Alaska/Carnival Legend Cruise Review w/ Pictures July 2015

[navybaby1113]

Final Thoughts & Some Final Tips

 

We loved cruising to Alaska. The scenery is some of the most amazing we have seen anywhere in the world. There is something magical about hearing/seeing a glacier calving from the deck of a ship.

 

Some Final Tips:

- Pack more cold weather clothing than you feel is necessary. You would rather have it and not need it than not have it and want it.

- While in Tracy Arm Fjord (or Glacier Bay if your itinerary goes there instead), make sure to take in the sites from different parts of the ship.

- Always keep your camera with you. You never know when there’s going to be a photo opportunity.

 

I hope you enjoyed my review. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try to answer them the best I can.

[Cruise Traveler Susan]

I loved your review - thank you for doing it.

[maryinFL]

I thoroughly enjoyed your detailed review. I plan to reread it next year as we get closer to our June 7, 2016 sailing date.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Edited September 2, 2015 by maryinFL

[crewsweeper]

Hey, "Neighbor":D. I missed this entire review until today:eek:

 

Glad you had a great time. Wonderful pics! Must have felt strange packing winter clothes never worn in winter time here in the middle of July heat. Thanks for sharing.

 

And leave early-early if you're heading to Doke this weekend:p

[travlngrl1996]

It was really nice reading your review Tallahassee neighbor. You have/had the most amazing pictures and your pictures have made up my mind... I will be doing Alaska very soon.

 

Thanks for an awesome experience through your lenses. :D

[douglinc@msn.com]

Great review and pictures, thanks for sharing.

 

Doug

[Joie]

I can't find any Carnival cruise that is round-trip via Seattle. Have they stopped doing that one? We do NOT want to start and end in a different city.

Looked from Now thru 2017 !!!!!!!!!!!!

[maryinFL]

I can't find any Carnival cruise that is round-trip via Seattle. Have they stopped doing that one? We do NOT want to start and end in a different city.

Looked from Now thru 2017 !!!!!!!!!!!!

The Legend is round trip from Seattle. I'm booked for 6/7/16.

 

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[Joie]

I will look again....closer :)

[Biffer1997]

Subscribing..booked next June

[kimba961]

Thanks for taking the time to do this review! I have 7 cruises under my belt and days away from booking my 8th. I have only done caribbean cruises and my husband has an Alaska cruise on his bucket list. I really wasn't looking forward to an Alaska cruise because of the colder weather, but after reading your review and seeing your pictures, you have changed my mind. Thanks again! :)

[tlw440]

Thanks for the great review and great pics.

[navybaby1113]

Thanks for taking the time to do this review! I have 7 cruises under my belt and days away from booking my 8th. I have only done caribbean cruises and my husband has an Alaska cruise on his bucket list. I really wasn't looking forward to an Alaska cruise because of the colder weather, but after reading your review and seeing your pictures, you have changed my mind. Thanks again! :)

 

Don't even worry about the colder weather. Pack clothes to keep you warm and enjoy the gorgeous scenery and wildlife.

[marshhawk]

Thank you a thousand times over, I am actually going to be reading the review from start to finish tonight, (for the third time) but now that you are back in florida, I guess the Alaska portion is done.

 

Thanks!

[shawne71]

Thanks for taking the time to do this review! We are booked for July 2016. We went to Priceline and found a 4 star hotel in downtown Seattle for $168/night. :D

 

The pictures of the Tracy Arm excursion are breathtaking! We have been debating on whether or not we should spend money on this... I think we will book it. ;)

[RickinStl]

Thanks so much for the time and effort you put into this review.. I cant wait to go on our cruise in July of next year..

Edited October 20, 2015 by RickinStl

[wantocruisemore]

Loved your review! I never realized the glaciers were so blue. An Alaskan cruise is on our bucket list, just not in the next couple of years.

[cruiseonthebrain]

Thank you so much for the amazing review. I am looking forward to our Alaskan cruise even more now!!! I really appreciate the time you put in to the pre-cruise days as well.

[honybunyyy]

When you returned your rental car at the end of the trip. Did they take you back to the airport?

[NOSaints1]

How is Alaska on Carnival compared to other lines?

[maryinFL]

We are renting a car at the end and returning it to the airport after doing some sight seeing. That's probably the easiest scenario.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Biffer1997]

Bookmarking for June cruise

[Buffettfan 225]

I know some people don’t enjoy long reviews, so before I start, I’ll give you my general thoughts and cliff notes:

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation: Both were a breeze. We got through security and check-in within 10 minutes. Disembarkation was just as easy. Off the ship, grabbed our bags, and got through customs within 15 minutes.

 

FTTF: Wonderful as always. Embarkation and debarkation wouldn’t have been so easy without it. We were also allowed into our rooms immediately which is a nice perk. There was no tendering on this ship and we didn’t use the priority line at guest services. Still worth it to me without using those two perks.

