Spirit 7-20 Southbound Cruise And 3 Day Denali Review

[SuzieQK]

3 day thru Denali, 7 day Southbound Cruise on Carnival Spirit.

--Part 1 land tour---

Arrived Sunday night July 17th in Anchorage, rented car thru Dollar at the airport. Planning to drive halfway to Denali, staying in Talkeetna the first night. I also bought a copy of the “MilePost” from Barnes and Noble before we left, to use as our guidebook for the drive.

Made previous reservations for the 4 of us,(myself 48, hubby 49, daughter 22, son 16) to stay at the Talkeetna Youth Hostel tonight and Tuesday night at $28 per person, linens included a private room of 4 bunk beds-looked ok for just overnight on the web. Took about 2 hours to drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna weather on and off again rain in the low 60’s.We had to slow down once for a female moose and her calf crossing the road, we arrived around 9pm. To our surprise the Hostel was a little converted house-using the bedrooms for bunk rooms, it was not as pictured on the web, thought it would be more of a dorm type building. The linens and blankets we were given were a little worse for wear, the mattresses were the rubberized hospital kind. I thought it was ok, but my family was freaked out having to sharing bathrooms and also expected to do 10 minutes of chores before we left. We made the best of it and slept(earplugs came in handy since we were right next to the livingroom), getting up early Monday morning to continue the 3 hour drive to Denali. Before we left, my family asked me to find another place to stay on our way back to Anchorage for Tuesday night. They didn’t want to stay there again. So I went on the internet(provided for free at the Hostel) and booked a room at the Econolodge rated 3 stars in Anchorage for the last night.

Monday- ate breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse-recommended by Budget Queen. The breakfasts were huge, so order half orders or share with one another. The cinnamon rolls were great and stocked up on the warm hiker cookies to munch on when we were on the road.Had a wonderful 3 hour drive to the Denali park area, stopping numerous times for pictures and to just look at the scenery. At one campsite area, came across a ranger posting “beware of bear” signs. The entire week bears have been overturning and destroying garbage containers in that area. We decided not to hike in that area-(smart move huh?!). Arrived in Denali park, checked out the wilderness and visitor centers, hiking the day and eating lunch at the commissary-hamburgers, chili and reindeer stew in bread bowls, panini sandwiches-all reasonably priced.Didn’t see any real wildlife yet.

Around 2pm decided to drive to Healy about 15 miles north to check into our next overnight stop.

The Touch of Wilderness Bed and Breakfast was our overnight home. Tim, the owner’s nephew, welcomed us in and showed us around. We reserved the Emerald room, which was a queen and double bed for the 4 of us with private bath. We loved it there !!! Met Barb the owner and just hung out relaxing on the comfy sofas, kicked off our shoes and my daughter and myself wrapped up in warm blankets sipping tea and hot chocolate while the boys explored the area. The weather was rainy and cold in low 50’s.Can’t say enough good things about this B&B, it felt like a home away from home. It was a beautiful place and I wish we would have booked for a longer stay there. I highly recommend this place, but book as far in advance you can, you will not be disappointed! We met a lot of nice people staying there for the night. Our plan was to get up very early in the morning, 4am to take the first shuttle bus thru Denali. I reserved a spot for the 4 of us on the Fish Creek bus ride thru the park service. I got our tickets and paid in advance and thru the mail. Paid a total of $103 for the 4 of us for the 8 hour bus ride, again it was highly recommended by Budget Queen.

Tuesday---Because we were leaving so early and missing breakfast, Barb from the Touch of Wilderness had ready for us in the refrigerator a packed breakfast of muffins, granola bars, yogurt, juices and fruit cups. With that and our leftover hiker cookies we had enough food to keep all of us happy for the 8 hours on the shuttle.

We arrived in the park 20-30 minutes early as told to for the 5:30 Fish Creek shuttle.

The shuttle was booked full-two people to a seat.

