Trippingpara's 'Legend'ary Alaskan Cruise Photographic Review

[trippingpara]

If there is anyone even following along any more, I apologize for this taking so long to complete this.  My calendar has just gone insane lately and has left very little time for me to kick back and finish this.  It has also put me severely behind in prepping for our next vacation which is just around the corner; our bi-annual trip to Hawaii.  This year we're going to Kauai for a couple weeks on a land vacation.  After that is a 3 week land/cruise combo to the Baltic's.  Can't wait!!  Talk to ya'll later!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[GaHawkeye]

Hey Trip, 

I’m still with ya. Going on the Legend in June so was very patient with you.  Great photos and info. Can’t thank you enough for taking the time to share. DW was wondering about menus in MDR. Do they have port of call selections? She’s not a big seafood lover, like me.  Any info on food would be greatly appreciated. 

Hank

[Hogladyrider]

Still here and still enjoying your review.  

 

Oh how I remember those days when "work" interfered with life!  Don't miss it one bit since retiring.

 

Cruising to Alaska wet our appetites for seeing interior Alaska.  It took a while to get there but did a 7 day land trip in 2014 with Alaska Wildland  Adventures - BEST vacation ever even over a cruise.  16 people with our own van, our own driver, our own tour guided all inclusive except for alcohol and tips.  Highly recommend this outfit if you want to see Alaska from Seward to Denali.

 

Hope you have a fantastic time in Hawaii and on your Baltic's cruise.  Looking forward to more reviews!

Susan

[SenatorsFan]

I'm still here, too. Thanks for coming back and finishing up. I would rather read a great review that takes time to finish, than one that dies off in the middle! Enjoy Hawaii and the Baltics cruise, and have a good Christmas. See you next time!

Heather

[pghsteelerfan]

And I'm still following along too and I certainly won't put pressure on you.  Ship happens!!!  I just finished your final installment.  I really enjoyed your review and seeing Alaska through your beautiful pictures!!!  Thanks again for taking the time to share with and entertain us.  I hope you and Lady Trip have a great time in Kauai!  We were there last year for 4 days, loved it and hope to get back one day.  I hope you also enjoy the Baltics cruise!  Merry Christmas to you!!!

Edited December 15, 2018 by pghsteelerfan

[tandemcruzr]

Yep, I'm still here and thoroughly enjoyed the pics and the commentary. Enjoy your future travels. 🙂

 

[trippingpara]

20 hours ago, GaHawkeye said:

Hey Trip, 

I’m still with ya. Going on the Legend in June so was very patient with you.  Great photos and info. Can’t thank you enough for taking the time to share. DW was wondering about menus in MDR. Do they have port of call selections? She’s not a big seafood lover, like me.  Any info on food would be greatly appreciated. 

Hank

 

Hi Hank,

 

Thank you so much for your patience and sticking with my review until the end.  I appreciate your kind words as well.  Unfortunately, we only ate in the MDR one evening so I'm probably not the best source of information on that topic.  If I remember correctly, at least for that one night, the Port of Call selections had 1 seafood dish (I believe it was blackened halibut) and 1 non-seafood dish which was some pasta dish.  I wish I had more concrete information for you on that.  I do know that the buffet also featured some Alaskan dishes and they were not all seafood.  I remember one dish was some sort of stew and another was a casserole of some sort.  Although Alaska is best known for their seafood, you will have plenty of other options.  For example, I had reindeer a couple times and it was absolutely delicious!!

[GaHawkeye]

Thanks Trip. Good info. We’ve always been able to find something to eat. We’re not picky. I’ll keep an eye out for menus. 

Hank

[ToriB]

What an awesome review with beautiful photos. We’ll be on the Legend in May and cannot wait!

[jc4me]

I've followed along to the end as well!  Have enjoyed every installment of the saga 🙂  Thank you for taking the time to finish this in the midst of your chaos.

[trippingpara]

On 12/15/2018 at 12:06 PM, Hogladyrider said:

Still here and still enjoying your review.  

 

Oh how I remember those days when "work" interfered with life!  Don't miss it one bit since retiring.

 

Cruising to Alaska wet our appetites for seeing interior Alaska.  It took a while to get there but did a 7 day land trip in 2014 with Alaska Wildland  Adventures - BEST vacation ever even over a cruise.  16 people with our own van, our own driver, our own tour guided all inclusive except for alcohol and tips.  Highly recommend this outfit if you want to see Alaska from Seward to Denali.

 

Hope you have a fantastic time in Hawaii and on your Baltic's cruise.  Looking forward to more reviews!

