Just back from the first Spirit Alaska cruise of the season!!

[ruskatab]

We had a great time!! I will write a review later. If you have any questions ask away!!

[Inklight]

We had a great time!! I will write a review later. If you have any questions ask away!!

 

 

Welcome home! I have been waiting for the Alaska 'season' to begin. I have booked the first Alaska cruise of 2012 so I am definitely interested in how your cruise went. I am so glad to hear you had a great time and I can't wait to read all about it.

 

I'm sure I will come up with tons of questions but I guess the more pressing one would be ... how was the weather this first week of May?

 

I'm also interested in how your Inside Passage day turned out AND what type of wildlife did you see?

 

I'll hold the rest of my questions for your review ... again Welcome Home! :)

[ruskatab]

Welcome home! I have been waiting for the Alaska 'season' to begin. I have booked the first Alaska cruise of 2012 so I am definitely interested in how your cruise went. I am so glad to hear you had a great time and I can't wait to read all about it.

 

I'm sure I will come up with tons of questions but I guess the more pressing one would be ... how was the weather this first week of May?

 

I'm also interested in how your Inside Passage day turned out AND what type of wildlife did you see?

 

I'll hold the rest of my questions for your review ... again Welcome Home! :)

 

 

The weather was cold and rainy during the Inside Passage and in Juneau. It was around 50 but felt like 40. In Skagway and Ketchikan the locals kept telling us how lucky we were because the sun was shining most of the time and it wasnt raining the whole day. It was about 52 but felt colder with the wind. Definately take a raincoat, gloves, hat and layer, layer, layer if your going in May!!! There is a Naturalist on board and she came on and told us when to watch for wildlife. We had the corner aft balcony and could see everything. We saw humpback and killer whales, bald eagles, otters, sea lions and lots of Dolphins. On the train in Skagway we saw 2 bears and some people saw a moose. On our whale watching tour we only saw 2 humpback whales. We saw more wildlife on the inside passage than we did on tours. Dont forget the binoculars!!!

[jenigirl4]

Oh wonderful! I am very excited for your review!! And pictures to I hope!!??

[KirkNC]

Welcome back, look forward to your review.

 

Kirk

[spideyfam]

Thinking about doing this next May. Looking forward to a full review!

[ruskatab]

We did the first cruise of the season because we didnt want to be in port with 4 or 5 ships. We were the only ship in Juneau and Skagway and in Ketchikan with Disney Wonder. It was perfect!

[Inklight]

The weather was cold and rainy during the Inside Passage and in Juneau. It was around 50 but felt like 40. In Skagway and Ketchikan the locals kept telling us how lucky we were because the sun was shining most of the time and it wasnt raining the whole day. It was about 52 but felt colder with the wind. Definately take a raincoat, gloves, hat and layer, layer, layer if your going in May!!! There is a Naturalist on board and she came on and told us when to watch for wildlife. We had the corner aft balcony and could see everything. We saw humpback and killer whales, bald eagles, otters, sea lions and lots of Dolphins. On the train in Skagway we saw 2 bears and some people saw a moose. On our whale watching tour we only saw 2 humpback whales. We saw more wildlife on the inside passage than we did on tours. Dont forget the binoculars!!!

 

 

Thank you ... I look forward to your review! :)

[Inklight]

We did the first cruise of the season because we didnt want to be in port with 4 or 5 ships. We were the only ship in Juneau and Skagway and in Ketchikan with Disney Wonder. It was perfect!

 

 

That's one of the reasons we have booked the first cruise 2012. Well, that and we don't want to wait any longer than we have to! :D

[happylady]

Can't wait to hear more!! Can you post the Fun Times? My almost 21 year old DS is wondering what there might be that he'll enjoy.:rolleyes:

[NYOB]

We had a great time!! I will write a review later. If you have any questions ask away!!

How was the service and food in the MDR? Did you have an assigned dining time or anytime and how did it work out?

We are going in July and I am very excited. Looking forward to your review!

[Sailor_Sally]

How was the service and food in the MDR? Did you have an assigned dining time or anytime and how did it work out?

We are going in July and I am very excited. Looking forward to your review!

I was also on that cruise and the main dining room was ultra casual even on elegant night . I saw only two tuxes and three long gowns , one or two cocktail dresses . Most guys had on long sleeved casual shirts and pants . On non elegant evenings it was even more casual lots of jeans and t shirts at dinner . Food was good ,service was okay . The waiters seem to be so busy anymore .

[ruskatab]

Can't wait to hear more!! Can you post the Fun Times? My almost 21 year old DS is wondering what there might be that he'll enjoy.:rolleyes:

 

I brought them all home and will see if hubby can hook up the scanner tonight!

[ruskatab]

I was also on that cruise and the main dining room was ultra casual even on elegant night . I saw only two tuxes and three long gowns , one or two cocktail dresses . Most guys had on long sleeved casual shirts and pants . On non elegant evenings it was even more casual lots of jeans and t shirts at dinner . Food was good ,service was okay . The waiters seem to be so busy anymore .

 

 

For the first time in my life I wore jeans to dinner the first night of the cruise. The rest of the time I dressed up. I felt weird doing it but did notice the same thing. Lots of jeans and very casual clothes. We loved our waiters and our room steward was excellent. We tipped them all extra! Food in MDR was good but every cruise it seems the buffet gets worse but the desserts and fruit selection was better. Omelets were really good in the morning and chocolate buffet was a treat.

[ruskatab]

How was the service and food in the MDR? Did you have an assigned dining time or anytime and how did it work out?

We are going in July and I am very excited. Looking forward to your review!

