Just Back (Spirit Dec 17-25) Review +

[jeffreytg]

Introduction

To follow, in a series of postings, is my review and a great deal of information concerning the Dec 17-25, 2006 Carnival Spirit Mexican Riviera cruise. I intend on writing mostly about items that Carnival controls (or could control). To follow is my opinion, and we all know about opinions.

 

I have every piece of paper that I could get my hands on while on board the ship, my intention is scan each of them, create a web site, and post these documents within a week or so. I'll not the posting herein.

 

Embarkation (San Diego Dec 17th)

Family of four arrived at the parking lot across from the terminal at about 11:15. The lines were very small. At first we went through security and then to a Carnival Rep who made sure we had our docs in order and our credit cargo information written down. This person then gave me a boarding card with number "5" printed therein and directed me to a check in counter. I saw the VIP counter and statd that I was in a CAT 11 and thus a VIP, the rep looked at a list of room numbers and our room was not listed as VIP. *Carnival screw-up. We went to the regualr window since there were no lines and presented our IDs and credit card for scanning. I then mentiond to this person that we were suppod to be a VIP and that our cabin was not on the previous person's list-in the process I forgot about it and we took our seat in the waiting area. At this point it is 11:35. So 20 minutes to turn in our bags and check in, not bad at all. There was a sign posted that said embarkation would be announced at 12:00 PM. It ended up being announced at 12:05. The announcer called VIPs and then started with boarding group 1. At this point my wife walked over to th VIP check in and stated that we were VIPs, they issued her a VIP boarding card without checking and we walked on the ship with group 2. Upon walking on photos were taken and we headed to the Lido deck for some food.

 

Embarkation Grade: C (I'd give it a B but they screwed up the only perk a Cat 11 gets )

[jeffreytg]

Embarkation Day Continued Dec 17, 2006 San Diego

(I just spent and hour researching my notes and typing this part already but cruisecritic logged my out and it did not post-arg!!).

 

Lido Deck Lunch

There were two buffet stations open and the grill. I had the much touted reuben- it was good- but come on people- not the magnificant creation that others have claimed.

The ship docked on the right (starboard) and while eating we had a great view of downtown San Diego and the Midway. There were plenty of attendants who were attentative and courteous.

Lido for Lunch Grade C (met my expectations)

Cabin 6158 (Cat 11- Express Deck, Port side, Forward)

Made it to the cabin at about 2 PM and it was ready for us. Ran into the attendant who called me by my first name. The cabin has much space and a number of nooks in which to store stuff. We had 4 large suitcases (not delivered unit 9:45 PM) and 3 of them fit under the king size bed. there is a couch that converst to a 3rd bed and a 4th bed that comes down from the wall (pics to follow). The room was spotless and the bathroom is very nice with double sinks and a nice tub and shower. Mounted on the shower wall is a contained of Dove Shampoo and a container of body wash. We never used the shampoo thatw e had carried on board.

There is a 14 inch TV and a VCR, I recall the TV receiving ESPN, a music video channel, CNN international, a number of carnival/cruise related chanles, a chanel that showed the view from a camera facing forward from deck 10, and a number of other channels. Our cabin attendant did a fantastic job and our towel annimals including a monkey, cobra, turtle, elephant, dog, and I forget what else.

I was concerned with the view from the balcony in that it is one deck above the life boats, but it was unaffected. The balcony contained plastic furniture with out covers: 2 tables, 2 lounge chairs, and 2 chairs. With all these chairs there was still plenty of room to move around. There are privacy dividers and it was impossible for me to see into any other cabin or balcony from my own.

Cabin grade B (exceeded my expectations)

[jeffreytg]

Embarkation day Continued

Upon arriving in the cabin the carnival Capers was found on the bed. The Capers lists the day's activities by both catagory and in chronological order (I have the Capers for each day and will post later). While up at lido we made the reservation for the Supper club on the 2nd sea day at 6:00 PM. The reservation person was unable to guarantee a particular table which dissapointed the person in front of me who also booked for the same date and time. This person wanted a window seat and gave the reservation person a hard time about it- get a grip- it is a sea day after sunset- there is nothing to see anyway even if you get a window seat.

