May 16, 2016 Carnival Legend Alaska Cruise report

Thanks for the great review! We are doing a few of the same things you did on our upcoming Princess cruise - leaving next Saturday I can't wait! We are flying with Family Air in Ketchikan and renting a car to drive the highway in Skagway.

I'm curious how you liked the puppies at Caribou Crossing. I've been debating whether it is worth it to stop there vs. going to see Seavey's puppies in Seward when we are there after our cruise. Seavey's gets great reviews but I also want to save our time in Seward for a few other things, and am thinking the quick stop at Caribou might suffice instead.

Thanks for the great review! We are doing a few of the same things you did on our upcoming Princess cruise - leaving next Saturday I can't wait! We are flying with Family Air in Ketchikan and renting a car to drive the highway in Skagway.

 

I'm curious how you liked the puppies at Caribou Crossing. I've been debating whether it is worth it to stop there vs. going to see Seavey's puppies in Seward when we are there after our cruise. Seavey's gets great reviews but I also want to save our time in Seward for a few other things, and am thinking the quick stop at Caribou might suffice instead.

First, I have no knowledge of Seavey's puppies. One thing about Caribou Crossing was the mosquitoes were worse than expected, we would have stayed longer, but likely only for more pictures. I did like Caribou Crossing in general. For all of the jokes about it, I really did want to see the taxidermy museum and was happy. The place was what they were advertised to be.

We arrived after the big bus crowd had moved through, about 2pm, so the pupplies were tired. We actually did not handle them, but just took a few photos. We could have handled the puppies, but chose to let them sleep and/or just be puppies. What time would you be stopping there? Also, I suggest good mosquito repellent. We had some on the ship and I almost brought it... My wife did have an interesting time feed the goats, but none of that is public. We decided to be very shy about any photo image of the family.

Good luck with your trip!

First, I have no knowledge of Seavey's puppies. One thing about Caribou Crossing was the mosquitoes were worse than expected, we would have stayed longer, but likely only for more pictures. I did like Caribou Crossing in general. For all of the jokes about it, I really did want to see the taxidermy museum and was happy. The place was what they were advertised to be.

 

We arrived after the big bus crowd had moved through, about 2pm, so the pupplies were tired. We actually did not handle them, but just took a few photos. We could have handled the puppies, but chose to let them sleep and/or just be puppies. What time would you be stopping there? Also, I suggest good mosquito repellent. We had some on the ship and I almost brought it... My wife did have an interesting time feed the goats, but none of that is public. We decided to be very shy about any photo image of the family.

 

Good luck with your trip!

Not sure what time we would stop there. I do want to get to Emerald Lake before noon so it kind of depends on how fast we get our rental car, etc. Our plan is to drive mostly straight through (I think that is what you did) and stop for most things on the way back. If we make really good time (i.e. ahead of the buses) we may stop on the way, otherwise I would guess it may be more like you did and after lunch. Either way - will try to miss the crowds.

And thanks for the tip on the mosquito repellent - we will definitely bring some!

Thanks for your review and beautiful pictures. We'll be on the Legend in just over 2 weeks, so excited.

Pictures are always my favorite and you took some amazing photos! I love the ones of the bears it was probably the one animal we did not get a chance to see.

I've decided a better way to end this is to just describe what we did in the Seattle area for 4-5 days.

Tuesday May 24 - off the ship

We got off the ship, found the enterprise/budget/alamo kiosk, waited 15 minutes then took their shuttle van to enterprise downtown location. From there we drove to the parking garage near Seattle center and the space needle. We bought Citypass booklets for each person at the space needle ticket place then went up the needle. We arrived relatively early, but it was getting much busier by the time we were leaving the needle. Arrive early if you don't like lines and crowds.

After that we ate lunch at the "armory" area of Seattle center which has several places to eat and not too far from the needle area; some would call it a food court. I forget the exact place we ate but they had fish-n-chips (fries) and were toward the back. It was decent food.

