Cruising Christine turns Gold in Gold Country: an Alaska/Legend Review

[bakersdozen12]

Following along we were on the exact same cruise. Love Vancouver, went in a day before. Horrible port for embarkation, no signage. We had an extended balcony on deck 7, loved the location. Prob the worst food in 28 cruises. Very little variety and never hot. Don't get me wrong we didn't go hungry. Whale watching in Juneau got cancelled due to weather, so went to Alaska brewing tour. Did sea plane in Ketchikan, great experience. Taquan air great to work with. Spent a day in Seattle post cruise. Didn't mean to ramble.

 

Sorry to hear that you were disappointed in the food. I do agree that the Legend lacks variety on the Lido for lunch options. That's one of the downsides with sailing on an older ship. But never a deal-breaker for me. I always pick my cruises for the itineraries, and figure as long as they have something for us to eat, we won't starve. I did think that the MDR food was excellent though. Service was always quick and the food hot. We lucked out in that respect.

 

Our whale watching excursion wasn't cancelled, but the one right before ours was. It was definitely bumpy on the seas that day! I probably wouldn't have been disappointed if they had cancelled, and in hindsight, they probably should have cancelled ours as well.

 

 

I leave Saturday for Seattle and am heading on the Legend on Tuesday. I am so excited I can't even think straight...please come back with the rest of your review to help me pass the time! :)

 

I hope you have a great time! Sorry that I haven't been able to work on this the last few days. Work has been busy, and sometimes I'm just too tired at night to turn on my laptop and stare at a computer screen after staring at one all day at work. But, time to continue on with it this weekend!

[bakersdozen12]

First Sea Day

 

This cruise had two "Fun Days at Sea." The first day, and the last day of the cruise. Personally, I love sea days because sometimes the activities that we do on port days can be a bit tiring, so sea days are sort of forced relaxation days.

 

My absolute favorite part of cruising: waking up to this...

 

 

While I don't think that having a balcony room is absolutely necessary, and would gladly book an interior if it means getting to cruise more often, there is something to be said about being able to climb out of bed and head right to the balcony in your pajamas to enjoy the view!

 

As I already spoke about, and won't go into the gross details again, that first morning started out a bit rough thanks to the needle on the bathroom floor incident. But after we were both dressed and showered, we were determined that the day was going to get better.

 

We had slept in that morning. Which felt great because after traveling all the way from the east coast, and spending time in Seattle for a couple days, this was the first day we were able to catch up on sleep. And we really needed it. So, sleeping in meant today we wouldn't have breakfast and lunch, and would have Sea Day Brunch at about 11 am instead.

 

I had a spinach, onion, and swiss cheese omelet with a side of bacon.

 

 

I always find Carnival's omelets to be good, whether from the MDR or on the lido. I just wish they would have real scrambled eggs. Even if they were made from Egg Beaters. Just not powder. Eggs are my favorite breakfast item, and scrambled are my favorite. But I just can't stomach Carnival's.

 

After brunch, we decided to attended the Clue Murder Mystery show in the main theater. We had attended something similar on a previous cruise, but it wasn't Clue-branded. And we never finished solving that one. But this time around, my husband got really into it. You basically watch a little play, which reveals each character's weapon and room location. Then for 5 days there is a new clue that they set out near the coffee bar. They were puzzles that you have to solve, and my husband managed to solve each one. He's very good at that kind of thing. I was happy to see him get really into it.

 

The only other activity I remember doing that day, during the day, was that we attended our first slot pull. This was organized by a member of our roll call. It was fun to experience. In the end, we ending up getting our money back. So no winnings, but we didn't lose anything either.

 

That night was our first elegant night. I'm not someone that likes to dress in fancy dresses. I really don't like wearing dresses at all. On Caribbean cruises I do wear summer maxi dresses, but since that wasn't an option on this cruise, I opted to wear slacks and nice sweaters. I have to say, it felt really nice being comfortable. I may opt to wear slacks and nice blouses on further cruises.

 

For my appetizer, I had the carbonara, which is always super yummy!

