Live B2B2B2B Carnival Spirit Alaska/Panama Canal/Caribbean

[jam19872016]

Off to my first diamond lunch!

[jam19872016]

Not great planning. There is a painting class starting at noon also and the Promenade is two giant long lines stretched back to the atrium. Good thing they are not preaching social distancing. O wait.

[jam19872016]

Diamond lunch menu.

 

 

For my starter I ordered the pork belly.

 

 

For my entree I got the sea bass.

 

 

Finished my meal off with the malted chocolate and hazelnut cake.

 

 

It was an enjoyable lunch with a group of people who all share a passion for traveling.

 

 

[jam19872016]

My mom tried acupuncture today. She is hoping it will alleviate her pain. If it does she will go back for more sessions.

 

Off to a seminar now with the guest lecturer. Today's topic is social media.

[jam19872016]

Tracy Arm Fjord:

 

Finally got all the photos from this day uploaded. Warning I am not a professional photographer by any means and I was so enamored with the beauty that I took A LOT of photos.

 

These first few were taken from the ship as we were entering the Fjord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

These were taken later in the day as we were closer to the glacier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

And that is the most you can see from the ship. It was said the ship usually doesn't even get this close. I tried to book the excursion months ago on the small boat that gets up close to the glacier but it was unfortunately already sold out. I did not even bother to check on the ship because I figured it was just not gonna happen. Then I heard it announced there were still spots available so I figured what the heck.

 

The cost was $199 and I was a little hesitant to spend that much on an excursion. I am so so glad that I did it. Absolutely worth every penny. There are 600 spots available per sailing so don't wait like I did, you may not get as lucky as I did.

 

Leaving Spirit to get up close and personal with a glacier.

 

 

 

 

A view of your ship that you usually do not want to ever see.

 

 

Approaching the glacier, you can see a rainbow if you look closely.

 

 

Closer shot of the rainbow.

 

 

[jam19872016]

We spent about an hour admiring the glacier and the wildlife around us. The boat would do a 360 many times so that everyone could see. Anytime something pretty was off to the side it was super crowded so I would walk to the other side and in a moment I would have that same view but already be along the edge of the deck before the crowd moved in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

Starting to see something hanging out on the ice.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

At this point the ice started to calf. I was on the wrong side to notice because I wanted to see the wildlife we were approaching but I did hear what sounded like thunder booming. The boat turned so we could see the ice again. There were also swells in the water caused by the falling ice.

 

 

 

Back to the wildlife.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Continued.

 

 

 

 

I can't remember now what these were called. I believe harbor seals but I could be wrong.

 

After an hour we sailed off back towards the ship with some more sights along the way.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

 

As an added bonus to doing the later tour, we got to witness sunset in the Fjord. With all the clouds it was obviously not the best sunset but I still felt it was an added bonus to this beautiful day. 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Approaching a waterfall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

 

Time to head back now.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

The Spirit starting to come into view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Cont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Again I cannot stress enough how amazing this was. My day in the Fjord was taken to a whole other level with this experience. If you don't take this excursion, you didn't take the same cruise as someone who does this trip. It is that great. I was constantly in awe of how much beauty I was surrounded by and how lucky I was to experience something this majestic. 

 

The tour also served complimentary hot chocolate(which I enjoyed a cup of) tea, coffee, and donut holes.

 

Items for purchase were not overpriced. Even their signature cocktail, called a glacierita, was only $8. It was a margarita with a real piece of glacier ice used as the ice. 

 

The tour lasted three hours total.

 

Two thumbs way way up! No way would another tour in Alaska be able to top this. Or would it?

Edited September 23, 2022 by jam19872016

[labseldest]

What was the temperature while doing that glacier excursion?

[jam19872016]

3 minutes ago, labseldest said:

What was the temperature while doing that glacier excursion?

I'm afraid I don't remember the exact temperature. The question was asked but I could not hear the guide. 

 

I was the only person not wearing multiple layers and I will say it was one of only two times all week I was cold. The other time it was 41. 

 

Definitely plan on wearing multiple layers of clothing for this excursion and this is from someone who found it too warm in Ketchikan for long pants.

[jam19872016]

Dinner had a 30-40 minute wait. I'm finding when the wait is that high it usually isn't really that long. 

 

Tonight's menu.

 

 

 

 

[ninjacat123]

Love escargot! Just sayin'