REVIEW: Carnival Spirit Inside Passage July 10-17, 2012

First, a huge thank you to Lambie. I read her review (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1637107) and three days later found myself booked on an identical cruise. That review and her photos reminded me just how much I wanted this experience and the Spirit looked like such a great ship. When I realized the Spirit was being repositioned I knew I had to try to put this last minute cruise together. This was my third cruise (2nd with Carnival), but a first cruise for my mom, my sister, sister's SO, and my SO. We booked two rooms, leaving July 10, 2012 round trip out of Seattle, WA. The ports of call were Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria BC and we traveled through the Tracy Arm Fjord.

My mother and SO traveled with birth certificates, not passports. I couldn't talk my mother into the "added expense" of a passport, so I made sure that both these BCs were acceptable, i.e. issued by the state or dept of vital stats. (This BC vs. passport issue caused me huge anxiety and I read every thread I could find on the topic. I wasn't satisfied that SO’s BC was acceptable, so I used Vitalchek and received a new BC in just a few weeks for a reasonable price. Better safe than sorry.)

SEATAC / SEATTLE / HOTEL

Seattle is a great city. Even before Lambie's review I knew I wanted an Alaskan cruise to begin in Seattle. I hoped to spend more time in this beautiful place, but by the time we got to planning airfare and looking at total vacation days, it was obvious that something had to give. We settled on an early flight that got us in Seattle at noon the day before embarkation. We flew Southwest Airlines out of Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport largely because of their 2 bag free policy. It was a long flight for us: 7 hours of actual air travel + the time to get to Austin from my town + security screening processing time. I never realized how fortunate I have been to live so near the port of Galveston. Alaska is worth it, but I have a new respect for all of you who must factor in air travel on a regular basis.

SeaTac is a nice airport. I was glad we had some down time on the way back to actually explore the shops a bit – standard airport fare, I’m sure, but well done. The place looks recently renovated as well. I bought my tastiest souvenir here in the Discover Puget Sound gift shop – a bag of dried cherries, called Chukar Cherries, Cherry Medley.

BIG NOTE: My one regret/mistake of the cruise was our late flight back. I’ll include this here so as not to end the review on a bad note. I’m familiar with Galveston debarkation, and while not excruciating, it has always seemed long and a bit of a mess. I was afraid of missing our flight and therefore booked a 3:30 pm flight back home. This was a huge mistake. Customs in Seattle is a breeze and we walked right through. Two people in our party did self-assist and three people did the zone debarkation by putting their luggage out the night before. They were zone 8 and were called at 8 am, although the printed schedule indicated they would be called at 8:30 am. I called our shuttle as we left the ship and we actually made it to the pickup area about 5 minutes before the shuttle did. We were at the airport before 9 am, in spite of extra traffic due to a major accident right outside the pier and during the tail end of what I would assume to be weekday going to work traffic. This with us not even trying to make good time and I remember seeing early bird people debark at 7 am as we were eating breakfast. If we had an early flight we could have gotten to the airport much sooner. Once at SeaTac, I did try to move to an earlier flight, but all flights were full. Our next plan was to check our bags and take the light rail back into Seattle to waste some time. Unfortunately, Southwest imposes a three hour before time limit on check in for cruise days, i.e. you cannot check in until your flight is three hours away or less. Cruise day seems to be a big hassle for them and even at 9 am when we first arrived, the Southwest staff seemed frazzled. I think a bit of attitude from airline staff is worth two free checked bags, but it was a bad start to what was a very long, long day of travel for us. We waited on the check in side for the rest of the morning and when we finally got rid of our bags and got through security, there was no point leaving the airport. We had lunch and browsed the gift shops for a while. I even got a manicure/pedicure.

ALL THAT TO SAY…I highly recommend booking a flight around the 10-11 am time period if you plan to fly out of Seattle that same day.

My sister flew out with US Airways and although her original ticket price was nearly twice as much as mine + baggage costs, she walked right up to a significantly less crowded counter, changed her flight and checked in all before I even got through the line at Southwest.

