Carnival Spirit to Alaska - any recent feedback?

[ajtaylor29]

We sail on July 18th out of Seattle. Really looking forward to this cruise! We've been to Alaska but it's been several years, and we've never been on the Spirit.

We were on the Pride last year in Europe, i think they are sister ships so it will feel very familiar to me.

But, i'm just curious about anybody who's been on recently? Any comments or tips?

We were lucky to snag the deck 4 corner aft vista suite, excited to have that panoramic balcony for Alaska! I'm hoping the weather cooperates!

[Ihearttravel11]

We were on Spirit June 27-July 4.
It was fantastic! Shows were great. Jake (cruise director) was great. Staff was great. Frozen yogurt was great, lol.

And DH just tested positive for Covid. I'm negative still.

No real comments or tips, other than that. Anything specific you want to ask?

[ajtaylor29]

Just now, Ihearttravel11 said:

We were on Spirit June 27-July 4.
It was fantastic! Shows were great. Jake (cruise director) was great. Staff was great. Frozen yogurt was great, lol.

And DH just tested positive for Covid. I'm negative still.

No real comments or tips, other than that. Anything specific you want to ask?

OH i'm good with how many times you said "great"!!! That's what i really wanted to hear!!

 

Sorry for your DH's covid, hope it didn't affect his trip (or yours?!?) I just broke my foot over the weekend so found out yesterday that i'll be in a walking boot for 4-6 weeks. That is NOT how i wanted to cruise, but i'll just have to deal with it. We will have to adjust some of our plans to accommodate my gimpy foot but i'm sure we'll still have a blast!

The Segway tour is definitely out, but I'm hoping most everything else i can power thru.

 

We loved the Pride so i'm hoping we feel the same about Spirit. I have no problem with the older ships, or the smaller ships, as long as they're well-maintained. 

 

Actually, we love every ship we've been on!!! 🙂

[Ihearttravel11]

The ship was great. Seriously, this whole trip, it ranks at the top for favorite vacations.

We saw humpback and orcas from the ship. Way more than we saw on our Juneau Express whale watching excursion. If we had to go back, we would not do the excursion.
On the way to Victoria, we saw bunches of whales. It was incredible. Our naturist, Louise, was so excited, saying that it was pretty rare to see so many. Of course, the weather may have had something to do with that, as it was beautiful weather the entire trip. Just a bit of rain at the fjord and the last hour in port in Juneau.

White Pass 3 hour railway excursion was fantastic - we would do the one up to Canada next time.

And Skagway was amazing. We loved Skagway. We did the railway and Goodtime Girls excursion there. 

[FastShip24]

Older ship in good shape.  Easy to navigate

[Buffalobills]

This was the best cruise I’ve ever taken! I have 17 cruises under my belt.  My favorite excursion was the Tracy Arm Fjord. It was worth every penny and I would do it again. 
I did the whale excursion and really didn’t need to we saw so many whales from the ship including Orcas it was unbelievable. 
Skagway we opted for an in town tour that included going into the Yukon absolutely gorgeous this was my second favorite on this trip. We even saw a bear! 
We did the Utv excursion and it was not worth the money we bought it through Carnival. 
Victoria was stunning! We just walked in town and actually saw 2 deer in someone’s front yard eating flowers. 
The only negative area is we didn’t have enough time in each port besides Skagway. When I do go back and I will it was that beautiful I will fly into Alaska or go with another cruise line that has longer days in each port. 

 

 

 

[Rollin Tide]

2 hours ago, Ihearttravel11 said:

We saw humpback and orcas from the ship. 

Seeing an orca would make my whole trip!  That's so freaking awesome!

[SF Cfan]

Spirit was terrific on the sail from Miami to Seattle through the Panama Canal this past April.  The combination of a lot of public space and a low passenger to crew ratio really makes for an an overall wonderful experience.  The décor is whimsical to bizarre, which is part of the overall charm.

 

This is now my favorite ship class on Carnival in front of the Dream class ships, which are also nice.    

[FastShip24]

3 hours ago, Buffalobills said:

This was the best cruise I’ve ever taken! I have 17 cruises under my belt.  My favorite excursion was the Tracy Arm Fjord. It was worth every penny and I would do it again. 
I did the whale excursion and really didn’t need to we saw so many whales from the ship including Orcas it was unbelievable. 
Skagway we opted for an in town tour that included going into the Yukon absolutely gorgeous this was my second favorite on this trip. We even saw a bear! 
We did the Utv excursion and it was not worth the money we bought it through Carnival. 
Victoria was stunning! We just walked in town and actually saw 2 deer in someone’s front yard eating flowers. 
The only negative area is we didn’t have enough time in each port besides Skagway. When I do go back and I will it was that beautiful I will fly into Alaska or go with another cruise line that has longer days in each port. 

 

 

 

I agree.  Stunning natural scenery.  Air is amazing

[fbe2228]

We did Spirit to the Caribbean in January.  Haven't done an Alaska cruise yet, so we can't comment on that part.   No complaints at all regarding Spirit.  Food/Service/Ship were great.  We've been on 24 cruises FWIW...  See if "I Made" is still a bartender in the Red Frog Pub.  He'll take care of you.