 

 

Normally I get the carbonara as my entree, but this night I really wanted to try the fish dish. I believe it was seared fillet of redfish, if I remember correctly (I'll have to remember to take pictures of the menus in the future). In any case, it was some kind of fish that I had never had before. It was definitely good, but I don't eat the skin of fish. Fortunately it was easy to just take off. The mashed potatoes were delicious, and the broccoli was good as well, but I have to always laugh at Carnival's one-broccoli-per-person rule. Broccoli is my favorite vegetable, so just having one piece feels like such a tease!

 

 

For desert, since there wasn't anything that I really wanted, I went to my go-to: the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (aka Melting Chocolate Cake on the new menus).

 

Edited June 2, 2017 by bakersdozen12

[bakersdozen12]

That night, we did get turn down service (unlike the night before), so that meant a towel animal. Cruise Bear was happy to have some company. :D

 

 

After dinner we decided to attend a couple of the comedy shows in the Firebird Lounge. I'm not sure if it was because the lounge for the comedy shows was bigger on this ship (it seemed like it was), but the two shows we went to were never crowded. There were plenty of seats.

 

On this cruise we had Al Katz.

 

 

And Azeem.

 

 

Both were very funny, but Azeem's act got kind of uncomfortable when he got into some very political Trump jokes. Now, it's not that I didn't think they were funny, because they totally were. But the subject matter is one that can get very heated, so my personal standpoint is that it's best to not bring up this kind of subject since it's such a touchy one these days. Just my two cents.

 

We really didn't do much else that night, aside from a little bit of shopping in the Fun Shops. They opened an Alaska-themed section of one of the shops that day, and I did buy myself a pretty stone pendant made from fluorite, but unfortunately I would lose it later on during the cruise due to the black cord that it was on coming un-knotted and falling off my neck without me noticing it. In hindsight I probably should have bought a nice chain to put it on from the jewelry store, but at least it wasn't anything that was really expensive (I think it was $16).

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day

 

For our second full day of the cruise, we would be sailing into Tracy Arm Fjord. Well, Endicott Arm Fjord, that is. Tracy Arm is often missed due to having too much ice making sailing into it dangerous for the ship, so Endicott is the substitute fjord. Given that we were on the first sailing of the season, and it being a very early start to the season to begin with, I knew going into this cruise that there was little chance that we would make it to Tracy Arm. No worries though, I had heard that Endicott was just as beautiful.

 

Once again, I woke up and slipped out onto the balcony to enjoy the view. This time, I could see some land on the horizon.

 

 

We started the day by having breakfast in the MDR. Which is something we've never done before on non-sea days. And it's something that we won't do again. This was the one and only time that the service was really bad in the MDR. It took forever, and I mean FOREVER, to get our food. And when we got it, I realized that we could have had the same breakfast on the lido and it wouldn't have sucked up so much of our time!

 

I had pancakes with stewed strawberries, bacon, and a side of scrambled eggs.

 

 

You are probably wondering why I had scrambled eggs since I said I hate them on Carnival cruises. Well, I had decided to give them a shot that day, hoping that they would somehow be better since we were eating in the MDR instead of the lido. Nope! They were the same 'ole powered eggs from the lido. Luckily my husband will pretty much eat anything and has a huge appetite. So he ate them. :eek:

 

That day we would be going on the small boat excursion that takes you up close and personal to both the glacier in the fjord (in this case, Dawes glacier), and the shoreline. I cannot possibly recommend this excursion more. It is definitely worth the money.

 

When I had signed up for the excursion (you can only pre-book it through email), there were two times listed. I believe they were 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. I signed us up for the later one, figuring it would be nice to have the option of sleeping in that day. When we got our tickets the day before, we had a slightly different start time listed.

 

 

A letter that came along with the tickets stated that due to having to switch to Endicott Arm instead of Tracy Arm, we would be arriving later. I guess it's further away. So our new time was 3:00, and as it turned out, they would now be having both excursions at the same time (on two different boats).

