review of the spirit dec 10 to the 19th the good and the bad

[echotumi]

this will be a review im ready for the flames but its a honest review so .1st ill try to do pics .

the wife and I cruise alot on all lines and there good and bad on all of them.we have a good time on all cruises i mean any day at sea is better than land mostly..so we start our travel a few days before the cruise we like sailing out of san diego its a nice town, we 1st stop at poway the la quinta was real nice .poway is a nice lil town outside san diego , we were cruisein for my moms 70 th b day and my 50th woot . so we met up in poway for the night then it was off to san diego and the best western island palms.

ill give a review on that in the west coast thread .. it was a great park and cruise for 122 u get a great bay view room and parking and transfers.we did get to see the sprirt sail in it was foggy but it broke so we could see her sail in at 6.15.then back to bed for a bit ..

the day was foggy and u could hear the fog horns around 6am was kinda of fun .

so after a lil cunfusion on the transfer off we went we got to the pier around 11.45 check in was like most pretty fast we were on the lido at 12.30 a good start

[echotumi]

so off to the lido the food was real good .we ate and looked around.the ship is easy to get around and was veryyyy clean .they really keep a clean ship ,so at 1.30 we go to our cabin a larger balcony 7172 cabin was the same as on the splendor but we had our 1st balcony ,, we did like it my mom got a reg size balcony and she liked ours better had more room .. and the view was just as good ,we did early saver and had a 7a . carnival sent us a email upgrade and we did for 50 a couple not bad .

our room steward was a room steward ninja one of the best we ever had after 20 cruises ,honestly was that good ,,filled ice up 3 times a day ,never wanted for anything ,

he went so far as to put my slippers at the side of the bed at night and m wifes robe on her side ,towel animals every night , cleaned ashtrays out , was just great .

[woodey]

I sail in Febuary as am completly Interested in your Review...Keep it coming ...:)

[echotumi]

we had booked this cruise 6 months out and picked your time . for dinner. when we got on the ship they had changed us to 2nd seating , and my mom was at 1st seating and my cousin got anytime .. well we went on down to the dining room stood in line and the changed it , we still had to eat at 2nd seating 1st night not a big deal for us ,, in hind sight we schould have left it alone because the wait staff was good that night,

so we had dinner was ok . the dessert was the best of the cruise creme burlee and the mac and cheese was good ,so now for a lil bad the beds are allful on the spirit we were suprised cause the splendor beds where really nice the year before,it was like sleeping on a hard floor . so we asked the cabin nija to hook us up with a topper and he did his best ,

now we have slept on princess beds and i thought they where the worst but theses came in a close 2nd,the welcome aboard show was normal . stu the cd was ok . was funny at times and he does like to get on the speaker alot and sell.ok 1st day at sea normal stuff going on around the ship . we get in cruise mode talked to some quests who got there booze taken away heres a tip dont use mouthwash bottles. there on to that they shake water bottles as well . most who were successful just took on the bottles if the got cought they got it back .

was a nice sea day we ate in the dinning room for all meals that day , breakfast was ok . lunch was good dinner was ok not the hottest food ,

show was good ,

[echotumi]

we like cabo so for 2 days is was great ,beach and billagains was fun .. tender went good ,,now the really good food was the goat chesse pizza yummy ,and calzone was yummy . dinner was intresting lots of delays and show time in the middle of eating was differnt ,i did forget alot of folks dressed for formal night tuxs and suits .. woman had on nice dresses they more casual where among the minoraty . nest day was lapaz for all you going there go to the beach ,lapaz is worst then ensanada we took the free bus to town ans went right back to the ship alot of folks did that when we got back at 10 am the line for town was way long ,, the bus to the beach had no line, and the beach is the best in mexico , nice sand clear water . the prices were what u pay anywhere, for drinks and food ,

had the hamburger today with fries yummy dinner was ok at best ,no show on lapaz night ,zero going on in the show room really ..

a word on comedy club .. its ok they let kids in he R rated show ,

the shows other than the main shows where not real good when HAL beats you with there entertainers, thats something ,

[echotumi]

mazatlan was foggy so we went down town and was fun ..had the deli for lunch .. ill get flamed but was no biggie growing up back east i mean jades you to deli .. what bugged me most was no chips , dinner we aited 20 mins tonight for dinner and that would be the way thing where the rest of the trip ,waits and so so dinner service ,one of

the problems is that will seat a 4 top with 2 people and when the tables are filled you have to wait . instead of filling 4 tops with 4 people .the food keeps getting colder .i do have to say the bread was warm ,but the soup was warm not hot ,, the cold soup was cold .on to pv we did a private trip to the north coast and it was very pretty .

[riffatsea]

I am a little confused about your description of Your Time Dining?? We were on the Spirit last year and for Your Time Dining we asked for and received a table for 2 each night.

We liked our wait staff the first night and then requested that same area for the rest of the cruise.

We found the service and food to be very good.