I am eagerly waiting for more of your review! We're sailing with HAL from Seattle to Juneau (doing a Tracy Arm excursion), Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria, and back to Seattle. Can't wait to hear more! :)

I did some research and decided I wanted to try Seattle's public transportation system rather than hire a shuttle or taxi to take us to our hotel. We followed the signs at SeaTac to the Light Rail station. It's a short walk from the terminal, but all covered/connected through the terminal and parking garage and you just keep following the signs. There are ticket kiosks at the station and you select how far you want to go on the rail and purchase your ticket. Price varies depending on how far down the line you travel, but we went the entire distance, from the airport to the Westlake station for $2.75 per person. At Westlake, we got off the Light Rail and followed more signs to the Mono Rail. I did find this part a bit confusing. As near as I can determine, this is a central mall-like building that houses the Mono and Light stations, as well as some bus pickups. [if any locals are laughing at my descriptions, I'm from TEXAS YA'LL - this public transportation business was an adventure.] We eventually took two elevators (and followed people who looked to be tourists as well) to get to the Mono Rail platform. They only accept cash and I believe the price was $2.25 per person for a one way ticket.

The Mono Rail felt a bit faster and was certainly a shorter distance. It only runs from the Westlake Center to the Space Center, no stops in between. From the Space Center platform, our hotel was a few blocks down the street.

I loved ‘riding the rails’ - it was great to see this little slice of Seattle as we ran through all these neighborhoods. It was convenient and cheap (my sister and her SO who had booked a later flight and did not arrive with us paid over $45 for a taxi for two people to the same hotel...we paid $15 for three people). However, I am 33 years old and in reasonably good health. My mother is 65. My SO is a diabetic with circulation/neuropathy issues. We had 5 large rolling bags between us, plus our coats and purses. We did it, but I don't think they enjoyed this adventure quite as much as I did. In fact, I recall some grumbling and some rather pointed reminders to schedule a taxi for the return trip. There was some walking involved and lugging the bags up escalators and through elevators. The Light Rail makes a number of stops and isn't very fast. If you plan to use the rail systems, make sure everyone is up for it and make sure you are prepared for those last few blocks trekking to the hotel.

HOTEL

We booked at the Hyatt Place (110 6th Ave), mainly to be near the Needle and other downtown attractions. Although we didn't do as much exploring as I intended, it was still a great place.

[Looking towards the hotel in this picture, the Space Center is a few blocks to the left and up one.]

We were near the Mono Rail (as were a Travelodge, Holiday Inn, Best Western, Quality Inn, etc.), near a food area (on Denny Way), and across the street from a WalGreens. We used that Walgreens for those last minute cruise purchases (including wine) and it was very convenient. The hotel provided complimentary wifi and breakfast, two surprises I had overlooked on their website. The rooms were beautiful and did come equipped with AC. Also, they were rather spacious.

My one complaint was that the bathroom did not include a sink/mirror. The sink was outside of the bathroom and in the main room. Personal pet peeve, although this would not stop me from staying here again. The hotel also did not provide shuttle service to our pier, but contracted with another agency (Seattle Shuttle) for $7 per person. This was great. We simply told the front desk how many of us and what time we wanted the shuttle.

[We used this same shuttle service after the cruise. I don’t remember the exact pricing, but it was X amount per person for the first two people and then Y amount for each additional person. The five of us cost $53 + tip. Vans were both large and comfortable and drivers were friendly.]

We ate lunch in Seattle at The 5 Points Cafe. It looks like a bar and probably is on the inside, but the patio seating was lovely and the location is great for people watching. The menu was also surprisingly full. We had fish and chips and pot roast and the sample platter. All was excellent. Service was a bit slow, but I think that was deliberately their thing. There are a number of little restaurants in this area. I think they call it the Denny Triangle? It’s Denny Way along 4th through 9th streets.

