Carnival Spirit to Alaska

[Zydecocruiser]

Originally posted by vacationbound:
I was just wanting people's opinion(food, entertainment, supper club) on this ship. I wanted to do a Princess cruise to Alaska, but because of the price my wallet says stick with Carnival. When is the best time to go May or September?

IMO, when cruising Alaska, the ship is not the destination.

I loved our late May '09 Carnival Spirit cruise! I had been on Holland-America before and was pleasantly surprised with Carnival Spirit.

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/C...rit/Alaska/index.htm

Disclaimer - It can rain anytime for any reason in Alaska.

I think May, may be cooler and less rainy. September - warmer but more rainy.

Babies in the Springtime, Salmon runs later.

Bears and Eagles will be easier to see along the coast the later you go. Eagle mating season is in the Fall.

Late June is perhaps the best time, weather-wise, to go. Also is usually pricier.

Your mileage may vary!

[vacationbound]

Thank you Zydeco for that link to your website. It was fantastic! Great pictures.

[ara0926]

I did the Southbound itinerary May 20-27 and had an amazing trip. Hope I left the ship in ok shape for you Zydeco!

I did this trip with my 70 yr old father and we did the trip that he needed to do which was low impact. Next time I will probably do more adventure based excursions.

I agree with Zydeco in that Sitka was my favorite port. Sadly the Spirit will not be sailing there next season on the RT out of Seattle. Such a loss!

The weather was perfect for our trip. Sunny in every port other than Ketchikan, which is par for the course. The CD said it was better than the weather they had experienced all of the previous season.

The Spirit was wonderful. Though it took a day or so to get my barrings once I did I fell in LOVE with the layout and understood why everyone raves about the Spirit class ships.

The Food was pretty good however there were a few dishes that were overly salty and the desserts were not as good as previous cruises. food on Lido never failed to impress.

Anyway I have rambled on long enough.

Take Care
Ashley

[Dwayne]

Hi ara0926, Welcome to Cruise-Chat!

Dwayne

[ara0926]

Thanks Dwayne!

Happy to be here. I lurk on some of the other boards but thought I would stop by after reading about ya'll on John Heald's Blog. Congrats on the shout out from him!

See you're not too far away in SC!

Ashley

[Dwayne]

You are welcome, and thanks. Glad to see ya here. I'm prolly about 4 hours or so away, very close to a beach that is famous for shaggin'.

Dwayne

[Zydecocruiser]

Thank you.

I think some else mentioned Sitka, but it was one of my favorite ports and sorry Carnival won't be returning next year.

The ship was in fine shape for me and I don't think we did any damage.