Spirit review

[h & m]

We returned on 6 Sept from a 12 day cruise on the Carnival Spirit, and here are a few thoughts on the ship.

We have cruised on Carnival (back in 2004), Royal Caribbean, Princess,Norwegian, with our preferred cruise line being Celebrity. I am not making comparisons with any specifc cruise line, just giving our impressions of the good, and the not so good of this cruise.

We took our 13 year old grandson with us, he is a high energy boy and this ship was the right one for him, spending lots of time on the water slide, in the pools and spas, along with many other children.

Boarding / Disembarking. Dropped off our bags around 11am, returning at 1.15. We used the VIP line, but the regular line was very short at that time. Through all the processes and on board by 1.30. Cabins were ready, so a quick check of our room, then off to lunch.

We were handed given our Immigration departure cards at bag drop off, so we could fill these in at our leisure rather than trying to complete forms while standing in line.

Disembarking was painless, we chose to carry our own luggage off, lines were kept to a minimum, and we were off at exactly the time we had requested.

Cabin. We had been upgraded to a Vista Suite, 7298 an aft corner suite. An unusual shape, it has a small living area, with sofa that converted to grandson’s bed, dressing room, bathroom and walk- in robe in between, then our bedroom. For the 3 of us it worked really well, giving us some privacy, Michael had his own TV and could bring his friends back there. We did feel more movement than mid-ships, on the one rough night lots of sideways as well as front-to back movement. None of us suffer from seasickness, unlike many on the ship that night.

Just walking past open cabins, the regular balcony cabins looked quite comfortable, with a sofa, and seemed more spacious than some ships.

Tendering. - We had 3 tender ports - Isle of Pines, Pt Denarau and Mystery Island. Very well organised, we picked up numbers on the pool deck, then proceeded when numbers called. Mick and I both suffer from knee problems, and have to use elevators rather than stairs. Usually during tendering, we use the elevator then have to blend in with the queue coming down the stairs, sometimes being accused of jumping the queue. On the Spirit there were clear instructions for people not able to use the stairs, go to deck 2, ask to use the elevator, from there we were seated close to the exit and given priority on to the next tender. Well done Carnival.

Main Dining Room . We were seated with a couple with 2 teenage boys, which worked well for us. The boys were served their main couses at the same time we got our entrees, so they did not have to hang around for ages. Our serving staff were great and could not do enough, and had a lot of fun with boys. Most food was good, the menu has been adapted for Australia. A couple of meals turned out not as expected – lamb shanks were just slices of leg lamb, not on the bone, and the flank ribs I ordered tuned out to be a huge pork chop. Wait staff were quick to offer to change any dish not finished.

The drinks server was hopeless, took a long time and forgot our orders, so after a couple of days we just carried drinks in to the dining room.

Buffett A strange set-up, with serving stations around 4 corners, and seating in the middle, Caused confusion until we worked out what was where. It was very crowded at peak times, with only a few tables for 2. On the plus side, people were happy to share tables, and the staff were very quick to clear tables. The food we ate was good in quality, and consistent, eg poached eggs always done how I like them. As in the main dining room, the menu has been adapted for Australia, and I missed some items usually found on the US ships, such as bagels with smoked salmon. One station had a different cuisine each lunch time, and apart from Indian, not authentic at all. Never seen French, Italian or Mexican food like they served here.

Entertainment . Varied guest entertainers ranging from excellent singers to almost painful stand up comedians. The hypnotist was very popular, and we enjoyed a couple of the production shows. There was always adequate seating in the theatre, at least for the early shows.

Staff The Spirit seems a happy ship,and all every crew member we encountered was pleasant. The Captain kept us well informed of weather conditions, and was easy to understand, he has a heavy Italian accent but good English.

One evening we had all to go through security as they had a report of a missing person. Everyone was accounted for, the rumour was a couple had a domestic dispute and the husband was hiding out in the crew quarters. Allegedly the whole family was put off at the next port.

