Hey Guys!
I recently returned from a 7 day cruise to Alaska on the Carnival Luminosa.
This was my second Alaskan cruise. My first cruise was with Princess cruise lines back in May 2014.
Read reviews for Carnival here and for Princess here
Having sailed on both, I would highly recommend Carnival over Princess!
My first cruise was with my husband, this cruise was with my mom and two of my sisters.
We flew out of Nashville on May 7, 2025. Our flight was a non stop flight to Seattle where most Alaskan cruises originate.
The views from the plane were incredible!
This is why I always choose a window seat!
Approaching Seattle 
After landing in Seattle at approximately 10:15 am, we retrieved our luggage and headed outside to find a taxi to take us to our hotel.
Tip: I believe the cost for the taxi to our hotel in downtown cost us approx. $45 plus tip.
We decided to fly in the day before our cruise departed just in case our flight was delayed or cancelled …it would give us time to rebook another flight. I highly recommend you do this if you ever take a cruise!
The taxi driver dropped us off right in front of our hotel, the Homewood Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown.
We had chosen this hotel not only because it was close to downtown, but also due to its proximity to the Carnival cruise port.
After arriving to the hotel, we had the front desk hold our luggage for us since it was too early to check into our room.
We then used the Uber app to have a driver pick us up and drop us off at the Pike Place Market in downtown.
Tip: The cost was approximately $20 for the Uber. You will want to make sure you have plenty of cash for tips.
After being dropped off, we headed inside the Pike Place Market.
This is a huge tourist area and it’s usually very crowded but since our trip was in early May, the crowds weren’t too bad.
At the Pike Place Market, you will find lots of shops and restaurants.
The market was founded in 1907 and spans nine acres! It is one of the oldest and largest continuously operating public markets in the United States!
There are more than 200 vendors selling fresh seafood, flowers, fruit, vegetables and much more!
Click here for a directory of the market & Click here to read reviews
At the market, you will find the popular Pike Place Fish Market. This is where you will see the famous flying fish!
However, for this to happen, someone has to buy a fish! If you stick around long enough, you will surely see a fish flying through the air!
We did, but sadly I missed getting a picture!
There were lots of fresh seafood everywhere and you could definitely smell it too! 😷 
You will also find Rachel, the piggy bank.
Since 1986, Georgia Gerber’s bronze piggy bank has collected more than $200,000.00 for the Pike Place Market Foundation, which in turn supports the neighborhood’s social service agencies.
After walking through the market, we made our way to Post Alley to see the famous gum wall.
The Gum Wall started in the 1990s when local patrons and performers at Unexpected Productions stuck their used gum on the wall.
Since those days, the wall has grown piece by piece to cover an enormous expanse of brick and continues to expand down Post Alley.
The gum has been cleaned off the wall many times but people keep covering it with gum!
Read reviews here
Near the gum wall, I spotted these cool light fixtures!
We then headed back inside the market to find something for lunch.
We spotted the popular Athenian restaurant but it was closed so we continued our walk through the market.
Read reviews here
The next restaurant we saw was called Lowell’s so we decided to eat here.
The restaurant has been opened since 1957.
We were seated on the second floor with views of the water and the famous ferris wheel!
After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.
The restaurant specializes in seafood but they do have other options like sandwiches, burgers and salads.
I decided on their famous fish and chips….I mean, if it’s famous, it has to be good, right?! 😉 
My mom ordered the fried shrimp, one sister ordered the fish tacos and one ordered the tuna melt.
The food was very good as well as the service!
Read reviews here
After lunch, we headed to the Pike Place bakery for some sweet treats!
Pike Place Bakery is a family-owned bakery that has been opened since 1983. They sell donuts, bread, pastries, cakes and lots more!
We purchased several different items to have for later.
Read reviews here & Click here for another popular bakery at the market
After making our purchase, we headed outside to walk over to Beecher’s.
Beecher’s has been opened since 2003. They make their own cheese and you can stand and watch through the glass walls.
They also make sandwiches, soups and more. When my husband and I first visited Seattle, we tried a grilled cheese sandwich from here and it was delicious!
Read reviews here
Tip: Don’t miss visiting the first Starbucks that opened…it’s near the Pike Place Market!
After leaving here, we decided to have an Uber pick us up and take us back to the hotel.
Once we were back at the hotel, we checked with the front desk about getting an early check in but unfortunately, there were lots of other people waiting for a room so we had to sit in the lobby and wait.
While we waited, we decided to have our pastries from the Pike Place Bakery.
