Live B2B2B2B Carnival Spirit Alaska/Panama Canal/Caribbean

[jam19872016]

And we are pulling out. First ship to sail this afternoon.

[jam19872016]

Heading to the premiere cocktail party 🥳

[jam19872016]

The party was very nice. Drinks were flowing and they also served food. I haven't seen food served at these gatherings since before covid.

 

Since we all love to complain about a cutback I think it is important to take a moment to recognize when they bring something back. Thank you carnival.

 

This was also the smallest gathering I've seen for premiere ever. I doubt there were 50 people in the room. 

 

I stopped doing these because of how crowded they were  plus they are usually more expensive than a casino offer that's not a premiere.

 

At the end they also raffled off some prizes. I did not have my name drawn but I have many drawings throughout the week so fingers crossed.

[jam19872016]

Some snacks.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

After my snack I had a light dinner. If it looks familiar it's because it's very similar to what I ate two nights ago lol.

 

Cured salmon.

 

 

Chicken parmesean.

 

 

Tiramisu.

 

 

[jam19872016]

After not getting enough sleep the bed was calling us but we have casino drawings all week at 11 so we powered through.

 

Tonight's game was called premiere drop amd it is similar to plinko.

 

 

No luck yet having our names drawn.

[jam19872016]

Well it has been a very long day so now I'm going to bed. Next up, fun day at sea.

 

Good night. 

[jam19872016]

Good morning.

 

Bes super comfy, pillows are too flat. Can't win them all guess lol.

 

Gonna slowly make my way into the land of the living.

 

Diamond lunch at noon.

[avp1234]

We will be sailing our first time on the Spirit Sunday, so I’m excited to read this weeks report. Did you have a crew change when you got to Miami or is it the same?  Is T&C on your itinerary?  Curious if they’ll have the port fixed. 

Edited October 9, 2022 by avp1234

[IntrepidFromDC]

On 9/23/2022 at 7:46 PM, jam19872016 said:

...Items for purchase were not overpriced. Even their signature cocktail, called a glacierita, was only $8. It was a margarita with a real piece of glacier ice used as the ice. 

You, Sir Double Dare, are living on the edge!

 

"Is there bacteria in glacier water?  To find out, scientists collected snow and ice samples from 21 glaciers over the years 2010 to 2016. Each was melted and then tested to see what was in the water left behind. The researchers found 968 unique species of bacteria, 98% of which had never been seen before."  😱

[ninjacat123]

5 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

You, Sir Double Dare, are living on the edge!

 

"Is there bacteria in glacier water?  To find out, scientists collected snow and ice samples from 21 glaciers over the years 2010 to 2016. Each was melted and then tested to see what was in the water left behind. The researchers found 968 unique species of bacteria, 98% of which had never been seen before."  😱

Yikes!!  Sounds like the beginning of an "end of the world" movie, where some cruisers try a cocktail ON A DARE with glacier ice in it.  That night on the cruise ship, all holy hell breaks loose as the cruisers turn into predators that hunt through the night.  Oops, sorry gotta go, Steven Spielberg is calling me🤣

[luvcruzing]

18 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

At the end they also raffled off some prizes. I did not have my name drawn but I have many drawings throughout the week so fingers crossed.

Which means you’ll have to dig deep into your pockets and gamble if you want any chance of your name being drawn.

[jam19872016]

The internet has been down all day again. I tried having a reasonable discussion with guest services and was told no credit would be extended.

 

 

 

I pointed out its not been working for over two weeks and they had two stops in Miami to resolve the issue. They claim this is a different issue. Even though connectivity has been spotty since.

 

 

 

Still, no credit. But I am not getting the product you sold me. Sorry, no credit.

 

 

 

Then things broke down as other guests started yelling. As if my cool, calm, but firm tone was getting me nowhere but yelling was going to magically produce better results.

 

 

 

I will be following up with Carol the guest services manager and move up the chain until I am satisfied.  

 

I have never in all my cruises been so disappointed in the internet service. It isn't that it's just slow, it is slow and constantly down for 15 minutes at a time.

 

Every. Single. Day. 

 

Multiple times.

 

And slow. Like slower than I've ever witnessed running speed tests anytime I feel like the internet is slow.

[jam19872016]

3 hours ago, avp1234 said:

We will be sailing our first time on the Spirit Sunday, so I’m excited to read this weeks report. Did you have a crew change when you got to Miami or is it the same?  Is T&C on your itinerary?  Curious if they’ll have the port fixed. 

The only crew change I noticed were the shops. A new company has taken over and a new set of employees are working there. Other than that it seems to be just the normal rotation that happens weekly.