 

Empire Dining Room For Dinner

We toured the ship until dinner, Empire room Deck 2. The dining room is two level with Deck 2 being the bottom. We had the early seating at 5:45. There was an announcement made some time after boarding that the dress code was relaxed for embarkation day only due to bagge taking time to get on board. We planned for such an eventuality and dressed appropriately.

 

We dined in the Empire room on Embarkation day, sea day 1-Formal, after Manzanillo, and on Sea day 3 which is the second formal night. We found the service to be prompt and accurate. Our orders were always as requested and even though we had 4-5 course meals we were always out of the Empire room by 7:00 PM.

 

The food was in my opinion just OK, there was nothing wrong with anything but it was not fantistic either. The kids both had the chocolate melting cake all 4 nights we ate in the Empire dining room and they really loved it.

 

Beverage service is provided by beverage waiters and not the table wait staff. I only ordered drinks on two nights and on both occasions they took over 10 minutes to be delivered. The beverage waiter has to leave the Empire room and go to a nearby bar to get the orders filled, she did so filling 10-12 orders at a time.

 

All of us ordered only orderd one of each course except during formal night 1 where I had Prime Rib and lobster and my wife had two Lobsters.

 

Our wait staff though expediant did not have much personality and did not go out of their way to make our dining experience special. The greeted us, took our orders, and served our food. there is nothing wrong with that- it just was not special.

 

Our table was right net to the wait station and the staff never bumped into our chairs, somehtinG i feared when i saw the location. The only negative about this location is that I overheard a loud butt chewing of the assistant waiter by the lead waiter for screwing up another table's orders. I did not like having to hear this but I appreciate the lead waiter's dedication.

 

Empire Room Dinner Grade C (Met expectations)

[jeffreytg]

Embarkation Day continued

 

Cigar Bar

After dinner toured the ship some more checking out the lounges. There is a cigar bar outside the Empire Dining room. I saw few cigar smokers though- but I did endulge 4-5 evenings. I enjoyed the Portaga #4 which was about $6.00 with a glass of the Graham's six grape port. (note to cigar bar staff- if you are reading this I have given away my identity to you since, as you know, I always showed up at the same time and ordered the same thing).The bar has cutters, matches, large ashe trays and is stocked with 6-7 different cigars- I did not grab a menu.

Cigar bar Grade C (met my expectations)

 

I did not attend the evening show at 10:00 PM as I was in the Piano Bar.

 

Piano Bar

I did make my way over to the Piano Bar to catch Peter's act. peter played nightly at 9:00 PM or 9:30 PM in the Shanghai Piano Bar which was always nearly empty for his performance. It is too bad because Peter plays a mean Piano. I don't think I ever saw ore than 8 people in the piano bar at once while peter was playing. Peter does not have the best voice in the wold- but is not terrible either- his range suffers at the high end of the scale, but that man can play anthing on the ivories. He did seem to shy away from modern stuff- I got him to play some Journey (Wheel's in the Sky and open Arms on Two for Tuesdays), but I never got him to play any Queen.

Piano Bar Grade B- (A on playing, C on voice, D on playing reasonable requests -come on Queen is one of the greatest bands of all time and peter won't play anything?)

[jeffreytg]

Embarkation day continued (Final)

 

Children situation:

Went to the Teen orientation for the 12-14 year old group in the Shanghai Piano bar at 8:15 PM. This was no orientation at all. I signed a waiver form and that was it- I was told I was done. No information, no meet and greet, nada. My 12 year old son did not aprticipate in any of the organized activities. Also, my 16 year old daughter some how just hooked up with some other teens and they hung out together the enture cruise. She did attend the teen disco (Club O2) almost every night that it was available and has said she had a good time.

 

The video arcade in on Deck 4 but accessed via deck 3- yes odd. There are two machines that exchange cash for tokens and also alow for the purchase of tokens using sail and sign card. There is a preestablised carnival limit on how much can be changed per day by kids and adults alike- Irecall the adult limit was $50.00 and think that the child limit was $25.00. In order to charge for tokens the sail and sign card is entered into the machine and then the machine promots for the birthdate of the person whose card was enetred. The birthdate is keyed in, the $ amount of tokens requested is enetred and the tokens are given by the machine. This is all pretty easy.

