Review of our 7 day Alaska cruise onboard Carnival Spirit – September 9, 2009

I mentioned to a few people during the cruise, how different the experience can be if you are with a group of people, and if the weather is good – that was the case on this cruise. We were cruising with some cousins of mine and their better halves, and some people from my place of work. The weather was awesome with a couple of minor exceptions – so that will colour my views of this cruise!

Day -1 Mini meet in Vancouver

Picked up John & Korina from their hotel in downtown Vancouver, and drove to our restaurant meeting spot in Langley. We met up with Liz & Alf, BSeaBob (Bob), and Radiance (Rhonda). My daughter Sheri joined us and took photos for us. It was great to finally put faces to some of the familiar names on the board! We had a lovely lunch, but unfortunately had to cut it short in order to drive John & Korina back to their hotel, and make it home before rush hour got too bad!

 

 

Day 1 – boarding our ship! Dropped our rental car off at skytrain station in Surrey, and took elevator up to train level. It wasn’t too crowded so we had no problem with our bags. We each had a carryon and a large bag. The trip to Waterfront took about 45 minutes. We arrived at Canada Place just before 11 a.m. and proceeded to walk down the ramp to the baggage drop area. Dropped off our large bags and went to security line-up. There weren’t many people there, so that process went quite quickly. Then we went to check in area which also went quite quickly. We were shown to an area with a lot of chairs where we had to wait for about half an hour (not really sure why – but there were 2 weddings onboard that they let go first). Then we got the word that we could board – and off we went! Whole process went quite quickly except for the waiting in the chairs part.

We went to our room even though we weren’t supposed to and dropped off our carry on bags. Then off to explore! Our cabin was in a wonderful location. We were on deck 8 Aft 8252. Only one deck up to lido café and Aft fantail bar and hot tub! We had a bite in the lido café – where we met a couple of my cousins who also got onboard quickly! Let the fun begin! One of my cousins lives on Vancouver Island, and even though it’s not that far away, we usually only see each other once or twice a year. All the female cousins go shopping for a weekend every November, but we don’t usually see the husbands! So this was a treat! Had our lunch, waited for the rest to arrive, which they did shortly. Then it was off to explore a little bit until sailaway and the mandatory life boat drill.

The weather wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t raining and by the time we sailed, it was nice! Going under the Lion’s Gate bridge was great – even though there wasn’t any cheering like we had experienced on our one day cruise a couple of months ago.

 

Had our drill, then we were off to explore!

We had traditional seating at 8:15 in the lower section of the dining room. We were at a table for 14 – and it worked out great. Our waiter Igor and his assistant were wonderful! Several times throughout the cruise the wait staff sang and danced for us – made for many enjoyable evenings!

 

A few of us went to visit the casino – and I started off great – won at blackjack! That trend wasn’t to continue! Hubby retired after dinner, I joined him about 11:30 pm. Our trip was off to a great start!

Day 2 – Sea day

Today was spent attending several trivia sessions (lost them all!) and then a couple of my cousins and I went to the first Art Auction session. I usually go for the free champagne – and last cruise I won a painting! This time during the preview session, the ship was rocking pretty good, and I felt queasy so left – didn’t even have a glass of champagne! Went back to the cabin to lay down, but that didn’t work so went up one deck to back of ship and some fresh air. After a bit I felt better. My cousin found me later, and apparently I won another painting! Went and filled out shipping information later!

Went to the hot tub for awhile, then casino until time to get dressed for first formal night (they now call it Elegant). A couple of our group didn’t make it to dinner due to the rough waters. I felt bad for them because I told them there wouldn’t be a problem with seasickness if they could travel on the ferry no problem – I was wrong! I’ve been on 10 cruises and never felt the boat rocking that much!

So after dinner, we had a few pictures taken, then to bed. I thought we were going to fall out of bed a few times, it was that bad!

 

Day 3 – Juneau

Since we didn’t arrive in Juneau until 11:00 a.m., we had time to enjoy the morning doing trivia again, and just relaxing. We went to the dining room for breakfast this morning – hubby had his eggs benedict.

Then it was off to Juneau! A few in our group did excursions but hubby and I just walked around town and did some shopping. The prices weren’t too bad. Most of the stores had sales on since it was near the end of their season. Went to the Red Dog Saloon for a drink.

