Ak4n3

I gave up figuring out hubby's camera.  I'll just post pics of what I have from my smartphone.  Onwards!

Pre-Cruise Day August 26

Since I was paranoid of spending oodles of cash for this vacation only to be left behind, we decided to fly in the day before. 

We gave my sister a list of instructions about the kids:

            1.  Keep the kids alive until we get back. 

            2.  Refer to Number 1 

We bought the premium internet package so we can always be in contact once at sea.  We’re not so bad parents after all.

We booked Southwest from Burbank to Seattle on Monday, August 26^th.  After saying goodbye to the kidlets before they were off to school grumbling that we like cruising more than we like them, we took an Uber to Burbank for our 11am flight. Checking in is a breeze as they have curbside luggage check. We deposited our 4 luggage and the porters handed us our boarding passes for Burbank and our connecting flight in Sacramento.  Easy-peasy.

On a clear day, it was a good day to fly

When we arrived at Sea-Tac closer to 5pm, I told my parents that we will walk to the hotel.  Our hotel is the Clarion off 176^th St. just across the Airport.  It doesn’t look so far as there is a pedestrian overpass and an elevator going down…WRONG!  The elevator at 176^th St has been under construction since July-ish and is not operational until October!  My bad, my research didn’t take me that detailed. 

So, I carry Monami’s luggage along with my own and down the stairs I trudged….argh!!! Hubby carried the bigger luggage and his carryon with all the camera equipment and laptop.  Popsie has his own luggage to deal with. The walk from the corner to the hotel is not that bad.  Bonus points for the hotel for giving us a street level room.

I plunked down the bed while my parents freshened up to meet a high school friend of theirs at the lobby.  Hubby set up the laptop so I can go on my online class that started the same day as my Alaska vacation! After dealing with my online class, I discovered that I didn’t need to crack open my book during vacation after I take the first quiz.  Yay! And in goes the books in the luggage.  I never saw the books again until after we returned.

After my online class, hubby and I decided to get dinner from 7-Eleven a block away and get sodas and some supplies for the cruise.  It’s a bit uphill and after our adventure down the stairs with the luggage, our legs were wobbly.  I was just happy it’s not too far away.  Selections are not too bad, they have wine and stuff for those who want to bring wine on the ship.  Now we know where to get some decent coffee and easy breakfast for the next day.

The hotel was as basic as it gets, no complaints here.  Since it was only one night, my parents shared the hotel room with us.   The beds were comfy and it suited us.  However, I will probably not do the whole extended family sharing of one room in future vacays.  Despite me being so tired, I ended up being the last person awake, which means I was serenaded by a cacophony of snoring from the parental units on my left and my hubby on my right.  I don’t know if I managed to get any sleep at all.  According to my Fitbit, I was restless most of the night with a lot of red marks showing when I was awake until I finally gave up at 630am.  As much as I love the Olds who birthed me to this world, never again.  At least I can always smother hubby with a pillow, right?

The roads are easy to navigate and are paved.  We also drove to The St. Therese Shrine.  There was a bit of road construction on the highway but it's easy and not too bad on the traffic when getting near the port.

Packing and Equipment

We are not cold weather people.  I like the tropics better.  I love snorkeling and beaches and would gladly live on an island with coconuts and a hammock.  That said, why did I pick Alaska since our travel history is the Lower 48 and the Pacific?  We wanted to see glaciers while they are still majestic (another rant for another time) and enjoy the time with the Olds while they are still able to travel. We want an adventure that we only read from books and watched on the travel channels and vlogs.  The memories we gained will be etched forever in our brains and in social media.

It took us a grand total of 10 hours the day before our flight to pack.  It was so stressful. I never like to cruise with more than 2 luggage for our family of 4.   Tropical cruising is doable with a backpack by yourself.  But not with kidlets.  And especially not with the Olds who wear sweaters in 80 degree Cali weather.  Still, I was optimistic.  

