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

[iggy's mom]

After the cannery tour, we then boarded a boat that would take us back to the pier. This was the best part of the tour! Very scenic!

 

 

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

 

At one point, we saw and eagle swoop in and get a salmon. The eagles was having a hard time holding onto the salmon, so she landed on the shore. She landed close to the tree that had her nest and in the nest the two young eagles were giving her "a hard time" for being late with breakfast. It was fun to listen to them and interesting to watch her be protective of her the salmon she caught.

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

Soon we were back at the dock and our time in Ketchikan had our short time in Ketchikan had come and gone.

 

Line to get back on the ship:

 

Sail away:

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

For dinner tonight, DH started with his usual of shrimp cocktail and the caesar salad. I had my usual of the fruit and also had the Corn Chowder.

 

 

For the main meal, DH wasn't thrilled with anything on the menu so he had a steak with baked potato. I had the Grilled Jumbo Shrimps, which I liked.

 

 

 

For dessert, DH had sherbets (when it arrived at the table it was already the puddle it looks like), while I had ice cream.

 

 

 

The production show for tonight was The Big Easy, and it was our favorite production show of the cruise. We also saw the other new comedian tonight. His name was Merl Hobbs and he was our favorite comedian of the cruise.

 

Tonight before going to sleep we had to turn of clocks ahead one hour.

 

Towel Animal #6:

[lgerrish]

I am loving your review and great pictures. We're planning our cruise to Alaska for next August and cannot wait!

[Newtocruise2011]

These are great pictures! One thing I have noticed that I haven't heard anyone else talk about.... These LINES to get back onto the ship after a port. They look really long! Do they move quick? What was the longest you waited to get back onto the ship?

[iggy's mom]

These are great pictures! One thing I have noticed that I haven't heard anyone else talk about.... These LINES to get back onto the ship after a port. They look really long! Do they move quick? What was the longest you waited to get back onto the ship?

 

We were always back on the ship before the lines got too long. Yes, the lines do seem to move quickly. There are times we'd be looking down at the lines saying "we're never leaving on time" and we always would leave on time. :)

[iggy's mom]

Monday, August 16 - Victoria

 

The last day on the ship is always a sad one for me. :( Today was part sea day and part shore day.

 

After breakfast, we came back to the cabin and found our luggage tags and customs forms. Since we had done the express luggage option we would not need the luggage tags, however if we had we would have been in group 23.

 

In the evening, at turn down, we received the airline tags for our luggage. We were in group B for that. On the Spirit, the express luggage letters (A-D) were called right after the self-assist debark was done. This was different from how it was done when we were on the Dream in April.

 

DH spent the day reading and napping. I spent the day "joining." We each got our last sandwich from the grill.

[iggy's mom]

The sea was pretty calm on this day. The morning started out bright and sunny. Somewhere around 10am'ish it got really foggy.

 

 

 

Before lunch, the weather turned nice again. At some point we passed another cruise ship.

 

 

Since we were due to arrive into Victoria at 7:30pm, the dinner times for the night were revised. I was happy about this! Early dining was moved to 5:15pm and late was moved to 7:30pm. Your Time Dinning was from 5:15pm to 8:30pm.

 

For the last evening, DH had the Lobster Bisque and his usual caesar salad as starters.

 

 

I had the Crab Cake and my usual fruit.

[iggy's mom]

For the main course, DH had the BBQ Ribs (which he said was okay), while I had the Panko Crusted Jumbo Shrimp (which was my least favorite main course of the cruise).

 

 

 

For dessert, DH had his last WCMC and I had the Grand Marnier Souffle (which was yummy!)

 

 

 

After dinner we went back to the room and found our luggage tags had been delivered, so we put those on our luggage and put the luggage out the cabin door.

 

Sadly, we found our last towel animal as well.

[iggy's mom]

Soon, we would be docked in Victoria.

 

 

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

The shore excursion we did in Victoria was called Twilight Highlights and Craigdarroch Castle. The castle was very beautiful.

 

 

 

 

[iggy's mom]

The next part of the tour was the twilight highlights, however it was dark by now, so there wasn't much to see. The one good photo opportunity was at the Parliament Building.

 

 

Not too long after the Parliament Building we were back at the pier and back on the Carnival Spirit.

 

 

After sail away, it was time to sleep. In the morning, they kicked me off the ship! ha!

 

In summary, we had a fabulous vacation, the Carnival Spirit was a lovely home for 7 days and we love cruising in Alaska. :)

 

I want to thank everyone for stopping by my review. If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

Clair

[Linsuesue]

Clair, You did a marvelous job posting photos and commentary about your trip. Thank you ever so much. We leave tomorrow to Seattle and will sail on the Spirit on Tuesday. I can't wait to take wonderful photos like you did. Your glacier photos were my favorites. Thanks for taking the time, so quickly upon your return, to share your memories with us!