 

Ship: This was our first time sailing a Spirit class ship, so it took some getting used to. We were still getting turned around on day 3. The decor on the ship was ugly, but that doesn’t really make or break my cruise. The ship has some upgrades like Red Frog Pub and the Sushi Bar, but doesn’t have Guy’s Burgers, Blue Iguana, or Alchemy Bar. Could really use the remainder of the upgrades and a new paint job (we saw excessive rust in a lot of places).

 

Room: We were in room 7255. This was our first time with a balcony since our honeymoon 5 years ago and we loved it. The room was a great location. We were just steps away from the midship elevators. Never heard any noise from the lobby even though we were right there. Would highly recommend this location.

 

Dining: Was pretty disappointed with the food on this cruise. The lido buffet doesn’t have as many options as other ships we have sailed on. I noticed myself getting a pizza a lot of times for lunch. During lunch we often had issues finding a table and would be stalking people waiting for them to get up and then bussing the table ourselves. The Legend is using the old menus, so no new excitement there. I don’t feel like they have enough tables for Anytime Dining on this ship as there was only one or two nights when we didn’t need to wait. We had good service in the dining rooms most nights and the food was tasty.

 

Entertainment & Activities: The shows they had for this cruise were good and they had 4 comedians throughout which created a good variety. The Hasbro Game Show is a nice addition. The naturalist onboard did a few lectures about Alaska, which was really interested to go to. I was disappointed with the rest of the activities onboard. They really only held trivia in the mornings while we were in port, so I think we only attended 2 or 3 trivia games, which is very unusual for us. In the afternoons there were a lot of times where we just sat on our balconies looking at the scenery (not that this was horrible by any means) because there was nothing else to do.

 

Tracy Arm Fjord: We booked the small boat excursion that picks you up at the ship and takes you closer to the glacier. I highly recommend this if you can afford it. We got so much closer to the shore than the ship did and the captain would stop the boat when we got near something interesting (wildlife or waterfall). We got to see both the Sawyer Glacier and South Sawyer Glacier when the ship only got to see South Sawyer. The small boat got so much closer to the glaciers as well. The ship couldn’t even see the entire glacier from where they were sitting.

 

Skagway: We booked a private excursion with Frontier Excursions that took us up to the Yukon and Emerald Lake. Another great excursion! Heidi, our guide, was absolutely fabulous. She had so many great stories of the area. We stopped at many different places, some of which were unscheduled, but Heidi thought we would be interested in seeing. The included lunch is nothing special, but the area where you stop as a lot of wildlife to play with. The bus we were on wasn't full (there were less than 20 of us) so we could move between sides if we wanted to.

 

Juneau: We booked a private excursion with Harv and Marv to go whale watching. We were scheduled to be on a 6 person boat with 2 other couples, but a captain called out sick, so they added another couple to our group and put us on their largest boat with a naturalist. It worked out really well because we had a ton of room to spread out and never felt crowded. They provided soda and snacks as well as binoculars. We saw multiple whales, seals, and sea lions and they also showed us a bald eagle nest.

 

Ketchikan: We booked the Carnival Excursion, Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary, Eagles, and Totem Poles. I wasn’t terribly excited about this excursion, but it turned out to be better than expected. The rainforest area was really pretty. We saw a ton of eagles and a baby bear. The totem carving part was completely useless as we were only in there for like 5 minutes. They had food to feed the reindeer, but they really didn’t want anything to do with us. They had hot cocoa and some small snacks at the end of the tour. If you want something relatively inexpensive and not too strenuous, then this is a good tour to take.

 

Victoria, BC: We ended up not being able to dock in Victoria because of the weather. There were a lot of upset passengers on the ship. It worked out well for us because we weren’t planning on getting off anyways, so we came out $35 richer because of the returned port fees and taxes.

How long does it take you to find out if you are on the Tracy Fjord excursion through ship? Do they email you? I sent the email request today for a just booked summer Alaska cruise on Legend (shortest time I've booked a cruise before- normalally its a year out. Soi am worried that the ships Tracy Fjord excursion through ship would be sold out, it just stated limited available on excursion section.

[prmrolltide]

I think I heard back in a day or so. Not very long.

Edited January 30, 2016 by prmrolltide

[QZQ]

How long does it take you to find out if you are on the Tracy Fjord excursion through ship? Do they email you? I sent the email request today for a just booked summer Alaska cruise on Legend (shortest time I've booked a cruise before- normalally its a year out. Soi am worried that the ships Tracy Fjord excursion through ship would be sold out, it just stated limited available on excursion section.

 

 

It took me about four days. I was getting worried because it said there was only one ticket left and everything I read said it took only a day to hear back.