 

We had late dinner, the 8:15 time slot but got a letter in our room on the first day it was moved to 7:30 for the whole cruise. We had the same tablemates we had met on another cruise so that was great! Our service was good, one night they forgot my baked potato and the next night they brought it out and apologized..lol! The food was good, hubby left miseerably stuffed every night! I get sea sick so dont eat alot on a cruise but what I had was good.

[ruskatab]

Just want to say this first cruise of the season was a 6 night so some things might be different from the 7 night cruises.

[bubbadog]

GREAT Review,WE are going next month,and i was very happy to see your post,We have been before,but we love the alaska cruise,I LOVE THE TREES,and wildlife,if i was shipwrecked Iwould be happy lol:)))):p;)

[ruskatab]

I will start my review, I still have some pictures to download off the camera so more will come later. Were from San Antonio, flew in the day before to Seattle. We stayaed at the Inn at the Market and it was so nice!!! We were upgraded to a 2 story suite with a great view, it was so awesome. I checked in on Facebook and there was a message to go the front desk and I got a free bottle of wine. We met friends there and went walking around and went to the Pikes Market. We ate Macaroni and Cheese for dinner at Beechers cheese. They make the cheese in front of you and that was neat to see. Beechers macaroni and cheese was one of Oprahs favorite things. We walked to Walgreens and got cokes and wine for the cruise and went to bed early since we had to be up at 5 to get to the Amtrak station to take the train to Vancouver! I wish we had flown in a day earlier to see Seattle, it looked like a really fun place to explore from what we saw. Heres the view from our room:

[ruskatab]

I do not know how to post the pictures in a bigger view so if anyone can tell me I will do that from now on.

[ruskatab]

Wednesday we got up early and took a taxi to the train station for 10 bucks. Forgot to mention the taxi from the airport to our hotel was 36 bucks without tip. Checking in our luggage and boarding the train was very easy and smooth. We got business class seats and had more room. the food car had some good choices and good coffee...of course! We got the quiche and it was pretty good! Took about 4 hours to get to Vancouver and the ride took us all along the coast and through some really cute towns. Heres some pictures of of the deck of our hotel looking over the sound and the courtyard. Also heres a picture on the train and our breakfast.

[Newtocruise2011]

I was also on this cruise. It was my first cruise so I didn't know the expectations. We had any time dining and would do it again. We only received a pager one night and by the time we went to the bar to get a drink, they paged us. We had great waiters and sat in the same area most nights. The bar person was Maryiott or something like that.. she called me by name the entire cruise even seeing me on port.

 

I was amazed. We also tipped our steward extra. "Conrado". He was great! Also had an aft wrap. We were on the 4th floor and was great with the extra overhang above. An aft wrap is the way to go on an Alaskan cruise.

 

We flew into Vancouver and stayed at the Pan Pacifica. 5 star hotel. They upgraded us and WOW! What a room and view. We ate at the Mill in Vancouver and wouldn't suggest it to others. The service was great.... just didn't care for the food.

 

I wouldn't change anything about the cruise. I agree with the OP... layers, gloves, and we took our coats and was glad we did. Of course, we were on the balcony most of the time. The one difference I saw was the cruiseline stated that we couldn't book excursions in Ketchikan on Sunday's. This wasn't true, once we got off the ship, we were able to book.

 

We ate in the MDR all nights. We dressed casual for most nights but on cruise elegance night, around us anyway, the people frowned if you weren't dressed in a tie at least. There were about 3 couples that seemed pretty snooty. DH was dressed up but no tie. They didn't frown at us (that I saw) but I did see them rolling eyes at others.

 

Hope this adds a little to the OPs....

 

I met a couple of the people from CC and they were really helpful before the cruise.... so listen to what the CC people say - it really helps!

 

Enjoy!

[ruskatab]

WE arrived in Vancouver at about 11:45 and had to wait for customs to clear us. We took a taxi to the cruise terminal for about 10 bucks. They took American and Canadian money. Embarkation was terrible at the port!!! Very unorganized and we had to wait in a long line to get someone to take our luggage. The porters were all fighting over who should run the line or go out to taxis to get more bags. We didnt tip anyone since we put the luggage at the cart ourselves. We had VIP boarding and it was also terrible, nothing special there. We had to go through customs before we got on the ship. We got on the ship about 1:10 and our room was ready about 1:45. We were so ready to unpack and start the cruise. We went to muster drill and it was pretty over quick. You dont have to take your life jackets to the muster anymore....yah!!! We had bought 2 bottles of champagne in Seattle and so did our friends so we came back to our balcony and had a champagne sailaway with our them. We met the couple in the corner aft balcony below us and invited them up for some champagne. The couple next to us were celebrating their Sapphire Anniversary and we poured them a glass also. Then it was almost time for dinner.

[picomullet]

Great Review!!! We are headed that way ourselves in September..End of the Season...Just cannot wait...:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Keep it coming! :D:D June 28, we'll be on the Spirit for the fourth time, our third to Alaska. Can't wait! Looking forward to reading more of your review!

 

:D

[raylene5]

I will start my review, I still have some pictures to download off the camera so more will come later. Were from San Antonio, flew in the day before to Seattle. We stayaed at the Inn at the Market and it was so nice!!! We were upgraded to a 2 story suite with a great view, it was so awesome. I checked in on Facebook and there was a message to go the front desk and I got a free bottle of wine. We met friends there and went walking around and went to the Pikes Market. We ate Macaroni and Cheese for dinner at Beechers cheese. They make the cheese in front of you and that was neat to see. Beechers macaroni and cheese was one of Oprahs favorite things. We walked to Walgreens and got cokes and wine for the cruise and went to bed early since we had to be up at 5 to get to the Amtrak station to take the train to Vancouver! I wish we had flown in a day earlier to see Seattle, it looked like a really fun place to explore from what we saw. Heres the view from our room:

 

I LOVE Seattle! I wish we lived there :(