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Anyone just off the Spirit??

michelle2

By michelle2,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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michelle2

michelle2

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I am looking for some up-to-date Spirit information. Since she has been in Alaska all summer there hasn't been any Mexico information. I am wondering mostly about excursions and entertainment. What did you do at each of the ports? Is there a hypnotist on board? Thanks in advance...

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nekolover

nekolover

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We got off the Spirit in Honolulu on October 3. She is a beautiful ship. We had at least a seven categorie upgrade - Had book a Guarantee cheapest balcony and ended up on second from top deck in an extended balcony - very nice -great room steward. I thought the activities were someone disorganized - ran late or didn't run when announced or not enough equipment. There were a couple of excellent comedians and a hypnotist who was good. Magician was so-so and stage shows were so-so but a lot of that is personal taste. Food was mostly good in the dining room. I didn 't like the layout of the buffet area - hard to navigate and plastic cups for coffee - ugh. All in all a beautiful and roomy ship - it never felt crowded. Deirdre

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nekolover

nekolover

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Of course it depends on your port. In Hawaii, we rented cars several times - Dollar was great, upgraded our car both times for free. Alamo was OK. We liked the freedom of a rental car - not so sure if I would rent a car in Mexico what with insurance and such. If you rent a car you need to have researched the port ahead of time or you will waste a lot of time. Deirdre

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michelle2

michelle2

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Thanks for the replies.

 

We are cruising on the Spirit Nov 8. I can hardly wait. I am still undecided about what to do in the ports.

 

WiseFamily4 - we will try to leave her in good shape for you. What are you guys planning for the ports?

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EternalReturn

EternalReturn

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I just got off the Spirit, I was on the 10/15 Mex Riv sailing. This was the first Mex Riv route of the season, the Spirit docked in SD from Ensenada after completing a Hawaii cruise. (The Spirit was really late. When I arrived for the cruise at 1:30 the ship was about to pull in and dock, I live in SD so no big deal getting to the ship.) We got on the boat at 5pm and when I went to bed that night (9:30pm, I was tired), we were still in port. GRRR.)

 

There is a hypnotist, although I didn't see him. He did two shows, if I recall, one regular one R rated.

 

I went to two shows, The first one was the comedian (pretty funny) and some wierd skit with "Pepper" involving wood planks who I thought was stupid. I also saw a Broadway review show, and it was OK, a few dancers fell during the show.

 

I had a great time on the cruise, LOVED the four sea days. The ports we went to in order were:

 

1. Manzanillo- went shopping (not much there, everything is in pesos) then took a cab and went to Las Hadas Resort. $25 gets you in and $25 in coupons to spend at the pool or the beach. Everything costs money: chairs, pool use etc. You might have coupons left over for a drink with $25 in coupons. Very beautiful place, great drinks! The pool has a swim up bar and an iguana who lives on a small island in the middle of the pool. Feed him bananas.

 

2. Ixtapa/Zihua.- went shopping. Good shopping near the ports and most people went to Los Gatos beach where there are massages for $20 an hour and lots of water sports. I think it is a $3 ferry there, and you can leave close to where the ship docks. My boyfriend and I found another resort to hang out at, but left quickly (we didn't like it) and ended up going to a beach, that conveniently our cab driver's brother in law had a restaurant at. (note to self: becareful when asking cab drivers for their suggestions.) It sucked and was far away. We should have gone to Los Gatos.

 

3. Acapulco- this was our last stop. We left Acapulco at 4:00 which meant we didn't have a long time there. What a shame. First we (I was with a group of people) did the shotover jet. You can do this through the cruise line, but I booked it independently for a savings of over 50%. It was fun, but one of the boats was broken and the line was backed up. The ride was cut short because they had to accomodate more people than boats. Plus the boat we were on died right at the end. Still it was a fun ride. We took a ride back to town only to find that some sort of political protest was blocking traffic. When I say blocking traffic I mean it took 15 minutes to get the shotover jet from the pier and an hour and a half to get back the pier. As a result, we missed the cliff divers. We went to the flea market near the port and did some shopping and came back to ship since the traffic was so bad, we didn't want to risk going somewhere else and getting left behind. There were two or three other ships in port that day so the shopping at the cruise terminal was crazy.

 

I spent most of my time in the casino, Heh. Great people there. I suggest you go to the Supper Club at least once. The food was terrific. I ended up going twice.

 

Also, the Lido deck is very slippery near the pool and even in the dining area. People were falling frequently, including yours truly. Food on the Lido was OK, food in the dining room was OK to good. Breakfast was nice in the dining room, I did that a few times. Coffee was horrible, I went to the coffee place to buy my daily coffee. They have one in the Lido so you don't have to go down to the 2nd floor if you decide you don't like the free coffee.

 

Let me stress that I had a great time! I love the ship, it was easy to get around. Service was fantastic. There was a waitress in the Casino named Liina from Estonia, who had my drink ready after I sat down at the BJ tables. She also remembered everyone's name and drink, she was amazing. She did this the whole week.

 

You will have a great time! The cruise director was really nice. The shopping guy was very helpful and hung around the night before port stops so you could ask questions.

