Carnival Miracle to Alaska - (photo) review 5/27/14-6/3/14 with kids

[ej'smom]

Juneau

 

 

This day was the worst weather we had the entire trip. We again got up early for our port arrival and planned excursion for the day. This time we had breakfast on the Lido deck. It was packed and hard to find a place to sit and the buffet lines were long. After breakfast we headed downstairs to disembark. There was a large crowd gathered. I was surprised since I thought we were running late, but it turns out that they weren't ready for debarkation. This was at 7:30a.m., we arrive in port at 7:00a.m. We waited about 10 minutes, but once they were ready the crowd quickly moved off the ship.

 

 

We again arranged for a private tour. This time we booked a whale watching tour through Alaska Tours Galore. This company had a number of different tours and had a few different staff members waiting at the port for our arrival. We checked in with the staff and they directed us to a shuttle bus in the parking lot. We had booked a whale watching excursion that was designed to accommodate up to 16 people. Once on board the shuttle we learned that we would be the only family on the boat that day! The shuttle lasted about 20 minutes. During the drive the shuttle driver (a native Alaskan from Juneau) gave us lots of information about the local area. It was very overcast so we weren't able to see much from the road.

 

 

We arrived at the harbor and got onto a smaller boat for our tour. The excursion website said the tour could accommodate up to 16 people on the boat. I think 16 people would have been very cramped, but it was perfect sized for 6-8 people. The kids had enough space to walk around inside the boat without stepping on anyones toes. We immediately headed toward the whale grounds. It did not take long for us to spot a whale.

Then we just kept seeing more

 

 

 

There were a half dozen different boats out there, generally all watching the same whales, but very respectful of eachothers space. The radio chatter amongst the skippers was frequent. They would share information with eachother, and whenever a new boat was coming into the same area we were idling watching whales, the skipper of the approaching boat always radioed and asked our skipper for the best approach so as to not disturb the activity of the whales. We did see some larger boats (which I assume were the cruise ship excursions), they saw the same whales we did, but were a little farther away and did not stay as long.

 

 

I did see whales from the cruise ship earlier in the cruise (during the first full sea day), but we were not nearly as close to them as we got on the excursion and they were somewhat difficult to see from the cruise ship. Naturally, the cruise ship kept traveling and not following the whales, so often someone would get a quick glance but then lose the whale a few seconds later.

 

 

The whale watching excursion lasted about 4 hours. The same shuttle driver was waiting for us at the end of the tour and brought us back to town. He offered to drop us off at the ship, or somewhere else in town. We asked for a recommendation for lunch and he suggested a place called “Twisted Fish” so we had him drop us there. The restaurant was close to the cruise terminal. They had good food. I had a smoked salmon fetuccine. It was really good and a large portion. After lunch, the kids were tired and wanted to go back to the ship and play at Camp Carnival. DH and I wanted to walk around town some more and shop. My mom was not interested in walking the shops so she opted to return to the ship as well. I had wanted to go to Mendenhall Glacier and walk around a bit, but the weather was not good, for the first time this trip, I was cold.

 

 

We all decided to walk back to the ship. I dropped off my camera (needed more hands for shopping), grabbed another layer of clothing (a sweatshirt to go over my sweater and below my jacket – I had previously just had the sweater and jacket). DH and I dropped the kids back off at Camp Carnival. There were a few other kids there and the girls ran off to play with them. The staff asked us if we were leaving the ship and where we planned to tour. We told them and they requested we check in once back on board. I was not worried about leaving the kids in camp and leaving the ship. First, I knew we were only going to be walking the downtown shops, which were close to the cruise terminal, and second, my mom was remaining on board and was listed as a person to check the kids out and be a on ship contact person should anything happen. Plus, my cell phone was working in Juneau, so she could have easily reached us to come back. But of course, none of that ever occurred and the kids happily played at Camp Carnival until well after we returned to the ship.

 

 

Walking the shops was fun. It was pretty typical shops for near a cruise terminal. Lots of jewelry and clothing shops. There was a fur/leather store about halfway down the main street. There was a very nice blanket that I wanted, but the price tag was around $1,000.00 and even if I had that kind of money to spend on a blanket, I wouldn't with kids and pets. My dad and DH did each buy a pair of slippers, which look really comfortable. It was DH's birthday, so I was glad he found something he liked to buy himself for his birthday. About an hour later, we were back on board. Checked in with Camp Carnival as requested (kids were having fun and didn't want to leave) then just went to the room to relax for a bit.

