Carnival Spirit Review 6/19

[zino5]

Well here is my attempt at writing a review of our recent trip to Seattle and trip to Alaska.

Not sure how to start this but Im going to do my best.

 

We flew into Seattle on Fathers Day from Miami ..all in all as good as a flight that could be expected. Luggage made, flights on time and the flight attendant gave me 2 free bloody marys for fathers day ! We had a short layover in Dallas (50 min) that actually got pushed to 1 1.5 hours which was a good thing ! Had some time to grab a quick bite. Landed in Seattle and made our way with bags to the Light Rail and for about $4.00 we made our way in the Univeristy Station and made our way to " The W"..really not my kinnda palce but I got a great rate through StarFriends" and you cant beat the location.. Too stuffy for us but it worked out great for loaction and the " Aucura Experience" that took us to the Port for Free on Tuesday morning. We spent Monday in and around Pike Market..went to Aquariam which was great..ate some great food..took a walk to Pier 70 and saw the Disney ship in port..all in all a great time in Seattle.

 

Tuesday Morning we woke early and got our stuff toghether and went for a walk in the cold rain...little did we know this would be the coldest day we would see on vacation and the only rain for awhile !. Went back to hotel and got pack up. The W does this thing with Aucura where they will give you a free ride you just need to fill out a small survey. They even took us to a sports store to get a pair of binoculars that we forgot and then dropped us off at the pier about 11:10.... We were on our way to the Lido deck right about 12 so very effecient boarding, no issue, even had our bevergage inspected, picture taken.. We were group 8 and only waited 15 minutes or so. We were on board and heading for lunch on Lido and the sun was out and starting to get warm !!

 

We got to our room 4232 Aft Balconey and it was perfect for the 3 of us, my sons bed was made, we meet our Room Steward Michael...VERY GOOD..almost seemed invisble but was there when we needed and room was CLEAN..very happy. Loved the room location, quite,..only compailint Camp Carnival was opposite end of the ship! Must have logged 5 miles going there this week but well worth it.

More to come in a bit

[zino5]

The jet lagg of 3 hour boy did that kick my you know what the first day !!

Instead of going day by day. Im just going to list points of interest to me and what I feel may be useful info..hope you enjoy

We loved the ship layout was nice,lots of Bars..never seemed crowded except lido deck during sea days..tables a little tough to find but made it though. Not to start a whole new topic but we all know Carnival says dont save tables, chairs seats in the show room etc... I saw either have the rules and have people enforce them or dont waste the ink and print that stuff in the FunTimes and then do nothing about it.

One thing is for sure it is not going to ruin my vacation.

Camp Carnival was awesome my son loved it and it is where he wanted to be when we were on the ship..so he spent a good amount of the ship time there and night time while we went to casino and such after dinner

 

Dining room food was good, some better than others. Service was very good, as was beverage service at dinner. We only ate dinner in MD 4x, did steak house once, lido once and Skagway once. We did breakfast twice in MD and it was good. Eggs Bennedict is as good as it gets.

 

Lunch was always Lido when we were on board and was good. Very good burgers, I liked the Salad Bar.

 

We did room service breakfast 3 mornings and it was on time with nice hot coffee !!! Also did some sandwiches one night and they were good also...very quick too !.

 

More to come in a bit

[zino5]

Tracey Arm...AMAZING !!!! I was on in the gym when we pulled in and my cadio work out went by in a flash as I was looking right out the window at the awesome scenery as I worked out..I I had that at home I would work out for hours !!. We spent time on our balconey and then alot of time walking around deck 10. Very nice couldnt belive how beautiful it was.. Next time we are going to do the boat to get closer to the glacier.

 

That night we at in the Steakhouse all 3 of us ..my son was treated like a king and behaved like an adult

 

Son had Lobster Bisque ( amazing) Ceaser Salad and Lobster Ravioli all VEry Good

 

Wife had Shrimp cocktail, tomato mozz salad and surf and turf

 

I had Tuna app, Beef Carpicio and NY Strip

 

Probably one of the best meals, service I have had in a few years .ANYWHERE just not on a cruise ship... Very well done I was totaly impressed.. I have been a chef for 26 years and still work in food industry.

