laniriveira

These are the slots they use when hosting the slot tournament. Buy in is $20. They usually started around 1:30 p.m. and final round was at 4 p.m. They had 2 slot tournaments this cruise. I won it on the Paradise back in October. First tournament I made it to the finals minimum score to qualify was around 80,000 points I had 113,000 and was in second place for the finals. I didn’t do so well, I ended up with 32,000 in the finals and didn’t win the $500 prize and ship on a stick, but I did get a shirt which all final contestants get.

Second slot tournament the minimum to qualify was 105,000!!! I never made it to the finals my score was a poor 30,000.

Tomorrow ... GLACIER BAY!!!!!

I have to tell you that once we got off the train we didn’t even look around town. DD was tired and cranky and DS was dying to get back to camp!

The train drops you off by their White Pass and Yukon building. They can drop you off right where they picked you up but the narator tells you that it will take 15 mins for them to line up the train or change the main car around and that it takes 5 mins to walk. So everyone just got off at their building.

The walk back to the ship was crazy! The wind was blowing so hard that DD ended up with wind burns!!! Her cheeks were so red, poor baby.

Back on the ship we had dinner on the Lido and kids went to camp. Dad, Mom, DH and I played some bingo and lost! Dad and Mom wanted to sign up for the Texas Hold’em tournament but thought the entrance fee was too steep ($125) so ended up on the tables.

We did try a few bucks in the Casino Vault but no luck. Some one did win the $1000 but I wasn’t there to witness it.

The casino overall was nice and spacious. They had a mix of machines from penny slots, quarter slots and $1, $2, and even $5 slots available. Tables included. Black Jack with different minimums, face up black jack, let it ride, three card poker, carribean stud poker, the texas hold’em table (electronic), craps and roulette. It was usually pretty open and not too crowded on sea days. The busiest it got was the last night and the casino had to kick people out because we entered US waters at 1:30 a.m.

We were pretty lucky in the casino. DH hit 1500 points on day 2 (he’s a gambler) so “drinks on us” was fine by me! He drank for free while gambling and he’s not a heavy drinker. He had already purchased the bottomless bubbles plan so he would order his soda and when another bar server came around would order his free alcoholic beverage and I would sneak and drink it!

On the last sea day a lady did hit the Hot Shots penny slot progressive for $20,000. I have a picture of DD sitting on the slot to the left of the winner earlier in the week. DD loved that she could touch the machines when the casino was closed. Vegas never closes and she always tries with no success.

DS loves trains so he was very excited to stand next to the snowplow train.

Some of the traincars you will ride in.

I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite. I own SweetGlimpse Photography. I do hope you all enjoy the pictures!!

These were from the US Canada boarder where you end up and then go back down.

Once we caught our shuttle back to town from Mendenhall we did a little shopping at the Alaska Shirt Store. They had a HUGE selection of clothing, magnets, kid items (coloring books, books, little toys) and much more. Prices were very reasonable. Picked up some very cute magnets and a book for DD.

Caught a picture of it as we crossed the street.

DS with the bear that sits in front of the Alaska Shirt Store. DD was petrified of it!!

Day 4 - Skagway

We didn’t have to wake up early today since the only excursion we had booked was the White Pass and Yukon train ride. We chose the 3 hour roundtrip ride that took us from Skagway up 20 miles to the US and Canada boarder. I booked the excursion through Carnival so the train picks you up right by the cruise ship!! If you booked directly through the company you have to walk about 5 or so minutes to pay for you tickets.

The train ride was stunning!! I definately recommend it. The train ride was fully narrated nicely. We started off in what was spring time and ended up with SNOW! We didn’t have a chance to get off the train at the top before coming back down but I kept leaning over the side to grab snow balls for DS to trow over.

These photos are taken from inside the train car. At that time no one was allowed outside until they announced. I think we had to get out of Skagway in order for us to go out on the back and front of the train cars to take pictures.

Your children are beautiful, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed the

Spirit. We've sailed on her to Hawaii and had a wonderful

time, and now we sail on her yet again, this coming Tuesday for our

Alaskan adventure! Forecasts aren't too good, and it looks like a

lot of rain, but then who can tell. It was 82 degress here in St. Louis

during the month of February, and that was not predicted either.

Strange weather we all seem to be having! anyway, I loved your

review! :)

Thank you!!! I wish you a wonderful time on your cruise! Keep those fingers crossed on your weather while you are there. Before we left the weather showed on my phone was rain, rain, and more rain. But it ended up being a really nice cruise!! The only day that was bad was Ketchikan.

Do you still happen to have the Funtimes?

