The Spirit class is easily Carnival's best class of ships

[hotsauce126]

So I just got off the Miracle and I've never been more satisfied with a Carnival cruise. After my cruise on the Breeze in May I was pretty sure I was done with Carnival, but as long as they keep a Spirit class ship in Tampa I'll keep sailing on those at least. Compared to the Breeze:

 

-The ship was way, way less crowded. Never had trouble finding a lounger, never waited in long lines, and didn't even have to arrive too early for the comedy club. 

-The Serenity is the best in the fleet and a great use of the aft pool area

-There's so much more open deck space per person than on the Breeze

-The service was much friendlier and faster, with more staff per passenger

-There weren't sales pitches for the fun shops, casino, spa, etc every 5 minutes like on the breeze

-I think Frankie is a better CD than Schwartz

-Getting on and off in the ports is a lot faster since there's less people overall on the ship

 

I just wanted to share my experience since I've seen a lot of the same complaints that I had about the Breeze on the other newer/refurb ships like the Horizon, Sunrise, etc

[sanmarcosman]

Good to read you enjoyed Carnival Miracle. We sailed her 4 times from Long Beach to Mexico and her sister Carnival Spirit twice from San Diego to Mexico. We couldn't agree more with your description of the deck layout and ease of getting around. In February we sailed the Dream and the best part was the itinerary and not the ship.

 

We are sailing the new Panorama from Long Beach this February and are looking forward to a new ship while suspecting we will miss our sea homes of the Spirit Class. 

Happy sails always.

 

 

[shof515]

my first cruise was on the miracle, i loved that ship. i wish they brought it back to NYC. Lucky, they have a sister ship, legend doing a few NY cruises

[desiree741]

I still have not figured out the different classes of ship lol.

I have only been on Elation, Triumph, and will be on the  Valor in December 

[finoky]

I have to agree. We have sailed the Miracle and the Legend twice each. Love love love the Spirit class ships for the all the same reasons you mentioned in the original post.

[tonit964]

I have been on the Spirit, Miracle and Legend several times and it is my favorite class, hands down. It feels like "home" when I'm on these ships.

[Jamman54]

I agree 1000%  

[pooksma]

Only after being on the Vista did I truly appreciate what the Spirit and Conquest class ships offer. Sailing on the Magic in February and will see where it falls for me.

[Djptcp]

We love the Legend and the Miracle and agree with the OP and have sailed on them a number of times. The Miracle has left Tampa (our hometown port), but the Legend is now sailing from there, so very convenient for us.

[crzndeb]

I sailed on the Spirit 7 times and Legend once, next year will be 2 and 3. I just wish they wouldn’t have changed the 4K door configuration. That was one of the best cabins on this class. 

[teknoge3k]

41 minutes ago, desiree741 said:

I still have not figured out the different classes of ship lol.

I have only been on Elation, Triumph, and will be on the  Valor in December 

 

https://help.carnival.com/ci/fattach/get/4358798/1551907450/redirect/1/filename/Ship Class Guide 030619.pdf

 

Now ya know 🙂

[Roz]

Sailed on the Spirit to Hawaii and went to Alaska on the Miracle.  I'll be on the Miracle again next January to do the Panama Canal.  The size and layout of the Spirit class are perfect.  

 

Roz

[evandbob]

We had a bit of a different opinion on the Miracle when we booked a suite last fall.  The ship felt tired with its Farcusized decor, lots of rust, long debarkation process due to USCBP being understaffed.  Didn't like the Steakhouse because it opens to the atrium and the noise from the Karaoke and name that tune game in the lobby made conversation difficult during the meal.

 

We did like the valet parking at the terminal, and the sailaway thru the bay was awesome thanks to a wicked T Storm with lightning all around the ship.

 

Going on the Legend next June, and we booked an extended balcony to view the Norwegian fjords. Hopefully the ship doesn't disappoint like the Miracle, but we booked for the unique ports, not the ship.

[idraconis]

I've been on thirteen Carnival cruises and seven of them have been on Spirit class. Sailed on all four ship, four out of FLA ports, two out of NYC and once from Baltimore. Definitely the best class of ships. I love the layout of the ships, especially the lido deck and as one CC member stated the location of Serenity (Back Bar). The crew is great and even your fellow cruisers seem be just a little nicer. BTW the other cruise I was on were great, I've never had a bad cruise on Carnival. Just favor the Spirit class. Cheers all.🍹

[evandbob]

Miracle will have competition from Celebrity, which is re-assigning the Constellation to Tampa.  "Connie" will have an assortment of sail lengths, some the normal week, others 10 and 11 days, which I may book rather than the Miracle.  

[Dicecatt]

This post makes me very excited to experience the Miracle in Long Beach!

[hotsauce126]

1 hour ago, evandbob said:

We had a bit of a different opinion on the Miracle when we booked a suite last fall.  The ship felt tired with its Farcusized decor, lots of rust, long debarkation process due to USCBP being understaffed.  Didn't like the Steakhouse because it opens to the atrium and the noise from the Karaoke and name that tune game in the lobby made conversation difficult during the meal.