Susan

Hi Susan,

 

Thank you for sticking around.  I can't wait until I can retire!  Unfortunately, I still have quite a ways to go 😞 That Alaska Wildland Adventures sounds awesome!  Interior Alaska is definitely on our bucket list of places to visit now that we got a taste of that beautiful state.  We'll certainly have to keep them in mind.  Thanks for the tip!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[trippingpara]

On 12/15/2018 at 1:46 PM, SenatorsFan said:

I'm still here, too. Thanks for coming back and finishing up. I would rather read a great review that takes time to finish, than one that dies off in the middle! Enjoy Hawaii and the Baltics cruise, and have a good Christmas. See you next time!

Heather

 

Hi Heather,

 

Thank you for your patience, I really appreciate it.  I too, hate it when a review just dies off the vine in the middle of it.  I was really trying hard to make sure that didn't happen to me.  Glad you stuck around until I was finally able to complete it.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[trippingpara]

On 12/15/2018 at 1:53 PM, pghsteelerfan said:

And I'm still following along too and I certainly won't put pressure on you.  Ship happens!!!  I just finished your final installment.  I really enjoyed your review and seeing Alaska through your beautiful pictures!!!  Thanks again for taking the time to share with and entertain us.  I hope you and Lady Trip have a great time in Kauai!  We were there last year for 4 days, loved it and hope to get back one day.  I hope you also enjoy the Baltics cruise!  Merry Christmas to you!!!

 

Hey pghsteelerfan,

Congrats on your win against the Patriots.  You caused quite the stir up here in Boston!  Apparently, the world is ending now   Anyways, thank you so much for the kind words and your patience as I worked my way through this review.  I can't believe it took me this long to complete it!  Can't wait for our upcoming trips!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[trippingpara]

On 12/15/2018 at 8:14 PM, tandemcruzr said:

Yep, I'm still here and thoroughly enjoyed the pics and the commentary. Enjoy your future travels. 🙂

 

 

Hi tandemcruzr,

 

Thank you for gutting it out and hanging around till the end.  Glad you enjoyed the review!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[trippingpara]

On 12/16/2018 at 7:47 PM, ToriB said:

What an awesome review with beautiful photos. We’ll be on the Legend in May and cannot wait!

 

Thank you ToriB for such kind words.  You're going to love the Legend!  Happy cruising!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[trippingpara]

On 12/17/2018 at 6:59 AM, jc4me said:

I've followed along to the end as well!  Have enjoyed every installment of the saga 🙂  Thank you for taking the time to finish this in the midst of your chaos.

 

Hey jc4me,

 

Thank you for hanging around till the end.  Glad you enjoyed it!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[LPut714]

On 12/15/2018 at 10:06 AM, trippingpara said:

Wednesday, September 5^th   

 

Seattle, Washington

 

 

 

 

Our final day on vacation.  This was the day that I was dreading.  Until I learn how to stop time, I’m just gonna have to learn to deal with the never-ending march of time.  So, time marched on and the rooster from hell started its godforsaken squawking way too early.  We grudgingly climbed out of bed and waited for our room service breakfast to arrive.

 

Well, we waited and waited.  I finally looked outside our door and yep, sure enough, there was our menu still sitting on the door.  I guess that answers why no magical little person has shown up with our coffee in the nick of time.  We saw a bunch of menus on doors when we went to bed so we figured that they were still serving room service breakfast on debarkation day.  Guess not.

 

Anyways, we grabbed all of our luggage (we did self-assist) and headed to our assigned meeting point on Deck 2 in the Follies Lounge.  Right on time, the staff from the Shore Excursion desk came in and got us moving.  We had to head back up to Deck 3 to disembark.  It was surprisingly not that bad moving around the ship with a ton of luggage.  It was pretty orderly.

 

For those that are interested, Carnival is now participating in the Port Valet option.  That means you can turn your luggage over to the port, and they will automatically check it in with your airline so you don’t have to haul them around from ship to airport.  Pretty cool.  Mr. and Mrs. Law took part in that.  I hoped it worked out well for them.

 

We had signed up for the Seattle Essentials tour with airport drop off.  Even though we had already seen both the Space Needle and Pike Place Market, it was worth the money to go back there and see it again plus get a ride to the airport and have someone handle our luggage for us.  We thought the price was pretty reasonable too.

 

Like I said, we went to the Space Needle for about an hour and then to Pike Place Market for about 2 hours.  We also got to see a few other places around town like Pioneer Square, Amazon and Starbucks headquarters, the stadiums and a few other places as we made our way to the airport (we didn’t stop at any of these spots, just drove by them).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was about it.  Before we knew it, we were dragging our luggage, looking very forlorn as the newly arriving Carnival cruisers rushing by us as they were being whisked onto their transfer buses to the Legend.