 

There are two table hockey games (4 tokens per game), silent score (4 tokens), a large number of racing type games (4 tokens) and a few other games that i do not recall.

 

There were a large number of kids on this cruise. I have no idea how many, but it is safe to say many hundred. I never expereinced any problems with this. I found kids to keep to themselves and for the most part were courteous. I did not use the pools or jucazzi's so i can not comment on the kids therein.

 

THE SLIDE WAS OPEN. There is a set time schedule for opening and it was 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM on sea days, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM in Acapulco and 3:00 PM-5:00 PM in Manzanillo and Zihaut.

 

I will post the capers for the 12-14 group and the 15-17 year old group later.

Kid Program Grade: I don't feel qualified to grade since my kids did their own thing.

 

The weather was gloomy leaving San Diego and we all hit the sack at about 11:00 PM. Next post on Sea Day 1.

[jeffreytg]

Sea Day 1

It was quite a rough night. My wife got sick even with Draminine. We were tossed around a lot last night-no affect on kids an I though. Gloomy weather day so no pool side activities for us.

 

Lido Deck Breakfast

Our cabin was on deck 6 and Lido is Deck 9- We mostly walked the stairs from deck to deck in an effort to burn a few additional calories. For breakfast there are two omlette stations and two regular breakfast food stations. For omlettes the following ingredients are available in any combination: eggs, egg substitute, egg whites, minced ham, mushrooms, tomatos, onions, peppers and cheese. The cook can make two orders at a time. He can also cook eggs to order- not just omlettes.

 

Every day the following standard breakfast fare was offered at the buffet stations : ham, bacon, sausage links, french toast, pancakes, and scrambled eggs along with condiments. There is a seperate station for sliced fruit that contained cantalope, honey dew, water melon (some times), grapefruit (some times, but always half grapefruit), and prunes.

There is also a fresh whole fruit station with apples, oranges, and bananas.

 

Beverages included coffee, decaf, hot chocolate, lemonade, iced tea, orange juice, guava juice (my favorite) and I think tomato juice.

 

We ate breakfast at various times and never had a problem finding a table. The lido deck staff was quick to clear tables and always smiled.

Lido Deck breakfast Grade C (met my expectations)

 

Room Service for Breakfast

There are two options here and we used both, call up and order from the menu or place an order form on your door the evening before you retire and have the food delivered at a particular time. We used the later option once and I asked form devliery between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM and the knock came at exactly 7:30. I also will post a copy of this menu.

We also called and ordred a few times and the longest it ever took was 20 minutes. Salmon is available from the call in menu but not the door hanger menu. Also, the fruit portions delivered by room service are very small. By daughter took a liking to the chicken fajita for breakfast. We always tipped $2.00 for any room service delivery.

Room Service Breakfast grade C (met my expectations)

 

We never had room service for breakfast or lunch.

[jeffreytg]

Casino Experience

I have been to las Vegas, Reno, or Tahoe at least 10 times in the past 5 years. So I have a somewhat informed opinion about what I like in casino gambling. My expectations may be somewhat higher than the average person.

The majority of my experince on the Spirit was gained at the craps table. There is a single table of average size offering 2X odds and no hop bets. I've never made a hop bet in my life but I can't believe that Carnival won't take them- I believe they carry about an 11% house edge. The first night is was a minimum $3.00 table and thereafter $5.00.

The craps dealers were very good-as good as any I've seen any place else at taking bets, anticipating my play, looking out for my welfare (making sure I take odds and make my come bets for example), and calculating payouts. Al and Elsie were fantastic. The only negative thing I can say about the dealers is that they attempted to move the came along too quickly. I understand that more rolls means more money for the house- but the stick persons were rediculous in giving the dice to the shooter and pushing him/her to roll. On the last sea day we had a dice setter at the table- the dealers were irritaing in how they bothered him- he was not that slow at setting at all. This shooter got me to all 6 spots covered with odds and he just kept hitting numbers. The whole time the dealers were pissing me off- I finaly said- this guy is making me money- leave him alone, he can take all the time he needs. This one shooter returned me a 400% profit from my buy in. The dealers all knew me and knew that when I win I tip and they left him alone after that. The table was not open as much as the 21 or roulette. Sometimes when it was open there was only one side available to play one with a single dealer, a box, and a stick.

