Cruising to Alaska on the Carnival Spirit - August 10 to 17, 2010

[iggy's mom]

DHI & I returned yesterday from the August 10th sailing on the Carnival Spirit. We had a fabulous time and I thought I would post a review (hopefully with pictures which I have yet been able to do).

 

Three years ago we sailed on Princess in Alaska (Whittier to Vancouver). We fell in love with Alaska and everything we saw and vowed to return sooner rather than later. This time around we choose Carnival for several reasons. Our last two cruises have been on Carnival (Carnival Splendor in May 2009 & the Carnival Dream in April) and we have enjoyed our vacations on the Carnival ships. Plus this time Carnival won hands down when comparing the cost with Princess.

 

[iggy's mom]

Although the cruise did not leave until Tuesday, August 10th we wanted to spend sometime in Seattle.

 

The flight from Orange County (John Wayne) to Seattle took a little under two hours. When we arrived in Seattle, it was what we expected...drizzle and overcast.

 

We stayed from Saturday to Tuesday morning at the Crowne Plaza. The hotel package we booked included breakfast daily plus transportation to the cruise terminal. Once we checked-in we were advised to go visit the Concierge to book our shuttle to the cruise terminal. We were given the choice of 10am, 11am or noon. It's about a 15 minute drive from the hotel to port. We choose 10am but then the Concierge talked us into 11am. Her logic was that we would be bored just sitting around waiting to get on the ship since she said they don't board until after noon. We went back and forth with her and then agreed to the 11am pick up time. Later in the evening we decided we really wanted the 10am pick-up so the next morning we went and changed our pick up back to 10am.

 

On Sunday we purchased a two-day pass for the Grayline hop on/off bus. The closest stop from hotel was just a few block down the street. On Sunday we took it around on its full loop just to see the sites, and since we were going to the Seattle Mariners game that afternoon we used it as transportation to and from the game. On Monday we used the shuttle all day to get off/on at various sites and then also took the shuttle back to Safeco Field as we were seeing the baseball game that night.

[iggy's mom]

A few pictures from Seattle --

Will post more tomorrow evening. We get on the ship!:)

 

 

 

 

[Ashleezmom]

Thanks for the start...can't wait for the rest :D :D

[Linsuesue]

Thanks for posting so quickly upon your return! We sail the Spirit next week, and I'd love to see more of your review and photos before we sail.

[Koval]

 

We stayed from Saturday to Tuesday morning at the Crowne Plaza. The hotel package we booked included breakfast daily plus transportation to the cruise terminal. Once we checked-in we were advised to go visit the Concierge to book our shuttle to the cruise terminal. We were given the choice of 10am' date=' 11am or noon. It's about a 15 minute drive from the hotel to port. We choose 10am but then the Concierge talked us into 11am. Her logic was that we would be bored just sitting around waiting to get on the ship since she said they don't board until after noon. We went back and forth with her and then agreed to the 11am pick up time. Later in the evening we decided we really wanted the 10am pick-up so the next morning we went and changed our pick up back to 10am.

[/quote']

Are you Glad you took the 10:00 Shuttle, we have an 11:00 shuttle in three weeks, so now you have me wondering :p

And did you by chance take the Behind the fun tour of the ship?

Thanks for coming back and posting so soon... Looking forward to hearing more ...

[Hogladyrider]

Welcome home, great start to your review!

 

We sailed Spirit in Alaska in 2009 out of Vancouver and fell in love with Alaska so I am really looking forward to your review and what it was like sailing out of Seattle to Alaska.

 

Boarding in Vancouver was VERY different than all other ports, no VIP boarding and very disorganized but we got thru it.

Susan

[iggy's mom]

Tuesday, April 10th finally arrived! We opened the curtain windows and lo & behold there was blue sky, no clouds, and sun. Little did we know this was fore shadowing the weather we would have throughout 99.99% of our cruise.

 

We were told to be in the lobby 10 minutes before our 10am pick up time, so we found a coffy spot to wait. A little after 10, I went to the Concierge (a different employee from the previous day) to let him know we were downstairs and waiting. He said that it should be "just a few minutes." At 10:20, no driver so, he called the company and they dispatched someone who must have been close by as at 10:30, we were in the car and terrified (:o) as our driver appeared to be in some sort of race and several times drove in the bike lane. It was funny for me to watch DH's expressions.

 

Anyways, we made it to the port at about 10:45. There were no lines, no crowds, just a few people giving their luggage to the porters. Once inside the terminal we completed the health question forms and were checked in by 10:55'ish. We were group 4, and our check-in person told us they should starting calling out the numbers by 11:30am. At about 11:05 they started calling numbers, and we were on the ship at 11:20am! Yahoo!

