Alaskan Cruise Review

After using all of last year's and this year's cruise reviews for research, I decided to return the favour for future cruisers!

Travelling with me were DH, DS (19), DS (17), father-in-law and nephew (early 20's). We were on the Carnival Miracle departing Aug. 19.

This will be more of a summary of the trip. If you have specific questions about any part - please ask!

We flew into Seattle 3 days prior to the cruise - Sat Aug 16. At this point, it was just the immediate family. FIL and nephew joined us the night before the cruise.

We took a cab from the aiport to the hotel. I believe the cost before tip was about $48. It was a tight fit with 4 people and luggage...but we did it!

We stayed at the Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown on 6th Ave N. It was an excellent choice for the following reasons:

- a couple of blocks from Space Needle area

- huge rooms including a sitting area

- great breakfast

- free shuttle to take you within a 1 mile radius of the hotel

- lots of restaurants nearby

We arrived about noon, and they stored our luggage while we went to a nearby Thai restaurant for lunch. By the time we returned from lunch, the room was ready and we went up for a rest. (We came from the east coast so had the time difference to adjust to and had been up since 4:30 am.)

We headed over to the Space Needle area and bought a city pass. We used it all over our 3 days!

Saturday - We visited the Chihuly Glass and Gardens exhibit - excellent (coupon in city pass); Went to Zeek's Pizza for dinner; went up Space Needle for early evening views; returned to Chihuly exhibit to see displays at night.

Sunday - Went up Space Needle for morning views (you get 2 visits with the pass); enjoyed the EMP museum (lunch at the POP restaurant); headed over to the Pacific Science Center and wandered around, also watched an IMAX movie (we picked the 'Lemur' one) included with the pass; strolled to the Yellow Leaf Cupcake store for a snack; headed back to the hotel. We ended up going back to the nearby Thai restaurant for dinner.

Monday - Took the free hotel shuttle to the Pike Place market area. Spent some time wandering around the market then headed down to the Harbour. Did the harbour cruise included with the pass and then visited the Aquarium. Had a late lunch/early dinner at The Crab Pot which the family loved (I'm not a seafood fan so I had fish and chips). Then back to the market for a bit before it closed. We called the hotel shuttle for pickup.

Tuesday - The hotel contracts with another company for shuttles to the cruise ship. They arranged the shuttle for us. It was $6 per person. We were on the 11am shuttle. Checkin at the pier went smoothly. We only had a bit of a wait before they started loading the ship and it wasn't very long before we were on the Lido deck eating lunch.

Wed - sea day - we enjoyed the ship and activities

Thurs - Tracey Arm Fjord - Before we entered the fjord we saw tons of whales in the waters around the ship. We paid for the small boat excursion that got us close to both the Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers. It was amazing.

Fri - Skagway - The 3 boys did Grizzly Falls ziplining (booked privately) in the morning and loved it. DH and I walked into town, window-shopped for a bit and then did the short hike to Yakutania Point (saw some otters). FIL did an afternoon train trip (not sure which one - through Carnival) and really enjoyed it. The rest of us did the 'Chilkoot Trail Hike and Float' (booked privately) in the afternoon which was a great excursion.

Sat - Juneau - DH and nephew did the gold mine tour (through Carnival) which they both enjoyed. I went to the Dog Sled camp (not the glacier one; booked through Carnival) with DS's and we all loved it. We met back at the ship and the 6 of us headed out to the Salmon Bake (booked through Carnival). The meal was great and we all enjoyed it. The return bus dropped us off in town for some shopping before heading back to the ship.

Sun - Sea day (the only day that wasn't nice weather)

Mon - Victoria - We took the sea walk into town through the Fisherman's Wharf area. We watched the seals and otters being fed and then continued on downtown. We just walked through town and found a nice place with a patio to sit in the sun, try local ales and eat nachos. Then we walked/water taxied back to the ship.

Tues - We kept out luggage and disembarked around 8am. It was quick and we were at the airport waiting for our plane by 10ish I think. Our flight was at noon. We had pre-booked with Seattle Express at $12 per person. We were in a nice big clean mini-bus.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip. If you have any specific questions - please ask!

Thanks for the review! We leave for Alaska this week and I love reading about others experience. Glad you had a good trip!

Thanks for posting.

We leave next Friday on Celebrity Solstice for our first Alaskan Cruise. We plan to also leave a review here on CC as a thank you for all of the great information and advice we have gotten on these boards.

Sounds like you had a good and busy time!