 

 

We had dinner in the MDR again. Again, it was good and we had requested Gembong as our head waiter. There was a “table artist” roaming the tables that night doing card tricks. He was pretty good and engaged well with the kids. That night the lounge was playing the movie “The Proposal”.I went to see it by myself, DH stayed the room with the kids, and my parents just went to their stateroom. After the movie I stopped by the casino for some roulette. It was really quiet in the casino so I didn't stay long.

 

 

(I should note John Heald does a thing he calls “Cigars under the Stars” On our cruise I think he did this after Skagway. DH went and joined them – He seemed to have enjoyed himself and said there was good company including a lot of crew- mostly entertainers)

 

 

I leave you tonight with some pictures of Juneau from my balcony.

 

[ej'smom]

Another Juneau picture

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[lottsomom]

Thanks so much for sharing, makes me even more excited for first Alaska cruise in Aug.:)

[zumbafan]

Thanks so much for the great review and pictures--I'm going to rely on my daughter for the picture taking as she has a decent camera with zoom lenses as I'm more of a cell-phone photographer! So excited with 9 days to go!

[mj]

Great review and pictures. Brings back some wonderful memories from last year.

[bobthehammer]

we are taking this cruise in July ... I was wondering how hard was it getting on and off the ship when u did the Tracy Arm Fjord ....

[JimAOk1945]

I enjoyed your whale watching pictures. We went on a whale watching excursion both times we were in Juneau and once in Icy Strait Point (Hoonah). They were fantastic experiences! Whales are amazing!

 

I'm looking forward to your next posts!

[SoCalKJ]

We're on the July 8th sailing and I'm gasping and getting teary-eyed with excitement. Your pictures are beautiful and remind me of some things we got to see when we did Alaska in 2011...and hope to see this time.

 

Thanks for your review, so far!

[Mistyhon]

Thanks for writing this, we were contemplating this with kids.

[ej'smom]

we are taking this cruise in July ... I was wondering how hard was it getting on and off the ship when u did the Tracy Arm Fjord ....

 

 

It wasn't had at all. Both the cruise ship and small boat were stopped. There was basically a small gangway between the ship and boat. There were a number of people on the excursion with some mobility issues and none had a problem. On the small boat, you'll be limited to the downstairs seating area unless you can walk a flight of stairs to get outside (no seats outside). You still get amazing views from the downstairs. I was able to get some good pictures from downstairs too.

 

 

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[bobthehammer]

Thanks for the info ... how were the views from the ship ... do you think this is a must do .. just wondering for the price

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoyed your review and all your wonderful photo's, thanks for posting them.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Enjoying your review. It brings back great memories of my Alaskan cruise.

[ej'smom]

Fun Day at Sea

 

 

This was the day that was originally supposed to be a port day in Ketchikan and got cancelled due to the engine problems. Here is a good place to comment – we never noticed any problems with the ship. All hotel functions and passenger aspects of the ship worked fine. Except for the change in itinerary, a passenger would never have noticed a problem. The few times that I paid attention to the screen which showed the ship's position, heading and speed, I did notice the ship stayed below 20 knots.

 

 

I was actually happy about the itinerary change. I was glad to have more time in Juneau and Victoria, BC. So today instead of Ketchikan, we had a fun day at sea.

 

 

We slept in and had a liesurely breakfast in the dining room. I also took advantage of the sea day to do some self service laundry. A few things to mention about the self service laundry. There is only one washer and two dryers per floor. The wash and dry were $3 each and soap was another $1. I probably could have gotten away with not doing laundry, but it was nice to give us some additional layering options for the remainder of the trip. The laundry was busy that day, so I had to wait for a bit, but other than that it was not a problem.