 

We did like the valet parking at the terminal, and the sailaway thru the bay was awesome thanks to a wicked T Storm with lightning all around the ship.

 

Going on the Legend next June, and we booked an extended balcony to view the Norwegian fjords. Hopefully the ship doesn't disappoint like the Miracle, but we booked for the unique ports, not the ship.

I will say that the amount of rust and the outdated decor were probably the only things I didn't care for 

 

 

54 minutes ago, evandbob said:

Miracle will have competition from Celebrity, which is re-assigning the Constellation to Tampa.  "Connie" will have an assortment of sail lengths, some the normal week, others 10 and 11 days, which I may book rather than the Miracle.  

I saw that and we were already thinking that we probably would do that for our first cruise on Celebrity

[FiredogCruiser]

Agree with Spirit being the best class. Our favorite is the Pride. We have numbers 5 & 6 booked on her currently. Never seems crowded. Love the location of David's, and always had a good experience there. Food, service and quiet conversation all. Also enjoy sitting in a comfortable chair by a window on a sea day with a good book, a good drink, a good view interspersed with some stimulating conversation with a new acquaintance. May be just me, but I find the 'pace' more relaxed on the Spirit Class ships. Never had a problem finding a seat at our favorite bar for example.

We have been on the Dream twice, and had fun both times, but the 'pace' seemed more hurried. (I am too old to be hurried!) As a result spent far more time than usual for us, on our cove balcony, rather than out in the public areas.

Often could not find seating at a bar we wanted to try on the Dream. Wait service, if seated away from the bar, was much slower due to the increased number of passengers being served by what to me looked like the same number of servers per lounge as found on the smaller class ships.

I have to also point out that we have had excellent experiences on the Fantasy Class ships. One trip on the Elation to Progresso to enable to visit Chichen Itza was especially memorable.

As I tell DW, age & experience is a good thing!

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, evandbob said:

We had a bit of a different opinion on the Miracle when we booked a suite last fall.  The ship felt tired with its Farcusized decor, lots of rust, long debarkation process due to USCBP being understaffed.

 

I understand decor is very subjective, but I love the the Joe Farcus designed ships. I think Carnival’s newer ships beginning with Breeze are very bland/boring decor wise. I like how unique and different every ship is decor wise from the Joe Farcus days. I also don’t understand why people worry about rust. The ships are in salt water 24/7 365 days a year. Every ship is going to have its fair share of rust due to this.  

[n6uqqq]

I have been on the Miracle 4 times, Pride and Legend once each. My favorite class of ship by far. I don't need all the toys they are adding to the newer ships and the crowds. We were on the Legend June 25th to Alaska and this is my favorite cruise of all time. We had rooms 6232 and 6234 and opened the divider to have a balcony 6 lengths long and extended width to go with it 😎

[havanadaydreaming]

I had no idea what the different ship classes were until I clicked link.  I also always forget the actual two Conquest ships I've sailed but liked them both.  

 

the Breeze was my first cruise so I'll always love her. we are going on Magic next month and have fingers crossed on the guest per sq ft ratio. 

 

wife is looking at Paradise day after Xmas. looks smaller than Spirit class with same number of guests and less features.  hmmmm. 

[vicky3vicky]

I have never been on a Spirit class ship, but so far, every single ship I have been on has been my favorite, so I am sure I would love a Spirit class as well. Your description makes it sound incredible!

[sanmarcosman]

12 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

I have been on the Miracle 4 times, Pride and Legend once each. My favorite class of ship by far. I don't need all the toys they are adding to the newer ships and the crowds. We were on the Legend June 25th to Alaska and this is my favorite cruise of all time. We had rooms 6232 and 6234 and opened the divider to have a balcony 6 lengths long and extended width to go with it 😎

 

It looks like antelope could frolic out there! 

[NCTribeFan]

I've always been a big fan of the Spirit-class ships.  Sailed Miracle twice when she was in Florida and sailed Pride once.  Am booked on the B2B Venice-Barcelona + TA in October 2020.

 

I believe I read a long time ago that the ships were not originally intended for Carnival but were supposed to go to one of their other lines.  If that's true, that's probably why the layout is so different from what I refer to as Carnival's "floating shoe box" design.  The space ratio is much better and the layout just flows so much better since there's no MDR in the middle of the ship.

 

It's one of the reasons I've enjoyed my HAL sailings so much - the ships are much more like the Spirit class (without the hideous Farcus "bad-acid-trip" decor)!

 

Folks, all you have to do is Google "Carnival ship classes" and you'll get plenty of info.  

 

I'm booked on my first X cruise for March 2021 and I've already read every review I could find, looked at the deck plans and tons of photos.  Yeah, I do a lot of pre-cruise research! 😄

[TomCruise48]

11 cruises on Spirit Class with 2 more booked.  These ships were built in Finland and the construction and workmanship is so much better than the ships built in Italy.  Was happy to see Carnival go back to Finland for their new ships.  Have great hopes for the Mardi Gras.