[iggy's mom]

Clair, You did a marvelous job posting photos and commentary about your trip. Thank you ever so much. We leave tomorrow to Seattle and will sail on the Spirit on Tuesday. I can't wait to take wonderful photos like you did. Your glacier photos were my favorites. Thanks for taking the time, so quickly upon your return, to share your memories with us!

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!:)

[gusandgidgetsmom]

Enjoyed your thorough review. I am using it to get my husband excited about our upcoming Alaska cruise in Aug 2011. He did not want to go and my son talked him into it. He loves cruising but he has always been hesitant about the cold /cool weather cruises. My Mom told him it was one of the most beautiful cruises she took but he still has a lot of apprehension about it.

[blessedwith12]

Thanks for the review and the time it took to post all those pictures. This is the cruise that I have not wanted to take - but my husband and sister both want to do Alaska some day. So...I most likely will end up going. Like the previous poster mentioned - I can't get excited about taking a cold weather cruise. But...your pictures have made it much more appealing and I think I would love the beautiful scenery.

[Ashleezmom]

Thank you Clair!! I can't wait to be onboard in 2 weeks :)

[Cruising Clare]

Clair: I recognized you from your review before you even started -- I'm also "Clare" and we were the family sitting opposite you and DH at dinner most nights:D. I even commented to older DD that I bet you guys were on Cruise Critic and the food photos were for a review! Your photos are wonderful! I really enjoyed those of the moose and eagles. I'm jealous, as we didn't see those at all!:( This was our favorite cruise (#9) of all, and how lucky were we with the weather??? My DH had reservations about a "cold weather" cruise, too, like some of the other posters, but I always said you leave the heat (of NY) in the summer and the cold (again, of NY) in the winter, so Alaska was the perfect summer cruise. I never heard DH use the word "breathtaking" before, but that's exactly how he's describing this cruise. We're so glad we did it!! Thanks for a great review -- no way I could have covered it as well!

[iggy's mom]

Enjoyed your thorough review. I am using it to get my husband excited about our upcoming Alaska cruise in Aug 2011. He did not want to go and my son talked him into it. He loves cruising but he has always been hesitant about the cold /cool weather cruises. My Mom told him it was one of the most beautiful cruises she took but he still has a lot of apprehension about it.

 

 

I hope you and your DH have a wonderful cruise!

[iggy's mom]

Clair: I recognized you from your review before you even started -- I'm also "Clare" and we were the family sitting opposite you and DH at dinner most nights:D. I even commented to older DD that I bet you guys were on Cruise Critic and the food photos were for a review! Your photos are wonderful! I really enjoyed those of the moose and eagles. I'm jealous, as we didn't see those at all!:( This was our favorite cruise (#9) of all, and how lucky were we with the weather??? My DH had reservations about a "cold weather" cruise, too, like some of the other posters, but I always said you leave the heat (of NY) in the summer and the cold (again, of NY) in the winter, so Alaska was the perfect summer cruise. I never heard DH use the word "breathtaking" before, but that's exactly how he's describing this cruise. We're so glad we did it!! Thanks for a great review -- no way I could have covered it as well!

 

Oh my gosh..small world! I loved when your DD danced with the assistant waiter! :) I've always taken food pictures, and a few years back DH wanted me to stop, but once he learned that I was posting them for others to see, he wanted to be in charge of taking the pictures! We were truly lucky with the weather we had all week, and breathtaking is the perfect way to describe all that we saw.

[ejeffo]

Thanks for the awesome review and pics. It all looks great except for one thing... the ending. I will be sailing this itinerary next summer, really looking forward to it!

[TB08]

I absolutely LOVED your post!! We are going on our second cruise with Carnival to Alaska next year, September 13, 2011. We got my sister and her husband to go with us for thier first cruise and we both have aft cabins. When I saw how beautiful the weather was during your cruise I was getting a little concerned about what it will be like when we go in September, but I can't let that get to me, right? Seeing the towel animals, dinners, pictures of the ship has made me even more anxious for this year to fly by. It's under 400 days so far. :p We live in Montana and the pictures of scenery looked very familiar, but it still won't be completely the same. It's Alaska!

 

Thanks for sharing. It really inspired me to not get worried about the weather, to just be excited about going on another cruise no matter what! ;)

 

Teresa

[iggy's mom]

I absolutely LOVED your post!! We are going on our second cruise with Carnival to Alaska next year, September 13, 2011. We got my sister and her husband to go with us for thier first cruise and we both have aft cabins. When I saw how beautiful the weather was during your cruise I was getting a little concerned about what it will be like when we go in September, but I can't let that get to me, right? Seeing the towel animals, dinners, pictures of the ship has made me even more anxious for this year to fly by. It's under 400 days so far. :p We live in Montana and the pictures of scenery looked very familiar, but it still won't be completely the same. It's Alaska!

 

Thanks for sharing. It really inspired me to not get worried about the weather, to just be excited about going on another cruise no matter what! ;)

 

Teresa

 

 

Hope you enjoy your Alaska cruise!!

 

I'll cross my fingers that your cruise count down goes by quickly. Our next cruise isn't until next September either, so I know what a long count down is like.