Jump to content

Review- Carnival Legend Glacier Bay Aug. 15


Xmansmom
 Share

Recommended Posts

Alaska- Bucket list trip

I have been planning this trip for for years in my head but I finally got to start making real plans a little over a year before sailing. We've been on the Legend twice before. Once right after her last dry dock. We have been on a couple other lines other then Carnival before (NCL and RC) and I looked at the other lines this time but stuck with Carnival. I wasn't disappointed.

 

Traveling would be me, DH and and my 8 yr old boy. We planned to have time in Seattle before sailing. I had been there for work before but my DH hadn't. In our relationship it is unusual for me to have been somewhere he hadn't and I was looking forward to showing him around. Big on our to do list- fishing, wildlife and baseball. We always chose to have a balcony when we cruise but in Alaska it was even more important and choosing a side (port or stbd) would be critical. I would have loved to get one of Legend's bowling alley balcony but that wasn't possible. So I settled for an extended balcony on a low floor fwd port (5122). It turned out to be a great choice and we saw lots of wildlife from our balcony.

 

I will try to make this review in a logical order and add pictures as soon as I figure out how to share them. For anyone interested in looking through all my photos (more then 1000) feel free to look at my shutterfly Sharesite

.

Hopefully that worked.

 

Day 1- Seattle

We left Virginia at 6am and arrived in Seattle around 2:30pm. We flew Southwest. Mostly due to the ability to have two bags checked for free. We had booked Stay Pineapple at Hotel Five many months out. Thank goodness I booked so far in advance. I kept checking the prices and they kept rising. We paid around $950 for Sat through Tues. By the time we left that same hotel was about $1400. The location was great. We were able to walk to all the sites and they had bikes to use including a bike that my son could have used. The room was beautiful, very clean. As a big plus, they were less then a block to the best donut shop in Seattle, Top Pot Donuts.

 

Soon as we checked in to the hotel we headed to Pike's Market. My husband was dying to see this however it was very crowded and he doesn't do well with big crowds. After the market we walked down to the waterfront visited with friends and got some dinner at Elliott's Oyster House.

 

I will return later to keep writing. Have to stop to fix dinner. Man I miss being on the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day two- Baseball

My son and husband are big baseball fans. I love the Nationals but could really care less about any other teams. Of course, people who know I coach little league might doubt that. Haha. Seeing as we were going to be in Seattle, we took in the opportunity to see who the Mariners were playing. We had our choice between the Orioles(which is close to home and our second favorite team) or the Los Angeles Angels (with Mike Trout maybe the best young player in baseball). We choose to see the Angels and Mike Trout. My son had hopes of adding a Mike Trout autograph to his collection. So I got us tickets down close to the visitor side. Knew that an autograph was a long shot but had to give it a try.

 

For my baseball fans out there, Safeco field was great and very kid friendly. I would defiantly recommend checking it out if you are in town. The give away was a replica jersey. A nice worker gave my sin a baseball player on the way in. While hanging out on the sidelines waiting for the game a couple of workers came around and gave the kids gum and candy. All the seat workers have trading cards to give the kids. There are two separate kids areas, one for small kids (a playground) and all the way up an area with batting cages, relay races and pitching. Plus all the kids can sign up for free to be part of the kids club and they receive a free drawstring bag, wiffleball, and a laynard. If your kid is like mine free things are great.

enhance

 

enhance

 

enhance

 

enhance

 

enhance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So my son was able to get two autographs at the game. One was the 9th inning Angels pitcher- Middleton

enhance

 

The second was Mike Trout- OMG. And just to say he was very nice. He signed autographs for about 20 kids. My son was so excited because he came to him first.

enhance

 

20799842_10156003078215016_37746512297090362_n.jpg?oh=07871bb40455425f8ff2c94ae224a95b&oe=5A2B7AE8

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day two continued- So while I was at the game I found out that there were protests in Seattle because of the events/protests in Charlottesville, VA (same state but not close to home). I looked it up and it was close to the hotel. So we were cautious while walking home. It was nice to see the police out in full force. They seemed ready to act but definitely not overly forceful. I felt pretty safe and just changed over to the next street when it got close. Glad to see that people can be reasonable with protests.

 

So that night I got to take my boys to a restaurant that I always visit when I go to Seattle- Palace Kitchen. A Tom Douglas restaurant. As always, the pasta there was out of this world. The rest was ok too. But I come for the pasta.

