Alaska Review on the Carnival Spirit

[ElvisAndretti]

Great review so far! Alaska will probably be our next cruise and I can't wait!

Edited May 9, 2012 by ElvisAndretti
typo in title

[spacepotatoes]

This is great! The first review I've seen for the season so far, I can't believe how quickly you've gotten it started! We're sailing to Alaska in 2 months, though not on Carnival. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your cruise :)

[jetsfan]

Thanks for doing this!

[DUCHESSRN]

June 12th for me too ,cannot wait.

[Frank12]

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

Us too! June 19th.

[laniriveira]

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.

[laniriveira]

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.

[laniriveira]

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.

[laniriveira]

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

[laniriveira]

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!!

[BenjiRodney]

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more.

[Lovharvey]

Great start. I have been waiting for these reviews to be posted. I have a friend on the Spirit right now. I so want to take this cruise again. Maybe one of these days. Can't wait for the rest.

[cruisy-suzy]

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!!

 

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 :)

[zino5]

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

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...

[klondike11]

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

[belkin]

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

[edpat5911]

Love your review!! Great pics! Can't wait for more!!

[laniriveira]

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 :(

[laniriveira]

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

 

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

[laniriveira]

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 :)

[laniriveira]

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!!

[flyawayca]

Great review so far! Bringing back memories from my cruise last year. I hope to make the trip again one of these days. I guess we were lucky though from reading some other posts, we didn't have anything even close to rough waters during our trip. Smooth as glass with tons of whale sightings. :D

[tracyktn]

I was on this sailing with you. I was thinking of trying my first review, but you are doing such a great job I will just follow yours instead :)

[realtreebar]

thanks for the review MORE PLEASE!!!:)

[my3boysmom]

subscribed! Keep the review and pics coming!