 

We played some trivia that morning, and would actually play a lot of trivia that cruise. I really like that the trivia was held in the Legends Cafe rather than in the atrium like on some ships. I just feel like the smaller venue makes for a better experience. My favorite trivia that day was Big Bang Theory trivia. I actually can't believe I didn't win that one! I'm pretty sure I have watched every episode of that show at least a dozen times. But alas, no "24 karat gold" ship on a stick that day. My husband would end up making it his mission to win a trophy on that cruise. He really ended up enjoying the trivia, and I think we'll be playing a lot more on future cruises.

 

The ride to the fjord was filled with views of lots of majestic white mountaintops.

 

 

 

 

It was a bit overcast that morning, but fortunately the weather would clear up just in time for our excursion later that day.

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

For lunch that day, we would try Bonsai Sushi. My husband absolutely loves sushi, so he was pretty excited that the Legend had this place. It's located on deck 2, right off the atrium lobby.

 

 

When we went, it wasn't busy at all. Only a few other tables had people sitting at them. I'm not sure if this place ever gets busy on the Legend. Perhaps it's because it's not a free lunch option. But we thought the prices were reasonable.

 

The menu:

 

 

They gave us a complementary appetizer of edamame with seasoning. They were served warm and were absolutely delicious! I've never really had edamame except for the dry roasted kind, but I really enjoyed this.

 

 

I started off my meal with a side salad. While I did like the ginger-carrot dressing, there was just too much of it for my liking. I would probably ask for it on the side if I ever order this again.

 

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

Next up for me would be an appetizer called Wagyu Kakuni which served with a little salad on the side. Omg, this was scrumptious!!! I'm not much of a red meat eater, but this literally melted in my mouth. And I liked the salad that came with it a little better too. If we ever eat at Bonsai again, I'll probably just forgo the other side salad and order three of these instead, lol. The little "pillows" that they were placed on tasted like some kind of bread, and were equally yummy.

 

 

While my husband loves sushi, it has never been something that has appealed to me, so I'm going to be honest: I have never even tried it. I don't think I will ever try raw fish (ewww), but my husband is always trying to get me to try sushi that has cooked fish in it. So I decided on this cruise that I was going to venture out of my comfort zone and try some. They only had two options with cooked fish: the California roll with crab, and the Tempura roll with shrimp. I opted for the Tempura roll.

 

 

Unfortunately, I was only able to eat a couple pieces. I just couldn't get past this taste of the seaweed. So I don't think there will be much more sushi in my future. But I was glad that I finally tried it. And of course, my husband was all too willing to eat my leftovers.

 

For dessert, I had the Green Tea Cupcake, which was actually two little cupcakes. They were very good and tasted freshly baked. They were still warm.

 

[dewats784]

So glad to see that you are back and posting your review! I am enjoying it so much. Can't wait till it is our turn to be on the Legend!

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

After lunch we had some time to kill before our excursion, so we spent some time walking around the decks and taking in the scenery. One thing is for sure, I was super glad that I had packed my winter jacket, hat, scarf, and gloves. Boy they were needed! The wind and the air was quite chilly. It was actually hard to spend too much time out there. But I did manage to get some good pictures, include one that I believe is of a glacier that we passed by either on the way to the fjord or at the beginning of it.

 

 

Eventually we headed to the Firebird Lounge, which was our designated meeting place for the small boat excursion. A quick little note about the excursion: the letter that came with our tickets said that everyone had to take photo ID's with them. And when we got to the lounge, they made an announcement stating the same, which led to a bunch of people having to go back to their cabins to get their ID's. In hindsight, I have absolutely no idea why they required this. No one ever checked our ID's when we got back on board. And given that we were only getting onto a boat (never stepping on land), I can't imagine a case where they would ever need to ID people.

 

But in any case, while waiting to be able to board the boats, the on-board naturalist was teaching us all about glaciers and the various things we would see.

 

 

I wish I could remember her name, because she was just fantastic. If I remember correctly, she said that she is a marine biologist, and has done a lot of research working with kelp. She told us lots of stories about her work in warmer places too, so she's not just an expert on Alaska.

 

 

Soon it was time to board the boats, which was just like boarding any tender. We ended up on the second one.

