Jenbo57

The fog did not delay our arrival into Seattle. I was up pretty early, and we were docked. I was disappointed in the local weather; the week we were gone, record setting high temps were recorded, even reaching 87 degrees one day! Gees. These clouds did burn off later in the day, so at least we got to enjoy a day in the 70s.

We had breakfast, and then I walked around the ship to take some last pictures while waiting for our group to be called.

Off the port side, the Seattle Yacht Club

Provisions for the next cruise!

One last look at the funnel!

We were off the ship and waiting for a cab by 8:20. (I don't think Yellow Cab, who has the contract with the Port of Seattle, knew that there was going to be a ship in port that day, because there weren't many cabs waiting.) After a 20 minute wait, we were in a cab and heading to the Seattle ferry terminal for our 55 minute crossing to Bremerton. We got there just before 9:00 and we had to wait an hour for the next boat. I caught up with the local paper and looked through my pictures (which I had uploaded to my iPad) while we waited.

Once on board the ferry, I took some final pictures of the Seattle skyline and the Miracle!

Joe's wife picked us up at the ferry and I was home by 11:15 a.m. (So nice to be local!) My dogs were happy to see me, the cats didn't care, and my hubby and son had kept the house clean and kept up with the laundry, so I was a happy camper!

Those eight days went by way too quickly. I guess I'd better start planning my next Alaska cruise!

At 4:00 p.m. I went to the very well organized and well attended roll call group cocktail party, held at Sam's Piano Bar. (Thanks, Marie, for setting it up; you did a fabulous job!) There was a portable screen set up, and one of our members showed pictures: some of his, and some from other people who brought their memory cards with them to share. It was great to see what other people had seen/done during the cruise. We also had a raffle of a couple Ships on a Stick, some champagne, and some wine. Darn it, I didn't get a SOAS, or the booze for matter. No worries...it was a great little get together and a nice way to say good-bye to folks. We met some really great people on this cruise.

When I walked out of Sam's after the party, it was like the Twilight Zone. In a little over an hour, the weather had become like this...

We had slowed down considerably, and the fog horn blew every couple of minutes. I'm glad I got out and enjoyed the sun earlier in the day!

We enjoyed a nice, leisurely dinner with Don and Christine, a couple from the roll call who we'd first met at the train station in Seattle. Such great people, and so much fun! I think, after we finished eating, we must have spent two hours just talking and laughing. Thank goodness for FB...we can keep in touch! Afterwards, Joe and I went down to our cabin to start packing and find out what our debarkation group number was. The Guest Talent Show was at 10:00 p.m., but we had a date with Sunny, our cabin steward, to celebrate her "retirement" from Carnival. She was officially through at 9:00 p.m., and would be flying home to Bulgaria from Seattle on Tuesday (by way of Los Vegas, and New York, and Madrid -- a total of 48 hours of travel...yuck!).

Sunny came by right at 10:00; Joe had a pina colada waiting for her. We gave her the magnet we got her from each port, and her Starbucks gift card (which I'm not sure she understood how to use) and some extra $$$. We chatted for a bit and she told us about her future plans, and then she left to party with several of her friends from the ship. I wish her well...she was pretty awesome!

We were in debarkation group 2 to get off the ship in the morning, so after we packed our bags and put them outside the door, it was off to bed. We had been told that, because of the fog, we'd be arriving into Seattle late, but I knew I'd wake up early anyway. Gosh, it was so hard to believe that another cruise had come to a close!

After lunch we tried once again to win Joe that elusive Ship on a Stick, by playing Name That Rock Song. We started out really well, but got tripped up by Blink 182 and Smashmouth (I didn't listen to that stuff in the 90s), and a couple others, and finished with 28 points out of 40. The winners got 37 points out of 40. I was really impressed with the trivia games on this sailing; challenging and a lot of fun!

Now it was time to head outside to enjoy the fantastic weather!

Joe kicked my butt on several rounds of mini golf...

See...even on an Alaska cruise it's possible to swim/sunbathe!

Even I rolled up my pant legs and soaked up some Vitamin D!

Up next: Cruise Critic/FB roll call cocktail party, and a change in the weather!

