Just back from Carnival Spirit NB and 5 night land tour.

Hi all,

What an amazing trip. We.ve travel quite a bit and this was our best trip yet. I'll post this in sections since I have to go pick up mail and dog today.

June 26

We left for the Philadelphia airport this afternoon to stay at the Sheraton Suites at the airport due to an early flight. We've stayed here before and it's convenient to park car and just shuttle to the airport. Our room was a nice suite on the eighth floor.

June27

Around 3 AM the fire alarm sounded. No one seemed in any hurry so we grabbed the carryon that was by the door and started walking down 8 flights. No one smelled any smoke or had any other indication of a fire but out we went. Stayed outside about 40 minutes till fire dept. cleared the hotel. Apparently it was a faulty alrm system. It had gone off twice the day before. The alarm was still sounding when we returned to the building. We waited about 15 minutes but the alarm never shut off and of course the elevators weren't working. Up 8 flights of stairs.(We left our carry-on in the car since our morning things were in the room. Showered with the alarm still blaring ( very unnerving) and left on the shuttle for the airport. There was only one agent checking in for United at 5:15AM and the line was very long. It took us about 45 minutes to check in.

Flight went through Denver to Vancouver. My one son met us at the airport in Philly and another joined us in Denver.

Vancouver Airport

Everything went beautifully there. We quickly processed through immigration (less than 5 minutes.) Our luggage came quickly. We got a porter and he wisked us through customs and got a taxi van for us. The driver was great and gave us a running history of the areas we passed through. Cab fare was about forty dollars with a generous tip.

Bayshore Westin

Beautiful hotel on the harbor. Our rooms overlooked the harbor and Canada Place. We were right on the seawall. After our long flight we couldn't wait to get out and walk, so off the Stanlet Park. This is a lovely place to visit. We walked around for a few hours, got a little turned around and wound up on the other side of the park at the seawall. Since we were getting a little tired we hopped on the free shuttle which had a driver who gave a nice tour of the sights. This brought us back close to the walkway from the hotel. Had a drink on the patio of the hotel. Warm sunny day.

My husband loves to try new food so we decided to try the First Nations Lilliget Restaurant. My husband and sons loved it, I;m not as adventurous when dining so I had the halibut which was just ok. We were all pretty exhausted so called it a night.

June 28

Cruise day!!!!

We watched the Spirit arrive about 6:45 AM from our balcony. She looked beautiful.

We had the buffet at the hotel. It was pricey $24.95CN a person which is a lot for breakfast. It was wonderful and so convenient. We walked to the totem park in Stanley Park and my sons went to the aqarium. They said it was very good.

We had a 1:30 check-out. We caught a cab from the hotel. Canada Place looked really close but it really was a pretty long ride.

It took us about 5 minutes total for customs and security. Although there was quite a lot of people coming the line more smoothly with many secuity and custom agents so there really was no wait.

Then we were taken to the HOLDING ROOM. Carnival has this large room set up with seats to wait to check on to the ship. It was full. They take one or two lines at a time to process. They lines are taken in the order that you arrive. We waited about 30 minutes, went to check-in and get S&S cards, pictures, then finally on the ship. All in all the process was just about an hour from cab ride to ship boarding. Not bad.

We had an extended balcony 6263 It was toward the aft. Our sons had a inside across the hall,

The room was small but bigger than I thought. Hubby and I always seemed to be in the same place at the same time. The bathroom was a decent sixe, even the shower was larger than I expected after reading these boards. Not expansive but sufficient room to turn, wash hair, shave legs etc. The shower curtain also worked fine, no water on the floor.

There were three chairs already on the balcony, we asked our cabin steward for another which appeared within 5 minutes.

I need to stop now. Wash is finished. Be back later.

Thanks for the report. Can't wait to hear more! We're doing the opposite next June.

mom23guys--Talk about a small world being on the shuttle together. I hope our group wasn't too disturbing!

