North to Alaska - 05-06 to 05-13 Review w Pics

[lhuggi1]

Dates: 05/06/09 to 05/13/09

Ship: Carnival Spirit

Embarkation Point: Vancouver, British Columbia

Debarkation Point: Vancouver, British Columbia

Ports: Juneau, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Ketchikan, Alaska & ( side trip to Yukon, Canada)

Cruisers: Leah (me) Mom & Dad

 

We left home in the wee hours of the morning on May 5th approximately 1:30 a.m. for the Toronto airport. I am not sure we slept very much that night as the excitement was already building!! We arrived at the airport at 4:15 or so and checking in - no line ups and dropped off our bags and headed for a Tim Hortons coffee ( can you blame us we are Canadian) We left Ontario a day early so that we could stay in Vancouver overnight and do a little exploring as this was our fist time there.

We were on the 7:00 a.m. flight out of Toronto with WestJet and arrived into Vancouver just after 9:00 a.m flight was good and weather was a bit overcast when we landed but we didn't mind as we were on vacation

 

 

We collected our bags and caught a taxi to the Blue Horizon Hotel - the taxi cost $30.00 CAD and ( this is what I had expected to pay so it was right on) Remember there are 3 of us and we have 3 big luggage pieces each & 3 carryon so we got a mini van taxi to take everything to the hotel.

 

We arrived at the Blue Horizon a little before 10:00 a.m. and weren't sure at this point if they could accomodate early checkin but we were in luck as we checked right in and it took about 5-6 minutes ( there are very fast and so pleasant to deal with) to our surprise we were upgraded to a family suite with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on the 29th floor ...the view was amazing and the room was so clean and comfortable ...couldn't have asked for any better !!!! We seemed to be on a winning streak...

 

 

 

 

( please excuse the messy room ha ha ha we had to have a quick nap after flying from Ontario to British Columbia )

 

After checking in having a nap and and taking some picture we decided to head out to explore dowtown.

 

Here are some pics from our balcony ... and our welcoming comittee ( seagull )

 

 

Up Next Exploration in Vancouver then Embarkation in Vancouver

 

[lhuggi1]

We headed out down Robson St. for Stanley Park and the Aquarium we had been hearing lot's about. The walk from the hotel took about 20mins and it was nice outside so off we went. Vancouver is a very nice city, so clean and we felt completely safe and encountered no problems on our adventures out. Just before we got to Stanley Park there is a park that we stopped to take pictures at

 

 

I must mention that we didn't even cover a small part of the park, it is huge and they have a seawall around it that you can walk, run, bike, and or rollerblade around and we did see many people using it and getting outside which was nice.

 

Here is our first glimpse from Stanley Park to Canada Place

There are some amazingly huge trees in the Park and here is just a glimpse of what a stump of one looks like

 

Off to the Vancouver Aquarium we go ... The park is well laid out and there are signs and tours and pamphlets that you can grab to get around.

 

Here is Mom getting her pic taken just outside the Aquarium

 

[islandersx4]

More, please

[smrn]

loving the pictures!

[WeBCruisin]

Great Review!! Anxiously awaiting the rest!!

[tracyktn]

We are on this cruise but heading from Whittier South next week. Looking forward to the rest of your review. I would love to hear about activities on board and excursions you did.

[happylady]

Can't wait to read more of your review. It's giving me a glimpse of what to look forward to next year. :D

[domdombus]

I havent looked at all the pics yet so I may just be asking a stupid question...

 

 

Were you able to see Mt Redoubt eruptions?

I almost booked a cruise to alaska before redoubt started erupting I sorta wish i didnt change my mind!

[hott_michelle2001]

I am anxiouslt waiting to hear more.:cool:

[lhuggi1]

I havent looked at all the pics yet so I may just be asking a stupid question...

 

 

Were you able to see Mt Redoubt eruptions?

I almost booked a cruise to alaska before redoubt started erupting I sorta wish i didnt change my mind!

 

 

Sorry no I did not see o hear about Mt Redout - we did the Glacier Bay Route

[lhuggi1]

Finally Embarkation Day was here ..... Again we hardly slept that night in Vancouver

I was up very early about 5:00 a.m. We knew that the Spirit was due to dock at about 7:30 a.m. and since we had a view of English Bay we stepped out on the Balcony anxiously awaiting the first signs and her and here they are ...

 

 

 

We were so excited to see this....you can only imagine what this was like from the 29th floor. Anyways we decided since this was the first time that we had travelled for a cruise a day early that we would head to the Port early to embark and get on with the first few cruisers.

 

We arrived at the Port about 11:15 since we could not start boarding till about 12:30

the taxi from the hotel was about $ 7.00 CAD so that was pretty cheap !! We dropped off our luggage off with the porters and tipped them an walked into a line of no more than about 50 ppl. Within 20 mins we were thru U.S.A customs and getting our S&S cards ( yes they were the new ones and the colours were bold so you could tell who was new and who was platinum etc.)

 

This was the quickest embark of all the ports I have been to. It was clean and well organized. However I was doing well until some jerk yelled at me at the top of his lungs in the customs line up because I had my cell phone in my hand. Apparently I did not see the sign to shut off all phones. I was so embarrassed obviously he felt the need to yell and could not just lean over and nicely tell me. But I just shook it off and was determined to have a good time.