Wow, what a perfect final day at sea this was...at least the first part! It's amazing how quickly the weather can change, though!

Joe did the Behind the Fun tour at 9:00 a.m. (it went 'til noon or shortly thereafter). I had been on the tour on the Splendor, so I sat this one out. He really enjoyed it, and hopes that his wife will want to sign up for it on their cruise on the Dream over Christmas. Along with these goodies, which were delivered to the cabin while he was still on the tour, he got three photos: one with just he and the captain, one with the whole group and the captain, and one with the group in the galley. He also received a drawstring bag, a baseball hat, a lanyard, and a bar of soap carved into the shape of a swan (which one woman thought was white chocolate and was going to eat).

When Joe got back from the tour we went up to the lido buffet to have lunch. Lo and behold, they were also having the Chocolate Extravaganza, featuring many kinds of decadent chocolate desserts! I couldn't pass that one up, so I ate light lunch and lots of dessert! (Those pink and yellow things are fresh, made from scratch marshmallows, which I love!!!)

Off in the distance, Vancouver Island

On our streetcar tour we learned that each time a ship makes its first visit to Skagway they paint info about the ship on this wall. It started during the gold rush era but has continued until this day. The next time we're in Skagway the info for Carnival Miracle should be posted on the wall. Our tour leader said it is now mandatory!

Yeah, that's what we've always heard. It's interesting to see how much more "professional" they started to get over the years, too. Did you see the one for the Disney Wonder? It's almost like they brought along their own artist to do it! ;)

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

thecruiserofships - I will try to get the Fun Times scanned and posted!

cruiseclues - I didn't take any pictures of the bathroom, because it was like the bathroom of all the balcony cabins I've been had on Carnival. :) I took these on the Liberty in November; the one in our cabin on the Miracle was identical!

Those Ketchikan pictures bring back good memories. I spent 2 2 week periods there working with the Coast Guard at the base. Saw cruise ships come in daily. I enjoyed my time there. Was not crazy night life, but beautiful days. I was even tempted to take an offer to work on the "Bridge To No Where" back then. Glad I did not...The bridge money never came in. Build never happen. I always did like the ferry to the island anyways. The bridge would have been an eye sore and a pain for the cruise ships.

I've always thought that being stationed at either Ketchikan or Sitka would be a dream for anyone in the Coast Guard! Both such beautiful places (but yeah, I imagine the night life would be dreary)!

I have to get up really early to head up to Vancouver to get on the Golden Princess for a one-night cruise to Seattle, so I'll finish up with the last sea day and some final thoughts when I get back on Sunday.

Thanks for sticking with me this long! ;)

Once back on board, we took pictures as we left Ketchikan, then went and found some dinner. It was Cruise Elegant night, so we ate in the...surprise, surprise...buffet! The was the first cruise I didn't eat dinner in the MDR at least once and honestly, I didn't miss it! I'm not a "get to know my waiter" kind of gal and I can always find something good to eat from the buffet (or room service).

There were a couple of Beatles tribute shows that night that sounded good, but we didn't go. We were so go, go, go on port days that by the time we got back on board, I was fine with watching TV or reading. I think I probably sat and played Candy Crush on my iPad (I'm so bad at that game) and Joe watched a movie on his.

Ketchikan gets more annual rainfall than Seattle, but no one was thinking about rain today!

I love Creek Street, especially when we're the only ship in port. Creek Street with four ships in town is not fun!

Getting back on the ship in the final port is always so sad...

I love totem poles, and we'd both already visited Saxman Village on previous visits, so we hit Totem Bight on our way back into town. Unfortunately, it was too early in the season and it wasn't open. We could walk the trail, but the visitor's center was closed, and we couldn't get one of the maps that describes all of the totem poles along the trail. Oh well, it was still very, very interesting!

The Clan House

After spending about 30 minutes here, we headed back into town to drop off the rental car. We only put 55 miles on it, which didn't seem that many for all we had seen, and the total cost was $66. Honestly, I think renting cars makes so much sense; you get to see/do a lot more than you can when booking a single excursion, and you do it at your own pace! Oh, and Alaska Car Rentals even gave us a ride back into town -- yay!!!

