Back from 19 days back to back on the Spirit

Well, gloom sets in. We are back at home after 19 magnificent days on the Spirit sailing from Vancouver through Glacier Bay, then down to and around Hawaii. The trip was everything we'd hoped for and more; the ship and crew were simply magnificent. That simple. We met some wonderful people, saw some breathtaking sights, and had more than a few really, REALLY good times. I shall try to get my act together over the next few days and post a more in depth review, but suffice to say that the four of us Aussies (myself and Lex from WA, Dave and Elesa from Darwin) had an absolute ball and can't wait to do it all again. Back to work to save up for the next cruise, isn't that how it goes?:rolleyes:

Cheers!

Mal

Wow sounds like you had great cruise trip.

oh my, what a tremendous time you must have had! 19 days onboard?! I'm drooling all over my keyboard right now :D Good for you!

I cant wait to hear what 19 days in HEAVEN must be like!!

That's my hit the lottery dream trip. Can't wait to read your review.

Wow, 19 days on a cruise that did both Alaska and Hawaii. It can't get any better than that IMHO. Please post your review soon,and make it as long and in-depth as possible. I know it will probably be hard to remember Everything,but I will be sailing on Spirit in April and can't wait to hear all about her. :D:

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Would love to be able to sail that many days.

Will be on Spirit next Saturday to Mexico. Please post your review soon so I can read before leaving. :)

Sounds like a great trip. I'm on the sailing in April to Hawaii with GranysT and also can't wait to hear about the Hawaii side of your trip.

Looking Foward to you review. After 19 days were you ready to come home??

19 days on a cruise ship sounds absolutely wonderful. Can't wait to hear all about it.

oh Mal ...I am SOOO jealous! I was on the Spirit in May in Alaska and LOVED it! Our Cabin Steward and Dining room Staff were out of this world! I would love to do your itnerary. Do give us a review soon!!! Julie

Mal: Lucky lucky you! What a wonderful sounding cruise experience. You will probably cover the answer to my question when you post your review, but I am curious how they handled your "switch-over" between cruises. I have read of others' experiences with back to back cruises, but they have always been US citizens. We, like you, are non-US citizens (however we are Canadians) who will be doing a back to back on the Glory in Nov./Dec. and I am wondering if we will still have to attend the super early immigration process and get off with all the other disembarking non US citizens on the last morning of the first cruise, then go through the whole embarkation process again, or if we will be able to wait until everyone else is off and then be walked off the ship and back on again by someone from the purser's office or another staff member.

Looking forward to your review! Glad you had such a great time.

Thanks ahead of time for your information.

Laurie

PS - hope you enjoyed what little of our country you saw. I think Vancouver is one of the most beautiful places in Canada - our daughter lives there and I am always so envious when we go to visit her!

Please hurry and post your review!!!! Good for you ......19 days, wowser!!!!! We leave in 2 weeks for Mexico on the spirit, anxious to hear what all you have say. Thanks:)

First up, Vancouver and the basics. We arrived in Vancouver after about 17 hours in the air (14 from Sydney to LA, 3 from LA to Vancouver). We cleared customs at LAX (this was no problem, considering that it was at the height of the recent terror alert!) and again at Vancouver airport (again, straight forward procedure and the customs staff did their best to get everyone through with minimal fuss). We spent 3 days pre-cruise in the Pacific Palisades hotel on Robson Street, and it was great. Courteous staff, very nice rooms, and handy to everything. The reception staff were only too happy to help us out with any request, no matter how trivial, and this kicked our holiday off in just the right fashion.

This was true of everything in Vancouver. The city itself was beautiful - we took a harbour cruise with a young guy named Shaun, and he showed us a lot of the foreshore area around Stanley Park from the water. We went all the way from Lions Gate bridge around to Canada Place - great value for about seven bucks per person. He was very knowledgeable, and a great salesman for the city. We spent a lot of time just strolling around, and the city is beautiful; clean, safe, and the people were friendly and put up with a lot of questions from bemused, jetlagged Australians. Stanley Park and the Aquarium were great, we spent a very nice day there, and my DW got spit on by a Beluga whale in one of the shows - something she is still boasting about!:p

About the only negative in Vancouver was the tour we did with Vancouver Whale Watching - we saw no whales in three hours on the water. We were prepared for this, they are wild animals after all - BUT, the company has a line that says "Sightings Guaranteed". This was the problem: if there are no sightings, what you get is a voucher to come back as many times as you like until you do get a sighting. No money back guarantee like other companies, and not very handy if you are leaving Vancouver the next day. Nothing to get steamed about, but a little sour note to finish our stay in the city.

One small note - if you stay at the Palisades and want a good feed of very well priced chinese food, there is a terrific little asian restaurant across the road and to the left about half a block. Great food, good sized portions for low prices. There is also a brilliant sports bar about two doors down from the hotel that has big screen sports channels and really good beer on tap - managed to score the Monday Night Football there, and we had the barstaff talking Australian inside of ten minutes.:p

The Palisades staff were very helpful when it came to organising maxicabs to the Place on embarkation day. In our party of four we had four large suitcases, four carryon bags, and assorted laptops, handbags, and suchlike. By trips end this would increase by a couple of big cases and one or two carry bags, but that was three weeks in the future. Suffice to say, when we approached Canada Place at noon and got our first glimpse of the big, beautiful Carnival Spirit, we couldn't have cared less.

