This was my first cruise. I sailed on the Carnival Spirit on the 7 day cruise to Tracey Arm Fjord, with stops in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchican, and Victoria (Vancouver Island). The ship was great. I still can't get over how large these cruise ships are...they are literally floating cities. It was very well maintained and in good repair. Also, it was pretty easy to find good spots for photos and such even during the high demand times. The only real criticism is that it would be nice to have an unlighted area for star gazing at night (well, for the one night out of six when you can actually see stars in that part of the world :) ).
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
While I spoke with some very experienced cruisers who would disagree with me on this, I thought the food was outstanding. Being hungry was never a problem on this ship. The restaurant staff who ended up serving you got to know your likes and dislikes, and if you didn't like what you were eating, no problem...just order something else :)
Entertainment
3 out of 5
One of the downsides that kept cropping up (especially starting around day 3 or so) was repetition. If I don't hear YMCA, Electric Slide, Celebration, and Happy Birthday for another 10 years I'll be a happy individual. Not only in the dance clubs, but the live bands, too. It just seemed like there was a limited play list, and it got old after a while. Also, the comedians were a bit of a disappointment. Same basic criticism...if you're putting on a 1/2 hour show and you're doing 4-6 shows over 3 days (half of which are adult only shows), there is no excuse for not having new material at each show. Especially when you're headliners.
Another downside was the singles gatherings . They had two of them: one for mature people (which seemed like it was 60 + ), and a second for 18+. There wasn't anything for middle aged people. Plus, the 18+ gathering started at 10:00 pm on the first night. Personally, my day started at 3:30 am that day, so I was spent by 10:00 pm.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
While I don't have children of my own, I heard from several parents aboard that there were a ton of things for the kids to do. For the most part, they weren't under foot too much from my perspective.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
It was like sailing with the United Nations as far as the staff is concerned. It was nice getting to meet people from such a wide variety of countries. They were all very friendly and extremely helpful.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Great ship. As I said above, it would've been nice to have a small area dedicated to star gazing somewhere on the top of the ship (i.e. no overhead lights, etc.). Other than that, no complaints. Any spills or other problems were cleaned up right away...the staff and crew kept things looking good.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Nice sized room. It would be nice if they would make a few singles rooms, though, so we could cut down on the cost a bit...I feel like I'm being punished for being single (which, in a sense, I am already anyway...I don't need to get an additional financial penalty as well).
I had two excursions while here: Horse back riding, and rock climbing. Both excursions were great. Because the excursions took up so much time, though, I didn't get to visit the town (though I'm told most of the town could be viewed in a very short amount of time and doesn't offer much more than restaurants and shopping (lots of jewelry stores)).
Excursion-wise I went sea kayaking and took a helicopter ride out to a glacier. I felt the helicopter ride was a bit stiff (the staff was very professional, but not really warm, nor overly interested in meeting with visitors). The sea kayaking staff was much better. Juneau was the nicest of the Alaskan ports. Many of us agreed that it's really a shame we didn't get to spend a full day there. Some friends ran into a couple of bears while on one of the hiking tours.
A group of us took a quick walk into town, and then had to head back to the ship. No where near enough time to even start exploring this island. Having been there before, though, I remember it's a great place and you need several days to really appreciate it.
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