Carnival Miracle 2013 7-Day Alaska Cruise Review
Day 5        June  15, 2013            Juneau , Alaska                        Arrival:   7:00AM                       Departure:  3:00PM
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Daily Overview:    Today the ship docked in Juneau, Alaska.  The weather was hot and good for t-shirts and shorts, like in Skagway. I rode the Mt. Robert's Tramway in Juneau and also walked to & toured the state capital.  The ship arrived at Juneau on-time. Today was a busy day in port and Juneau was my favorite port of call on the Alaska cruise.  Enjoy some pictures taken as the ship was approaching Juneau: 

Early Morning - Arriving In Juneau, AK

Zoomed In Picture of Juneau as ship arrives

Houses Along Shoreline

Looking Towards Back Port Side Of Ship

Houses Along Shoreline

Nick & Nora's Steakhouse

Table in Nick & Nora's Steakhouse

Retractable Roof Over Heated Pool

Swirls Ice Cream Station

Ship Is Getting Ready To Dock in Juneau

Harbor of Juneau

Side View of Ship With Harbor of Juneau

Breakfast in Horatio's Lido Buffet: 
The breakfast buffet had the typical food and it was very good! I had an omelet again and I chose the omelet station /food line that was at the deli.  I also had the Orange Guava Juice again.  I think this day of the cruise was french toast day.   I noticied that the bacon was not as greasy on this day and was much more crispy . Enjoy the picture of my breakfast food plate:

Breakfast Day #5 Plate

In the early morning the weather was much cooler than in the afternoon.  Some of the pictures you will see below were taken from Deck 3 on the ship.  I enjoyed Deck 3 because it rarely had other people because it was under the lifeboats.  Deck 3 is also where the lifeboat embarkation stations are located.  On the first day deck 3 is where all passengers had to report to for the muster station drill.

Docked - View From Back of Ship

On Deck 3 - View of Gangway Below

Mt. Roberts Tramcar from ship

View From Back of Ship

Juneau, Alaska

Back of Ship Looking Fowards

Getting Of The Ship:    Getting off of the ship was quick and easy.  Luckily, the tide did not change and the gangway did not have to be closed.  The current tide allowed the gangway to be located on Deck 2 and guests could embark/disembark in the atrium.   The FunFinds Shopping Maps and coupons were distributed by a crew member in the atrium.  The crew member was giving 1 map per group.

View of Front Area of Ship From Boardwalk

Back of the Ship

Harbor

Tramcar Descending

Tramcar Almost in Station

Mt. Roberts Tramway:

I rode the Mt. Roberts Tramway during the day in Juneau. The ticket prices were high, but it was well worth it because of the view of the ship and the view of Juneau.  I rode the tram once in the morning and once in the early afternoon.

Enjoy some pictures of the tram ride up.  I put the pictures in a photo gallery format because I don't have any captions or information to add about each picture.  The weather was cooperative so these pictures were able to turn out great!  Here are the going up pictures: 

At The Top:   At the top was a nature center, rescued eagle, gift shop, nature trail, and a place where people could buy snacks and coffee.  The view from the top was amazing!  I looked at the rescued bald eagle for a while and then walked a small distance on the nature trails.  Snow could be found on the nature trails.  However, in some places on the nature trail the bridge railings were low and the path was uneven.   People who have children or who are elderly should use caution when on the nature trails.  Actually, all people should be careful, watch their step, and use common sense. I was glad to not see any bears or wildlife on the trail!

At the Top

Exiting the Tram

Lots of windows for looking out

Top of Mountain Tram Station

View Below

Snow Covered Mountain Peak

Mountains in the Distance

Nature Center

Looking Down At Ship

Rescued Bald Eagle

Rescued Bald Eagle

Nature Trails - Snow

Nature Trails

Looking up from the nature trails

Under Construction

Entrance to Building At Top

Going Down:   During the going down ride I did not take very many pictures because I took a video of the ride down from top to bottom.  I will be uploading it online soon to either this website or to Youtube.

On Ground - Shops

Walk to Capital

Clock on streetcorner

Clock

In Front of Capital Under Construction

Alaska State Capital Tour: 
I walked to the state capital and was able to get a free guided tour.  The free guided tour lasted about 45 minutes and the guide gave a good tour and lots of interesting information about the building and the history of Alaska.  The guide allowed the tour participants to take many pictures inside the capital building.  