Lisaland,

Not problems at all. Enjoyed Law.

Ok back to embarkation day!

We toured the ship trying to get our bearings. We also got lunch on the Lido deck. There was a muster drill about 4:30. It wasn't bad and lasted about 15 minutes we were out on deck 3. We got a place on the end just by luck so I didn't feel closed in. There was a door used for medical personnel that no one could stand in front of so no-one was next to us on that side. Went up on the fantail deck for sail away. The day was warm and sunny and the sights were beautiful. We were delayed about 30 minutes. I later found out it was probably due to a group of more than thirty people whose flight was delayed. They had booked through Carnival. Sailing past Lion's Gate Bridge and into the passage was lovely. Not to be missed.

We had late dinner seating. Our luggage arrived before we went to dinner.

First night we had Steak(2 of us) and lamb, the other 2. The steak was very good but the lamb was really excellent. Ordered wine by the bottle. They just corked it and had it on our table the next night.

Our table was at a booth without a window. My husband and I (both in our 50's )and our two sons (27 and 23) had a table to ourselves. If those of you who are going can ask for an aft table, they had some great views and even saw Orca from there on the second day. Went and lost some money in the casino till midnight. We were still on Eastern time so went to bed.

I had trouble going to sleep, not seasick but I could feel the vibration when I would lay dowm. I hadn't taken any sea sickness meds. Woke up at 4: 13 and went up to the Lido deck for some tea.

June 29

Inside passage. Another lovely day.

Ate breakfast in the dining room, The food was good but the service was very confused, mixed up orders forgot some things. Nothing like the dinning room in the evening.

Saw a whale's tale from the balcony. The scenery was beautiful.

Tonight was formal night, Most people dressed up. Most men is suits and women with long skirts and sparkly tops. Some women wore what could be described as mother of the bride dresses, others fancy coctail dresses, some even what they probably used a bridesmaid dresses. There were some men in tuxes and a few women in formal glitzt gowns.

We ordered prime rib and we all ordered a lobster tail. I though they would just bring the lobster tail but we each got two complete dinners. We were stuffed.

By the way, for those who want to know they have Dove body wash and Dove shampoo on the shower wall to use in the bathroom. There's a hair dryer-sufficient power, and a basket containg men's and women's disposable razors, toothpaste samples. Oil of Olay moisturizer, facial soap,and dental floss. There's plenty of storage room for toiletries, medicines, etc.

We are traveling on the spirit in sept. and my kids would like to know if they had the slide open on the ship? I heard they had shut it down to do some work on it and it was to reopen this spring- summmer.

Nope, the slide isn't open. The dome pool was open and the hot tubs. I think I heard that the slide was not going to reopen. There didn't seem to be any activity by it. There were a number of people in the pool. We spent most of our time on the Adt Fantail deck and that hot tub was for adults I think. It was a little too cool for me although quite a few people were in it. The kids seem to be having a great time on the ship with the Camp Carnival people.

I'm enjoying your trip report, and looking forward to the next installments!

June 30

Ketchikan

Hubby and sons booked a private fishing trip with True Alaskan. However, it was not really a great day for fish. They caught 2 smaller halibut, a couple of rock fish(not strippers for those in Maryland) and two throw back, too small salmon.

The day was warm and sunny. Only needed a shortsleeve shirt. I don't think beautiful weather and fishing go together. The people on the ship's fishing tour didn't do much better according to what we heard.

I took ship's tour to Saxman-interesting and as I said a great weather day.

Eagle are everywhere in Ketchikan. Bald Eagles flew right over the fantal deck, were by the docks, were flying over the fishing boat. Great pics.

I did a little shopping then went back to ship for a late lunch.

The Spirit had to tender in Ketchikan. Apparently the cruise lines had to take turns tendering so about every third NB trip Spirit has to tender.

