Just back from an 8-day Christmas cruise on the Spirit - a few thoughts

[MisterOJ2]

I'm not going to do a full review or anything, but I do have a few observations after just completing my most recent cruise.

 

It was my first time on a Spirit-class ship and I really think it's my favorite class I've been on. Even though it was a completely sold-out sailing, it didn't feel crowded at all. Most all the events we went to, we were able to get a seat without any problem - despite not showing up early. There was only one comedy show that we went to about 5-10 minutes before it started that was full and we weren't able to get a seat. The same thing with the elevators. I think there was only once when we really had to wait to get on one - and it wasn't a long wait at all. 

 

I really liked how different the ship felt. With all the "stuff" being on the lower decks and no galley breaking up the flow in the middle. Having the shops in just a hallway seemed a bit odd to me, but not in a bad way. They never seemed crowded either, but we didn't spend much time in them. 

 

I've always been a fan of the Mongolian Wok on ships that have it. But Chopsticks on the Spirit is so much better. There were plenty of good choices and there was never a long, slow line like there usually is for the Mongolian Wok. It was very popular too, so the food on it always seemed fresh since people were eating a lot of it and it was constantly being replenished.

 

The steakhouse was good and one of the prettiest I've been in. I really liked it a lot. And since it was just above the promenade, you could hear the violin trio while dining and that was a nice bit of atmosphere.

 

Speaking of music - this particular cruise had some of the best musical artists of any I've been on. There seemed like a lot more acts than usual too. There was two different duos, a four-person funk/r&b band that was really outstanding, and a solo guitarist/singer. And the violin trio. One of the duos was just so-so, but the other was pretty good and we really like the r&b band that spent most of their time in the Red Frog Pub. We went by there a lot just to sit and listen to them.

 

There seemed to be a dearth of fresh berries on board. My wife's parfait for breakfast in the dining room didn't have them like it usually does and the bartenders in Alchemy didn't have any for drinks either - which struck me as odd. That said, the bartenders in Alchemy - and all over the ship really, were all really good.

 

I really liked the new mdr menus. The beef wellington was great. And so were several of the new appetizers. We only got one "elegant night" menu on the next to last day. Our first elegant night was on Christmas day and featured a special menu.

 

There was only one comedian on for the first several days of the cruise. I suppose they had trouble booking people to be there over Christmas. He wasn't great. We got to more for the last part of the trip - one was okay and we never made it to the show for the other. That said, I really liked the Versailles Lounge for comedy. The decor in there was nice and the layout really worked well for the Punchliner.

 

It was my first time experiencing Christmas on the ship and it didn't disappoint. Like many, many others on board - we wore our matching Christmas pajamas around the ship for much of the day - even to brunch in the mdr. We were not out of place AT ALL. Everyone was jolly and having a good time. The special little Christmas touches were all great and helped make it a festive atmosphere.

 

Soul Play was SUCH a nice touch. I'm not artsy or crafty at all, but my two teenage daughters are and they LOVED it. They went to two different painting sessions and two craft sessions and really enjoyed them a lot. I wish they would add this to every ship.

 

One bad thing was the weather. We really only got one nice day that was sunny and warm. Luckily it was when we were in Bimini and we were able to grab a golf cart and ride up to Radio Beach. It was such a nice day. By far the best of the trip and my youngest said it was probably one of her top three port days ever. 

 

That's the main things that come to mind. If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them!

 

 

 

[ninjacat123]

Spirit class is a favorite of mine as well. Glad to hear that your family has such a nice Christmas cruise!  Thanks for the review!

[Jeafl]

I have yet to be on a Spirit class ship, but after reading your review I think I would like to.  I think I may prefer the smaller ships, but we'll see.  Great review!

[princess76021]

Thank you!!

hugs from texas!

[Frank12]

Spirit class is our favorite by far.  We have sailed them all!

