Linsuesue

My absolute favorite item was the Roasted Wild Mushroom Bisque. I actually got the recipe from the chef, but have never made it. The recipe makes 100 portions so it would involve much math to cut it down to household size. It also contains 25 ingredients! I have had different mushrooms soup on different ships, but this remains my favorite. My guess is that it isn’t on any of the new menus. 🥣🍄‍🟫

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Any helicopter evacuation from a ship at sea is done free of charge to the patient.  The US has agreed under the UN's SAR (search and rescue) convention to take responsibility for SAR missions around our coasts, and most of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, and under the SAR convention, this service is provided free.  "Evacuation" insurance does not cover evacuation from the ship, only from whatever land hospital you were evacuated to, to a hospital of your choice in your home town.  And, in fact, sending a Coast Guard cutter to make an evacuation is free as well, as is sending a police or pilot boat for a close in evacuation.

   I thank you so much for your insight on this! I guess you could spend a pretty penny getiing from a land hospital back home. I am amazed that the evacuation at sea is free! There is much to learn about maritime rules and regulations. 

1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, the ship's Captain, the ship's doctor, the flight crew, and the, in this case, Air Force flight surgeon made the decision that the risk of winching the patient, and spending a couple of hours in a helicopter with marginal life support systems (even though it is a fully equipped medevac helicopter), outweighed the additional time with the life support systems of the ship to get closer.  The patient apparently had a perforated bowel, and time was critical.  And, if this had been anywhere else in the world, it would have waited for the ship to get closer to land, taking more time, to send out a helicopter, as almost no one on earth has aerial refueling helicopters besides the US.

  I wonder if the vacation protection plan covers Air Force helicopters and refueling runs? I thought the price for 1 Coast Guard Helicopter was high! It just shows how important it is to have some kind of vacation insurance, because anything can happen. 

8 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Coast Guard helicopters cannot refuel in flight.  That is why the Air Force was tasked with the long range mission on Venezia, because they have the capability of inflight refueling.

So the ship didn’t have time to get closer to the east coast and only Air Force helicopters could get out that far? 

We have stayed in both of those cabins on the Spirit, Pride, and Miracle. We were never disturbed by any noise from the restaurant below. Those 2 vista view suites are the best suites around! 

   Our cruise to Hawaii on the Miracle had to have someone evacuated. We were about 20 hours out from California and had to turn back to be close enough to the California coast for the helicopters to reach us. I guess refueling the helicopters wasn’t even an option? Our 4 days in Hawaii turned into 3 days, but the man that was evacuated ended up getting heart surgery and recovered well. It was fascinating to watch the skills of the helicopter pilot and crew. 

Deck 4 aft on the Pride and Miracle

I have been on aft balconies on the Spirit, Miracle, and Pride which are sister ships to the Legend. Deck 4 definitely has the best amount of shade from the overhang. We used our balcony rain or shine and also had very little soot on the chairs. 

   If you are looking for an inside cabin for a Spirit class ship, book your inside cabin on deck 1 and then check a couple times every day to try to upgrade to a 4k cabin. They are priced slightly higher than a typical inside cabin but have floor to ceiling windows with obstructed views, a couch and small table.. The life boats are directly outside the windows, but you will at least have a tiny view of the water and great light. We have stayed in them and didn’t have any issues with noise from the the deck 3 venues. Go down the aft stairs 1 deck and you are right at the dining room entrance. Our cruise in July was showing the 4K Inside obstructed view cabins were sold out a couple of months before our final payment date. There was one that popped up just as the final payment date hit. You can find videos of the 4K rooms on Youtube. 

Thanks a million for all of the photos and information! There is a Chicken Shack and Teppenyaki onboard🍗🥢 I will be one happy camper in September. It is a beautiful ship and I am enjoying your preview! 👏👏👏 🥇

On 4/26/2024 at 8:34 PM, Elaine5715 said:

 

How is everybody missing the fact that her backpack was not in an obvious location? 🤦‍♀️ Was it ziptied to the bedsprings-false wall in the closet-cut a hole in the side of the mattress??? If the cabin steward missed the general dirt, fuzz, and grime, why would you feel the need to put your backpack in a not obvious location?🤔 There is no way a lazy steward would go out of the way to look for and take a backpack or belonging that would require bending over or a hands and knees search.

6 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

Their form says "No overweight baggage fees if you sign up on line"

I can just imagine how much that will be abused😆.

 

 

Thanks a million for posting this information!! I high jacked this post by asking, but I hadn’t seen any other Alaska 2024 posts yet. We were the second cruise to Alaska after Covid and Port Valet was not operating then. I really missed that, since we had used it often in the past. I am bringing a group of 30 on the Spirit in July. This service will be such a benefit to all of us.🧳 I especially appreciate you posting the photos of the forms. 👏

On 4/26/2024 at 12:38 PM, n6uqqq said:

The Spirit has moved on to tote bags as of this Tuesday 4/23.

I presume you are on your way to Alaska. Is Carnival doing the Port Valet service now from Seattle?

Cabins usually show up after the final payment date-90 days before sailing. When they do not finish paying, the reservation gets cancelled. Check back then.

Just take a few Tide pods and dryer sheets from home and save a buck or two.

