Alaska Carnival Miracle May 7-14th

[MNelson486]

Awesome review and pictures.

 

We are going to Alaska on July 16 and have booked both of those tours as well. Cannot wait to hear what else you guys did.

 

Missy

[lmtrn2001]

Another Tunnel

 

The scenery was AWESOME!!

 

After we arrived in Fraser, BC we got on a small motorcoach for the journey into the Yukon Territory. The scenery continued to be breathtaking!! This drive was long but nice because there were multiple stops for photos & leg stretching!!

 

LOVE this photo!!

 

 

Ice Fishing

 

Emerald Lake...Still frozen over.

[lmtrn2001]

After leaving Emerald Lake, we stopped at Caribou Crossing Trading Post for our BBQ Chicken lunch which was really quite tasty!! The doughnuts for dessert were really good but if you don't like nutmeg you won't like them. We walked around & looked at the wildlife exhibit, the sled dog kennel and the goat walk while the people who had booked the dog sled ride did their ride.

 

This is the Sled Dog Area

 

 

The Goat walk

 

Momma Goat

 

And her babies!!

 

Oh & if you'll look at the photo of the Sled Dog Area. look in the upper left corner on the Mountain. It looks like a Mountain Goat. Don't let it fool you because it is PLASTIC!! They got ME!! :P

[lmtrn2001]

More of Caribou Crossing

 

The Ice Cream Shop. We were told it was really good.

 

Next we went to Carcross, Formerly known as Caribou Crossing(the town of).

 

Setting up games for the school kids on the frozen Lake Bennett

 

Lake Bennett

[lmtrn2001]

Welcome to the Yukon!!

 

The View just past the Yukon sign

 

Welcome Back to Alaska!!

 

This bridge, we were told, is NOT connected to the road on the left side due to the fact that there is a fault line that you can see running diagonally up the mountain from bottom right to upper left. This allows for movement in the bridge in the event of an earthquake. Yikes!! We had to drive over that bridge & it was kind of creepy knowing that it was only connected at one end!!:eek:

 

The ship from overlooking the town of Skagway

[lmtrn2001]

Downtown Skagway

 

Red Onion Saloon...We went in & had a Beer.

 

We wondered around town for a bit buying gifts for the grandkids then went back to the ship. This is a long port day. We arrived at 7am & set sail at 9pm.

Here are some parting shots as we backed out of Skagway

 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Yay Lisa! I am so glad you are writing your review. :) Anxiously awaiting Juneau!

 

I still wish you & Johnny had waited to cruise to Alaska with us in August! Want to go again? :D

 

Juli

[Rachel83706]

The ship docked in Skagway

We booked our tour here with Chilkoot Charters & Tours. We did the Yukon Rail & Bus Excursion that lasted 7.5 hours from 7:30am til 5:00pm. They meet you just outside the port area and drive you the short distance to the rail yard. It included a train ride from Skagway to Fraser, BC where you leave the train & drive through the Yukon Territory.

 

:confused: I am super confused!! I also booked this tour (my 2nd time doing it - this time taking my Mom) It says on their reservation form that on Fridays you do the bus first and meet at 8:30am ... I wonder why you got to do the train first

Also, what side of the train was the best for viewing? If I remember, I opted to sit on the left (this is the ride going back down) but the right side was the side with all the scenery :o - Just want to make sure that is correct. (don't want to make the same mistake twice!!)

[lmtrn2001]

:confused: I am super confused!! I also booked this tour (my 2nd time doing it - this time taking my Mom) It says on their reservation form that on Fridays you do the bus first and meet at 8:30am ... I wonder why you got to do the train first

Also, what side of the train was the best for viewing? If I remember, I opted to sit on the left (this is the ride going back down) but the right side was the side with all the scenery :o - Just want to make sure that is correct. (don't want to make the same mistake twice!!)

I'm not sure what the difference might be but if you are riding the bus up, you need to be on the right side & also on the right side if you are riding the train down.