Hear people say the Lumberjack show was good although a little hoey. But who cares if it's silly as long as it's fun. Spoke to someone who took the Misty Fiords boat trip and she said it was beautiful scenery.

Saw a few whales at a distance from the ship.

July1

Juneau

We had booked whale watching with Capt. Larry and also a 2 hr glacier trek with North-Star for my son. Orca booked this for us.

When we arrived at Orca Carol said their was a message for my son, apparently he was the only one booked for the 2 hr tour so they upgraded him to the four hour tour. Neddless to say he was thrilled. His pics are incredible. He said best tour ever. The rest of us took the blue bus to Mendenhall. It was stunning. Walked out to the waterfall. Came back very tired, especially after the whale watch in the morning.

Whale watch at 9:30 Am. We really tore out to an area where eight whale we bubble feeding. Stayed there for about an hour just watching this incredibly correograhed display of eight whale feeding. Our best tour of the cruise. We also saw sealions and a few other whale a bit from our purple boat.

Stopped at the Red Dog for an Alaskan Amber before returning to the ship.

Dinner tonight was really good. I loved the weiner schnizel(sp?)

July 2 Skagway

Another warm and sunny day.

Got off the ship and toured the town. Did a little shopping. This is the port we hadn't really done any advance planning for and we were somewhat tired from our past two port days, even our 27 year old from the ice climbing. We booked an afternoon dog mushing trip and the 27 year old went rock climbing-what else.

The dog mushing was in Dyea which was another scenic ride. It was fun and something different. We got to hold 3 week old puppies. Son said rock climbibing was great but he was exhausted. Love Skagway, I think when we go again we'll take the Whitepass RR. Everyone we talked to said the trip was stunning. I think I'm running out of adjectives. I need a thesaurus.

July 3

Sitka

Another tender port. We had booked the Sea Otter Quest through the ship and they picked us up right at the ship at the tender door.

Great trip. Saw tons of sea otters, seals, sea lions, eagles, even a humpback whale and a grey whale. As we were returning to the ship we turned around all of a sudden and started heading back the way we came. The captain came on the intercom and said that we received a mayday call from a trawler we had passed earlier and it was on fire. So we booked it out inthat direction, we saw many other boats doing the same. A coast Guard helicpter was also dispatched. Anyway before we got to the trawler the Coast Guard released us so we headed back to the ship. A little extra drama free of charge. The captain said that was the first mayday call he had ever had to respond to.

After returning to the tender dock we walked the town and then out to the Raptor center. Be aware this is quite a walk from the O"Connell Bridge tender dock. Some of it uphill. The raptor center was neat, especially their flight training rehabilitation facility.

This was the second formal night.

July4

Sea Day and Harvard Glacier.

No firworks. It's daylight.

We watched the World Cup game in the Champions bar. It was a large crowd. Our Italian captain must have been happy. We arrived at the glaciers in the evening. Harvard glacier co-operated nicely by calving frquently. Really impressive. It was really cold at the glacier. We went up to the bow as we approached but after a while went down to the balcony to watch. It was warmer there. Skipped the dining room tonight and ate at the Lido buffet.

July5

Whittier

We were told that disembarking would begin at 6 AM. We were called about 7:15. We had booked with Alaskan Leopard Tour for our transfer to Anchorage but we were not scheduled for pick-up until 9:45. The terminal in Whittier is really not set up for people to wait around. Very few chairs. Those that booked private transfer, limo or tour had to wait a long time. We were told later by our driver that they can only get through the tunnel at the 9:30 time slot so they can't get there before. Apparently limo and tour companies are assigned times.

Alaska Leopard Tour was good. Stopped at Porage Glacier and the Wildlife Conservation Park. Nice stops.

Dropped of with luggage, they had a truck accompany us with the luggage, at the Anchoage Sheraton. Great hotel with superb service. I'll explain later. We decided to go to the Glacier Brewhouse with our sons before their return flight. Great place with good food. The bellman from the hotel drove us there in a shuttle but we walked back. They would have picked us up but we wanted to check out the stores.

