Ashkir's LIVE San Francisco to Alaska Inside Passage Cruise September 5 to September 15, 2022 on the Carnival Miracle!

[SDPadreFan]

Cruising Alaska in September is always dicey. Same for late April and early May. Great pricing - but weather "predictions" can literally change overnight up in Alaska. You may end up with little to no port stops, or port stops with miserable weather. On our June 20 sailing, we had pretty crummy sailing weather including the inside passage (overcast, windy, cool/cold). But our port visits and Tracy Arm days were simply spectacular. My sister cruised RCCL 2nd week of July (prime time for Alaska) and their port visits were all overcast, cool and some drizzle. Go figure.

 

That first landslide in Skagway happened right before we got there (like 2 days before). Tendering was a mess (but lemonade from lemons). Missed our train excursion but just had to wait @ 90 minutes for the next one. Found some seats and chatted with others (no biggie). Then the later train (we got on) had issues and they had to send for another engine. We had to back up to a spur line so other trains could get past us. We had passed that little red caboose 4 times when we finally got back to town. But it was an adventure and we made great friends on the train while sitting and waiting for the back up engine. Really - the worst experience was the HUGE line for the tenders getting back on the ship. But lemonade from lemons, I told my wife to go find a seat (she did) and I stayed in line and called her phone when it was time for her to rejoin me. Missed dinner completely but the Miracle kept the Deli & Pizza stations open and fully manned until everyone got back onboard and got a little food in their gut.

 

So all in all - a great cruise for us and I have some great stories to share. Would I do the 10 day out of San Francisco again. In a heartbeat. But we want to do more of the inside passage and there is a HAL ship that leaves from Vancouver and does the Inside Passage all the way up to Ketchikan. Most leave Vancouver or Seattle and immediately turn left and head out to open water and around Vancouver Island only actually doing Inside Passage when they get close to their first port call. And we'd like to cruise Glacier Bay and Carnival currently does not offer that option.

[ashkir]

Icy Strait / Hoonah is beyond gorgeous. I absolutely loved the outdoors vibes, the hikes, and more. Am a bit sad not a single stop we’ve been to had stamps for postcard. I’m gonna mail my stack from back home. 
 

we loved it. We did the $200 whale watching tour. It was not worth it. We were seated by a pillar where we could barely see out the window. They oversold it as too many people were a bit on the “larger side” and needed multiple seats. I understand this can’t be helped, but, I had to share my seat with someone else. 
 

when the whales came we barely got to see them because all the sides were packed. Basically paid $400 (2 tickets for this, two people) go see the tail of one whale. 
 

the internet is still having a lot of issues. It was down for over four hours. I understand it’s a satelitte issue, but, it’s still a bit frustrating. I missed a big part of my IRB review with my professor today. This ain’t gonna reflect we’ll for me. I emailed her saying I can’t control the internet. 
 

the weather at icy strait was gorgeous. Highly recommend this stop. 

[Linsuesue]

Thanks for taking time to post such great pictures and comments! We will be on the Miracle to Hawaii next January. It is a perfect size ship that never feels crowded and is so easy to navigate. 

[ashkir]

I wanted to take a moment to recognize the cruise director of this cruise, Georgia. She is something else. I’ve been on several cruises and none really have stood out. 
 

Georgia is definitely a character. She is showboaty like most cruise directors. However her personality stands out. Kids run to her and love her. She stops and talks with people throughout the day. On my past cruises most directors just brushed people off and rushed event to event. She doesn’t make you feel rushed. 
 

one thing I want to say is her and the entertainment team is excellent. On most cruises the cruise director is the one doing all the events, or always has to be at every event. I see the other entertainment staff handling events that usually have the main cruise director. 
 

I don’t know who manages the team, but it’s nice to see newer entertainment members engage with the audience instead of always being the help. They even recognized people behind the scenes which  is a first for me. 

[ashkir]

As of today JavaBlue has some changes 

 

1) milkshakes no longer count for the punch card 

2) hot chocolate no longer counts for the lunch card 

 

They also stated the punch card they gave me on day one is no longer valid because somebody used a different hole punch on my card. Here’s mine (top) versus my cabin mates. 

[ashkir]

The best place to study is NOT THE LIBRARY! Wow! This ship schedules everything in the library. The JavaBlue is next door with open doors. So it’s hard to focus. Most of the mixers, meetups; game clubs, etc are for the library. There’s only 4 tables for a full ship. 
 

the quietest part I found for studying was third floor next to the city view art room. 

[silvercrikhix]

That coffee card issue is really unbelievable.  I’d push on that. It’s the principal of it, not a free coffee. Glad you found a quiet spot for your studies!  

Edited September 13, 2022 by silvercrikhix

[SDPadreFan]

8 hours ago, ashkir said:

The best place to study is NOT THE LIBRARY! Wow! This ship schedules everything in the library. The JavaBlue is next door with open doors. So it’s hard to focus. Most of the mixers, meetups; game clubs, etc are for the library. There’s only 4 tables for a full ship. 
 

the quietest part I found for studying was third floor next to the city view art room. 

Did you try Gatsby`s Garden 3rd Deck, forward. Kind of a secret quiet area.

[ashkir]

The theater production are fantastic. The floor seats aren’t raised. So be careful of what seat you get. It’s a great theater for the space it is in. 

[ashkir]

1 minute ago, SDPadreFan said:

Did you try Gatsby`s Garden 3rd Deck, forward. Kind of a secret quiet area.

I did! Smells like dog 💩 lots of service dogs in this ship. Seen about 8 or so. 
 

the first few nights they were painting and it smelled like fresh paint. They closed it partially for a whole. Then it was great for a day. Then today dog 💩

[ashkir]

Here’s the other show, Getaway island. 

[Saint Greg]

17 hours ago, ashkir said:

The best place to study is NOT THE LIBRARY! Wow! This ship schedules everything in the library. The JavaBlue is next door with open doors. So it’s hard to focus. Most of the mixers, meetups; game clubs, etc are for the library. There’s only 4 tables for a full ship. 
 

the quietest part I found for studying was third floor next to the city view art room. 

When I was on it in May the area that would normally be considered the Serenity area on most ships was dead. Just me and two bartenders. They call it the topside bar. This was a sea day afternoon.

 

 

Edited September 13, 2022 by Saint Greg

[Saint Greg]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

When I was on it in May the area that would normally be considered the Serenity area on most ships was dead. Just me and two bartenders. They call it the topside bar. This was a sea day afternoon.

 

 

Nevermind @ashkir I just realized you are on miracle and I was on Splendor.

[ashkir]

12 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Nevermind @ashkir I just realized you are on miracle and I was on Splendor.

The miracle has it too! It’s been too cold and windy to use it. But i might try tomorrow if it’s warmer. 

[ashkir]

Fog horn almost the whole day back. Look at this lovely sight the horn woke us up to 😍🤩

 

we made it to San Francisco. I’ll write a bit more shortly. But this basically concludes my trip! Internet was horrible so I couldn’t do a lot of updates 😭

[Anyislandwilldo]

Thanks for taking us on your cruise!😃