During the next 8 hours we saw numerous grizzly, including a mother with her two cubs being watched by a wolf. Dall sheep, moose and caraboo in the distant meadows. But the highlight was seeing a female white wolf calling for her two pups, each calling back to her and coming together, then all three calling for the father who returned their call and then joined the family to romp and play together. One of the pups had bright blue what seemed like paint all over his underside. Come to find out he got into one of the chemical toilets and that’s where the blue color came from.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip-the kids and hubby thought it was a bit long, but enjoyed the scenery, animals, and ride thru the mountain road and sometimes scary narrow roads. The weather was cloudy and overcast, making it difficult to see Mt. McKinley. They say that it is only visible 30% of the time.

We got back to the visitor center around 1:30 in the afternoon, and prepared for our 5 and a half hour drive back to Anchorage. The Milepost proved invaluable, showing us mile by mile what to expect. The drive was very nice, sometimes rainy along the way, but in one stretch the weather cleared and we got a small glimpse of the glorious Mountain!!

We got into Anchorage around 7pm, found the Econolodge on 5th and Gambell-which was very disappointing-I thought it was dirtier than the Hostel definitely not even 1 star!! We got a recommendation from a few people at the gas station to eat at a place called the “Sea Galley” for good Alaskan halibut. The parking lot was jammed with cars which was a good sign. We had a great dinner of seafood and fish and decided to turn in for the night. Tomorrow would be the start of our 7 night southbound cruise on the Carnival Spirit.

 

 

Part 2 Southbound Cruise on the Carnival Spirit

Wednesday—we got up around 8am, checked out of the Econolodge, found a McDonalds for a fast breakfast and headed back to the airport to return our rental car and meet up with the Carnival Rep at the baggage area for our shuttle to Whittier and the port. Carnival took our luggage and told us that it would be outside of our staterooms that night. We paid $65 a person in advance for roundtrip transfers to and from the ship thru Carnival.

Since we got to the airport before noon, we were bussed to the Egan Center to check in for our cruise, that was around 9:30am. Make sure you filled out your info in your blue cruise packet before you get in line, it makes for a faster checkin. I asked about the U.S. Direct procedure for disembarkation with the check in crew and they said that as long as I had that form with our passport info and flight info on it filled out and given to them at check in that the US Direct part would be a piece of cake. I should look for another form the day before disembarkation in my cabin. We were given a colored number and told to take a seat in the ballroom, our bus would be called shortly after 10:30. We were on the first bus to Whittier, it was about an hour and a half drive. But before we left Anchorage, the bus driver told us that we wouldn’t make the 12:00 tunnel (the tunnel that we go thru alternates every half an hour northbound one way then southbound the next.) So we were taken to a little wildlife rescue zoo along the way to spend 20 minutes or so. It was a nice little tour and the gift shop was nonprofit, putting all of its money back into caring for the rescued animals.

The drive to Whittier was very nice, the bus driver was full of information about the area and going thru the tunnel was an experience in itself.

We were unloaded off of our bus and proceeded to the ship terminal where we were given our sail and sign cards. From there it was onto the ship to explore! It was around 1pm.

We booked category 8G extended balcony stateroom. We were assigned cabin 7256 on the Verandah deck. Plenty of room for the 4 of us, the twins were pushed together for my husband and myself, my daughter took the pull down bunk, and my son had the sofa bed to sleep on. Enough room under the beds to store our 4 suitcases and each of us got a shelf and a drawer for our clothing. There were also 2 closets to hang our dresses, shirts and pants. We were used to this layout since we already sailed on her sister ship the Miracle last Easter.

We were supposed to leave at 9pm, but were told that we had to wait on some late passengers. We pulled away from the Whittier dock around 10:30pm. It was still very light outside, something we had to get used to for the next 7 days.

Dining on the ship-

Breakfast and lunches we ate on the lido deck at the LaPlaya Grill, buffet style. In the morning there were eggs and omelets made to order, a fruit and cereal bar. Typical breakfast foods.

Lunches you had a choice of 24 hour pizza and cesaer salads(which were very good), a deli station making great grilled sandwiches, a rotisserie, with a carving station offering different meats, an Asian station featuring Chinese and Japanese cuisine, and a station called the “Taste of Nations”, which offered a different nationality of food each day. There was also a good salad bar, and in the middle pool section was located the grill offering hamburgers, hotdogs, grilled chicken breasts and steak sandwiches. The hamburgers and fries were excellent!!

