We cruised out of Seattle and stayed the night prior in downtown Seattle near the space needle. With several hours to explore before boarding, we walked around downtown, explored the area outside of the Museum of Pop Culture. Fun fact: their 5 year run of a Pearl Jam exhibit ended exactly one month before we arrived.
Now, on to the cruise details. We sailed on the Carnival Luminosa. Boarding in Seattle was the easiest boarding ever. We were on board within 10 minutes of getting dropped off by the shuttle bus. Once on board, we had several hours to wait around before we could go to our room so we toured the ship. It's a typical Carnival cruise ship with some slight variations. The buffet areas are spread out more and staff serve you at each buffet station. Throughout the week, we noted delayed and inconsistent meal times in the dining room, which I theorized was a systems issue with Carnival not accounting for the increased staff required for these buffet areas taking staff away from the dining rooms.
Day two was a sailing day. This day felt disconnected from the rest of the trip, either due to Carnival treating it like the rest of its cruises or due to the expectation of being in Alaska sooner. I will say, the tropical themed approach to Alaska doesn't fit. Tiki bars and sunbathing doesn't exactly scream Alaska. There was a naturalist on board, but her role seemed very minimal.
Juneau, day three. Our shore excursion of hiking near Mendenhall glacier got canceled last minute. We were notified by a note slipped under our door approximately two hours before we were supposed to get off the ship. Not only did this mess up our plans, it made alternative planning very difficult. I rushed down to the line to get a debarking ticket for each of us. These were required this stop due to having to use the ships life boats as shuttles to the dock. When they started calling numbers and we realized we were going to be one of the last ones off the ship, I made a quick stop by the customer service desk. The representative was very understanding and got us moved to the front of the line for debarking. This day was the first of many rainy days for us, which we had anticipated and planned for. We considered it an authentic Alaskan experience. With our excursion canceled, we shifted gears, took a bus to Mendenhall glacier for $45 a person, hiked to Nugget falls and had a great experience.
Once done with the hike and a quick stop at the visitors center, we rode back to the downtown area to experience Juneau. We snacked at a food truck court- rockfish taco for me and Nutella crepe for Andrea. We did some window shopping and some actual shopping there as well. We finished out our time there with crab legs at Tracy's Crab Shack. Despite the difficult start to the day, we had an amazing time and I'd highly recommend doing it yourself like we did in Juneau over spending the money on an excursion.
Skagway, day four. We had an early boarding time for the white Pass & Yukon Route railway. The railway is a must do at this stop. The railway provided amazing views from the comfort of your railcar. You could also walk out onto a small viewing deck, which I did more than most. It was cold on the deck, but well worth it. The pictures from this ride tell the story much better than I can. The train ride was interpretive, so a guide gave cues to all passengers along the way.
After the railway, we had a good lunch at Skagway Fish Company followed by a second excursion of the day:Triple adventure-biking, hiking, and rafting. I categorized this excursion as a good experience with more exposure to wider range of the area. It was good to get some physical activity in for the day and our guides were all very helpful, but this experience was one I could take or leave. Carnivals instructions for this day missed the mark once again. We were discouraged from purchasing the second excursion due to potentially not making it back from the first excursion, despite a clear hour plus break between the two. Also, a letter was delivered the night before encouraging us to use the shuttle 50 minutes prior to our excursion due to anticipated crowds. We left an hour early and were at the end of the pier in 5 minutes, leaving us with almost an hour to wait and nothing to do but stand in the rain.
Tracy Arm Fjord, day five. We booked the early glacier explorer excursion, which may have been the highlight of the trip. Our small vessel captain navigated us to within 1/4 mile of Sawyer glacier. We had breathtaking views of the glacier. We saw more harbor seals than one could count. We were back on board the cruise ship by 10 am with nothing else on the itinerary for the day. Later in the day, while exiting the fjord, the onboard naturalist announced humpback whales had been spotted on the port side of the ship, which just so happened to be our side. We struggled to locate signs of whales for a few minutes, then decided to head to a more populated area to seek assistance. After talking to a few people, a gentleman announced "spouts" and pointed in a general direction. We quickly located the spouts and, after retracing our steps to share information with other travelers, made our way back to our balcony to watch for the whales from there. All in all a wonderful experience!
Ketchikan, day six. I think Ketchikan is Inuit for "a whole lotta rain". With no excursion booked and only five hours in port, we walked to Creek Street and checked out some totem poles in town. With some shopping completed and another Nutella crepe from Alaska crepe Co in Andrea's belly, we headed back to the ship. Knowing we'd be back on board early this day, we had a reservation at the on board steak house this night. While seated at our window table on the starboard side of the 10th deck, we noticed an oddly placed buoy approximately half a mile out. As we stared at the buoy, a whale jumped, full breach, right between the buoy and us! The meal was excellent, but the whale spotting was the highlight of the day!
Victoria, day seven. This day was essentially another sailing day with a late, short stop. After breakfast and some small talk with others seated nearby, we realized there was a lot of whale activity. We went back to our room and spent a couple of hours whale watching from our balcony. Our balcony neighbors had a long lens camera and were attempting to catch some shots of whales out of water. We quickly started working together, calling out sightings to each other to share the experience. During this time, we saw another full breach from a humpback whale, countless whale 'spouts', a pod of orcas, and several groups of dolphins swimming near the ship.
As for the Victoria off-boat experience, that can be described in one word: rushed. We were scheduled to be off the boat at 8:00 pm and back on board at 11:30 pm. We didn't get the 'all clear' to get off the ship until 8:30. Accounting for lines and walk time to downtown, that gave us little time to do anything and made for a stressful evening.
Debarkment day: we changed flights earlier in the week due to a letter we received letting us know that we would be one of the last groups off the ship due to us carrying off our luggage. When we docked and the announcements were made, we were actually the very first group called to exit the ship. Once off the ship, the process was very quick. A glance at our passports and into a cab headed for the airport.
In summary: I highly recommend this experience, just not with Carnival. You might have already noticed, but there were multiple issues the throughout the trip that could have put a damper on our experience. We made the best of the trip and had an unforgettable experience, despite Carnival attempting to derail us multiple times. In fact, I'm finishing up this post as we wait on a delayed flight. A flight that we wouldn't even be on if carnival had given us correct information during the cruise.
One last personal nitpick on Carnival: you cruise out of Seattle, you've got to at least include a nod to the area being the birthplace of grunge! All of the musical opportunities during a cruise and not a single song with Seattle roots! Monday was even memorial day. Rooster was right there, sitting on a tee for you!!
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