 

 

The kids went to Camp Carnival again. DH got a nice shave at the salon. I walked around the ship, read a book, played some trivia. We all got together for lunch on the Lido deck, then went to “60 seconds or less”. DD(9) likes watching the game show “Minute to Win it” so I thought she would really enjoy this on the ship. There was not a very large turnout, but everyone there had fun. You had to be 18 to participate in any of the games. DH got selected to go on stage for one of the games. It was boys v girls. They had to put a Carnival medal between their “cheeks”, walk across the stage and drop it into a red solo cup. Out of 10 people on stage, DH was one of two people to actually make it in the cup. It was fun to watch and he was a really good sport about it. I wish I had my camera.

 

 

 

 

After the game it was time for the kids Camp Carnival talent show. The girls were excited to be on stage. They had fun, but I was a bit disappointed in the production. Only four kids participated in the show (mine were two of them). The kids camp staff seemed pretty disinterested in the whole thing. Other than one or two camp staff helping out, I did not see any of the other camp staff present to watch the show and support the kids. At the end of the talent show, the staff member running the show had everyone get on stage and do the cupid shuffle. (If you don't know what the cupid shuffle is, if you spend any time on Lido deck during dancing times, or in kids camp, or really anywhere around the ship with music and dancing, you'll know it by the time you are off the ship) I came to really hate the dance and song that goes with it.

 

The kids went swimming again, after which we went to the stateroom to get ready for elegant night. The girls again had room service for dinner, since we were having another dinner at Nick & Nora's steakhouse. Before the adults dinner, we went to the family friendly comedy show. We arrived about ten minutes early and it was packed. We found a couple seats near the front, DD(6) was sitting on my lap. The comedian was FUNNY! After the comedy show we met my parents for some family pictures. Then dropped the kids off at Camp Carnival and headed to dinner.

 

 

Dinner was again amazing. This time I paced myself better and saved room for dessert. After dinner we went the the evening show of “Ticket to Ride” a tribute to the Beatles. This was the first performance of the new Miracle Dancers. They had just started a six month contract. This show was great. The music, the scenes, dancing, everything. I was really impressed by the productions this cruise. After the show, since the kids were staying in Night Owls (the Camp Carnival extra hours care), I went with my parents to the adult comedy show. DH went to the casino to play poker. Again, the place was packed, and again, I had gotten there about 15 minutes early. I went directly from the Phantom Theater Lounge to the Comedy show. We found some seats, but it was cramped. Again the comedy show was hilarious. I never stopped laughing.

 

 

The show let out around midnight, and I picked the kids up from Night Owls. This was the only time they told me they did not like being in Camp Carnival. They'd had fun until 10pm, when regular Camp Carnival ended and Night Owls began. They found Night Owls pretty boring. Mostly watching a movie, and not very many kids there.

 

 

It was after midnight, which meant it was Monday, June 2nd. My youngest's birthday! We arranged for our stateroom to be decorated and a birthday cake delivered.

 

 

 

Next Victoria.

[ej'smom]

Thanks for the info ... how were the views from the ship ... do you think this is a must do .. just wondering for the price

 

Tracy Arm is just amazing whether on the cruise ship or a small boat. The cruise ship did see the Bear as well, but they stayed about a mile away from shore, while the small boat got much closer. Also the small boat had fewer people on it, so while everyone was hovering to take a picture, there were a lot less people to contend with and everyone was respectful, making sure others had time in front to get unobstructed pictures. Not sure how it went on the cruise ship.

 

As for the glacier,the cruise ship did not get very close to the glacier. From the ship you could see the very top of one of the glaciers but not much else. Exactly how close to the glacier the cruise ship can go depends on the ice flow. The small boat can navigate through much heavier ice flow and get much closer.

 

My personal opinion, the small boat excursion is a must do. More so than any other excursion in port. I felt like we spent this much to do this cruise already it would be a shame to not see everything we wanted to, especially the glacier.

[ej'smom]

Pictures of the Birthday girl with the room decorated and her birthday cake.

[ibcnusoon]

Enjoying your review! Thanks for sharing!

[Christina M.]

Great review?

 

 

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[ej'smom]

Victoria and Debarkation:

 

 

The morning and early afternoon of Victoria, was just like another sea day, with some exceptions. Once in Canadian waters the casino and shops were closed. These closed around 10:00am. Also only three bars remained open around the ship.