Next up, embarkation and the ship. That big, beautiful, wonderful ship...

So, Wednesday 13 September at 12 noon. We had heard all sorts of horror stories regarding embarkation crowds, late or lost luggage, huge lineups, and so forth. Looking at the number of people streaming into Canada Place, we were a little apprehensive about how the next few hours were going to go...

No problem.

That was it! We gave our porter a dollar or two for each bag we checked in, and he seemed genuinely grateful for the gesture, wished us a safe and happy trip, and whisked our luggage away. Nice warm and fuzzy start to the process. The customs and immigration part was, once again, straghtforward, handled well by courteous and helpful people (considering there were 2100 other customers over the course of the afternoon), and over in what seemed like a very short time. We went through to the waiting area and received our boarding group numbers, met the first of our fellow cruisers from the States, and struck up friendships that lasted all trip and beyond. My brother and I tend to stand out in a crowd (we're fairly big, hirsute gents) and the Carnival rep running the waiting lounge spotted us and introduced us to the crowd as being "the Aussies". Boom, instant icebreaker, and we were set from then on. Breezed through sail & sign registration (a great system, we hooked it to our credit card and that was the best move of the trip), through the obligatory 'welcome aboard' photo (and the grins were genuine by that time), and the whole process had taken us about an hour and fifteen. The time hit one-thirty, and we went up the ramp into...

The Spirit atrium, deck 2. Jawdropping is the word that springs to mind. Bear in mind that this was the first cruise on any of the new breed of megaliners for any of us. My brother and I had both recently finished 20 years in the Australian navy, so we were used to warships in a working capacity. The girls had very little reference to compare the Spirit to, so the four of us were quite stunned by first impressions. The embarkation staff were courtesy personified, and we were able to proceed directly to our cabins to dump our carryon bags.

We had cabins 5269 & 5273, starboard side aft on deck 5. We were very happy with the standard of accomodations - the cabin was quite spacious, very clean and well presented, and the luxury of having a balcont to ourselves never once wore off. The bathroom was a handy size for the two of us without being restrictive, and there was plenty of storage space throughout the cabin (I mean PLENTY - we didn't get close to using all of it even after the marathon shopping runs later in the cruise). We had a quick freshen up so as to be a little more sociable and went for an explore and to meet the hordes.

The ship is magnificent, and a credit to her officers and crew. There were some signs here and there that every week 2100 new passengers thunder through the decks, but not much (the odd scratch and bump mark). We didn't find the decor gaudy or over the top - rather, we thought the decor was the right mix of opulence and function. Navigating your way through the ship was a breeze; when you get right down to it, there are only four decks you really need to know well (2, 3, the Lido, and whatever deck your cabin is on). The rest are just accomodation decks, and generally mirror each other in layout. The elevators were never crowded, and we tried to use the stairs when possible (at first, anyway - two days in and "nah, I'll take the lift" had well and truly set in ;) ).

First stop was the La Playa Grill for lunch, down aft on the Lido deck. We got broadsided by Sukchai "the booze guy" (from Thailand), who we'd become very familiar with over the next 19 days, and bought a Funship Special in the first of what would eventually become a collection of 12 (!) souvenir glasses (well, I just built a bar at home and need to stock it up). BTW, the Sail & Sign card is almost lethally easy to use, and a great system as far as I'm concerned. Went out on the fantail, had a drink, met people, chatted a lot, and just generally toasted the fact that we were here, she was real, and they'd have to pry me off with a crowbar. Bought another sailaway drink and went for an explore. We went back to the cabin for a look, and were pleasantly surprised to find all our luggage had been delivered - this was about an hour after we got onboard. So, by 3:00 PM, we were onboard, unpacked, with two drinks and a good buffet lunch inside us, and ready for more. This was a great start to the trip, and it stayed this way for the next three weeks. Lifeboat drill was a necessary evil, but before we knew it we were under way.

Next up, the crew, sailaway, and the Inside Passage...

Laurie - changeover between trips is pretty much as you said for us foreigners. If you wanted a day ashore in Vancouver, the usual wait for a number now and re-embark later procedure applied. If, like us, you stayed onboard using the bars and taking the opportunity for a sleep in and no lines at the buffets :D, we got walked through the customs/ immigration/ embarkation routine by a member of the pursers staff at around 3 PM. Took about half an hour from go to whoa, just listen for announcements (and the CD explains it all very well the night before).

Dqalex - we were a little "played out" by day 19. However, one day after leaving the ship, I would have gleefully sold my right leg to be back onboard :D . Funny thing - on the flight home, right in the middle of dinner (a fairly ordinary beef burgundy and rice), I suddenly thought, with crystal clarity, "I want a Reuben sandwich. Grilled. With extra cheese". I guess the grill guy made an impression...

