The Best Cruise Ever! Glacier Bay Alaska, 5/6/09, Pictorial Review.

[sewut]

Your pictures make me homesick. We lived in Juneau back in the early 70's and our son still lives in Alaska in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula. I'm sitting here looking at your pictures of Mendenhall Glacier and comparing them with the big one on my wall. I think I'd need more than a day in Juneau to catch up on everything. The Spirit is indeed a beautiful ship. My friend will be on her in a week. I'll have to send her a link to this review. Thanks so much for doing it.

 

Sewut

[Minoushka]

Thanks for the review and pics ./Cannot wait till Julyfor our cruise.I am packing warm clothes and not so warm to be ready for anything .Your day in Juneau sounds perfect -I would like to do the same -the whales,the glacier the tram o Mt Roberts

i am SO glad you like the Spirit

Keep this stuff coming .GREAT pics!!!

 

Michele

[happylady]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this review. I can't wait until next year to see all of this in person. :D

[woodey]

Grady ..Again thanks for the review the pics are great!

I was in Alaska 3 years ago and reading your review is taking me back to the best cruise i have had............For those of you who never been, you need to go......the pictures you see is only a start to the beautiful things you see there...there is nothing in the world more breath taking then seeing a whale jump ( we had Orca whales running along side our Ship right below our balcony) i could not even count the amount of dolphins we saw...there were hundreds...and dont forget the Bald Eagles flying over your head.....and if you go during the right time of year ...see the bears and Salmon Run......I cant wait to go back!

yes its more money....yes it is a bit colder but worth every cent you pay and it is not that hard to bring a jacket..

[MRVEGAS711]

Darth...your pictures are SICK !!

 

GREAT JOB!

[TnMama]

Grady, I dont normally look at reviews of ships and sailings that are waaaay far off for us, but I am SOOOOO glad I looked at this one. Your pictures are truly magnificent!!! I love the glacier pics,the whales,heck even Vancouver! YOu truly did a great job on your pictures. I cant pick a fav! THANK YOU so much for sharing these with the rest of us! I cant wait to go to Alaska! {one day!}

 

COngrats on your marriage too. Im so glad ya'll had a wonderful honeymoon!:)

 

Sarah

[DarthGrady]

Hey, thanks for the kind words everybody, it really is my pleasure to do it. Its almost like I get to go back and re-live this stuff! I am going to try and get all of Glacier Bay up today before I go to work:

 

Day 4, Glacier Bay:

 

The entire day was spent cruising Glacier Bay, we visited several glaciers and saw whales, mountain goats, sea lions and seals. This was very possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I won’t waste time and words trying to describe it, I couldn’t even begin to do it justice. The only way to know what its like is to go and see it. Everyone seemed very excited about this visit, especially the crew. Most of the crewmen I had talked to said that they had never been to Alaska before so this was a new experience for them too. I saw almost as many crew out on deck watching and snapping pictures as I did guests.

 

We attempted to have lunch in the lido buffet, but it was extremely crowded, as was the main dining room. We just went back to the cabin and got room service instead. I didn’t think the buffet food is as good on the Spirit as it has been on some of the other ships. I did like that the pizzeria had a daily pasta selection, I got it almost every time we ate there.

In the evening we went to the “Blues Bothers” show in the main lounge. It was mostly a tribute to the SNL classic by Chris the cruise director, along with the band. He did a good impression of Belushi’s character, and was funny with the singing and dancing. We almost didn’t make it to the show since the entirety of Deck 3’s public areas were clogged with people waiting to go into dinner. This really puzzles me, especially since half the people on board are past guests. I wondered why they hadn’t figured out that there is no need to wait in a line to get to an assigned seat. The maitre ‘d isn’t going to give them away! I suppose after a few more cruises some of them may figure out that if you just go minutes late you can just walk right in.

 

The day finished again in the supper club. We had a table in the balcony during this visit, the previous day was on the main floor, port side. The meal was equally as good as the night before. We did discover one design flaw though. On the Spirit Class ships, the supper club is at the very top of the main atrium, open to the floors below. While this makes for a very neat effect, the sound coming from the lobby and other areas can really take away from the ambiance. The entertainment in the lobby was live country and classic rock. While I certainly have no problem with it, it was a little odd to be having a “fancy” dinner while listening to a lounge singer croon “Friends In Low Places” and “Neon Moon”. Also, at a few points singing from another area mixed in, so we had two different singers singing two different songs! The unwelcome music aside, the second experience in the supper club went very well and the food was delicious.

 

Glacier bay, the zenith of the cruise

 

 

 

Lots of ice in the water

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Mine! Mine! Mine!

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

It doesn't look like it, but this is a glacier. Its the Pan Pacific Glacier, its just covered with dirt.

