Just off Carnival Spirit Southbound June 25th-July 2nd--LONG

[apples1996]

My teacher friend and I just got off the Spirit and we are now at a '"dive" hotel near the SeaTac Airport. Read on for your enjoyment or for my review of the cruise.

 

We planned this trip about a year ago. Our Mr. Wonderful's have been on some "guy" trips so we decided to take a "chick" trip. I had been by land to Alaska 3 times and she had never been on a cruise before or to Alaska so we thought we could kill two birds with one stone for her. We booked our flight and booked our cruise and awaited the 11 months before we would set sail.

 

June 24th: We had booked our own air and so to assure we would be on the ship as it sailed out of Whittier on June 25th we flew in the day before. It was a great nonstop flight from Cincinnati. I took advice from this board and booked us a room at the Anchorage Grand. This was a suitable hotel VERY close to the train terminal. Granted it is no Hilton, but it was a nice place to stay for locality. As we were checking in I asked the receptionist how far we were from Humpy's and she informed me it was within walking distance. Now, I only turned my back on my friend for a minute but it was long enough for her to humor me and I am sure the receptionist, as well. Having been to Alaska 3 times in the past at this time of year I was familiar with the length of daylight time and I had told my friend prior to coming. She must of had short term memory because I heard her ask the lady if it was safe to walk to Humpy's and then when the receptionists replied with a "yes" my friend went further on to say even after dark? The lady gave her a weird kind of look and assured her she wouldn't be seeing too much of that in the several hours to follow. We put our bags in the room and headed to Humpy's. It is a wonderful alehouse that serves great Halibut nuggets and fries. Rob, my Mr. Wonderful, stumpled across this place the first time he was in Alaska and we try to go each time we return. I wanted my friend to see that not all Halibut is off white and that up in Alaska it is a beautiful white. We also tried the bread pudding that night and it was also wonderful. After that we strolled back to our room to get some sleep so we could catch the train in the morning.

 

June 25th: Leaving Anchorage and heading to Whittier via the Alaskan Railroad. Ealry this morning we woke up and decided to take a cab to the train station. My friend has a bad knee and she didn't want to run the risk of being accident prone since it is a downward walk not to mention each of us had two suitcases and a carry on. I know they say to pack and then remove half before you go, but I think we packed and instead of removing half we kept it all and added more. The cab guy charged us $3 and we tipped him nicely for coming to take us such a short distance. At the train station it was great. We showed them our ticket and they asked if we were boarding a ship and we said yes. They asked which one and assured us that even though we had booked an independent glacier cruise that we would not need to worry about our luggage that it would be safely on the ship waiting for us. Now this was 10:00 in the morning. It felt wonderful to get rid of our heavy "boulders". The trip had finally begun. The train ride was fantastic. I wish coach seats on airplanes had as much room as these seats did. On the train ride we saw 5 Dall sheep on the cliffs. I was able to get pictures of three of them. In between cars you can go out and stand and take pictures if you don't want to take any through the window at your seat. I found myself spending most of my time standing out there taking pictures. Even though I got a lot of pictures they don't compare to what they naked eye sees. Once we arrived in Whittier we were met at the station by PWS for our glacier tour. We opted for the four hour tour since taking the train ride put us a little late for the six hour tour. This tour was very nice. The crew on the boat was wonderful. We had 41 passengers on the boat which they did say was a little light. They served crab cakes and rice for a light lunch. They even went around the boat offering seconds. We saw several glaciers and even witnessed two small calvings. We saw several little groups of sea otters just floating along with what seemed like no worries in the world. One crewmember on the ship was a marine biologist major and pulled up some water to show us under a microscope the plankton. I even stuck my camera on the eye piece and took a couple pictures. I started scrapbooking two years ago and now EVERYTHING seems to be a kodak moment. On the return trip back to the dock they even served us WARM chocolate chip cookies. This was a wonderful trip and it is the closest I got to a clacier the whole vacation. The big ships just don't get as close as the small boat tours do. I would reccomend this tour. Sorry, but I need to take a Diet Coke break before it gets dark. Remember I am in what I would consider a hole in the wall place. After all, bathroom light hums like a freight train, phone cord falls out of phone if you reach further than 5 inches, and lamp does not work. But hey I have seen worse. I will be back.

 

Sharon

Kentucky

[maren91]

Thanks for your review Sharon, can't wait to read more about your adventures!! :D

[sarbah77]

I can't wait to read more about your trip! My DH and I were on the Spirit right before you and we had a really great trip, overall. :) (Maybe I'll eventually shorten my write-up, which is 15 pages in MS Word... not sure if anyone here wants to read THAT!)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great start-- keep it coming.

