North To Alaska on the Legend--Aug 2016

[cainlr]

The park is also a wild life sanctuary.

 

 

 

 

[1bellamarie]

We are doing this trip next month so your review is very interesting, to me! Thank you!

 

Can you post the info you got from the vendor in Juneau? Thanks so much!

[sagustaw]

Enjoying your review and pictures. I am going on this cruise in August. I'm trying to read and research so I will be as prepared as possible. Would you mind answering some questions?

1. Did you have cellphone service in port? I'd like to keep in touch with family back home.

2. What kind of Alaska apparel do they sell in the gift shop? I'm looking for a waterproof hat.

3. Should I buy binoculars?

4. Do you or anyone else have experience with Any-Time Dining?

Thanks. Like you I plan to post a review when I return so future cruisers can benefit.

[cainlr]

We are doing this trip next month so your review is very interesting, to me! Thank you!

 

Can you post the info you got from the vendor in Juneau? Thanks so much!

The vendor was Juneau Tours and are every port. One family on the tour booked when they were in Skagway for Juneau. You can check out the company on Trip Advisor. I am glad my review is helping you plan your trip.

[cainlr]

Victoria

We got up late, spent the day just being lazy as we were really tired after all our adventures. We walked the around the ship to get some exercise and just enjoyed being with together. We spent time talking to some of the other people on board and looking out the windows in the pool area. There were several whale sightings and we were all trying to catch a glimpse one.

In the afternoon, we caught up with the newlyweds and discussed booking another cruise to the Caribbean. With the destination decided, Sandra and I were first in line to book our next cruise. While discussing dates and with the agent, someone spotted a pod of whales. Everything stopped! as we all were mesmerized by the sight. The agent told us "it never gets old" even to the crew that have seen them many times

Upon docking in Victoria, we took a cab into town from the port. After walking around the city a bit, we came upon the Irish Times Pub. We went inside and ordered Irish coffees and listed to music. Instead of taking a taxi back to the ship we decided to walk. The walk back took a little longer than we expected but we still had time to explore the shops next to the port. Once back on the ship, it was time to pack and put our cases outside our door.

 

 

 

[cainlr]

Victoria continued.....

Time to go

 

The newly weds. It must be love!

[cainlr]

Debarkation:

We were not catching a flight home for a couple of days so we were one of the last ones to exit the ship. No problem getting our luggage out of the masses lined up in the terminal. It was all lined up nice and neat and ready to pick up. We exited the terminal door and headed to out the door to get our rental car. Alamo has a kiosk at the cruise terminal and a shuttle takes you to their downtown location to pick up your rental.

 

Once we picked up the rental car, we headed to the Pike's Place fish market. It was interesting but we did not get to see the fishmongers slinging the fish. There are many vendors and plenty of souvenirs to buy if you still need gifts.

Busy Seattle traffic

View from Pike Market roof top

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the visit to the fish market, we headed out of town to our VRBO rental located in Tacoma. We had lunch at Over the Moon Café and bought few groceries for that night. The next day we drove to Mt Rainer then back to our rental for the night.

Mt Rainer Park

[cainlr]

continued

Our flight home was late the next day, we checked out of our rental and returned to Seattle. With several hours before our flight, we stopped in at the Japanese Tea Garden and walked around enjoying our last day of vacation.

 

Final thoughts:

Ship: We have only sailed on the older, smaller ships therefore we have never experienced the 2.0 upgrades. It is a case of what you never had you do not miss. During our trip there were no problems. We always book an inside room to save money for excursions and I sleep better in a completely dark room. Our room was on deck seven, mid ship. The most important thing to me is all the plumbing worked and the bed was comfortable.

 

Food: We ate at the buffet and the main dining room. The food was just fine for us. We had your time dining which we really enjoyed being able to eat when we wanted to. The longest wait we experienced was approximately 10 minutes. The first night we had a waiter that was rude to my husband so we made sure not to sit in his section again.

 

Room Steward: We chose to have our rooms serviced in the evening. There were only couple of mornings we arrived in port early and we wanted the option to sleep in. We did not see our room steward until the second night when she knocked on our door to introduce herself. We never saw her again during the cruise, although our room was always clean and towels were replaced.

 

Tips for traveling with a group: All of us decided before departure that if we could not connect with each other during the day, we would meet for dinner each night. Sometimes this worked and sometime not. We decided we should all have a good time doing the things we enjoyed whether together or going our own way.

Next Cruise: Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Fascination out of San Juan Puerto Rico in November. We are traveling with Sandra and Danny again. I am the planner and reading cruise critic everyday to get ideas for excursions. For me part of the fun is the planning. Happy sailing everyone.