 

Day 3- Before we left I got a Seattle City pass discounted through TicketsatWork. City pass lets you have access to 5 different city attractions: Space Needle, Aquarium, Argosy Harbor Cruise, MoPop or the Zoo and Chihuly Glass Garden or the Pacific Science Center. So we started out Monday morning at the Space Needle so that we could beat the crowd. We got there a little too early and so we were able to hang out at the playground behind the MoPop. This was a great place to hang out prior to any crowds.

enhance

 

enhance

 

enhance

 

Once the Space needle opened we went on up. It was a bit cloudy so my pictures are not a vivid as some of the others. But was could see Mt. Rainer very faintly. Got a better picture the next day during the sail away.

 

enhance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day two continued- We went and had lunch then on to the Aquarium. I was very excited about the Aquarium here. I hadn't been able to visit on my previous trips and I had heard there was a "bubble" which was the sea life of Seattle's Harbor. I wasn't disappointed. I could have sat in the bubble all day watching the sea life. It was pretty cool.

 

enhance

 

enhance

 

Not sure how I got this one but thought it was a pretty cool pic.

enhance

 

After the Aquarium we took the Argosy Harbor Cruise. It was a good informative tour and I got to see my first wild life. SEA LIONS

enhance

 

Apparently they are all male. The tour guide explained that they migrate to the Seattle area after loosing out in the mating game.

enhance

 

enhance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry I didn't make it back yesterday. Time got away from me.

Day 4- Boarding the Legend and Sail Away (FTTF)

We got an Uber from the hotel to the pier at around 10am. It was a quick ride and he dropped us right up front. We were directed to drop our bags right inside the building and then on to check in. There was no line for the Faster to the Fun. We walked right up and got checked in. Then we were directed over the waiting area for FTTF. It was about 10:45 by this time. We only had to wait till about 11:15 to board. It was all very quick and easy. DH tells me to make sure to say FTTF sucks (just so no one else will buy it, he wants it every time).

 

Once on board we went straight to our room. I had selected a low floor, very close to the front room with an extended balcony. When we got there the balcony already had 3 chairs (perfect for us) and the room was ready. We really loved this balcony (5122). It was a straight shot down to the ocean and nothing stuck out farther then this set of balconies. The only downside was that the extended portion of the balcony didn't have any cover over head and the first day someone did drop a towel onto our balcony. LOL

 

We went up and got lunch on the Lido. Unfortunately, it was quite busy (as always). That's the problem with the smaller ship, no where else to eat. After, lunch we walked around the decks and checked out the pool (which at this point was not heated but would be later in the cruise). We went down to the Red Frog pub (one of my son's favorite places). It wasn't open yet so we were the only ones in there. DH and DS played with the shuffleboard for a few minutes. We then went out and hung around on the balcony until it was time for the emergency drill and sail away. There we noticed sea lions hanging out close to the ship.

enhance

 

After the drill we went up top watch the ship sail away. During the sail away, I got a really good very of Mt. Rainer.

 

enhance

 

What a beautiful day. We had dinner in the main dining room YTD. We went around 5:45pm. The first night was the wait team we liked best. Phoebe was the main waitress. We saw her several times during the cruise and she always remembered it. She paid extra attention to my DS. YTD definately felt a little slower but not excessively. To answer a few questions I see asked her- yes there was a table cloth, water was on the table (we loved this) and there was bread on the table.

 

A quick run down of the what I thought of the ship:

We have been on the Legend twice before. I was happy with the condition this time too. There were a few places where the ship showed some wear and tear but over all everything was clean and in good shape. This is an older ship and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the others do. We understood that going into this trip. So while I missed Guy's Burgers I was ok especially since there was a Sushi Bar which we all love. All the employees seemed happy and were respectful but I wish there were a few more bar waiters walking around on the decks and in the dining room. The food on this trip didn't seem as good as it has in the past.

 

I'm going to get off for the night but as a teaser for my next posts here's a picture that I took of dolphins our first morning at sea as seen from my balcony. Lots more like this to come:

 

enhance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 5 (Second day on the ship)- Sea day

We woke up early and started the day sitting out on our balcony. We were hanging out and talking to the folks on the next balcony when my husband spotted an ocean sunfish. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready so I didn't get a picture of it. But it did make me go get my camera which let me catch the dolphins that came up next. Now I'm sure a bunch of people are going to tel me I'm full of BS but this is totally true and to the neighbors I woke up screaming about it at the time "Sorry". We were looking out and a swarm of dolphins surfaced at the bow of the ship. I said there must have been 100, my husband said 200. I don't know how many but I could have never imagined seeing this many at one time. They came up and started surfing the wake of the ship (which I've seen with one or two before). This time there were dolphins all the way from the bow to the stern. Jumping out of the water. They did this for about 30 mins. It was incredible. I got a short video at the end and bunches of pictures.

enhance

 

enhance

 

A note about these dolphins. They were much smaller then the dolphins I'm used to seeing on the east coast.