 

 

 

 

 

The Johns Hopkins Glacier. We couldn't get as close due to the ice field.

[DarthGrady]

The crew were just as excited as we were, it was the first time to Alaska for most of them too!

 

Alaska, Carnival style

 

 

 

The two little white dots are mountain goats

[jrmende63]

Wow...I am going to have to visit Glacier Bay. It looks like I may have 2 more trips to Alaska!

[Hogladyrider]

Grady awesome job on the review with pictures, it is like revisiting the cruise all over again, keeps the memories fresh.

 

You do a wonderful job with the words and pictures.

 

As I was reading I chuckled to myself as many of our photos are so similar.

 

It was definitely the best cruise I have ever been on and will not be forgotten anytime soon. It was WELL worth the long wait.

 

Hope to see you and Beth on a ship again sometime if not around Florida!

Susan

[Scanner47]

Day 1: Vancouver

 

Most of the first day has been covered above. After finally getting aboard, and exploring the ship we unpacked and relaxed for a while. The crew did a great job delivering the luggage. We had ours in only a couple of hours after arriving. We intended to go to the Supper Club the first night, but we were informed that it was closed due to lack of reservations. I went up on deck and watched the ship sail under a large bridge outside of Vancouver. Not quite as impressive as cruising under the Sunshine Skyway in Tampa, but still pretty neat to see. Our wait staff at dinner was very good, as was our bar server.

 

Leaving Vancouver

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great pics Grady! We had a couple of days before the Spirit left to explore Vancouver and that bridge was called the Lion's Gate Bridge, and it was only open to traffic certain times of the day...when we drove over it to North Vancouver,it was until 6:30pm. And the lighthouse is called the Atkinson Lighthouse, there is a trail behind it that we hiked to get to it from the opposite side, so we were able to see both sides of it!

 

Really a great shot of it! My camera, from taking the shot from the boat, doesn't show it as good as yours did.

[kkorman]

Just to note about Embarcation... it takes so long because customs is done before you even walk on the ship. Therefore, in Whittier/Seward you do not have to do it upon exiting. This is the only cruise you can do this on. A little inconvenient to start, but great when you do not have to do it later.

[jnv]

I did ask this in another post, and just wanted to clarify, were you served crab legs and/or halibut in the main dining room, or was it in the supper club? we leave in 23 days, and we all LOVE crab legs and halibut! Thank you for your reply.

[jimbo5544]

Outstanding post. It could be a add for Carnival. So love the Spirit and the rest of the Spirit class of ships. Wonderful pics.

[firefly4423]

I love the pics. thanks for sharing

[DarthGrady]

I did ask this in another post, and just wanted to clarify, were you served crab legs and/or halibut in the main dining room, or was it in the supper club? we leave in 23 days, and we all LOVE crab legs and halibut! Thank you for your reply.

There was a crab leg appetizer one night, but we were in the supper club that night so I cant speak to the quantity or quality. I dont recall halibut being served, but Im not a big fish eater so I wasnt really watching for it.

 

The big crab dinner we had was during the excursion.

[Flynlo]

More Man, More!!!

[jrmende63]

I did ask this in another post, and just wanted to clarify, were you served crab legs and/or halibut in the main dining room, or was it in the supper club? we leave in 23 days, and we all LOVE crab legs and halibut! Thank you for your reply.

Just wanted to say the best Halibut I had was in Juneau at the Twisted Fish! YUM YUM

[jrmende63]

Grady awesome job on the review with pictures, it is like revisiting the cruise all over again, keeps the memories fresh.

 

You do a wonderful job with the words and pictures.

 

As I was reading I chuckled to myself as many of our photos are so similar.

 

It was definitely the best cruise I have ever been on and will not be forgotten anytime soon. It was WELL worth the long wait.

 

Hope to see you and Beth on a ship again sometime if not around Florida!

Susan

Hi Susan!

I am so glad you made it to Alaska. I love the Inspiration still, but the Spirit was the bomb!

Julie and Randall

[crusinpsychRN]

Fabulous review and pictures! Congrats to you and your new wife! Last time a review was so good the reviewer became a host, remember Mach!

[lov2crz]

Awesome cabin, Awesome review... our first cruise we got a balcony, so now I'm ruined, I don't think I could go backwards. I haven't seen one like this (i'm sure do to your well taken and organized pictures. Great pictures of the room!

[pseudochicken]

One of the best reviews I've ever read! Loved the pictures, Grady! Can't wait to go on my Alaskan cruise this June! (Albeit on the Celbrity Millennium)

[SheriNtexas]

The Johns Hopkins Glacier. We couldn't get as close due to the ice field.

 

:eek::eek: Wow!!