Cruise Director Have read reports of how Stu is very over the top Aussie. We found him pleasant, in fact one of our favourite cruise directors.

Lack of smoke This is a big deciding factor when chosing a ship, do not want to be around smoke or heavy smokers. We are quite happy for smoking places to be on board, as long as we do not have to pass through them. There were tables for smoking on the pool deck starboard side, and never saw anyone smoking anywhere else.

Hygiene – Very disappointed to see no hand sanitisers at the entrance of the dining room or bufftett. We later saw a few sanitisers, but they were off to one side of the dining room, and in obscure places in the buffett. Apart from ourselves, saw very few people using them.

Public rest rooms did not seem to be serviced very often, we avoided them as much as possible.

In the buffett, jams and condiments were in large pots rather than individual packets, everyone using the same spoon. We avoided these and stuck to the individual packets of vegemite.

Children - Did I mention lots of children on board, and it was not school holidays. Many pre-schoolers and younger children. Mostly well behaved but particularly in the buffett they seemed everywhere. For Michaels age group 12 -14, there was no need to sign into the kids program, and the planned activities were mostly late evening, too late in my opinion.

Around the ship – must be something wrong with us, we actually liked the interior design of the ship, especially the atrium. We found plenty of quiet areas to sit and watch the sea, or play cards.

Past Passenger - When booking this cruise, Carnival did not recognise our past passenger numbers as they were linked to US cruises. However we got red past passender cards & this gave us 1 free drink at lunch time, and a surprisingly good Captains reception with an open bar. So we are officially VIFPs (very important fun people!)

Would we cruise on the Spirit again – yes if we have children with us AND the price is right, but everything being equal prefer Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. We feel the standards are lowered on shops that are permanently here in Australia, as we are so easy going. We think the same about Princess ships permanently here.

I have a copy of the bar menu, so can answer any drink price questions. Did not keep any Fun Times, but will try to answer any questions.

Hilary :)

[rabbit1971]

Thankyou so much for taking the time to post your review. My family and i are are sailing on the spirit in october and we are super excited as it is our first cruise.

Did you notice anyone in wheelchairs being able to access the tenders? My 10yo is in a wheelchair, he can walk short distances, so if push comes to shove we can make do without it to get to the beach ( we were thinking mystery island).

Thanks maree

[rkmw]

Thankyou so much for taking the time to post your review. My family and i are are sailing on the spirit in october and we are super excited as it is our first cruise.

Did you notice anyone in wheelchairs being able to access the tenders? My 10yo is in a wheelchair, he can walk short distances, so if push comes to shove we can make do without it to get to the beach ( we were thinking mystery island).

Thanks maree

 

the staff will help your son onto the tender but i wouldnt take a wheel chair to mystery island as its too sandy, if the wheel chair folds up it should be able to take off at other islands using the tenders

 

when you get to mystery island there's a good swimming area where the tenders stop

[Esilef]

Maree I am looking forward to hearing how your cruise goes with your 10 year old. Hoping you all have the best time!!!

[rabbit1971]

Hi rmkw,

We were thinking of walking him off the ship to the tender for mystery island and just plonking on the beach for the day, but were hopeful of getting the chair off at port Denaru and Isle of pines ( which sounds more chair friendly as it has proper paths - apparently). If not then we will enjoy having the ship to ouselves:)

I hope to do a review of a different perspective when we come back for anyone else with a mobility issue who may consider going to these ports, although I must admit that the CC here have been a fabulous wealth of information:D

[rkmw]

Hi rmkw,

We were thinking of walking him off the ship to the tender for mystery island and just plonking on the beach for the day, but were hopeful of getting the chair off at port Denaru and Isle of pines ( which sounds more chair friendly as it has proper paths - apparently). If not then we will enjoy having the ship to ouselves:)

I hope to do a review of a different perspective when we come back for anyone else with a mobility issue who may consider going to these ports, although I must admit that the CC here have been a fabulous wealth of information:D