Sons got cab to airport-cost with tip $25. Cabs are expensive in Anchorage. The Veteran's wheelchair games were in Anchorage that week and many participants were staying at the hotel. They were interesting to talk to and we had a nice evening.

Ok on to the land tour. We didn't like Carnival's choice so we booked on our own with the help of Alaska Tour and Travel.

July6

Anchorage to Talkeetna

We took the AKRR standard service to Talkeetna. The Sheraton stored our big luggage so we just took two carry-ons. We checked the 22in roller through to the Talkeetna Alaska Lodge. The AKRR car seat were comfortable with tons of leg room. We were in C car which had a dome. It was rarely even half full in the dome. Saw bald eagle and moose from the train.

Arrived in Talkeetna. Our room was not ready so we went to the Talkeetna Roadhouse for lunch. The lodge had a shuttle to town every ten minutes. Great blueberry-banana pancakes. Only order half order unless you are a really big eater. Returned to lodge, described our luggage to the bell person and it was delivered in five minutes. I loved the rustic look of the lodge. It was quiet and just what we needed to relax. The day was overcast so no mountain. We ate dinner at the Lodge.

July7

Talkeetna to Denali

Again on AKRR to Denali. This time we were in Car B, no dome and the seats were much closer together, not as comfortable. We ate a late lunch in the dining car and the food and service was excellent.

Arrive at McKinley Chalet, our room keys were given out to us on the bus, and then we were taken to our rooms, told our luggage would be delivered in about an hour.HA! We were upgraded to the Cottonwood Building which was newer but set up as a large hotel room. It was also the furthest from the main building. They do have a shuttle to take you around the resort that runs every 15 minutes. We had booked the Cabin Nite with the tourbook BOGO, and the Tundra Wilderness Tour.

Cabin Nite was a fun show and the ribs and salmon were good. Not worth $52 a person but definitely worth $26. Walking to the Cabin Night we saw a mama moose and calf right next to one of the buildings. I was shocked but it makes a great story. Of course hubby didn't take the camera.

Tundra Wilderness Tour- 5:20 A.M. I couldn't believe the time but ok we're going. It was fabulous. Our driver was fantastic. named of BOB, he's a photographer who has many photos in the book they hand out. We also had some very alert passengers who spotted quite a bit. Saw one grizzly, tons of moose and many different areas, the same with caribou, a golden eagle hunting, showshoe hare galore, lots of birds and smaller creatures, and of course those little white dots-dahl sheep. We even saw a fox right in the parking lot of the hotel, Our tour took a long time since we stopped frquently for animal sightings. We were Tour 1, at least five other buses had caught up to us in our return trip.

Bob showed us the turn around for the Natural History Tour. Boy am I glad we heeded everyone's warnings and didn't take that one. It was really short compared to ours.

By the way they have new busues for the TWT. They look the same from the outside but are like a regular tour bus inside. They even have a video camera hooked up to tv monitors in the bus for those who can't find something we saw, or who had an obstructed view because they were on the wrong side of the bus.

Had dinner at the Courtyard Cafe. Good buffet.

5:20 a.m....UGH! Were you rewarded with the mountain being visible?

5:20 a.m....UGH! Were you rewarded with the mountain being visible?

Just remember... that's Alaska time, 8:20 for CDT, and doesn't seem that early. We never get too used to Alaska time because it's light sooooo early. Just seem to get by with less sleep all the way around while there.

Just remember... that's Alaska time, 8:20 for CDT, and doesn't seem that early. We never to get too used to Alaska time because it's light sooooo early. Just seem to get by with less sleep all the way around while there.

I always try to adjust to the local time ASAP, so after a one-week cruise, our bodies ought to be used to Alaska time.