[csm5986142]

17 hours ago, SF Cfan said:

Spirit was terrific on the sail from Miami to Seattle through the Panama Canal this past April.  The combination of a lot of public space and a low passenger to crew ratio really makes for an an overall wonderful experience

 

This is so good to hear - in a couple months we will be taking Spirit through the canal the opposite direction (Seattle to New Orleans).  I was kind of nervous being on a smaller older ship for 16 days.

[gabriellyn]

We were on the June 6th sailing and it was fabulous!!!

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=702091

 

Absolutely loved the Spirit and would enjoy another sailing on her in the future.

 

Would like to echo some of the other comments:  we saw so many whales from the ship!!!  It was magical.  However, we did a third party whale watching tour in Juneau on a much smaller boat than the vessel that the Carnival excursion offered, so we were able to view orcas and humpbacks at a much closer distance.  Absolutely worth it for us, especially since that excursion saved us money over Carnival's.  

 

Really, the only negative thing that happened was that 7 out of 10 of us ended up sick.  My daughter and I had remarked upon the huge number of people who were coughing aboard the ship.  Despite lots of hand washing and sanitizing we both still ended up with a nasty virus and here I am, a month later, and it's still lingering!  I missed Victoria because of it.  My husband was simply enchanted by Victoria, so it's a must-do.  Oh well - next time 🙂

[luvs2beachit]

Was on the Spirit through the 4/16 Panama Canal cruise and then b2b on the May 2nd Alaska cruise.  One of the best 23 day cruises ever!  The  staff was outstanding.  The scenery was amazing.  Food was very good, with a few exceptions.  Love the ship, even the strange decor.  Never felt crowded. Fellow passengers were great. Would book the same b2b again in a heartbeat!

[geckoaz]

We completed out alaskan trip on the spirit on june 27. It was a great cruise with surprisingly good weather. Dining..MDR early seating. Unlike many cruises it was full most evenings. Staff was exceptional. Food was always good ( i have been on 17 cruises). The ship was clean and had plenty of alaskan theme shirts. Excursions were fantastic. Whales were hard to see but did appear with dolphins by ship. Ez to get to tour was lumberjack show. Block from pier. Took skagway train into canada and bus back. Bus tour had lots more details than train staff. Youtube videos of our red hat group are appearing more frequently. Many more details than i could give. Dome swimming pool was appreciated. We love the spirit. 

[rudechuck]

One thing I didn't see mentioned was "Soul Play."  Spirit is the only ship this activity is on.  It's a painting class/venue on Deck 3, Aft.  They have classes to paint specific things and also "free paint" classes where you can paint what you want.  My wife really enjoyed it. 

 

Sign up is on the Hub App, but sign up early as they fill up quick.  There are usually a few "no-shows," and they let people in on a first come basis, depending on how many seats are available.

[Etta1213]

On 7/6/2023 at 1:01 PM, Ihearttravel11 said:

We were on Spirit June 27-July 4.
It was fantastic! Shows were great. Jake (cruise director) was great. Staff was great. Frozen yogurt was great, lol.

And DH just tested positive for Covid. I'm negative still.

No real comments or tips, other than that. Anything specific you want to ask?

We're all of the excursions more than $100pp? I've heard that Alaskan excursions run high.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Etta1213

[CruiseHealing]

We sailed on the first Pride cruise for Alaska this year on May 2nd,  Embarkation was a total nightmare. We are platinum and in a suite.  We, as well as other D&P cruisers, were mixed in with all other cruisers.  It took us over an hour to board.  Priority meant nothing to the port of seattle or carnival.  
 

Overall the cruise was good, but the the steak house was terrible.  The wait staff was more interested to talk with the hotel director who was eating there, than the paying customer.  Both of our steaks were hugely under cooked.  We asked for help but they were not interested.  We have been dining in the steak house every cruise for 10 cruises. It’s gone done hill so much we will not eat their on our Greece cruise later this year or the other 5 cruises we have booked next year.

[Ihearttravel11]

54 minutes ago, Etta1213 said:

We're all of the excursions more than $100pp? I've heard that Alaskan excursions run high.

Whale watch was over $100pp, train was over $100pp, and the Skagway Ghost/Goodtime Girl was under $100pp. 

[Haljo1935]

On 7/7/2023 at 1:22 PM, luvs2beachit said:

Was on the Spirit through the 4/16 Panama Canal cruise and then b2b on the May 2nd Alaska cruise.  One of the best 23 day cruises ever!  The  staff was outstanding.  The scenery was amazing.  Food was very good, with a few exceptions.  Love the ship, even the strange decor.  Never felt crowded. Fellow passengers were great. Would book the same b2b again in a heartbeat!

What is strange about the decor?

[paulco]

Kind of subdued for Carnival, hieroglyphs around the mdr, giraffes and baboons foreword promenade etc. Love there’s still tablecloths in the mdr.  Really nice ship!