I AM VERY SORRY FOR THE SIZE OF THESE PICTURES. I'VE RE-SIZED IN MY PHOTO PROGRAM AND IN TWO DIFFERENT BROWSERS. I HOPE EVERYTHING LOADS CORRECTLY AND IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME.

We wandered the Space Center area and I talked everyone into just one more ride on the Mono Rail sans luggage. We also went up the Space Needle. Cute and I'm glad I did it, but I agree with other reviews that it's really just so-so. For $19 per person it's a onetime thing for me. And as silly as it sounds, the view is compromised by the fact that you are IN the landmark so none of your pictures will have the iconic Space Needle. There was a glass garden area, also $19 a person. We passed on this due to the price although it looked interesting.

View from the top of the Needle looking at Pier 91. This is not the Spirit at dock, but whatever ship leaves on Monday.

PIKE'S PLACE MARKET

I intended to be at the market at 6 am to watch the fish fly, but I was assured by another member of our group who had previously lived in Seattle that they threw fish all day long. We walked from our hotel and got to the market a little after 8 am. It felt deserted. A few bakeries were open, a few flower stalls were setting up, one produce stand was doing business and several fish stalls were open. I’d estimate there were about a dozen other people wandering around. We wandered through once and left. There was really nothing to do. I clearly missed the fish action, but I don’t know that there would have been much else to do at 6 am either. Not sure what to recommend here and I don’t regret the walk over, just sharing my experience. I have a friend visiting Seattle this weekend and on Saturday she posted a picture of the Market which clearly showed a crowd in the background.

We spent a lot of time just wandering the general area down to Pike’s Place and up to the Conference Center. It’s a beautiful area with lots of trees and pretty buildings.

Things I intended to do in Seattle and didn’t fit in – a ferry to Bainbridge Island, visiting Mt. Rainer, seeing the views from Kerry Park.

EMBARKATION

We had the shuttle pick us up at 11:20 since our hotel checkout was 11 am and did not want to be rushed. Also, all the boarding documents specified a 12-2:30 embarkation. I was reasonably sure we would be able to get on the ship earlier, but didn’t feel the need to test that. My only pier experience is in Galveston. Unlike Galveston, you could not pull up and unload your baggage directly. We had to carry our luggage from the parking area to the building and then through the building to the baggage drop off point. I did not see any porters that other people on the boards mentioned. I did see a second line of people without baggage. Either they found the porters and there simply weren’t enough to go around or they had other baggage arrangements. Also, I did not see the long term parking area (just the shuttle, bus, cab area) so it may be a different experience if you park at the pier. I personally would not attempt to walk to the pier (I’ve seen a few threads about this).

Close up of Monday’s ship at dock (same photo as previous post, but zoomed). You can see the general layout.

We were on within an hour, and likely in less time. Typical check-in with one exception…they had a small fold out table set up for checking alcohol. It seemed to be voluntary in that no officials directed you to the table or forced you to actually walk past it. Like idiots we went to show them our two bottles of wine and it was a perfunctory glance at the bottles. No further digging through bags and no follow-up from the original scan. We absolutely could have brought on board much more alcohol in our carry-ons. I have not read this anywhere else, so perhaps we just caught them during an off time when the heads in charge were turned. Also, we checked a case of water. I simply taped a luggage tag to the front and the guys loaded it with our other baggage - no questions, no shaking and it was delivered to our room.

ROOMS

Balcony category 8A, rooms 4209 and 4223. Both rooms had a sofa for a third person and once on board we had guest services move that third person from one room to another. They issued a replacement sign and sail card. We didn't really choose these rooms. Because of our late booking and the need for at least one room to sleep three and our hope to be near each other on the same floor, these two rooms were our only option at booking. This was actually a very relaxing way to book -- no time to over think and second guess the decision. My mother was especially pleased with these rooms as she thought our close proximity to the lifeboats would serve us well "just in case". I was a bit apprehensive about our location directly above the Empire dining room, but this was never a problem – no noise, no smells. I did feel more movement than usual. I didn’t think this was a rough voyage at all, so I’m inclined to think I was feeling typical aft movement. I personally don’t care to be aft; I like the shows and felt that I was constantly running back and forth to get to either end of the ship.

