14 Days “Journey to Alaska” w/pics

My Dw and I are back from our Journey to Alaska. This was our second time on a cruise through Alaska, and if we went 100 more times it would never get old. The scenery was fabulous, and the ship was a rock’n. In this review you see and hear about; A tiger or shall I say tigre, you will see lots of Bears…..oops I mean Beers, and new friends, Oh My!. So sit back grab some popcorn relax, and enjoy our 336 hour tour called “Journey to Alaska”.

Not sure why my pics are all not upside right, but I do not know how to rotate the pics, sorry if it hurts your neck. If anyone has suggestions please advise.

Hello my name is Kevin, and my DW is Lisa, this cruise was14 days sailing out of Long Beach. Although we started on the 24th the cruise did not start until the 25th of August. We almost missed last boat to Alaska in 2010 due to unexpected plane issues, so we will never fly out the same day again.

So our plane left DTW (Detroit Metro) on time, however we arrived at LAX ahead of schedule J.We used the Super Shuttle to get to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro. This hotel was not as nice as the Double Treedown the street (we stayed there when we sailed the Princess Ruby Dec 16’). However, it still was a nice hotel and “free” because we had IHG reward points coming.

We decided to find a brewery right in San Pedro, which by the way was not hard. We walked about 2.2 blocks, and found one. The name…..you guessed it the San Pedro Brewing Co. they had very good beers that they brewed in house. Also if you did not like their selection they also had other breweries taps, along with liquors.(by the way Battle ship IPA won) We were trying to decide what to eat, when a local was ordering the wings when we asked how they were. This local was smiling from ear to ear telling us they will be the best you ever had, or will have. So that is what we decided on getting with some fries. First off, the wings were huge and very tasty, were they the best ever, not sure about that but they were very good and would get them again. Furthermore, we had a small order of nachos with all the trimmings, they hit the spot just what we wanted. We had a few more beers then walked around for a little bit while the DW was window shopping. We then returned to the hotel for the night and stopped at the lounge within the hotel for a few more before calling it a rap for the night.

The next morning we woke up refreshed and hungry. We just decided on using the hotel restaurant it was buffet style, and nothing fancy, but it did the job.Then we proceed to getting ready for the shuttle that we had signed up for.When we get down stairs with our suite cases at 11:50am, we had discovered that the shuttle had just left. They were like you had to sign up…..my wife jumped in we did right when we checked in. The lady looked and says yes you did well it would have not mattered because that shuttle was full. So when will we get another shuttle? The porter/bell hop whatever they call them now, well he said I will take you in the other shuttle:D this was awesome. Not only did we not have to wait, but also we were all by ourselves, comfortable and not packed like sardines. We had a quick ride to the port….well…….until we reached the port

that is when we hit a stale mate, grid lock, traffic jam, or what you call it,but it was slow. I had heard there was a medical emergency that is what slowed everything down. Finally the front gate

and like no time we were whisked away toward the gangway, and this was the first sight we saw.

The first order of business was to add our gift cards to our account. Secondly, we went to the shore excursion desk and booked the “Behind the Fun Tour” for $95 pp. Then onto the steakhouse to confirm our reservations for that night.

Now it was time to see cabin # 6-456 AFT balcony, and meetour cabin steward. The steward’s name is Made pronounced (Ma-DEE), he was spoton with anything and everything we wanted and or needed. I had been hearingprior to this cruise it was either, morning, or evening service that you had tochoose one. Well we did not get the option, instead we just got both, he neveraskedJ.When we got to the room our case of water that we ordered was waiting for us.So I proceed to put them in the refrigerator, upon doing so I notice how hot itwas in the cabinet were it was sitting. However, thanks to CC I knew exactlywhat to do, and that was putting a towel over the door so it did not close allthe way thus making it hot, it worked perfectly. Here are some pics of cabin6-456.

We thought the room was a bit smaller, but we did have a larger balcony. Now the real question would we get it again? Probably not, but other people love these rooms. As for the inside passage way through Alaska I still would consider again.

Our stateroom was just above the L in carnival

6456 is narrower than other cabins as is the Cabin next door, 6491. Years ago we had 7446 (directly above you) & 7444. 7446 was definitely narrower.

We had a fun time on that cruise. Am enjoying living theu it again on your review.

The next order of business was to unpack the suite cases since they all had arrived all ready *bonus*. Then we proceed to check out the ship, and get our first drinks of the cruise. My drink was the Sea Cow Milk Stout, and my DW had some sort of fruity umbrella drink.

Next thing we did was try the Tandoor, it was different for us and we thought it was ok. When I say ok does not mean the food was sub par. What I mean is Indian food may not be our thing, except for the Naan bread I found myself walking by and just grabbing a piece through out the cruise.

