ArcticKitty Tackles Alaska - Carnival Splendor 02-10 May 2022- Trip Planning, Trip Report, & Mehhhhbe Some LIVE

[3some]

Thanks so much for your detailed review. We're getting on Spirit in 2 days and you've gotten my pre-cruise excitement to level 4. This is my 3rd time at all these ports except ISP, but the last time was 17 years ago so you're giving me a peak at some less commercial activities and updated food and beverage experiences. 

[arctickitty]

8 hours ago, 3some said:

Thanks so much for your detailed review. We're getting on Spirit in 2 days and you've gotten my pre-cruise excitement to level 4. This is my 3rd time at all these ports except ISP, but the last time was 17 years ago so you're giving me a peak at some less commercial activities and updated food and beverage experiences. 

Welcome aboard 3some!  I’d be very curious for you to report back on how the ports have changed or not in 17 years.  I’m very excited for you to be on the Spirit.  You’ll have everything except Masala Tiger.  
 

Hoonah/Icy Strait Point is next up in the queue, so stay tuned!

 

As for our choice to mostly hike in each port, we were actually open to spending money since this was kind of a very momentous vacation for us, but when we looked at the options, hiking was what we wanted to do the most.  Many people think we’re nuts but a cruise ship is actually a great method for getting to a wider variety of hiking terrain.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

My funny leg was acting up so we had to slow our pace a bit.

 

 

The forest trails are wide and well cleared but with the forest intact.  I think it’s really nice when a community or agency is able to build more accessible style trails so that more people can get a taste of nature.

 

 

Slower pace meant more time to just absorb the green and the daylight.

 

 

Now originally this was the port where we were going to spend money.  We’d booked both the adventures rope course and the Zip Rider zip line.  When our time got shortened from 7am to 3pm to 9am to 3pm we started to rethink that because I like Hoonah and Special Someone wanted to visit the town as well.

 

 

We cancelled the ropes course first and then the zip line closed to sail date.  But when we saw the ropes course, we thought it looked like fun.  
 

 

The nature trail popped out at a gondola station with a gift shop and ticket booth and fire pit and other amenities; this whole area did not exist my last visit.  I went into the ticket booth and talked to the friendly clerks who told me that unfortunately a major storm damaged the ropes course and it was not open.  You can see some of the damage in some of these pictures.  Hopefully next time!

 

 

We stopped in another ticket booth later and learned that a ticket to the native dance is $26.50 and kayaking is $149.  I went to the dance with my parents last visit and found it very well done and they had a clever way to explain how clans and moeties work. For us, though, walking to Hoonah called to us most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

I almost forgot that before we left the port area, we tried the donuts.

 

 

They were not up to my standards as we couldn’t even tell which bag was the maple bacon and which bag was huckleberry, but they put some calories in our stomachs (I was ready for a snack, it’s so much fun to have a fast metabolism for the first time in my life) to fuel us.  
 

Its for charity, so I would personally just give them some cash next time and save my donut eat for Jellyfish Donuts in Ketchikan.  In the end, we didn’t mind that we tried something new and put a few dollars into a local economy that has missed us.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

It’s hard to see in the picture, but there’s a very rate petroglyph on this cliff.

 

 

The explanation might help you spot it.

 

 

 

I tried to take pictures of some of the interpretive signs throughout the trip for those readers who might not ever make it to Alaska (although you should try!)

 

 

 

Police memorial.

 

 

Veterans totem.

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

Once in Huna, we were delighted to find that the local coffee shop, Huna Grind, was open for window service.

 

 

 

 

I tried to photograph the menu for you all but it was too sunny!

 

 

The locals told us that we were experiencing extremely unusual weather.

 

 

We for a caramel macchiato and it was good.

 

FYI the various taxes in Hoonah help pay for lots of public bathrooms and there is one right next to the coffee window.  There’s also interpretive signs to read while you wait.  One mentions that Hoonah is the largest Tlingit village in the world.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

 

 

 

Police department; what a view!

 

 

Fire department.

 

 

Hoonah also uses taxes etc to fund carvers, which I think is great.  All along the pathway from the port to town there are benches with traditional carvings.  They must have been brand new my last visit (around 10 years ago) because they are definitely weather beaten now.  Still, Hoonah is a great place to see totems and traditional art in situ, just as part of normal everyday life.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

We enjoyed walking around the small boat harbor.

 

 

I could walk around a small boat harbor just about anywhere I visit.  I love looking at all the different types of boats.