More later! Cheers, Mal

oh, so excellent, keep it coming and THANK YOU.

I am booked for the Ensenada to Hawaii in April and this is getting me very excited. You are doing a great job with the review and I like how you don't let the little things bother you. I can't wait to hear the rest of your review.:)

So, we're in and settled. Before I forget, a little about the crew who made our three weeks so memorable. In no particular order:

The CD, Shawn Bussey. She was a gem, a really nice, friendly, approachable lady. Always had time to answer questions, even stupid ones she'd answered a hundred times before, and always with a smile.

Our cabin steward, Daniel from Dominica - he really made the trip great for us. He must have been in three to four times a day making sure the cabin was neat, turned down, that we had ice in our bucket, and that the towel animals were facing the door each night. When my DW went down seasick for a day, he was in the cabin every half an hour or so making sure she was okay. A real gentleman, and his assistants were just the same.

Our head waitperson, Harold. Inside of one day, he knew how we liked our meat cooked, which dressing to recommend for the salad, how quickly we liked to have dinner, and made every meal in the Empire dining room a pleasure. He even went out of his way to look after us at lunch the few times we ate in there.

All the staff in the casino - Brian, the host. Pamela, his offsider. Aaron, Ann-Marie, Evgeny, Radu, Mbuso (43 nil, mate!), Leilani, Leyla, and the rest of the dealers. Guys, you were all great, and we were sorry to leave.

The barstaff - Blake on the fantail (you the man, man!), Sukchai, Iputu and Iputu 2, Eva, Liliana, Frank, Marek, and all the rest - it would have been a dull holiday without them.

There's a multitude of others, but those guys made it a great three weeks. The crew on a whole, though, from the CO and the Head Purser, right down to the girls pushing the mops in the grill, were magnificent - always with a smile, most knew us by sight by day three and nearly all had a "g'day mate" for us by day four. Really a credit to the company, and we made sure to mention this in our comments card.

So, sailaway. We finished the lifeboat drill, legged it back to the fantail, grabbed something nice to imbibe, and then realised we had early seating for dinner at separate tables. Bugger! Off to the cabin for a spruce up, then into the Empire room for dinner. The maitre D' (Passad and Detzi, two more lovely, lovely people) were only too happy to change us up to the late seating at the same table. First night dinner was delicious (duet of lamb, soup, salad and dessert, from memory), but we saw the Lions Gate going by the window as we left. No worries, we'd be sure and be on deck the next time it went past.

The first night at sea we spent exploring, meeting people, checking out the casino and the show, and generally basking in the warm glow of being at sea CRUISING! Off to bed about midnight(ish), because the Inside Passage beckoned in the morning...

...and more on that later. I'm off to bed right now.

Cheers!

Mal

Thanks for taking the time to post. I was on the Spirit in January and loved every minute.

Candi

Laurie - changeover between trips is pretty much as you said for us foreigners. If you wanted a day ashore in Vancouver, the usual wait for a number now and re-embark later procedure applied. If, like us, you stayed onboard using the bars and taking the opportunity for a sleep in and no lines at the buffets :D, we got walked through the customs/ immigration/ embarkation routine by a member of the pursers staff at around 3 PM. Took about half an hour from go to whoa, just listen for announcements (and the CD explains it all very well the night before).

 

Dqalex - we were a little "played out" by day 19. However, one day after leaving the ship, I would have gleefully sold my right leg to be back onboard :D . Funny thing - on the flight home, right in the middle of dinner (a fairly ordinary beef burgundy and rice), I suddenly thought, with crystal clarity, "I want a Reuben sandwich. Grilled. With extra cheese". I guess the grill guy made an impression...

 

More later! Cheers, Mal

I know the feeling. A day or two after the cruise I am still looking for the lido deck

Hi there,

Started to read your review and then bookmarked it so I can read it at my leisure. We are doing the same cruise in reverse in the Spring. First the Hawaii leg, then the Alaska. I have been on the Spirit before and she is my favorite ship. Way looking forward to your review. Thank you so much!!

Loving your review and very envious of your 19 journey! We'll be on the Spirit for 8 days in January to Mexican Riviera and can not wait!! Shawn Bussey was our CD on our cruise this past January on the Carnival Triumph and we just loved her!! She was just filling in for them that week, so we lucked out. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

We will be looking forward to your review. DH and I will be doing that cruise in reverse in April-May--Hawaii to Alaska. How was the weather and water your five days at sea. Were any of them pool days?

We have never been to Alaska and are looking forward to it. Coming from Connecticut, I always look to the warm climate for our one cruise every year. When I saw this Hawaii to Alaska I figured this is my chance to enjoy the beautiful Hawaii weather and then see Alaska.

Would you believe, the Hawaii leg of the cruise has been booked solid for about 3 weeks now!

Looking forward to your review! Judy

We are booked for the Vancouver to Hawaii strip on the Spirit next September (only 11 months). We're looking forward to your experiences while in Hawaii - shore excursions, on your own, etc. So far the review has been great!