North to Alaska on the Carnival Miracle - April 29, 2013

[Jenbo57]

Yes the pictures of the cabin do put me at ease! Thank you for sharing your experience. I do have a question...you said it was rough one of the nights. Was it like that the whole time cruising? We are traveling with with a couple that have never cruised, I for one have been in some rougher waters and it doesn't bother me, but I am concerned about my sister in law. Does it tend to get rough on the Alaska cruises? Just curious. I know it is never predictable.

 

That second sea day was the only day I would consider to be rough, and I didn't think it was bad at all. I guess it depends on what you're used to. The last sea day, when we were out in the Pacific Ocean, west of Vancouver island, was fabulous! Warm and sunny 'til about 5:00 p.m., when we were suddenly shrouded in fog. We had to slow way down, and the captain was blowing the fog horn, but the water remained calm.

[SaraAnne29]

Thank you! :)

[rockraiders]

Great review, thanks for taking the time to write it.

[TheDarkestBlue]

Thank you so much for the wonderful review and great pictures! This is so helpful, too, we are on our way tomorrow, first time to Alaska :)

 

Quick question, I'm packing right now was wondering if the pool with the roof is heated? Thanks again!

[bride123105]

I heard the reason that we left late was because of a surprise coast guard inspection.

 

Also, the "North to Alaska" show was quite good. If you ever go again you should try and see it. :)

Edited May 10, 2013 by bride123105

[newdestination]

Nice review and photos! Thanks for doing it.

[Falls Cruiser]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write and post pictures of your cruise. It's so helpful to us who have never been to Alaska. The scenery looks unbelievable!

We have not planned excursions yet. You have given us some great ideas!

[Jenbo57]

Nice review and photos! Thanks for doing it.

 

Thanks; it's actually been really fun reliving the experience! :)

[Jenbo57]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write and post pictures of your cruise. It's so helpful to us who have never been to Alaska. The scenery looks unbelievable!

We have not planned excursions yet. You have given us some great ideas!

 

 

You're welcome!

 

As far as excursions, don't be afraid to think outside the box! There is so much to see and do up there; don't limit yourself to just what the ship offers.

[MsABGilroy]

I got back onto the ship and to our cabin just as Joe was leaving me a note letting me know he was heading out to the Days of '98 Show. It's the story of Soapy Smith and his reign over Skagway in 1897-1898, told through song and dance. Someone on our roll call had posted that he was going to go, so I knew about it, but I really wasn't interested in seeing it (actually, I thought it sounded really corny). But my son has been involved in community theatre since junior high, and it's always good to support the local arts, so I figured what the heck.

 

As we were walking from the ship into Skagway someone handed us 2 tickets for the Skagway Streetcar Tour. I actually tried to pass them on to a couple other people but nobody seemed interested so my daughter and I went on the tour. Like the Day's of '98 Show the streetcar tour was very interesting and informative. We even visit the Gold Rush Cemetery and the graves of Soapy (Jefferson Smith) and Frank Reid. We also drove to a view area above town and took some photos from there.

[MsABGilroy]

I love the "graffiti" on the cliffs opposite the railroad dock!

 

 

On our streetcar tour we learned that each time a ship makes its first visit to Skagway they paint info about the ship on this wall. It started during the gold rush era but has continued until this day. The next time we're in Skagway the info for Carnival Miracle should be posted on the wall. Our tour leader said it is now mandatory!

[MsABGilroy]

Yes the pictures of the cabin do put me at ease! Thank you for sharing your experience. I do have a question...you said it was rough one of the nights. Was it like that the whole time cruising? We are traveling with with a couple that have never cruised, I for one have been in some rougher waters and it doesn't bother me, but I am concerned about my sister in law. Does it tend to get rough on the Alaska cruises? Just curious. I know it is never predictable.

I took a bottle of ginger capsules (that I picked up in the vitamin/supplement section) for my daughter who doesn't have her sea legs yet. During the rough times she took a capsule with each meal and said it settled her tummy right away. She had brought along a patch but didn't have to use it.

[Jenbo57]

Weather wise, Ketchikan was the most amazing day of the cruise! This was my fourth visit, and I saw mountains that I didn't even know existed. Every time I'd been there before it was either cloudy, wet, or both! This was very much a "wow" day, even for the locals!

 

I love coming down Tongass Narrows into Ketchikan; a lot of interesting scenery. Gravina Island is where the late Senator Ted Stevens wanted to build the "bridge to nowhere"; when you see how close the island is to the mainland, you'll understand why people said no. Honestly, on a good day my husband could swim across the narrows!

 

Since we had both seen pretty much everything there is to see in downtown Ketchikan, I had reserved a car for the day so we could explore some of the outer areas. If we'd drug ourselves out of bed sooner, we could have done more, but for some reason we were both a little slow that morning.

 

We set out on foot to find Starbucks (to buy a gift card for our cabin steward) and find the rental car place. It was very unlike me to have not printed out the confirmation, but lo and behold, I didn't have it with me and wasn't 100% sure of where I had reserved the car. Both places it could have been were a couple blocks from one another, so I crossed my fingers that it was the closer of the two (it was). It's a good thing it was a beautiful day and we both like to walk, because it was a good mile and a half before we got to Starbucks (which was actually in the local Safeway) and then Alaska Car Rentals.

