Italy52

@Coral, beautiful pictures. We have never been to the gardens. You did the ship's excursion, right? If so, did you have enough time at the gardens to take everything in? **Oops, it looks like you were posting at the same time as I was asking. Found the answers in your post.

@lobsternight, thank you for sharing your early season experience, I appreciate it. Glad to hear you had a great cruise.

After reading the above post, there is no way that I would want to attempt the itinerary with Monterey showing as a port stop. After what we went through this past April, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Just my 2 cents.

We were on that same cruise --- what a mess and not one of my favorite cruises.

I did NOT want a refund, all I wanted to know if it is possible to move that money to another cruise.

Thank you for your post, I appreciate it. It definitely seems that Carnival doesn't want to loose customers, good PR move on their part.

Thank you very much for the positive feedback, I appreciate it very much.

We saw the popcorn in February and April on the Discovery Princess.

@2206, thanks for the excursion information, I appreciate it. Love hearing about everyone's excursions as it gives me some hope that although independent vendors might not be available, it looks like we can find cruise line shore excursions. Glacier viewing as well as a good whale watching tour is always the highlight of our cruises.

@Ferry_Watcher, thanks. Bering Sea Crab Fishermen is a great excursion and we will probably redo that one again. In Juneau, my favorite independent whale watching vendor won't be operating when we are there so I will probably see if my back up choice will work. And, of course, when going to ISP we always use Glacier Wind for another whale watching tour --- I just don't know if they will be operational when we stop there. Once Teresa posts her 20204 schedule I will have a better idea if it is a "go" or not.

@2206, thank you for the great information, I appreciate it. Would you mind sharing with me your ship tour names, it would help me get a feel for what vendors might be doing things. Glad you had a wonderful trip.

Thank you for your kind post, I appreciate it.

Thank you all for your responses, I appreciate them. We will be cruising 4/23/24-5/7/24 on Carnival. We don't usually sail with this cruise line but it is offering a unique itinerary and we were attracted to it. A long time CC poster once said that she liked Carnival in Alaska and people should give it a try --- well "Budget Queen," I think we will in 2024. I have searched and asked on the Carnival board if anyone could provide me with excursion information and came up with a fat goose egg. Can anyone who cruised on any cruise line in early season tell me if your cruise ship offered excursions or if you found independent vendors that were operating? On the Carnival website I found a few excursions posted but not much at this point. @SightCRRthanks for your post, I am trying to check every resource available (even YouTube).

Thank you for the reference. I am currently following the HAL 14-day thread -- very interesting.

@TeresaJ and @kelkel2, thank you both for your kind responses and for providing me with the information I was looking for. I have NO intentions of cancelling the cruise but sometimes circumstances beyond our control happen. At this point, we are fine but there is a possibility that might change. The thought that there might be options and I could possibly move the cruise (even with a penalty) to a later date is comforting.

Thank you for your kind reply, I appreciate it. I am not new to cruising only Carnival and wondered if there were options IF I have to cancel. I do have insurance but wondered if I could work with the system if need be.

We had no plans to cancel. Unfortunately, something has come up beyond our control. It would be nice if you could just answer the question rather than be judgemental..

We are going on the Spirit to Alaska next year -- thanks for your post. Is it possible you could answer a few questions for me about the cruise --- in particular, I was wondering if Carnival offered any excursions in ports since it is early season. Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.

If you put a non-refundable deposit down on a Carnival cruise will they allow you to move that cruise date and not loose the deposit? Just curious.

Hello. We will be on the Carnival Spirit to Alaska next April for 14 days. I was wondering if you could tell me what your sailing dates were and if you could answer any questions regarding excursions that you took.

We are doing a Carnival Spirit 14 day cruise next year with the sailing date of April 23-May 7, 2024. Did anyone do an early season cruise this year? If so, I have a few questions for you.

@MBP&O2/O, This is Italy 52. If you look at your post above (#14), I think you attached my name to a post that I did not do.

I know you are on the cruise right now --- do you happen to have any pictures of what you saw on the excursion? Would love to see them if you do --- your pictures are always so beautiful to look at.

@Northern Aurora, thanks for posting about Valdez. We will be on Carnival Spirit next year and one of our port stops is Valdez. Since it is a ways off, Carnival has not posted any excursions. With that being said, Stan Stephens boat charter is one excursion I had read about in a CC's post a few years back and it peaked our interest.

Thanks, do you still have my email address? If not, I can email you with it.