~OFFICIAL~ "SPIRIT"ing to the Majestic Land of the Midnight Sun! * May 11, 2010*~

[happylady]

We have left the spirit to the next group. I had a wonderful trip & super-long rambling reviews to come... for now: laundry is 1st on the agenda

 

We've all been waiting and waiting to hear from someone on the cruise. Bjc5243 has been posting pictures and a review from the 5/5/10 sailing. Can't wait for your review and to see some pictures. You don't need to do any laundry....:p

[Cajun Gal]

I'm so jealous that y'all got to go and we didn't. We had to cancel our cruise a week before it left. My Dad got sick in February and died on Monday, May 3rd. So, we finally used that vacation insurance we always purchase. Please tell me all about it. Maybe one day we will get to book it again. I wonder who the upgrade fairy visited and got my corner suite with the wraparound balcony?

[MikeNKim]

Hi everyone, so sorry I didn't get to meet you all. I did however, get to meet Annette which I was happy about. Your grandson is adorable.

 

Wow what weather. It was a amazing trip just next time someone suggests travelling with family....hit me in the head...:p

 

Hope you all had as great a time as I did.

 

Maybe we will travel together again someday.

 

Kim

[MikeNKim]

ooppss my subscrip was gone

[anamanxs]

Hi everyone, so sorry I didn't get to meet you all. I did however, get to meet Annette which I was happy about. Your grandson is adorable.

 

Wow what weather. It was a amazing trip just next time someone suggests travelling with family....hit me in the head...:p

 

Hope you all had as great a time as I did.

 

Maybe we will travel together again someday.

 

Kim

 

 

We got in about 4 am this morning so I am a little bit jet lagged. The trip was wonderful but we had a bit of a dramatic trip back. The stone fell out of my ring that my boss gave me at my son's funeral and I looked everywhere and could not find it. So, first thing on the agenda today was a trip to the jewery store, filled with tears but they were wonderful and should have my ring back in two weeks. Funny how one object can change things so quickly!

 

The flight to Alanta was bumping, and then when leaving Alanta my daughter looks out the window and she says she sees her stroller sitting next to the plane but not on it. And there is also a suitcase sitting next to it. The next thing we know the plane is moving... she rings the help button and tells the cabin steward, they stop the plane an we wait for them to bring the stroller and suitcase out to us on the runway. So, a bit of an experience... turns out the suitcase belonged to someone on the cruise with us .. they said it all all their sounviers in it.

 

The cruise was undescribable! We saw bears, eagles, ducks, goats and sheep and that was just in Skagway! Not to mention whales, sea lions and met lots of wonderful people! Lots of pictures and review to come as the fog lifts.

[anamanxs]

I have started the review, sorry it is a little slow - here is a link to our first say in Seattle. Day 1 - Seattle

[anamanxs]

Seattle here we come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beauty started before we even landed as you can see from the pictures from the airplane windows as we arrived. The pictures can not describe what we saw! The weather in Seattle was wonderful! It was like it was perfect just for us!

 

My blog link to my cruise review http://spiritingtoalaska.wordpress.com/alaska-reviews/pictures-of-our-cruise-to-alaska/seattle/

[Purplehaze21]

Those are beautiful pic's from the plane Annette! Can't wait for your review!

[BCFD 2357]

Well I took about 3500 pictures so its gonna take me awhile to upload them. But here is a link to the pics I took of the Alaskan Lumberjack show in Ketchikan :D

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/577738874TnlzcD?vhost=travel

[anamanxs]

Great pics Jen, I am sure you were as amazed as we were with the whole trip. It was GREAT to meet you and your family. I am still uploading Seattle pics to shuttlefly to transfer here. Have you tried many of the online storage sites. We usually use York but Shutterfly seems easier to upload to. I have never tried Webshots.

[anamanxs]

Carnival staff was wonderful and all the items we were offered from the group booking were in our cabins as promised. The OBC was also nice, allowed some money for the casino of which I definetly added to. The machines were tight, but by all the yelling around there appeared to be some winners. There were several machines that are changeable so be sure and look when you sit down, we lost quickly one time when we were .01 when we first played and went back and it was .05. Most are 20 lines times your bet so .20 went to 1.00. There is one group on the right of the cashier area that are 9 lines times your bet. Older but still goody machines. Did not see any Old Green Men, or Wis of OZZ, but Jackpot part and Survior as well as Double Diamond and that type.