 

 

 

 

We also walked down onto the sea plane dock, maintained by the State of Alaska.

 

 

Boats without wings not welcome!

 

 

We wanted to walk all the way around/across to the big cemetery, where I haven’t been yet, but with our slower pace of walking this day, we didn’t think we’d have time.  I also didn’t think we quite had enough time to walk out towards the airport, which was my end point last visit, so you’ll have to stay tuned to see what we did instead.

 

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

Very logically, we walked straight uphill.

 

I didn’t remember seeing this apartment building last visit and I wanted to check out their view.

 

 

We saw some smart people with a tiny house in their driveway.  Housing is tight and expensive everywhere in Alaska and many people who have the means have added cabins or tiny homes or yurts to their property for rentals.  And of course, many of us just live or have lived in these structures.  I’ve lived in cabins twice, once with plumbing and once without, and both were wonderful experiences and more affordable than a regular apartment.  
 

 

Then we found our dream home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one would do.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

We were wondering around the hilltop of Hoonah when we became aware of the time.  The Gaia app wasn’t working on Special Someone’s phone but I had 3 bars of 3G and got a map up.  I screenshotted this in case we lost mapping ability so that we could find our way back downhill to town.  It appeared that we’d pop out at Icy Strait Brewing which seemed perfect.

 

 

Unfortunately, the sign at the brewery said they are open Monday-Friday afternoons only.

 

 

We admires these re-purposed garden planters.

 

 

Then we went to visit the everything store, part of which is over the water.  If you’ve ever wanted to see an over-water lumber store, this is your chance.

 

 

We both spent some time reading the bulletin boards.  We are curious nerds who do things like that.  The city council agenda caught my eye because there are agenda items about how tax money is being spent on infrastructure.

 

 

This is a job posting for local environmental positions like I’d mentioned in Skagway.  Note how many times it mentions that candidates have to be willing to work in “adverse conditions.”

 

 

While we were wandering around the everything store, a clerk popped out to make sure we knew we were welcome on their back deck.  Awesome views and so kind of her to point this out!  
 

 

We bought a little or everything at the everything store including some mason jar straws that we joked about reselling on board.  I dug through their canning section but they, like everyone else, does not have my favorite size of jars (8oz wide mouth).  Yes, I’d they’d had them, I really would have bought them, carried them back to the cruise ship, and flown them home.  
 

Heritage whole bean coffee from Juneau was on sale so we bought some of that, too.

 

We also got pens for my journaling as I’d run out and had been using the little blue Carnival half pencils (handy that I had a tiny pencil sharpener along with my tiny stapler).  We also got this inflatable wedge thing that we used to prop our weary legs and enjoyed it a lot.  Prices at the everything store were similar to home for us.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

I took a couple sign pictures back in Icy Strait Point for you all.

 

 

Despite living in a community with the fishing industry for five years, I could not explain to you anything about the different types of fishing boats, so we can study these together:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special Someone noted the historical rivets as I commented that parts of the fish plant out on the island looked exactly like this.

 

After a quick walk through the exhibits (I do recommend more time here but we walked too much on this short port day) we breezed through the shops until I fell under the spell of Tlingit Botanicals.  I will do a special post on them later, but for those of you heading to Hoonah & Icy Strait Point, check them out!  They are a small Hoonah business that makes skin products with local plants.

 

 

[luvcruzing]

3 hours ago, arctickitty said:

Then we found our dream home.

 

YVRteacher said the same thing in her review. 😀

 

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

Back on board by 2:30pm we found our towel animal for the day.

 

 

Buffet menu

 

 

Special Someone decided that it was his day to get Mongolian Wok while I’m as dispatched to Masala Tiger.

 

 

Er, I went to the buffet first.  That’s veal.

 

 

They had cheesecake, which we already knew we liked.

 

 

We made good on our goal to spend more of our ship time outside.

 

[arctickitty]

6 hours ago, luvcruzing said:

 

YVRteacher said the same thing in her review. 😀

 

Doesn’t seem like too many share my taste in most things but homes in Hoonah…different story.  I could totally live there.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 8 / Cruise Day 6

 

Third Port Day / Hoonah / Icy Strait Point 
 

 

Masala Tiger was calling our names.

 

 

I took some special shots so y’all could see what some of these dishes are called.

 

 

At 3:15 we were debating eating Masala Tiger or saving the rest of ourselves for dinner.  The HUB app link was broken everywhere I tried it as it only gave the wine menu for that night.  Special Someone said, “But we know Masala Tiger is good now…and we don’t know if anything will be good later…”

 

This was the only time I saw samosas!