We then went to the Glass Museum next to the space needle. It was included in the citypass. It was nice, but dark in parts. If you like artsy glass art, this is your place. It was enjoyable. I did get some good photos and may post them later. It was luck that I brought the external flash for my primary camera (Sony A6000), but it was useful in darker parts of the glass museum and completely OK to use.

Then we walked back to the car and headed for the ferry port to Bremerton. We found the ferry port and took the ferry to Bremerton. It's about an hour ride. Bremerton is on the west side of Pugot Sound and the location of our hotel; the Fairfield Inn. I chose this hotel because it was free for 4 nights with Marriott hotel points that I had accumulated from business travel. At the time of the reservation, it was 10K points per night, but it is now 15K points per night. It's a good hotel if the location works for you.

I did our Seattle/NW Washington planning around this location and use of the close ferry port. Some will say stay in Seattle and forget a rental car. That is a viable option, but we did stay in Bremerton with a rental car and this was what we did with 4.5 days.

Wednesday May 25 - Museum of Flight and Woodland Park Zoo

The opening time of most tourist places was 9:30am-10am and they closed about 5pm. I figured out quickly that we could do about 2 places per day.

We woke, ate basic hotel breakfast (any business traveler knows exactly what I mean) then drove the car to the ferry port. It was an interesting ferry ride. At the Seattle ferry port, we turned the car right and headed for the Museum of Flight. At this point, I will recommend a GPS with route planning for Seattle or any other medium/large city. It makes a difference. It can be a phone app, built into the car, or whatever; just have one.

The Museum of Flight is as advertised. If you like planes, aviation history, or space travel, get yourself there somehow and plan for 4-5 hours minimum. I will say to avoid the cafeteria there if possible; no food poisoning, but that is the only place on the entire trip that I would never consider eating at again.

The Woodland park zoo was a nice drive and the GPS guidance really helped finding the place. It's a good zoo and included in citypass, as advertised, and the food place in the middle was good for supper that evening. We drove back to the ferry then eventually back to the hotel.

Thursday May 26 - Olympic Mountains

This was the driving day. We woke early, then drove the perimeter of the Olympic mountains, including interior stops at Hurricane Ridge and hiking the Trail of Mosses, and back to the hotel in a 14.5 hour drive. It was mostly scenic driving including the interior sections.

On a recommendation, we stopped at Ruby Beach which turned out to be a driftwood beach; we didn't stay long, not recommended unless you like lots of driftwood. We also drove along the length of the hood canal. It would have been OK except it was a 2 lane road with minimal passing and many drivers who thought they should be going 70 instead of something close to the 30MPH speed limit. I DO NOT recommend driving along hood canal. It should be scenic, but it really isn't due to lots of trees in the wrong places and many unfriendly, aggressive drivers.

Friday - May 27 - Walking in Seattle

This was the day before Memorial Day weekend. I was advised not to take the car on the ferry this day due to heavy traffic coming west. We walked on the ferry then walked to the underground walk called Beneath The Streets. It was a good walking tour and an early Seattle history lesson. We saw a pod of orcas while on the ferry ride.

From there we walked to the Seattle Aquarium stopping for lunch along the way. The aquarium was OK, but it was full of loud, out of control kids on a field trip from school. Their website does a good job explaining the animals and exhibits. We left there and walked back to the ferry port then the hotel. It looked like rain was coming and we were tired.

Saturday May 28 - Home

We packed the bags again and drove to Seatac via the Tacoma Narrows bridge. It was a scenic drive and traffic wasn't too bad. Overall, it had been a good 2 weeks, but it was time to go home.

Thanks for the review, excellent photographs. Thanks for the heads up about not eating at the Aviation Museum. That was going to a be a full day for us. Remind me to buy fruit....

Would love if you posted more pictures, talked about the food on board, shows, and I did I read correctly?? that Jen was your cruise director?

Thanks for the review, excellent photographs. Thanks for the heads up about not eating at the Aviation Museum. That was going to a be a full day for us. Remind me to buy fruit....