 

rabbit as i mentioned earlier if you can walk your son off at mystery island it would be good as its a nice spot for a swim at the tender stop as long as its not too windy, with the other tender stops they are good with the chair as long as you can fold the chair up to get it on the tender

[Aus Traveller]

Hi rmkw,

We were thinking of walking him off the ship to the tender for mystery island and just plonking on the beach for the day, but were hopeful of getting the chair off at port Denaru and Isle of pines ( which sounds more chair friendly as it has proper paths - apparently). If not then we will enjoy having the ship to ouselves:)

I hope to do a review of a different perspective when we come back for anyone else with a mobility issue who may consider going to these ports, although I must admit that the CC here have been a fabulous wealth of information:D

In Port Denarau the tender drops passengers in what is basicly a shopping mall. There is usually a song/dance troupe performing. If you want to go further I suggest getting a taxi. After negotiating you can expect to pay AUD$20 per hour, but stress that it is AUD not FJD which is much less. The drivers would laugh at you.

 

Isle of Pines - A bitumen road leads from the jetty to two beaches. It would be easier to get a wheelchair close to the first beach on the left. The sand is as soft as talcum powder and there are shady trees on the edge of the sand. The floor of the ocean slopes down very gradually so it could be a place your son might be able to swim.:)

[h & m]

Thankyou so much for taking the time to post your review. My family and i are are sailing on the spirit in october and we are super excited as it is our first cruise.

Did you notice anyone in wheelchairs being able to access the tenders? My 10yo is in a wheelchair, he can walk short distances, so if push comes to shove we can make do without it to get to the beach ( we were thinking mystery island).

Thanks maree

 

 

Hi Maree

 

You have got some good advice re the Islands. At Mystery Island it is straight off the dock onto sand, unlike Isle of Pines the sand is quite coarse, would suggest some kind of beach shoes here. It is a beautiful place, with limited seating and facilities.

 

We did see poeple with folding wheelchairs on the tenders, the Carnival staff were very good at assisting.

 

I forgot to mention although the islands were pleasantly warm, the water was colder than we had expected. Hopefully it will be warmer by your holiday.

 

Have a great trip

 

Hilary :)

[lizzy77]

Thanks for your review Hilary. I was interested in hearing your opinion as we have been on the Spirit previously, cruising in US waters, and we loved it.

Sounds like another option for families.

[cruise love]

We returned on 6 Sept from a 12 day cruise on the Carnival Spirit, and here are a few thoughts on the ship.

We have cruised on Carnival (back in 2004), Royal Caribbean, Princess,Norwegian, with our preferred cruise line being Celebrity. I am not making comparisons with any specifc cruise line, just giving our impressions of the good, and the not so good of this cruise.

We took our 13 year old grandson with us, he is a high energy boy and this ship was the right one for him, spending lots of time on the water slide, in the pools and spas, along with many other children.

Boarding / Disembarking. Dropped off our bags around 11am, returning at 1.15. We used the VIP line, but the regular line was very short at that time. Through all the processes and on board by 1.30. Cabins were ready, so a quick check of our room, then off to lunch.

We were handed given our Immigration departure cards at bag drop off, so we could fill these in at our leisure rather than trying to complete forms while standing in line.

Disembarking was painless, we chose to carry our own luggage off, lines were kept to a minimum, and we were off at exactly the time we had requested.

Cabin. We had been upgraded to a Vista Suite, 7298 an aft corner suite. An unusual shape, it has a small living area, with sofa that converted to grandson’s bed, dressing room, bathroom and walk- in robe in between, then our bedroom. For the 3 of us it worked really well, giving us some privacy, Michael had his own TV and could bring his friends back there. We did feel more movement than mid-ships, on the one rough night lots of sideways as well as front-to back movement. None of us suffer from seasickness, unlike many on the ship that night.

