Alaska Review on the Carnival Spirit

[musicgal]

Looking forward to the Spirit. Your children are beautiful.

[cruiser fanatic]

Do you still happen to have the Funtimes?

[cruisin63]

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

 

 

 

Hey Klondike: we're sailing Tuesday on the Spirit as well. I'm sure

that I've seen you on the roll call boards. Are you meeting at 3 p.m.

in the atrium for our M&G?

[cruisin63]

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!!

 

 

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! :)

Edited May 10, 2012 by cruisin63

[sharecruises]

Whooo whooo...loving this review...hope to see more Spirit reviews before I sail on the 22nd

 

thanks for posting, I am anxiously awaiting more more more

Your kids are really cute, I love the way your little guy loves seafood

The picture of him with the crab claws is tooo cute haha

 

I was surprised to see all the "tour booths" in Juneau haha..so much for those who pontificate that we need to book ahead

 

No worry..my tours are booked, my bags are almost packed, I just printed my boarding pass :) Ready for the Great Land !

 

I will keep checking this thread, really fun

 

a few questions >> when was past guest party?

 

>>> did they have cold weather stuff to buy onboard? (hoodie, gloves, hats etc)

 

>> di they have a "cover band"? were they good?

 

>> anything :special" for Alaska on Menu?

 

>> did you listed or see the Naturalist? how was she??

 

Thanks and hope to see more of your trip

[Bunkie103]

We did the same week last year but I think we lucked out on the weather. Seems like the day in Ketchikan was not nice, but we had a sunny rather warm day which is unusual for them. Even on our trip up to Carcross it was a nice day. Sounds like you enjoyed it and your kids are really cuties.

[realtreebar]

An-tici-paaation is keeping me waiting:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I'm really enjoying your review. We've sailed the Spirit four times and love that ship! We've done three to Alaska (northbound, southbound, and RT from Seattle) and every one of them has been wonderful--you're bringing back great memories! :D Looking forward to reading more.

[laniriveira]

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.

[laniriveira]

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.

[sharecruises]

Thanks...can you please send to estymeetup@aol.com

 

thanks:)

[laniriveira]

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.

 

 

 

 

[laniriveira]

 

 

 

 

 

[laniriveira]

 

 

 

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

 

[laniriveira]

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!!

 

 

 

[laniriveira]

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.

 

[my3boysmom]

Loving this review! The train looked awesome!

[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!!!!!

[laniriveira]

Day 5 - Glacier Bay

 

We woke up around 9ish and had no idea what time we would be in glacier bay today or when we would be by the glaciers. The fun times doesn’t give you a time like it does when your in port. So we got up and had breakfast. Once we got back to the room a park ranger for Glacier Bay came on the intercom and announced that we had officially entered into Glacier Bay. Now I’ll tell you the truth. This being my first cruise to Alaska I was under the impression that Glacier Bay only had 1 glacier. I was wrong! The first glacier we went to was Margerie Glacier which is the most frequent glacier you see when you google Glacier Bay images. It was absolutely stunning! Dad, Mom, DH, Me and kiddos were all on our balcony snapping pictures of the glacier, little ice chunks floating in the waters, scenery, and birds.

 

My only irritation was that we did not stay near Margerie Glacier or any glacier long enough. I knew going into this cruise that the ship would make a 360 when near the glacier and thats the reason we really wanted a balcony because we didn’t want to fight for a spot for the little ones to get a glimpse. Well the ship does a 360 but its so fast that you don’t really get to enjoy it as much as you want, or I wanted!! The longest part of seeing the glacier is while the ship is approaching it. The actual 360 in front of the glacier is approximately 30 minutes.

 

Sailing up to Margerie Glacier inside Glacier Bay National Park

 

 

 

 

DH trying to feed the bird licorice. The ranger announced many times not to but almost every one on the balconys were trying. A couple of people a deck above us fed the birds fries. DH wasn’t chosen, they must not have had a sweet tooth that day lol.

[raytownlady]

Thanks for posting this review, it makes me want to go on this cruise even more!

[laniriveira]

Margerie Glacier

 

 

 

 

 

 

[laniriveira]

 

 

 

 

 

[sharecruises]

Oh my your pictures are stunning...fantastic

 

I won't be at Glacier Bay but since I have never seen a glacier I am excited

 

I have not even seen snow in so long I forget what it looks like

(or feels like..brrr LOL)

 

did you use the indoor pool or hot tubs at all? Hot tub in gym??

did anyone??

 

thanks

[laniriveira]

But I shouldn’t complain because I got some amazing pictures I just wish I could have stayed longer! We did luck out because the ranger came on the intercom and announced that we would be cruise into John Hopkins inlet and that wasn’t on our itinerary (or maybe they do it but just don’t announce it depending on weather). Well we cruised inside and got to have a nice view of the John Hopkins glacier. The park ranger did announce that that particular day was one of the best she had seen in her career. It was nice and clear with no clouds and we got an amazing view of the glacier.

 

Photos of us sailing into John Hopkins inlet and photos of JH glacier.

 

 

 

 

 

[Bunkie103]

Lots more snow on the ground this year than for the first cruise of last year. I do have some of the exact same pics. We loved the train too. Since we were two adults with no little ones to worry about we took the trip all the way up to Carcross and it was magnificent.