If you are going to Juneau, Alaska, this tour is well worth it!  I posted some pictures from the tour below in photo gallery format.  There are no special captions for any of the pictures. Enjoy the pictures:

After the tour was over it was lunch time.  Here are some pictures I took while walking to the ship to get lunch: 

Tram Station on Ground

On Boardwalk - View of Harbor

On Pier - Looking Towards Back of Ship

Looking At Ship

Little Gangway

A smaller cruise ship joined us in the early afternoon named the "Seven Seas Navigator". 

Entrance to Reboard Ship

Seven Seas Navigator

View From Balcony

Lunch: Chips & Pico de Gallo From Grill

Lunch in Horatio's:
Lunch was very good in Horatio's and the buffet was not crowded. The majority of people were enjoying their day in Juneau.  I had a Pastrami on Rye sandwich from the deli and then some food from the grill.  The picture to the left is homemade chips and pico de gallo salsa.  Very good!  



After lunch I got back off and did the Mt. Robert's Tramway again.  In order to keep this review interesting and condensed I am only posting some of my best of favorite pictures:

Front of Seven Seas Navigator

View of Juneau From Tram

View of Juneau From Tram

Seven Seas Navigator

Carnival Miracle

View of Mountain Top Tram Entrance

Fun Ship Tail

Back of Ship

"Be Back Onboard By":   The ship publishes an arrival time, be back onboard time, and a departure time for each port.  Before the ship was scheduled to depart I decided to walk on Deck 3 above the gangway area to see if the gangway was still in place or if it was removed.  One of the two gangways was being moved at 3:00PM.  After the first gangway was moved the service truck was getting ready to move the 2nd gangway.  However, port security spotted 3 or 4 passengers walking towards the dock entrance.  Port security stopped the guests and then yelled over to the pier workers "Don't put up the gangway. Wait!" The passengers jogged to the ship and then the minute they were onboard the gangway pulled was pulled away. 
          People need to make sure they give themselves plenty of time to get back onboard the ship!  

View As Tram Goes Down

First Gangway Getting Removed

Second Gangway Getting Removed

The ship departed a little later than 3:00PM, but the ship was still very close to on-time.  I think that our captain was very time conscious  and that he made sure that our ship stayed on schedule. 

View At Front of Ship As Ship Leaves Juneau

View of Tram As Ship Departs

Juneau, Alaska

Seven Seas Navigator & Side View of Ship

Ship Has Pulled Out

VIFP Club Party For Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Members:  This was my first cruise since the VIFP Club program was introduced which made this my first time to be a gold member.  There is a party for all gold, platinum, and diamond members.   Each person eligible to attend the party received an invitation.  The party was in the Phantom Theatre on the lower level.  At the doors of the lounge crew members were checking invitations and giving Mardi Gras beads to people as they entered.  People were told to find a seat that had a plate.  After sitting down a crew member came with drinks and then another crew member came with a little sample sized bite of food.  
The showband and lead female singer were on the stage entertaining as people arrived.  The showband and singer were really good! 
Next, cruise director Chris, came onto the stage and talked some.  He talked about how the VIFP Club works. 
Following his speech was a presentation that showed pictures of all of the Carnival ships (past to present) and people were suppose to clap as they saw a ship that they sailed on...

Medical Emergency:   When the presentation reached the Carnival Fantasy the music stopped and the p/a system came on and said "Brightstar, Brightstar, Brightstar. Medical Center".  Please note that is probably not exactly what the announcement said, but I am trying to remember details as close as possible.  After the announcer hung up, the presentation was on the Carnival Ecstasy and everything continued as normal. 

When the ship presentation was over CD Chris told us that the captain was not able to speak to us as planned because he was helping oversee that a guest got taken off the ship due to a medical emergency.  Our cruise director did not give us any more details and I never heard any reliable information about why the guest got disembarked or what happened to them.  To this day I do not know anything about the guest that was taken off the ship. 

The ship was completely stopped when the party ended  and here are some pictures that I took during the time that the ship was stopped:

Coast Guard Boat Docked Along Miracle

Parked - View From Ship's Front

View of Coast Guard Ship Docked

Dinner In Bacchus Dining Room:   

Dinner was once again very good and the service was good!  I did not post any names of the food items because I do not remember what food is what. The pictures are in photo gallery style and do not have any important captions. Here are Day 5's Dinner Pictures:

Stateroom:
After dinner the stateroom was turned down and a new towel animal was left.  












Sunset Pictures:
Tonight I was able to catch the sunset as we headed away from Juneau!  
Here are some pictures that I took of the sunset:

Towel Animal

Sunset

Sunset

Serenity & Sunset

Thank you for viewing Day 5 - Juneau, Alaska Review.  
Up next is the review for Day 6 -  Ketchikan, Alaska. 
Click Here To View The Review For Day 6