After exploring the upper part of the park, we hit the beach

Next stop...Totem Bight State Park!

We started back down the gravel road to the main highway (I think it was 11 miles to the Tongass Highway), and then headed north to the end of the road, and Settlers Cove. Of all of the places we'd been, this was most like "home". We both commented that this could be any of a number of places on the Kitsap or Olympic Peninsulas, and reminded me of people asking me, "why do you go to Alaska so much, when it's so similar to what we have here?"

The N. Tongass Highway ends here, at the Settlers Cove parking lot

Lunch Falls was beautiful; photos don't do it justice!

We got the Starbucks card and found Alaska Car Rentals, where I indeed did have a reservation. I wonder how dumb they thought I was? Anyway, I talked to the agent about places to go, and he confirmed that Lake Harriet Hunt and Settlers Cove were both doable in the amount of time we had. I wish we had also been able to head south to the end of the road, but since we got a late start and still wanted to go shopping later in the day, it wasn't going to happen. Another "next time"!

We headed north on the Tongass Highway. We turned right at Ward Cove and headed up to Lake Harriet Hunt (I wonder who she was?), passing Ward Lake, Ward Creek, Connell Lake, and Talbot Lake along the way. Again, we would have stopped had we gotten an earlier start.

Lake HH was beautiful!

I think maybe there had been a fire here at some point

We ran into a local who'd come back out to the lake to see if he could find his wife's cell phone. They'd been swimming the day before and she thought she might have left it on the dock. No such luck, but we did have a nice chat with him about all of the hiking trails nearby, and being able to hike up to these mountains (Brown Mountain and Dude Mountain). Yet another reason to return to Ketchikan...

Ketchikan, like Juneau, is only accessible by boat or plane, so you see many of both

Had we been in port longer, I might have gone back to this place for "Psycho De Mayo II"

Weather wise, Ketchikan was the most amazing day of the cruise! This was my fourth visit, and I saw mountains that I didn't even know existed. Every time I'd been there before it was either cloudy, wet, or both! This was very much a "wow" day, even for the locals!

I love coming down Tongass Narrows into Ketchikan; a lot of interesting scenery. Gravina Island is where the late Senator Ted Stevens wanted to build the "bridge to nowhere"; when you see how close the island is to the mainland, you'll understand why people said no. Honestly, on a good day my husband could swim across the narrows!

Since we had both seen pretty much everything there is to see in downtown Ketchikan, I had reserved a car for the day so we could explore some of the outer areas. If we'd drug ourselves out of bed sooner, we could have done more, but for some reason we were both a little slow that morning.

We set out on foot to find Starbucks (to buy a gift card for our cabin steward) and find the rental car place. It was very unlike me to have not printed out the confirmation, but lo and behold, I didn't have it with me and wasn't 100% sure of where I had reserved the car. Both places it could have been were a couple blocks from one another, so I crossed my fingers that it was the closer of the two (it was). It's a good thing it was a beautiful day and we both like to walk, because it was a good mile and a half before we got to Starbucks (which was actually in the local Safeway) and then Alaska Car Rentals.

Ketchikan International Airport

The ferry from the mainland to Gravina Island. Much smaller than those we take to get from the Kitsap Peninsula to Seattle!

The view from our balcony once we'd docked

Heading off the ship. Wow, I've never seen those mountains off in the distance before!

I didn't wear that jacket for very long; it was warm out!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write and post pictures of your cruise. It's so helpful to us who have never been to Alaska. The scenery looks unbelievable!

We have not planned excursions yet. You have given us some great ideas!

You're welcome!

As far as excursions, don't be afraid to think outside the box! There is so much to see and do up there; don't limit yourself to just what the ship offers.

Nice review and photos! Thanks for doing it.

Thanks; it's actually been really fun reliving the experience! :)

Yes the pictures of the cabin do put me at ease! Thank you for sharing your experience. I do have a question...you said it was rough one of the nights. Was it like that the whole time cruising? We are traveling with with a couple that have never cruised, I for one have been in some rougher waters and it doesn't bother me, but I am concerned about my sister in law. Does it tend to get rough on the Alaska cruises? Just curious. I know it is never predictable.