[Crusin Karen]

Fantastic! Can't wait to read more. We are doing the same as you with the PWS first (in Aug '09) We have been on the Spirit 3x, so that is no surprise, but this is our lst trip to AK. I was worried about the luggage and you made me feel better about it. Friends of ours were on the cruise before yours (their first cruise!) and loved it.

[Beachside395]

We are also taking the train to Whittier and the 4 hour PWS cruise. I am so glad to hear that we won't have to worry about our luggage after we check in on the train.

 

You made my day!

 

Keep the "installments" coming......

 

Terri

[cruisernh]

can't wait to hear more. we are also takig the 4 hr PWS tour. Are the crab cakes good?

[apples1996]

Answers to a few questions: Yes, it was great at the train station they took our bags and the next time I saw them was when I boarded the ship and saw them waiting outside our room. I asked the man three times at the train station to make sure he new I was not on Princess and that I wanted to be 100% my luggage would be on the Spirit and he assured me YES, and they were. The crap cakes weren't to die for but they were good and you could see and taste the real chuncks of crab.

 

I will put more on tomorrow. I have finally walked into my front door back home and I would like to enjoy my family for the moment.

 

Sharon

[cruisernh]

Yes enjoy your family and the holiday. Am so glad it was a great trip.

[apples1996]

June 25th--Boarding Carnival Spirit: After we finished our four hour glacier tour it was raining and they kindly took us by bus to the embarkation location. At this time is was around 6 p.m. and there was no one in line to board the ship. It was wonderful timing. We gathered up our sea cards and boarded the ship. Our room was #5268 which is an aft balcony. That aft balcony was wonderful for picture taking. We got great shots leaving the different ports and the sunset we did see the night we left Skagway. It seemed to take hours for the sunset to disappear. The next day people were talking how beautiful it was and how long it lasted. We dropped our carry on bags and went straight to dinner. Met a great couple from San Diego who we invited to share our rental car into the Yukon with once we reached Skagway. It was their first cruise and I believe in doing good deeds for others when the time feels right and that was one of those times. That night we retired early form a long day and looked forward to the next day.

 

June 26th--Cruise Prince William Sound and College Fjord: I woke up this morning to the fantastic views of the Harvard Glacier. Melissa the naturalists was onboard giving great information in the various glaciers. She mentioned they were all named after colleges, hence College Fjords. The shipped stopped for awhile so people could experience the wonderful views. This was our first formal night, as well. I requested two copies of the capers for each night. One I could carry with me each day and the other to take home for my scrapbook. The waiter each night gave me a copy of each evenings menu as well. I enjoy trivia so we did a lot of the different ones they offered this day. The next day we would be in Sitka.

 

June 27th--Sitka: This was a tender port and the ship had some malfunction with one of the tender stations from what a crewmember told me and with that tendering did take awhile. Luckily we had not arranged any excursions for this port. Someone I met on the ship had and told me the excursion boat actually picked them up at the ship. Once we finally got off the ship we walked up to the information booth to the right of the "Welcome to Sitka" sign and asked the guy what he would recommend. He said there is a shuttle that comes by to the left of the booth every 30 minutes that goes to the major stops in the town of Sitka for a $10 fee. We gladly waited for that and went to the Sitka National Park and checked out the totem poles. The park is very peaceful and the trees seemd very tall. The totems are scattered throughout the park so to see them all you have to be prepared to walk. Once we left there we boarded the shuttle to the Raptor Center and saw several bald eagles and other various birds. Some eagles were enclosed but there were two you could look over the fence and take pictures. The one man working there said they could not fly. After we left there we got back on the shuttle and it took us into town where we shopped a little and checked out St. Michael's Cathedral. The line to tender back on was long but moved quickly enough. It was a raining day today. We had a time when it didn't rain and then times when it seemed to drizzle for awhile. This was a nice city and we felt we saw a lot for the time we spent there and for the money. The lady driving the shuttle said they are Sitka's best kept secret and for me they were. I would gladly give $10 for the shuttle anyday. They drop you off and you can board when it comes back around. It is scheduled to stop at each stop throughout the day and continues the same circle all day. It was good for the whole day. Once back on board the show for the evening was a tribute to the Blues Brothers. This was probably my favorite not counting the final night when guest onbaord impersonated various singing artists.

