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sm8

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. Yes. We didn't try it but the options looked pretty good!
  2. There is one US outlet below the mirror, with an Australian type outlet next to it--that's the only one we found but we could have missed one? The hairdryer supplied in the stateroom had an Australian plug so you could use it without taking up the US outlet. Enjoy your trip!!
  3. We just bought photos on the Spirit and they still have the traditional photo set up. They have different discounts and inclusions when you buy multiple pics--ask at the desk what discounts or packages they have when you buy more. The "package" I got had 10 8x10s, 2 canvases, and all the images on a flash drive (with release) for around $280. When I bought a few more prints later in the cruise, they added them to the flash drive for $1 each.
  4. I didn't notice if there were cabs at the pier when we arrived, but there were several waiting in the harbor area that could have taken us back to the ship. I'm assuming there were some near the pier? There is also a shuttle that had multiple busses waiting-I didn't check the price but I think in my previous research I found it was 16-20 a person? We enjoyed the tour-it was pretty short but the host shared a few different stories and some historical information. After seeing how beautiful the inner harbor area was, I think if I had to do it over, I would have just shuttled there and spent time walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. The ghost tour was good, but maybe something I would recommend on a second visit or if you had more time.
  5. We had the rapid NAAT test, which I believe is a PCR test.
  6. Ferry_Watcher, Soul Play is what they call the painting studio onboard. They had 2 classes that offered a painted totebag and maybe 4 more that were painted canvases. The leader provided all the supplies and gave step by step directions to paint a northern lights type scene with a moon or whale tail, or mountains. I thought at one point it said it cost extra, but a charge never appeared on my account so I don't know if that was an oversight or not. They said it was an adult level class and that kids needed to be able to keep up with the class. There were a few kids in our class that did great, I think as long as they can attend to the instructions and have some interest in the painting they will be fine. Movies-I remember Encanto, No Time to Die, Lost City--and I think there were others? They also had a few Alaskan themed events/games on the Lido deck that would be fun for kids-ax throwing (with foam axes,) a carnival type event after Ketchikan, etc. The arcade is pretty large, if you are into those type games, and be sure you check out the Jungle area on deck 3 forward and the main theater (It has an egyptian theme that kids would love) DS shared that the kids and teen club areas on the Spirit were larger and nicer than the ones on the Legend. There are also 2 pools and the waterslides up top--it was a little cold for us but plenty of kids were swimming. I'll keep thinking😊
  7. These pics were taken with my Canon Rebel T6 or my DD's Nikon d3500. We probably took 1000 pictures!!
  8. Yes, one device is fine as long as you arrive together. Last week at Pier 91 we had 3 reservations with 6 total people and we had one ArriveCAN.
  9. Walgreens-results back in an hour and our tests were free.
  10. We used the rapid NAAT at Walgreens for an Alaska cruise last week. We had results in about an hour and I uploaded pictures of the results into Verifly and they were approved very quickly. We did test 2 days out-from the guidelines it looks like the rapid NAAT could be taken 3 days out, but we didn't want to take a chance.
  11. There were 2 formal nights-the first full day (a sea day) and the Ketchikan port day (back on board was 1:00pm) We enjoyed all our MDR meals-some entrees we particularly enjoyed were the beef tenderloin and filet mignon, appetizers-we always like the bisques and the spinach salad and caprese were good. All the desserts we tried were yummy-the bitter n blanc and grand mariner souffle were particularly good. For brunch, we loved the parfait (we all had one every breakfast and brunch!) and the frittata was excellent. I'm not sure how many were on our sailing. We sailed the Legend in 2019 and I think that cruise felt more crowded (sister ship so layout is the same). The theater and elevators were definitely less crowded this trip. We did encounter some lines at Lido, but only at expected times--when breakfast opened on a port day, when everyone came back on board after Ketchikan right at 12:30, etc. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a table at MDR. It was pretty quiet and laid-back overall. We really love cruising Alaska--the vibe and scenery are just great. Hopefully you will love it too! I'm happy to answer more questions if you think of them--
  12. On our first sea day it listed a "SoulPlay sign up" at 8:30 (I think that was the time), but no details. There was a long line of folks lined up before 8:30, and the facilitators signed people up one by one (verry slowly!!) but had to stop at 9:00 to hold the first class. They did continue the sign ups later in the morning, but many people had stood there for 45 minutes for nothing. We were maybe 20 back in line and thankfully were able to get the last 2 spots in the first class. If you are interested, I would arrive to the sign up area (the grand piano outside the Soul Play studio, just in front of the Aft elevators on deck 3) early to get in line. It was a neat class (we painted a canvas bag) but the sign ups were frustrating. I wish they offered more classes, it seemed like there was so much interest!
