ArcticKitty Tackles Alaska - Carnival Splendor 02-10 May 2022- Trip Planning, Trip Report, & Mehhhhbe Some LIVE

[mom22frogs]

22 hours ago, kennystwin said:

I did the Chilkoot trail hike and raft excursion a couple of years ago and had a great time. I've long been fascinated by the Gold Rush so retracing the steps of the original miners was something of a bucket list thing.

And yes, I wondered if I was making a good choice. Someone told me rafting in AK was "dull" and I figured it probably mattered where and how. This, as you say, has some energy to it, hearing the story of how the miners went up and just the vigor of the hike. I'm glad to know you enjoyed it and am hopeful we will to! 

[mom22frogs]

On 3/30/2022 at 9:08 PM, arctickitty said:

thanks.  Looking through recent past fun times for different Carnival ships it seems that CCL doesn’t start breakfast options as early as I remember Princess doing, so I’m glad to know to adjust my expectations a bit.  I’m not opposed to a downtown walk first and then breakfast onboard before a longer day ashore in Skagway or Juneau where there’s such a long stop.

We'll see, but usually there's a section that opens earlier. I can't fathom them waiting till 7 if we dock at 7 most days. But I agree, they seem to think people sleep in, lol. 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=375&pgtype=dining  Aha! This says they start the smaller section at 6:30 and go full by 7:00. And of course you can have room service delivered much much earlier. 

 

[kennystwin]

On 3/31/2022 at 10:41 PM, mom22frogs said:

And yes, I wondered if I was making a good choice. Someone told me rafting in AK was "dull" and I figured it probably mattered where and how. This, as you say, has some energy to it, hearing the story of how the miners went up and just the vigor of the hike. I'm glad to know you enjoyed it and am hopeful we will to! 

This was definitely a float trip in a raft, not a rafting adventure. For whitewater, head elsewhere.

[mom22frogs]

9 hours ago, kennystwin said:

This was definitely a float trip in a raft, not a rafting adventure. For whitewater, head elsewhere.

That's fine. We're being crazy in the morning that day so a quiet afternoon will be a good contrast. 

[arctickitty]

Carnival friends,

 

So much has happened…

 

Real life has been overwhelming and my solace has been trip planning and reading extremely long Live From threads.  
 

Time to get digitally organized!

 

First, two thematic Libby audio books I’ve enjoyed from my library; 10/10 recommend them both if you want some southeast Alaska travel writing with a mix of culture, history, and adventure.

 

 

And

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

The itinerary for this sailing had two changes.  One is that we are to leave Juneau earlier, at 5pm instead of 8pm.  This leaves Skagway as the only super-long 13 hour port.  The positive way to look at this is it guarantees I’ll be back onboard for dinner.  Or two.
 

The second change is arriving in Icy Strait Point (Hoonah) two hours later, at 9am instead of 7am.  While this doesn’t likely affect most people, I love early mornings in ports.  The positive way to look at this change is that an early morning walk no longer competes with port day MDR breakfast.

 

 

Icy Strait Point was originally going to be the port where we spent money.  Initially we’d booked both the ropes course and the ZipRider.

 

I took the advice from here on CC to look for YouTube videos of everyday people who’d done these things.  It mystifies me that I can’t find a single video or review of anyone who has been on the ropes course.  This led me to wonder if it’s new?  But it can’t be because I found a YouTube video of someone who walked the nature trails and incidentally captured footage of people using the ropes course.  I’ve never done a ropes course and try to push myself to try new things and the idea of you get the instruction and gear and then move at your own pace was appealing.  The timing of the two activities would have had us busy from 11am to 3pm.  With a 7am dock time, that would be OK and we’d have plenty of morning time to walk, walk, walk, but with a 9am dock time it got me thinking that we should pick maybe just one activity.

 

This is the video that shows the ropes course:

 

 

At first the various YouTube videos of people on the ZipRider made me more interested in trying it.  I liked how my breath caught right along with the riders when getting started.  Special Someone was not enthralled with a foggy video, since the point is to enjoy the rainforest.  On the other hand, fog is part of the rainforest but…he was inclined to think he’d only want to go if the weather was clear.  The price gave us both pause.  If he had to pick one, though, he’d pick ZipRider.