We ate dinner in the Empire Dining room every night except one formal night. The food each night was good to very good. Chateaubriand was excellent as was my prime rib and filet mignon. Our waitstaff was Tarpin and Ikasir, both very attentive and very nice. Only disappointment was that Carnival took away my favorite dessert of crème brulee!! But the flourless chocolate cake and Grand Marnier soufflé was excellent! More than one was eaten by each of us-oink oink! One formal night there was mostly seafood and prime rib neither liked by my family so I was outnumbered to eat at the Seaview Bistro on the Lido deck that night. But there was great filet mignon and baked potatoes served so I was happy. At 5pm the Sushi Bar opened near the sports bar. My daughter and I, had tea time one afternoon in the Artists lobby, which was very relaxing. Chamber music was being played as we sipped our Earl Grey and nibbled on cucumber sandwiches.

Entertainment-

The two Las Vegas type shows were good, the first “Standing Room Only” being better than the “High Spirits” show(the first 15 minutes were great then went downhill fast). Comedy and other shows were just ok. In Skagway there was a special afternoon show that a lot of people seemed to like-I missed it. It was a guy from Skagway singing songs and telling funny stories from the gold rush days.

There were trivia games, game shows, bingo, art auctions, card playing, putting tournaments, wine tasting, nature talks, shopping talks, etc. Seemed there was something for everyone if you looked around. The slots at the casino seemed to be pretty tight, walked away with very little winnings but at least I didn’t loose.

Ports of Call—

Cruising through Prince William Sound and College Fjord

I was up at 4:30-4:45 every morning with my coffee mug and binoculars ready to see anything that moved. The scenery was spectacular, icebergs galore and tons of seals and sea otters.

Sitka

Since my daughter is a Russian major, she particularly liked this port. We called the streets taking in St. Michaels Cathedral, was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the original since it burned down in the 1960’s.

Juneau

Took the Mt. Roberts Tram for $23 per person when it opened at 9am. Hiked the trails up on the mountain, beautiful views. Lots of berries on the trail, salmonberries, wild blueberries. We had a 12pm reservation for the Glacier Trek thru Northstar Treking. We met our van at the Red Dog Saloon and were taken to the airport and their headquarters.Northstar had all of our gear labeled with our names and ready to go. They supplied wind pants, waterproof jackets, harness, gators, boots, gloves, fanny packs with water, granola bar and klennex inside. We were given a short safety talk and were told how and where to sit in the helicopter.

We got into the helicopter and were treated to a 30 minute flightseeing tour of Juneau and the Glaciers area. We landed on Mendenhal glacier and were met by our guide Chris.

He got us fitted with our crampon ice spikes, helmets and ice picks. There were 6 of us in our group and Chris took excellent care of all of us. He took us on a two hour trek of the spectacular glacier, teaching us how to walk up and down the walls of the glacier. He took us between the walls, up to the edges and over the glacier streams. The best part was when he brought us to a cravasse that opened a few days before and he took us in pairs into the crevasse. It was about two feet wide and 30 feet deep, we wiggled our way thru the crack in places and finally looked up to see a huge cave of blue ice. It was spectacular!!! I even licked the icy wall of blue-couldn’t resist-lol. We all dumped out what water we had left in our bottles and filled them up at a glacier waterfall. The water was soooo cold and refreshing. We took tons of pictures of the surroundings and our group. The trek was a bit physical at times but nothing any of us couldn’t handle. By the time it was time to head back to base camp some of us were sweating from all the activity. Chris was an excellent guide!! I give Northstar 5 stars, it is a top rate very efficient operation. This was the highlight of our entire vacation!!

After getting off the glacier and changing back into our own gear we were bussed directly back to our ship. It was time for a nap for me!!

Skagway

We rented a car thru Avis at $69 with taxes and optional damage insurance it came out to just under $100, it is about a 15 minute walk from the ship. We were upgraded from a compact to a new Toyota Camry at no charge-very nice car!