 

 

The girls spent one last morning in Camp Carnival. DH and I went to John Heald Q&A. It was kind of interesting but he did not make as many jokes as he had at earlier appearances. Around lunchtime we picked up the girls from Camp Carnival and went to the MDR for lunch with my Mom. The lunch food was ok. It was not as good as dinner. This day was our younget's birthday. She was brought a slice of cake, and sung to for her birthday. After lunch we went to my parents stateroom to give our youngest some birthday presents we had packed with us. We also ate the birthday cake (pictured earlier) which had been delivered earlier. The cake was very good and rich. The girls played with the new stuff, while the adults went on the balcony to watch as we pulled into port in Victoria.

 

 

We were able to get off the ship close to 3:00p.m. We arranged for a local driver through a group Tours By Locals. The woman was nice but I'm not sure I would do this again. I simply would have enjoyed doing Victoria more at my own pace.

 

 

She drove us out to Butchart Gardens. I am thrilled we got to see this place. It was so beautiful. There were so many flowers. The kids really enjoyed walking around the gardens and seeing everything. There was also a carousel for the kids to ride.

 

 

 

Victoria City View

 

 

 

 

After the gardens we drove to Craigdarroch Castle, for a short stop for pictures. She also drove us down some nice streets, with old beautiful houses. We drove past a number of popular attractions, like the Empress Hotel and Government House. We went to the Inner Harbor for dinner, then back to the ship. I don't remember the name of the place we stopped at for dinner. It was an outdoor walk-up shack that served fish-n-chips, clam chowder and other seafood staples. The food was ok. I live on the coast of Northern California and felt like I could get much better fish-n-chips and chowder here at home. After dinner we headed back to the ship.

 

 

Our youngest wanted one last Chocolate Melting Cake so we headed to the MDR for dessert. The MDR was very accomodating and had no problem with us coming in to YTD at 8:30 for dessert. DD was sung Happy Birthday to once again.

 

 

I then arranged to give some extra tips to those I thought did a little more. (Gembong, our head waiter for dinner during YTD, the Camp Carnival staff, and our room steward). We spent the rest of the evening in the stateroom, packing for our debarkation the next morning.

 

 

Debarkation Day:

 

 

We chose to do self-assist. We went to the Lido deck for a quick breakfast before debarking. It was a little crowded, but not as bad as it was on Juneau port morning. After breakfast we collected our luggage, and headed toward the gangway to debark. The line moved fairly quickly and we were off the ship by 8:15a.m. We went to where the parking lot shuttle told us to meet. There were a number of other people there waiting for the shuttle as well. There was also a staff person from the parking lot there to make sure we got on the correct shuttle. After about 10 minutes of waiting the shuttle arrived and we all made our way to the parking lot. My 9:00a.m. we were back in our car and headed out of Seattle for our long drive back to Northern California. Our vacation was officially over.

I have enjoyed sharing my cruise story with all of you. If you have any questions about our cruise experience I'll still be lurking and here to answer as I plan for my next cruise vacation (when and where TBD – still need to convice DH that cruising is fun).

[navybaby1113]

Thanks for the review!

[CruisingMainer]

We are on the July 15 sailing and I am even more excited after reading your review. Thanks for sharing. Now to figure out what to pack!

[Mistyhon]

Thanks so much for sharing!!

[BettyPC]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!!

[cruises42]

Debarkation Day:

 

 

We chose to do self-assist. We went to the Lido deck for a quick breakfast before debarking. It was a little crowded, but not as bad as it was on Juneau port morning. After breakfast we collected our luggage, and headed toward the gangway to debark. The line moved fairly quickly and we were off the ship by 8:15a.m. We went to where the parking lot shuttle told us to meet. There were a number of other people there waiting for the shuttle as well. There was also a staff person from the parking lot there to make sure we got on the correct shuttle. After about 10 minutes of waiting the shuttle arrived and we all made our way to the parking lot. My 9:00a.m. we were back in our car and headed out of Seattle for our long drive back to Northern California. Our vacation was officially over.

I have enjoyed sharing my cruise story with all of you. If you have any questions about our cruise experience I'll still be lurking and here to answer as I plan for my next cruise vacation (when and where TBD – still need to convice DH that cruising is fun).

 

What shuttle did you use? Carnival?