Just off the Spirit 6/20/2007 Alaska

[Hasletlady]

Flew into Anchorage two days early, rented a car and spent two nights at Trapper Creek and the Gatecreek Cabins. Very nice. Did the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali. Took about seven hours. Went to the park general store and bought deli sandwiches and chips to eat on the bus. You get a little box lunch on the bus but the deli sandwich was well worth the extra money if you are really hungry, or take extra snacks with you on the bus. Saw several grizzlies, caribou, Dall sheep, moose, porcupine, and at one of the restroom breaks another tour said they saw wolves right at the beginning of the tour, close to the visitors center. The weather for our entire 10 days in Alaska was close to perfect. We took the Alaskan Leopard Comedy Tour Transfer from Anchorage to Whittier. It was a nice tour, stops at a small animal reserve that has great hot dogs for sale and then at the Portage Glacier where you get a free piece of pie and drink. Never rained on us at all. On the coldest day all we needed was a light wind resistant jacket except for the Juneau Whale Watching with Harv and Marv. I spent the tour inside the enclosure out of the wind and had my gloves on. The other five stood outside to take pictures and would come in to get warm. Got some really good pictures. Whales, sea lions and eagles. It clouded up on us several times but never rained. Harv and Marv's was one of the highlights of the cruise. The captains are really Pete and Jay and Jay's wife Eileen kayaked out to the boat and brought us fresh baked cookies that hit the spot for sure. It was a great excursion. Eileen's dad Sandy drives the van and dropped us off at Mendenhall Glacier and then picked us back up and took us back to the pier. We had a burger at The Hanger right down the pier where we could sit and watch the floatplanes take off and land. We shopped in Sitka, in Skagway we rented a car and drove to Emerald Lake and to Whitehorse. Nice sunny day and the scenery was well worth the trip. In Ketchikan we saw the Lumberjack show, pretty entertaining, I think all the kids would enjoy it alot. The CD had told us not to miss going to Creek Street. Glad we found it. One saleslady in one of the many shops gave us a little history lesson concerning Creek Street. Quite interesting for sure.

 

The ship was great, very clean. We were on Panarama Deck 8145 starboard with an extended balcony. Brother and SIL next door. Took advice from these boards, thanks Wennfred, and asked the purser to be on the list to open the partition and they did the next day. Was a little windy with it open but most of the time it was very nice. DH sit out on the balcony quite alot watching for whales. Saw several in fact right from the balcony. Miguel was our steward, not seen much but everything in our cabin was perfect. Had late seating for dinner, our waiters Marco and Osman were true gentlemen and very nice. Always polite and Osman made time to talk with us because late dinner was not full on this cruise. We heard everyone requested early dinner for some reason so we were switched to late. That was ok with us. This cruise was very different from our first Western Caribbean cruise. It was more laid back, I actually had a chance to take an afternoon nap a few days and still had plenty of time to get ready for dinner and sneak up for ice cream.;)

 

I thought the shows on this cruise were very good. The first formal night show included different broadway shows and I really enjoyed it. We saw the magician who was surprisingly funny and two regular comedy acts that actually made us laugh! And not even the adult acts. The CD, Shawn Bussey was very good but we did not see her around the ship talking to guests very often. Our first cruise we saw the CD everywhere.

 

Our only complaint was being right under the Lido deck. At 7 am sharp you would hear the deck chairs being dragged right over us. And of course no carpet up there so anyone running or walking heavy we could hear loud and clear. I cannot say it bothered us a whole lot. Certainly didn't interfere with those naps, and at night it was too cool up there to be very busy. My SIL and I tried the spa for the first time. The Hot Stone message:p oh boy! is all I can say. You gotta try it.

 

Embarkation was a breeze but debarkation in Vancouver, we had a late flight so we were last off but we just relaxed and waited. Went right out to a bus and off to the airport. The airport is where it got tiring. Had to wait in line to get luggage. Hint: grab a luggage cart! then you take your luggage thru the ticket counter and then thru customs, long line, and then right before you hit security they take your luggage and you go thru security and try to hustle down to your gate to maybe catch a little lunch before you board. Was it worth the hassle. Of course, small price to pay for a great cruise.

 

Sorry if this is too long....if you have any questions I will try and keep it short and sweet.

 

Spirit 06/2007

Conquest 03/2006

[mtd1]

Thanks for your report! Would love to see your pictures! We leave July 17th on the Spirit. Will spend the night at a B&B, see some of Anchorage and then have the Leopard Tour pick us up. Did you have time to get out see stuff with the tour?

We only have 2 definite tours planned:

1. Rental car in Skagway for drive.

2. Coastal Helicopter in Juneau for glacier and dog tour.

Money becomes an issue real fast doesn't it?