Just walking past open cabins, the regular balcony cabins looked quite comfortable, with a sofa, and seemed more spacious than some ships.

Tendering. - We had 3 tender ports - Isle of Pines, Pt Denarau and Mystery Island. Very well organised, we picked up numbers on the pool deck, then proceeded when numbers called. Mick and I both suffer from knee problems, and have to use elevators rather than stairs. Usually during tendering, we use the elevator then have to blend in with the queue coming down the stairs, sometimes being accused of jumping the queue. On the Spirit there were clear instructions for people not able to use the stairs, go to deck 2, ask to use the elevator, from there we were seated close to the exit and given priority on to the next tender. Well done Carnival.

Main Dining Room . We were seated with a couple with 2 teenage boys, which worked well for us. The boys were served their main couses at the same time we got our entrees, so they did not have to hang around for ages. Our serving staff were great and could not do enough, and had a lot of fun with boys. Most food was good, the menu has been adapted for Australia. A couple of meals turned out not as expected – lamb shanks were just slices of leg lamb, not on the bone, and the flank ribs I ordered tuned out to be a huge pork chop. Wait staff were quick to offer to change any dish not finished.

The drinks server was hopeless, took a long time and forgot our orders, so after a couple of days we just carried drinks in to the dining room.

Buffett A strange set-up, with serving stations around 4 corners, and seating in the middle, Caused confusion until we worked out what was where. It was very crowded at peak times, with only a few tables for 2. On the plus side, people were happy to share tables, and the staff were very quick to clear tables. The food we ate was good in quality, and consistent, eg poached eggs always done how I like them. As in the main dining room, the menu has been adapted for Australia, and I missed some items usually found on the US ships, such as bagels with smoked salmon. One station had a different cuisine each lunch time, and apart from Indian, not authentic at all. Never seen French, Italian or Mexican food like they served here.

Entertainment . Varied guest entertainers ranging from excellent singers to almost painful stand up comedians. The hypnotist was very popular, and we enjoyed a couple of the production shows. There was always adequate seating in the theatre, at least for the early shows.

Staff The Spirit seems a happy ship,and all every crew member we encountered was pleasant. The Captain kept us well informed of weather conditions, and was easy to understand, he has a heavy Italian accent but good English.

One evening we had all to go through security as they had a report of a missing person. Everyone was accounted for, the rumour was a couple had a domestic dispute and the husband was hiding out in the crew quarters. Allegedly the whole family was put off at the next port.

Cruise Director Have read reports of how Stu is very over the top Aussie. We found him pleasant, in fact one of our favourite cruise directors.

Lack of smoke This is a big deciding factor when chosing a ship, do not want to be around smoke or heavy smokers. We are quite happy for smoking places to be on board, as long as we do not have to pass through them. There were tables for smoking on the pool deck starboard side, and never saw anyone smoking anywhere else.

Hygiene – Very disappointed to see no hand sanitisers at the entrance of the dining room or bufftett. We later saw a few sanitisers, but they were off to one side of the dining room, and in obscure places in the buffett. Apart from ourselves, saw very few people using them.

Public rest rooms did not seem to be serviced very often, we avoided them as much as possible.

In the buffett, jams and condiments were in large pots rather than individual packets, everyone using the same spoon. We avoided these and stuck to the individual packets of vegemite.

Children - Did I mention lots of children on board, and it was not school holidays. Many pre-schoolers and younger children. Mostly well behaved but particularly in the buffett they seemed everywhere. For Michaels age group 12 -14, there was no need to sign into the kids program, and the planned activities were mostly late evening, too late in my opinion.

Around the ship – must be something wrong with us, we actually liked the interior design of the ship, especially the atrium. We found plenty of quiet areas to sit and watch the sea, or play cards.

Past Passenger - When booking this cruise, Carnival did not recognise our past passenger numbers as they were linked to US cruises. However we got red past passender cards & this gave us 1 free drink at lunch time, and a surprisingly good Captains reception with an open bar. So we are officially VIFPs (very important fun people!)

