Onboard Legend to Alaska June 2016

Wait....hammock on the balcony? Is this just for Alaska cruises or something new?

 

And congrats on finishing chemo!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. The hammock is certainly not standard issue, we bring it ourselves. We've done it for Mexican cruises and our trip to Roatan/Belize, and thought, why not for Alaska. It is a lot cooler, for sure, but right now we're parked at Skagway, and he's out relaxing in it right now, much less wind than when we are underway. Nothing beats being rocked in it while we are sailing, you just can't stay out there for long.

Here's a few more random photos:

The new-fangled coffee machine we spotted in a couple of spots in the Lido restaurant. Notice the fresh beans in one of the top containers, and the cocoa. There was a separate Decaf model next door:

Close-up of the buttons:

Walking back from dinner last night at 9:15 pm - notice how light it is still outside!!

Reposting the earlier ones from Sunset & Sunrise, because I moved the photos into an album and may have killed the links:

Here’s a picture of the sunset last night (although through the front camera channel on the TV) taken at 11pm.

Here’s the sunrise, same view, at 4:15 am this morning. Crazy, right?

__________________

FYI, I'm posting all of this via my cellphone - I'm getting good AT&T cell service here, so I created my own hotspot to use my laptop. No need to buy the wifi service, since I was fine being incommunicado for a few days.

Today was Skagway.

We arrived in port around 7am, but we’re moving slow today. Our sleeping is kind of jacked up, with traveling, napping, and early sunrise / late sunset combinations. Had a late lunch & headed into town. We docked at the Railroad Pier, so got to see the White Pass Train take off right below us.

At the end of the pier the City Shuttle bus picks you up to take you to town if you like. $2 pp/one way, or $5 day pass. It makes about 7 stops through the town. We took it to the end of town so we could see how it was laid out. Then we walked to the Museum/City Hall nearby, then stopped at the Skagway Brewery for a beer & pretzel snack. Here's a fun fact, the miners were suffering from scurvy back in the day, due to lack of Vitamin C. It was discovered that the Spruce tips were a good source of Vitamin C, so the miners took to putting them in their tea. One thing led to another, and they started making beer from it. I had a Spruce Tip Blonde Ale, very tasty.

After that rest, we took our time walking down the original boardwalk-lined main street. Very pretty downtown, with about 90% of the buildings actually original to the Gold Rush days. It was fun poking through the shops and picking up some inexpensive souvenirs, and checking out the local Ace Hardware Store - picked up an Alaska corkscrew, since we had forgotten to bring one along with our bottles of wine. Then took the Shuttle bus back to the ship.

One other difference I noticed on this ship is in the Casino with Let It Ride. They don’t use an auto-shuffler like on the other ship’s I’ve sailed with. The dealer just shuffles the same deck about 3 times between hands. He cuts in half and shuffles them together, then draws small groups off the top to the bottom (about 4-5 times to get through the entire deck), then cuts in half and shuffles them together again, then cuts the deck in half, and deals the hand. I’m sure it impacts the hands, but not clear whether it’s good or bad. I have heard that it takes 7 ‘shuffles’ to sufficiently randomize a deck of cards.

I've done ok with it so far, except last night when I couldn't seem to get any winning hands. We'll see later tonight.

Oops, I realized I didn't post pictures of the Atlantis Lobby Bar/future Alchemy bar menu. Here they are:

THANK YOU for the live trip report!! Love it! We leave on the 12th.

I can't believe how bright it is at 9:15 pm!!!

Can't wait to hear more! :)

THANK YOU for the live trip report!! Love it! We leave on the 12th.

 

I can't believe how bright it is at 9:15 pm!!!

 

Can't wait to hear more! :)

I know! Can't wait!! And we actually bought a portable hammock at Sports Authority tonight, after I told my husband about this! LOL! With their going out of business sale, it was like $40! And it comes in a little pouch, easy to store!

Would you say you need the small boat if you are in Endicott Arm? Could you see the glacier well enough from the ship?

Thanks

I just disembarked the Legend this week and did the small boat excursion. If you can fit into your budget, it is so worth it. It is amazing, and you get so much closer to the glacier than the ship. This was my favorite part of the cruise! I would pay to do it again in a heart beat. We emailed and booked the excursion before the cruise.

Thanks so much for posting, we go in September, and don't think we will have the short night, long day situation (which I am actually sad about)

Glad to know you are doing better. DH started a chemo therapy via a chemo pill two months ago, all sorts of weird side effects, so I am glad you are enjoying your trip cause I know how hard it can be. Cant wait for more pics, and enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Random notes:

Platinum gift was Blue Tervis Tumblers.

Platinum/Diamond Party - 4:45pm-5:30 on Saturday (after leaving Juneau) - Usual cocktails and 4 different appetizers, tubs of beer and lemonade at tables in the front. 3 guessing games for prizes, and new video - all ships are shown, 3 per line, with people cheering for the ones they had been on. Only two diamond passengers on this ship. No recognition for milestone cruisers (that would be a nice touch, I think). Captain and 5-6 other officers present. Very nice reception.