 

 

The boat had outside decks as well as an inside area to sit in and get out of the cold. A really nice touch is that they provided binoculars on the seats, for anyone to use. What was not so nice is that people would leave their bags on the seats, thus reserving (aka hogging) certain seats, i.e., the window seats.

 

But in any case, I was so excited about this excursion, and soon we were pulling away from the ship!

 

 

The ship would eventually catch up to us, but for now, it was time to say goodbye to our home for the week, and watch it disappear into the distance as we headed down the fjord towards Dawes Glacier.

 

Edited June 3, 2017 by bakersdozen12

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

The main advantage of the small boat excursion is that it takes you closer to the shoreline, and there really is a lot to see on the land surrounding the fjord.

 

 

Somewhere near the entrance we saw these, which I assume are something that the native residents use for fishing.

 

 

On the boat there were two levels with outside decks that you could stand on. The one at the top (which is where I took this picture) was closed when the boat was cruising at faster speeds.

 

 

It was at the beginning of our excursion that we would see the first of many wildlife in the fjord: a humpback what had come to great us! I was so excited, and wanted to get a good shot. I shouldn't have hesitated and tried to zoom in because I almost missed getting one altogether. I just wasn't prepared. It all happened so fast between the time we saw the spray from it's blow, to the time we saw its hump. This is all I managed to get.

 

 

My husband, however, was able to get a much better shot of its hump as it did its dive down.

 

 

While we did have a whale watching excursion planned for later on during the cruise, this would prove to be the closest and best glimpse of a whale that we would get on this trip. It was amazing to see in person.

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

For the remainder of my review of Endicott Arm it will probably be mostly pictures, and less narrative. I have a ton of them, and lots to share. It's so hard going through them and deciding on what to post!

 

Some more fishing equipment on the shoreline.

 

 

I don't think I could ever get tired of the mountain views in Alaska.

 

 

One thing that I was amazed to see on this day were the glaciers. My husband couldn't understand my excitement. He's like, "But honey, they are just chunks of ice!" And I'm like, "But honey, they are GLACIERS!" Lol. Really though, they are so pretty in person. My camera just couldn't capture the true beauty of the blueness of them. They started out small, and just a few here and there, but would get bigger and more plentiful as we got closer to Dawes.

 

 

One of the waterfalls that we would see that day.

 

 

My husband in front of the waterfall. You'll probably see more pictures of him than me in this review, as I only really have access to my pictures right now. Maybe another day I'll ask him for the pictures he took of me.

 

 

A shot of the other excursion boat. You can see the two inside sections, and the two outside areas (the top being the one that they would close at times). It did feel crowded on the decks at times, but not annoyingly so. I felt like I had more than enough opportunities to stand at the edge and take pictures.

 

[bakersdozen12]

So glad to see that you are back and posting your review! I am enjoying it so much. Can't wait till it is our turn to be on the Legend!

 

Glad you are enjoying it! I love writing reviews. It's like getting to relive the experiences all over again. I just wish I could get them done all in one or two days. But life just gets in the way. Sigh...maybe one of these days I'll be retired and can spend all of my time cruising and writing reviews. I would be in heaven. ;)

 

Anyway, you will love it! There's just so much to see and do. I just know that someday, I will go back. It was so hard picking what excursions to do. You can't do them all, unfortunately, and there are others I wouldn't mind going back for.

[springs741]

Thank you so much for taking the time. We are sailing the Miracle in September to Alaska. This will be our third time on the Miracle and our third cruise to Alaska. Your review is building the excitement.

A few comment---

*Everyone has different experiences. For us, sailing out of Vancouver was one of the most organized. We love Vancouver and look forward to doing a land based vacation there.

*The float planes--brought back memories of our 22 month old grand daughter. Sitting on the balcony, don't remember the port, her wrapped in a beach towel to ward off the cold---She watched each plane take off and would look at my husband and say ....boat? After all boat are on the water.

*The eggs---- I know they taste funny but they are actually liquid eggs. Hubby has done the Behind the Fun tour on each class of ship we have sailed. It is always a question asked in the galley portion of the tour.