 

We did not visit any of the shows but the first which I must say was not as good as the others I have seen on other ships. But, then you are so tired from the other things you have done all day thye are not really missed. They do play movies a couple of times so you need to check your Fun Times for the movie and where it is showing.

 

We loved the My Time Dining, I will get into that later. Didn't really mean to start the reviwe just yet, but I quess the over all excitment is still bubbling. Gotta get to work, I am still on Seattle time - up to 2am and slept until 10:00am.

[anamanxs]

I hope everything is going well for you and we can meet on a future cruise. So sorry about your father. My ex father in law (my daughter's grandfather) actually passed on Mother's Day but we talked to the family they understood, we were already in Seattle when we heard. I hope you are doing well and hopefully your family will be able to cruise together soon. My grandson had a GREAT time, I am sure your grandchild will to when you get to cruise.

 

I keep debating how to do the review as to format and the uploading of pictures and all.

[anamanxs]

Hi All,

 

Anyone on our cruise, please add to the review I started: May 11 - 18, 2010 review

 

It was Great to meet all the ones that we were able to meet. Sorry we didn't get a pic together at the Meet and Mingle. I think everyone enjoyed our 1 hour cocktail party.

 

Our White Elephant gift exchange was interesting for the ones that missed it! Elmer can't wait to get started on using his stickers and maps. Dana, let me know how the cheese tray works; and I loved the picnic cover - I have never seen one that large. It amazes me how we got all those things without them getting broken!

[dobiemom]

Welcome back! The pics and reviews are great. Can someone scan the Fun Times to post here? Or I can do it if you mail them to me, but it has to be quick--I only have a week left at work! Just email me for the address, thanks!

[anamanxs]

Welcome back! The pics and reviews are great. Can someone scan the Fun Times to post here? Or I can do it if you mail them to me, but it has to be quick--I only have a week left at work! Just email me for the address, thanks!

 

Try to do this weekend, after I find them in the suitcases. I still havn't unpacked yet! :mad::(:confused: I ended up going back to work so I could save my leave time for another adventure. I was off almost 10 days, but it went too quickly! :rolleyes:

[sunshine20075]

The cruise was absolutely incredible! I saw so many eagles on the Crab Fisherman tour I took in Ketchikan that my eyes kept tearing up from sheer joy. If you want to see a lot of eagles I highly recommend that tour. Grrl2Grrl I am curious if you ever made it to LaPush Beach and if you did how did you like it???

[MCEaton]

We finally made it back, picked up the dogs today and trying to get them

settled down. They missed us:D

Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet everyone, we missed the meet and greet, my hubby was busy filming the glacier and time got away from us and we so wanted to meet the people that we had been chatting with.

 

The scenery on the cruise was beautifully. We rented a car in Skagway and was able to drive all the way to WhiteHorse in Canada. The lakes and mountains were amazing and we say a bear on the road and some goats, if you like exploring we would recommend driving it was a great trip.

 

Would have liked to have seen more of Juneau but with the rain we cut it a little short.

 

Ketichikan was our favorite place and wished we were there a little longer.

We did a tour of the City and Saxman but wished we had just spent the time in town there was so much to see there but so short on time.

 

We took a lot of videos but not many pictures. Some people do a lot of pictures, MH does a lot of videos. If it dosen't take me to long to edit them then I will post it to this web site.

 

Now as far as the Cruise, I was disappointed in the food.:(:(

The buffets were cold every day and even though the dinner menu was good the same foods were repeated several times & MH dosen't care much for seafood. I was surprised that they did not have a big screen TV and music on the main deck the last couple of crusies we were on had both all through out the cruise. The shows were OK but the last one was the same show that was on the Freedom in 2008.

We did Carnival Freedom to Europe in 2008 and the food was outstanding.

A lot of variety on the buffets (Hot Food) and the dinners were great with a lot more variety. Maybe it is the places that we travel for the types of food that they prepare. The entertainment was great and a lot more than on the Spirit.

I did like anytime dining but I think if you want to get to know the people that you've been chatting with on CC then you really need a set time so that you can dine with other people.

All that said, we will be doing the Southern Carrib. in Feb/11 on the Miracle and it is the same class as the Spirit so we will see if the food and the entertainment is the same or better,the group from CC sounds great and we do hope to meet some of you on a future cruise so keep in touch and let us know what your plans are. We will difinitely make the next meet and greet.