 

That peanut stuff was called peanut chaat and it was so good I put a whole bowl of it in our stateroom fridge and happily munched on it on several future occasions.

 

 

We learned that we could check out two blankets from the towel station inside (but not from the towel station outside).  This is another example of what I mean about how to get the best cruise experience you need to be unafraid of moving things around!  
 

 

Special  Someone wants me to make sure I share my method for eating the chutneys and dips from Masala Tiger.  I could have sworn I took pictures of it, but I haven’t found them yet.  Anyway, the deli has an ample supply of little metal cups (as does Guys, but the Deli is closer).  I spread a plate of these cups and then went to the chaat bar at Masala Tiger and then got little cups of almost a dozen types of sauce.  I always want to try all the sauces.  
 

Now, don’t be like me and put papadam on a plate and expect them to not blow away in the wind.

 

I had to learn to cover them with a plate or napkin.  
 

(Papadam are a thin crunchy bread that’s like a thin cracker or a potato chip.  When we were eating big piles of them with my beautiful trays of chutneys, people asked us where we found the chips.  We even converted some happy eaters to our ways!)

 

 

Before we knew it, the dinner buffet was being set up.  I decided to skip MDR dinner because the moussaka was on the lido menu.

 

 

Wrong!

 

I can’t tell you how many times I walked around the buffet looking for moussaka.  I never found it.  I realized that the printed buffet menu, in retrospect, hadn’t matched the offerings, either.  I ate lots of cauliflower instead.  With truffle dip from the deli.

 

 

We finished our dinner adventures with the falafel wrap.  To my surprise the cook pulled it out of a fridge and plopped it on the plate.

 

 

We also ordered the special sandwich of the day, the egg & cheese.  We put that in our fridge and ate it the next morning for breakfast.  It was delicious.  I definitely wished we could have eaten our way through the entire deli menu but we just didn’t have enough time to try it all.

Edited May 18, 2022 by arctickitty

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 9 / Cruise Day 7

 

Fourth Port Day / Ketchikan
 

 

Good morning Ketchikan!

 

 

Many of our last minute decision changes had been fruitful so I started to wonder about our Ketchikan plans.

 

 

Originally we planned to ride the city bus out towards Wal-Mart to visit the original drive thru location of Local Grounds.  Later I found out they’d opens a brick & mortar location downtown.  We could have ridden the free Wal-Mart shuttle to get there as we saw the shuttles a few blocks from the dock, but I was also rethinking which direction to do our one-way hike.

 

 

We had a nice visit at the downtown location of Local Grounds.  They designed a very spruce spot.

 

 

We could have not eaten onboard and eaten here.  Easily.

 

 

 

Now our ordering experience with the baristas was just as hilarious as some of our ordering adventures onboard the Carnival Splendor, except p’sure these girls’ first language is was English.

 

 

One of the reasons that I wanted to visit Local Grounds was for The Works (bottom middle of the above menu.). I was so excited about this ridiculousness.  So we ordered two drinks at first and one of them I asked for “with The Works.”  Hmm, it was missing the works, ok, saved some money.  I uncharacteristically don’t remember what drinks we got, either.  But then I still wanted to try their cold brew cookie butter macchiato special, so I asked for one “with The Works.”  I even said it louder.  Hmm, still no works, and she made me a hot latte with some flavoring.  It was still good and she just didn’t seem to be able to understand me so I let it go.  But I’m still baffled.

 

 

In between the orders, I also decided to change which trail head we’d start our hike from.  I’d forgotten my paper maps and we were having a hard time finding it on a phone map so I decided to be outgoing and asked the baristas. The one who couldn’t get our orders right also didn’t understand that question but the one who seemed like the coach said, “Oh that’s really far away.”  She said it’s hard to describe how to get there.   I didn’t tell her I disagreed because what do I know but I explained that we couldn’t find it on Google or Apple Maps and did she know of anything near the trailhead so that we could find that on the map and head towards it?  She said she didn’t know but pulled out her phone and as she was looking, I saw the tag for the library and asked if it was near the trailhead and she said it was, so we just followed directions to the library and then the trailhead is right around the corner.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

[ashkir]

Beautiful photos! Thank you! I'm debating on what excursions to do! Doing a 10 day Alaska out of San Francisco in September on the Carnival Miracle. 

 

I went once when I was only 21 years old. Now I'm 32 and am ready to go again! 