This was my first balcony and while I see why it is considered a must on an Alaskan cruise, I don’t think I’d bother with a balcony on a non-Alaskan cruise. I didn’t do much for me and while we spent time out there, we really did tend to congregate in the public spaces more often. And with three adults in the room, I missed that extra space.

Our room steward was fine…not exceptional, but perfectly fine and always smiling. We never got interesting towel animals, which is probably my biggest complaint. I’ve seen the towel instruction book and I know there is more available than the heart and the generic slug-like creature.

Our bathroom seemed a little old (discoloration on the toilet, around the sink and in the shower) but everything was clean. The couch-bed was reported to be comfortable, but firm. I personally found three people in this room to be maddening and a total mess as far as luggage and clothes, but that might also have been due to my mother who in addition to not understanding personal space, spent the entire voyage reminding us “not to lean too far over the balcony” or to “be safe” whenever we left the cabin.

[Actual mom quote, “Should we take our life jackets to dinner?”]

A final note about the cabin…we used the cooler/refrigerator to store insulin and this was adequate for our needs. No need to take medicine down to guest services. We did take our freezer packs down to guest services the night before debarkation in preparation for the long trip home.

This is a great ship. Loved the art and all the glass work. All public spaces seemed well kept. I did begin to notice a slight chemical toilet smell around the public bathrooms as the cruise progressed. I have never noticed this on previous cruises. They weren’t dirty or stopped up, just starting to smell like bathrooms.

I loved the Pharaoh’s Palace and the Versailles Lounge; beautiful spaces. Versailles is referred to as the Punchliner Comedy Club more often than not.

The Jungle Promenade area was also very nice, although rarely in use. The windows seemed to be dirty the one time I found myself there. Also, children’s facilities are located through this space so the only traffic we really saw was kids running through.

The Lido buffet area was also well decorated. Empire dining room was nice, but not spectacular. There are three pools and three hot tubs, plus the gym hot tub. Gym was a nice space. Never did use the waterslides, but they looked like a lot of fun. Our first day, one of the pools was drained and roped off. I believe they opened this on the second day. The night before our last sea day, they drained both main pools and roped them off again. I assume to clean them. The next morning one pool was reopened for the sea day and I don’t recall that the other pool was ever reopened. I also didn’t check the Adults only pool throughout the trip. I did swim there on the first full sea day and it was nice. The water seems to be heated and the pools were used, but not crowded like on a Caribbean cruise.

I also saw many more kids than I expected to see. Not a problem – I don’t cruise to get away from people – but still unexpected. The kids were always in the heated, covered pool area. After the initial crush of the first few days, public spaces seemed to be less crowded than I have experienced on other ships.

We played mini-golf and loved it, despite the wind.

Two things I missed, although I may be thinking of RCCL instead of CCL – the outside movie screen and the in room intercom. I missed movies under the stars and I found the lack of announcements while you were in the room annoying. We were told several times that Channel 15 had announcements, but I never heard them and besides who keeps the tv on and tuned to Channel 15 the entire time? I spent a little part of every day searching the room for that magic switch that would allow us to hear the intercom announcements in our room. It was a bummer to have to stand in the hallway any time I heard stuff going on. On a similar note, there was a beautiful light fixture on the wall that we could not operate either. No switch in the room seemed to connect even though there were clearly bulbs in the fixture.

