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Carnival Miracle 7/15/2014 photo review


alohagirl808
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BTW to the OP, we've visited your home state 4 times. It's not too bad for a vacation either!

 

We love it here too but I love to travel and I get what they call "rock fever" so I have to get off this rock at least once a year or I go crazy ;)

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After we drove to Emerald Lake and the Carcross Desert, we stopped at Caribou Crossing. We got a family rate for under $30 that included the Wildlife museum, petting farm, and the Husky dogs. For an extra charge, you can also do the dirt sled ride and gold panning. We didn't do the extras but my kids really enjoyed the museum and the dogs.

 

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Here are pictures of the sled huskies and their puppies. The dogs had cute names like snickers and gold. They have dog snacks in jar that you can feed the dogs in exchange for tips. The puppies were really cute and my kids enjoyed playing with them.

 

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We left Skagway around 930 and returned around 4pm with about an hour at Caribou Crossing. We then walked and shopped a little on Main street. There were your standard souvenirs that you see in all the ports but I do have to mention this little bookstore that sold all kinds of books, including kids books, that are about Alaska or written by locals. Of course, I had to pick up some books for our kids. If we didn't drive to the Yukon, we could have done Skagway in a couple of hours and then we would have been bored. So I would highly recommend renting a car and driving to Emerald Lake!

 

Next up, Juneau!

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Juneau

 

Our plan for today was to catch the Glacier bus to Mendenhall and then go to Tracy's Crab Shack. We would have loved to go Whale watching too but our 2.5 year old wouldn't have done good on a small boat for 3 hours so we skipped it. I heard from other cruisers that they saw 14 whales that day and they were bubble net feeding, so I guess we missed out. That just means we need to plan another cruise!

 

Our ship docked right in town and you'll see the tour booths as soon as you leave the ship. We purchased the White glacier bus tickets. We tried to buy a one-way but the guy said that they no longer let you buy tickets on the bus for the return trip. So we bought round-trip tickets and waited about 10 minutes for our bus. They run every 30 minutes and the trip takes about 30 minutes too. There are some working seatbelts but I had inquired before our trip if we needed a car seat (with the Blue glacier bus company) and they said it's not required on their buses. I'm happy that we chose the white bus because it wasn't as crowded as the blue bus and we were able to get seats on both trips. Our driver going to the park was named Lenny and he was funny and kept us entertained with local information and tales. For example, did you know it is against the law to wake up a sleeping bear to take a photo! My son still remembers this and tells everyone.

 

We did the Nugget Falls hike out to the waterfall. It's about a mile and takes about 20 minutes. We then spent at least 1/2 hours there on the beach next to the falls. My kids found sticks to play with, were building little sand castles, and my son found some really neat stones. They really enjoyed it. You could even take a swim in the falls if you're crazy enough 'cause we saw a guy and his son do just that. There were icebergs in that water and they stood in the Falls. Not for us!

 

For the mommas, the path is a flat semi-gravel path that we were able to bring our stroller. There is a rocky part you need to pass once you get near the Falls. Some people parked their strollers there and others, like us, just carried our stroller over the rocks to bring it to the beach.

 

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Edited by alohagirl808
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After hiking to the Falls, we did the photo point trail which gives a great vantage point for photos. In total, we spent about 3 hours at the Park and we didn't even do the Visitor's Center, which we really wanted to do but we wanted to eat King Crab more! So we caught the bus back, no lines with plenty of seats. I forgot to mention the cost in previous post: it was $20 roundtrip and it was free for my toddler.

 

BTW, during the drive back along the shore, it was low tide and the shore/wetlands near the hatchery were just full of eagles everywhere! I was able to catch one decent photo while the bus was moving. At this point, I wish we had rented a car so that we could have stopped and watched the eagles. The drive to Mendenhall was pretty easy and I think there was only 1 turn. But oh well, it was still neat to see from the bus.

 

Once we got back to the pier, we found Tracy's Crab Shack which is right there next where the Miracle docks. It was packed and there was a long line, but it was worth the wait! We ordered 2 specials which included 1 leg, 4 crab cakes, bisque, and rolls. We also ordered a 1/2 dungeness crab and an Alaska White beer which my DH enjoyed. Everything came out to about $109 and it was so worth it!! We never had King crab and it was delicious!! Big chunks of crab meat!! Even the bisque was amazing!! They were selling the whole crab for $30 a pound if you wanted to eat the whole thing.