Then we rested until our 5:30pm steakhouse reservation.

Next up the steakhouse. We forgot to do a lot of food pics throughout the cruise so there will not be much of them, but I will have some. For instant, this night we got some pics of our meal, but they were half eaten so I will not post them, but we did get a pic of the complementary course from the head chef.

This was a mini slider (as if sliders are not small enough...LoL). I got the BIG rib-eye steak, and the DW got the lobster with a small piece of my steak. All the courses were great. When we booked the steak house we did it for the first night so my DW could get the free bottle of wine. Well when they gave her the choice between the red or the white she did not like either one, I guess they were both a dry wine and she likes them sweet. So what we found out was she could get the free bottle and any other bottle after that 50% off. So that is what she did, we brought the free bottle home and she drank the 50% of bottle she got. The Santa Helena was the free red choice.

Here is a pic of the Queen Mary from the Lido deck. This is a hotel you could stay at the night before, it was right next door so it would make for an easy walk to the ship.

These pics are of some performers on the ship. They were a string trio, and did not play the boring violin/cello music they played top hits from yesterday and today, they were VERY good.

I cannot seem to post videos here I will keep trying. These girls are a must see so I hope I can post videos.

Thanks for the review.

To rotate your photos, you need to use the Edit portion of whatever photo hosting site you're using. Rotate 90 degrees, then "save." To post videos, you have to either post a link to your photo hosting site or upload them to You Tube then post here.

Thanks for the update I am using TinyPic.

So for anybody that is interested in drink prices I took pics of a few of the menus w/prices. My DW and I was going back and forth on getting Cheers. When it was all said and done we opted not to get it because it was 14 days and did not think we could get our monies worth. Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner, we spent about $989 in drinks which included coffee's from the coffee bar, and bottles of Gatorade, we had a case of bottled water ordered prior to cruise. The total package was around $1,700 w/tips so yes we made the right call.

If you are a beer snob like me there was a few choices for you. They had one stout which was ok (had way better), and couple of IPA choices (Angel City, and Sam Adams Rebel IPA), and the always go to Sierra Nevada pale ale.

Well after dinner in the steakhouse, a few more cocktails/beers, and a couple of karaoke songs it was off to the piano bar. We know like everyone else the piano bar is only as good as the piano player. Now I have seen/heard great piano players, but they need to be fun themselves. In fact, Gary Pickus was not only a great piano player, but he also made it super fun. After the first night we knew we would be spending a lot of our late nights there. Gary is a songwriter by trade, and could come up with words on the fly, he was very talented. Furthermore, the cocktail waitress that was in the piano bar was from Serbia her name was Soyna, and she wanted a song from Neil Diamond "Holly, Holy". Well Gary sort of knew the song, but did not know the song on the piano (if you know what I mean). He was like "sorry Soyna, but that was the best I could do for never playing it...LoL". Well two nights later first port day, Gary and the rest of us finally could use WiFi (not the slow/no WiFi on the ship), but good WiFi on land. Well he downloaded Holly, Holy and by that night he was playing it for Soyna, now that is talent. Gary played until around 12:30am if people were there which was most nights, however a few nights was just until 11:30-12 am. Well that was embarkation day and we were ready for bed, so good night.

Meet Gary;

Nice report so far, thank you

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AlaskanJoe

It is funny you posted about the Cheers and the back and forth decision of getting it or not. My DH & I we’re discussing our 15 day Panama Cruise and do we get Cheers. We were leaning to not, your post was very helpful in us deciding against it. We are getting Cheers for our upcoming 7 day Caribbean ; different vibe and easier to work of one weeks of drinks let alone two. [emoji19]

Nice report so far, thank you

Outside of the upside down pics, side way pics, but thank you. I have the pic problem under control now, so there should be no more broken necks...LoL.

AlaskanJoe

 

It is funny you posted about the Cheers and the back and forth decision of getting it or not. My DH & I we’re discussing our 15 day Panama Cruise and do we get Cheers. We were leaning to not, your post was very helpful in us deciding against it. We are getting Cheers for our upcoming 7 day Caribbean ; different vibe and easier to work of one weeks of drinks let alone two. [emoji19]

Glad you could find wisdom in our learning experience. BINGO 7 day Caribbean we definitely would considered it.

Day #2 our first full sea day. So now we could explore the ship, and find our hot spots. There are a lot of pics of the Carnival Splendor across the internet, so I did not bother taking a lot of pics of the ship, but I got a few.

The Whale Tail

Us on our AFT balcony

Well I know this review is going slow, but I hope you are enjoying it.

Yes, enjoying it, and following along. Can’t wait to read the rest of it!