WEATHER / SHIP TEMP

We had several people on board and off tell us that the weather we experienced was exceptional, so take what I say with grain of salt. I found the ship to be warm. The open decks weren’t actually cold, but the wind was biting. I packed layers and was glad of it, but I wish I had skewed more to the warm side of layers. I would have liked to have more shorts and short sleeves and more wraps/sweaters. I was constantly pulling my only sweater off and on and I think it was a bit ripe by the time the cruise ended. The domed pool area (right outside of the buffet area) was also heated. It was cold and foggy as we left Seattle, but the next day was warm and we all swam. Probably the coldest I ever got was cruising the Tracy Arm Fjord, because we were on Deck 10 and the wind was blowing. That was a jeans, jacket and mittens day. We had a drizzly rain in Skagway (which was also our longest walk to and from the ship) and then perfect weather in Juneau and Ketchikan – sun shining. I did not debark in Victoria, but the weather appeared beautiful. We did sail through a lot of fog approaching Victoria, so much so that I assumed they would bypass this port. We also had rougher water approaching Victoria and then sailing back to Seattle. The ship was rocking side to side, so much so that a camera lens I had on the cabin table fell to the floor. There were also a few times during the cruise that some decks were roped off due to high winds.

FOOD

I thought the food was great. We tried to eat in the MDR every night, but missed night 3 & 4 due to the fjord and our first port day throwing us “off schedule”. This was a bummer too, because on one of those nights the waiters danced. I could hear them as I passed by. Waiters sang on the 2nd night and the last night. In the buffet, Chopsticks was outstanding, as was the deli counter. Deli menu remained the same all week long, but Chopsticks seemed to vary slightly.

The goat cheese and mushroom pizza at the pizza bar was some of the best I have ever eaten. Pizza wait times were minimal for the basics – cheese or pepperoni. The most I ever waited for goat cheese was 5 minutes. The perfect meal with a salad.

The omelet station in the morning (I saw at least two) was great and rarely busy. They also took custom egg orders. I had a few items that I thought were just okay in the MDR (the alligator fritters tasted like Thanksgiving stuffing formed into balls and a fish and chips lunch tasted like something I could heat up at home from a box) but nothing was actually bad. Didn’t try room service and in fact never found the room service menu in our room.

The MDR menu seemed to follow the sample menus posted by John Heald and Zydeco, minus escargot and a few other minor substitutions. I did miss night 3 & 4 so I can’t confirm those.

Night 1 – cured salmon and candied tomato appetizer & pan seared filet tilapia – EXCELLENT. Most of the fish for dinner was incredible (although, not terribly “Alaskan”). I asked for another mac and cheese side with the tilapia. Perhaps the best mac and cheese I have ever had.

Night 2 – grilled filet of corvine. Loved it. Also night 2, broiled Maine lobster tail & jumbo black tiger shrimp (not mine, but I couldn’t help take a pic)

Night 5 – not pictured, the petite filet mignon and braised boneless short-rib was amazing. Oysters Rockefeller was bland…heavy on the spinach and little to no oyster.

Night 6? - This is how the Baked Alaska is served. I admit I ordered it entirely for the flames. Not sure what it is supposed to taste like, but I didn’t care for it and just nibbled the ice cream out of the center.

DRINK TICKETS

We used drink tickets for the first time and had no issues. I’m not sure I’ll use them in the future simply because it was a hassle keeping that extra paper around and digging it out to hand over. I like to save money, but it sure is easier to just hand over your card. Also, everyone handles the tickets differently. Sometimes I still had to sign (for nothing) and sometimes I just got a drink. I noticed a general inconsistently as well. I ordered a Bloody Mary on three different occasions and got two different kinds of drinks (both good, but garnished differently) and I saw other people with a third version. If we ordered a double, some servers added extra liquor for $3 and some doubled the size of the drink + extra liquor. It was odd. Not something we cared enough to pursue, but I always wondered what was on its way to me when I ordered.

ENTERTAINMENT

Entertainment was okay. I tend to really enjoy the shows, but was disappointed because the Jazz/Big Band/Mardi Gras style being promoted did not interest me. I still loved the spectacle of it all and the singing and dancing was good (Janae, Naomi, David & Stephen), it just wasn’t my thing. The comedians were hit or miss for me. I enjoyed John DiCrosta, JeRome was okay, and Doug Williams was just not funny at all. Missed John Little entirely. I think the first two guys were on the ship until Juneau and then they switched out. I enjoyed the hypnotist (Skagway or Juneau night, I lost my FunTimes), but it felt a bit too casual. I compare this to magic shows / juggling where there is more setup / more spectacle.

