Anyone just off Spirit after her Drydock changes??

[Tanderra]

I was reading an article in our newspaper about 2 weeks ago about Carnival Spirit. I was interested as my brother is going on her Christmas cruse to Fiji.

Apparently Carnival did a survey of what Australians want/don't want on a cruise.

They didn't want to tip....so accordingly there will be no tipping while Carnival Spirit is in Australia.

[Sthomp]

We were on the same cruise as Rockitman (2-4 through 2-12)!

 

The Serenity area looked very cool, but we were not able to get seats on the two warm sea days. Yep, chair hoggers had been up early to stake out the clamshells and most of the lounges. We did have great location lounges on the Lido deck near the stage, however, and enjoyed the action there. I did not try the water slide, but it looks like it would be a blast! I hope they get the kinks worked out ...

 

I thought the Spirit looked very well kept. Our bedding was clean and crisp and the mattress was very comfy. Our room steward was awesome. We had balcony cabins on deck 5. We were able to open the partition between the balconies with our travel partners. Public areas were also clean and great care was made to pick up dirty glasses.

 

The dining room was great. We had excellent service through Anytime Dining. A few nights we did have to wait a few minutes for a table for 6, but nothing like the horror stories I had heard. Food was very good. We did the Steakhouse one night ... it was outstanding! I agree with Rockitman, the lobster on the first formal night was perfect! I didn't use the buffet for lunch too much, we weren't on the ship on port days and I wasn't really ready for lunch when they were serving lunch ... I did get a sandwich from the the deli and of course, pizza! I did use the buffet for breakfast every morning and I thought the quality was good and the variety was the best of any cruise I've been on. Service in the buffet area was very good also.

 

My two complaints about the cruise are minor. I didn't really like the casino. It seemed small and minor league, although the dealers and casino staff were friendly and fun. It felt more like a hallway to the showroom, with some slot machines thrown in. Other ships I have been on had a casino that felt more like a separate room, a planned area. I thought the nightlife on the cruise was dead most nights. The disco was never very busy; in fact, it was closed once or twice (at midnight). We tried the piano bar almost every night, and only one night did we see anyone in there. Maybe our timing was just off, but a few others we talked to on the ship felt the same way.

 

 

All in all, we had a wonderful time and an excellent cruise! The Spirit is a great ship.

[tiggerman101]

Can anyone comment on the new "Interactive" TVs? We are on the 15 day Hawaii cruise in April and I was told (by JH) that they took the DVD players out of the suites due to these new TVs. Are there movie selections on there now and if so are they at a cost? John said I could bring a DVD player and they would send a tech man down to my cabin. Apparently they have to shut off the "interactive" portion of the tv so I can switch inputs.

[sanmarcosman]

" I didn't really like the casino. It seemed small and minor league, although the dealers and casino staff were friendly and fun. It felt more like a hallway to the showroom, with some slot machines thrown in. Other ships I have been on had a casino that felt more like a separate room, a planned area."

 

I made this same observation, it's not an inviting space at all, more of an afterthought.

[JaniceB]

Was the water in the hot tub warm or was it more of pool with jets?

[LambKnuckles]

Well you guys are in luck. I was on the Feb 4th to 12th cruise.

 

AND, I was the very first passenger to ride the Green Thunder. The thing was down the first few days of the cruise and one day I'm sitting in the Jacuzzi with my girlfriend on the Serenity deck and we're watching the slide techs and white suits up on top at the slide. There were a bunch of them up there and after a while one of the white suits looks down at us and I hold up my arms in a "is it ready yet?" gesture. The guy nods and motions for me to come on up. I jumped out of the tub and beelined it up the stairs and was their guinea pig. It was a blast, very short ride though. There is a revolving curved door that opens, you walk in, they close the door and then a recorded voice says "3.. 2... 1.." and the trap door your standing on pulls back and it's like a freefall........whhheeeeeeeee!

They were running the slide for about 10 minutes and I was in line for another go when the dammed thing malfunctioned and they couldn't get the trapdoor to open anymore. So they closed it down for another 2 days, and finally had it open again for a day near the end of the cruise.

The other slide was never open and the Waterworks is okay, mostly meant for the kids.

I thought the interiors of the ship were in fine condition. New flat screen tv's, new linens, not sure about the carpets, they didn't really look new but they didn't look bad either.

Our service was impeccable, our cabin steward was topnotch, our aft cabin was well worth it. Anytime Dining was a breeze. We never waited and food was served promptly. Chef's Table was awesome! We had it on Day 1 Cabo and man was I wasted! We started that day off by hanging out at the resort Finesterra for a few hours at the swimupbar, then got on a Pez Gato catamarran for a snorkel and drink cruise, then got back on ship for Chef's Table where the wine glasses were never allowed to go empty. We actually never got off the ship for Cabo day 2, we were so worn out.

The Serenity deck was just ok. Nothing fancy, the good seats got taken quickly and the dammed hot tub always seemed overful of people. And yeah, like the other poster stated, I wish they would have turned the dammed music down a bit, or at least play something more serene.

The food in the MDR was great, never felt the need to do a Steakhouse night. The lobster on formal night was cooked to perfection. I had 3 tails as well as 3 servings of the shrimp.