 

We did have to fill out a health questionaire it had about 3 questions and then you handed it in and we were on the ship. Our rooms were not to be ready untill 1:30 so like everyone else we decided to head to the lido for some lunch. I will tell you we did recieve 3 coupon books upon emabrk that were good for our ports and they would come in handy - more about that later

 

 

Yummy first DOD of the cruise I bought 2 one for mom and one for me ...

Oh the Salad Bar ......mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[JulieAndTim2009]

Great so far! My wife is really wanting to do an alaskan cruise. I can't wait to read the rest of your review!

[lhuggi1]

Can't forget the Turkey on a Country Roll

 

Here are some shots of the Port of Vancouver - CANADA PLACE

 

Float Planes continuously landed right beside the ship

 

Lions Gate Bridge - Eventually we will travel right under this, again more about this later

 

******AGAIN PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME AS THIS IS MY FIRST REVIEW AND I JUST HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS*******

[Texas Cruising]

You are doing great! I love reading this! We just booked for the same cruise!

[HMC RET]

This is pretty cool, you don't see to many Alaskan Cruise reviews with pics, or at least I haven't. Keep it coming. I would love to do an Alaskan cruise one day.

[techmom]

We are looking to do an Alaskan cruise and this is great! Can't wait to read more.

[tiggerman101]

Looking forward to the rest. Thank you for doing the review. I have a long way till my Alaska Cruise, but I am already excited.

[Coolcruise02]

Thanks for posting. Can't wait until we get to go!

[firefly4423]

Thank you so much for sharing! looks like a great time.

[Purplehaze21]

I am loving this so far..TY. Makes me wish my cruise was now. Your doing a great job so far.

[lhuggi1]

So after eating lunch, of course we were off to locate the room.

We were on deck 5 in room 5143 ....We did have a balcony with 1 king bed and convertible sofa. **** I will say this if your going to ALASKA please please CHOOSE A BALCONY if you can afford to without an OBSTRUCTED VIEW....there is just so so so much to see and it will be worth every penny spent**** By the time we read the reviews and figure out we should have taken a balcony we ended up with an Obstructed view ....I am not complaining though cause I did enjoy it.

 

 

Looking forward was not too bad except for the big orange thing hanging, if it could have been moved a foot or so to the right we would have been set.

Looking downwards there is nothing but boat

 

 

Also I was surprised to see that after the SPIRIT has just come out of drydock in March ( i believe this is the month ) that the carnival comfort bedding was not installed as well as the flat screen TV's were also not installed. However this did not bother me as I just go with the flow. But as for the parents the King bed was not too comfy

 

 

Although you would never believe what I just said after seeing this sleep pic of my dad ...guess he didn't mind the bed...lol

[lhuggi1]

After unpacking and the afternoon slipping away it was time for sail away and here is what we saw on our departure for ALASKA

 

Under the Lions Gate Bridge We Go

 

 

Sooo Close

 

 

And were under and off out to sea we go

[DarthGrady]

Hey great review and great pics so far! You got the pictures I wish I could have gotten, of the ship entering port. We were too far away to see it, so thanks for putting those up! I am about to start posting mine as well, so our cruise will be well documented!:D

[Glenn n Steven in SC]

Thanks so much for the detailed reportage. We're doing NB on 5/27, and I'm about to come out of my skin with excitement! Have only been to Vancouver once, and it was a "day" trip up from Seattle many years ago. Seattle and Vancouver are my 2 favorite cities on this planet.

 

Did you see any black squirrels in Stanley Park? They're amazing.

 

Seeing Spirit glide into the harbour must have really been something. I'm hoping to have a similar view the morning of our departure.

 

Thanks again!

 

-Glenn-

[lhuggi1]

For the first day we had a sea day and I didn't take many pictures as we slept in a bit and just sat on the upper lido decks watching the majestic scenery and whale spouts galore - every time I looked I could see another whale blowing up water... Seeing them breach is another story....I did see a few but never had the camera ready in time to capture the moment on file...

Food was good for breakfast .. I had my usual Coffee mixed with Hot chocolate and eggs with potatoes and croissant and cinnamon danish ..I know I know but I was on vacation.

 

Today started a bit cloudy but as the day moved on it was fantastic warm and sunny. At 1pm Aft Fantail Bar we had our CC M&G and it was fantastic.

Good turn out - missed a few people but made great new friends and it was nice talking and chatting. I enjoyed seeing everyone throughout the week and stopping to chat a see how the cruise was going for them as well. I know I didn't hear one bad comment about the cruise from my fellow CC er's

 

First Port was Juneau Alaska...

At first cruising in I was unsure of what to make of it ..reminds me of cottage country where I live in Ontario but without the ocean part.

 

We were greeted by the US Coast Guard Boat ... and I always appreciate seeing them and feeling safe and secure - so thanks to all those men and women who are keeping us all safe KUDOS TO YOU ( especially since I only get to see them when I cruise )

 

So here is Juneau everyone...

 

 

 

We had no real plans for Juneau just kinda playing it by ear as I did some research before I left.

 

So we decided to take the bus to Mendenhall Glacier $7.00 pp ea way pretty cheap and the last bus back to town was at 5:00 p.m.

 

We were greeted by this little critter upon entry to the parking lot at the glacier

 

okay so not little and if you can't make it out - this is an Alaskan Brown Bear just hanging out in the top of a tree