I did attend Michelle, the naturalist’s, “Intro to the Nature of Alaska”, the Welcome Aboard Show, the Newlywed and Marriage Show and the FUN Aboard and FUN Ashore presentation, which I enjoyed despite already having booked all my excursions.

Karaoke was a bust the two times I listened in and I just stopped going. A new female staff member had just arrived on Tuesday and I think she was still getting the feel for it. I also thought the general music entertainment was just okay. Nothing where I wandered by and was just drawn in to it all like on other ships.

I was also a bit disappointed that I missed some minor shows entirely due to late dining (the gender show, etc.) and on the very last day there seemed to be nothing interesting on the schedule. Luckily we were tired by that time and used the day to nap a bit.

The CD, Chris, was fine, but he and his staff are not my favorite. A bit too casual for me and trying to be silly seemed to be their thing. I suspect that in real life these are funny, nice people to hang out with, but watching them try to be funny as part of their job was not as great. I tried to watch the Morning Show every morning, but I just couldn’t bear it. I also felt less informed and connected on this cruise than on other ships, although this could be more to do with the dynamics of the group I was traveling with. I do believe Chris left the ship at the end of the cruise, either for a scheduled break or a new opportunity.

TRACY ARM FJORD

This was awesome, and the coldest day. Michelle, the naturalist, was nice to listen to, although I heard a few people complain that she was scaring off wildlife each time she announced a sighting. We started on our balconies this day, then began to wander the ship as the views became nicer. I believe we eventually ended up on the 9th or 10th deck, forward which is a nice area not blocked by the tall glass railings. There were a number of people in this area, but the ship does proceed slowly and even stops near the glacier so there are plenty of opportunities for people to rotate in and out. Some people boarded a smaller excursion boat in the fjord and got closer to the sites. I was not aware that this was possible until we got on the ship, so look for this on the Excursions if you are interested. I’m sure they got a better view, but I don’t feel as though I missed anything…we were so close to either side of the fjord anyway.

As we were about to leave, a small portion of the ice did break off. Michelle did not refer to it as calving, but I don't recall what term she did use. Of course, I had relinquished my viewing position by that point and was making my way to a different area.

I had seen whales the day before at sea, but we did see several seals in the fjord. Also some eagles. A few people saw bears. Nothing I would consider picture worthy. The scenery was gorgeous and the water was so still and cool blue-green.

SKAGWAY

We did the White Pass & Yukon Railway tour in Skagway, a 3 hour train ride. I had hoped to do a longer train that made a stop in Canada, but some members of my group did not have passports. My sister did the Laughton Glacier Hike & White Pass Railway Adventure and enjoyed it very much, despite the 9 hour tour length and the fact that glacier was not a 'pretty glacier with snow'. They meet us back in town for a late lunch, but didn’t have time to do anything else in Skagway other than quickly walk the town.

Carnival made us assemble in the Pharaoh’s Palace area before having us disembark as a group. There was no real line to disembark and they just added us to the queue. However, once off the ship there was no direction or signage. We were at port with a Princess ship and their train tour had clear signage. The Princess staff person directed us to the Carnival line further down the street. Hate to be a rule breaker, but there was no point following Carnival on this one. Should have debarked at my leisure.

The train was heated and each car had a toilet. The seat windows do not open. I intended to spend most of the trip outside on the viewing platform, but I found it to be a bit crowded. Our train was full anyway and a fair number of people were jostling for the good viewing positions. Not awful, but just a heads up. It was colder and foggier as we neared the top(?), but we passed some great scenery including bridges, tunnels and waterfalls. I can’t imagine how much more beautiful the longer trains tours must have been.

Afterwards, we wandered the town for quite awhile and did some shopping. This turned out to be the only place that I really had much time for shopping, so I’m glad we made an effort to do so. Besides the shops catering to cruisers, there are a number of interesting shops with local artisan work. We also walked through the Moore House and almost stopped in on one of the brothel shows.

