Carnival Spirit just back from 9 nights

[sumcruiser]

Hi Jacquie, some more questions for you. Can we hire snokelling equipment from the ship, how much was it? Also duty free alcohol on the ship- what were the prices like?

compared to say liquorland etc. Thanks again.

[KirkNC]

Welcome home, 960 kids :eek:, wow that sounds like a lot.

[sheridan318]

As far as we could see no hiring but you could buy the gear on board, one guy said he bought his from kmart or some where like that and heaps cheaper than the ship.

Duty free

 

Two bottles of bacardi $23 for the two and two bottles of vodka $20 for two :D very nice for xmas

Jacquie

[Sven51]

We were on the Spirit on the 20th October and docked at the container terminal. The ship is too large to dock at the cruise terminal.

There were no other cruise ships in Noumea that day.

[themnms]

Food we found to be quite good and excellent service, the buffet of an evening if you didnt want to dine in the dining room didnt seem to have as much choice as it did of a lunch time.

New tvs, entertaint for us was just ok but thats subjective any way to what you perosonally like, must say the duo in the centrum we found very good and the bar service in this venue was excellent the bar tenders remembered are names and we only went in the evening for a couple of cocktails they were so strong couldnt drink any more.try the long island iced tea really nice:D

Cabins really nice and bathrooms quite spacious

Jacquie

 

 

thanks so much for the answer!!

[stevekazz]

hi

any dining and bar menus that someone could share?

[sumcruiser]

Hi Jacqui

 

Just a few more questions- I hope you don't mind.

The in-room safe deposit box- how is that operated- by a code you set yourself or key?

The coffee from the buffets - is it drinkable or it the only decent coffee the ones from the fountain cafe?

Thanks again.:)

[Vader1111]

Hi Jacqui

 

Just a few more questions- I hope you don't mind.

The in-room safe deposit box- how is that operated- by a code you set yourself or key?

The coffee from the buffets - is it drinkable or it the only decent coffee the ones from the fountain cafe?

Thanks again.:)

Having just come off this cruise myself..

 

The safe deposit box is operated by swiping your "Sail and Sign" card. No codes to remember, or keys to lost. Good idea, actually.

[Vader1111]

My thoughts on Carnival and the Carnival Spirit.. My point of reference is RCI, and to a lesser extent P&O.

 

The Good

 

 

• Their check-in process is very similar to P&O's and flows smoothly.
  
• Their "bottomless bubbles" package consists of canned drinks poured into ice filled glasses. No soda fountains in sight. Everything is canned.
  
• Unlike the Radiance, the showers are a decent size.
  
• I also thought that the bed & pillows were more comfortable than those on other cruise ships, giving me a better nights sleep every night.
  
• Alcohol servings remain generous, as you'd expect on a US ship. They haven't gone to the standard measuring glasses which blight the hotel industry in Australia.
  
• Like Royal Caribbean, Carnival cabin stewards leave a folded towel animal in the cabin every night. Unlike Royal Caribbean, the animal is accompanied by a chocolate. Nice touch!
  
• Carnival have raised the bar when it comes to the ship's in-house Singing/Dancing shows. Their shows are excellent, with brilliant singing, dancing, choreography and costume design. Unlike some previous cruises, the performers were all very enthusiastic, with no sign of jaded or bored performances. Carnival's standard is well above P&O, leaving Royal Caribbean in a very distant 3rd place.
  
• Mechanical problems meant that our port schedule had to be rearranged on the fly, with the Isle of Pines subbing in for Mystery Island. This was handled well, with both Cruise Director Stu and the Captain explaining the reason behind the change - and the impact that it would have on our cruise. The Shore Excursions desk didn't miss a beat.
  
• Carnival's tendering system (borrowed from P&O) works well, with a ticketing system preventing corridors from being clogged with people looking to get off the ship immediately. Not only that, but their staff are well trained in getting people on & off the ship smoothly & quickly. Royal Caribbean would do well to copy their example.
  
• Carnival's internet arrangements have shown the others the way into the 21st Century. Instead of offering deals on a per-min basis (as the others do), they have 3 deals. High speed WiFi could be had for $30 per day, or $130 for the duration of the cruise, with as many devices as you like. Alternatively, you could connect 1 device at a lower speed for $60 for the duration. Internet Cafe access is included in both deals.
  

 

The Bad

 

 

• Booking with Carnival is amateur hour. I requested late dining, on the same table as my parents. I got My Time Dining. We requested 2x single beds, the bed was arranged as 1x king when we arrived (which our cabin steward was happy to fix). You can't pre-order food or drink packages, or shore tours, online before departure. It's a joke. My check-in time was reset when my cabin mate specified his arrival time - their system is apparently incapable of coping with 2 people arriving at different times if they are sharing a cabin.
  