We had fabulous sunshine for our day in Juneau - very unexpected, according to the locals we chatted with. We walked a few blocks into the downtown area and stopped at the Alaskan Brewery Store. From there we arranged a shuttle to their brewery outside of town for a tour and tasting. The cost is $20pp, and included the shuttle both ways, tour (with 3 set tastings) and then a stop in the tasting room with 3 other tastings of your choice. Also included was a beer cozy to take home. All in all, very nice. I did see where you could just purchase the tour & 6 tastings for $5pp once you were there. There was a couple who ended up walking from the ship to the brewery - about 6 miles. They said it wasn’t bad, but they arranged to hitch a ride back on our shuttle, the driver agreed for $5 pp. If you are a larger group, it might be cheaper to catch a cab out there and pay for the tour there, but don’t know the availability of the cabs going back. Very informative talk about the origins of the brewery, etc. (not a walking tour, just in the original area of the brewery where you can see all the machinery, etc.

Today we are in Ketchikan, and unfortunately, the rain has finally caught up with us. Very cloudy, and mostly drippy weather. Not bad, actually, we had just been so lucky up until now.

We got off around 10am and walked down a few blocks to Annabelle’s. We had been there before in 1998 on our previous Alaskan cruise, and DH still has the t-shirt he purchased there. In fact, he wore it today, and picked up another one. Walked through the local shops and contributed to the local economy.

A nice day, but we are only here until 12:30, so a quick port stop. We could hear the hooting & hollering from the Lumberjack show at the end of the pier area. We had considered going, but ended up skipping it. I’m sure it was good, it sounded like everyone was having fun. It does look like the bleachers are all under cover, so it happens rain or shine.

As I type this, 1 hr before we leave, the sun is actually trying to peak out, and the rain seems to have stopped. I think I’ll go out on the balcony and see if I can see a rainbow…

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise. Will be going in August, can't wait.

Naoma

The hammock is really awesome! How do you hang it up?

I cruise on the 12th and now I want to do that too!!!

Really enjoying your live report! We're on the Legend in August. Is the hammock an ENO? My daughter has one of those, I may have her pack it!!

One other difference I noticed on this ship is in the Casino with Let It Ride. They don’t use an auto-shuffler like on the other ship’s I’ve sailed with. The dealer just shuffles the same deck about 3 times between hands. He cuts in half and shuffles them together, then draws small groups off the top to the bottom (about 4-5 times to get through the entire deck), then cuts in half and shuffles them together again, then cuts the deck in half, and deals the hand. I’m sure it impacts the hands, but not clear whether it’s good or bad. I have heard that it takes 7 ‘shuffles’ to sufficiently randomize a deck of cards.

 

I've done ok with it so far, except last night when I couldn't seem to get any winning hands. We'll see later tonight.

 

Oops, I realized I didn't post pictures of the Atlantis Lobby Bar/future Alchemy bar menu. Here they are:

 

We got off on June 28 . Intan and Zophia in Atlantis were fantastic

Thanks so much for posting such great details! I am very sorry to hear about your diagnosis and hope you are doing better and happy to hear it didn't interfere with your trip [emoji846]

You have mentioned a couple times "future"' Alchemy bar...any talk on board about a dry dock happening and getting Alchemy, Guys Burgers, Blue iguana, etc?

We are booked on the Legend for June 2017 and my kids love Guys and Blue Iguana so are fingers are crossed. Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

So about 3 weeks prior to our cruise, we got an email notice that we had met the minimum required for a Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle onboard the ship. YAY! It said that the date and time would be posted in the Fun Times newsletter the night before. I read that thing, front to back each and every day, and never saw it. Here we are, on the last day and no Meet & Mingle. In fact, we were seated with another couple at Sea Day Brunch this am who were also C&C members, and they never saw a notice either. Carnival really dropped the ball, sorry to say. If your cruise is scheduled to have one, perhaps check with Guest Services on the first couple of days and ask them about the timing. Perhaps if we had done so, the meeting may have actually happened.

Another strange item or two from the casino. They appear to have horse-racing, where you can place bets on races pretty much every day. However, the races are computer generated, not actual horse races from around the country. Not exactly sure how the betting happens; if its through some sort of kiosk or the casino cage.

In addition to the electronic poker tables, now it looks like they have electronic blackjack tables. I don’t know if they were actually functioning or not, because I never saw anyone sitting at them. I just went down before the casino closed (it closes early at 3:30pm), before we get to Victoria, and doesn’t open again, since we dock tomorrow morning. I got a few pictures of the blackjack tables. It appears that the entire ‘table’ deals at once, for all seats occupied during that round, otherwise it would just be individual slot machines like they have in Vegas. Minimum bet is $5, and it has the Fun Pairs bet avail.

Another beautiful day at sea for us, we certainly won the Weather Lottery. Sunny today out on Serenity Deck. It’s 4th of July today, so they are showing Captain America-Winter Soldier today in the Firebird Lounge, and Independence Day this evening in the show lounge. Lots of red, white & blue balloons, and icy drinks around.