 

Staffing levels are at 95% and I have experienced no areas that seem understaffed, except for guest services after midnight and heard second hand that someone went by at 4am and it was closed but I cannot verify that.

 

I do not know if Grand Turk was on this itinerary but it is not now. I thought it was but there has been no mention of a port substitution.

 

It would not be the first time I boarded thinking we were going somewhere and I was mistaken.

 

Enjoy your cruise, it's a great ship with a great crew and better food than I've had recently on carnival.

 

Don't buy the internet.

[jam19872016]

3 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

You, Sir Double Dare, are living on the edge!

 

"Is there bacteria in glacier water?  To find out, scientists collected snow and ice samples from 21 glaciers over the years 2010 to 2016. Each was melted and then tested to see what was in the water left behind. The researchers found 968 unique species of bacteria, 98% of which had never been seen before."  😱

I'm not even a germ freak. I drank from the hose as a kid and if it was a hot day and I was outside, you know what, I'd still drink it.

 

But even I thought, glacier ice? That doesn't seem very sanitary.

 

Alas, I did not try it, I do not like tequila at all. Gross.

 

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Yikes!!  Sounds like the beginning of an "end of the world" movie, where some cruisers try a cocktail ON A DARE with glacier ice in it.  That night on the cruise ship, all holy hell breaks loose as the cruisers turn into predators that hunt through the night.  Oops, sorry gotta go, Steven Spielberg is calling me🤣

If Steven needs a technical advisor please give him my information.

[jam19872016]

2 hours ago, luvcruzing said:

Which means you’ll have to dig deep into your pockets and gamble if you want any chance of your name being drawn.

On a premiere cruise, supposedly everyone has an equal chance. Everyone has an entry instead of an entry for every 100 points. 

 

It's been a while but I have had my name drawn a couple times on a premiere. This is the smallest group I have ever seen for a premiere so I should have better odds if we do in fact all have an equal chance.

[Funsince1983]

8 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I'm not even a germ freak. I drank from the hose as a kid and if it was a hot day and I was outside, you know what, I'd still drink it.

 

But even I thought, glacier ice? That doesn't seem very sanitary.

 

Alas, I did not try it, I do not like tequila at all. Gross.

I am a proud glacierita survivor. I lived to tell the tale. Did I get covid? Yes. Did I get a bacterial infection? No. Hindsight is 20/20 though.. pretty gross. 

[jam19872016]

Just now, Funsince1983 said:

I am a proud glacierita survivor. I lived to tell the tale. Did I get covid? Yes. Did I get a bacterial infection? No. Hindsight is 20/20 though.. pretty gross. 

I honestly thought it was a gimmick. No way they are really using glacier ice.

 

Then I saw they actually had a chunk of it behind the bar. 

 

Lots of people bought it, it was very popular. As far as I know know they all survived 😅

[jam19872016]

The diamond lunch was nice. It is a small menu and I ordered the same thing I did last time but everything I ordered was good.

 

Those at my table who ordered the steak all complained it was too tough.

 

Pork belly.

 

 

My mom's papperdele.

 

 

Sea bass.

 

Hazelnut and malted chocolate.

 

 

[jam19872016]

After the diamond lunch we wandered through the shops. There was supposed to be a 2/20 t-shirt sale but it was canceled. Something about the new shop vendor. Didn't catch the whole reason, but there were no sales with the old vendor either.

 

Hennessy white price check.

 

 

 

There are about a half dozen displays around the store. Unless they don't stock up again for a while there will be no shortage of it on this ship.

[jam19872016]

Spend the rest of my day relaxing in the room and steamroom.

 

Or arguing about crappy internet.

 

I didn't bother with dinner pictures because honestly I didn't expect the internet to come back for a while...or at all.

 

I did get one of the pork tart because it is a different presentation.

 

 

Can't really tell from this picture but it is a deeper dish instead of two small shallow tarts. It was still very yummy.

 

Dining room has been slammed the last two nights but the dining room team has done a real good job keeping up with the demand.

 

[jam19872016]

Part of me doesn't want to put the phone down now that the internet is working again. 

 

But I've got to stay on top of my exercise routine so off I go.

 

Casino drawing at 11. They say there will be over 15 winners. Hopefully I can be one of them.

[IntrepidFromDC]

21 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Some snacks.

 

 

Albino broccoli?

[jam19872016]

2 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

 

Albino broccoli?

🤣 no glacier ice but I am guilty of eating the albino broccoli.

[jam19872016]

Decks 10 and 11 have been closed off. Winds outside are 52mph but you can't feel it.