I was counting on the weather to be warm and sunny.  However, the weather in Alaska the week before was cloudy and a bit rainy.  Weather gods, don’t fail me now! I told hubby and the Olds to make sure to include the following in their packing (in addition to the regular cruising stuff like enough clothes for a week, elegant night stuff, toiletries, and medications):

1 pair of sneakers (hopefully they are waterproof enough)

1 pair of longer thicker socks to layer over regular socks for the Tracy Arm day

1 thermal leggings or exercise leggings/tights

Light sweater

Waterproof jacket (layered jackets like NorthFace ones, best decision ever)

Warm Gloves

Beanies

 Popsie complained "You and your mom pack and shop like old men.  Why don't you bring that cocktail dress I know you have?  Make your mom bring this dress I got for her. And the shoes--."  Monami looked horrified and whispered to me that she refuses to wear the long dress gown.  He wanted to bring a complete suit and tie for elegant night.  I told him no. 😛 A collared shirt, jacket, and pants will do nicely.  Besides, I knew that we will be too tired to change into something fancy after an excursion.

Now, Hubby bought a Canon EOS Rebel SL1 18.0 MP CMOS Digital SLR Full HD 1080 Video Body with EF-S 18-55mm  with some bells and whistles as a gift to himself back in 2014 and never actually used it because he felt it’s all clunky.  I mentioned it was two years ago, but a trip to the Amazon website showed we bought it in 2014.  😛  It' s as old as our daughter.  and we never used it. A month before our trip, he went on a crash course self-training from Professor Y. Tube regarding all you need to know about photography.  That camera better be worth it on this trip. It ate a lot of luggage space! As of right now, I still haven’t seen what he took during our trip.  I was perfectly happy with my smartphone.  Anyhoo, I was sure there are a lot of cruising photographers on this cruise so he can always bug them for tips.

Binoculars are a must.  We have a rinky dink binocular that fits in the palm of my hand.  We never thought about buying a new one until we were on the ship.  We did end up buying on the ship from Pixels.  I thought it was alright.  I’ll post the picture box once I find it…it’s somewhere….

All in all, we have 4 large luggage and each of us has one carry on. If needed, we included laundry pods in our luggage.  Everything else can be worn twice or washed or layered if you're that cold. I wanted us all to pack as minimally as possible.  I think I can  do the Alaska Cruise  with a backpack..if the weather gods like me...and if Popsie didn't insist on me bringing a dress with the stupid shoes...or if my hubby didn't bring the camera....

9 minutes ago, trippingpara said:

Great start Ak4n3, can't wait to read the rest!!  Glad I was able to help you out some.  "Popsie is a bit creaky"...I love it!  I can see Lady Trip starting to say that about me pretty soon!

 

We say it with love.  😉 

I just realized my trip and yours are one year apart, considering.  We're not that good in taking beautiful pictures, but I hope to make you proud.

Carnival Legend August 27 - September 3, 2019

Itinerary

Day 1 Seattle

Day 2 Sea Day

Day 3 Tracy Arm Fjord

Day 4 Skagway

Day 5 Juneau

Day 6 Ketchikan

Day 7 Victoria

Day 8 Seattle

I created a trip report for Carnival Legend at the Alaska forum since I decided that my trip report is more of Alaska rather than the ship itself.  It is a thank you for all those CC members that tirelessly provided wonderful reviews and assistance to other cruisers.  Cheers

I thought I would write a trip report although not as intensive as @trippingpara one.  (Big thanks to @trippingpara who graciously answered my questions about his Alaska trip).  It took me months of intensive research to get the most cost effective (or should I say cheap) cruise to schedule the most touristy things to do in Alaska.  

My husband and I decided to bite the bullet and go. Plus, I decided to take the parental units, Popsie (73) and Monami (72) also known as “The Olds”, with us.  They’ve never seen icebergs nor been this far up north from the equator so it will be an adventure for them.  I was a bit hesitant at first to take them with us since my husband and I are a bit more on the active side and don’t know how they can keep up.  I mean, they can still walk, though Popsie is a bit creaky.  My sister said “just go and take them, it’s not every day you can go to Alaska to see glaciers.”  So, leaving behind my 2 kids to her care, I clicked “book” on the Carnival website to place my deposit and the rest is history.

