eastoftheboston

I don't know about being able to eat in the main dining room, but you do have access to the Aurea deck. At least that was my experience on the Seaside. You walked out of the YC pool area straight into the Aurea area so that would be convenient in your case. 

I hope you have a great cruise!

I sailed Spirit in January and loved her. My favorite Carnival ship out of the three I've been on. But I think it had the worst Serenity area. I think the fact that it is located on the lido deck next to the buffet just meant crowds would naturally spill out there and they were loud and obnoxious. Wasn't serene at all, at least on the cruise I was on. But aside from that, by far it was my favorite Carnival ship. Tons of space, never had a problem getting a deck chair (except in Serenity), staff was great, shows were good, dining room was nice. I would love to sail the Spirit again!

7 hours ago, asalligo said:

No, suites are no longer ready upon boarding and they let you know about that at check in. Ours was available at 1:30 on the Pride. You are allowed to stop in and drop off your luggage though. 

 

When we checked in at the port for our cruise on the Spirit, we were told our suite would be ready as soon as we boarded (we had a 10 or 10:30 arrival appointment) and lo and behold, it was ready as soon as we got on the ship and our sign and sail cards were there waiting for us. 

20 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Is this at all the bars or just the Red Frog and Blue Iguana? 

They have them at the Sky Box sports bar, too. At least they did on the Spirit last week. 

On 1/19/2023 at 12:48 PM, Indytraveler83 said:

 

You'll have to let me know what you think of the Spirit.  I'm seriously reconsidering our Spirit cruise.  We got it at an epic price that we will never get again, but I also can't do another shipboard experience like this. 

I was just on the Spirit last week. You'll love it. I wasn't sure about an older ship, but everyone raves about Spirit so I gave it a try. (We also got an AMAZING once-in-a-lifetime price). You never feel crowded, and the staff was great. I wrote a review but haven't posted it yet. We were surprised how much we enjoyed the food (if anything I thought my chocolate melting cake was too melted, never overcooked LOL). The violinists and other live entertaiment played in venues all over the ship and didn't conflict with dinner. 

We did anytime dining but they worked to put us in the same area each night so the staff knew us by name and took great care of us. 

The 80s Playlist show was awesome, the others were just ok. Just be aware of that.

Also, I am also part of a same-sex couple and my husband and I never felt anything but welcomed by everyone, staff and passengers. I hope you have the same experience.

Not sure about Michaels, but the Soul Play classes are up and running on the Spirit. 

On 12/28/2022 at 11:47 AM, cruisinqt said:

Ours is also deck 4 it’s cabin 4228.I’m so excited! We are Platinum so I’ll just board along with Platinum guests. Our cruise isn’t until August so I won’t be able to see our boarding passes anytime soon either. It’s sounding like most cruisers don’t think it’s on the luggage tags so I’m hopeful that I can pull off the surprise. Thanks for the info. 

4228 happens to be MY cabin too! Except I'm on the Spirit, not the Pride. Since they're sister ships, if you have any questions about the suite I'll try to answer them when I'm on board. I took one look at that wrap-around balcony and I couldn't resist!

I'm in a suite in just over a week. If you hold on to both boarding passes "to make sure he doesn't lose his," you should be fine. 

The BP has priority in red on the top left, but like you said you could pass that off as FTTF. The only spot on the BP that gives it away is on the top right-hand side, under a bar code, is your VIFP number in small type, and under that it says "Category: Suite" with Suite in Bold. But it's in a 10 or 12-point font. It doesn't really stand out unless you're looking for it. 

Can confirm what others said, your luggage tag will say Priority, but it won't say Suite

This is a great review. You don't see many reviewing the Spirit (I'm boarding the Spirit in January!) so I'm enjoying every word. Thank you! 

On 11/28/2022 at 1:52 PM, Jamman54 said:

Thanks for the review. We are on the Spirit in January. 😎

I'll be getting off the Spirit when you're embarking. We'll try to leave her in good condition for your trip!

21 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

nice touch for CCL to select daughter of Kathie Lee who do so many commercials and was the face of the cruise line for a few years.  Would have been a nice touch to share with the actress who played Vicki on tv show.  Have two godmothers.

I love The Love Boat more than anyone, but why would they use an icon of a Princess ship on Carnival? 

I agree, choosing Cassidy was perfect.

I work at a university. By May 4 we're in reading period before finals. You're clear of Spring Break by then!

32 minutes ago, soremekun said:

I'm still in negotiations with corporate about my proposal to have an Oasis and Quantum class ship homeport in Boston.  Not going the best but there's still hope.

I like this proposal. Where do I sign up! 🙂 

I'll add that if Ocean Cay is super important to you, than that's an even bigger reason to book in the Yacht Club. They have their own private section of the island (they check your card at the entrance) with nicer lounge chairs (and free umbrellas), and the butlers from the YC bring drinks to your lounger so they already know you and what you like. Also, the restaurant in the YC area of Ocean Cay was one of our favorite parts of the trip (it's not big, so go early to get a seat). It's nicely decorated, the food was good, and the whole atmosphere just made me happy. 