We had a late lunch at the Skagway Brewing Co. and the food was excellent. The fish and chips were the best I have ever eaten. We also ordered a hot pretzel and the chili. All very good. The beer sampler was not on the menu, but I saw others order this. Ask for it. I highly recommend eating here.

The walk to and from the ship was the longest here than in any other port. I did drizzle on us a bit this day, but nothing serious. Also, the wind was not bad and the walking was all on level ground. Nice day.

JUNEAU

For Juneau, I booked a helicopter and dog sledding independent of the ship. The Carnival excursions had a 250 lb. weight limit and one of our party was right on the line. I didn’t want to risk what 4 days of buffet would do to that number. Thanks to some posts by Laughing_husky, I checked out and booked with Coastal Helicopters. A driver met us at the pier and drove us to the airport where Coastal is located. She provided a mini tour of the area as we passed. At Coastal, they outfitted us with booties for our feet and offered us rain gear. Weather was perfect so we declined, but they are well stocked.

The helicopter ride was amazing. This was my first helicopter and I had no idea what a great experience this would be. I had been viewing the helicopter as an inconvenient but necessary way to get to the dog sledding. We saw the Mendenhall Glacier from the air. The dog sledding camp (Blue Kennels) is located on the Herbert Glacier. So amazing. I cannot imagine living there during the summer. We shared our helicopter with one of the mushers coming back up to camp and his entire attitude changed the closer we got there…he was grinning ear to ear when we set foot on the glacier.

First view of the dog camp on Herbert Glacier (located mid pic to the right)

Our musher/guide was AJ and he was great. Very personable and knowledgeable and seemed to truly love what he was doing with the dogs. We took a ride around the glacier and then went back to camp to play with puppies and wait for the helicopter. Not to minimize the experience – there just aren’t words. This was the highlight of the entire trip. Worth every penny and then some.

Back in Juneau, we grabbed lunch at the Red Dog Saloon. Yes, it is touristy but the food was good and we were running out of time in port. We bought some Glacier Silt Soap and wandered in and out of a few stores (Trove was interesting). Then we rode the Mt. Roberts Tram to the top (there is a definite moment of 'oh shucks, this is pretty high and that’s a little wire'). We purchased our tickets directly at the tram terminal and saved a few bucks over what Carnival was offering. I would have preferred to go up there with more time to actually hike around. We saw a number of locals hiking up and then riding the tram back down. We just looked around for a few minutes and came back down since our time in port was running short. It was nice to see the bald eagle up close. Unless you are going to eat up there or hike, there really isn’t much to do.

This is in front of the Red Dog and looking towards the tram and the dock.

KETCHIKAN

We booked the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour through Carnival. We are fans of the Deadliest Catch and enjoyed this very much. The boat is revamped and in fact offers 3 of the nicest restrooms I saw on the entire trip. They provided complimentary hot beverages and a snack and had a small gift shop on board. We handled three types of crab and saw an octopus. The men all told their stories and were good in front of the crowd. Plenty of photo ops. One unexpected bonus – a short stop where they fed bald eagles and we got to see quite a few of them in action. A bit pricey and something I’d probably only do once, but still very much worth it.

I had about an hour in port after the excursion and just wandered a bit on Creek Street. Didn’t have time to even look at half of the port and would have appreciated more time. A real bummer this is such a short stop.

We did see some Northern Lights on one of the last few nights. The ship photographer got some great shots the night after our Juneau stop. They announced this the next day and the next night (after Ketchikan) at about 2 am, we saw a slightly less impressive display.

VICTORIA

I did not get off the ship here…I’ve heard it’s beautiful but I didn’t want to spend any more money and it didn’t seem like there was much to do without booking an excursion. My sister went into town for dinner and then wandered back shortly after since there really wasn’t that much to do on your own.

