initially looking at one-way cruises (Anchorage to Vancouver, etc.) based on what I'd read here. After much back and forth in my brain, we ended up booking the Carnival Spirit, 7-day, round-trip from Seattle....exactly everything that I was leaning away from in the beginning. Here is what swayed our opinion: 1. Cost - I narrowed my search down to two similar itineraries/dates on Carnival and Princess. We decided on early August as the weather seems to still be more favorable, but prices start coming down after July. We also need to be back before school for the kiddo starts. I also decided against the one-way itineraries mainly due to the added expense/time for traveling there via the airlines. As mentioned, we will have our daughter and my in-laws may travel with us as well. My MIL has severe restless leg syndrome so we wanted to minimize the air travel as much as possible for her. Comparing as close of apples to apples as I could, the Princess itinerary round-trip from Seattle was about $1100 more just for the basic fare than the Carnival cruise. Additionally, we may have a larger group of family/friends join us for this cruise. Booking Princess may be too expensive for others to consider. 2. Traveling with our daughter - she loves Carnival! And their children's offerings are great for her. I want to make sure she has plenty to keep her entertained for the times we are on the ship. I think there is also a better chance of having more kids on the Carnival itinerary since the lower costs makes it more affordable for larger families. 3. Given this is our first trip to Alaska, I think it will be a great introduction to all this beautiful state has to offer. I think the hubby would very much like to book another trip to Alaska in a few years just the two of us. We can splurge more then. 4. With the cost savings by choosing Carnival, we can easily spend more on our excursions. Hope this helps! Don't feel forced into something that feels right. I'm learning there is NO wrong way to see Alaska! If you want to see more after your first trip there, you can always book another or do a land trip!

Just booked our first Alaska cruise on the Carnival Spirit for next August. Right now, it is myself, my husband and our 10-year-old (at the time of the cruise) daughter. My sister has also booked the cruise and I expect more friends and family to join us as well. My daughter really wants to see the sled dogs and whales! Like really, really bad! Our ports of call are Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Which of these ports would have the best offerings for a sled dog tour and whale watching experience (not at the same time of course)? Given we will likely have a larger group, we are very open to booking private excursions. So, if there are tour vendors that come highly recommended, please pass those along as well!