 

Foggy ZipRider video:

 

 

As time has moved on, however, we decided first to cancel the ropes course.  Just a few days ago we decided to cancel the ZipRider as well.  Special Someone said he’d rather spend the money eating crab, since he’s lived in Alaska for 2 years and hasn’t eaten Alaskan crab yet.  I’ve lived in Alaska for 15 years and never paid for crab (but ate my belly full of it),  so I suppose there’s no comparison between us on that front, but if we can fulfill that wish of his, we’ll certainly try to.

 

 

 

 

 

So we are back to Icy Strait Point/Hoonah being a walking port.  Plan is to enjoy port day MDR breakfast and then walk, walk, walk.  I’ve not seen any indication to expect town to be closed to visitors, but if it is, we’ll go with the flow.  This will be my second visit and I immensely enjoyed my walk, walk, walk the previous time.  There are a number of cafes and restaurants in the town of Hoonah on Yelp but I figure we’ll just see what’s open nowadays.  Not opposed to the brewery, either, if it’s open.  We shall see!  We shall see what we can see.  If nothing else we can walk the forest trails in the dock and the beach.  (We laughed at one video in which there were complaints about the pebbles not constituting a beach…um hello, welcome to Alaska.  Pebbles make a fine beach.  Most shoreline is cliffs or rocks).  Just saying.

Edited April 26, 2022 by arctickitty

[arctickitty]

Let the changes begin.  Er, continue.

 

 

Alaska is so consistent with their brand that red really means something.  It caught my eye before I really woke up.

 

This was to be my flight leaving Seattle:

 

 

I didn’t love it because it was a little too early.

 

But I don’t love the new ticket:

 

 

Red eye time!

 

 

Or, change to different times with a connection in Anchorage:

 

 

To be decided…

[arctickitty]

I found this overview video about Skagway to be helpful:

 

 

And this gave a sense of what some of the hiking is like:

 

 

[arctickitty]

Commmmmmmmpletely changed our itinerary for the way home.  AlaskaAir, in attempting to land us 1:30am the following day actually took care of our problem of me having bought the wrong tickets that departed Seattle too close for my comfort.  Since they changed the flight by more than any hour, I was allowed to look at alternative for no charge.  We got our first choice:

 

 

It adds a stop in Anchorage, but so did all of the other options.  The biggest benefit is that we no longer have to rush off the ship and can instead aim for the latest time slot allowed.  Every last drop!  AlaskaAir allows luggage check in up to 4 hours prior, so a 3pm departure buys us until 11am at the earliest and no rush. I one hundred percent don’t mind extra time to walk around SeaTac, and I’d rather spend time inside the airport than deal with luggage storage and the other logistics of an extra day in the city.  Additionally, Special Someone kept pointing out that he brings to the table a pass to various airport lounges and our original itinerary wasn’t going to include any.  Now we get two tries!

[arctickitty]

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/04/28/slow-start-to-cruise-season-is-even-slower-for-juneau-filipino-businesses/
 

 

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

AlaskaAir Food Options

 

The pandemic hasn’t changed everything!  Coach food options onboard AlaskaAir are still just about the same… I am a former frequent flyer who was also a staunch member of the cheese plate fan club… always a solid choice.  Below are the offerings on a morning eastbound flight.  The croissant sandwich picture is always way better than the real soggy item and the protein platter is a glorified cheese plate.  I like that you can reserve your selection in advance.  There isn’t much at the airport in Fairbanks so a cheese plate sounds like a solid brunch to me!  I’m posting both the options you can pre-order and the snacks you can only buy on board in case this helps anyone new to flying the best domestic airline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

Lots of cruising news in the local news…

 

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/04/28/scrubbers-are-supposed-to-clean-cruise-ship-emissions-critics-say-they-pollute-the-water-instead/

 

 

[arctickitty]

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/04/27/first-large-cruise-ship-of-the-season-docks-in-alaska-its-half-full/

[arctickitty]

Westbound evening AlaskaAir meals 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stjohnbeachlover]

1 hour ago, arctickitty said:

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/04/27/first-large-cruise-ship-of-the-season-docks-in-alaska-its-half-full/

 

My husband and I just signed up for this cruise about 2 1/2 weeks ago and there were lots of cabins available then. I wonder if our ship will be completely full.

[arctickitty]

39 minutes ago, stjohnbeachlover said:

 

My husband and I just signed up for this cruise about 2 1/2 weeks ago and there were lots of cabins available then. I wonder if our ship will be completely full.

