Seas2mountains

Day 5/12 daily PDF NCL Spirit day 12 (5).pdf

We may be delayed disembarking on Wednesday due to a strike in Vancouver.

When we left Vancouver, I remember seeing at least one tug boat. Tonight when leaving Skagway, a tug boat pulled when leaving the dock and then pushed when turning. We didn’t see any tugs helping Carnival Miracle do back out of port. Maybe due to the wind or others reasons?

After the tour, we had a yummy lunch at the Local followed by a much needed long afternoon nap. We decided it was too cold and windy for the hot tub so we went to the spa for time on the heated lounge chairs. If you stay too long, your butt will get to feel hot. I don’t remember other spa heated chairs feeling this hot. We had a nice dinner at Teppanyaki and usually go there one time per cruise. Once they changed the steak from a filet to a NY strip which was not very good, we order the chicken with shrimp. We are now back in Spinnaker to watch sail away. This is the latest we have ever left a port in this cruise as we are usually leaving at the all aboard time or a few minutes after. This is the first port we are leaving late. B12 band is playing three sets including Bandeoke. Here is our current view at 8pm Alaska time. We are in port with Carnival Miracle and Holland America Volendam. Red wine is Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon for me and white wine is Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio for my husband.

We went back to Teppanyaki tonight and I did have the Shaku-shaku for my daily new-to-me drink. It was really tasty and not too sweet or sour or bitter. I would order it again but also liked the Wasabi cocktail. I would probably order the Shaku-shaku again before the Wasabi one I have ordered a few times. Thank you for the suggestion! Sorry I forgot to get a photo.

Hello from Windy Skagway. It’s been overcast all day but the rain has stayed away except for a few light sprinkles. Our excursion this time was on the NCL Ghosts and Good Time Ladies walking tour. Both my husband and I enjoyed the tour and do recommend it. We liked learning about the history of Skagway while our tour guide, Madam Trixie Turner, kept us laughing with her comments and puns. “Trixie” did a wonderful job staying in character and keeping the tour on track. It’s about 2 hours of standing or walking in Skagway and no sitting except for the few minutes on a shuttle bus into town. The tour includes the second floor of the Red Onion saloon where they have many artifacts from the Gold Rush years when the brothel was open. With FAS+ and our latitudes discount, this tour cost us $16.15 each.

Thank you for sharing your update on your Kenai Fjords tour and Whittier tour. I also love the Seward area but haven’t been to Whittier. I look forward to returning to Seward again and do want to take another boat tour as it is a great area. I hope you have safe travels home.

Day 4/11 daily. The PDF version isn’t downloading.

Thank you. The rum cake martini is on the list for today as it is also the martini drink of the day. I still need to try the Pistachio martini, too.

We have had the same experience with the fisherman’s platter as one of us orders the filet and the other orders the fisherman’s platter and we share both. It’s been good both times we have had it at Cagney’s this cruise. I do have a photo of it in post 221.

@YVRteacher The concierge is Rodney. The person I asked said she didn’t know his last name as everyone just knows him as Rodney. 😀

Tonight we are on cloud 9 watching the beautiful Alaskan scenery as we cruise from Icy Strait Point to Skagway with no fog. We have some occasional rain showers but also some blue sky patches and sunshine. We are in Spinnaker Lounge for B12 and the wonderful scenery.

We had a fabulous and delicious dinner at Taste. We might cancel some specialty dining reservations as the food and variety of menu choices at Taste has been so good and the service has also been excellent. My husband ordered the Bruschetta and Waldorf salad for appetizers while I ordered cheese ravioli and Pear and Gorgonzola salad. Wow! They were all sooooo good!! For entrees, my husband ordered the BBQ Mixed grill with ribs, chicken and a bratwurst. I ordered the trout. Everything was amazing and we were lucky to get a window seat. We were too full to order desserts. Forgot to get a photo of the bruschetta and pretend the ravioli photo shows 3 pierces and not two half pieces. Lol. It was soooo good we will likely cancel one or two specialty dining meals to come back for the menu selection, amazing food and excellent service.

The cost for the unlimited rides on the mountain top gondola in ISP by applying the FAS and FAS+ $50 credits and Latitudes discount was $16.15 each. Hiking boots were helpful as the trails were wet dirt with gravel. We were comfortable in a T-shirt, fleece jacket and light rain jacket.

Thank you to @bluesea777 for the suggestion for the Lavender Patch martini. It is excellent and I like the mint garnish and taste.

Just wanted to stop in to say that I hope you have a wonderful cruise! It looks like you will have beautiful weather. Both of our ships will overlap in Juneau for about an hour on Sunday. We will be sure to wave. Looking forward to reading more of your review when our cruise on the Spirit ends.

Day 3 (10) daily via PDF. NCL Spirit day 10 (3).pdf

Day 3 (10) daily.

Hello from beautiful Icy Strait Point. We had a lazy morning as usual by sleeping in a bit and enjoying a leisurely breakfast at Windows. We did Tri-Bond trivia but only got 13 correct today while the winners got all 20 correct! For general trivia, we got 12 correct and the winners got 14 correct. We were happy as there are two of us and some teams have six people. It rained a little this morning but had stopped when we got off the ship. We love ISP as they have wood burning fire pits to make it smell so good. You can see Eagles nesting in the trees as there is such a contrast between the green of the trees and their white heads. When we first stopped here in 2015, we had to take a bus through Hoonah and along trails to get to the top to do the zip line which they claim is the longest in the world. Now, they have a gondola going to the top so we did that for our excursion. It was scenic and fun to do despite the cloudy weather and occasional fog at the top. It was low cost for us with the $50 off excursions for each of us. Otherwise, it is $50 per person if you buy a ticket when off the ship. We did enjoy the views and scenery while in the gondola. We walked along the ocean and enjoyed seeing some occasional marine mammal in the water or birds or eagles singing and flying. There were some fawns with their Mom by one gondola. After a tasty lunch at Garden Cafe, it was time for the hot tub followed by a quiet and relaxing time in the spa. We are a little behind as we haven’t had a drink yet. We are loving our time on the Spirit!

I’m there with you. My husband is always making jokes and he’s the one who can quickly figure these out. I can help with a few but need time to think about it.

Yes, we are still disappointed about it, too. It’s $199/person per week but they may have daily passes available or may be able to prorate it based on the number of days in the cruise It is expensive for us and a bit of a splurge. Except for yesterday when they were giving tours, it’s bern peaceful and the lounge chairs do get hot. Some people go there for the quiet and scenic area to read books and don’t use the lounge chairs. Have a great day in Icy Strait Point. Are you doing any excursions?

It’s three things that are related. For example, Surprise, Search and Slumber Answer: Party Softball, Baseball, Vampire Answer: Bat Ice, field, floor Answer: Hockey

There is a slightly smaller crowd on this cruise. We were told the first one was about 1800 passengers. When we asked this morning, we were told they were expecting 1700 passengers. One of the wait staff members told us it was slightly more than 1500 passengers. We heard from several sources about passengers who used NCL air with same day arrival who had flight delays and didn’t make it. Our captain tends to leave all ports at 10 minutes after all aboard and not at or after the sail away time. We asked about Latitude members and were told this for counts: Ambassador - 2 Diamond - 1 Sapphire -27 Platinum -30 i can’t remember the numbers for other levels.

I’ll stop by Cagney’s at breakfast time and will let you know.

Daily day 2/9 via PDF. NCL Day 9 (2).pdf