Have a Great trip!!

[lmtrn2001]

Yay Lisa! I am so glad you are writing your review. :) Anxiously awaiting Juneau!

 

I still wish you & Johnny had waited to cruise to Alaska with us in August! Want to go again? :D

 

Juli

 

Hey Juli!!

 

We'd LOVE to go again, just can't afford it!! :rolleyes:

Juneau is coming up soon.

[fishinjunkie]

Where did you find the information for the excursion while cruising the fjord? I have checked the shore excursions site but cannot find

[cruisingautiger]

We are booked on the Tracy Fjord excursion. Can you tell me about how many people will fit on the boat? I know it was earlier in the season, but what did you west on that excursion?

 

Thanks!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[lmtrn2001]

May 10th Juneau

 

We arrived in Juneau to Rain & COLD. YUCK!!

 

 

We booked our excursion here to go Whale Watching with Harv & Marv. Our tour time was 10:00am so we were going to walk around town & do some shopping before our tour. DH says our reservation said "if you haven't located your rep by 8:30am please call". OK, so we wait outside the dock area, looking for someone...No one shows up. Try calling, get voicemail. Long story, short...they put the WRONG meeting time on our reservation, it should have been 9:30am. So we wasted all that time waiting for them. Needless to say, DH was slightly pissed! Anyway, we finally met up with them around 9:30am.

 

The tour took us to Mendenhall Glacier first. Pretty cool but not as beautiful as Dawes.

 

Waterfall at Mendenhall

 

Porcupine at Mendenhall

[mrpayroll]

Thanks for taking the time for the review. We went to Alaska in 2007. The scenery is Beautifull......:)

[lmtrn2001]

Next is Whale Watching!! :D

This guy was just chillin' on a deck railing at the Marina, waiting for Lunch to swim by!

 

We met Captain Shawn at the Marina. There were only 5 of us plus the captain on the boat. Very nice but it was rainy & cold. But it wasn't long before we saw our first of many humpbacks!! Very exciting!!

 

The Fluke

 

 

[lmtrn2001]

Thar she blows!! :)

 

 

 

Sea Lions

 

[lmtrn2001]

The Marina

 

Mt. Juneau

 

Line to get back on the ship

 

The wait to get back on the ship was so log because the gangway had to be raised due to tide fluctuations. All of the Alaska ports report having between 10-30 feet rise & fall during high & low tides. They have 2 high tides & 2 low tides daily.

 

Leaving Juneau

 

[war eagle]

Thanks so much for your recent review of your Alaskan cruise. War Eagle and Florence sure caught my eye... we live in Auburn and daughter lives in Florence. We have been planning this Alaskan cruise June 18 on the Miracle for a while and so excited. We have a pre and post day in Seattle too but we are staying at the Mayflower... hopefully walking distance to sites and it has shuttle to pier. We have also booked the Tracy Arm little boat.... love your pictures!!! We are taking the Yukon Scenic Tour in Skagway, not the train so we can stop more for pictures. I am having trouble packing because I am not used to rainy, cold in Alabama... planning layers I guess. I only have dressy boots and flipflops so looking for shoes. Send forth other suggestions..... much appreciated.

[lmtrn2001]

Thanks so much for your recent review of your Alaskan cruise. War Eagle and Florence sure caught my eye... we live in Auburn and daughter lives in Florence. We have been planning this Alaskan cruise June 18 on the Miracle for a while and so excited. We have a pre and post day in Seattle too but we are staying at the Mayflower... hopefully walking distance to sites and it has shuttle to pier. We have also booked the Tracy Arm little boat.... love your pictures!!! We are taking the Yukon Scenic Tour in Skagway, not the train so we can stop more for pictures. I am having trouble packing because I am not used to rainy, cold in Alabama... planning layers I guess. I only have dressy boots and flipflops so looking for shoes. Send forth other suggestions..... much appreciated.

