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

[labsnabys]

I've thoroughly enjoyed your review and photos -- thank you so much for posting! We were on the Miracle last month to Mexico for our first cruise, and we've talked about both wanting to do an Alaskan cruise sometime in the future. That last sunset photo is breathtaking!

[gapearl]

Great review and pictures! I want to do this itinerary even more now. :)

[cruiseclues]

Great photo review...very entertaining...Your Balcony view was pretty good for an obstructed view...I wouldn't mind seeing your Balcony Cabin Bathroom photos. :):):):)

Edited May 11, 2013 by cruiseclues

[Nathanyell]

Thanks for your review.

[Hogladyrider]

Thank you for taking the time to do your review, very enjoyable and fabulous photos!

 

What a difference in weather. My mom and I did the same cruise on Carnival Spirit in May 2009 and we had fantastic weather the entire cruise - no rain, very little snow on the ground and all the spring flowers were in bloom!

 

Thank you for sharing your obstructed view balcony I would definitely consider booking one of those vs a regular balcony cabin as we found we did not use our balcony much at all. Being from Florida it was a bit chilly sitting out there for coffee vs the Caribbean!

 

I am working on planning a land tour to Alaska for 2014 with me and my 84 year old mom, she has it on her bucket list and I want to make it happen for her.

 

Alaska truly is amazing and oh so beautiful.

 

Thanks again for a great review!

Susan

[thecruiserofships]

Could you please post Funtimes, if possible? Thanks!

[Jenbo57]

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.

 

 

I've always thought that being stationed at either Ketchikan or Sitka would be a dream for anyone in the Coast Guard! Both such beautiful places (but yeah, I imagine the night life would be dreary)!

[Jenbo57]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

 

thecruiserofships - I will try to get the Fun Times scanned and posted!

 

cruiseclues - I didn't take any pictures of the bathroom, because it was like the bathroom of all the balcony cabins I've been had on Carnival. :) I took these on the Liberty in November; the one in our cabin on the Miracle was identical!

 

 

 

[Jenbo57]

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!

 

Yeah, that's what we've always heard. It's interesting to see how much more "professional" they started to get over the years, too. Did you see the one for the Disney Wonder? It's almost like they brought along their own artist to do it! ;)

Edited May 13, 2013 by Jenbo57

[Jenbo57]

Wow, what a perfect final day at sea this was...at least the first part! It's amazing how quickly the weather can change, though!

 

 

 

 

 

Joe did the Behind the Fun tour at 9:00 a.m. (it went 'til noon or shortly thereafter). I had been on the tour on the Splendor, so I sat this one out. He really enjoyed it, and hopes that his wife will want to sign up for it on their cruise on the Dream over Christmas. Along with these goodies, which were delivered to the cabin while he was still on the tour, he got three photos: one with just he and the captain, one with the whole group and the captain, and one with the group in the galley. He also received a drawstring bag, a baseball hat, a lanyard, and a bar of soap carved into the shape of a swan (which one woman thought was white chocolate and was going to eat).

 

 

When Joe got back from the tour we went up to the lido buffet to have lunch. Lo and behold, they were also having the Chocolate Extravaganza, featuring many kinds of decadent chocolate desserts! I couldn't pass that one up, so I ate light lunch and lots of dessert! (Those pink and yellow things are fresh, made from scratch marshmallows, which I love!!!)

 

 

 

Off in the distance, Vancouver Island

 

[Jenbo57]

After lunch we tried once again to win Joe that elusive Ship on a Stick, by playing Name That Rock Song. We started out really well, but got tripped up by Blink 182 and Smashmouth (I didn't listen to that stuff in the 90s), and a couple others, and finished with 28 points out of 40. The winners got 37 points out of 40. I was really impressed with the trivia games on this sailing; challenging and a lot of fun!

 

Now it was time to head outside to enjoy the fantastic weather!

 

 

 

 

Joe kicked my butt on several rounds of mini golf...

 

 

 

 

See...even on an Alaska cruise it's possible to swim/sunbathe!

 

 

 

 

 

Even I rolled up my pant legs and soaked up some Vitamin D!