*Photo ID and ship card is required on the small boat just incase you are not able to return to the ship directly.

And thanks for taking the time to share your adventure and experiences.

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

And one point near the beginning of the excursion, we hear someone shout "bears!" And sure enough, along the shore, we saw bears.

 

 

 

Being on the small boat meant great opportunities to photograph the wildlife. But, you are still on a boat that is bobby up and down in the water. Making it a bit hard to get good pictures, at least for this amateur. I do have a decent camera with a good zoom, but it's hard to zoom in and take a picture of something when you are physically getting moved around. Perhaps a better camera would have been a good investment, but I did my best with what I had to get some close-ups of the bears.

 

 

 

 

Hmm, are these bears or mountain goats? They sure are braver than I am, climbing up the mountainsides like that!

 

[bakersdozen12]

Thank you so much for taking the time. We are sailing the Miracle in September to Alaska. This will be our third time on the Miracle and our third cruise to Alaska. Your review is building the excitement.

A few comment---

*Everyone has different experiences. For us, sailing out of Vancouver was one of the most organized. We love Vancouver and look forward to doing a land based vacation there.

*The float planes--brought back memories of our 22 month old grand daughter. Sitting on the balcony, don't remember the port, her wrapped in a beach towel to ward off the cold---She watched each plane take off and would look at my husband and say ....boat? After all boat are on the water.

*The eggs---- I know they taste funny but they are actually liquid eggs. Hubby has done the Behind the Fun tour on each class of ship we have sailed. It is always a question asked in the galley portion of the tour.

*Photo ID and ship card is required on the small boat just incase you are not able to return to the ship directly.

And thanks for taking the time to share your adventure and experiences.

 

I didn't realize that the Miracle went to Alaska too! For some reason, I thought they only used the Legend for some reason. Anyway, glad to hear that you had a good experience in Vancouver. Looking back on it, I suppose it wasn't all that bad. It was basically just us waiting in lines for about an hour and a half. But I'm not one to mind waiting around, and have gotten quite used to it over the years due to the fact that some reason our cruises tend to have delayed embarkations for some reason, causing us to have to sit around and wait for long periods. But hey, how can waiting around be that bad when you are about to go on a cruise?!

 

Good to know about the eggs! We did a Behind the Fun tour on the Dream, but that never came up. I would have bet that they were powered, but glad I never had to or else it seems that I would have lost money, lol.

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

I'm fairly certain this is a picture of Dawes Glacier from afar, but I'm not 100% sure, so if someone wants to correct me, go for it! You couldn't hear the announcements on the boat when on the outside decks, which is where I spent most of my time, so I missed out on most of the narration. I believe that this is because they are not allowed to, which would have meant the ship couldn't make outside announcements either.

 

 

Some more beautiful scenery.

 

 

A larger iceberg.

 

 

Some reddish cliffs along the shore.

 

 

A slightly better shot of the pretty iceberg coloring.

 

 

A glacier in the distance (not Dawes).

 

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

Finally, we arrived at Dawes Glacier.

 

 

 

 

It's so breathtaking in person. I really don't think that my pictures do it justice.

 

 

 

 

I, personally, didn't get any pictures of calving that day, but I know that some other people did. We spent a decent amount of time at the glacier, and it was just amazing being that close to one. And it's sad to think about the fact that many, like Dawes, are retreating rather than advancing.

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

The closer we were to the glacier, the more ice there was in the water surrounding us, which was pretty cool to see. This was definitely some water I would not want to fall into!

 

 

 

 

We also saw mountain goats that day, which were even braver than the cliff-climbing bears!

 

 

They were also much harder to take pictures of because they were much farther away, but I did manage to get a couple decent shots, despite the fact that the movement of the boat meant I was taking pictures of essentially moving objects way off in the distance.

 

 

 

There were plenty of sea gulls near the area around Dawes too.

 

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

As we sat there, in front of the glacier, eventually we could see the ship catching up with us in the distance.

 

 

While we waited, a bunch of curious seals were swimming around us and popping their heads up hear and there.

 

 

We also saw more seagulls, sitting on the ice.

 

 

I took some more shots of the glacier. This one came out pretty cool.