[csm5986142]

We were recently on the Spirit for a 16 day Panama canal cruise, and I agree with everything you have to say about the ship.  I was a little worried we would be bored with it being a smaller ship, but it was just so pleasant and relaxing, it was great.

We have experienced all of the carnival classes and agree, Spirit is one of the best.

[Tryingtocruise]

4 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

We were recently on the Spirit for a 16 day Panama canal cruise, and I agree with everything you have to say about the ship.  I was a little worried we would be bored with it being a smaller ship, but it was just so pleasant and relaxing, it was great.

We have experienced all of the carnival classes and agree, Spirit is one of the best.

So glad to hear this.  We are booked for the Panama Canal cruise in March/April 2025 and I'm a little nervous about 11+ sea days.  I can pack enough yarn for all the sea days but I'm afraid DH is going to drive me crazy from boredom.

[runner15km]

Three times on the Miracle, we just prefer that size ship.. 

[Justagirl2327]

Glad to hear you had a good time! I'm going in March and am really looking forward to it! 

[Linsuesue]

We have sailed the Miracle and Spirit more than any other ships. The Spirit class is our favorite for sure. There has never been a Soul Play when we sailed on them. Do you make reservations for it as soon as you board? Is there a cost for each session and limit for participants? I am curious to know more about that and the kinds of things you make. We are booked for her in July and can’t wait. Thank you for your great review!

[RMcoolX]

Thx for your non-review review (lol). I'm looking forward to doing the Spirit in March. The bells-and-whistles on the newer ships are cool, but I have always preferred the smaller. It just sucks for me that I have to leave Texas to find them.

[n6uqqq]

3 hours ago, RMcoolX said:

Thx for your non-review review (lol). I'm looking forward to doing the Spirit in March. The bells-and-whistles on the newer ships are cool, but I have always preferred the smaller. It just sucks for me that I have to leave Texas to find them.

You are in luck! Miracle is heading to Galveston this October. Followed by sister ship Legend in October 2025. 

[Cushing985]

I really wish Carnival (and the other lines) would build a new class of ship similar in size to the Spirit class.  I understand why the lines build them bigger and bigger but I think there is a great market for the smaller ships.  Maybe they could gut the interior of a ship and rebuild it from the ground up.

[Justagirl2327]

3 minutes ago, Cushing985 said:

I really wish Carnival (and the other lines) would build a new class of ship similar in size to the Spirit class.  I understand why the lines build them bigger and bigger but I think there is a great market for the smaller ships.  Maybe they could gut the interior of a ship and rebuild it from the ground up.

I agree, not everyone is into bigger ships. I was on the Magic last year and it was almost too crowded for me. 

[VentureMan_2000]

Spirit Class is great and by far our favorite.  So far on the Spirit Class we have cruised two 7-day Mexican Riviera cruises on the Pride and a 10-day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle.

Coming up, a 11-day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle, a 14-day Panama Canal repositioning cruise on the Miracle, followed by a 9-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Miracle.

[n6uqqq]

1 hour ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Spirit Class is great and by far our favorite.  So far on the Spirit Class we have cruised two 7-day Mexican Riviera cruises on the Pride and a 10-day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle.

Coming up, a 11-day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle, a 14-day Panama Canal repositioning cruise on the Miracle, followed by a 9-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Miracle.

I follow the Spirit class where they go. Nice longer cruises out of Galveston have me following the Miracle for a 12 day ABC island,  and eventually the Legend for Caribbean cruises. Out of 21 cruises 9 were on the Miracle so you know where my loyalty lies 😄 . 

[MEUB1112]

We've sailed on the Legend and Miracle also. On the Miracle 10 day Alaska last summer and loved it. We enjoy all the classes, but like was said, no sense of being crowded.

[Butterbean1000]

 Great review.  I haven't been on the Spirit, but the Legend is one of my favorite ships. Like you, I like the flow of the ship.