All in all, we had a fabulous cruise. Very relaxing, because that’s the way we chose to do it. Food was great, as always, and we had fantastic service all around. We will be sure to name everyone individually as we usually do during our surveys.

Customs is a little different than we’ve experienced. Because we were cruising through Alaska, we only have to claim on our customs forms items that we purchased onboard. Our duty-free allotment states: $800 from all onboard purchases, 1 liter of alcohol (if over 21) 1 carton of cigarettes (if over 18), 100 non-cuban cigars (if over 18)

One more thing I learned the hard way, so I thought I’d document it here. It was my birthday month, so Carnival graciously left a card in our room with a lovely gift - a free 6x9 Cruise Collectable photo. - Pay attention to those words, because I didn’t. We generally don’t get our photos taken getting on/off the ship, or at dinner, etc. we just aren’t photogenic people, and never see any photo that we like well enough to purchase. Well, I told DH that we were going to have some taken on our way to dinner to try and get a nice one to use my coupon on. So, I looked though any I found, getting on the ship, with the pirate, etc., all were pretty bad, so I tossed them. Finally, on the last elegant night we had someone pose us for just head shots, and finally found one we liked. Took it to the cashier, and she explained the coupon is only good for the Cruise Collectables (getting on/off the ship, dining, etc.) and not the ProPhotos - (posing in front of backdrops). Oh, my bad, guess I didn’t pay attention to the fine print. Now, we have to try & get one getting off the ship in Victoria (we weren’t planning on going off the ship at all) and one at dinner tonight, to see if we can get a decent shot. Oh well, live and learn, but I thought I’d put the info out there, in case it helps anyone else.

Thank you so much for this review! We're cruising Alaska on the Legend in April. :) And I wish you a speedy recovery and good health. :)

Thanks for the great information! Do you remember which days you were able to pick up cell phone service without using the ship's resources? Were you able to get it in all of the ports? We're a little concerned about some things at home and are hoping that we'd be able to at least get text messages or have contact at least at some point during most of the days.

Thanks for any insight you can provide, we sail on July 19th!

Thanks for the great information! Do you remember which days you were able to pick up cell phone service without using the ship's resources? Were you able to get it in all of the ports? We're a little concerned about some things at home and are hoping that we'd be able to at least get text messages or have contact at least at some point during most of the days.

 

Thanks for any insight you can provide, we sail on July 19th!

We got great AT&T service in all 3 ports, and had it for a while after leaving Seattle. I have heard that people with 'burner' phones, (not on a contract) do not always work in the ports, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

I was able to use my cellular plan, and create my own hotspot to get online fully on my laptop. It worked well for me, so I never had to get a wifi plan onboard.

Yay, we got another bounce-back offer - The casino hosts treated us very well, but I know it’s because we treat the casino staff very well. We consistently place bets for the dealers, and often they make money over the night, while we lose. However, we consider this a portion of our entertainment budget, and it allows us to cruise more often. Works all around.

Last bits of information. We left the ship at Pier 91 and took a taxi to Pier 69, where we were taking the Victoria Clipper back to Victoria. My sister (the sister) is in a convent in Duncan, about 1.5 hours outside of Victoria, and we planned to spend a couple of nights at the monastery there to visit. Carnival wouldn't allow us to debark in Victoria, something about Homeland Security not allowing it anymore, except for medical emergencies. It was a little bit of a bummer to have to pay to go back there, but oh well. We were able to drop our luggage off about 9:30, even though our ferry wasn't leaving until 3:15pm. We then took our time strolling down the waterfront, all the way down to about Pier 57. We had clam chowder at Ivar's, did some shopping, and had a nice day. No real rain, just cloudy. Our trip to to Victoria took about 3 hours, and wasn't too choppy on the catamaran.

On Thursday we returned to Victoria and took the 11:30 am ferry back to Seattle, arriving about 2:15. After going though customs, we grabbed a quick taxi to Hotel Five, where we had a reservation. Really nice hotel, comfy beds. It's right on 5th, under the monorail tracks. We walked down about 5 blocks and grabbed the light rail down to Pioneer Square and took the Underground Tour of Seattle. Really interesting to see and hear about the history - well worth the $20 pp. It did have more stairs than I was really thinking, but I made it through it. We then stopped at a small Italian place, Cafe Bengodi. It was excellent - lots of food, but really small, only seating about 30 people.

Tomorrow, after breakfast, we'll take the light rail down to the airport and be on our way home. We had a fantastic trip.

Thanks for the great information! Do you remember which days you were able to pick up cell phone service without using the ship's resources? Were you able to get it in all of the ports? We're a little concerned about some things at home and are hoping that we'd be able to at least get text messages or have contact at least at some point during most of the days.

 

Thanks for any insight you can provide, we sail on July 19th!

We have cruised to Alaska twice now and can confirm AT&T should work in Seattle and all ports. My husband has Straight Talk and did not have service. We were planning to move to Juneau last September and were told AT&T is generally the only service provider in the area.