I booked our trip for August 27-September 3 because it has 2 SoCal holidays and I won’t have to use more vacation days than necessary.  I was a bit worried about it being almost the end of the cruising season but it was slightly cheaper than going in June – early August.  Normally I’ll book an ocean view in the lower decks but I decided to snag 2 interior cabins with obstructed windows on deck 4 (nice view of the lifeboats).  I decided I’ll just go to open decks at lido and deck 3 to view the wildlife and we won’t miss not having an actual window with a view.  As long as we have natural sunlight in our cabins, we’re happy.  We enjoyed the extra space.

With regards to the things we want or needed to do, I heavily relied on the trip reviews in CC (Cruise Critics rock!).  I have a list of the things we absolutely, most definitely, things we need to do or else.

1.        Small boat excursion on Tracy Arm Fjord day

2.       Rent Cars to drive in Skagway and Juneau

3.       See Emerald Lake

4.       Ride on dogsled at Tutshi Dog Kennels

5.       Hike Mendenhall Glacier

6.       See whales

7.       See salmon

8.       The Olds and hubby eat king crab (yuck on the crustaceans)

9.       Cross fingers and hope to see the northern lights (oh please, please)

10.   Do NOT meet moose or bears (me is terrified)

I’ll try to post pictures next time once I fiout how to upload pics from hubby’s brand spanking new DSLR that we have for two years but never actually used it. 

Popsie, me, and Monami at  the Legend Atrium

Hubby and I

How about requesting for a trundle bed? my daughter started cruising at 24 months and we didn't want a crib in our cabin since we were in an interior cabin with my older son and the crib will make it cramped.  The trundle was only off the floor about 6 inches in case she when she rolled off (oh, she did...she landed on the pillows on the floor).  We learned to shove the chair against one side of the trundle and barricade her with more pillows.

They offered the brunch with a view on the Legend last week when we were cruising thru Tracy Arm Fjord (August 29th) .  We didn't go because we have a small boat excursion to see the Sawyer glaciers up close.   

13 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

  Besides In-N-Out Burger that is;

Just order your burgers "animal-style with whole grilled onion instead".  😉 

On 7/29/2019 at 7:10 AM, GaHawkeye said:

We used the Port Valet when we debarked on 6/11 from the Legend. It worked very smoothly. After turning in the form to guest services, we received our luggage tags and boarding passes on Monday morning. Any luggage fees you may have are deducted from your sail and sign account. Be sure to leave enough in there to account for the fee. We don’t fly much, so we were nervous about all of it. We were very happy with the result. Luggage was in Atlanta when we landed. 

Hank

Glad to know that Carnival now participates in Port Valet services.  This will be a very welcome news and it will be convenient for us planning a city tour before our 4:40pm flight home.  Thanks for the info.

I hope the premium internet would be ok on my Alaska cruise on the Legend.  I need to go online for my classes (I didn't know at the time that I would be taking any classes at all)... ahhh, school...why do you break my heart!

I never knew that you can suffer cruise withdrawals vicariously because I'm suffering one right now after reading your review...it was one heck of a ride.  Well done!  I shall miss the Splendor, I only knew ye once...

16 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

 

 

 

The woman sitting her has that look that says, "I don't care if this is a photo op for the entire ship.  I'm going to SIT HERE and save my seat, dammit!" 

At least she's actually on the seat and not a phantom sitter... 😛 

Back in 2012 and 2016, we went to the Queen Mary and toured the ship for free because we cruised Carnival.  It was a good time to spend without being so far from the port.

However, it looks like you need to buy tickets to tour nowadays...unless I'm mistaken.  I couldn't find anything on the Queen Mary website about Carnival cruisers touring for free.

Hi!

It was nice seeing the Inspiration again.  🙂 Our first ever cruise that lead to my severe cruising addiction....

