Purvis1231

I thought Carnival had a policy that parents could not be separated from their young children by that many rooms. 

It is a personal decision. For us a $1000 is almost another vacation so it is not really an option. The non-alcoholic drinks are a good benefit but realistically how much water, and Gatorade can one drink in a day?  I have seen and benefited from those with the drink package passing off drinks to others (I know this is against the rules.) So if you are sailing with friends this might come into play. 

9 hours ago, BallFour4 said:

Minor hiccup: Carnival has updated the Prohibited Items List and scissors are no longer permitted.

Here is the text:

Prohibited Items

• Knives, scissors and open razors. (Recreational dive knives are allowed but must be held in the custody of the Guest Services Manager or Chief Security Officer and must be checked out/in by the owner for dive excursions during the cruise. Large scissors used by scrapbook and quilting enthusiasts are at times permitted with prior notification from the Security Services Department but are held on board in the same manner as dive knives.)
  
  Here is the link: https://www.carnival.com/help/3583
  
  .

We recently sailed with two pairs of small scissors.

I suspect Carnival will request a statement from his physician that he is fit to travel. 

On 1/2/2024 at 12:23 AM, jas1178 said:

New budget cut?  Wow they have gotten smaller!  Carnival Magic swapped sizes for this cruise.

I sailed twice last year, in June the Glory had the smaller size while in November the Spirit had the old larger size. (I am fine with the smaller size but for some reason on the Gory the server brought me two- was I profiled?)

On 1/2/2024 at 5:52 AM, TiredTrucker said:

Will they bring you two at a time, or do you have to finish one, flag down the server, and then wait for the 2nd?

 

I recall reading here that with entrees they want you to indicate you are finished with the first before ordering the second one, so I'm curious if that also applies to starters and desserts. 

I recently ordered two entrees and they were brought out together. 

14 hours ago, staceyglow said:

If you think it's too expensive, don't buy it. 😃

 

No one needs bottled water.  The tap water on Carnival is perfectly safe, and in my opinion, fine to drink. 

 

Some of us do not share that opinion. 

On 12/20/2023 at 2:04 PM, MisterOJ2 said:

Going on the Spirit next week out of Mobile to the Bahamas. I've always thought that ship time would remain the same as the embarkation port, but now I'm starting to second-guess myself.

 

The time on my ship next week will be CST the entire time, right? 

Some ships stay on the same timezone but not all so check with the ship.

I havedone 4 cruises in the last 2years, on each one the port personel kept saying, "have your boarding pass in hand."  Even on ther ship we needed them.I know there are workarounds but avoid having to wait, print them. 

I hope so Starry Zero is terrible. 

On my recent cruise, one day the MDR opened for breakfast at 6:30 in the morning.

Prices have gone up and service and quality have gone down. No doubt about that but compared to other vacations the price of cruising has not gone up nearly as much. My family goes to an Orlando theme park almost every year. The prices there are crazy. I have 2 cruises booked for next year, but they are only slightly more than the cruises I booked in 2019 and 2016 for about the same time frame and ports..

38 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Ummmm. ;like never

I hope you are right. 

I wonder how long will it be before there is a charge for the MDR? 

47 minutes ago, Drazil65 said:

 

 

Have you tried keeping the door to the cabinet that houses the fridge ajar so air circulates around the fridge?  

We tried that trick on the Spirit a few weeks ago and it worked. A lot easier than managing a wet cooler. (It may not leak but it will collect condensation.)

We look at the tips are a part of the cost of the cruise and try not to think too much about it. I have a teenager who rarely eats in the MRD and eats sushi several times during the cruise. I understand if you pay tips at the sushi and other venues it seems reasonable to remove some of the tips from your account. On my recent cruise, I bought an emptyTrevis cup from a bar and was charged $2.70 for a tip I suspect to see a 20% tip applied soon to drinks and other purchases on board. 

At&T does have a ship board plan. Last year it was $100 for a month for unlimited calls and text.. It works fine on the Breeze.

4 hours ago, bettysuetraveler said:

love and appreciate your review. i am going on the Spirit in March and very excited. this will be the 3rd time to sail on the Spirit but my last time was 10 years ago. 

 

did you happen to go to Soul Play for the arts and crafts? i am looking forward to doing that activity.

I was all booked up so I would suggest to check on it early.

Observations of the Carnival Spirit out of Mobile.