 

Later in the morning while hanging out on the balcony, there was a whale that came up and again I was lucky enough to grab a couple pictures.

enhance

 

enhance

 

In between dolphin watching and whale watching we went and ate brunch. I had the steak and eggs. DS asked for the funny french toast which we thought would come coated in cereal. Instead the cereal was on the side. Not quite what the description said. I can't remember what my husband got. The food was ok. Service was good with the exception of getting my drink. I asked for a mimosa and we had to ask again when when the waiter brought my hubby a refill on his juice. Finally they sent a bar waiter and I was able to get a drink. This was a reoccurring issue in the dining room at all meals.

 

After breakfast we went up and played putt putt. It was incredibly windy and ship was rocking some. This was the only day that was a problem. My son and I were both a little sick. We wound up taking some medicine and laying down most of the afternoon. When I got up the boys had already had sushi for lunch. I decided to order room service, a grilled cheese. It came within 1/2 hr and was very good. My son insisted on eating some and he was wishing he had gotten one. By dinner time it was much better though. So we were able to enjoy formal night. There was a line getting in since we got there right as it was opening but we were sat right away. The lobster and shrimp was tasty. Service was ok not great.

 

There was a night owls party in the kids club so I took my son. Usually my son loves to hang out in the kids club but this time he didn't want to go as much. He spent a lot more time with us instead. So when I went back to get him he had been crying wanting to go. I felt bad. In five cruises that has never happened. My husband and I were just hanging out in the piano bar. We spent a few evening in there. She wasn't the best piano bar person but it was fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 6 (third day on the ship)- Juneau

The weather was a little gray when we pulled in but it was still exciting to be in Alaska. It was still beautiful too.

enhance

 

We had booked a helicopter flight to a glacier through Coastal Helicopters. They picked us up at the ship right at the pier. We were taken to a building at the airfield where they gave us some overboots, except for my son. Because he was so little they just had some special traction things for the bottom of his own boots. We were put in a helicopter with two other guys. So five people plus the pilot. Even with the rainy weather the flight was pretty smooth. My son and I sat in the front with the pilot. It was incredible views.

enhance

 

enhance

 

enhance

 

We landed on Herbert Glacier. We were able to spend about 15 or 20 minutes on the Glacier. It was cold (to be expected). There are a field of rocks on the glacier which I wasn't expecting. There were also lots of small (foot size) holes with water in them and a few large holes full of water. I admit that I did taste the glacier water even though there was dirt all over too.

 

enhance

 

enhance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had the helicopter tour guy to drop us in town instead of at the ship. We walked around and shopped and stopped at the Red Dog Saloon. This place is very touristy and the food wasn't very good. But it was a neat place inside. Tip on shopping if you are buying a Ulu Knife. There are lots of these knifes around. I wanted one that wasn't a cookie cutter. I learned from looking at lots of these that there are several stores that will try to way overcharge. I got a nice one with an elk antler handle for $60. Another store tried to charge me almost double that for the same type of handle.

 

Ok done for the night. Up next our drive through the Yukon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 7 (fourth day on the ship)- Skagway

Originally, I had planned to take the Whitepass train one way with the motor coach going the other way. But a couple weeks before cruising a guy at work told me that his family had rented a Jeep through Alaska Green Jeep. He made good points when he said that they could avoid the crowds, go at their own pace and actually go farther then the train allows. So I looked into it and decided this seemed to be the way to go. I'm so glad I did. (Note you will need a passport as you enter Canada). The scenery was just beautiful. So incredible. The rental company provides a CD with historical information along the way and a book with all the sights and information on each (including mile markers).

 

We walked into town to find the rental company (which is located in the Popcorn store). On the way there is small park. The river in this park was so full of spawning salmon that they were above the water. We stopped there to look at the salmon for a few minutes.

enhance

 

 

After picking up our Jeep we started off by stopping just before leaving town at the old gold miners' cemetery so we could see Lower Reid's Falls. It was a short hike to the falls but well worth it.

enhance

 

enhance

 

We followed the highway out of the town making various stops along the way. We unfortunately didn't see any wild life (except a couple goats on the mountain).

 

enhance

 

enhance

 

enhance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Entering into Canada was very easy. The train was sitting there when we passed through the check point. The check point was a few miles past the summit. The Summit was very foggy but after that the sky cleared up and it was a beautiful day.

 

enhance

 

There was a great little beach that we went to.

 

enhance

 

 

Bove Island

 

enhance

 

 

And of coarse we stopped at the Carcross Desert

 

enhance

 

 

And the most beautiful sight- Emerald Lake

 

enhance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...