[anamanxs]

It was good to see you the times we did! I have started a review on the the other thread. I loved the cruise, I think they had much more fish than any other cruise I have ever been on. We ate more in Dining room than on the Lido deck and I can't say we ever had cold food. I would have prefered more chicken dishes than all the fish, but everyone else in my group loved the fish; I think they had it everynight.

 

I think we got special attention since my grandson had everyone charmed! I loved my Time dining, we had the same servers and the same table everynight!

 

You will have to let us know about the Miracle cruise, I am seriously consider the group CC is trying to get going in Jan 2012.

 

We did not attend any of the shows but the first one and found it boring!

[MCEaton]

It was good to see you the times we did! I have started a review on the the other thread. I loved the cruise, I think they had much more fish than any other cruise I have ever been on. We ate more in Dining room than on the Lido deck and I can't say we ever had cold food. I would have prefered more chicken dishes than all the fish, but everyone else in my group loved the fish; I think they had it everynight.

 

I think we got special attention since my grandson had everyone charmed! I loved my Time dining, we had the same servers and the same table everynight!

 

You will have to let us know about the Miracle cruise, I am seriously consider the group CC is trying to get going in Jan 2012.

 

We did not attend any of the shows but the first one and found it boring!

 

Glad you had a great time, your grandson is adorable.

We didn't eat in the dininig room every night because of the fish, MH is not a big fish fan, but when we did eat there we had the same server and the food was hot, it was just the buffet food that was cold.

But the trip it self was nice.

I will let you know about the Miracle.

[dobiemom]

Try to do this weekend, after I find them in the suitcases. I still havn't unpacked yet! :mad::(:confused: I ended up going back to work so I could save my leave time for another adventure. I was off almost 10 days, but it went too quickly! :rolleyes:

Thanks, anamanxs!

[LEtue]

All of you obviously had a great time on this cruise and I wish I could have joined you!

 

Thanks for posting the great pictures :D

[IndpdntChik324]

Hope everyone is adjusting well after their vacation. I also had an incredible trip, definitely a trip of a lifetime (that I can't wait to do again).

 

Just seeing all the wildlife was incredibly sobering. It's a reality check to see how small you are in a place as majestic as Alaska.

 

My most exciting part of the trip: DH and I got an up-close and personal look at a black bear on our road trip in Skagway. We were outside taking pictures at a pull off and saw a bear down quite a ways below the guardrail. Being complete morons (probably a little too overcome with excitement), we walked along the guardrail to get a little closer. Next we knew, it was about 15 feet in front of us, walking slowly towards us, and we were slowly walking backwards towards the rental. Thank you to the car that pulled up and distracted him from us so that we could get to our rental. Talk about an adrenaline rush.

 

So, any future alaska tourists...learn from me and don't try to get closer to the bears. I felt so stupid!

[anamanxs]

Hope everyone is adjusting well after their vacation. I also had an incredible trip, definitely a trip of a lifetime (that I can't wait to do again).

 

Just seeing all the wildlife was incredibly sobering. It's a reality check to see how small you are in a place as majestic as Alaska.

 

My most exciting part of the trip: DH and I got an up-close and personal look at a black bear on our road trip in Skagway. We were outside taking pictures at a pull off and saw a bear down quite a ways below the guardrail. Being complete morons (probably a little too overcome with excitement), we walked along the guardrail to get a little closer. Next we knew, it was about 15 feet in front of us, walking slowly towards us, and we were slowly walking backwards towards the rental. Thank you to the car that pulled up and distracted him from us so that we could get to our rental. Talk about an adrenaline rush.

 

So, any future alaska tourists...learn from me and don't try to get closer to the bears. I felt so stupid!

 

WOW, I was shocked at my daughter hanging out the bus door taking pictures of the bear. But I knew that Dave (Dnea Dave) could take off at any moment if he had to.

 

Dave explained to us that they come up to the road to eat the grass since after the months of sleep they have to have the grass in their systems to get it working correctly. He was so full of info, and we all know so much more not then we did!

 

I have to agree with you, it was so mind opening! I am still trying to process all the sheer beauty!

[Purplehaze21]

All yal make me wish my cruise was now. I can't wait to see what yal saw.

Anyone stay at the quality inn on johns st? Just curious on do they have a shuttle to the dock and how far the dock is from there? Also, is it walking distance to great places to visit? My SIL asked me and I have no clue LOL

[BCFD 2357]

Some of my pictures from the trip

:D

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/577761287VHxNnO?vhost=travel

 

 

They are still uploading too