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Carnival Spirit Alaskan Cruise Review : September 11, 2012 - (lots of pictures)

MileHighAko

By MileHighAko,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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silvercrikhix

silvercrikhix

Posted
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Thank you for sharing your cruise review.

The pictures are awesome.

It was great to relive our June/July experience cruising Alaska!

Your wife is a lucky lady to have such a kind and caring DH!

 

One thing is bothersome, however.

A) I find it hard to believe that you "FILLED a lung" with second hand smoke from a neighboring balcony while on a aft wrap balcony!

We have had 2 of these cabins and it seems highly unlikely.

B) If those same neighbors threw cigarette butts into Glacier Bay you should have, WITHOUT ANY DOUBT reported that ASAP!

DID YOU?

It is a CRIME against nature, the ship and other passengers!

 

These 2 points make me wonder if you are just a do-gooder trying to force your anti-smoking agenda.

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jim_m123

jim_m123

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Two years ago, DW and I went to Alaska on the Grand Princess - same ports. I discovered the name of the beautiful blue color of the ice in the glaciers and the small bergs that float in the bay. It's called "Windex Blue"!! I thought that name fit perfectly!

 

Thanks for your review!

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MileHighAko

MileHighAko

Posted
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Thank you for sharing your cruise review.

The pictures are awesome.

It was great to relive our June/July experience cruising Alaska!

Your wife is a lucky lady to have such a kind and caring DH!

 

One thing is bothersome, however.

A) I find it hard to believe that you "FILLED a lung" with second hand smoke from a neighboring balcony while on a aft wrap balcony!

We have had 2 of these cabins and it seems highly unlikely.

B) If those same neighbors threw cigarette butts into Glacier Bay you should have, WITHOUT ANY DOUBT reported that ASAP!

DID YOU?

It is a CRIME against nature, the ship and other passengers!

 

These 2 points make me wonder if you are just a do-gooder trying to force your anti-smoking agenda.

 

Well, I hope I'm a do-gooder - isn't it a good thing to be a do-gooder? But nope, sorry, no anti-smoking agenda here. Although I don't smoke, if you want to smoke that's your business and I respect your right to do so. To be honest, the smoking on cruise didn't bother me. Our balcony neighbors were out on their balcony just as much as we were, they were generally smoking all the time, but I didn't really find it bothersome, and that's why I didn't mention it in the main part of my review.

 

The irony of this incident, however, was that it occurred while we were floating through an ice field, and in the stillness of the water you could hear the ice popping as they were melting and releasing air gasses that had been trapped in the ice for centuries. Our national park ranger narrator explaining the sounds we were hearing, and then he encouraged us to take a deep breath and breath in the fresh glacial air. I tried to do it, but the freshness was lost on me as all I could really smell was cigarette smoke.

 

So yeah, maybe I didn't fill an entire lung full of smoke - but you get the metaphor. This didn't ruin my day or anything, but when I made my mental lists of highlights and lowlights, this was the latter.

 

As for the second part of that, flicking cigarette butts into the ocean, nope I didn't go tell on them or report them or even yell at them. I simply was disappointed. Does the fact that I didn't report them make me responsible? Ah, think what you may, but I had other priorities than to play litter police.

 

Also, before I forget, and take this for what its worth since I'm not a smoker and therefore it's hard for me to be completely objective, but the ship and cruise seemed to be fairly smoker friendly. I saw people smoking on their balconies, around the sun pool, in the Club Cool bar, in the Casino, and on the upper decks. None of their smoking ever really bothered me, and I can't say that I ever felt like you could smell smoke in other areas of the ship.

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MileHighAko

MileHighAko

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Kinda cool to see Stu is still the Cruise Director...he was pretty cool...albeit a bit cheesy.:D Did he throw down with the disco afro and threads?

 

Yes, Stu did engage with the ship quite a bit, at least more than I expected. He did a disco night, and sang badly in the piano bar, and was fairly accessible to the passengers. I ran into him in the hallway when we were about to talk into town in Juneau, and you could tell he was in a hurry to get somewhere, but I stopped him and asked him a question, and he took the time to answer me, and even walked with me back to the shopping experts desk to get me a shopping map. As soon as we were done, he rushed back to whatever it was he was doing, but I appreciated that he took time to engage with me.

 

 

What I'm trying to say, while it's so sweet and awesome that you did what the wife wanted to do...and you've got brownie points into the next lifetime....you've gotta do this cruise again and do the excursions! :)

Yeah, you're right. Good news is that my wife agreed that we should do it again and take our teenage boys and do as many adventure excursions as we can, so now the planning starts all over again! :D

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silvercrikhix

silvercrikhix

Posted
Posted (edited)
Well, I hope I'm a do-gooder - isn't it a good thing to be a do-gooder? But nope, sorry, no anti-smoking agenda here. Although I don't smoke, if you want to smoke that's your business and I respect your right to do so. To be honest, the smoking on cruise didn't bother me. Our balcony neighbors were out on their balcony just as much as we were, they were generally smoking all the time, but I didn't really find it bothersome, and that's why I didn't mention it in the main part of my review.