[purpleally]

I am absolutely loving this review!  Thank you!

[arctickitty]

10 hours ago, ashkir said:

Beautiful photos! Thank you! I'm debating on what excursions to do! Doing a 10 day Alaska out of San Francisco in September on the Carnival Miracle. 

 

I went once when I was only 21 years old. Now I'm 32 and am ready to go again! 

 

Welcome aboard Ashkir!

 

September will be a chillier month, like May is, but a very beautiful time of year.  Likely you will get to see termination dust, which is the early snowfalls on the mountain tops.  Deciduous trees may also have fall colors.  I think the mountains are more beautiful in the fall because the light snowfall at the top highlights them very well.  For hiking, the ground should be drier since the snow will have long ago melted and the runoff will have settled.  You might encounter new snow shoes high elevations but it just depends on if/when it snows and how high you go.

 

What sorts of things are you thinking of doing?  Which ports are you scheduled to visit. 
 

My #1tip for planning time in ports, learned from here, is to loon for YouTube videos made by average people who went on excursions or did the hikes etc. That really helped us make decisions.

 

Also be flexible and open to change.  It’s necessary for travel in general, travel in these times, and travel/weather in Alaska.  Perhaps have some plans for different weather conditions.  We definitely made last minute choices based on weather.  Some of our last minute changes of plans also led to some of our best experiences.

 

Sailing from San Francisco sounds like fun…lots of sea days?  I’d be prepared for some inclement weather as it can be wilder on the open ocean before things calm down in the Inside Passage and closer to shore.

 

I’ve not been on the Miracle, but my experience on the Splendor was that it took some effort to plan for and remember to spend on board time outside.  There is beautiful scenery much of the trip and it was too easy to get sucked into the vortex of the indoor world.  Until we discovered the blanket check our system, I wished I had a sleeping bag for the day beds!  If you want to spend time onboard outdoors, look at the deck plan and plot strategy for how to get from your stateroom to places you want to be with outside space.  For example, I didn’t figure out until the end that I could have used deck 10 to get coffee by going up one extra floor and have an outside walk en route, instead of walking the length of my stateroom floor.  Late in my cruise I also found some nice quiet window seats in places like the nightclub that would be a good place to enjoy the outdoors from the inside.  
 

One last thing, I think port plans also depends on if this is a one time opportunity for you, or if you think you would incorporate Alaska into a travel rotation and come back again.  That affects if you want to go big and get the most exciting to you things done, or if you want to view it as you are sampling Alaska and trying some things now and there will be more opportunities in the future.  

[arctickitty]

1 hour ago, purpleally said:

I am absolutely loving this review!  Thank you!

Thank you for your kind words Purpleally!  We have a few more days to go.

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 9 / Cruise Day 7

 

Fourth Port Day / Ketchikan
 

 

Ketchikan Public Library

 

 

 

Views from near the Rainbird trailhead.  
 

 

From this viewpoint, through our entire hike, and our entire walk back through Ketchikan, we continually heard another ship singing dings and making announcements.

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise

 

Trip Day 9 / Cruise Day 7

 

Fourth Port Day / Ketchikan
 

 

 

Welcome to the Rainbird trail in Ketchikan!

 

 

Hello slug!

 

 

 

This is a fantastic trail a short walk from the downtown docks.

 

 

The wildlife was so rich and varied and the forest is so peaceful.

 

 

 

[maryann2]

3 hours ago, arctickitty said:

 

I’ve not been on the Miracle, but my experience on the Splendor was that it took some effort to plan for and remember to spend on board time outside.  There is beautiful scenery much of the trip and it was too easy to get sucked into the vortex of the indoor world.  Until we discovered the blanket check our system, I wished I had a sleeping bag for the day beds!  If you want to spend time onboard outdoors, look at the deck plan and plot strategy for how to get from your stateroom to places you want to be with outside space.  For example, I didn’t figure out until the end that I could have used deck 10 to get coffee by going up one extra floor and have an outside walk en route, instead of walking the length of my stateroom floor.  Late in my cruise I also found some nice quiet window seats in places like the nightclub that would be a good place to enjoy the outdoors from the inside.  
 

 

This is great information Thank you.  Especially about the blanket supply on deck.

[arctickitty]

7 hours ago, maryann2 said:

This is great information Thank you.  Especially about the blanket supply on deck.

Glad to have been of service!

[ashkir]

10 hours ago, arctickitty said:

 

Welcome aboard Ashkir!