Yes I have all of them. Message me your email and I'll send them over!! It may take a day or two though.... I'm going to try and knock out some of this review first.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. WE LEAVE NEXT TUESDAY AND I'M SO EXCITED! I am waiting for more of your review! The web cams make the weather look worse than it really was. :D

Lucky you, single digit dance!!! You are soooo right about the web cams it really looks nasty but it isn't that bad. Praying for wonderful weather and smooth sailing for you!!

Saw this price increase coming..they cut the King Crab quota in 1/2 this year I belive I heard fro 14 million pounds to 7 million pounds

We leave on the Spirt on the 19th cant wait to read more of the review

Thanks...

Yes we heard the same but was keeping our fingers crossed!

Enjoy your cruise :)

Loving the review, cant wait to see the rest. Your kids are adorable :)

Thank you!! They are a real handful!:p

I am enjoying your review!! I was on the 3 day repositioning cruise prior to yours, from San Diego to Vancouver. And I sailed Spirit to Alaska back in 2003.

 

LOL I am surprised they had any barf bags left for your cruise, we had REALLY rough seas during all of our three days. I took the pills and still was sick one day.

 

I'm looking forward to more of your comments when you have time to post :)

Thank you!!

We had booked the 3 day repo for a back to back along with the 7 day Alaska but had to cancel due to the Jones Act :(

After dropping a few bucks on crab we headed to find the shuttle to take us to Mendenhall Glacier. I read on CC that the blue shuttle is $16 roundtrip. So we went looking for the blue bus. It was about to leave and the bus looked pretty full so we decided to find another way there. I talked to a cab driver and he was going to charge me $35 one way plus $1.25 a person. So I declined and went off to look again. I came across Juneau Tours and got a sweet deal. $16 roundtrip for DH, Dad, Mom and I. $8 roundtrip for DS and DD was FREE!!

I left downtown Juneau at 4:30 pm and last pick up at the glacier was 6:30 pm. The shuttle was warm and the driver was very informative. Took 20 mins to get us there.

Visitor Center in the background

Dad was a bit chilly.

Overall the weather was fine. It was cold and was a little windy. It rained very little that day so we lucked out. The glacier was beautiful!!

We already planned to stop off at Tracy’s Crab Shack and have lunch. We put aside $200 for lunch that day. I went online to their website and knew that one leg which was approx. 1 lb was $24, but they also had buckets which were priced at $99 online and came with 4 legs and a claw.

When we got to Tracy’s which is about a 5 min walk from the cruise ship we were told prices went up! We orded a number 1 which came with one crab leg, 4 crab cakes and crab bisque which was $34 and one large bucket which was $120 and had 4 legs and 1 claw.

Dad orded another bucket and we ended up spending a little over $300 for 2 buckets, one #1 and drinks. DH, Mom, DS and I all shared. DD was sleeping again (lucky me) and Dad not being a seafood lover walked over to the Red Dog Saloon and ordered a $14 burger. He enjoyed it. He did say that while he waited for his food he had a beer and it was ice cold.

DH, DS and Mom @ Tracy’s

#1

DS playing with his food

Day 3 - Juneau

The ship was right on schedule at 2 p. Stu, the cruise director had asked that anyone without an excursion to please stay away from deck 2 so they could get all the people off in time to make their excursions. We waited awhile then headed down around 2:45 pm. It took approx. 20 mins to get off.

Here is a couple of pictures I took of Juneau ...

Some of the vendors selling excursions etc.

We wanted to ride the Mount Roberts Tram but they only sold all day passes for $29/adults. I went in and asked if I could buy for 1 ride and was told no. So we passed.

I do have to say that it was a nice clear day and it must have been beautiful to see Juneau from that high.

That night we went to the steakhouse and my camera was in the room charging. So I didn’t get any pictures of our meals. DH had the cowboy steak and he loved it, he’s a steak guy who frequents Mastro’s, Morton’s and Ruth Chris steakhouse so he has tasted aged steak and that steak was up to par. I had the filet mignon and it was a little over done, Dad and mom both had the cowboy and loved it! DS had the lobster and devoured it immediately. As for DD she slept in her stroller the whole time!

I will say that the rosemary focaccia was very tasty and DH and I loved the wasabi mashed potatoes.

Day 2 - Sea Day

We woke up had breakfast at the Lido buffet, played bingo, gambled and strolled around the ship. We went to the MDR that night as it was one of the two formal nights. Our head waiter Harry was spectacular. He and his waitstaff were very friendly, and always kept our drinks filled. They of course learned that DS loved seafood and DD only ate mashed potatoes.

DS and DD on our way to dinner.

The food was the same as our last cruise. I enjoyed it but there were some nights better than others. I tried my hardest to bring my camera with me if we were going to be eating in the MDR but forgot some nights. Here is a couple of pictures of what we ate...

I had the stuffed mushrooms along with my Dad and we both enjoyed it.

DH, DS and Mom had the shrimp cocktail. I swear they get smaller and smaller!