I am just a little confused about your description of waiting for the 4 top to be filled?

I was also confused about your getting late seating at first.

Did you all have confirmed Your Time Dining on your reservation? Were you all able to get Your Time Dining in the end??

We are booked on the Mar.11 9-day Spirit and hope that we get Your Time dining as confirmed on our booking!! We didn't have trouble last year and don't want any difficulties this year either!

[echotumi]

I am a little confused about your description of Your Time Dining?? We were on the Spirit last year and for Your Time Dining we asked for and received a table for 2 each night.

We liked our wait staff the first night and then requested that same area for the rest of the cruise.

We found the service and food to be very good.

I am just a little confused about your description of waiting for the 4 top to be filled?

I was also confused about your getting late seating at first.

Did you all have confirmed Your Time Dining on your reservation? Were you all able to get Your Time Dining in the end??

We are booked on the Mar.11 9-day Spirit and hope that we get Your Time dining as confirmed on our booking!! We didn't have trouble last year and don't want any difficulties this year either!

hope this clears it up for you ,when we booked 6 months ago we asked for your time,when we boarded we were given 2nd seating . so we had to go down and ask for a change . they gave us some lame excuse sayin when we booked we didnt ask for it .of course we did anyway they did switch us and was no wait the 1st 4 nights then the last 5 we waited between 10mins to a 1/2 hr not to bad , for 2 people never waited when we had 4 people we had to wait .not a big deal but worth noting, the only cruise we never waited for a table was on HAL .. princess any time is worst then carnival's. well this cruise was full as it could be with some of the splendor folks so the dining room was packed every night ,i did notice after 8 wasnt any lines .as far as the food ,some in our party liked it .. i found it ok at best i do like hot foods hot not warm ,lunch was better with food temps ,

[echotumi]

we love to cruise and of course loved the ship and the staff . they all work real hard to give you .. a value for money cruise as the CD said many times and that they do ,i thought the food on the splendor was better . i think for us to take a carnival cruise again would be again if my family was going on it . so i could see them . for just my wife and I will stick with HAL and princess .the entertament was our biggest disapointment, the band in club cool was good , so was the duo at the aft pool .

[Jen1000]

I am not going to flame but I think some of your complaints may just be personal taste. I was on the Spirit 2 times last year and thought the majority of the food was very good. There were dishes I did not like but overall I thought it was very good to excellent. As for entertainment, I thought the main show room production shows were excellent and the other entertainment and bands were good as well. I also found the beds to be quite comfortable, as did all in my group. But food and entertainment and beds are subjective. We had Any Time Dining and rarely waited. Our MR itinerary was totally different and the other cruise was Alaska.

 

Jen in SoCal

[riffatsea]

Thanks for answering my question.

I am still not sure you had Your Time Dining confirmed in writing on your reservation before boarding , but glad you ended up with what you wanted.

Everyone has different likes/dislikes. We thought the food on the Spirit was terrific in the MDR and my husband slept better in the bed on the ship than he does at home!!

You are entitled to your opinion and no flames are coming from me!:p

[Liffey]

I am not going to flame but I think some of your complaints may just be personal taste.

 

I have to agree. I appreciate the review, but when someone just labels things as "good" or "bad" without getting more specific, it's hard to know if it's just personal taste or an issue that would affect others.

 

(Imagine if someone said, "The pizza was bad" but added "because it was NY-style and I don't care for greasy/thin-crust pizza." You would then know it was more a matter of preference.)

 

Not flaming - your opinions (however brief) are appreciated. :)

[J.A.H.]

We thought that this cruise was one of the best ever, for us. (This is NOT a flame, just an opinion, and subjective). Have sailed maybe 25-30 times, and on many cruise lines. The Spirit is one of our favorite ships. We live in San Diego, so we've sailed on her many times but not for several years have we been on Carnival at all. We had our first suite, which may have colored our experience in a positive way. Also our first cruise as platinum members. My DH, who is the pickiest eater that I know of, just RAVED about the food, esp. in the main dining room. In the buffet, it was excellent but some items not at all hot. We don't cruise for the ports, and especially in Mexico. We prefer the Caribbean, however don't like the flying and it's so much more costly. We had 2nd seating at dinner, and the service was not great but O.K. I no longer appreciate the entertainment. It is the same old stuff, and interferes with the service. (I mean in the dining room, of course!). I thought people dressed down (WAY down, actually, even on formal nights!) Not a big issue for me, but saw shorts and ragged tee shirts on formal nights!!! We loved the guitarist in the atrium, Paul, from England. Enjoyed the pool duo, although they couldn't sing very well. Comedians were good. The entire staff was SO friendly and helpful. Much better than Princess, where we have been for a while. Just LOVED that ocean suite. Problem with smokers all around us on the balconies, however. We could not enjoy ours nearly as much as we had hoped. DH has asthma, and I don't like the smell. Hope this helps. Again, I am not trying to flame the OP, just stating my honest opinions.