 

 

 

Up next: Cruise Critic/FB roll call cocktail party, and a change in the weather!

[Jenbo57]

At 4:00 p.m. I went to the very well organized and well attended roll call group cocktail party, held at Sam's Piano Bar. (Thanks, Marie, for setting it up; you did a fabulous job!) There was a portable screen set up, and one of our members showed pictures: some of his, and some from other people who brought their memory cards with them to share. It was great to see what other people had seen/done during the cruise. We also had a raffle of a couple Ships on a Stick, some champagne, and some wine. Darn it, I didn't get a SOAS, or the booze for matter. No worries...it was a great little get together and a nice way to say good-bye to folks. We met some really great people on this cruise.

 

When I walked out of Sam's after the party, it was like the Twilight Zone. In a little over an hour, the weather had become like this...

 

 

 

 

We had slowed down considerably, and the fog horn blew every couple of minutes. I'm glad I got out and enjoyed the sun earlier in the day!

 

We enjoyed a nice, leisurely dinner with Don and Christine, a couple from the roll call who we'd first met at the train station in Seattle. Such great people, and so much fun! I think, after we finished eating, we must have spent two hours just talking and laughing. Thank goodness for FB...we can keep in touch! Afterwards, Joe and I went down to our cabin to start packing and find out what our debarkation group number was. The Guest Talent Show was at 10:00 p.m., but we had a date with Sunny, our cabin steward, to celebrate her "retirement" from Carnival. She was officially through at 9:00 p.m., and would be flying home to Bulgaria from Seattle on Tuesday (by way of Los Vegas, and New York, and Madrid -- a total of 48 hours of travel...yuck!).

 

Sunny came by right at 10:00; Joe had a pina colada waiting for her. We gave her the magnet we got her from each port, and her Starbucks gift card (which I'm not sure she understood how to use) and some extra $$$. We chatted for a bit and she told us about her future plans, and then she left to party with several of her friends from the ship. I wish her well...she was pretty awesome!

 

 

 

We were in debarkation group 2 to get off the ship in the morning, so after we packed our bags and put them outside the door, it was off to bed. We had been told that, because of the fog, we'd be arriving into Seattle late, but I knew I'd wake up early anyway. Gosh, it was so hard to believe that another cruise had come to a close!

[Jenbo57]

The fog did not delay our arrival into Seattle. I was up pretty early, and we were docked. I was disappointed in the local weather; the week we were gone, record setting high temps were recorded, even reaching 87 degrees one day! Gees. These clouds did burn off later in the day, so at least we got to enjoy a day in the 70s.

 

 

We had breakfast, and then I walked around the ship to take some last pictures while waiting for our group to be called.

 

Off the port side, the Seattle Yacht Club

 

 

Provisions for the next cruise!

 

 

One last look at the funnel!

 

 

We were off the ship and waiting for a cab by 8:20. (I don't think Yellow Cab, who has the contract with the Port of Seattle, knew that there was going to be a ship in port that day, because there weren't many cabs waiting.) After a 20 minute wait, we were in a cab and heading to the Seattle ferry terminal for our 55 minute crossing to Bremerton. We got there just before 9:00 and we had to wait an hour for the next boat. I caught up with the local paper and looked through my pictures (which I had uploaded to my iPad) while we waited.

 

Once on board the ferry, I took some final pictures of the Seattle skyline and the Miracle!

 

 

 

Joe's wife picked us up at the ferry and I was home by 11:15 a.m. (So nice to be local!) My dogs were happy to see me, the cats didn't care, and my hubby and son had kept the house clean and kept up with the laundry, so I was a happy camper!

 

Those eight days went by way too quickly. I guess I'd better start planning my next Alaska cruise!

[Jenbo57]

This was my 7th cruise on Carnival, and 4th Alaska cruise. I've also gone up there on Celebrity, Holland America, and Norwegian. If I had to say which was my favorite, I'd probably choose NCL. I like the whole Freestyle thing, and the Pearl was a great ship for this itinerary. HAL also does a great job, and I like that several of their itineraries include Sitka. I have a love/hate thing with Carnival, always saying my next Carnival cruise will be my last, but overall they did just fine. No complaints whatsoever about the food, service, etc. Would I go to Alaska again with them? Probably not (see below). But it's great that there are so many ships/itineraries to choose from, isn't it?!?

