peer pressure...i'm back from the spirit too!

[Seawishes]

Alright, I feel left out, so I'll post about the Spirit too.

 

We flew United from Philadelphia on Monday, the 21st...two connections: one in Chicago and one in San Francisco. Our second flight was delayed by a little over an hour, but I had scheduled in enough connection time that we still made the third flight on time. Had a delicious sour dough bread bowl with chili at the San Francisco airport...a yummy reminder of my San Francisco trip last year. I wanted to gouge my eyes out during the last two hours of our flight from SF to Anchorage...but we got such a great price that it was worth it...once the flight was over.

 

We called the Puffin Inn for their airport shuttle at almost 1am, and only had to wait outside (in our first taste of drizzle) for about 5 minutes. We had reserved suite that slept all six of us for the first night...since we were in the hotel room for exactly 8 hours....just long enough to crash.

 

Tuesday...I took a cab into downtown to Avis to pickup the rental car (a minivan) and picked everyone up back at the hotel. Headed downtown again for about an hour of walking up and down the street...popping in and out of souvenir shops. Bought some DELICIOUS Grizzly Chips (BBQ flavored chips from the Alaska Chip Company). YUM!

 

We hit the road along Turnagain Arm making various stops along the way, went up the Alyeska Tram and had an awesome chili (reindeer) dog. The tram/lunch combo is really a great deal!!! We stopped at the Wildlife Conservation Center the continued on to Seward. Highly recommended: The Caribou Caramel ice cream at Summit Lake Lodge. We didn't stop at Exit Glacier because of the rain...a group decision I didn't agree with, but we did have dinner at Ray's Waterfront, then played some games in the room at the Holiday Inn Express (which was perfect for one night.....

 

Wednesday .......and the HI Express breakfast bar was JUST what the doctor ordered to start our day). We took the 8am tour with Kenai Fjords Tours...saw many many orcas, puffins, dall porpoise, sea lions, etc etc etc. We loved all six hours, and took the obligatory embarassing pictures of some of our group sleeping sitting up on the way back from Holgate Glacier. After the boat trip, we bee-lined it for the tunnel and made the 4:30 opening into whittier (Make sure you stop at the pull out for Explorer Glacier on the right hand side of the road) Dropped the luggage and friends at the terminal....returned to avis which was a five minute walk away...and boarded the ship.

 

As others have mentioned....it was ROCKING AND ROLLING during our sea day across the gulf of alaska...but it was ok, cause I napped a lot which was needed after two action packed days in achorage and seward. I took pictures of the TV this sea day because the wind speed number on the "map channel" definitely said 70 !!!!!!

 

We kayaked in Sitka across sitka sound and around the islands to explore all the tidal sea creatures on the rocks. just gorgeous...and wet. I looked like I wet myself when we were finished, but that didn't stop me from having a delicious burger at the westmark after we kayaked.

 

In Juneau, two of our group went dog sledding on the glacier while the other four of us went to mendenhall and did some hiking. gorgeous again! eileen's dad picked us up at mendenhall for our harv and marv whale watch later in the day...by which time our group was all back together. saw many many humpbacks and the same sea lions on the same buoy that everyone else sees. but it was still awesome. we had harv (pete) and he couldn't have been nicer to our group. i had a quarter pounder at mcdonalds to tide me over until dinner (and my biggest regret of the whole trip is not ordering the MCKINLEY MAC.....can anyone tell me about it?) sent some postcards, and got back on the ship for second seating dinner.

 

skagway...we rented from avis and headed as far as emerald lake. saw some dall sheep as we went through the pass on the way north. stopped in carcross for the bathrooms....then stopped at caribou crossing which was just depressing and crappy. we left as soon as we could. had burgers at spirit lake lodge...and as others have mentioned DO NOT STOP HERE IF YOU'RE IN A HURRY. the burger was excellent, though...the fries were hit or miss. We were back in Skagway by 2:30....and had enough time to send some postcards and buy some souvenir crap...we being tourists and all.

 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP>>>>>>> Relaxing in the aft HEATED pool on the Spirit, drinking an alaskan amber....in the rain....in the cold....as the naturalist pointed out hanging glaciers a thousand feet above us....and visible from IN THE POOL!!!!!! It was absolutely a WHO THE HELL AM I? kind of moment....taking it all in.

 

Ketchikan....four of us took the Canopy adventure and wildlife expedition...booked through the ship. The zip lines are not as good as others we have been on (in costa rica)...but we did spot a black bear from up on the platforms....and the 3 aerial bridges that were part of this particular course were the best part for me. This was the canopy tour...not "bear creek". again...sent a few postcards, and visited a liquor store for a 6-pack gift sampler of alaskan brewing beers....sent through metal detector and picked up and inspected by the carnival crew member before being handed right to me with a nod. (it should be noted that I didn't even see the table where they would send someone to check their liquor.....do they even care on the alaskan itinerary?)