• My first impression of the ship is that the interior is incredibly dark. Royal Caribbean make a point of how much natural light there is inside their ships. Carnival have turned the interior of the Spirit into a dungeon. Everywhere you look is dark wood panelling and/or darkly coloured furnishings. It's not an accident. I don't mind the riotous decor, with no two rooms sharing a theme, but why make the ship interior so dark?
  
• The casino has 2x pool tables. Unlike the Radiance, they're not stabilised. Unlike the Radiance, they cost $10 per hour (Radiance's tables are free).
  
• The daily activity schedule is incredibly thin on for events. There are no less than 7 trivia contests scheduled on Sea Days, then there's the daily AA meetings and sales pitches from Day Spa and Fitness crew. Remove those from the schedule and there's barely anything left. There's no shuffleboard, no arts & crafts (for the older passengers) and very little in the way of pool deck games. Many of the standard cruising events are also missing -there's no Liars Club, Quest, or Perfect Match.
  
• There is a very limited range of movies onboard - both on the in-cabin TVs and those shown in the Versailles Lounge. None of the movies shown were even remotely close to qualifying for "recent release" status.
  
• Trivia questions were frequently repeated - for example "Where would you find the Sea of Tranquility?" showed up in at least 6 different quizzes.
  
• Meals in the Main Dining Room were generally good, with a couple of notable exceptions (the French Onion Soup and Pumpkin Pie). Food in the Lido Buffet (La Playa Grille) left a lot to be desired, both in range and quality of food available.
  
• Carnival's footprint ashore, particularly at tender ports, was just too small. Where P&O frequently provide lunch ashore at tender ports, Carnival just can't be bothered. The only staff they put ashore are those operating the tenders and the shore excursion staff (and barely enough of the latter). Shore tours could be much better coordinated at the land end.
  
• Our cruise had 960 rug rats on board. That's more than 1/3 of all passengers. That's just too many. What's worse, they made no attempt to control them. P&O employ "youth security" for minding the kids & keeping them out of mischief. Carnival let them run riot.
  
• Safe deposit boxes are accessed by swiping your "Sail & Sign" card. No more forgotten codes, no more lost keys to worry about.
  

 

The Bewildering

 

 

• I noted that the Casino actually has windows, allowing natural light to enter the gambling domain. When was the last time you saw that? Normally they're lit artificially 24/7, so as to make it difficult for punters to keep track of the time they've spent gambling.
  
• The sports bar now contains pictures of iconic Australian sporting moments, just one example of the lengths they have gone to in "Australianising" the ship. For all that, the TVs behind the bar are all still tuned to ESPN with non-stop coverage of the NFL every time I set foot in the bar. Surely Carnival can buy a subscription to Foxtel for the Spirit, allowing them to show sports which are relevant to the Australian public who made up 90% of the passengers on this cruise?
  
• As with Royal Caribbean, Carnival's emergency procedures seem designed to maximise casualties in the event of a disaster. Passengers are expected to go to their cabin, grab their life jackets, before going to their evacuation zone on Deck 3 (2600 passengers crammed together like sardines, 650 passengers per zone). Their procedure for evacuating the kids was so comical I laughed out loud when it was announced - Parents were to proceed to their cabin, grabbing life jackets for themselves and their kids, before going to their evacuation zone (of which there were 4 - an average of 650 passengers per zone). Staff would then bring the kids down, where they would attempt to locate the parents, who are packed like sardines randomly along the deck (depending upon how quickly they got there). The person who thought of this system should be consigned to a mental assylum as quickly as possible.
  
• Every other cruise ship expects Trivia Teams to swap answer sheets, to prevent cheating. Carnival rely upon the honour system. Unusual..
  
• Not once during our cruise did Carnival issue a questionnaire asking us what they were doing well and/or badly. Presumably an internet based questionnaire will follow, but that's way too little, way too late. It's like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.
  

[Mikey22]

Far too many parents let their kids run wild around ships.

We only had 100 or so on VOS so it was not an issue but just having them slow the elevators down by continually playing around and pushing all of the buttons is enough to wind you up.

 

Even with so few kids in the kids club several were banned for bad behaviour, the parents just want to sit around the pool and bars and get on it while their kids annoy everyone else.

 

RC have a 1pm curfew which seems about 2-3 hours later than it should be IMO.

[keagle]

If they allow that many children on the Spirit, what are the numbers that are allowed on Rhapsody and Radiance?

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Are they limited by any Govt requirement....

eg ...so many children to each child care worker?

or being "International" do they just make up there own rules.

A cruise is certainly a wonderful experience....for a (well behaved ) child......but having the ship overrun would surely be against the ship in the long run... and would make a lot of folk think twice about booking .

 

 

 

 

[Tigerman00]

Just off the Radiance and the kids were many and wild, ruined the cruise for me. Thinking my next cruise will be the last for a while. We have a 13 yo with us who is supervised by us, spa was full of kids all the time, pool tables had 30 kids hanging there lying all over the tables and the lifts had every button pressed every time I entered. What a **** fight, very poor form from RCI. If the VOS was not booked and paid for I would not be cruising again for a while.