Would we cruise on the Spirit again – yes if we have children with us AND the price is right, but everything being equal prefer Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. We feel the standards are lowered on shops that are permanently here in Australia, as we are so easy going. We think the same about Princess ships permanently here.

I have a copy of the bar menu, so can answer any drink price questions. Did not keep any Fun Times, but will try to answer any questions.

Hilary :)

 

thankyou for your review I had a similar time when I was on spirit in July I have booked for next year but I have not got a past passenger number nor did my TA ask or tell me that I have one. Where did you get your info from

 

Thanks

Cruise Love

[fishtaco]

thankyou for your review I had a similar time when I was on spirit in July I have booked for next year but I have not got a past passenger number nor did my TA ask or tell me that I have one. Where did you get your info from

 

Thanks

Cruise Love

 

I think h&m had a Carnival USA past guest number that was not recognised by Carnival AU on land but once aboard spirit their US VIFP was indeed recognised?

 

You should receive your VIFP after one Carnival sailing and it usually comes along automatically with any promotions they send you.

 

If I was you I would try registering with Carnival USA as they may recognise Australian Spirit sailings as past guest just as past guests are recognised on Spirit.

 

I did notice on Carnival AU site that there is no past guest discounts like on Carnival USA site? But there must be a VIFP for Spirit or the Captains drinks would be a lonley place lol

[ravie80]

I think h&m had a Carnival USA past guest number that was not recognised by Carnival AU on land but once aboard spirit their US VIFP was indeed recognised?

 

You should receive your VIFP after one Carnival sailing and it usually comes along automatically with any promotions they send you.

 

If I was you I would try registering with Carnival USA as they may recognise Australian Spirit sailings as past guest just as past guests are recognised on Spirit.

 

I did notice on Carnival AU site that there is no past guest discounts like on Carnival USA site? But there must be a VIFP for Spirit or the Captains drinks would be a lonley place lol

 

We registered with carnival US then you just go to claim a past cruise and add your australian cruises they added our 2 australian cruises 19 days first cruise blue card second cruise red card so I'm guessing next we will be gold we are doing a B2b on the spirit next year for 19 days

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[fishtaco]

We registered with carnival US then you just go to claim a past cruise and add your australian cruises they added our 2 australian cruises 19 days first cruise blue card second cruise red card so I'm guessing next we will be gold we are doing a B2b on the spirit next year for 19 days

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Here you go cruise love! Just register on Carnival USA and put in your booking details past and future:)

 

After we sailed Carnival USA they just sent us a VIFP # within weeks.

[h & m]

I think h&m had a Carnival USA past guest number that was not recognised by Carnival AU on land but once aboard spirit their US VIFP was indeed recognised?

 

You should receive your VIFP after one Carnival sailing and it usually comes along automatically with any promotions they send you.

 

If I was you I would try registering with Carnival USA as they may recognise Australian Spirit sailings as past guest just as past guests are recognised on Spirit.

 

I did notice on Carnival AU site that there is no past guest discounts like on Carnival USA site? But there must be a VIFP for Spirit or the Captains drinks would be a lonley place lol

 

There were about 50 of us at the Captains drinks, so not too lonely. They were very generous with any drinks we wanted from the bar.

 

You are right, our past guest nos were from USA cruises, and our recent cruise details have been added to our VIFP record.

 

Hilary :)

[Kazza50]

Thanks for the great review. We will be going on our first cruise at the end of October and will have our 13 year old with us. Therefore, your review was very interesting.

 

I am interested to know about prices for wine, beer and soft drinks?

Is it true you can take bottled water on board?

Did you get , or have got previously, any vaccinations?

 

Did you book/do any shore excursions? We quite like just wandering around but do not want to miss out on anything that would be highly recommended to do. Any pointers?

 

Thanks again.

 

Karen.