 

more napping on the final sea day....and then lots of picture taking at the carnival legends show......one from our group (blue-haired charlie) was elton john....so that gave all of us a laugh.

 

we self assist debarked in vancouver and walked our luggage ten blocks to the moda hotel. it was funky...and close to granville and robson...and I would absolutely stay there again. we walked gastown and homeless-town just north of gastown while trying to find chinatown. we eventually did, unscathed. we napped again before heading to the beach for the celebration of light. we bought beach mats on the way, claimed a spot, then sent scout ants back up denman street for dinner which we picnic-ed with on the beach. The beach was mobbed...but we played some games and just took it all in (this was the other 5 hours of clear skies that we had the whole trip)....the fireworks were phenomenal, then we walked back up denman and robson with 250,000 of our closest friends. the next day we saw stanley park and the aquarium....and we had dinner at the steamworks brewery....YUM!

 

The next morning I headed to avis again to pick up our third white chevy uplander for this trip....picked up the group back at the hotel, then started our drive to seattle. we waited THREE HOURS at the border which we passed playing games again (electronic catchphrase for those who are curious)...and we got to seattle around 6 in the evening. We had just enough time to head to the space needle....then had a late dinner at the restaurant at our hotel (The Red Lion at SEA-TAC airport)....again, I'd stay there again if I needed another airport hotel in seattle.

 

Took the airport shuttle at 5am for our 7am flights back to philadelphia...connecting through atlanta (airtran, anyone?)...and we were home by about 8pm east coast time.

 

I'm JUST feeling like I'm caught up on sleep...this was one of those vacations where relaxation takes a back seat to taking in all the gorgeous sights (though, we did nap an awful lot).

 

If you're still reading, then you didn't find this as tedious as others who quit reading a long time ago. Everyone in our group LOVED this trip!! Let me know if you have questions about anything we did......OR details on that MCKINLEY MAC at McDonald's.

[Podie]

What a FANTASTIC review! Thank you! I still have many months to my 5/27/09 northbound Spirit cruise but reviews like this make me know it will be worth the wait!

 

By the way, what did your rental from ANC to Whittier cost? What was the drop-off fee? THANKS!

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Sounds like you had a great time... Thanks for sharing.

[SFAM]

Hi Seawishes, I love your highlight of the trip - what a great place to watch from!

 

BTW, you mentioned you self-disembarked. How much after the scheduled docking time did you actually get off the ship? I ask because next year we'r etaking a northbound voyage on the Spirit and wanted to quickly disembark in Whittier in order to make an 11:45 whale watching tour in Seward. This means we'd need to get through the tunnel by 9:00ish.

 

Also, how was the entertainment on board?

[themerle]

Thanks for sharing your review!

[VillaHappy]

Thanks for your review. BTW I got tired just reading your post! Sounds like you had a good but exhausting time!

[Cincy Gal]

Thanks for the great read!

[Sandy Wum]

How did you find decent air fares from Phili? I am going Phili - Fairbanks then home from Vancouver - Phili . any tips for good airlines or how best to go? I have heard it is thru Seattle going up but if there are any deals I cant find them . I have pleanty of time (next June). Thanks for the excellent review.

[krogerlady]

Enjoyed your review!! We are doing NB next June also with one night in Vancouver, and I don't think anyone in the group will be doing anything post cruise, so straight home from Anchorage. Have been watching airfares for months, they have actually come down a little bit, and read something a while back about being even cheaper in October and November. I am going with a big group, so rather than making my own plans, will try to coordinate to some degree with at least some of the family. They don't expect to make any plans until January, but if I see flights come down before that, I will let them know.

[Seawishes]

What a FANTASTIC review! Thank you! I still have many months to my 5/27/09 northbound Spirit cruise but reviews like this make me know it will be worth the wait!

 

By the way, what did your rental from ANC to Whittier cost? What was the drop-off fee? THANKS!

 

I just checked my paper work, and the drop off fee was $100. I prepaid $99.75 for a full tank of gas, which was stupid because we only used half a tank, but I guess it cut out one extra step in Whittier. All told, the rental ended up cosing $666 for a minivan for 2 days...Anchorage to Whittier, by way of Seward. It gave us the flexibility we needed and we got to see Seward, which was a highlight (as was the drive getting there...only 12 hours after landing in Anchorage, we were already sold on Alaska just for driving along Turnagain Arm.)