 

 

Eventually we decided we had enough of being outside in the cold, and decided to come inside and wait until the ship arrived to pick us up.

 

 

Heading back to the ship.

 

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

As soon as we boarded the ship, we headed up to our room so that I could take some last shots of Dawes from our balcony, which was fortunately facing the glacier.

 

 

 

I was also able to get a ship of the other boat next to the Legend. I don't know if they boarded after us, or if we just both boarded at different locations.

 

 

And some more shots of pretty icebergs.

 

 

 

And finally, the last picture I took of the beautiful scenery we saw that day before I retired my camera so that we could head to dinner.

 

[bakersdozen12]

Tracy Arm Fjord Day cont'd

 

Dinner that night was casual, and for my appetizer, I had the french onion soup. I've had this on more than one occasion previously, and have always found it bland. Probably because where I live (in NH) we have a large French-Canadian population, so our restaurants around here tend to have very good french onion soup. This time around, though, I found it extremely good.

 

 

I can't recall the official name of my entree (I really need to start taking pictures of the menu), but it was a chicken dish that I had never had before, and I enjoyed it.

 

 

For desert, I had the cheesecake, which was decent as always. Not the best cheesecake in the world, but it's really hard to make bad cheesecake, right? I mean, it's still cheesecake after all.

 

 

I don't recall doing much of anything that night. We were going to go the the Viva Variety! show with Asad, the hypnotist, but we were just too tired. We opted to stay in the room, relaxing in bed and watching TV instead. With some company, of course.

 

 

Later that night, we did venture out to the lido for a late night snack. (Did I mention how much I loved being so close to the lido? We may have to look at booking rooms in this area of the ship more often.) We shared a quattro formaggi pizza, and this was the first time that I didn't enjoy it. I think it just wasn't cooked enough. I like the crispiness of Carnival's Pizza Pirate pizza, but this was soggy on the bottom.

 

 

Well, that's it for our Tracy Arm Fjord Day (which ended up being Endicott Arm Fjord). And that's it for me for tonight as it's late and we have to get up early tomorrow morning to drive to Connecticut for a wake (which they are calling a "Celebration of Life"; is that what they are calling them these days?) Next up is our day in Juneau, which included a whale watch with Harv and Marv. I should have time to write tomorrow night. Be back then!

[bakersdozen12]

I am really enjoying your review. We are sailing on the Legend in August and are getting so excited for the Alaskan Experience. Our cruise sails from Seattle to Seattle, but it also goes to Glacier Bay. The only other Carnival cruise to visit their this year. Can't wait to read about all your excursions. Loving the review so far!

 

You are going to LOVE Glacier Bay! It's a shame that Carnival can't go to it more often. Unfortunately only so many ships can go, and the cruise lines that have sailed Alaska the longest get first dibs. But you are lucky that yours is going. It's hard to say which is better: the fjord or Glacier Bay. They both have their advantages. I think you see more wildlife in the fjord, but Glacier Bay is more majestic.

[Beachiekeen]

Wonderful pictures! Really enjoying!

[Rivermyst]

I am loving your review. We were on the same cruise and we also got the upsell call for a balcony room on deck 8. Loved our location, starboard and also near the lido buffet. We went on the small boat excursion and love your pictures. My bear picture is a dot. Thanks for giving a great review and letting me relive the wonderful cruise. We did see many humpback whales from our balcony. One even breached. That made my cruise.

[bakersdozen12]

I am loving your review. We were on the same cruise and we also got the upsell call for a balcony room on deck 8. Loved our location, starboard and also near the lido buffet. We went on the small boat excursion and love your pictures. My bear picture is a dot. Thanks for giving a great review and letting me relive the wonderful cruise. We did see many humpback whales from our balcony. One even breached. That made my cruise.

 

I wonder if you got the other balcony room that was available when they called me. That one was also in the same area on deck 8. Anyway, were you happy with the upgrade? I have to say, for us, I thought it was definitely worth every penny. We would have been find without a balcony, but having one made the whole vacation seemed more relaxed because we could go out there and enjoy the reviews without having to go up on deck, look for a spot, and deal with the crowds. It was just fantastic having our own little oasis to enjoy the beautiful scenery from. I just wish it wasn't so cold during the cruise, or else we would have spent a lot more time out there!