I played a little 21- they offer $5.00 minimum buy in, double on any two first cards, and surrender. I believe there are 3 tables.

Roulette is double 0 with $1.00 minimum inside and $5.00 minimum outside and there is a single wheel.

There are also carnival games such as let-it-ride, 3-card poker, and caribbean stud.

No free drinks here, although there are plenty of waiters to be found.

Slots are offerd from $.01 to $1.00. There is a penny machine that has a BMW as a jackpot that received a great deal of play.

There are two poker tables with 10 seats each that does not have a live dealer but a computer that runs the game- I did not play.

 

Casino Grade B+ (exceeded my expectations)

[jeffreytg]

Sea Day 1 continued

 

First formal Night

Preorderd a tux for the son and I. I was surprised that unlike RCCL the tux was not delivred to my room, but I had to pick it up from Deck 3 formalities. There was a note left in my room to do so. The fit was right and I have no complaints about the tux itself.

 

There was a captain's welcome party in the Pharoah's palace (main theatre) at 5:00 PM. The first seating is at 5:45. Waiters were walking around with trays containing glasses of beer, whickey sours, Mai tais, screw drivers, some sort of an alcohol free fruit drink and a few others alcoholic drinks that i do not recall. I can tell you that the drinks were very much available in that i consummed 6 whiskey sours during that brief party. There were also some sort of finger foods that we did not partake.

 

I'd guess that of the 2,000 or so passengers on board the ship (guessing that half are male) that there were no more than 50 tuxedos to be seen at both seatings combined. This was not a tux crowd (that is not a complaint, just an observation). If you were on this cruise and have purchased the fun ship video, my son and I are the dorks seen in our tuxes waving at the camera.

 

After the meal- Lobster and Prime rib were featured entrees, we sat for a number of photos. 8 X 10 photos are $19.95 each with no multiple purchase discount. We purchased nine 8 X 11 prints from the four sittings we took. The prints dispalyed for us to choose from the morning of the second sea day.

 

Everything was good until the show Standing Room Only,if you like broadway musicals revisted- go for it- it was not our cup of tea and none of us cared for it at all. Not that the singing and dancing was bad, it just was not content that we enjoyed.

First Formal Night Grade C (Tux Delivery D, Show D <this is generous>, Dinner C, Cocktail Party A)

[Wennfred]

Welcome back, saw the Spirit docked this afternoon as I was driving back from work, she still looks very nice, even on Christmas day.

 

Fred

[jeffreytg]

(Alternative dining)

 

Lido Deck Pizza

My first shot at 24 hour pizza at 12:30 AM. It was there, hot and good. I had the goat cheese that is much raived about on here- it was good- not fantastic. On a regular basis I believe that the following pizzas are offered: cheese, pepperoni, sausage, goat cheese, combination, and mushroom. I think I might have left 1 or 2 out.

The service was very good and I never saw too many people waiting. I typicaly walked up and asked what was ready and took from what was stated. I suppose that if a person had to have pepperoni and there was not one available at the moment that he/she might have to wait a few minutes. But, I was satisfied.

 

Lido Deck Late Night Bestro

In addition to pizza there is a small buffet that offers chili, hot dogs, french fries, and assorted salids late at night. In addition there are the drinks mentioned earlier at breakfast available 24 hours per day.

 

Late Night room Service

Did not order

 

Sushi

There is a sushi CART on deck 2 or 3 rear of the atrium. There is a single chef who makes creations there. Any timne it was open and I walked by there was a line of from 5-10 people stacked up, so I never partook. My wife stood in the line twice and although the portions are small she said it was good. There are very limited offerings (not exactly sure what they are though). I just looked over a few capers and do not see the sushi cart mentioned- maybe it was a trial? I know it was opened around the time of the early dinner seating.