 

Would love if you posted more pictures, talked about the food on board, shows, and I did I read correctly?? that Jen was your cruise director?

Jen was the cruise director. Before the cruise, I read some discussion about the value, or not, of a cruise director. It was polarizing with some worshiping at the CDs feet and others who wouldn't notice if the CD missed the ship. I'm in the latter camp. After Jen went into "fire the crowd up" mode for some silly trinket raffle during a shore excursion discussion, I saw no use for her and quickly left.

She's not a bad person and does seem to care; she's just not someone I want to be around.

On our trip, we attended no shows, no games, no bars, no bingo, no specialty restaurants, no spa, and had no casino time. We just weren't interested in those aspects of the ship. I did like the outside/open decks, our balcony, the ice cream machines on Lido, and just wandering around the ship with no particular destination. The naturalist talks by Michelle were good and one reason I selected this particular ship/itinerary. The extra day and Glacier Bay were big factors as well.

We went to see Alaska. The cruise ship was simply the water taxi to get us there with a place to eat and sleep each day. It was our first cruise with no regrets for taking it, but we don't plan on another cruise anytime soon. We have no interest in the cheaper mexico/carribean cruises. Alaska, and Canada, would be nice to visit again, but it is expensive and we'll likely do that by land on a future trip.

I'm not a good person to judge food for others. Collectively, we each found something reasonable to eat for each meal. I mainly ate in the MDR, we had YTD, and the others found something on Lido most evenings.

Is there something you had a particular interest in for photos? I've posted a decent sampling, almost all at full resolution, from the best pictures for the Alaska part of the trip.

EDIT: I really would like to be able to edit some of the previous posts on this thread. I was very tired when writing some of them and it is obvious. It's not a great review, but maybe it'll help someone.

The primary goal was to help someone plan a future trip as payment for the help I received when planning our trip.

Beautiful pictures! Thank you :)

flatlander, actually it was an excellent review! And thanks for filling in the blanks regarding shows, etc. In all my cruises, the only '"show" I have enjoyed was the towel animal theater. I am looking forward to the talks with the Naturalist, and the rangers in Glacier Bay.

I am hoping that once they are done with the sail away party-that will be the end of the too loud music, and the drink pushing. So can you tell me if it was a quiet cruise? If I am in Alaska, I want to hear Alaska, the call of the birds, the cracking of the ice of the glaciers, the splash of wildlife. If I manage to stay awake past 9, I would go to a comedy show, or at least listen to the Alaska story teller, if he is back on the ship this year.

So-what was the noise level?

flatlander, actually it was an excellent review! And thanks for filling in the blanks regarding shows, etc. In all my cruises, the only '"show" I have enjoyed was the towel animal theater. I am looking forward to the talks with the Naturalist, and the rangers in Glacier Bay.

 

I am hoping that once they are done with the sail away party-that will be the end of the too loud music, and the drink pushing. So can you tell me if it was a quiet cruise? If I am in Alaska, I want to hear Alaska, the call of the birds, the cracking of the ice of the glaciers, the splash of wildlife. If I manage to stay awake past 9, I would go to a comedy show, or at least listen to the Alaska story teller, if he is back on the ship this year.

 

So-what was the noise level?

Except for a few special occasions on Lido deck, the cruise was comparatively quiet. There was some music in the attrium most evenings, but not obnoxious, it reminded me of karaoke in a bar/lounge. There was some noise with doors slamming especially if they had the balcony doors open. Honestly, I went to bed late each evening (after charging camera batteries, copying camera memory card contents, then backing them up to an external backup hard drive) and woke early (about 7am central time!) each day.

I'll say it was nice to get a cup of coffee and some kind of pastry on Lido (especially a croissant with real butter) before most woke up (and the breakfast options opened). We were mid-May, so the sun was up early, but it was a good ritual. I was up anyway, may as well enjoy that part of the cruise.

This review helped A LOT! Thanks!

Would you say the Alaska cruise had many teens?

