Alaska is so beautiful!

Item: Carnival Luminosa
Rating: 3.8
Author: marquis3708

Carnival Luminosa Cruise Review

marquis3708

Contributor Level: Second Mate

56 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 7

Helpful Votes: 162

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

8 Night Alaska - Sitka (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 28, 2023

Ship: Carnival Luminosa

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 4389

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

The Luminosa is a great ship to see Alaska on. So much to see and admire in Alaska. Shore excursions were definitely worth the price. Did the Zodiac boat and Fin Island Lodge in Sitka. Best excursion I’ve ever done. Got up close to lots of wildlife and the food at the lodge was incredible. Did the whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and it was also amazing. Did the Yukon motor coach to Caribou Crossing in Canada and White Pass railroad back to the port. So incredibly beautiful and even got to see some black bears including some cubs. Did the South Sawyer Glacier excursion in Tracy Arm Fjord, so incredible! Got to see so many seals just hanging out on the floating ice. Shopped in Ketchikan and got to see their 4th of July parade before pulling away. Wish we there longer. Didn’t get off in Victoria do to the strange time in port (8pm to 11:30pm). Couldn’t have had better weather, only rained twice the entire 8 days. Glad I didn’t do the drink package as they were out of so many beers that I usually drink on Carnival. Food quality is definitely an issue on this ship. The small negatives aside we had an unforgettable time on this cruise. If you’re into beautiful scenery and wildlife then definitely do an Alaskan cruise.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Easy embarkation. Had 11-11:30 port arrival time. Arrived at 11:05, on board at 11:45. Did have to ask what boarding group they were boarding, because you couldn’t hear the announcements. So might have been able to get on a few minutes earlier. They didn’t have any video screen showing what groups were currently boarding like other terminals.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Unfortunately, this was the worst food I’ve ever had on any cruise. Except for the pizza and the omelette station is was hard to find something really enjoyable. Stopped going to the dining room for dinner after the second night. We are pretty easy to please when it comes to food and can almost always find something to satisfy us. Just had a harder time on this cruise.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Did a couple trivia’s during the foggy times. Fun squad always makes it enjoyable. They actually had ship on a stick to give to the winners this cruise. Was happy to see that.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Still great service from the hard working staff.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

I really enjoyed the layout of the Luminosa. Walkways are a little tighter than other Spirit class ships but still manageable. The Ocean Plaza is huge. The pool area including the deck above was a nice area to hang out and look for ocean wildlife. Ship was very clean. Staff always around cleaning.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Cabin was clean and in good working condition. Balcony is a little bigger than others in the same category. However, we didn’t enjoy it much due to the crew smoking area being directly below our balcony. Wouldn’t have booked this location had that information been available on Carnival’s website. If you can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke then don’t book port side aft on the Luminosa. If you do smoke, like our neighbors did, (on their balcony I will add) then this is a perfect location for you.

Ship tip

She’s a lot different than the other Carnival ships, but laid out great for an Alaskan cruise. Plenty of outdoor and indoor areas to look for wildlife and admire the scenery.

Thumbs up

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

No problems here. We had luggage tag #19 and were in the last group that was called to leave. Tags 19-30 were called in the last group. That was at 9:15. We had our bags and were in our transportation by 9:35.

8 Comments

Robertamimi 1 year ago

Our head waiter( MAGITING) and his helpers (INDRA and FAUZI) were absolutely WONDERFUL!..We thoroughly enjoyed every dinner in the dining room and the food was great! There were 10 of us on our family 8-day cruise to Alaska and the wonderful memories will be with us for many years to come!

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

tmarasco 1 year ago

Thank you for sharing your details! Some useful information here

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Sogmoore 1 year ago

Great review thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

javawoody 1 year ago

Glad you enjoyed your experience

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Cruiselovers70 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

cruising2004 1 year ago

You’re right, Alaska is beautiful! Glad you enjoyed most of your cruise. Sounds like you went on some amazing excursions. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

DessertSteaks 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Great Alaskan Cruise, Italian-Style

relaxing cruise

Great Crew, LIDO Buffet Layout Is Awful