 

Hey!! Glad you are liking my review. We had the same trouble packing!! Had shorts & T-shirts to fleece, thermals & our Ski parka & used them all. I got lucky & found a good pair of hiking boots at Wal-mart on clearance for $7.00.

Wore them the whole time. On good days, fleece pull-overs, thermal top & bottoms, wool socks & the boots were fine, Cold, rainy days we wore or ski coats with a hood & that worked fine. I actually bought Frogg Toggs for us both & we never used them. Layers is the best way to go & make sure you have a light weight backpack to put stuff in. Also, you can get a waterproofing spray at walmart, we used this to spray our boots & tennis shoes. Never had wet feet!! If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Have a Great trip!! BTW, my son lives in Auburn!! :D

[lmtrn2001]

Where did you find the information for the excursion while cruising the fjord? I have checked the shore excursions site but cannot find

 

I found it on the Carnival Tour excursion site. It actually show up on every port but it actually runs during the cruise down Tracy Arm.

This is the e-mail address I sent my request to:alaska_tracyarm@carnival.com

 

Give them you information, Cruise date, Booking Number, Number of people in you party. It will be charged to your sail & sign account when you board the ship.

This is the e-mail they sent me...

 

"Good Day Lisa,

 

"The Tracy Arm tour will be conducted on Thursday, May 9th, a day before arriving into the first port of call and not on the day of Skagway (please see attached screenshot from our website). On this tour, you will meet aboard in one of the lounges on the Carnival Miracle. You will be escorted to the catamaran that will take you through Tracy Arm. The catamaran will be alongside the Carnival Miracle so you will get directly off the ship and directly get onto the catamaran. The Carnival Miracle will continue cruising through Tracy Arm. The catamaran will go upclose to the scenery and glaciers while the Carnival Miracle only sees it at a distance. The catamaran will meet up with the ship after your three hour tour and you will then get back onto the ship.

 

Please advise if you still want to book the excursion so we can confirm your reservation.

 

Wishing you a very pleasant voyage on the Carnival Miracle. "

 

Hope this helps!! Have a Great Trip!!

Edited June 10, 2013 by lmtrn2001

[lmtrn2001]

We are booked on the Tracy Fjord excursion. Can you tell me about how many people will fit on the boat? I know it was earlier in the season, but what did you west on that excursion?

 

Thanks!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

I think the boat can hold 50-75 people but it wasn't too bad especially when they opened the upper deck. I wore a Fleece pullover with a thermal undershirt & thermal pants under Blue Jeans. We took our ski Parka just in case & I'm glad we did because when we got up close to the Glacier we needed them. Have an AWESOME time!! You won't regret booking this excursion!!

 

There are a lot of us Auburn Tigers going to Alaska this year!! ;)

[Crusin Karen]

I saw the cabin we ALWAYS booked on the Miracle in the picture of the boarding. :p LOVE this, your pictures are BEAUTIFUL, only thing that "bothers me" is you mentioning WOOL SOCKS. I get the heeby jeebys and witchy itchies just at the MENTION of wool. :(:(:(

[lmtrn2001]

I saw the cabin we ALWAYS booked on the Miracle in the picture of the boarding. :p LOVE this, your pictures are BEAUTIFUL, only thing that "bothers me" is you mentioning WOOL SOCKS. I get the heeby jeebys and witchy itchies just at the MENTION of wool. :(:(:(

 

The socks we have are called smart wool & they don't itch at all!! They are so warm & comfy!! Love them!!

[Crusin Karen]

The socks we have are called smart wool & they don't itch at all!! They are so warm & comfy!! Love them!!

Oh, I've never heard of them. Will have to check that. I have Reynaud's Syndrome which affects both my fingers and toes. So I would really need something warm for a cold weather cruise. IF I ever win the lottery and go to AK I will look for the smart wool items! :p

[krazy4kruisin]

Awesome review. I would love to go to AK.....Someday, sooner than later!:)