Boarding: We stayed the night before at the Mobile Renaissance which had a park and cruise package. We booked this almost a year in advance so got an excellent rate. We decided to forgo the hotel shuttle for a golf cart service that took us to the port. We arrived at the port around 10:30 with Faster to the Fun we were ushered on board by 10:45. The Muster Drill took only a few minutes, so we were ready to enjoy the ship.

Stateroom: We had a standard ocean-view cabin that was well-cleaned and adequate for our needs. Since we had Faster to the Fun our luggage was at the cabin around 1:00. The steward did a good job in servicing the room and meeting our needs.  He stopped by our cabin while we were unpacking. We requested extra pillows, and he brought them within a few hours. I told him we did not need ice but I noticed he brought daily ice to several cabins. We ordered room service a few times and bought several dishes back to the cabin. The steward and other staff took care of the dishes. Our only complaint about the cabin was that the window was so dirty it was hard to see out of them.

Food: We ate most of our meals in the buffet and found the food adequate and mostly pleasing. The buffet set-up was different and smaller than most ships that we have sailed on. One thing we liked was that there was an omelet cook at the end of each breakfast serving line. Overall, the buffet selection was smaller than other larger ships salad was available only on one serving line. The pizza was the same as other Carnival ships but, on the Spirit, they prepared us a pepperoni and mushroom pizza when requested. Guys Burgers were good, and we ate there twice. The deli was good and the staff was very friendly. The food in the Main Dining Room was good but to be honest at times the service was slow, especially on Thanksgiving. We did have servers on two nights that were excellent. We ate Seaday brunch and port day breakfast twice and enjoyed it, but it too was a little slow.  We found once again the breakfast servers do not know the difference between salsa and pico de gallo. Next cruise I will go topside and get my own salsa for brunch.

The layout of the ship was well-planned. The ship is a little larger than the Fantasy class.  Decks 2 and 3 are not blocked off by the galley as on many Carnival ships so it was possible to walk from one end of the ship to another in about 5 minutes. In the center of the Lido deck, there are two pools separated by bars. (There is an adults-only pool in the back of the ship.) Smoking is allowed poolside in one section. We did not have pool towels in the cabin and did not have to sign them out on this ship. The casino is in the middle of deck 2 and is very smokey. We noticed vapers were bold on this ship and violated the smoking policy frequently. We had to ride in the elevator with a vaper. Others walked around trying to hide their vapes.

Entertainment: We enjoyed the music in the small venues but never went to the production shows. The cruise director Erin was informative and entertaining but has left the ship. We did participate in trivia and other activities throughout the voyage.

Disembarkation: Our Faster to the Fun gave us the opportunity for priority disembarkation by meeting at the main showroom. On our way there we were directed to the early embarkation line and departed with the early self-assist folks which meant we got off the ship before our luggage.  We had to wait about 15 minutes until they offloaded the priority luggage. Our bags were the very first in the luggage line but the lady in charge would not let us get them for another 15 minutes when a family got off the ship who apparently knew her and she had the porters go to the back of the stack to get her bags. At that point, the lady in charge decided she should finally allow us to get our bags and leave. Since we had passports we zipped through customs and found the golf cart people who took us back to the hotel. We were on the highway home at around 9:00 am.

We highly recommend this ship and will be looking into an Alaskan cruise on her in the future.

On 11/25/2023 at 9:00 AM, ray98 said:

 Cruise Cash is only adding an unnecessary step and turning real money into company credits with restrictions.  It was designed as a method to give a gift to someone sailing.

Right, plus Carnival knows those who buy Cruise Cash will spend it and probably more. 

On 11/22/2023 at 2:19 AM, glrounds said:

I could smell weed on every cruise I've been on it seems. Even know of a man and his wife that I've met on a previous cruise SELL it on the ship.

I have heard that some crew members sell it too! 

On 11/24/2023 at 9:12 AM, jsglow said:

I'm not a cruise director guy, but Jonathan announced his resignation today.

I read this announcement: Adams announced on social media. “This was a decision made by me for me. No I wasn’t fired, no I wasn’t forced to do it, I decided after 9 years of giving myself to everyone around me it’s now time to focus on me and what I want for my next chapter.” 

Pre-pandemic, they had only ladders. I do not recall seeing any lifts but they may have them.

Yes It is listed in the FAQ

Some have a "for purchase" large hot tub in the spa that is nice.