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

[iggy's mom]

I forget how long we were on the Chilkat River, but at least 90 minutes if not two hours.

 

Pictures from the river:

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

After being on the river for about 25 minutes, out boat guide/driver decided to go down a small inlet passage to see if we could find any wildlife. Find wildlife we did! This is why DH was soon thankful we were on the boat we were on.

 

Up ahead we saw...Mamma Moose and Baby Moose

 

 

[iggy's mom]

 

 

 

 

At one point, Mamma Moose noosed Baby Moose onto shore and she was very protective of him/her. Mamma's ears went back and she was in a stare down with our boat. Even me being a "city girl" knew that our boat driver was smart in backing keeping distance between us and her.

 

Soon we let them be and we were on our way out into the main part of the river. Later on the bus ride back to the dock we learned that the other boat did not see Mamma and Baby.

[NeedATan]

Thanks for the review. Your pics are awesome. I love the moose!

[iggy's mom]

A bit more down the river and we started to see Bald Eagles and nests.

 

 

 

More from the river:

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

Soon our time on the river had come to and end. It was time to go back on the bus to get back on the boat to take us back to our home for the week.

 

 

I am not a very good writer so it's hard to put into words but today was fabulous! We agreed that this was the best shore excursion we had ever done! Somewhere on the boat ride back to the pier we agreed that we would be back to Alaska soon, probably in 3 years time. :)

[iggy's mom]

We arrived back at the Carnival Spirit at about 7:30. Since we missed our assigned dining time, we grabbed some pizza up on the Lido deck.

 

We watched sailaway and went to the Gender Showdown. There wasn't a show in Pharaoh's Palace tonight, rather a movie (Hurt Locker) was being shown there. We didn't watch it and we also skipped Punchliner Comedy Club as the same two comedians were repeating their shows.

 

Soon it was time to get some sleep so we would be rested the next day for Juneau.

 

Towel Animal #4:

[ajhunt2]

Can I just say how JEALOUS i am you got to see the meese????? I have an obsession with moose so i'm really hoping we'll get luck like you and see one. Guess that means we need to book an excursion that will get us there....

[iggy's mom]

Saturday, August 14 - Juneau

 

This morning started out overcast, a bit windy, and chilly. When we got off the ship, we had several layers on but as the day went it on it warmed up nicely.

 

Morning pictures:

 

 

 

There were two other ships in port with us. The Sea Princess and the Seven Seas Navigator both arrived sometime either late morning or early afternoon.

[ILUVCRUZEN]

Thanks for review and pictures. Alaska is beautiful:)

[iggy's mom]

We started out the morning by walking around the pier area.

 

 

 

 

Soon, it was time to go back to the pier, and find the bus for our shore excursion. The one we booked for Juneau was called Alaska Salmon Bake, Mendenhall Glacier and Hatchery.

 

The excursion began with the bus ride out to Mendenhall Glacier. Once there we had about an hour, maybe a bit longer to explore, take picture and visit the visitors center.

 

[iggy's mom]

There is a walk way that leads to the spot where bears are often seen feeding.

 

 

There is a beautiful waterfall that can be walked to.

 

Mendenhall Glacier pictures:

 

 

[iggy's mom]

 

 

After our time at the Glacier was over, it was time to go to the salmon hatchery. We had about 20 minutes at the hatchery, which was plenty. We got a brief overview of what they do and then we explored with center.

 

One of the tanks with a bunch of salmon

 

After the salmon hatchery, it was time to re-board the bus for the quick driver over to the salmon bake, which was very nice.

 

 

[iggy's mom]

At the salmon bake, besides lunch you can toast marshmallows and explore the area.

 

 

 

 

There were two dogs at the salmon bake. Since I am terrified of dogs, guess who they wanted to make their new best friend? Yep, me!

 

[iggy's mom]

When we arrived at the salmon bake we were told that we would take different buses back into town. We were also told how often they run, etc. We choose to get the first bus back into town. We got off at the first stop and walked through town back to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

More pictures of Juneau and some from sailaway:

 

 

 

The line to get back on the ship:

 

 

[iggy's mom]

After sail away, we hit the gym, which was busy. And soon it was time for dinner.

 

DH had is usual of shrimp and Caesar salad. I had my usual of the fruit and I also had the Spring Mix salad.

 

For dinner DH had Tom Turkey, while I had the Veal Parmigiana. We each liked the dish we choose.

 

 

 

For dessert, we each had the apple pie.

 

The main production show on this night was Singin' with the Big Band. DH seemed to enjoy it more than me. There was also two new comedians on board, so we went to one of the R-Rated comedy shows. The comedian we saw on this night was Tom McGillen and we both thought he was very funny.

 

Towel Animals #5:

[mohavemommy]

I am LOVING all of this! Please keep posting. :D

 

[Ashleezmom]

Was there some type of entertainment at the Salmon Bake? (besides the dogs) ;)

[iggy's mom]

Was there some type of entertainment at the Salmon Bake? (besides the dogs) ;)

 

No, not really. Just some guy playing the guitar and singing.

[iggy's mom]

Sunday, August 15 -- Ketchikan

 

We were up bright and early this day. Arrival into Ketchikan is at 7am and the back on board time in 12:30pm. The time in port went by all too fast and we thought was too short.

 

There were two other ships all ready in port when we arrived. They are the Radiance of the Sea and the Infinity.

 

 

We snapped a few pictures while we were coming into dock.

 

 

[iggy's mom]

The shore excursion we booked for Ketchikan was called Best of Kechikan by Land & Sea.

 

 

The excursion started out with a bus ride to the Saxman Village to view the totem poles.

 

 

 

 

 

[mrpayroll]

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.

 

Sometimes higher prices are jutified. We did Alaska on Princess ( 12 night ) land and sea tour and it was Fantastic.....

[iggy's mom]

After the stop at the totem poles, the bus ride then continued on to the Libby Cannery. We had a tour of the old cannery and learned about how the salmon were processed.