I’ve heard some chatter that it and some of the other early season Carnival integrators are sold out.  I just tried looking on Carnival.com and it doesn’t appear as a choice.  What I’m wondering is what percent equals full.  We shall find out!

[arctickitty]

25 hours until my flight…

 

I had one more slot in my library app to borrow an item so I decided to choose a magazine for more casual reading.  To my delight, Bon Appetit is on theme.

 

 

I started a new audiobook last night.  Half the time I can’t remember why I downloaded or queued various titles and I don’t remember why I picked this one, but the protagonist just drove to Alaska.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by arctickitty

[arctickitty]

Ketchikan Plans & Ideas

 

Scheduled time in Ketchikan is just six hours on a Sunday, 7am to 1pm.  We aim to get right off the ship and make the most of our time.

 

Our primary target is the Rainbird hiking trail, which has three trailheads, one close to downtown, one at the university, and one somewhere in between.  
 

Our second to top target is a drive-thru coffee stand called Local Grounds.  Originally we thought of going there first via bus and making our way back towards the farthest-out trailhead and then hiking back to downtown.  But the bus starts a little later in the day on Sundays, so we might just reverse our plans.  Or use a ride share.  Or maybe go to their downtown location.  We just liked the idea of the stand used by locals.

 

 

If it seems like it would work out, Totem Bight State Park is an option as well.

 

Found a great hiking guide:

 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5413489.pdf
 

This video shows what the trail is like:

 

 

[arctickitty]

Good morning Carnival friends!

 

Today is travel day!

 

It is 29 degrees here and 45 minutes before sunrise, but light enough to see.

 

 

Yesterday, I only had three mishaps, so I figured I’ve got them all squared away and we’re good to go.

 

I slipped on the ice while walking in my neighborhood in the morning.  This is the downfall of morning walking.  Puddles in the afternoon!

 

I will be ok but I have some swollen and bruised areas from the hard slam.  I can feel the impact a bit through my arm and shoulder and when touched, my thumb palm and side of my hip are tender.  But I still did at home yoga, in-person yoga, finished the walk, and also made it to spin class.

 

Then I discovered I left my car keys, house key, post office key, and work/gym ID in Special Someone’s truck and he was already at work.  I did have a spare car key and my drivers license. but my cat sitter and Special Someone have my spare house keys so I just used my garage clicker.  He was able to meet me so I could get my ID etc; I was thus able to go to in-person yoga and spin class and keep my pre-cruise resolutions.

 

In the afternoon, my sister advised me to chill, as I’ve had a lot of stressful things to juggle lately and I said, YES!  I am making chili!  I had debated the wisdom of making a giant pot of food right before a trip, but I knew that bowls in the freezer will sure need nice later and I already had the (incredible local) ground beef thawed.  I used 6 little/medium poblanos from our indoor gardens and this is where I made my third snafu: I figured they’re not jalapeños, so gloves not necessary.  Wrong!  My fingers started burning and so did everything else I touched.  Washing my hands did not help.  Special Someone came home from work to find me lying down with my hands in the air, zombie style.  He suggested Dawn dish soap and I tried that, but the burning flared up periodically.  
 

The good news is the poblano chili was incredible.  And so was the barley cornbread I made.  (Barley is grown nearby here in Alaska and is a tasty substitute for wheat).  I did not want to stop eating either, and I didn’t really have to, because I’d just been to spin.  But I did stop, clearly, since I eventually went to bed and am typing with both thumbs currently.  
 

44 minutes until my covid test!

 

 

Should I feed them?

[arctickitty]

One of the few instances in which it’s a positive thing to be a Negative Nelly!

 

 

[luvcruzing]

Hi arctickitties, I would love to see photos of your indoor garden.

[arctickitty]

Just now, luvcruzing said:

Hi arctickitties, I would love to see photos of your indoor garden.

 

@luvcruzin

 

Here’s a fraction of it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This cat’s name is Dandelion (her previous human called her Dandy and said it was a nickname for Dandelion; I like there full flower name better…Dandelion petals are actually delicious…) and she is nibbling on snapdragon, which is a flower edible to humans and cats.  I put it on salad.  She just eats it.

[luvcruzing]

Impressive!  Thank you.

[arctickitty]

26 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

Impressive!  Thank you.

You’re welcome!

[arctickitty]

I fed them.