[bakersdozen12]

Juneau

 

The first actual port on our cruise was Juneau. My preference for ports is always to book non-Carnival excursions, because I find that they tend to be better (less crowded) for less money (a win-win). Because we wanted to go on at least one whale watch, my research led me to believe that Juneau would be the best port for this. After doing extensive research on both the web and the Cruise Critic forums, I decided to book with Harv and Marv's Outback Alaska. http://www.harvandmarvs.com/

 

For non-private tours, they offer two options: a larger boat with 14 or less passengers, or smaller 6-person max boats for slightly more money. I opted for the smaller boat thinking that we would get a more personalized experience, on a less crowded boat.

 

If I remember correctly, the tour was scheduled at 10:30 am. With a 7 am docking time, this meant that we had plenty of time to meet up with Harv and Marv's, so we didn't feel rushed that morning. Which I like.

 

The day started out in usual fashion, with me crawling out of bed to go on the balcony and check out our new surroundings for the day.

 

 

In case you haven't noticed, no sunrise pictures for me. I am NOT a morning person. On the rare occasion that I do wake up before the sun has risen, my autonomic response is generally to go right back to sleep. Maybe someday when I'm retired I will enjoy many sunrises on cruise ships, but as an over-worked adult that currently manages to survive somehow on 4-5 hours of sleep a night (if I'm lucky), I quite enjoyed being able to catch up on sleep while on this vacation.

 

Since we had plenty of time, we enjoyed a nice, leisurely breakfast on the lido. This was the first time I had every tried Carnival's french toast (besides the funnest french toast they serve during sea day brunch), and I have to say that I very much liked it. And this was also that I noticed that they have salsa available at the omelet station. Either that or they've never had it on other cruises that I have been on. Or at least, I never noticed.

 

 

When it was time, we headed to the designated meeting spot, and we were able to easily find a girl with a clip board that was rounding up all of Harv and Marv's customers. It was at that time that we found out they had to cancel an earlier tour that morning due to rough seas. They were going to proceed with our tour, but were going to put us on a larger boat, and add four more people that were originally schedule for the earlier tour. She asked us if this would be ok with us, that we would now be on a larger boat with 10 people total, and I told her that it was more than fine. Quite frankly, I cared more about being safe than what size boat we were on or how many people were on it. Besides, I was just happy that it wasn't getting cancelled.

 

We were driven by bus to the dock, where we were greeted by some playful seals in the water. I took a few pictures of them, but the only one that came out clear was one where he (or she) wasn't facing my camera.

 

 

We also saw a couple eagles in a near-by tree. It's actually quite amazing how common it is to see eagles in Alaska. For some reason I pictured them to be much more rare of a sight, but that's not the case at all.

 

 

Before we got on the boat, we were given time to use a bathroom that was right at the dock. I'm not sure why, but I didn't take any pictures of the dock area or the boat itself from the outside. I think it was because I was feeling a little apprehensive at this point about the "rough seas" that people were talking about. Neither my husband nor I get sea sick, but at the same time, I'm not crazy about being out on the ocean in a small boat when the seas are rocking. We had a speedboat excursion in St Lucia on our cruise before this one where we were caught in a really bad storm, and I didn't want to repeat that situation. On a large cruise ship, I couldn't care less about rough seas. But small boats are another story.

 

The only two pictures that I got of the boat were from the inside, shortly after boarding. The boat had two outdoor sections that you could stand on in order to take pictures. One through the door in the front...

 

 

And one in the back of the boat.

 

 

Both of which we couldn't stand out on when the boat was really speeding along.

 

And speed it did. I was surprised at how fast it went, and started having flashbacks of the St Lucia speedboat. It's the whole hitting waves and slamming back down that I'm not crazy about. I'm not too proud to admit that I was indeed pretty freaked out, but after awhile, I finally started to be able to relax with confidence that nothing bad was going to happen.