  13. We just returned from the June 9 sailing of the Carnival Spirit to Alaska. In the weeks preceding our cruise, I pored over these boards for information so I thought I would return the favor and share a brief recap of our experiences! Pre-cruise: We initially booked a 4 person room for our family of 4 (2 40 somethings and 2 teenagers), but after some calculations, realized that we could get 2 cabins with a total price that was less than the one cabin. We booked one cabin in my name and one in DH's name, so once onboard we had extra keys made for the rooms. We didn't officially switch the kids to one room and us to the other, but it worked well to have the extra keys. We have always had one cabin for the 4 of us, so we really enjoyed having the extra space, especially now that the kids are older (19 and 16.) My parents also booked, so we had 3 balcony cabins midship deck 4, which was a great location. We booked using the great VIFP promo from March and got a fantastic rate. We had no intention of cruising this summer, but just couldn’t pass up this price! We stayed the night before departure at the Coast Gateway hotel at SEATAC. They have a fast, free shuttle to the hotel from the airport and free breakfast. We had an excellent dinner at Sharps Roasthouse (in the parking lot) with awesome service and food. Our rooms overlooked the airport, so we loved watching all the planes coming and going. They also have a washer and 2 dryers available for guest use with no charge. I washed a load of the clothing we traveled in the day before and our sleepwear before we left so we boarded with all clean clothes! Highly recommend! We utilized Seattle Express for our transport to the port and they picked us up at the hotel. Highly, highly recommend!!!! Excellent service (and went above and beyond later!) Embarkation was different than our previous experiences, there was a decent line (out into the bus area) when we arrived around 11:00. We did notice many in line around us had 12, 1, etc, arrival times, so I don’t think there was any attention to arrival times or boarding zones. Covid stuff- We completed Arrive Can and Verifly for our party, and I was able to include my parents on both my apps/accounts. Mom has a smart phone, but was not super comfortable navigating all the apps, especially in the stress of embarkation. We used Walgreens for our Covid tests, and it was an easy, straightforward process. We made appointments about a week out, at 2 different locations (due to different work schedules). We all had our results in about an hour and had no issues with uploading them to Verifly. We did ours 2 days out, it was a NAAT test, so we might have been fine with 3 days, but didn’t want to take a chance. Ports/Excursions: Tracy Arm: The Tracy Arm Explorer is incredible, and truly not to be missed. It was quite cold and raining on our Tracy Arm day, but still just amazing. We took the early boat, (1:00) but I probably would recommend the later boat if they do two tours. On our 2019 cruise, we did the later boat and had the morning to see and enjoy the fjords from the ship, which I preferred. This trip was still fantastic, though, we saw several huge calvings??, and my favorite–mama and baby seals on the ice bergs. Juneau Juneau was beautiful, but a bit disappointing, because we had to tender. All Carnival excursions had tender priority and the other slots were distributed starting at 6 am. I lined up around 5:30 (I was still operating on central time anyway!) and was about 5th in line. I got the first zone available and we were called around 9 am. Much later than the 7:15 ashore time we had hoped for. Thankfully, our plans were somewhat fluid (and fluid was a good way to describe the day because it rained pretty heavily all day) but I know there must have been many whose independent excursions were impacted. We had pre-purchased shuttle tickets to Mendenhall glacier through Juneau Whale Watch and caught the 9:30 bus, arriving at the glacier around 10. We walked down to Nugget Falls and it was beautiful, and we would have spent more time exploring the other trails, but it was quite cold and the rain was steady. We had good rain gear, but were ready to head back to town after an hour or so. We had lunch at the Hangar and it was good, with a great view of the harbor. We wandered back to the ship, and a fairly long line to catch the tenders back. From what we heard, the port had required tendering because of the Juneau Celebration that was happening, but all