Looking forward to the rest of your review.  I will miss the Splendor when she leaves Long Beach.

On 5/18/2019 at 4:27 AM, trippingpara said:

Whenever I've been fairly close to the US border in Canada, I've never had a problem using USD, but like Auralee said, they will always give you change in CAD and the FX rate will not be favorable.  On this particular trip, we only used our credit card which had very favorable FX rates and does not change conversion fees.

 

Also, please note that there are very FEW places along the highway for food.  This is a very rural route that is extremely scenic but very lacking in amenities.  Your best bet for food is in Carcross.  We stopped at a little cafe there, just off the highway.  Excellent sandwiches!

Thank you for replying.  Now I feel more prepared about our trip.  We're so excited!  Three months to go....

On 5/15/2019 at 8:01 AM, trippingpara said:

 

LOL, yeah, bringing the parents back in one piece is a pretty solid plan!  I'm so glad to you enjoyed my review and have found it helpful.  The great thing with Tutshi, you don't have to take the dog sled tour to play with the pups.  But note, the dog sled tour is pretty easy going for the passengers.  It's not a wild ride or dangerous in any way.  If I remember correctly, you can sit or stand in the sled.  We choose to stand.  Sitting would be just fine for them.  Something to think about if you'd (or they) are interested.  Have fun and smooth sailings!

Can we use  USD when  paying for the dog sled tour (or purchasing food along the highways in the Yukon) or should we bring CAD?

This is the third time I read your trip report and I love it.  It gave me ideas what to do for our upcoming Alaska cruise on August with my parents and hubby.  Thanks for the info about the Tutsi Dog Sled tour.  My mom loves dogs.  However, since they are on the older side (70's), they would probably sit out the dog sled part.  I promised my sister I would return them in one piece.

I resigned to the fact that I will watch my parents and DH scarf down on seafood of the crustacean variety when we get to Alaska.  I'm sure I can find and eat fish and FRIED calamari (can't stand grilled squid either, I don't know why).

I got my new gift card back in a week after cancelling my shore excursion.  Call them if you haven't received it yet.

When we did the Chef's Table, the staff found us in the dining room and they asked us if any have allergies and preferences.  They "hunted" my table  that every single night at the dining room to confirm with us over and over again if I had allergies or specific requests.  I found that odd and a bit annoying.  However, like you, I am not a fan of seafood of the crustacean variety.  I wanted to try out the food but I really really REALLY don't like the taste and mouth feel of seafood (lobster, shrimp, crab...yuck!).  I should have told them that I don't eat seafood when I had the chance.   I tried the seafood dishes and ended up passing them over to another guest at the Chef's Table.  More for him, I guess.

I'm sure Chef's table will accommodate your request of no seafood.  I read a thread some time ago that the person was vegetarian, so no meat dishes for her and she was happy with her menu.  Just make sure that you would tell them when they find you at dinner.  Better yet, if your Chef's table reservation is confirmed, maybe a quick email back letting them know if you can opt for something else other than seafood.

The Pride Dining Room (MidShip) is YTD.

Spirit Dining Room (Aft) is Early/Late.

2 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Have not sailed out of Seattle, but have done many excursions with transfers from other ports.

Your assigned zone of departure from the ship will be an early zone.

You get off the ship as normal, grab your luggage, then pass thru customs and immigrations as normal.

Once outside, there will be people who will direct you to the buses.

The driver will load your luggage under the bus and then you board the bus.

Once the bus is full, it will depart on your excursion.

 

Once you get to the airport, make sure you have ALL of your luggage before the driver departs to the next terminal.

Thank you so much for the reply.  This helps me plan  for the debarkation day for my group with the excursion in mind (and figure out if it's doable and worth it).  Like how early do we need to get breakfast, how to herd my peeps off the ship  (when I know they might not want to leave the ship at all, LOL), etc.  🙂 

Thanks.  I was hoping someone in the forum may have done the excursion, that I may benefit from their experience.