 

I already mentioned Lido for Breakfast and lunch earlier.

 

Leado for Dinner

We had this twice: last sea day and Zihaut day. I must say that both the wife and I were dissapointed with the dinner selections. There was not much variety. We much preferred the buffet on RCCL. On the last sea day there was roast beef which was very good.

 

Supper club

Had this at 6:00 on Second Sea day. We made our reservation prior to leaving San Diego. While wating the reservation line (1 person ahead of us) we over heard the passenger argueing with the reservation agent becuase she would not guarantee him a window seat for his 7:00 reservation also on the second sea day. I can't figure this one out : No#1 - it is after sun set and thus darkat 7:00 PM , #2 we are at sea and there is nohting to see , #3 just get over it and ask nicely when you arrive. Anyway, we had a great seat right next to Two's Company the act (female singer/male piano player) who were outstanding- this lady could sing like noone's business.

Service was very good and we completd the meal in just over two hours. The kids tolerated it easily since the service was some good and they really enjoyed the food. My son had veal, I had the lamb, wife Lobster, daughter surf and turf and we all loved our meal. The price is $30.00 per person and we also tipped $30.00. Is it worth the additional expense - in my opinion yes, I'd do it again.

Alternative dinning grade B- (B+ for Super club, C for all of Lido, B for Sushi (becuase we were surprised it was offered)

[jeffreytg]

Ports

 

Acapulco - docked on the port side. The ship was on time but it took half an hour before we could get off. Had a private tour arranged with Rosie. Good view from the sship of a well developed city.

 

Zihuatanejo- tender port using the life boats. It was intersting coming in as the ship pulled into the middle of the bay and then did a 180 leaving the aft facing port. Those aft balconies had great views I'm sure. Took a cab to La Ropa and just hung out at the beach at the second restaurant on the right after the taxi stand. Our bill was 395 pesos for 5 cocktails, 4 cokes, guac, chips, and casadias. The way the tenders work is that passengers have to go down to the atrium and obtain a boarding number. When the number is called then passengers may board tenders. They let passengers with shore excursions get the first numbers. We were number 11 and got into a tender within one hour of arriving. The tender ride was less than 10 minutes to shore. This is a pretty looking city from the ship, not over developed like Acapulco. I'd go back to Z again.

 

Manzanillo- Supposed to be a tender port and we had the Turtle Experience booked through the ship. The ship did not tender but pulled along side the dock on the port side. This confussed me (easy to do), our instructins were to go to the lounge 45 minutes before our tour strating time and to be directed to what to do to cath a tender. We arrived as aove and noone was there. So we just walked down to where passengers where walking off the ship and got off. Carnival should have made an announcement that we were not tendering.

 

The Turtle Experience- took bus ride of about 45 minutes to a small town where we stopped at a salt museum. The bus was new, clean, comfortable, and air conditioned. On the way the guide gave an oral history of the area. After a few minutes at the salt museum we boarded the buses and drove another 15-20 minutes to the turtle farm. This was interesting, seeing turtles in various stages of growth. We each got to release a baby turtle into the ocean. This was a lot of fun- especialy watching my turtle head to the beach- it was a race with everyone cheering their own turtle and watching them disappear as they hit the surf. There was also a ride in a motorized boat that took us through a lagune. This was also interesting but our boat motor had challanges and I think we were all wondering if we were going to get stuck out there in the lagune. But alas we made it in fine. It was now about 3 hours into the tour, w boarded the buses drove for a few minutes and ended up at a beach side restaurant for a lunch buffet and two drinks. The buffet was OK, drinks available includes Coke, Sprint, Fresca, beer, and bottled water. We hund out at the hotel for about 2 hours where there was beach access and a pool. This was obvioulsy not a place that gringos frequent.

Turtle Tour Grade B (exceeded my expectations)

 

Overall ports grade C+

[jeffreytg]

Life on Ship

We are independent and did not partake of many organzied activities, but the Capers in chalked full of things to do.

As for the chair hogs- I read on deck in the sun on the Lido Deck almost every day (when it was not raining) and never had a problem finding a suitable chair. There may have been hogs out there- but they did not affect my enjoyment of the cruise at all.