 

June 28th--Juneau. This was probably one of my favorite ports--because I had booked an excursion. My friend and I had booked Harv and Marv's whalewatching tour. I had got this company name from CC website and took people's advice from this board and booked them about 5 months ago. They arrived prpmptly to pick us up. EIght people from the Spirit were booked so they divided us up and put four on each boat. This was an awesome tour. I would recommend them in a heartbeat to anyone who wants a more personal up close whale watching experience. Sandy, the father in law, picked us up at the tram station to take us to the docks which are about 11 miles out. The whole time he is telling us info about Juneau and pointing out points of interest. Once we get on the boat we immediately head out in search of whales. The boat was very nice and clean. He even offered us drinks and snacks on aboard. We saw about 10 humpback whales that day. The one time a whale really came up far I had my camera down. Oh well, I got plenty of tail shots and backs. We even saw a little one that constantly kept playing around. This tour was GREAT. I don't think people come any nicer then these folks did. The hospitality was out of this world. Being in the service industry (my MR. Wonderful owns a dental lab) we value good customer service and Harv and Marv delivered. Once we got back to the docks Sany was already there waiting to take us back to town. On the way back he did a fifteen minute stop at Mendenhall Glacier. It started to rain again, but I got some great shots. Earlier in the day there was a bear up in one of trees along the path. A couple we had met on the ship the day before showed me the pictures they took of it. It was out early in the morning before we got there. GO FIGURE, but hey I was happy with my whales and glacier shots. On the way back we asked Sandy to drop us off and the Red Dog Saloon. We had a drink, bought a T-shirt and took pictures for the scrapbook. We took a menu to add to the scrapbook. After this we toured the town. For those of you who are interested their is a scrapbook store on the left up the main street called The Creating Place. I stopped in and picked up some Alaska paper and scrapbook items I knew I could not find back home in Kentucky. The weather today kept raining and stopping--raining and stopping. We ate at the Twisted Fish a late lunch and got back on the ship about 4 p.m. Around 7 I got back off and took the Mount Roberts Tram up the hill. The cost was $24.95. I thought it was a little pricey, but it does offer great views of Juneau. This was a great port and we got to spend a lot of time here.

 

Well. I am going for now and will try to finish up tomorrow. Sorry if it is too detailed for some and not enough for others. If you have questions just ask.

 

Forgive me if you see typos. I am typing fast and not proofreading. I am on vacation LOL

 

Sharon

Kentucky

[Beachside395]

Sharon,

 

What were you wearing for all of this "on and off" rain? Were you carrying an umbrella?

 

We had a very sunny cruise 2 years ago. I have a feeling we are in for some "real" Alaska weather this time.

 

Terri

[apples1996]

I had a rainjacket that I wore and some Merrell's (sp???) shoes that were waterproof. It didn't rain nonstop. There were many spurts of dry spells. We would duck into stores or bars when it really began to rain. I carried my camera backpack under my rainjacket to keep it safe. When we were in Ketchikan the weather was perfect--no rain at all.

 

Sharon

[COJOMAY]

Sharon:

Where do you live in Kentucky? I am from Germantown, close to Maysville. (About 40 miles SE of Cincinnati) My wife and I are leaving next May from Vancouver to Whitter. Nice to read your report.

[apples1996]

I live in Hebron, KY which is right across the Ohio River from Cincy. I usually take the Anderson Ferry home when I visit Ohio. I have been to Maysville once. One of Rob's friends lives in Maysville. His name is Joe LeMaster. I am not sure if you know him. Such a small world. You will love your Alaska cruise.

 

Sharon

[apples1996]

June 29th--Skagway: Here we decided to rent a car and drive to Emerald Lake. We had invited this couple from San Diego to ride with us. The weather was great and the views were wonderful. We used Murray's guide. We didn't see any wildlife, but the lady at the border on the way back said several people had seen a bear. When we returned we went to the Red Onion Saloon, shopped a little, and made it back to the boat with about 50 minutes to spare.

 

June 30th--Ketchikan: Weather was awesome. We went to Saxam Village and hung out around town.

 

We really enjoyed this cruise. The ship was nice. I was a little concerned because the last ship I had been on was RCCL Navigator of the Seas and I had never been on a Carnival ship before. It wasn't as grand looking as the Navigator but it was a real nice ship. The food was good considering the number of people they were feeding. After the second day I could tell they started taking extra percautions in the public areas. Up at the buffet area they servers starting dishing at the food and I constantly saw people wiping the ship down. There were people using the pools on the final couple days with the nice weather, but not a mass number of people.

 

Disembarkation was awesome. Our number was called and we pretty much walked right off the ship. We had tickets for the Quickshuttle walked right up to an empty bus. I think when we left the pier we had 21 passengers on the bus. The driver told us when we got to the border that it might take 45-60 minutes, but we were there for 16 minutes. I was so excited. We reached Seattle hung out for a day and caught a nonstop to Cincinatti. The vacation was great but it was nice to be back home with my family.

 

Sharon