[celebrate20]

Hi, thanks for the review. We too are planning on Mendenhall hike and then Harv and Marv Whaling. How was the Whaleing? Also, you said you ate at McDonalds. We will be hitting Mendenhall early so we can hike as much as possible. Ive heard there isnt anywhere to eat unless you go back into town. We were hoping not to have to do that. Where is McDonalds and is there anywhere else to eat at Mendenhall??

Thanks for your help!

[Seawishes]

Hi Seawishes, I love your highlight of the trip - what a great place to watch from!

 

BTW, you mentioned you self-disembarked. How much after the scheduled docking time did you actually get off the ship? I ask because next year we'r etaking a northbound voyage on the Spirit and wanted to quickly disembark in Whittier in order to make an 11:45 whale watching tour in Seward. This means we'd need to get through the tunnel by 9:00ish.

 

Also, how was the entertainment on board?

 

They called for Self Debark passengers at 7:30am in Vancouver. I can't promise it'd hold true for the north bound cruises ending in Whittier. We hung out and had breakfast though....and didn't self debark until about an hour later. Other than a strange look from someone directing passenger traffic in the terminal, no one complained that we lolly-gagged.

 

I'm not a fan of Carnival's entertainment...the shows I mean. I've been to two welcome aboard shows in the past 6 months, and I promise myself I will NEVER watch the word "fun" slowly (and impotently) inflate itself on stage while not-so-great or tired-of-being-there dancers run around in front of it. I'm close enough to New York that I visit almost once a month and see everything that's new on Broadway (and I don't mean to say that terrible things don't happen on those stages too)...but Carnival's production shows just don't do it for me.

 

My friends are avid gamers (game nights are a favorite in my circle)...so we tried going to a few of the ship's activities in the lounges, but the groups are too big and we like rules too much to have any fun there...so we often just found an empty lounge and played our own games packed from home. A few in our group did enjoy the "glacier" ice carving on lido....and they held the hairy chest competition and the newlywed/not-so-newlywed game, though we didn't go to either.

[Seawishes]

Thanks for your review. BTW I got tired just reading your post! Sounds like you had a good but exhausting time!

 

Berks County! I grew up in Reading!

[Seawishes]

How did you find decent air fares from Phili? I am going Phili - Fairbanks then home from Vancouver - Phili . any tips for good airlines or how best to go? I have heard it is thru Seattle going up but if there are any deals I cant find them . I have pleanty of time (next June). Thanks for the excellent review.

 

I searched kayak.com EVERYDAY for months watching the arfare. I ended up booking two separate one way tickets....first the two connection marathon from PHL to Anchorage...booked directly through United, which cost something like $260 per person....then I booked a one way from Seattle to PHL...directly through Air Tran, which cost around $200. All said and done, we paid $460 per person.

 

The nice thing about kayak.com is that you punch in your travel itinerary, then the site checks all sorts of other sites for you and gives you all the results on one EASY TO USE (and easy to sort) page.

[Seawishes]

Enjoyed your review!! We are doing NB next June also with one night in Vancouver, and I don't think anyone in the group will be doing anything post cruise, so straight home from Anchorage. Have been watching airfares for months, they have actually come down a little bit, and read something a while back about being even cheaper in October and November. I am going with a big group, so rather than making my own plans, will try to coordinate to some degree with at least some of the family. They don't expect to make any plans until January, but if I see flights come down before that, I will let them know.

 

It was back on January 15th when I finally pulled the trigger on the flights.

[Seawishes]

Hi, thanks for the review. We too are planning on Mendenhall hike and then Harv and Marv Whaling. How was the Whaleing? Also, you said you ate at McDonalds. We will be hitting Mendenhall early so we can hike as much as possible. Ive heard there isnt anywhere to eat unless you go back into town. We were hoping not to have to do that. Where is McDonalds and is there anywhere else to eat at Mendenhall??

Thanks for your help!

 

McDonald's was back in the middle of town...and we didn't get to eat it until AFTER whale watching. It was already 6pm by the time I was snacking on Mickey D's. But I had had one of those big cruise buffet breakfasts before we left for Mendenhall, so I was surprisingly ok.

 

It's true, though....NOTHING by way of food at Mendenhall. (They even made us pour out our coffee when we first got off the shuttle bus.) I suppose it's 'cause of the bears.

[kelcruzn]

Seawishes---we saw you guys at the Spirit Lake Lodge place. We were a group of 7 that came in after you guys ranging from the age of 13 to 70+. I know because of Charlie and his blue hair of course! We also saw lots of Charlie because of the karaoke. My nephew was very "into" the karaoke and sang every night in the Cool lounge and only wished he was old enough to compete for the Legends show!

 

At least you got your change back from lunch (or I assume you did, based on your comments)! LOL