 

Ketchikan International Airport

 

 

The ferry from the mainland to Gravina Island. Much smaller than those we take to get from the Kitsap Peninsula to Seattle!

 

 

The view from our balcony once we'd docked

 

 

Heading off the ship. Wow, I've never seen those mountains off in the distance before!

 

 

I didn't wear that jacket for very long; it was warm out!

 

 

 

[Jenbo57]

Ketchikan, like Juneau, is only accessible by boat or plane, so you see many of both

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had we been in port longer, I might have gone back to this place for "Psycho De Mayo II"

 

[SunnyDayz4me]

We are in 5235 on the Miracle in November and were in 5235 on the Spirit, I think it's a great cabin for the price.

 

It was ! No complaints here....we were able to see everything on our Hawaii cruise....including the spinner dolphins playing as we came into Honolulu :)

[Jenbo57]

We got the Starbucks card and found Alaska Car Rentals, where I indeed did have a reservation. I wonder how dumb they thought I was? Anyway, I talked to the agent about places to go, and he confirmed that Lake Harriet Hunt and Settlers Cove were both doable in the amount of time we had. I wish we had also been able to head south to the end of the road, but since we got a late start and still wanted to go shopping later in the day, it wasn't going to happen. Another "next time"!

 

We headed north on the Tongass Highway. We turned right at Ward Cove and headed up to Lake Harriet Hunt (I wonder who she was?), passing Ward Lake, Ward Creek, Connell Lake, and Talbot Lake along the way. Again, we would have stopped had we gotten an earlier start.

 

Lake HH was beautiful!

 

 

I think maybe there had been a fire here at some point

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ran into a local who'd come back out to the lake to see if he could find his wife's cell phone. They'd been swimming the day before and she thought she might have left it on the dock. No such luck, but we did have a nice chat with him about all of the hiking trails nearby, and being able to hike up to these mountains (Brown Mountain and Dude Mountain). Yet another reason to return to Ketchikan...

 

[Jenbo57]

We started back down the gravel road to the main highway (I think it was 11 miles to the Tongass Highway), and then headed north to the end of the road, and Settlers Cove. Of all of the places we'd been, this was most like "home". We both commented that this could be any of a number of places on the Kitsap or Olympic Peninsulas, and reminded me of people asking me, "why do you go to Alaska so much, when it's so similar to what we have here?"

 

 

 

 

The N. Tongass Highway ends here, at the Settlers Cove parking lot

 

 

 

 

Lunch Falls was beautiful; photos don't do it justice!

 

 

[Jenbo57]

After exploring the upper part of the park, we hit the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop...Totem Bight State Park!

[Jenbo57]

I love totem poles, and we'd both already visited Saxman Village on previous visits, so we hit Totem Bight on our way back into town. Unfortunately, it was too early in the season and it wasn't open. We could walk the trail, but the visitor's center was closed, and we couldn't get one of the maps that describes all of the totem poles along the trail. Oh well, it was still very, very interesting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clan House

 

 

 

 

 

After spending about 30 minutes here, we headed back into town to drop off the rental car. We only put 55 miles on it, which didn't seem that many for all we had seen, and the total cost was $66. Honestly, I think renting cars makes so much sense; you get to see/do a lot more than you can when booking a single excursion, and you do it at your own pace! Oh, and Alaska Car Rentals even gave us a ride back into town -- yay!!!

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pictures!

[Jenbo57]

Ketchikan gets more annual rainfall than Seattle, but no one was thinking about rain today!

 

 

I love Creek Street, especially when we're the only ship in port. Creek Street with four ships in town is not fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting back on the ship in the final port is always so sad...

 

 

[stixmom]

Thank you for posting a great review. 67 days and counting! This makes me sooooo excited!:)

[Jenbo57]

Once back on board, we took pictures as we left Ketchikan, then went and found some dinner. It was Cruise Elegant night, so we ate in the...surprise, surprise...buffet! The was the first cruise I didn't eat dinner in the MDR at least once and honestly, I didn't miss it! I'm not a "get to know my waiter" kind of gal and I can always find something good to eat from the buffet (or room service).

 

There were a couple of Beatles tribute shows that night that sounded good, but we didn't go. We were so go, go, go on port days that by the time we got back on board, I was fine with watching TV or reading. I think I probably sat and played Candy Crush on my iPad (I'm so bad at that game) and Joe watched a movie on his.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jenbo57]

I have to get up really early to head up to Vancouver to get on the Golden Princess for a one-night cruise to Seattle, so I'll finish up with the last sea day and some final thoughts when I get back on Sunday.

 

Thanks for sticking with me this long! ;)

[FireEater]

Those Ketchikan pictures bring back good memories. I spent 2 2 week periods there working with the Coast Guard at the base. Saw cruise ships come in daily. I enjoyed my time there. Was not crazy night life, but beautiful days. I was even tempted to take an offer to work on the "Bridge To No Where" back then. Glad I did not...The bridge money never came in. Build never happen. I always did like the ferry to the island anyways. The bridge would have been an eye sore and a pain for the cruise ships.