The trip back to San Diego got a bit wavey. We were running into a 30knot wind the whole way back and the swells were topping over 10 feet at times. But I slept like a baby with all that rocking.

It takes a day or two to get your "landlegs" back after all that motion. I was walking around the house like I was still drunk. Yowsa!

 

 

PS: you have to be 48 inches or taller to ride the Thunder. The reason it took so long inbetween rides is that there is a key system that the operator has to go through, and they are still getting a feel for it.

Thank you!!! This is what I was waiting to hear... By May, on the cruise to Alaska... If the weather cooperates, I guess they'll have all the fine tuning worked out!!

[LambKnuckles]

We were on the same cruise as Rockitman (2-4 through 2-12)!

 

The Serenity area looked very cool, but we were not able to get seats on the two warm sea days. Yep, chair hoggers had been up early to stake out the clamshells and most of the lounges. We did have great location lounges on the Lido deck near the stage, however, and enjoyed the action there. I did not try the water slide, but it looks like it would be a blast! I hope they get the kinks worked out ...

 

I thought the Spirit looked very well kept. Our bedding was clean and crisp and the mattress was very comfy. Our room steward was awesome. We had balcony cabins on deck 5. We were able to open the partition between the balconies with our travel partners. Public areas were also clean and great care was made to pick up dirty glasses.

 

The dining room was great. We had excellent service through Anytime Dining. A few nights we did have to wait a few minutes for a table for 6, but nothing like the horror stories I had heard. Food was very good. We did the Steakhouse one night ... it was outstanding! I agree with Rockitman, the lobster on the first formal night was perfect! I didn't use the buffet for lunch too much, we weren't on the ship on port days and I wasn't really ready for lunch when they were serving lunch ... I did get a sandwich from the the deli and of course, pizza! I did use the buffet for breakfast every morning and I thought the quality was good and the variety was the best of any cruise I've been on. Service in the buffet area was very good also.

 

My two complaints about the cruise are minor. I didn't really like the casino. It seemed small and minor league, although the dealers and casino staff were friendly and fun. It felt more like a hallway to the showroom, with some slot machines thrown in. Other ships I have been on had a casino that felt more like a separate room, a planned area. I thought the nightlife on the cruise was dead most nights. The disco was never very busy; in fact, it was closed once or twice (at midnight). We tried the piano bar almost every night, and only one night did we see anyone in there. Maybe our timing was just off, but a few others we talked to on the ship felt the same way.

 

 

All in all, we had a wonderful time and an excellent cruise! The Spirit is a great ship.

 

Thank you for more insight into the ship!!!

 

I've never cruised on the SPIRIT,nor cruise to Alaska... so I can't compare it to anything -- but the other CARNIVAL ships I've been on.

[musicgal]

It's good to read the nice comments about the Spirit after the rash of bad reviews for the post-drydock cruise. Sounds like the bugs are getting worked out!

[cathyz]

We were on the same cruise as Rockitman (2-4 through 2-12)!

 

The Serenity area looked very cool, but we were not able to get seats on the two warm sea days. Yep, chair hoggers had been up early to stake out the clamshells and most of the lounges. We did have great location lounges on the Lido deck near the stage, however, and enjoyed the action there. I did not try the water slide, but it looks like it would be a blast! I hope they get the kinks worked out ...

 

I thought the Spirit looked very well kept. Our bedding was clean and crisp and the mattress was very comfy. Our room steward was awesome. We had balcony cabins on deck 5. We were able to open the partition between the balconies with our travel partners. Public areas were also clean and great care was made to pick up dirty glasses.

 

The dining room was great. We had excellent service through Anytime Dining. A few nights we did have to wait a few minutes for a table for 6, but nothing like the horror stories I had heard. Food was very good. We did the Steakhouse one night ... it was outstanding! I agree with Rockitman, the lobster on the first formal night was perfect! I didn't use the buffet for lunch too much, we weren't on the ship on port days and I wasn't really ready for lunch when they were serving lunch ... I did get a sandwich from the the deli and of course, pizza! I did use the buffet for breakfast every morning and I thought the quality was good and the variety was the best of any cruise I've been on. Service in the buffet area was very good also.

 

My two complaints about the cruise are minor. I didn't really like the casino. It seemed small and minor league, although the dealers and casino staff were friendly and fun. It felt more like a hallway to the showroom, with some slot machines thrown in. Other ships I have been on had a casino that felt more like a separate room, a planned area. I thought the nightlife on the cruise was dead most nights. The disco was never very busy; in fact, it was closed once or twice (at midnight). We tried the piano bar almost every night, and only one night did we see anyone in there. Maybe our timing was just off, but a few others we talked to on the ship felt the same way.

 

 

All in all, we had a wonderful time and an excellent cruise! The Spirit is a great ship.

Thanks for your comments, we'll be on the Spirit Friday next week. From our experience, the longer the cruise, the quieter the nightlife seems to be, but we usually spend our late evenings in the casino anyway, and it's usually pretty hopping until the wee hours. I think the piano bar guy is the same as when we were on the Spirit last October, he was brand new then (came over from Celebrity) and he was good, but not as energetic as some to get the crowd (what there is of that) going most of the time.

[JaniceB]

Cathyz maybe you can give us an update when you return. There has been very little posting, just the reviews.