Carnival picking your room is the least of your worries. We are at the mercy of the airlines. 2 years ago American cancelled our flight 12 hours before we were scheduled to leave. Even though we we were planning to arrive the day before the cruise left, it was a nerve wracking amount of chaos to book any flight to get us at or near Tampa. We finally landed at 4:00 am the morning of the cruise. Thnaks to the airline snafu, there was a group of 70+, out of Pennsylvania I think, that missed the ship. They caught up with us in Costa Rica. Nothing would make me fly in the day of the cruise-my blood pressure couldn’t take it!😀

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Yes...they offer a shuttle to the POM. You can only sign up for it I believe as you check in. They'll give you the times available...I think they were...10/11/12/1. We opted for the 11am and it was $14.00pp charged to our final hotel bill. It was quick and easy. Uber/Lyft may have been cheaper but this is what we decided to do last month Feb 23rd.

 

Breakfast was fine....We enjoyed this hotel and will be staying again in May.

Thank you so much for the quick response! I will be traveling with a group of 14 there next January. It is not easy to find a decently rated hotel with a free airport shuttle, free breakfast, nearby restaurants, and a bookable shuttle to get us to the pier that is very reasonably priced. I appreciate your input!!

4 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yes, we have stayed here several times and enjoy the location.  Good Cuban food just across the street.   Also, on a couple of trips, we have gotten a nice made-to-order sandwich at Publix.  It all depends on how tired we are after flying in😉

Do they have a shuttle that can be arranged to take us to the cruiseport? If so, do you arrange it in advance, or set it up when you get to the hotel? How much is it? How was the breakfast?

Post away! We will be on her in September. 

On 2/8/2024 at 3:44 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

The address zip code for Smith Cove is 98119.  Maybe try that and see if will be enough to book a parking spot. 

FYI, the on site parking at Pier 91 is quite large, so I wouldn't worry, but you do need reservations.

Someone in my group will be parking at that garage this July. When they get to the pier 91 should they drive through the drop off line so one of them can get the big bags to the porters from the curb and the other can circle back and park in the parking area? I just want to be able to tell them the most efficient way that they don’t have to drag their luggage too far. Do you know the current price for parking?

The Spirit class is our favorite class of ships! Last time I priced a Spirit vs the Luminosa cruise, the Luminosa was more expensive. The 4K Interior obstructed view are the best deals in the fleet. They are only slightly more than a typical inside cabin, have plenty of space, and floor to ceiling windows with plenty of natural light. The view is pretty well blocked by life boats, but you can still see a bit of water. The location is great too. One floor down and you are at the entrance to the dining room at the aft. Shopping, restaurants, casino, bars…are mostly on decks 2 and 3. Two bad things about the 4K category-it sells out quickly- and you will probably not see a price drop on those rooms. I am bringing a group of 30 on the Spirit this July. Many in the group are in the 4K cabins. That category was sold out 5 months before our sail date. Check out the Jungle on deck 3 for a very interesting fun place to sit with a great view. 

5 hours ago, rbelshaw said:

Fall of '23 there was a door from (possibly) the second floor of the shopping center into the mezzanine level of the hotel. Problem is, you need to have your key card to access it. My recollection is that the outside, street-level walk from the hotel to the shopping center entrance was short and easy- "around the corner" easy- even for a 70 year old guy with mobility issues.

We might have had to use a key card to access that door, but it has been so long ago that I honestly can’t remember that. I just remember that there were a few nice shops to see, some food variety in the food court upstairs, and the easy peasy access to the monorail on the top floor. 

On 3/10/2024 at 8:55 PM, jeromep said:

While I understand that you are asking about public transit, I used Google maps to determine travel times.  If you are moving from SeaTac to the hotel in light traffic, the travel time is not quite 20 minutes.  On the other hand if you use Link, you are looking at 45 minutes.  Plus Link can have some very sketchy characters on board, and isn't very clean.  I'd always do an Uber or Lyft to and from the airport over taking public transit.  Plus, when you get to Westlake you will be underground, and will have to pop up and, by my calculation, have to walk at least 2 blocks to the hotel.  If you Uber, you will be dropped at the door.  Downtown Seattle has a lot of "characters", more than I'm comfortable with anymore.

I fully understand what you are saying. We have been to Seattle 5 times from 2010-2022. It is sad to see the decline of a city that embraces tourism and art. It is shocking to see people set up camp in front of businesses and parks, needles everywhere, and people with drugs down by the waterfront. I might be rethinking our plan to save a buck on the Link and pay more for the security of an Uber. 

Just now, Elaine5715 said:

I used Harv and Marv for whale watching in Juneau.  6 person boat for pretty close to same price as the larger boats.  

We took that same tour many years ago and had a great time!

I am traveling with a group of 28 this July on the Spirit. I have checked the port schedules for how many ships will be at each place we stop. The ports are very full each day so I am telling my group that if they see an excursion they really want to try-they should book it. There is an extent to how many can fit on each whale watching boat, or kayak group, or helicopter and seaplane excursion. I would say book excursions that you really want to do as soon as you can. I love the Spirit and all of the Spirit class ships; you will have a wonderful cruise!