Miracle to Alaska August 27, 2013

[Christina M.]

Love your review.

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

DISCLAIMER...I am in no way an accomplished writer or even a very good photographer so there is no way I can do justice to the majestic beauty of Alaska so bear with me :D ...

 

August 29th, we woke up to an absolutely beautiful, sunny day!

 

We booked the small boat excursion in to Tracy Arm Fjord the day we booked the cruise so we made sure we could get it. OMG I am so glad we did! It was $183.99 pp but was worth every penny!

 

A catamaran pulled alongside the Miracle & we boarded it for an up close & personal look at the Sawyer Glaciers, waterfalls & mountains.

 

Pulling away from the Miracle.

 

There was a naturalist on-board, Sherry, & she was informative & funny. It was amazing to see the incredible blues in the icebergs as we cruised along.

 

 

 

 

 

OK. I know that was a lot of iceberg photos but it is like pulling teeth trying to decide which pics to use!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Gorgeous scenery along the way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Crusin Karen]

OMG, I am DROOLING! :eek::eek::o:o Don't decide which photos to post, put them ALL in! ;):p

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Love your review.

 

Thank you. I am enjoying reliving our cruise! It went by so fast!

 

OMG, I am DROOLING! Don't decide which photos to post, put them ALL in! ;):p

 

lol! I love your upbeat, positive attitude Karen!

 

We took about a thousand pics on our 18 day trip. A lot of them are probably worthless to anybody but us! :D And some of them with J.R. being J.R. there is no way I would post them! :o We always have fun though!

 

Trying to decide which ones to include in this review is proving harder than usual! Alaska was STUNNING!

 

Juli

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

I love waterfalls! If you do too DEFINITELY book the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion! We saw so many beautiful waterfalls along the way.

 

 

 

And then we pulled beside this beautiful waterfall & could almost reach out & touch it. Breathtaking!

 

 

 

 

This was our boat in the photo so you can see how craziness close we were!

 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Just a couple more! :D

 

 

[rippy13]

What is the name of the excursion? We are considering this cruise for next year. Thanks for your review! We are going on the Miracle in December to Hawaii.

[Robkatcruisers]

I like the purple grapes in the dining room on the Miracle much much better than the gold peaches with red and black snake skin wall paper in the dining room on the Carnival Freedom.......:eek:

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Beautiful pictures! They bring back memories of my Alaskan cruise it was a trip of a lifetime!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

What is the name of the excursion? We are considering this cruise for next year. Thanks for your review! We are going on the Miracle in December to Hawaii.

 

It was the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer excursion through Carnival. I called Carnival to make sure it was available before I even booked the cruise! :D We booked the first time slot at 11 AM.

 

You are welcome. I am looking forward to seeing some Hawaiian cruise reviews! I have not even started researching for Hawaii! :eek:

 

I really love your pictures!

 

Thank you. The scenery made picture taking very easy.

 

I took three cameras & my favorite point & shoot bit the dust (would not hold a charge) the first day of the trip :( so I used my Olympus Tough TG-820 Waterproof Camera (the pics with the dates) & J.R. used our 'big kid' camera, a Nikon D3000. I actually liked a lot of the pics I took with my water camera best! :D

 

I like the purple grapes in the dining room on the Miracle much much better than the gold peaches with red and black snake skin wall paper in the dining room on the Carnival Freedom.

 

I really miss those purple grapes! :D And I am really looking forward to seeing the snake skin wall paper on the Freedom in February! :p Put me on a ship & I am HAPPY!

 

Beautiful pictures! They bring back memories of my Alaskan cruise it was a trip of a lifetime!

Thank you. Alaska definitely provides for a memory making trip!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Look who was trailing us!

 

 

 

 

[crusinpsychRN]

Just fabulous photos!! Your formal pics were great too.

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

We went to the South Glacier first. The ship is not able to get to it. I cannot even describe how beautiful & majestic it is. Pictures do not do it justice! The glacier is made up of various shades of the most vibrant blues imaginable! I am definitely running out of adjectives to describe everything.

 

No words needed!

 

 

 

We were all so excited to hear the rumbling that sounds like thunder & then witness a few small calvings where ice breaks from the glacier and crashes into the sea.

 

 

 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

 

 

This last photo of us leaving the glacier :( was taken with J.R.'s IPhone

 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Then we made our way to the North Glacier. It seemed funny to be able to look back & see the Miracle ‘following’ us in the distance. I was happy for our shipmates because the Miracle was able get pretty close to the second glacier since it was such an incredibly clear day.

 

To show that you do not have to have a fancy camera to photograph a glacier this first pic was taken with an IPhone.

 

 

 

 

There were sea lions lying all over the ice by the glacier.