Sadly, we were not impressed with any of the pastries. 🙁
After waiting at least two hours, we finally were able to check into our room!
The room was approximately 500 square feet and had two queen size beds, a nice size living room, a small kitchenette and a large bathroom!
After getting settled into our room, my mom and I went to the fitness room to workout for a while.
Later, my sister and I walked to a nearby deli called Stella Deli & Market to order sandwiches for dinner.
They offered all kinds of deli sandwiches, snacks, healthcare items, and more…..it’s a great place to shop for those last minute snacks or medications you may need for your cruise!
I ordered the New Yorker which was as a pastrami sandwich on rye bread.
After getting back to our room, we tried out our sandwiches. I was not impressed.
I’m not sure why I chose this sandwich as I am not a fan of pastrami and now I know why I don’t care for it! 😉
Later that evening, we called it a night!
The next morning, we were up early so we could have breakfast at the hotel and get packed up.
I’m not usually a fan of hotel breakfasts but this hotel’s was really good and they had lots to choose from!
After breakfast, we took a short walk outside since we couldn’t be at the cruise port until our check in time which was between 12:00 – 12:30 pm.
Tip: You will choose a check in time when you check in for your cruise two weeks prior to departure.
We spotted the Space Needle on our walk..
My hubby and I visited the Space Needle on our first visit to Seattle and I highly recommend it!
Read reviews here
After our walk, we headed back to the hotel to get packed up.
We then took the hotel’s shuttle to the cruise port. The cost was $10 per person plus tip.
Read reviews for the hotel here
Once we arrived to the port, we headed to the Carnival cruise line to drop off our luggage with a porter.
Tip: You will need to download the Carnival Hub app so you can check in for your cruise approx. 2 weeks prior to your trip. One week prior to your trip, you will receive a boarding pass and luggage tags. The luggage tags will need to be placed on your luggage before you drop them off with the porter. Do not drop off anything valuable…keep those in a backpack with you to take on the ship. Tip the porters when dropping your luggage off. 🙂
After dropping our luggage off, we were told which line to get in. At this point, you will need to have your passport and your boarding pass ready to show to about 10 different people before you are allowed to enter the ship!
Seriously though, it was about 5 or 6 people but it was very organized! I was impressed with how organized it was!
Making our way to the ship!
Of course we had to have our matching cruise shirts! 😉
They had the cruise mascot onboard so you could take pictures with him.
Tip: The Carnival Spirit was named the best Alaska cruise by USA Today.
Since we couldn’t get into our room until 1:30, we headed to the lido deck to have lunch.
There are many food options on this cruise ….some are free and some you have to pay extra for.
We opted for a hamburger and fries.. 
It was very good!
After lunch, we decided to take one of the tours of the spa area.
On the tour, a carnival staff member will take you through each of the rooms that you will have access to if you purchase the 7 day spa pass.
Tip: We had read online that they sold day passes too but were told during the tour, that they don’t sale day passes!
The rooms you will have access to are: the hydrotherapy pool, 2-3 dry heat rooms, steam room, lockers with showers, a relaxation room, and a sauna.
The ship also had a salon where you could get haircuts, manicures, pedicures and more.
We visited the fitness center too. The fitness center also had a sauna you could use.
During the tour, you are told about spa specials that are only good for that day so, of course, I booked spa services and my sister and I went in and purchased the 7 day spa pass!
Tip: If you are interested in the spa pass or spa services, I highly recommend that you purchase them prior to leaving for your cruise because they are cheaper! The 7 day spa pass was $149 if you pre purchased it before the cruise but since we didn’t, it was $218 pp or $387 for a couple! You can pre purchase on your Carnival Hub app.
After purchasing our spa treatments and passes, we waked around and took a few pictures of the ship.
We then headed to our room!
Our luggage was already sitting outside our cabins when we arrived!
We booked two cabins with balconies. ….our rooms were side by side. Our room numbers were 5261 & 5263.
Do not go on an Alaskan cruise without having a balcony…..it’s a must!
Click here & here for rooms to avoid on this ship
Since my mom had treated us girls to this cruise, I surprised her with having our room decorated as a thank you!
The decoration package also came with a small cake.
I also ordered chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, a snack box and three 12 packs of bottled water.
Tip: You can purchase lots of different items for your room on the Carnival Hub app. Since you are not allowed to bring any sodas or water onto the ship, I purchased the 12 packs of water for our room which cost approx. $17 each. We also brought collapsible water bottles to keep them refilled with water but we never used them. You can also bring a stainless steel cup to keep it filled with coffee or hot chocolate. You are also allowed to bring on snacks but they must be prepackaged items.