We were EDT. But 5:20 was super early. We had already adjusted, kind of to Alaska Time. Our Cabin Night the night before was at 8:30 PM so we really didn't get a lot of sleep. That being said, we saw so much more wildlife being the first tour out(there was a park bus out before us) that I wouldn't have changed it if I could.

This trip was not a relaxing vacation, it was awesome and we were constantly on the go, but relaxing-no.

Last Day

Denali to Anchorage

When we booked through Alaska Tour and Travel we chose the upgrade to the McKinley Explorer for our trip from Denali to Anchorage. I saw a Holland America Tour building at McKinley Chalet so stopped in to see where we would go this mornig. They had our boarding passes there, surprise. They also said there wasn't room for the roll aboard on the car so they would send it by truck to our hotel. I questioned this since we weren't staying at a HAL hotel but the Sheraton. I was assured the bag would be delivered to our hotel before we arrived. So against a nagging feeling I had my bag outside the door at the hotel by 9:00 AM. Someone did pick it up. The tag was clearly marked Sheraton. HAL took us to the Train station on one of their buses. When the train came I did see that there was room for the bag underneath the train. Others had the same size bag. Ok, now we go to our assigned seats and someone is in them. They also have tickets with the same seat assignment printed on them. A few other had this happen to them also. They found us other seats in the same car- thank goodness because some of the other HAL cars lost power and had no food or air conditioning.The dome car seats were comfortable and you had a great view. The seats rocked far more than the ship or AKRR cars. The woment in the opposite seat actually got sick. The food was not as good as on the AKRR dining car but not bad.

We finally saw the mountain in all its glory. It is magnificient.

Arrived at Sheraton and low and behold, NO BAG. They brought the suitcases we had stored there up to our room immediately and began checking if our small suitcase had arrived. No! The Asst Mgr. called our room, got the details of where we had been, and started calling. He worked on this for hours giving us constant updates. We went for a late dinner at Humpys= Great halibut appetizer, enough for a meal. The bellman who drove us to the restaurant said he'd go to some of the HAL hotels for us and look but I explained that the Mgr. Darryl was working on it. Still no bag when we returned at 10:45 but Darryl was stll trying and said they'd stay on it throughout the night if necessary. At 11:45 Darryl called the room to say he had the bag. Apparently, HAL had delivered it to the Westmark Hotel and since we weren't there they didn't do anything with it. Our name and the Sheratons name and address were clearly marked on the tag, even when it was finally delivered to our room. Thanks to the great staff at the Sheraton to go above and beyond to solve a problem that was not their fault. Kudos!!!

We left for the airport at 5 AM- cab fare at that time was $21 in cluding tip. Long but great flight back in First Class due to upgrading with miles.

I'm looking at a post-cruise through Alaska Tour and Travel for next July. Did you book just the transportation through them, or hotels and tours as well? Did you feel they were easy to work with and would you use them again?

Thanks.

I booked transportation, the Talkeetna Alaska Lodge, and Tundra Wilderness Tour with them. They were easy to deal with and sent the vouchers out when they stated. I'd work with them again. I had booked McKinley Chalet through the Denali Resorts website because that is really where I wanted to stay.

Everything was as they described in the itinerary, except that my McKinley Explorer vouchers were at the Holland America building at the hotel.

I enjoyed reading your trip report! Did you ever consider renting a car and making all your own arrangements? I thought I knew what I wanted to do next summer, but am having second thoughts now.

We thought about renting a car but having never been to Alaska before I thought it would be a good idea to take the train. With the train my husband could also look for wildlife and take pictures etc without having to worry about paying attention to unfamiliar roads. It really was so much more relaxing this way for both of us. It was far cheaper for me to book this way than to take the Carnival tour. We also didn't want to go to Fairbanks, husband had been there in the service. I'm kind of glad we didn't go to Fairbanks since many we talked to thought it was not worth it. The train was more expensive than the coach but gave a lot more freedom of movement and a lot more space. Glad we made the choice to do the round trip on the train.