 

This was my second cruise with Carnival. My first was not so great and I only went on this one because it was my V-Day present from my BF. His mother organized one of the groups on board. After this cruise, I would def. go on another Carnival Cruise.

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Litewait

Litewait

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Do any of you recall if the cabin doors on the Spirit are metal? We have a group going to Hawaii and some others doing the Mexico run and want to decorate our cabin doors. Wondering if they are metal so we can use magnets/magnetic tape..

 

Thanks for any info!:D

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sjrieth

sjrieth

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I My boyfriend and I found another resort to hang out at, but left quickly (we didn't like it).

 

Thanks for the great info. We will be onboard next week, and now I'm *really* excited!

 

Do you happen to recall which resort it was that you didn't like? What was it that made you leave?

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mared1

mared1

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We sailed on the Spirit this past January - Mexican Riveria - you might check for reviews on the Review tab of Cruise Critic. We enjoyed the ship and ports. My only recommendation is if you go to the Cliff Divers in Acapulco is that you go during the day so you can see more. The night show is nice because the last diver dives with a lite torch but it is hard to get good pictures at night and you really can't see as much. At least that was my experience.

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cherylandtk

cherylandtk

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Can any of you recent cruisers give a description of how much or whether the dress code was followed? Were there tuxes on formal night? Mostly suits? Mostly ignored and wore casual? Did it seem that many people changed out of formal attire for after dinner shows? I am tryihg to get an overall feel for what the majority of passengers wore these nights, both at dinner and afterwards. Thanks.

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Cruzbw

Cruzbw

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Michelle, don't have any info, except she goes into drydock in Feb. 06.

 

I'm thinking of booking the Feb 20th cruise to Mexico, and this post caught my eye. Anyone know when the drydock is scheduled. I'd hate to spend 8 days in San Diego waiting for my ship to come in!!! Thanks for answers.

Bill

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katgar

katgar

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I'm thinking of booking the Feb 20th cruise to Mexico, and this post caught my eye. Anyone know when the drydock is scheduled. I'd hate to spend 8 days in San Diego waiting for my ship to come in!!! Thanks for answers.

Bill

 

I believe it is the last week in Jan and first two weeks of Feb. for drydock. If you look online, it shows every every 8 days for departure dates, but Carnival's site ends with the Jan 19th sailing, and picks up with the Feb 12th sailing.

I could always call my PVP! We're going 3/8/06 and he'd probably tease me about leaving earlier!!

Kathy

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katgar

katgar

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Cruzbw, I think I may contact my PVP to see if he knows what is planned for the drydock. This year the Legend only had 2 or 3 sailings before it's drydock. While we were getting pedicures, the told us one thing was supposed to be revamping the salon/spa area, including new chairs for the pedicures.

If you take this sailing, you'll only be two before us. Make sure you leave the ship in good shape, I've promised some of those after us that we would! I'd hate to be blamed if it wasn't!

Kathy

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Cruzbw

Cruzbw

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Cruzbw, I think I may contact my PVP to see if he knows what is planned for the drydock. This year the Legend only had 2 or 3 sailings before it's drydock. While we were getting pedicures, the told us one thing was supposed to be revamping the salon/spa area, including new chairs for the pedicures.

If you take this sailing, you'll only be two before us. Make sure you leave the ship in good shape, I've promised some of those after us that we would! I'd hate to be blamed if it wasn't!

Kathy

 

Katgar: That would be nice if you find out.

 

Now, time to fess up....what's PVP stand for?

 

Leave the ship in good shape? It depends on which of our kids we take! LOL! Actually the only thing they abuse is the room service. Free RS makes them go nuts, they think it's so great. I've gotta believe the RS staff are taking bets what time each night our kids ask for another food installment. We do monitor the order however, to make sure it's reasonable, not wasteful.

Bill

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katgar

katgar

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Morning Bill!

First off, PVP stands for Personal Vacation Planner, directly at Carnival. I did speak with him yesterday about drydock, and most of what's planned is new carpets and that type of refurbishments. He said if he finds out any more, he'll let me know.

This is the third cruise I've had this PVP, he's very quick to respond to any questions I have. On this year's cruise, the price dropped a bit after final payment and one of the girls on our roll call mentioned an onboard credit she got. When I called, he had me send the CC page to him to push for a credit for us, as his supervisor initially said no!

We like RS, also!! A nice pot of coffee to enjoy on the balcony and get us moving in the morning. I hope the Spirit has the same pastries as the Legend. They were melt in your mouth! They were so light, it reminded me of phyllo dough. When we ordered lunch, we got a nice big helping of potato salad with our sandwiches. We sometimes order a few things over what we plan on eating, like one morning we got some extra fruit, which we put in the fridge, Gary is great for 2:00 am snacking!!

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michelle2

michelle2

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Cherlyandtk - I just got off the Spirit this morning. We had a great time. As far as formal nights, I was really surprised with how dressed up everyone was. I saw quite a few tux's. I saw almost no one who wasn't dressed "formally". Lots of long gowns and lot of sequins. I also saw lots of cocktail dresses on the non-formal nights. It seemed like most people stayed dressed up for the shows. I have to admit that we changed after dinner on the second formal night. Let me know if you have any other questions...

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