And I think that’s it. I don’t know that this review will be relevant for long since the Spirit is almost done with her Alaskan run, but if anyone has any questions I will try my best. I do have most of the FunTimes, although I mysteriously lost the Juneau and Ketchikan days.

I'd also like to say that I read all the picture reviews I could find before we set sail and nothing did the actual experience any justice. There will be something you see in Alaska that just takes your breath away and you realize that you weren't as prepared as you thought. I hope anyone who has an upcoming trip to Alaska has a great time!

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts and pictures on your trip. I got a good chuckle about if you should bring your life jackets to dinner. Your pictures were amazing.

Loved your review & all the pics! Thanks for sharing!!

Great review! Thanks!

We are leaving for this cruise on Sunday 7/29. I am so excited I cannot tell you.

I know Alaska weather is unpredictable and I have been looking at weather sites. I will add a few more clothes for layering.

You mentioned kids. I have 4, ages 15,16,20, and 23. Were there a good number of them?

Were there any bands that played in the bars at nigh? The Miracle had a great band last year. Do you recall if it was busy at night or was it quiet because of early port days?

I have also heard the Space Needle is so/so, being from NY I have seen my share of great sights from amazing landmarks. How was the line? How much time should we budget there? We are on a tight schedule.

Thanks for your review and your pictures are stunning!

I may think of a few more questions before we leave:)

Jetsfan - I did see a good number of kids in the teens and upper ages. Most of them roved in packs, either with the Carnival teen group (I did see several groups with a counselor) or on their own. Nothing rowdy, but it's hard to miss 20 teens walking towards you in a group. I also saw a large group of teens in Skagway on their own. I'd say these were 13-16 year olds and it looked like they were on their own excursion together. You might check with the Excursion desk about that. I saw fewer people in the 20s, mostly in the gym or uncovered pool area, but they also weren't grouping together as obviously.

Behind the Pharoah's Palace is a Video Arcade room with some old skool arcade games. You access this by walking down the Jungle Promenade area. I bet your older kids would get some chuckles out of that.

The disco/nightclub was advertised several times as being an 18 and older area.

At night, it did seem quieter than a caribbean cruise, but we were located aft and I think most of the action at night happens near the Casino area, which would be mid? I didn't make a point to check out bands this time and the few times I happened across an act, I just wasn't motivated. I don't have my funtimes with me, but I know every evening they highlighted the music playing that night - piano, sing along and party music. I had bad luck with the Karaoke, but the staff person seemed new.

I also saw staff being diligent about adults only for the Adult Comedy Shows and kicking a few kids out. I can't remember the posted cutoff age. Personally I didn't hear anything too shocking.

Line for the Space Needle was not bad. We were there mid-afternoon around 3-4 pm and we walked through the line in less than 10 minutes. It was a bit more crowded on top that I would have liked, but it also wasn't an absolute mob.

I wish we had gone to the EMP Museum which is right there at the Space Center. Looks interesting if your kids have interest in music/pop culture/sci fi.

I'll check my funtimes tonight and get you more specific band info.

Thanks for your pictures and review. We sailed on the Carnival Spirit to Alaska 3 years ago and loved it.

What a bonus being able to see the Northern Lights!!

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your review.

Keith

Thank you for the info!

My husband and I are leaving on this cruise July 31 and trying to plan our excursions, I found your posts helpful

Those are awesome pictures! Well be out there next month on Radiance of the Seas.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I've been a long time lurker and it's nice to be able to share back.

jetsfan - I don't see a specific band highlighted on the schedule, but there is plenty of music each night...cocktail piano music with Maggie, Variety Music with Bridges, VM with Doug, VM with Scott, Sing Along Party with Keith, Party Music with Hi-Lux, and Jazz by the CArnival Showband.

I think Hi-Lux is a band -- female singer/keyboard player and three other guys playing instruments. They did a Beattle show one night.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Loved your pictures.

Thank you for your detailed review! I appreciate you taking the time to give us an idea of what to expect. We are cruising in Sept.!

Thank you!