That second sea day was the only day I would consider to be rough, and I didn't think it was bad at all. I guess it depends on what you're used to. The last sea day, when we were out in the Pacific Ocean, west of Vancouver island, was fabulous! Warm and sunny 'til about 5:00 p.m., when we were suddenly shrouded in fog. We had to slow way down, and the captain was blowing the fog horn, but the water remained calm.

After spending most of the day on either deck 9 or deck 3, I decided to go back down to our cabin. I sat on the bed enjoying the scenery, occasionally going out on the balcony to take pictures. I wondered whether people were really disappointed in how the weather had turned out that day, hoping they were able to enjoy the day in spite of it. Glacier Bay is amazing...I hope to see it again some day.

Sea lions

The boat arrives to pick up the rangers and the ladies from Alaska Geographic

In Icy Strait

After dinner we lost more $$$ in the casino, and then stopped at the Gotham Lounge so Joe could grab a beer. The captain and his companion were enjoying a drink so we, along with a very funny couple from Australia, chatted with him for a few minutes. He was very friendly (told us where to find the best beer in the world) and seemed very down to earth. After he left, a couple from our roll call joined us for a few minutes, and then it was off to bed.

Tomorrow: Ketchikan! (And what a day it was...)

Margerie Glacier. By now we're at the head of Tarr Inlet, 65 miles north of the mouth of the bay, and as far as we can go. After viewing Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers for 40 minutes or so, we turned around and headed back out of the bay.

Grand Pacific Glacier. It looks dirty, but it isn't; it's covered with gravel and stones.

The gulls were enjoying themselves!

Before I post my dreary pictures of Glacier Bay from this trip, let me show you one from a previous cruise. That way, if you're sailing into GB this season, you'll see that it isn't always as nasty as it was while we were there!

Yes, folks...this is what it looked like when I opened my curtains early Saturday morning, as we were entering Glacier Bay! It that point I wasn't sure what the day would have in store for us.

The park rangers had a table set up on lido deck (in the covered area, thankfully) to answer questions, and were joined later by two women from Alaska Geographic, who had books, maps, etc. to sell. The rangers provided commentary throughout the day, and did a presentation in the main theatre in the early afternoon.

A little less socked in as we got further into the bay, but by then it had started raining! It continued to rain for most of the time we were in there.

Lamplugh Glacier, the second of the tidewater glaciers we'd see that day. We passed by Reid Glacier first, but it was so socked in I didn't even attempt to take a picture.

Once we got back on board, we ate dinner in the buffet and looked at the entertainment lineup for the evening. There was a local guy by the name of Steve Hites doing a show at 6:45 called "North to Alaska" that sounded interesting, and someone by the name of Tyler Linkin doing comedy juggling later in the evening. We didn't go to either. I was tired and just wanted to sit in the cabin and read; I think Joe watched a movie on his iPad. I wanted to be up early, because tomorrow: Glacier Bay!

Heading out into Lynn Canal. Shortly after taking this picture, we all got kicked off the outer decks because of the wind!

My favorite building in Skagway; and such an interesting history!

http://arcticbrotherhood.com/

Downtown Skagway reminds me of a movie back lot, or something from Disney. I didn't take as many pictures this trip...

I love the "graffiti" on the cliffs opposite the railroad dock!

I got back onto the ship and to our cabin just as Joe was leaving me a note letting me know he was heading out to the Days of '98 Show. It's the story of Soapy Smith and his reign over Skagway in 1897-1898, told through song and dance. Someone on our roll call had posted that he was going to go, so I knew about it, but I really wasn't interested in seeing it (actually, I thought it sounded really corny). But my son has been involved in community theatre since junior high, and it's always good to support the local arts, so I figured what the heck.

Turns out this show has been in production since 1923, when Princess steamships started bringing tourists to Skagway. The local residents decided to put on a show for them to raise money for uniforms for their local hockey team. The show has been running ever since. The performers all had professional theatre experience and were great! The whole thing was very entertaining. It's only an hour long (and costs $20), so if you're done with your shopping/exploring and looking for something to do, check them out! Here's their website: www.thedaysof98show.com

Joe had his picture taken with the girls afterwards...