During inclement weather there were many places to be found in lounges etc to hang out and read.

 

There were a number of specials at the gift shops and other palces. My advice is to hold out buying anything at the gift shops until specials are announced or until the last sea day. Here is a list of some specials:

• Inch of gold sale on Manzanillo Day
  
• Laundry sale on 3rd sea day - wash a bag of laundry for $15.00 (bag and laundry slip was found in our desk drawer)
  
• Watch sale on Zihuatanejo day

Carnival shows

The best show by far was Carnival Legends held at 10:00 PM on Manzanillo Day. Passengers auditioned thoughout the cruise to perform as well known singers and they all came together during the Legends Show. During the show the band plays and the passengers who won the auditions actualy sing in front of the other passengers in costume. This show was really good with the following singers immitated: James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Elton, Garth Brooks, Madonna, Britney Spears, Rocky Martin, Gloria Estephan, Elvis, and Sinatra.

 

I did not care for the carnival acts at all- it is a sad state of affairs that passengers put on better shows than professionals.

 

Life on board grade C (Met my expectations- grade pulled down by nightly shows)

[jeffreytg]

Overall cruise experience

We took this particular cruise because it departed 30 minutes form our home, got us back home in time to celebrate Christmas, and the kiddies were out of school for Winter brake.

 

Carnival did an OK job- there was nothing wrong with the experience, but it was not fantastic either. To me this cruise was sort of like eating at Olive Garden- Ok italian food close to home. My wife and I both agree that we enjoyed the RCCL product much more. Of course, this is a small sample of 1 on RCCL and 1 on Carnival. I think we will try Princess or Celebrity next through the canal or in the Med.

 

My overall grade is C+

There is nothing wrond with a C+ experience- it is acceptable. But, I won't be bragging about it to my friends and family either.

 

Any questions?

[KP&BP]

Thank you for your review - your information is very helpful. Can you give details of your tour with Rosie? We have a tour scheduled in February and would like to know what you did and how you liked it. Thank you.

[jeffreytg]

KP&BP;

 

This was not mentioned in my Carnival review since it has nothing to do with Carnival- but I knew there would be interest and I'd answer when requested. So here goes:

We booked Rosie via her email address and asked for a private tour with just my family. She wrote back twice and asked if other people could join and I insisted that we wanted a private tour and were willing to pay for same.

 

Rosie met us at the dock just outside the exit at about 12:30 PM. She hung around about 15 minutes waiting for her assistant to show and a few other passengers that were going with him to arrive. We were then off to her car. I was surprised to see a new model 7 passenger SUV. Rosie likes to keep the air on- it was hot and very humid in Acapulco that day but we had to ask her to turn down the air.

 

As it so happens the Acapulco area police were on strike that day, they did not receive a Christmas Bonus and decided to penalize society by blocking roads so cars could not pass (welcome to the 3rd world). Rosie took as to the following spots:

• Casa Blanka - hotel roof top with grat views
  
• Another hotel roof top with even better views
  
• The big cross on the hill over looking Acapulco (don't recall the name) another fantastic view
  
• A silver jewelry factory (skip it)
  
• Rosie's parent's home. This was the highlight of the trip. Simple home with coffee, bananas, avacados, and other plants growing in the courtyard. We met Rosie's mother and father and her father was a real hoot.
  
• Dinner at Senior Frogs (there are two- go to the one on the hill with the harbour view) We bought for Rosie.
  
• Cliff divers 7:30 PM show- Rosie walked us to the front of the line and bought our tickets with money i handed her- it is $3.50 per person and includes a drink (beer, water or soda).

I think that is all- we had 7 hours with Rosie but the traffic was horrible due to the police situation which cut into our ability to see more. After the cliff divers she brought us back to the ship. Her stated price was $40 per person for the 4 of us- we paid her $200 total. Rosie was pollite and she made sure we moved along and did not dilly dally. I recommend spending the day with Rosie.

Rosie tour Grade B+ (Exceeded my expectations)

[jckvpa0]

Wow 7 hours for $200.00 sounds like a great deal !