 

What I liked:

 

- It was great being the only ship in port at all of our ports. None of those places are much fun when overcrowded with cruise ship passengers.

 

- I loved seeing so much ice and snow! The scenery really does change with the seasons, and this was the first time I got to see what winter looks like up there (since winter lingered longer than usual)!

 

- The pricing on this one was unbelievable. We paid $619 (+ tax) per person for our obstructed view balcony. Pretty much unheard of for Alaska. I think the cheapest I've paid prior was around $2,500 (for two) for a regular balcony, and I thought that was a pretty good deal. The balcony was fine; if you're trying to save money but really want a balcony, book one of these without hesitation.

 

 

What I didn't like:

 

- Being so early in the season, there were things I wanted to do that I couldn't, because they weren't open/available yet. The ferry from Skagway to Haines and a trip to Tracy Arm Fjord were two things that I had hoped to do but couldn't. I've been there now in early May, June (twice) and August; when we go back again next year or the year after, I think I'll aim for as late in the season as possible.

 

- I did not like that the Miracle had no forward facing lounge. It doesn't sound like a big of a deal, but folks who've cruised Alaska before on a ship that has one know what I'm talking about!

 

 

All in all, it was a great 8 days! There was some good weather, there was some not so good weather; that's just part of the experience! Hanging out at the Red Dog Saloon is always fun. The drive to the Yukon was like experiencing a winter wonderland; truly amazing. I loved the exploration we did outside Ketchikan. And last night my husband said that he's ready to go again, so I've already started looking at what's available for 2014.

 

Thanks, everyone, for checking out my review.

 

Happy cruising!!! :)

[MilliesMom]

Wonderful review ...

[MsABGilroy]

Yeah, that's what we've always heard. It's interesting to see how much more "professional" they started to get over the years, too. Did you see the one for the Disney Wonder? It's almost like they brought along their own artist to do it! ;)

Knowing Disney--they did bring their own artist!

 

I agree with you--the bathrooms in Carnival's balcony cabins (and probably all the standard cabins) look exactly the same--seen one, you've seen them all ;)

 

Angie

[LUVMYGSDOG]

Thank you for the wonderful review!!

[CanWeGoYet?]

I really enjoyed your review, thank you for posting it! I went on this same first cruise of the season last year. Different ship, but same class. Your cruise looks like it had a warmer day to have the sunbathers. All we had were the crazy girls standing up in the hot tub in Glacier Bay. brrrr!

[Koval]

Really Nice review

I love all your photos

Some are the same as mine ;)

It was nice re living the cruise once again now that I have had a chance to breathe

What with the baby (thank goodness she waiting for me to get home)

and Mother's day week end in a floral shop :eek:

 

I scanned the tear out sections of the fun times for someone who posted on our Roll Call

I can post them if you like or e-mail them to those who would like them

[Roharmi]

It was great meeting you and Joe. Christine and I had a blast hanging out with you guys. Doing the roll call made this cruise that much more enjoyable and I highly suggest that everyone participate in them.

 

I have a new desire to do more cruises and hopefully we can meet up with you guys again in the future.

 

You captured some things that we didn't get to do so I'm sure there will be a third trip to Alaska in our future. ;)

[Koval]

Wanting to hit the Like button on so many of these posts!

To bad there is not that function here :(

[inlinesick]

I would had rented a sled if i were you! Yukon is the wildest Canadians province, Love it!!!

[uababs]

Great review, Jennifer, and awesome pictures. It was great to meet you and Joe. Laughed out loud at the pic of your bed arrangement, knowing your relationship!

 

BTW - we were on the Behind the Fun tour with Joe. That was me JOKING about the swan soap being white chocolate. I mean, we were in the steakhouse with its awesome desserts, so a gal can hope, you know?!

 

We plan to head North to Alaska again someday! Maybe we'll see you on the Klondike Highway again!

[jigger]

Nice !!

[Mulege]

Great job, concise but still full of valuable information and wonderful pictures.