We were on our way to Carcross and Emerald lake. The drive was easy and very beautiful. WE stopped a lot to take pictures of the numerous waterfalls, spectacular views of the mountains and railway, the pipeline and lakes and rivers. We had to stop once because a Caraboo decided to take a stroll on the highway in front of us. We stopped at the smallest desert in the world, and then onto Emerald lake which was beautiful, We stopped at Cinnemon Cache to eat yummy cinnamon rolls and to say hi to Bo Bo and Gail the owners. On our way home right outside of the city of Skagway we took a detour recommended by the ranger, down to the inlet to watch the sea otters feed. The city of Skagway was really nice, it had a very old feel to it and I would have liked to spend some more time just exploring the town itself.

Ketchikan

This day we just walked the city, did a little shopping, got the popcorn at OrcaCorn-its very good. We watched the lumberjacks climb the pole without having to pay for the show itself, just stood outside the area with all the cheering going on. Walked up just outside the city to the fish ladder to watch the salmon run.

Glacier viewing

Our captain did a great job getting us up close to the glacier. We spent about an hour just sitting watching the calving.The sound was unbelievable! Not a lot of action, no big walls falling, but breathtaking none the less. There were dozens and dozens of seals just hanging around basking in the sun on the icebergs.

Debarkation-

What a mess!!! Carnival gets an “F” for debarkation!! First let me say make sure you do the U.S. Direct program for $15 per person.

I asked about this program at embarkation and again on the first day we got onto the ship, both times the Carnival people told me that as long as I filled out the form I got with my documents I would be included, just to watch for another form the second to last day of the cruise in my stateroom. WRONG!!! On Monday I called the pursers office to tell them that I didn’t receive anything yet in my room-their reply was-oh- you were supposed to have the form in by noon on SATURDAY!! It was posted in the Carnival Capers!!! I went down to the pursers office to try to clear this up, telling them that twice I was told not to worry that my initial form was in for the program. I was then told- IT WASN’T THE RIGHT FORM!!!! And too bad so sad I could not participate in the program! By the way- the blurb in the Capers was on the back page in the bottom corner labeled-Don’t forget- Must be booked by noon!

Vancouver Tours

Then about four lines below

Onboard Airline check in Service

NOTHING other than that was sent to our stateroom!! Never mentioned on the annoying loudspeakers that said-don’t forget BINGO BINGO BINGO etc.

Well this is how our Debarkation went.

We were given “yellow #11” tickets to put on our luggage the night before. We already paid for roundtrip transfers that included a bus back from port to Vancouver airport. We were told that our luggage would be transferred with us on the bus so be sure to wait for your color and Number to be called so you wouldn’t get on the wrong bus. WRONG AGAIN! We were called to debark around 9am,Our luggage was supposedly trucked to the airport before we arrived and we would pick it up before we checked into our airlines. We waited in line at the airport for over an hour and a half just to get our luggage. None of the luggage was there on our arrival. They hadn’t even unloaded yellow 1 yet!! Holland Americans cruise ship was the other ship in port with us, and all of their luggage was there waiting for passengers before anyone arrived. They were done in a matter of 30 minutes!! Why couldn’t Carnival do this??? Our flight wasn’t leaving until 2pm. We finally got our luggage at 12:30 and it took another 30 minutes in line at customs.

Again---Pay the extra $15 and get your U.S. direct forms in early in the cruise-that way you never see your luggage until you get to your home airport and you get your boarding pass for your flight right onboard the ship-sailing right thru the mess at the airport!

We were to fly from Vancouver to Seattle, Seattle to Minneapolis, and Minneapolis to Milwaukee. Well we got to Seattle and was told that our second flight was going to be delayed so that meant we were going to miss our 9pm connection. No other flights on NW or any other airlines were available and if we went to Minneapolis we weren’t even guaranteed a hotel room overnight. So we had to stay in Seattle overnight and fly out at 7am Thursday morning getting home at 2pm. It was a long 12 days and up until our last day our vacation was wonderful!!! Alaska was beautiful-a very different cruise than what we are used to. We had a great great time and met some very nice people!!

[GottaLuvCruising]

Thanks for the review!! You were certainly more adventurous than most with arranging your own land stay!

 

You might have met my cousin? They were a family of four from Pennsylvania (husband, wife and two adult sons) on the same sailing. My cousin won $1,000 in bingo one night and placed in the black jack tournament.