DH, Dad, Mom and I all had the prime rib. Delish!

DS had the lobster and shrimp.

DS “the captain” and I Putu.

I'll try to get in as much as I can today. Between baseball practice, washing clothes, and desperately needing to head to the grocery store I'm pretty swamped with chores.

Once we left the arcade we headed out of the Jungle Room and came to another stairway which was directly on the other side of the stairs into the arcade. They had a handicapped ramp or chair thingy (i don't know the correct term for it, sorry) that lead up to what I believe was the other end of the hallway leading to the arcade (if that makes sense lol). I thought it was very considerate of Carnival to have something like that for people in wheelchairs!! Kudos to them.

I totally forgot to post some pictures of our stateroom. We booked an Ocean Suite on Deck 6 Mid-ship Room 6183 starboard side. LOVED IT!!! Loved the space, the balcony, the tub, and all the closet space!!! Plus we got VIP boarding.

I must have forgotten to take a picture of the bathroom, sorry!!

Heres a picture of the vanity which came in handy. I must have stopped and had to do something as I don’t have any of the bathroom or closets.

Our room steward Eva and her assistant were the absolute best I could have asked for. They were friendly, hard working and super helpful! I miss waking up and not having anything in the world to do beside head to breakfast.

I have been waiting for this. We sail on July 31st. So excited!

You will definitely have a wonderful time. We are planning to go back in a couple of years and want to cruise in either July or August. Let us know how you like it!!

Great start! Wonderful family! Food at Tokyo Joe's looks delish! Love gyozas and udon:) Maybe the shuttle should change it's name to Stinky Tortoise Shuttle:rolleyes: Not exactly the best way to start out, but at least you got there. Waiting for more.

LOL ... they should think about a name change :p

I can't wait for more, I live in Huntington Beach and we are looking at Alaska cruise for next summer with the kids.

 

I am a little worry with the rough sea, did you encounter rough sea?

Being the first cruise of the season and so early in May we actually had a pretty easy going cruise. The only time we hit rough seas was on Sunday night and most of Monday. Sunday was Ketchikan and most of all the water excursion were cancelled due to the weather and once we left port the ship was rocking! A couple kids in Camp Carnival got sick and they actually had barf bags taped to the walls near all elevators. But in actuality we had it pretty well. Just don't forget the Bonine!!

An entrance to Circle C

The only complaint I had about the arcade was the air hockey machine needs to be fixed. It takes 4 tokens to play and more than half of the little holes that blow air don’t work so the puck gets stuck in the middle.

I’m back. Had to throw a load in and give the kiddo’s a bath.

I knew the ship had to go under a bridge once leaving Vancouver, so I did my best to capture it. Here’s the results ....

Next time I need to attempt it at a different angle

We then headed to the arcade to let the kids play for a while. On our last cruise I bought the $20 token deal and ended up taking tokens home that I swore I would take on our next cruise. Of course I forgot them. Well this time I said I would buy the same but since we were on a 7 day cruise I for sure thought we would use them all ... we didn’t. I should sell them on ebay!

On our way to the arcade we had to walk thru this jungle hallway that had windows looking out, tables and chairs. Every time we went to the arcade there were a handfull of people in there playing cards or reading.

After our lunch on the Lido deck we headed to check to see if our rooms were ready. They were!! My Dad and Mom called our room to thank us for their cake.

After we unpacked we all went up on deck 10 to take some pictures of sail away.

After our dinner DH and I walked two blocks to the Marketplace IGA which is a grocery store. We went in to pick up some water, juice and a 6 pack of ginger ale which was way overpriced than what I’m used to. We headed back to our hotel and called it a night, tomorrow we boarded the SHIP!!

We woke up quite early and walked across the street to Starbucks and ate a little breakfast. After breakfast we walked back to our hotel and asked the receptionist to call us a cab. Once we were grabbed all our luggage and brought it out front we checked out and were on our way to the port. We arrived a little after 11 am. Our cab ride from the Holiday Inn to Canada place was $14.00 including tip. We had VIP boarding since we booked a Ocean Suite and I used my credit card to fund my parents booking so they could board the ship with us. We were on the ship by 1 pm and headed to the Lido Buffet for lunch.

The view from our balcony as we sailed away from Canada Place.

After checking into our rooms we were super hungry the last time we ate was at 7:30 a.m. so we went off to Tokyo Joe’s for some dinner. Tokyo Joe’s is a nice little quaint restaurant with no more than 5 tables inside and a couple outside. They serve Japanese and Hawaiian style plate lunch. As we are part Hawaiian we were stuffed to our limits with, Udon, Teriyaki beef, Shrimp Tempura, and Yakishabu!

Udon ... delish!

Shrimp Tempura .. you get 6 with an order

DS's partially eaten Beef Teriyaki

Gyoza's

A picture of us eating YUM