 

 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

We oohed & aahed over the North Glacier too & kept hearing the ‘white thunder’ & we would all get our cameras ready. It is hard to describe what that 'rumbling' sounds like. Mother nature at her best!

 

We were all watching this spot.

 

 

Our time was running out there when we heard a really loud rumbling & we got to experience a HUGE calving! It was breathtaking. I meant to be quiet but I think I actually screamed! Poor Robin was beside me trying to videotape! Sorry Robin!

 

Here she goes (& J.R. definitely wins the photo competition for capturing this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

It made some really big waves!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

And then we had to leave. :( Not without a few last photos.

 

 

 

 

It was 61 degrees & sunny at the glacier but the wind was COLD! I had on underarmor pants & shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, jeans & part of the time a fleece jacket with a Columbia rain jacket over it. I never broke out my hat or gloves though.

 

The catamaran brought us back to the ship & took the 2nd group out. We spent the rest of the day on the Serenity deck where we were actually able to land two hammocks! It was an incredible experience snuggling under a blanket (provided by the ‘towel’ desk) in the hammock on the Serenity Deck gazing at the gorgeous Alaskan scenery!

 

Robin & John's hammock worked better than ours.

 

 

Ours had a little to much curve to it!

 

[TrqoisWtrs]

Great review - loving the pics.

 

That's awesome! lol :D

 

 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

The conference we are attending is over tomorrow so I will get J.R. to help me narrow down the amount of pictures I am posting. I know less is more but I LOVE them all! :D

 

Just fabulous photos!! Your formal pics were great too.

 

Thank you. We actually dressed up more the second elegant night. Don't know why we did it that way. :confused:

 

 

Great review - loving the pics.

That's awesome! lol :D

 

Of all the pics I have in my review so far that is the one you commented on? :p:D

 

Never a dull moment with J.R. around! Those glow sticks from the Beatles show turned up in a lot of our pics from Elegant night. Obviously I did not want mine back. :eek:

[Downpayment]

OH how are you going to decide which one to post. I love them all. What kind of camera do you have.

[toujours]

Haha dear J.R. and his funny poses, it makes me miss you even more. Do post as many pics as you want, I love reading your reviews !The scenery is breathtaking. Please, please, make Quebec city a future cruise destination so I can take you on a private tour :)

[Jenny in TX]

OMG, I am DROOLING! :eek::eek::o:o Don't decide which photos to post, put them ALL in! ;):p

 

I agree. The scenery looks absolutely breathtaking!!

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

OH how are you going to decide which one to post. I love them all. What kind of camera do you have.

 

J.R. will laugh at me when he sees how many pics I posted of the glacier calving. It was exciting to me though! :D

 

I took three cameras & my favorite point & shoot bit the dust (would not hold a charge) the first day of the trip so I used my Olympus Tough TG-820 Waterproof Camera (the pics with the dates) & J.R. used our 'big kid' camera, a Nikon D3000. He also took some with his IPhone.

 

 

Haha dear J.R. and his funny poses, it makes me miss you even more. Do post as many pics as you want, I love reading your reviews !The scenery is breathtaking. Please, please, make Quebec city a future cruise destination so I can take you on a private tour :)

I know you know from knowing J.R. :D that there are many pics we took on our trip that I can not post on here! :eek: J.R. always makes things interesting! I didn't realize how those glow sticks were popping up until I saw our pictures when we got home!

 

 

We really miss you & Patrice too. We soooo wish y'all had been able to join us on our cruise. Consider joining us for Hawaii September 2014!

 

J.R. wants to take a trip northeast so maybe we will take you up on your offer to be our tour guide. I am sure we would need help. Nobody there would be able to understand our Southern drawl! :p

 

Sending hugs!

Juli

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

We woke up in Skagway to another wonderful, sunny day. Highs in the 70’s! Who said Alaska is cold & rainy?

 

We booked the Bennett Scenic Journey with Chilkoot Charters along with Robin & John. We actually booked the last trip of the season that goes all the way to Bennett which is reachable by rail only (no road there).

 

The excursion costs $229 pp & is a combination bus/train ride. You do have to have a passport for this excursion as it crosses over in to Canada & Customs officials come on-board & check your passport.

 

Also we took snacks & we were glad to have them! They had complimentary bottled water on-board.

 

Our bus driver, Alyssa was a doll & was funny & informative (& a good driver). The bus held 24 people.

 

We made many stops along the way for photo ops. There is no restroom on the bus so make sure you go before you board. We made one ‘interesting’ stop at a ‘restroom’ with no water.

 

If you do the bus 1st sit on the right side, the scenery is much better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our tour guide Alyssa