 

 

Skagway we did the White Pass through Chillkoot tours it was an 8 hour tour and we did the dogcart ride in Carcross..biggest issue was the weather..it was 83 !!! Hottest day in 3 years we were told !. Tip was good very beautiful took the bus up and the train down, made lots of stops for photos on way up. Bus driver was a good storyteller on the way up...but got a bit longwinded as we were heading to train. Train was great but hot !! We did get to see 2 bears as we were coming down the mountain. We had fish and chips and beers at Skagway Brewing Co..everything was good except the heat !! Skagway shiuts down about 7 so went back to ship after a long day. If we did it over we wouyld have shopped first then ate but hey it was vacation so who cares it was all GOOD.

Highly recommend Chillkoot Tours worked out well

 

 

Juneau we did whale watching through Orca Enterprise...AWESOME we were on the whales in 15 minutes and didnt stop till tour was over. Saw a group of 12-15 whales bubble feeding right away . There were only 11 of us on the boat and we were next to the ship sponsered trip and there havd to be 150 people on deck. Captain Larry, Jand his crew were great. I would use them again in a heartbeat. We prebooked and it was perfect. . After that we went to do something we had been palnning for 5 months.. Traceys Crab Shack.. We had a 3lb bucket, lobster bisque, and crab cakes..AWESOME...and the best Beer I have had Alaskan White very nice.. Traceys was awesome. We then did some shopping right up to time to get back on board.....

 

More coming soon

[vivavegas]

Loving your review! Looking forward to reading more!:)

[zino5]

One thing I forgot to mention about Juneau...it was over 80 again !!!..Cool and windy on the water but beautiful while walking around town.

 

Ketchikan we didnt book anthing here..Off the boat by 745 and walkaround the whole day..it was a bit cool 55 or so and cloudy but I did see 7 rain drops ! Went to creek street, went and saw Eagles at hatchery, rode tram to top..had a nice time..had some luch at Pirate saloon. Food was good..Service STUNK but they did have my new favorite beer Alaskan White ! Couldnt get a second one because server forgot about us..

All in all a good day but too short.

 

Victioria was nice but way too short, I knw they need to stop here but I felt as even th cruise line felt is as a "throw away port' The cruise director said in the morning.." Its a monday so much wont be open so be sure to book a shore excursion. Just a bit annoying..not much said about this port.. We walked around went to a couple of pubs.. Good thing my son wanted to go to Camp Carnival.

 

More to come soon

[zino5]

Last Day we woke up had breakfast in Dining room and headed off boat @ 830 we were off and no issues with bags and getting through customs and made our way to the Double Tree @ the Airport and were checked in by 10:45. We took taxi to Light Rail, Rail to airport and Shuttle to hotel. Worked well and the shuttle in the AM was great and no issue with flights on way home to Florida.

 

In closing a few thoughts

 

Didnt really see any thing that would be a cutback that effected me or my family we did what we wanted and had a great time..I didnt cook, clean, drive worry where a meal was coming from for 7 days !! So it was good

 

We have cruised 13x 7 Carnival and 6 RCCL and we chhose our cruise based on itnerary and $$. We chose Carnival this time because I had 2 free vouchers for AA flights and they had to be in the 48 lower states so Seattle worked for us

 

Steakhouse was exceptional !

 

Ship was CLEAN and staff very friendly and didnt seem over worked or tired.

 

Room Steward was awesome..

 

Good entertainment ..what I took advantage of. Not as much as I thought I would see. but Jet lag killed me almost as much as the Roulette Wheel !

 

Camp Carnival was outstanding for my son

 

Room service very effiecent

 

Getting on and off boat was a breeze

 

Highly recommend Orca Enterprise and Chillkoot Tours.

 

Things I would like to see improved...Port times were a bit short..Especially Ketchikan and Victoria....

 

Question..does the shorter port time help keep cost down ??

 

Room was great first time in Aft Balcony..SPOILED !!!!

 

And my major issue of the week would be to keep tables in Lido deck cleaner seems like they sat dirty for a while.

 

All in All a great vacation that took lots of planning. All travel worked out well as we chiise to save some $$ by using light rail. We packed to many cold weather clothes as it was weather was great and never had the Alaskan weather. Seattle was nice but WOW 9.6% sales tax! Lots of coffee !.. Will look to do this again in a few years... If I can figure it out I will post a few pics later.

 

Ask any questions you want I have all Funtimes

 

For know it will be back to lurking on the boards.. We hope to cruise the Meditterrian in 2 years

[belkin]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on 8/21/12 and getting really excited :D :D

[Pee-ah]

Great review!

 

And I agree the Steak House was/is amazing!!!!! (It's booked for our first night back on board :D)