They have golf carts to take YC guests to the YC beach on OC, but I found it quicker and easier to just walk, plus you get to see what else the island has to offer that way.

I've been in the YC on Divina and Seaside. If you can afford it, don't think twice about booking it. Good luck, and happy anniversary!

20 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

Does priority boarding mean you get the vip area of the terminal or just boarding first after plats/Diamonds? 

If your terminal has a VIP area, you can sit in it. There's usually water and stuff in there, along with more comfortable seating. You also get to use the (in theory) shorter metal detector line. 

This post has a photo from the Topsail Lounge extra-cost liquor price list. If you scroll up a couple of posts in that thread, I also posted a photo of the included liquors. Hopefully this helps. This is from the Seaside in January.

I wanted to drink Hendricks, but I didn't care about it enough to pay extra for it, and they never offered to just give it to me even though in theory it was just $1 more than the $12 limit. 

I've been on two MSC cruises and never saw a chocolate ship. Is this a gift for higher-tier cruisers? I would have loved getting one! 

I loved how relaxing Ocean Cay was! We cruise for the ship, not the ports, and originally didn't even plan on getting off the ship at Ocean Cay but were glad we did. So a cruise with all sea days and one day at Ocean Cay would be absolutely perfect. I'd sign up right away!

43 minutes ago, Safe77 said:

mnpurple - Unfortunately, there are no cabanas on the Divina. That's the Seaside. They're nice, but there isn't much reason that I could see to rent one, as there is lots of shaded space on the Seaside OnePool Deck.

Seaside Cabana rentals are extremely subjective. If you're just looking for shade, it's definitely not worth the cost, but the privacy and service you get with a cabana rental made it well worth it for me! 

On 3/3/2020 at 9:23 AM, Safe77 said:

Is there still a Sophia Loren suite on the Divina, or are both YC3 suites simply Royal Suites? I'm asking because my upgrade offer to a YC3 Royal Suite was accepted. It has been a dream of my wife's to stay in one of these since we found MSC and the Yacht Club a few years ago. I want to surprise her with it on embarkation day next week. I'll admit that I'm beginning to wonder if I did the right thing, though, as it appears there is less clothes hanging space and fewer clothing drawers. I also wonder about nighttime noise from the One Pool deck. Are there any additional perks beyond those afforded all YC guests? I appreciate any insight anyone can provide. Thanks for helping me with this information!

I stayed in the non-Sophia Loren suite two years ago. We heard nothing from the One Deck above us, and there is plenty of closet space. You have a big walk-in closet on the way to the bathroom. Plus you have all the drawers etc in the living room to put stuff in. You will have plenty of space. 

The balcony is a little awkward with the railing positioned where it is, but it is big, and we enjoyed it.

There weren't any additional perks that I could remember, with the exception of the porters taking my bags curbside who exclaimed I had the second-best room on the ship (first being the Sophia Loren room). The rooms are exactly the same, except for the decor, so even if you're not in the Sophia Loren suite, you'll still enjoy the room! 

Here's a link I did to a review about it a couple of years ago, there's a photo of the balcony and living room etc if you wanted it for reference. Have a great trip!
 

I find this shocking, and I can't give any advice because I honestly don't know what I would do in this situation. I just wanted to say I'm sorry you've been put in such an incredibly uncomfortable position on your vacation.

I believe the casino was closed while we were docked at OC. Duty Free was closed too. 

18 hours ago, mexicobob said:

Have never seen motion activated night lights in a suite or elsewhere. Something new? Maybe not on all ships? Sounds great though. We usually leave the bathroom light on and the door cracked.

There was a motion sensor (and light) at the base of the night stand closest to the balcony, and the second one I believe was at the base of the closet in that dressing area before you go into the bathroom. I've only had these kinds of motion nightlights in certain hotels, so I was happily shocked when I got up that first night in the dark to use the bathroom! 

I didn't take advantage of priority debarkation, but you do get priority embarkation, there's a shorter security line and (at least in Miami) you wait in a separate room with more comfortable chairs and water etc before you board. And you board before general boarding.

I was in an OS on the Victory/Radiance and loved it. The bathroom space alone is worth the upgrade, but it's nice in general to have room to move around. 

Also, I have no idea if this feature was in regular cabins too, but when you got up at night, there were motion-activated night lights on the floor so you could find your way to the bathroom without banging into things or turning the lights on. 

I know this question was about the Divina, but I was shocked to find out (at least for our room) on the Seaside that you couldn't just stick any old card in the slot, it HAD to be your room card! A driver's license or credit card inserted in there would cause a flashing red light to blink and then the lights would go out. I guess the card slots now have the technology to read the chip (or magnetic strip) in your cruise card!