 

Here's the sign we saw when arriving at the port:

[/img]

[iggy's mom]

Are you Glad you took the 10:00 Shuttle, we have an 11:00 shuttle in three weeks, so now you have me wondering :p

And did you by chance take the Behind the fun tour of the ship?

Thanks for coming back and posting so soon... Looking forward to hearing more ...

 

 

I didn't take the Behind the Fun tour while on the Carnival Spirit, mainly for two reasons. First, I did this tour while on the Carnival Dream in April, so I didn't want to take a similar tour so close together. Second, it's held on the last day on the ship, and I wanted to get the most out of my day. :) I do though highly recommend the tour. I certainly think it was well worth the $100.00.

[happylady]

Sorry, but you can't sleep, eat or work until this review is completed!! :D:D Just kidding!!

 

Can't wait to hear and see more of your trip....makes the 277 days until our Alaskan cruise go by so much faster!!

 

Thanks for sharing with us.

[iggy's mom]

So after boarding the ship and being thrilled to be on so early we decided to wander around and take pictures for a while.

 

After taking pictures for a while we decided to grab some lunch as it was starting to get busier. Before grabbing food, we each got a soda card (sticker).

 

At 1:30 the Maitre D' was available to take table change requests, so at 1 we went to stand in line, and we already #6 in line. When it was our turn, we gave him our request to be moved to a table for 2. He said he wouldn't know if we would be accommodated until the next day. He also said that our options for that night were to eat at our assigned table or to eat at the buffet.

 

After that we went to find our stateroom (8168).

 

At 3:30 the safety briefing occurred. And we sailed at 4pm.

[iggy's mom]

Sorry, but you can't sleep, eat or work until this review is completed!! :D:D Just kidding!!

 

Can't wait to hear and see more of your trip....makes the 277 days until our Alaskan cruise go by so much faster!!

 

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

I will gladly stay home to work on the review. Ha!! :)

 

I hope your 277 days goes by quickly. The 350 days I had to wait seemed like 650!

[mkitchy]

Welcome back! Would you happen to remember who was playing in the Shanghai piano bar? Thanks.:)

[iggy's mom]

Pictures from sail away:

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

Welcome back! Would you happen to remember who was playing in the Shanghai piano bar? Thanks.:)

 

I'm sorry, but I don't remember their name and the Fun Times doesn't list them.

[Ellanora]

Alaska is at the top of my wish list, so I really appreciate you sharing this review! I'm particularly interested in your view since you've done Alaska on Princess also, which is the cruiseline I figured would be best for us for Alaska, mostly because of their land tour offerings. But I do love Carnival, and as you noted, their prices are so much better.

[Koval]

I didn't take the Behind the Fun tour while on the Carnival Spirit' date=' mainly for two reasons. First, I did this tour while on the Carnival Dream in April, so I didn't want to take a similar tour so close together. Second, it's held on the last day on the ship, and I wanted to get the most out of my day. :) I do though highly recommend the tour. I certainly think it was well worth the $100.00.[/quote']

Thank you... My DH was in the Navy for 20 years, and I think he would like to do it...

How was the scenery on that last sea day?

Oh never mind I will wait and read it in your review...

[Ashleezmom]

Pictures from sail away:

 

 

 

 

wow it almost looks like a caribbean cruise...the weather is so nice!!

[cruisinthemed]

except...nobodies in bathing suits!!!

[iggy's mom]

After sail away, discovered that our luggage had been delivered so we unpacked.

 

We had dinner at the buffet. We forgot to bring our camera to dinner, so I don't have any food porn from the first night. I do have pictures of these lovely cakes from the Fountain Cafe! Eventually we did give in to temptation and had a piece.

 

 

 

At 10pm, it was time for the Welcome Aboard Show. On the Carnival Splendor and Dream, we had learned to get to the theater early because when we didn't we had trouble finding spots to sit together. We didn't have that issue on this cruise.

 

Later in the evening we went to Adult Comedy show, which featured Paul Lyons. DH thought he was okay, while I didn't find him funny.

 

After the comedy show, it was time to sleep. We return to our cabin to find Towel Animal #1.

 

[boaterette]

Good revie so far. Thank you.

[iggy's mom]

Wednesday, August 11th -- Sea Day

 

Sea Days are my favorite days while cruising. DH also likes Sea Days but we do totally different things. He either hangs out on the balcony or finds a spot on the ship to hang out and do nothing except read and listen to his iPod. Me, the hand, I'm a "joiner" so I go out and join just about every activity I can.

 

On this day I did the Adult Arts & Crafts, plus several trivia contests. In the afternoon I went to the ice carving demonstration plus to a bit of the talk from the naturalist. In the later afternoon DH & I went to the gym. It was crowded on this day and the staff was walking around and enforcing the 30 minute time limit on the cardio equipment.

[iggy's mom]

Pictures from around the ship.

 

Statue at the covered pool:

 

Atrium bar:

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

More ship pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]