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Well good morning, wait it might of been noon by this time (I love vacation)....LoL. What are we going to eat? Well all this talk about Sea Day Brunch here on CC that is what we decided on.

We both got the steak and eggs this day and it was ok, because the eggs on this cruise seemed to be over med-well. It did not matter how you ordered them it came over med-well. In fact, my DW one day ordered her eggs over very easy (hoping it did not come out snotty:o), again over med-well. If any cook or anybody that has anything to do with cooking on ANY Cruise line/ship/restaurant, make your eggs "whites done, yellows not" (unless they say so) simple as that. Ok enough on eggs, we both got the flaming tomato soup every sea day brunch, which was pretty good IMHO. My DW one of the days got the eggs benedict w/ham, I got the corned-beef hash w/the sage biscuits very small portion, but very yummy the best thing IMHO on the sea day brunch menu. Also another good thing on the sea day brunch was the broken egg sandwhich a very close second to the corned-beef hash.

I ate the Mongolian grill most days for lunch, very long lines, but it was worth it because I LOVE Mongolian. My favorite is the Spicy beef, but the choices are; Mild-Black bean, Med-Thai Chili, Spicy-Szechuan for your sauces. The meats changed daily choices here were; beef, pork, chicken, mussels, shrimp, I believe that was all the choices I only tried the beef, and pork I do not like seafood.We tried to eat small portions for lunch because we had early dinning in the Golden Pearl. However, I find it hard to make a small portions at the Mongolian grill, a very little bit of this and that always turns out to a huge bowl. My:eek: DW did the old fashion BBQ a few days which was alright, but the food was sort of on the cool side. Well this was the first of 3 elegant nights, we did not go all out this cruise, but I did do a collared shirt with jacket NO TIE.

The first elegant night menu was the main lobster tail and filet mignon, my DW got lobster tail two nights in a row she was in heaven. One of the highlights for me was the Creme-Brulee I love that stuff. We had decided to add our Anniversary to our cruise manger although our anniversary is in June. They came and sang happy anniversary to us and got this lovely little cake, or shall I say fudge. This was very rich and we could only eat a couple of bites.

My dessert of choice for this cruise was the Chocolate Melting Cake (yummy). After dinner we did do the Playlist show. In fact, every night we were getting out of dinner right around 6:50ish and raced to the 7pm playlist shows, not the best seats, but it freed up our time for other evening activities. The first one was the 70's, and although these shows are not like Broadway show they were pretty good.

Meet some of the cast

So if you did not know some of the cast are singer/dancers or dancer/singers. This girl was a very talented dancer/singer meaning she dances first and singing is second for her.

Next we went and did karaoke (well I did), and we had a special guest for the first night. She did not sing all that well, but she was very supportive.

She was one of the few support/working dogs on board this cruise.

We had a great group of singers this cruise and the they had it every night except one (well I believe they had it just not very long) all other nights was about 3+ hours, in the Cool lounge/ El Morocco club. We had two competition nights in which I got to do only one of them and did not win:(. Here I am singing.

After karaoke was done we went and visited Gary again in the piano bar, then off to bed for the night. Tonight was a great night for sleeping because the ship was rocking a little more than normal. I have a hard time while I'm awake with the heavy motion of the ship however, while sleeping I love it. This cruise was the first one with NO sea sick patches, sea bands, bonine, ect. thank you Jesus.:halo:

Day #3 was another sea day and much of the same things going on throughout the ship. We did do some trivia sessions and went around listening to some of the entertainment aboard. The one thing I was surprised about was the sea day brunch I thought this happened on every sea day, but that was not the case. We still did the main dinning room though for breakfast which was pretty good, except for the eggs again. Because of this omelets was my DW choice for breakfast. I did get menu pics for tonight and a pic of the pork chop this was on the everyday menu...uneaten of course.

One thing I really loved on this cruise food wise was the mashed potatoes, they were not instant, they real potatoes.

Day #4 finally a our first port day Vancouver CA, Oh Canada eh! We had nothing planned except for a trip to Yale town brewery. We woke up ready for the day and this is my first view of the port.

This was panoramic view of the port.

We got ready, and went for breakfast it was the main dinning room again, since we had the time. When we got done there we went back to the room to gather our things to disembark the ship for the day. While we were walking down the hall we could hear loud banging we were both like???? When we got to our room it was louder then ever when we went got in the room it sounded like it was on our balcony, we looked out and this is what we saw.

These guys were where using pick axes and chiseling the rust away from the lettering on the AFT of the ship. Man it was loud but no worries because we were just grabbing our stuff and leaving. Remember a clean ship is a happy ship:D.

Because of the late disembarkation (for us that is) we just walked off the ship no big crowds *bonus*. When we disembarked the ship we took a few pics.