[cruise love]

There were about 50 of us at the Captains drinks, so not too lonely. They were very generous with any drinks we wanted from the bar.

 

You are right, our past guest nos were from USA cruises, and our recent cruise details have been added to our VIFP record.

 

Hilary :)

 

 

Thankyou all for the advice

 

did the VIFP details on the US site and now have a number

 

Cruise Love

[ravie80]

There were about 50 of us at the Captains drinks, so not too lonely. They were very generous with any drinks we wanted from the bar.

 

You are right, our past guest nos were from USA cruises, and our recent cruise details have been added to our VIFP record.

 

Hilary :)

 

When are the captains drinks held and were ???? Still new but cruising again gold member on carnival spirit in January/ February would really love to do this even though I'm not a big drinker :)

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[anderss22]

Just wanted to know if you knew of any drinks packages on board ?

[ravie80]

Just wanted to know if you knew of any drinks packages on board ?

 

Only soft drink package $7 adults and $5.23 kids have to purchase on the first day for the whole cruise

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[h & m]

Thanks for the great review. We will be going on our first cruise at the end of October and will have our 13 year old with us. Therefore, your review was very interesting.

 

I am interested to know about prices for wine, beer and soft drinks?

Is it true you can take bottled water on board?

Did you get , or have got previously, any vaccinations?

 

Did you book/do any shore excursions? We quite like just wandering around but do not want to miss out on anything that would be highly recommended to do. Any pointers?

 

Thanks again.

 

Karen.

 

Hi everyone, thanks for your interest in our review.

 

Here's a few answers

 

We did not get any vaccinations, and did not purchase any ships excursions, we prefer to do things on our own. The kind of adventure excursions that Michael would have enjoyed were probably too strenuous for these grandparents !

 

Mystery Island and Isle of Pines, we just had a walk around then did some snorkelling.

 

Noumea, there is a free shuttle bus from the ship to the visitor centre in town, from there a variety of tours can be purchased, or a hop on hop off bus.

 

Suva, We have been here before, the city is like many ports, you need to get out of the city to appreciate Fiji. Our tablemates did a tour that incuded the Kava ceremony, and really enjoyed it.

 

Pt Denerau, Visited the modern shopping centre where the tenders dock, and bought a few gifts.

 

Bottled water - check the Carnival website, I believe you are allowed to take some, but would check.

 

Drinks prices:

Soft drinks 2.25 each

Beer Draft, Domestic & Imported $7.50 or $8.25

Wine by the glass White $8.00 - $12.00, Red 7.50 - $16.00

Classic cocktails $10.50

Martinis $11.00

 

Above is from the bar menu.

 

 

Wine in the dining room was not cheap, we found an OK Shiraz for $32 and had that a few times, certainly better than buying by the glass, and they will keep an unfinished bottle for the next night (not that we any left over)

 

Something I did not mention before, interactive TV in the room was good for checking our account. I did this daily. With children you have the choice of putting no money on their account, or a limit, or no restrictions. We did not restrict Michael, but I did check daily. There are arcade games which we let him spend max $5 per day on.

 

 

ravie80 - Captains drinks were in the Shanghai Piano Bar on Deck 3. There were nice nibbles too, and it was good to chat with the Captain, Officers and fellow cruisers.

 

Lizzy77 - we met a few people who had sailed on the Spirt in the US, and were disappointed with this cruise. Changes and cutbacks to the menus and the number of children on board were the main complaints.

[mitchella51]

Just an update on the Isle Of Pines, yes it is a very picturesque place to visit and the sea is so warm,:) Now the bad news the bar on the island is charging $11 for a beer and $4 for a Coke but get this they are trying to charge you $5 to go to the loo/toilet:mad: This has just been reported on our cruisaholics site on facebook.

[Kazza50]

Thanks for all the info. Great to have.

 

Being a first time cruiser, and someone who like everything organised, it has been very useful.

 

:)