Our flight in Vancouver doesn't leave till 11 pm so we will leave our baggage at the pier with the company to send to the airport and look around the city for awhile.:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

In Skagway we rented a car and drove to Emerald Lake and to Whitehorse. Nice sunny day and the scenery was well worth the trip.

 

Hi, Hasletlady:

 

I've been waiting for someone to post a review of a southbound on the Spirit! I'm already stressing about the drive to Emerald Lake. Since it's Sunday and Avis doesn't open until 9:00, that doesn't give a lot of time for the drive. Would you please comment on:

 

• What time did you get to the Avis office?
  
• How long did it take to get the paperwork done and get on the road?
  
• Did you feel rushed on the drive--were you able to stop along the way as much as you wanted?
  
• What time did you get back into town?

Thanks so much!

 

Enjoyed reading your review.

 

Thanks,

Jayne

[Hasletlady]

Sorry, took time to unpack finally. The Alaskan Leopard picked us up at 2:00 pm. We made a round of hotels picking up some others and headed to Whittier. We stopped at the animal reserve and got out for around 30 minutes, had a hot dog. Then went a short distance to the Portage Glacier and we were there I would say at least 45 minutes to an hour. They give you coupons to go to the snack bar for pie and a drink. We walked out by the glacier and went into the glacier visitors center. You are real close to the tunnel at the glacier. Once thru the tunnel you are in Whittier. We arrived at the port about 5:45 and embarkation was a breeze. The only problem was the a/c on the bus was out but with the windows cracked it was not a big problem. They put on a cute program with a tv screen up on the wall and the driver putting in his 2 cents along the way.

 

We got to the Avis office in Skagway a little before 9 and they were already open and someone in front of us. The office is a really good walk from the ship. They have a little city shuttle you can take that will drop you off close to Avis for $3 pp and is well worth it. The paperwork did not take any time at all. I am sure we were in the car and gone in 20 minutes. We did not drive fast and had plenty of time to get to Emerald Lake and even went past the lake and drove all the way to Whitehorse and had lunch. Drove back to Skagway and turned in the car by 3:00, did some light shopping and walked back to the ship by 4:00, should have taken the shuttle. We did not pull out by 4:30 because some people were not back on board, they had no problem holding the ship for about 30 minutes. You should not stress because if you only go as far as Emerald Lake you will make it easy with time to shop.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

 

We got to the Avis office in Skagway a little before 9 and they were already open and someone in front of us. The office is a really good walk from the ship. They have a little city shuttle you can take that will drop you off close to Avis for $3 pp and is well worth it. The paperwork did not take any time at all. I am sure we were in the car and gone in 20 minutes. We did not drive fast and had plenty of time to get to Emerald Lake and even went past the lake and drove all the way to Whitehorse and had lunch. Drove back to Skagway and turned in the car by 3:00, did some light shopping and walked back to the ship by 4:00, should have taken the shuttle. We did not pull out by 4:30 because some people were not back on board, they had no problem holding the ship for about 30 minutes. You should not stress because if you only go as far as Emerald Lake you will make it easy with time to shop.

 

Thanks so much! I asked about this before because I was concerned and was told by a couple of posters that we were cutting it too close with this being a shorter port day for us. I'm glad to hear you made it with time to spare!

 

Thanks!

Jayne

[Hasletlady]

Yes, and if we had turned around at Emerald Lake we would have had even more time to spare. Whitehorse is another 80/90 miles further.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Yes, and if we had turned around at Emerald Lake we would have had even more time to spare. Whitehorse is another 80/90 miles further.

 

Did you stop frequently on the way to Emerald Lake or drive straight through??

 

Thanks!

Jayne

[BePrepared]

Enjoyed your cruise review. I know what you're talking about on the Panorama Deck. Been there, done that. About the luggage on return flight: I think I read somewhere that while on board you can pay $15 pp to have your luggage sent directly to the airport so you don't have to retrieve it after leaving the ship and carry it with you at the airport. Thanks again. We sail in less that 20 days. :D

[Hasletlady]

We did not stop much at all except for short photo ops. It was a very relaxing drive, we were not in a hurry at all. If you turn around at Emerald Lake you could stop and really enjoy the views. We did see a moose standing in the water on the right side. Emerald Lake will be on your left side.

 

The steward put the express luggage check out in our room but I did not read that we had to turn it in by noon on either Sunday or Monday, and I missed the deadline. We would seriously consider doing that in the future. When we first walked into the airport there was no line at the AA counter but we had to go get our luggage and then of course there was a line. It was roped off so when you step through the ticket counter you are automatically in the customs line.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We did not stop much at all except for short photo ops. It was a very relaxing drive, we were not in a hurry at all. If you turn around at Emerald Lake you could stop and really enjoy the views. We did see a moose standing in the water on the right side. Emerald Lake will be on your left side.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Jayne