Had nice dinner and heard about everyone’s day. Went to the casino again for a bit, then to bed. Our first towel animal awaited us.

           

 

Day 4 – Glacier Bay

What a glorious day! I had put my order in for great weather – and thank goodness it came through! This experience would have been so much different if the weather hadn’t cooperated. Even the rangers said it was unusual. We got in quite far and saw lots of floating ice and a few harbor seals. John said when he looked at his pictures later, he thought he saw a whale going after one of the seals!

 

          

 

 

 

As we were leaving the Coral Princess was going in.

 

After we left we went to dinner, then to the casino for the blackjack tournament. My cousin’s husband was in the final round, but only lasted a short time. It was exciting to watch though – went to a playoff since there were 2 guys tied at the end.

 

Day 5 – Skagway.

Today several of my family were taking the White Pass Train excursion. We only planned on walking into town and doing some more shopping. It was a little cooler here, but still OK. It rained a little bit on our way back to town, but that didn’t stop us! The train was amazing!

 

Interesting washrooms they have there:

 

Hubby took a bunch of pictures while I went to internet café and did some shopping. Today was opening day of Football season, so we wanted to be back onboard to watch the Packer game. Unfortunately one of the ship’s tours was late getting back because a train broke down, so we were late leaving. We couldn’t get satellite signal while there, so we didn’t get to see the game until after the second half.

 

John, Korina and I watched a bit of the game in sports bar, then went to watch the rest in our cabins while getting ready for dinner. Met a young couple in the sports bar who live a few minutes from me in Surrey! A couple of days later the lady won $5000 at one of the tables in the casino – and she was at the wrong table! She meant to go to the one beside her – congratulations!!

The Packers ended up winning the game so there were a few cheers from the cabin next door (Korina!)

Day 6 – Ketchikan

This morning we arrived in Ketchikan – what a wonderful little place! The weather was so warm I ended up going back to ship and taking jacket off and just wearing a t-shirt! We walked quite a bit here. Saw the Salmon trying so hard to swim upstream, collected all the free charms, t-shirts  etc. offered in the coupon book, bought last of souvenirs, then headed back. When we first started cruising, I asked my 2 grandsons what type of souvenirs they wanted me to bring back. They were 4 & 6 at the time. The oldest wanted a mask of some sort, and the youngest wanted a piggy bank. Every cruise and trip so far, we’ve been able to find them what they wanted. Not so this time. No piggy banks to be had in Ketchikan! It would be so easy to turn some of the carved salmon, totem poles or wood carved bears into piggy banks – but maybe I’m the only one that would buy them! So he will be getting the piggy bank shaped like the Carnival funnel from the ship, and a wooden carved moose that poops jelly beans instead!

Poor Salmon struggling.              

Here’s where we saw our only Killer Whale sighting!

 

 

 

 

Saw something interesting on way back to ship:

 They were so cute! And yes they were real. I stood there and watched them for awhile.

Had another wonderful dinner, were entertained by our waiters again, then made my nightly visit to the casino before retiring.

Day 7 – Sea Day

Well here it was, the last day of the cruise already! Spent lots of time with my family today. 2 of my cousins and I participated in the Walk for the Cure Onboard. It was very windy, but we’ve lost family members to cancer, and had 2 cousins survive cancer, so we walked!

 

Went to a couple of trivia games, packed most of our stuff, and generally relaxed. Had a very nice dinner, took some final pictures, and went to our final dinner. This is the group picture of the people from my workplace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is Korina, John, my hubby and me:

                 

 

 

 

 

 

Our table on last night of cruise:

 

My cousin’s boyfriend Andy was Elvis in the Guest Talent show on the final night, and one of the ladies from our work group Janice, was Gloria Estefan – so we all went to the show! It was amazing! They all did a great job and it was so much fun watching them!

So that’s it! We had a fantastic time. Partly because of the people we were travelling with, partly because of the ports we visited. It was wonderful!

Oh yeah – I guess I should mention something about the ship! It was just the right size I thought. Even though it sailed full, I rarely saw crowds or lines. And when we saw lines getting on or off the ship, they moved quickly. The staff was great! The waiters made our evenings, and our room stewards did a great job looking after us. Very rarely heard anyone complaining (I know Korina had a few issues with deliveries – hopefully that didn’t ruin their trip).

Many of our family and work group had never cruised before so I was anxious that they have a good time – they all did!