 

September will be a chillier month, like May is, but a very beautiful time of year.  Likely you will get to see termination dust, which is the early snowfalls on the mountain tops.  Deciduous trees may also have fall colors.  I think the mountains are more beautiful in the fall because the light snowfall at the top highlights them very well.  For hiking, the ground should be drier since the snow will have long ago melted and the runoff will have settled.  You might encounter new snow shoes high elevations but it just depends on if/when it snows and how high you go.

 

What sorts of things are you thinking of doing?  Which ports are you scheduled to visit. 
 

My #1tip for planning time in ports, learned from here, is to loon for YouTube videos made by average people who went on excursions or did the hikes etc. That really helped us make decisions.

 

Also be flexible and open to change.  It’s necessary for travel in general, travel in these times, and travel/weather in Alaska.  Perhaps have some plans for different weather conditions.  We definitely made last minute choices based on weather.  Some of our last minute changes of plans also led to some of our best experiences.

 

Sailing from San Francisco sounds like fun…lots of sea days?  I’d be prepared for some inclement weather as it can be wilder on the open ocean before things calm down in the Inside Passage and closer to shore.

 

I’ve not been on the Miracle, but my experience on the Splendor was that it took some effort to plan for and remember to spend on board time outside.  There is beautiful scenery much of the trip and it was too easy to get sucked into the vortex of the indoor world.  Until we discovered the blanket check our system, I wished I had a sleeping bag for the day beds!  If you want to spend time onboard outdoors, look at the deck plan and plot strategy for how to get from your stateroom to places you want to be with outside space.  For example, I didn’t figure out until the end that I could have used deck 10 to get coffee by going up one extra floor and have an outside walk en route, instead of walking the length of my stateroom floor.  Late in my cruise I also found some nice quiet window seats in places like the nightclub that would be a good place to enjoy the outdoors from the inside.  
 

One last thing, I think port plans also depends on if this is a one time opportunity for you, or if you think you would incorporate Alaska into a travel rotation and come back again.  That affects if you want to go big and get the most exciting to you things done, or if you want to view it as you are sampling Alaska and trying some things now and there will be more opportunities in the future.  

Hey thank you! Last time I went in was a May and it was an excellent experience. I have a severed vagus nerve so temperature doesn't bother me as much! I plan on packing ready for the warm weather getting cooler, and I know the weather changes wildly up there! Didn't think of a sleeping bag! I might do that or bring a really warm throw blanket! 

 

This will be my first cruise I'm gold level on! 

 

September 5th - Leave San Francisco

September 6th - Sea Day

September 7th - Sea Day 

September 8th - Arrive at Juneau at 2pm stay until 11pm. 

September 9th - Arrive at Skagway at 7am stay until 9pm.

September 10th - Arrive at Icy Strait Point at 7am stay until 9pm.

September 11th - Cruise through Tracy Arm Fjord

September 12th - Sea Day

September 13th - Arrive at Victoria at 8am depart at 1pm. 

September 14th - Sea day

September 15th - Arrive back in San Francisco at 8AM. 

 

I had a heart transplant recently so I don't want something that is too extreme, but, enough to get my muscles pumping! I'm only 32 years old. 

 

This is what I'm thinking of:

Juneau - Just explore the city. It is the capital city of Alaska and I'm sure we can find plenty to do by walking around and exploring on our own.

Skagway - I wanted to do a rail, but, the recent reviews have been very subpar. We're thinking of Glacier Point Wilderness Safari or the Grizzly Falls Ziplining, or one of the helicopter adventures. I'm hoping the railway ones get better! We're thinking of possibly skipping this and just explore on our own a little, and use the helicopter / railway money on doing a Grand Canyon tour in Las Vegas on our next trip there for the same price. I've been here before and we took the Jeep excursions and it was a lot of fun! There's a lot of potential here and I need to explore more for Skagway. The rail one we're thinking of the most is White Pass Summit. 

Icy Strait Point - This one had nothing that really stood out to us, so local exploration really.

Tracy Arm Fjord - We kind of want to do the Tracy Arm Fjord Glacier Explorer trip. 

Victoria - Short stop not really interested in seeing this city. Had a very bad experience in Victoria last time I was there. 

 

I'm low key thinking of taking my nephew (who's 11) to come with us, if my boyfriend is good with it. My nephew's parents are both in prison and he always talks about how he wants to go see "wildlife". My mom has full custody of him so I can get a notarized letter to let him come on this trip. On the Sea Day we'll probably go to the Dorothy events to meet other LGBT.