Ken

[The_Big_M]

If they allow that many children on the Spirit, what are the numbers that are allowed on Rhapsody and Radiance?

 

Same situation there, there's no limit. P&O is the only cruise line that does impose a limit.

[The_Big_M]

eg ...so many children to each child care worker?

or being "International" do they just make up there own rules.

 

 

They bring on extra staff as needed depending on bookings.

[sheridan318]

I just wondered what would happen if an emergency happened and they needed to abandon the ship, I think it would cause bedlem with lots of parents suddenly remembering that they have children on board.

As I mentioned lots of little ones still running around the ship of an evening even worse in the daytime

[kaseyoz]

[quote name='sumcruiser']Hi Jacqui

Just a few more questions- I hope you don't mind.
The in-room safe deposit box- how is that operated- by a code you set yourself or key?
The coffee from the buffets - is it drinkable or it the only decent coffee the ones from the fountain cafe?
Thanks again.:)[/quote]

Do not bother with fountain cafe, I did not like it, too weak and you have to pay.
The coffee in the buffet is quite good but they also have a cappunccino machine which is free. Mother In Law is Italian and loves her espresso and did not complain about it. I made a cap and then added a short black and was perfect for me.

[GandM-nq]

[quote name='Mikey22']Far too many parents let their kids run wild around ships.
We only had 100 or so on VOS so it was not an issue but just having them slow the elevators down by continually playing around and pushing all of the buttons is enough to wind you up.

Even with so few kids in the kids club several were banned for bad behaviour, the parents just want to sit around the pool and bars and get on it while their kids annoy everyone else.[/quote]

Maybe it needs a [B]"cruise company offloads kid at next port of call for unruly behaviour"[/B] for parents to wake up and realise that cruise ships are not 24/7 day care centres and that they can't abrogate their responsiblilties upon embarkation.

[ceejay3377]

[quote name='The_Big_M']Same situation there, there's no limit. P&O is the only cruise line that does impose a limit.[/QUOTE]

That's not quite true. HAL also has a limit based on their facilities and staffing. On ships like the Volendam and Zaandam, the cap is 200 or 250 (can't remember exactly, but I emailed HAL and received a reply last year). Once they reach the limit, no further bookings for families will be taken. I'd be surprised if Celebrity didn't have a similar policy.

Tigerman, you might like to consider some of the cruise lines that have a more responsible policy regarding children on board. I'm a teacher, so I don't mind spending all day everyday with kids, and I can mix it with challenging and rebellious teenagers no worries. However, when I'm on holidays I need a break from them! Unfortunately, my holidays coincide with theirs, so I simply choose ships and itineraries that are less likely to have hoards of kids on board.;)

Cheers,

[The_Big_M]

[quote name='ceejay3377']That's not quite true. HAL also has a limit based on their facilities and staffing. On ships like the Volendam and Zaandam, the cap is 200 or 250 (can't remember exactly, but I emailed HAL and received a reply last year). Once they reach the limit, no further bookings for families will be taken. I'd be surprised if Celebrity didn't have a similar policy.
[/quote]

Celebrity have the standard cabin limit, not a child limit. When I was on Millennium a couple of years back there were about 500 children onboard (out of 2000 pax), and everything went very well.

[ceejay3377]

[quote name='The_Big_M']Celebrity have the standard cabin limit, not a child limit. When I was on Millennium a couple of years back there were about 500 children onboard (out of 2000 pax), and everything went very well.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for clarifying, Big M. It will be interesting to see how many kids are on board our 16 Jan Solstice Cruise. We have a AQ cabin, so we will have plenty of places and spaces to hide out! :p

[Mikey22]

[quote name='sumcruiser']Hi Jacqui

Just a few more questions- I hope you don't mind.
The in-room safe deposit box- how is that operated- by a code you set yourself or key?
The coffee from the buffets - is it drinkable or it the only decent coffee the ones from the fountain cafe?
Thanks again.:)[/QUOTE]

They are a code, open doors when you arrive and you set a four digit code yourself.

[GandM-nq]

[quote name='Mikey22']They are a code, open doors when you arrive and you set a four digit code yourself.[/quote]

This is incorrect! The safes on Spirit are electronic locks that can be set using any magnetic strip cards. Your Sail and Sign card will work, but carnival recommend that you not use that card for your safe. Suggest that you take an old card that has a magnetic strip, for use as a 'key' for the safe.

[Mikey22]

[quote name='fnqboatie']This is incorrect! The safes on Spirit are electronic locks that can be set using any magnetic strip cards. Your Sail and Sign card will work, but carnival recommend that you not use that card for your safe. Suggest that you take an old card that has a magnetic strip, for use as a 'key' for the safe.[/QUOTE]

Sorry you are correct, I got confused on what thread I was on and was thinking of Voyager.

M