 

I give Mendenhall Glacier and Tracy's Crab Shack both an A++.

 

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We arrived at Victoria around 3pm to a beautiful, hot and sunny day. There were several options to get to the downtown harbor area: shuttle bus, pedicab, horse trolley, taxi, or walk. The shuttle bus is $10 pp or you can take a taxi for $10 total for up to 4 people. There was a long line for the shuttle bus so we decided to take a taxi and planned to walk back. The map showed it was 1.2 miles from the cruise terminal to the Empress hotel area. We walked around by the Empress hotel and legislative building, and it's so pretty with lots of flowers everywhere. We then started walking back along the harbor and stopped at fisherman's wharf. There was an otter just swimming around in the harbor, eating dinner. The fisherman's wharf is a cute floating house boat/restaurant area. We ate at Barbs Fish and Chips, and it was fresh and delicious!! Best fish and chips we've had! Then the kids played at the little playground across the street. After a bit, we started our walk back to the ship which took about 15 minutes. In all, it takes maybe 25-30 minutes to walk from the Empress hotel back to the ship.

 

We enjoyed our day in Victoria and hope to visit again someday.

 

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Hi,

 

I really enjoyed reading your review, and loved the pics of bear from Tracy Arm excursion. I've never been on Carnival, but I am hooked on John Heald's blog/facebook feed, and reading about his adventures in Alaska on the Miracle. He cracks me up.

 

Karen

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Thank you so much for the review. We will board the miracle in a little over two weeks i am so excited. I have one question if you dont mind. It has been several years since i have sailed on carnival and i can't remember if you can access your sign and sail account on the tv. Is this possible? Thank you again for a wonderful review and stunning photos.

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Thank you so much for the review. We will board the miracle in a little over two weeks i am so excited. I have one question if you dont mind. It has been several years since i have sailed on carnival and i can't remember if you can access your sign and sail account on the tv. Is this possible? Thank you again for a wonderful review and stunning photos.

 

 

I also remember being able to access the sign & sail account on the tv on prior cruises but I didn't see it available on this cruise. They have kiosks around the ship that you can use to check your account. I know of at least 1 on Deck 2, near the specialty coffee café. I did see others but can't recall exactly where they are at.

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Thanks for the review and wonderful photos ... it's great to have another report from a family with small kids. I've added your report to the 2014 link.

 

Since your son is 9, what would you say was the trip highlight for him ?

 

The bears and the glaciers, especially Mendenhall. He really enjoyed playing on the little beach near Nugget Falls, building sand castles and finding these neat stones that he ended up bringing back with him :)

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Sorry I didn't officially finish the review but it's been really busy since we've been back from vacation. I didn't have much else to report on anyways, except maybe disembarkation which was seemless. So if you have any specific questions, just let me know.

 

Happy cruising everyone!

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  • 5 months later...

question about Tracy Arm. we are going on the same cruise (7/14/15) it is on the itinerary but no excursions listed. is this actually a port stop? nothing is listed as of yet on the carnival website. people say this excursion is the best but a bit confused as to why I cant book anything for this. wondering if we picked a wrong week? does the ship just stop and anchor? or is this an excursion out of another port? does this make sense?

thanks!

 

and love your pictures!!!!

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The excursion doesn't actually take place in any of the ports. On the day of Tracy Arm cruising, the small boat would come right up to the ship to pick up passengers and take them closer to the glaciers and then meet back up with the ship after the 3 hour tour. When we booked, you could find the Tracy Arm small boat excursion (I think it was called "Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer) listed under each Alaska port (Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan), however I noticed that there isn't anything listed there right now for some reason. You may want to inquire with Carnival why it's not listed yet (maybe it's too early). Hope that helps.

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The excursion doesn't actually take place in any of the ports. On the day of Tracy Arm cruising, the small boat would come right up to the ship to pick up passengers and take them closer to the glaciers and then meet back up with the ship after the 3 hour tour. When we booked, you could find the Tracy Arm small boat excursion (I think it was called "Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer) listed under each Alaska port (Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan), however I noticed that there isn't anything listed there right now for some reason. You may want to inquire with Carnival why it's not listed yet (maybe it's too early). Hope that helps.

 

thanks it does help. I will call Carnival tomorrow and hope it just isn't listed yet. I hear this is a great excursion!

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  • 3 months later...

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