the festivities seemed to be over by Sunday, so I’m not sure if that was the real reason. Had we known ahead of time that we wouldn’t be ashore until 9:00, it would have been better, but finding out the night before that your day would start 2 hours later than anticipated was a bit of a let down. It was still a great day! Ketchikan- Originally, we had planned to catch the city bus up to Totem Bight, but after the happenings at Juneau I decided to purchase an excursion. My plan required us to catch the 7:30 bus to have enough time, and I was a little hesitant after the delay at Juneau. Of course we went ashore right at 7:15 at Ketchikan so we would have been fine, but it did relieve some stress to have plans in place. We took the Lighthouse, Totems, and Eagles excursions and it was quite relaxing and enjoyable. A bus took us to Ward Cove, where we boarded the smallish boat and went out to see eagles, a shore view of Totem Bight, and the Guard Island Lighthouse. The captain was a 3rd generation local and he and the deckhands were super. They served a hearty snack and included hot chocolate, coffee, and soft drinks. We arrived back in town with about 90 minutes to spare, so we walked over to Creek street and then shopped a few spots near the docks. Victoria: We walked down to the inner harbor area and took a walking ghost tour. The tour itself was great, but I underestimated the time and distance to walk (or maybe we took the long way?!) and we almost missed the start of the tour. If we go again, I would utilize one of the shuttles or a taxi. Around the ship: We utilized the MDR for all dinners and most breakfasts. We prefer that to waiting in lines and looking for a table. Food and service was good in all venues. Our teen son enjoyed Club O2 and spent a good bit of time there. Mom and I were able to snag a spot at one of the Soul play painting classes, and loved it, but it was a bit of a chore signing up. The facilitator said they were discontinuing those classes which is disappointing. We also enjoyed trivia, games, comedy and the shows. The Hub app worked well for seeing the happenings around the ship and reserving tables in the MDR. I also purchased a shore excursion through the app. We had some lovely family photos taken as well. If you are buying multiple pictures, ask about packages. I think I got 10 8x10s, 2 canvas prints, and all the images digitally for $280, and then when I bought more prints later they offered to add those to my flash drive for just $1 each. Debark: We had zone 16 and were off the ship around 8:30-9:00. We enjoyed one last breakfast in the MDR and then waited in the Alchemy bar area on the comfy couches until our zone was called. Our Seattle Express bus was waiting and when it was maybe half full we departed for the airport. Here’s where the really excellent service begins–my son left his wallet on the bus. I called the number from my confirmation email and immediately reached Ashley, who was able to call the driver and confirm that he had the wallet. They coordinated with another driver who brought the wallet to me at the airport in one of the mini buses that was not being used for transport that morning. We were thrilled-I had just asked that they look for it and ship it to us, but they went above and beyond. They were so fast getting it to me! I sent the rest of the group on through security (not knowing how long it would take) and I went back out to the drop off curb area to meet the driver. I had the wallet and was through security ( I do have precheck and went to a different checkpoint) and to the gate before they even got through the main line to the checkpoint! We had an uneventful flight until we were almost home, then severe storms along the AL/GA state line diverted us to Huntsville, where we landed, refueled and then were able to head on to ATL around 4 hours later than anticipated. Overall, we had a lovely time and were so happy to be back in such a beautiful place. Our original plans this summer were to just travel somewhere close by, but this trip actually cost us less than driving and spending a week at a gulf beach. We had hoped to return to Alaska, but thought it would be years out. I’m happy to answer any specific questions about anything! Thanks so much to all the previous posters whose information helped me plan such a great trip! The recommendations from CC made for an excellent experience and everyone in my party was so thankful for it!!
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