[MisterOJ2]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:56 AM, Linsuesue said:

We have sailed the Miracle and Spirit more than any other ships. The Spirit class is our favorite for sure. There has never been a Soul Play when we sailed on them. Do you make reservations for it as soon as you board? Is there a cost for each session and limit for participants? I am curious to know more about that and the kinds of things you make. We are booked for her in July and can’t wait. Thank you for your great review!

 

I've seen people post things about Soul Play that don't match up with our experience, but this is what happened on our trip. We had four sea days and Soul Play had two sessions scheduled for each of the sea days. One was a painting session at 9 am and one was a craft session at 3 pm.

 

We noticed that you could reserve your spot for each session early on embarkation day through the Hub app. Before we even left Mobile, there were no spots left for either session on the first sea day. My daughters reserved spots for both sessions on the second sea day and one of the remaining sea days. There was no charge for any of them.

 

The first painting session, they did a painting of an island with a palm tree. The second time it was a sunset. For crafts, they did a paper Christmas ornament they could decorate with stickers and the second craft session they made a cute little message-in-a-bottle necklace. They really enjoyed it a lot each time.

[Linsuesue]

13 hours ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

I've seen people post things about Soul Play that don't match up with our experience, but this is what happened on our trip. We had four sea days and Soul Play had two sessions scheduled for each of the sea days. One was a painting session at 9 am and one was a craft session at 3 pm.

 

We noticed that you could reserve your spot for each session early on embarkation day through the Hub app. Before we even left Mobile, there were no spots left for either session on the first sea day. My daughters reserved spots for both sessions on the second sea day and one of the remaining sea days. There was no charge for any of them.

 

The first painting session, they did a painting of an island with a palm tree. The second time it was a sunset. For crafts, they did a paper Christmas ornament they could decorate with stickers and the second craft session they made a cute little message-in-a-bottle necklace. They really enjoyed it a lot each time.

Thank you so much for this information! I am traveling with a group, and I know these craft classes will appeal to some in our group. 

[jimbo5544]

Nice review, we have sailed the Spirit class more than any other.  Agree on the feeling of nt being crowded.  Thanks for doing the review.

[dlphn501]

On 1/2/2024 at 9:33 AM, MisterOJ2 said:

We only got one "elegant night" menu on the next to last day. Our first elegant night was on Christmas day and featured a special menu.

 

I've been looking for this kind of specific information for almost a year!  Which day did you embark?  Was it Dec 24th?  I will be embarking on Horizon on March 30th, the day before Easter, on an 8 night sailing, and I am fairly certain that Easter will be what should be our first elegant night.  If our only option in the MDR is the special Easter menu, then I am going to book specialty dining for that night, and that is what it sounds like it will be.

 

Thank you!!

[MisterOJ2]

3 minutes ago, dlphn501 said:

 

I've been looking for this kind of specific information for almost a year!  Which day did you embark?  Was it Dec 24th?  I will be embarking on Horizon on March 30th, the day before Easter, on an 8 night sailing, and I am fairly certain that Easter will be what should be our first elegant night.  If our only option in the MDR is the special Easter menu, then I am going to book specialty dining for that night, and that is what it sounds like it will be.

 

Thank you!!

 

We embarked on Dec. 23. So I kinda was expecting Christmas Eve (our first sea day) to be an elegant night menu and Christmas Day to just be the special menu. But on Christmas Eve, we just had a normal casual night menu. 

[dlphn501]

1 minute ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

We embarked on Dec. 23. So I kinda was expecting Christmas Eve (our first sea day) to be an elegant night menu and Christmas Day to just be the special menu. But on Christmas Eve, we just had a normal casual night menu. 

 

Oh dang, you got screwed 😞  That sucks.

[MisterOJ2]

1 hour ago, dlphn501 said:

 

Oh dang, you got screwed 😞  That sucks.

 

It wasn't bad, actually. We still got the elegant night menu on Night 7 and it had the prime rib and lobster. I think since the menu change, there's really only one elegant night menu anyway.