 

Too bad debarkation didn't go well for you! We were also yellow tags in Vancouver last year, but it went smashingly! We left the ship, boarded a motorcoach filled with people on our same flight. At the airport, we retrieved our bags (did take a little while) and went right to our plane. I was impressed by how smoothly it went and generally think Carnival has made great strides in that regard.

[SuzieQK]

Is your cousin Connie?

[GottaLuvCruising]

Yes!! So you did meet her? Small world!! I called her a couple days ago to ask how they liked the cruise. She told me about bingo and black jack.

[SuzieQK]

She was my competitor on the Game Show Mania stage. I was the obnoxious girl from Wisconsin that the EmC had to take away my mic cuz I was so far ahead of everyone else. I love playing trivia games!! Then we sat with her at the diamond seminar and kept bumping into her around the ship. She is really really nice. I met up with her at the airport waiting for our bags to say goodbye and she told me about her winnings!!! It was much better than the old ship on a stick I got. We had a wonderful time on the cruise. Tell her to get on this board to say hello!

[GottaLuvCruising]

Would you believe that Connie doesn't even have email, much less internet access? I live on the computer and would go nuts without it. Is your real name "Suzie"? I'll call her in the next few days and tell her about this encounter. It's just too weird. There are 2,000 people on board - you happen to post a review - I happen to respond. Now I have to ask her about Game Show Mania!

 

My husband and I love the trivia contests, too, and rarely miss them. But I treasure my "ships on a stick". I have one from every cruise since they started giving them out. One cruise we were down to the last day and realized that we hadn't won a ship on a stick yet. Yikes! We checked the schedule for the day and won one before it was over.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I couldn't stand it, so I called Connie's house. She wasn't home, but I talked with her husband. I left a message that Suzie, from the ship, asked about her. That will get her thinking.

[lizabet623]

What is US direcct procedure? What is it for?

 

I am doing the Northbounc May 2006 Is this something I should do?

 

Help with clarification please

Liz

[SuzieQK]

GottaLuvCruising--

You are just like me-My goal is to win a ship on the stick on every cruise too. Last Easter, Carnival changed to stupid little prizes(points for your team color-stuffed Freddies) for thier trivia games and other games that werent onstage in the big Lounge. So I didnt get one for the Miracle-boo hoo--lol.

She will freak wondering how you know me-lol That is too funny!! Yes Sue is my real name, just tell her that I can whisper a trivia answer to her so she can accumulate some points-lol. After the host took away my mic, I used Connies mic to shout the answer-hey I have a very competitive streak-ok?!!?

 

Liz

the U.S. Direct program enables you to primarily bypass all customs and check in lines at the airport after you have been sailing. Their reasoning is that once you have been onboard you hand over your luggage the night before debarkation and it is in the hands of Carnival who works with the airline and customs security. You actually check in for your return flight onboard the ship and get your boarding passes right there, so when you walk off the ship you have no luggage to declare and can walk right past the regular customs line and airport lines since you have been cleared even before you left the ship. You never see your luggage until you claim it at your final destinations baggage claim. The cost to do this is $15 per person. I dont know how this would work on a northbound since you will be probably flying home thru a US port already like Anchorage. We were flying home from Vancouver which isnt a US port.

Hope this doesnt confuse you even more.

[TamaLee]

I am doing the Northbounc May 2006 Liz

 

 

Liz - when are you sailing? My husband and I are booked on the May 31st Northbound cruise.

[TamaLee]

SuzieQK -

 

I know you mentioned that you saw seals and otters from the ship but did you see any whales? We are still trying to decided if we want to do a whale watching trip in port one day. I'm hoping that maybe we can see just as much from our balcony on the ship.

[SuzieQK]

TamaLee- we saw whales just about every day on the ship-most of them not very upclose. Cruising on the last day there were two, a humpback and an orca that came right next to the ship. Michelle the naturalist was very quick to point out when we were approaching wildlife over the loudspeakers. Some of the people that took Captain Larrys excursion said that they saw just as many from the ship. I guess it is a hit or miss thing to how close they come while you are cruising. Every morning I would get up around 5 take my coffee mug and binoculars and stay up on the lido deck just to watch for wildlife.

[TamaLee]

SuzieQK -

 

Thanks for our thoughts. We have lots of time to decide but your feedback certainly helps.

 

Tamara