We might be bringing our kids (12 and 15) next summer. They LOVE nature- Our best family trip so far was to Glacier National Park)

We think this would be majestic for them, but at the same time, wonder if we should wait a few years. Thanks!

This review helped A LOT! Thanks!

 

Would you say the Alaska cruise had many teens?

 

We might be bringing our kids (12 and 15) next summer. They LOVE nature- Our best family trip so far was to Glacier National Park)

 

We think this would be majestic for them, but at the same time, wonder if we should wait a few years. Thanks!

I did not see a lot of teens, but we were mid-May when many would still be in school. Why wait a few years? If your kids are ready, go soon and in a few years, go somewhere else.

Don't forget, you can see Alaska from a land trip as well as a cruise ship. If we go back to Alaska, it will be primarily by land with maybe a day-trip or 2 on the water from a port. That would be something new with no BS cruise ship rules.

Beautiful pictures and great report. Makes me want to go in May some day.

I did not see a lot of teens, but we were mid-May when many would still be in school. Why wait a few years? If your kids are ready, go soon and in a few years, go somewhere else.

 

Don't forget, you can see Alaska from a land trip as well as a cruise ship. If we go back to Alaska, it will be primarily by land with maybe a day-trip or 2 on the water from a port. That would be something new with no BS cruise ship rules.

What bs rules? Curious.

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What bs rules? Curious.

In no particular order for Carnival...

Can't bring your own water onboard. If you buy their water and take it off ship, you can't bring it back onboard. We threw at least 12 full bottles in the trash especially after not being able to get an Avis rental car in Juneau.

No multi-tool/leatherman or other small, hand tools. They'll confiscate them and you might get them back at the end of the cruise. I use them daily.

Any pocket knife I normally carry, even though legal per their rules, would be taken and maybe returned. I carry high quality tactical knives and don't want to donate to anyone else's collection.

Can't bring your own alcohol, except a bottle of wine. Not a big drinker, but not spending 5X the normal price to buy their limited selection on board (and didn't).

Limited amount (12 cans) and strict size limit (12oz or less, cans only) for bringing soda on board. They'd rather you spend $10 for a 6 pack of coke/sprite in cans.

NO satellite phones can be brought on board. I could have easily brought a company sat phone for the trip and it would have been very useful when our cell phones didn't work at ports.

There were other restrictions, but, in general, it reminded me too much of TSA at airports.

I understand, it's their ship, their rules and I went along with it, this time. Next time we'll do something different.

It was still a good trip, but many of the best parts were off the ship, except for Glacier Bay. That really was special, especially from the ship on a sunny day.

Beautiful pictures, and very helpful review! We're doing this itinerary in April, your review has me more excited!

Thursday - May 19 - Juneau

 

The weather was great. Our plan for the day was whale watching, some time at Mendenhall glacier center, then driving around to see wildlife. Things don't always go according to plan.

 

None of our cell phones had service in Juneau; a surprise. I had an Avis car reservation and was there when they opened at 8am, number 3 in line. The problem was no agent to rent cars, only a poor lady who started work there 2 days before and didn't have keys to anything. We needed to be at Auke Bay (dock for the whale watch boat) at 9:10am for a 9:30am watch trip. At 8:30am, I left Avis and started walking back to the ship for plan B. There were plenty of people waiting to greet the Avis agent when he did get back.

 

Plan B was to use the excursion transport (a former school bus) from Dolphin Jet Boat tours. It was getting too interesting since I didn't know exactly where they picked up and no cell phone to coordinate the change with Dolphin and the family. We had planned to drive to the dock in a rental car; it's a good plan, it just requires a car. Fortunately, I did find my family and the Dolphin transport bus in time.

 

We had back-to-back watch trips booked with Dolphin; 2 hours on the water for each trip. Originally, it was one 2.5 hour trip with Orca Enterprises, but they were purchased by Dolphin in March 2016. Dolphin honored the paid reservation with orca and gave a discount when I asked about a 2nd watch trip. Dolphin did everything they said and advertised so I would recommend them. Let's go see some whales!