 

And like our vacation, this little story must come to an end too.  I will leave you with this…if you get a chance to cruise Alaska, DO IT!  ...But don’t expect it to be perfect or as you have expected it to be in your head.  Because it won’t be.  Weather is unpredictable and will change on a moment’s notice.  Wildlife won’t come out on your schedule and won’t sit still for you.  Excursions that you dreamed of will be cancelled at the last minute. 

 

A lot went wrong for us on this trip.  The two excursions that I dreamed about did not happen.  One was flat out cancelled and another was changed substantially from what I wanted.  Wildlife that I expected to photograph were either not seen at all or I was not able to capture a good quality photo of them.  Yes, at times I was very bummed about these things.  Lady Trip was convinced that I was having a horrible time and would never sail to Alaska again.  Honestly, that thought never occurred to me.  I was having the time of my life.  Okay, so it was a different time than I had imagined but it was still a wonderful time!  If I get to cruise to this mystical world again, I might do things a bit different, but I would absolutely go back on another Alaskan cruise again!!  Till next time...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loved your review-we did the Legend out of Alaska last year-whale watching got cancelled-did a brewery instead. Love all your pics expecially the orcas. So exciting. Thanks for the great review.

[sweethart9510]

Yeaaaa!!! Love your reviews. Your past reviews are the reason I gave Volbeat a chance 

[trippingpara]

On 12/24/2018 at 8:15 PM, LPut714 said:

Loved your review-we did the Legend out of Alaska last year-whale watching got cancelled-did a brewery instead. Love all your pics expecially the orcas. So exciting. Thanks for the great review.

 

Hey Lput714,

Thank you for taking the time to give me some feedback.  Glad you enjoyed my review.  I would be bummed about missing out on the whale watching but then again, going to a brewery isn't too shabby either!!  I was so excited to see the orcas.  That was the main reason that I decided to go out on the whale watching adventure.  It was soooo worth it!!

[trippingpara]

On 12/25/2018 at 5:46 PM, sweethart9510 said:

Yeaaaa!!! Love your reviews. Your past reviews are the reason I gave Volbeat a chance 

 

Hi sweethart9510,

Glad to see you stop by!  Thank you for the kind words.  So glad you gave Volbeat a chance!  They're still one of my top alarms to wake up to.  So much better than Butcher Babies!

[MistyRo76]

I just stumbled upon this review yesterday so I had the pleasure of reading it front to back in just a day! First of all, WOW is all I can say about your photos. I love taking pictures too and immensely enjoy when I capture a cool shot. But I am such a notice and have nothing more than a point and shoot camera and my cell phone! Once I'm not keeping track of a toddler maybe I'll invest in something higher quality and take a few classes to learn the ropes! Second, I really enjoyed following along on your travels. Alaska has been on my list for a while, but until now the Caribbean keeps winning out! And I've recently made my first two trips to the Seattle area and would love to explore there more! So, between your review and my recent travels, I think an Alaskan cruise has jumped to the top of the 10th Anniversary trip wish list (which we still have several years to plan for!). 

 

Thank you so much for sharing with us all! 

[trippingpara]

Hiya MistyRo76!

 

Wow!  You read this novel in one sitting?!  Now that's some dedication.  Or pure boredom.  But I'll go with dedication!  I remember when I had a toddler in the house.  They make the best photo subjects!  Keep in mind with photography, it's not the camera that makes a great photo, it's the person behind the camera that takes a great photo.  Quite a few of the photos in this review were taken with my cell phone.  Modern phones can take some great photos!  Watch some YouTube videos and just start clicking away with your toddler as a model.  You can get pretty bloody good that way.  Expensive equipment and classes are not always necessary.  They're helpful, but not required.  As for Alaska, YES!  It should be at the top of your vaca wish list and a 10th anniversary is a perfect time to go!  Thank you for taking to time to leave me some feedback and the kind words, I really appreciate it!  Take care and smooth sailings!

 

Cheers,

Trip

[SweetpeaOne]

Awesome review and pictures.  Thanks for sharing.

[trippingpara]

5 hours ago, SweetpeaOne said:

Awesome review and pictures.  Thanks for sharing.

 

Hi SweetpeaOne,

 

You are more than welcome!  Thank you for stopping by and leaving such nice feedback, I really appreciate it.

 

Cheers,

Trip

[jc4me]

Hi Trip, thank you for the review!  We are sailing in May and I would love to know if there were USB ports added to the rooms when Legend was in dry dock. Thank you!!