 

The irony of this incident, however, was that it occurred while we were floating through an ice field, and in the stillness of the water you could hear the ice popping as they were melting and releasing air gasses that had been trapped in the ice for centuries. Our national park ranger narrator explaining the sounds we were hearing, and then he encouraged us to take a deep breath and breath in the fresh glacial air. I tried to do it, but the freshness was lost on me as all I could really smell was cigarette smoke.

 

So yeah, maybe I didn't fill an entire lung full of smoke - but you get the metaphor. This didn't ruin my day or anything, but when I made my mental lists of highlights and lowlights, this was the latter.

 

As for the second part of that, flicking cigarette butts into the ocean, nope I didn't go tell on them or report them or even yell at them. I simply was disappointed. Does the fact that I didn't report them make me responsible? Ah, think what you may, but I had other priorities than to play litter police.

 

Also, before I forget, and take this for what its worth since I'm not a smoker and therefore it's hard for me to be completely objective, but the ship and cruise seemed to be fairly smoker friendly. I saw people smoking on their balconies, around the sun pool, in the Club Cool bar, in the Casino, and on the upper decks. None of their smoking ever really bothered me, and I can't say that I ever felt like you could smell smoke in other areas of the ship.

 

Thank you for your clarification, I appreciate your honesty and frankness! :D

I almost added a bit about you having better things to do than alert security about the incorrigible act of your neighbors.

But, sincerely, I do wish you would of taken a moment to pick up the phone. IMHO, they should have been put off the ship!

Not only did they litter a precious natural glacial area, but they endangered the ship and all the passengers because the cig butts could have blown back on the ship and started a fire!:mad:

Their selfish act (and also other rude passengers who do the same) endangered the other passengers who responsibly smoke and could give Carnival and the anti-smoking brigade reasons to even further the restrictions on smoking :mad:

 

I'm glad to hear your planning on doing it again with your children and including some excursions next round!

Thanks again for your review and great pictures!

Edited by silvercrikhix
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Aussiegrlfl

Aussiegrlfl

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Cruising Alaska has been something I have read about for a long time....your pictures were breath taking and I imagine not even close to reality...but as one that can't take this trip right now I am thankful that the pictures you took can take me there at least in one dimension....and I am so thankful...they are beautiful....and awesome....wow....and your relationship with your wife is special.....again thankyou....

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Rocknsoul

Rocknsoul

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I'm not exaggerating when I say that your pictures are some of the most beautiful I have seen on Cruise Critic.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write this. I've always wanted to cruise to Alaska, and this review just makes me want to more! Someday...

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h & m

h & m

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Great review, enjoying the narrative as well as the photos.

 

Looking forward to the next part, we have the same cabin booked next August, so will be glad to see more.

 

Not wanting to start a non-smoking debate either, but we are so happy when the Spirit comes down under, there will be very limited smoking locations, and smoking will not be allowed on the balconies.

 

Hilary :)

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cruising3times

cruising3times

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We were also on this cruise and went to the Cruise Critic meeting the first day but we really didn't participate after that. Thanks for the wonderful review and the beautiful photos. We did two excursions, one in Juneau, whale watching and the Mendenhall Glacier and we did the train in Skagway. We also chose this sailing because of Glacier Bay. It was a wonderful cruise and we can't wait to return to Alaska. Thanks for helping me relive a wonderful week.

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MileHighAko

MileHighAko

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Great Review! Did I miss something? On page one you said you had some pictures of your cabin coming up and only saw the only of a towel animal on the bed and the balcony. Maybe they are still coming.

 

Yep, I took a bunch of photos of our cabin and the ship - I'll be getting those posted here this weekend. Just been swamped with work, but excited to share this fantastic ship with everyone.

 

Thanks for posting your great review and your beautiful pictures.

 

What type of camera did you use --- if you don't mind me asking.

 

My camera is a Nikon D7000. My walk around lens is a Nikon 16-85mm, but for Glacier Bay on the balcony I used a Nikon 70-200mm, and a Tokina 11-16mm.

 

 

Thank you everyone for the nice feedback and compliments. :) I appreciate it.

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sjn911

sjn911

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My mom spent the very last healthy days of her life on an Alaska cruise..getting home in her bed July 2nd about 1 AM,,around 9:30 the next AM a hard time started for a month and she was really home in heaven...

 

I just loved your review and photos and seeing all the beauty she was able to absorb and looking forward to a visit one day...on a ship..she did it 2 times..her only cruises and she loved mountains and water, there is one beautiful beautiful photo of her..a profile looking out to the water..thanks sooo much for sharing this with us..Sarah.

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