After getting settled into our room, we headed back to the top deck to check out the Seattle skyline and to relax in the many lounge chairs.
Later we headed to the pool area where they were having singing and dancing.
My sister decided to join in on the dancing!
We then headed back to our cabin to get ready for our spa treatments at 6 pm.
When we got back to our room, we checked out our balconies.
Since we had rooms beside one another, we had the option of having the divider wall opened up so we would all have one big balcony instead of two.
As we were on the balcony, we spotted two orcas in the water!
You have to zoom in on this picture to see them!
Tip: Our ship left port at 3:30 pm.
After changing our clothes, we headed to the spa where we waited in the relaxation room until our therapist was ready for us.
It was definitely relaxing!
Later we were taken back to a room with a view for our spa treatments! 
After our treatments, we headed back to one of the heated rooms for more relaxation. 
And then later, headed to the hydrotherapy pool.
It was so awesome and I highly recommend the spa pass if you ever find yourself on one of the Carnival ships that offers a spa!
Tip: You can also book Cloud 9 Spa rooms that give you access to the spa area but weigh out the cost of the room versus the cost of the pass itself.
Later we called it a night!
Tip: The rooms do come with black out curtains and really nice bedding….there’s also an extra comforter stored under the bed. We had plenty of room for our clothes and stored our suitcases under the beds.
After a restful night’s sleep, we were up bright and early.
Our first two days on the ship, were sea days.
Tip: Whatever you do, make sure you take something for motion sickness….whether you are prone to motion sickness or not! We took bonine before and all during our cruise!
After getting up and dressed, we headed to deck 9 to have breakfast.
A map of the ship
We passed the dining room on the way.
You can eat in the dining room for breakfast and dinner. When you book your cruise, you will need to choose what time you want to arrive for dinner.
We chose the anytime dining so that meant, we had to go on the Carnival Hub app and check in for dinner when we were ready to eat. We never had to wait for a table when we did this!
For breakfast, I opted for an omelet ….they only had one person making omelets so it took a good 30+ mins to get through the line!
The omelet was really good but some of the potatoes were hard.
The free coffee on the ship was horrible! Thankfully, they had 3 different places that you could purchase speciality coffees.
One of those was on deck three and called the Java Blue Cafe.
They also had yummy looking desserts! Like the coffee, you had to pay extra for those as well.
I ordered the large vanilla latte made with almond milk and the cost was $6.50. It was very good!
Tip: Besides automatically being charged $112 in tips for the 7 day cruise, you will also be charged an 18% gratuity on anything you purchase on the ship! You can check your account at any time on the Carnival Hub app.
After purchasing coffee, we walked around the ship checking out all the different floors….there’s 11 of them!
We passed through the smoky casino! I was surprised they allowed smoking! 
We saw one of the specialty restaurants where you have to pay to eat.
On the very top deck is where you will have 360 degrees of the views so don’t miss it!
There is also a walking track, basketball court, pool table, foosball and a miniature golf course.
There are two pools and 4 hot tubs. One of the pools and two of the hot tubs are for adults only.
The ship offered many different shows, classes, naturalists, and more to keep you entertained during your days at sea.
After spending time checking out the ship and relaxing, we headed back to deck 9 for lunch.
This time I went to the deli for a southwest chicken wrap and chips.
The food was pretty good. I never had anything I just hated.
After lunch, we headed to deck 10 to watch an ice carving event.
After watching for about 30 mins, we finally figured out that he was carving some kind of fish.
We spent a lot of time relaxing on our second day as we were exhausted from the early flight the day before and the time change! I think the medicine we were taking for motion sickness was also making us tired!
Tonight was the first formal night on the ship. I wasn’t feeling well so my mom and two sisters decided to go. 
There are two formal nights on a 7 day cruise. Some people go all out while others keep it simple and just wear dress pants and a nice blouse or a simple dress. Men can wear a tux or keep it simple and wear khakis and a dress shirt.
After dinner, we all decided to go to a show called Flick.
We sat in the upper level of the theater…
If you sit in the lower level, where the tables are, you can order drinks.
The show pays homage to the music from movies like Dirty Dancing, Titanic, Star Wars, James Bond and more.
There were lots of costume changes as well as special effects and other high tech elements.
It was pretty good….I’m not a big music person but my sisters loved it!
I did think the performers who sang did a really good job!
After the show, we called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 4! UPDATE: Read Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here, Day 7 here, & Days 8 & 9 here
Click here to see links to all of my blog posts