 

The boat used was smaller (about 30 people max) and fast. Neither trip was packed full. It was not especially cramped with front and back viewing decks. First, the watch area was very nice, postcard quality scenery in every direction. Did I say we had great weather?

 

The first trip out was probably a disappointment to some. We had one good whale "blow" sighting and a distant whale tail with no warning. They did circle a bouy loaded with sea lions on the way back into the dock. Per the radio, all the watch boats talk to each other, no one had much whale luck during the first trip. The second trip was much better. We saw at least 4 whale blow sightings and 3 non-surprise whale tails. It was also crazy seeing all the whale watch boats in the area come racing toward one sighting.

 

After the second watch trip, we boarded the former school bus for the trip back to the dock. The bus driver really was a bus driver.

She drove for the Juneau school during the year and had some good local commentary.

 

After returning to the ship dock, we were hungry for lunch and tired so I did not go back and try to get a car for the afternoon.

Mendenhall might have been nice, but the spectacular Dawes glacier trip was the previous afternoon and glacier bay was only 2 days away.

I'd hoped to see bear in Juneau, but we saw 2 the next day at Skagway. We talked about taking the tram that afternoon and didn't.

In retrospect, we should have eaten lunch on the ship then returned to ride the tram.

We got back on the ship and didn't leave that day. I did amuse myself trying to take longer range pictures of eagles flying high above the ship.

 

I forgot to mention that we puchased the middle-grade internet package for the trip starting on the 2nd afternoon. It was $60 and only had an occasional service outage. It was nice for communicating with home and checking weather, news, etc. It could only be connected to one device at a time with no video or music streaming. That wasn't an issue for us.

 

First trip whale blow sighting

 

 

Sea lions on bouy. look in the water on the right

 

 

A good whale blow

 

 

A whale back

 

 

A whale tail

 

 

Eagle high above the ship from our balcony (about the best shot, through essentially a pair of 20 power stabilized binoculars; 1000mm equivalent)

 

Thank you! What time of day is best for whale watching - there is a 9am, 10 am, 11:00 and so on - don't want to go later than 11:00 am

Also, I can't get Dolphin to answer the phone or email me back - I know the season is basically over and they want a break. The website shows I can book via website, but I have questions - I don't want to book NOW, just b/c I really don't want to pay until Jan or Feb, but time slot could be gone, correct? Is there any AAA discount that anyone knows of?

Also, I can't get Dolphin to answer the phone or email me back - I know the season is basically over and they want a break. The website shows I can book via website, but I have questions - I don't want to book NOW, just b/c I really don't want to pay until Jan or Feb, but time slot could be gone, correct? Is there any AAA discount that anyone knows of?

I think you'd be safe waiting until January to make the whale watch reservations with Dolphin. No idea about any AAA discount.

You might get a 10-15% discount on some independant excursions if they're fully-paid before January 1. We did for Orca Enterprises (subsequently purchased by Dolphin in March 2016) and the flightseeing trip to Misty Fjord in Ketchikan.

I don't think there is a best time of day for whale watching except whatever fits your on-shore time the best.

I think you'd be safe waiting until January to make the whale watch reservations with Dolphin. No idea about any AAA discount.

 

You might get a 10-15% discount on some independant excursions if they're fully-paid before January 1. We did for Orca Enterprises (subsequently purchased by Dolphin in March 2016) and the flightseeing trip to Misty Fjord in Ketchikan.

 

I don't think there is a best time of day for whale watching except whatever fits your on-shore time the best.

Thank you

Enjoyed your report and photos! We took this trip on Princess a few years ago. We are going back next May and taking our two teenage granddaughters on the Legend. We are also doing the driving trip from Skagway but using the Green Jeep.

A note about the Ulu knife you purchased. My husband is also a knife collector but that one is mine. It is my favorite kitchen knife. I love it for fileting chicken. I like it so much I'm going to buy another one when we go back. You can never have too many :)