[JGB]

Thank you for taking out the time and putting in the effort for this review. We are going on the Spirit in the spring.

Enjoy your future cruises.

John

[jeffreytg]

Art Auction

Forgot to mention the art auctions. There is art displayed around the ship o walls and in a set asdie art area on Deck 2. A passenger can place a green card on any piece of art to have it brought into the auction. They do not auction every piece of art on display since it would take too long to do so.

I attended the first auction on the first sea day at 1:30 PM in the versailles Lounge- Deck 1. Champaign was offered for free. Each peice of art auctioned is described by the auctioneer who then gives the retail value and the reserve price. In a reserve price auction, there is a minimum openin bid, bidding does not start at $1.

I saw pieces starting form $100 to $28,000 auctioned. I never saw anything sell that was over $1,000 though (it may have happend- just not at the 3 auctions I attended).

I purchased one piece for I think about $260 plus shipping plus sales tax plus purchesers premium of 15%. All told the peice cost me about $400. It was stated that the art would be shipped to the seller in 6-8 weeks after the auction. My wife has not seen this piece- it may end up beautifying the garage.

There was a so-called final acution on the 3rd sea day but then another final auction was listed in the capers on the 4th sea day- I did not attend that final final auction.

Some of the more expensive pieces were by original oil on canvanses Chagall and Peter Max. There was a very nice Peter Max American flag that I wanted starting at under $4,000. But, I didn't have enough champaign to make me do it.

 

Art Auction Grade B (exceeded my expectations)

[GreatGatsby]

thanks for the extensive review. I will be cruising on the Legend Jan 3rd and had a question about the poker tables you were describing. Is it all computerized? No real chips? No dealers? I know you didn't play but would really appreciate you describing what these were a bit.

 

THANKS!

[jeffreytg]

Hi Gatsby:

 

The poker is 100% computerized. There are a number of tournaments throughout the cruise with $500 winner takes all. There are no chips- it is a virtual game if you will. Also the sail and sign card does not debit for the poker table- you have to get a special poker card and have money put on it by the cashier. Each player has a computer screen that he looks down at that shows the following information as appropriate:

• His own cards
  
• All other face up cards
  
• Each players chip count (virtual chips)
  
• Pot size
  
• limits
  
• who raised/called etc.

I thought that I had picked up the brochure showing how the system worked but can not find it in my stack. I bet that if you called Carnival they could tell you the name of the system and you could look it up on the internet.

here it is just found the system on google http://www.keepyourpokerface.com/50226711/poker_tek_signs_deal_with_carnival_cruises.php

[SL HomeschoolMom]

What a great review! I loved all the detail. Can't wait to see the capers & the 12 - 14 & O2 age groups.

 

Thanks again

[FastFreddie]

Jefferytg,

 

I really appreciate your review. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Your review was pretty much on a par with my feelings about our Triumph cruise earlier this year. I did enjoy my cruise and honestly I thought the beds were really relaxing and I felt refreshed after the cruise. I also found the waitstaff didn't become personable until like the 3rd day of our cruise. Lunches in the dining room were horrid.

 

As far as the Cigar bar is concerned. I had suggested to the marketing VP to have cigar tastings. Whereby they could get a couple of manufacturing sponsors to put it on. Offer a package with different types of cigars and liquors as a nice combination. Also I bring my own cigars on board. I get them at less than 1/2 price (compaired to what the cruise line sells them) and at least 2 or 3 times the quality.

 

In summation you did a very good job at calling out the various features and why you gave them a grade that you did. Good Job! Thank you!

 

 

FastFreddie

[jeffreytg]

Hi SL home school I hope this link works http://good-times.webshots.com/album/556625694wkKlFv

 

Capers and more posted there.

[jeffreytg]

Thanks freddie;

 

Looking over what I wrote there are so many typos. But, I hope the points get across anyway. Having time with a cigar is a treat for me- have never smoked around my kids, so being at the Spirit Cigar bar was enjoyable.

 

I really like that graham's six grape port with a cigar- was a very nice combination. Your marketing idea sounds good to me.

[GreatGatsby]

the Poker looks like it could still be fun...thanks so much for the info were the tables crowded?