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The crew made the trip

Costa Maya

This was our 5th Carnival cruise but the first on a Spirit Class ship.  This is the smallest of the ships we have been on and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  The over-the-top décor is the best we have seen on any of the ships.  The 9-story atrium with the stain glass at the top was beautiful.  All the guest areas were clean and in good shape.  The staff was very friendly.

Embarkation went smoothly.  Many people ignored their assigned check-in time and arrived early but were forced to wait until the passengers with the correct time were processed.  Our luggage was waiting at our room when the rooms were available at 1:30 as scheduled. Disembarkation was poorly organized.  You were assigned a time and were told to wait on deck 2 until called.  There were no announcements.  I asked Guest Services which deck were we leaving from and were told deck 3.  So all of the senior passengers with their luggage had long waits at the elevators to go up to deck 3 to depart after waiting on deck 2 as instructed.  

The layout of the Spirit class ships is different from other Carnival ships.  All the activities take place on decks 2 and 3 with the exception of the comedy club on deck 1.  The rest of the decks are all rooms until you get to decks 9 and 10 with the Lido restaurant, pool, spa and fitness center.  There are 3 banks of elevators, forward, center and aft.  Since this ship is smaller it is very easy to find your way around. This smaller ship is less stable than the larger Carnival ships and the sea was a bit rough the first two days resulting in noticeable movement on board.  Minature golf outside on deck 10 was closed all cruise due to high winds.

What we liked most about this cruise is that it never seemed crowded anywhere on the ship, even though it was at capacity.  The venues are large enough to accommodate everyone comfortably.  The Versailles lounge was a large venue that was used for the comedy club. It is much larger than other Carnival ship venues that have twice as many passengers.  The 3-deck main Pharoah Theater had ample seating for all shows so you did not need to show up 30 minutes early to find a seat.  There were multiple music venues to accommodate everyone.

The food in the Lido restaurant was basically the same as any other cruise ship; usually average to above average.  There were servers going to the tables offering coffee refills and juice.  The breakfast/brunch in the main restaurant was excellent as was the service.  Guy’s Burger Joint on the Lido deck provided good burgers with a good variety of toppings.  The Blue Iguana Cantina on the Lido deck had good tacos and burritos with a good selection of toppings as well.  Dinner in the main restaurant was hit and miss. Items such as the escargot, cold cucumber/avocado soup, grilled chicken breast, chicken cordon bleu, jerk pork chop, melting chocolate cake and crème brulee were excellent.  The short ribs were cooked well but had little taste; cheese cake tasted store bought; pepper steak was tough; strip steak was tough; caesar salad had almost no dressing on it; french onion soup was lacking in onion flavor; broccoli was under cooked; and the baked alaska was basically a slice of neopolitan ice cream with a thin layer of cake.

We chose “your time dining” so we could eat when we wished.  As a result we sat in different areas of the restaurant each night.  The service varied from excellent to below average.  It was clear the wait staff catered more to those passengers assigned to the same table every night.

Carnival is now relying almost completely on their app when you are on the ship.  First, Carnival assumes that every passenger is carrying a cell phone to access the app.  The problem is that the app stopped working several times during the cruise.  They also do a very poor job of explaining to passengers that you need to use the app and how to use the app. ALL restaurant reservations are done on the app.  The first night many people did not know this and when they showed up at the restaurant to check-in they were told to sign-in on the app and wait for confirmation.  The last night the app quit working which caused a lot of confusion at the restaurant.  You are also expected to look at the food and drink menu on the app to order your dinner.  I am not a fan of the app so we requested a paper menu every night and they did provide one.

One complaint I mention in every review is the dress code for the restaurants.  Carnival needs to either eliminate their published dress code requirements or enforce them.  Either is fine by me.  T-shirts, shorts, and flip flops were common every night including elegant dress night and nothing was ever done to address this.

The entertainment on the ship was lacking.  The shows in the main theater were very good but below the quality level seen on larger ships.  The Ocean Strings Trio played violin music which was pretty good but not the right vibe for a cruise.  V&Kenna were a duo that were not good.  The Sea Star Band in the Red Frog Pub was the best entertainment on the cruise.  They played a variety of hit music that was excellent.  The Deal or No Deal and Love & Marriage shows were great as usual.  Three of the four comedians on the cruise were pretty funny.  

We had a balcony room on deck 5 forward which was a great location, close to all the activities.  The room was clean and seemed smaller than other balcony rooms we have been in.  The a/c did not cool down the room enough at night.  The was one outlet on the desk top in the middle of the room and there were a couple of USB outlets on the stands next to the beds. The tv did not respond well to the remote; most likely needed new batteries.  After returning from a shore excursion there was no hot water in the bathroom making showers very difficult.  The problem was fixed in a couple of hours.  The balcony needs some work with the paint peeling and sea salt crusted on several areas.  Our room steward Clauvet was very friendly and provided great service. 

In addition to our room, the outside areas of the ship need some TLC and I believe the ship is scheduled for dry dock soon for upgrades. Some of the windows in the common areas needed cleaning.  One of the aft elevator buttons did not light up when pressed.

Carnival Spirit - Western Caribbean

We had the most wonderful time!  The food was as usual amazing on the lIdo deck.  

 The Empire dining was top notch!  From the food to the service, the new menu was wonderful!  

 Wanya and I Nyoman  were so kind, called us by name and extremely professional as well as personable.   Our room Attendants Mark and Rey were absolutely amazing.  I cant rave over this crew and ship enough!  The entertainment was amazing, the dancing, singing, lighting and music was wonderful.    Not to mention our cruise Director Pauly was full of enthusiasm and love..  I would say this cruise made us feel at home!  I would totally recommend this ship it was beautiful.  Especially over Halloween it was so much fun, for children and adults. You will not be disappointed.  Pools areas were clean, nothing to complain about at all.   This was an amazing trip and would recommend this cruise line without a doubt.

Excellent cruise 

Split

Very old and outdated ship. All windows are very dirty, rust everywhere, broken and missing parts in rooms etc, a SINGLE plug which is nowhere near the bed in the expensive balcony rooms, every door is extremely hard to open (at least double ADA guidelines) and slams shut to the point that it shakes your room when another room's door closes including the balcony doors. Not a single person speaks English as a first language making it hard to communicate although they are genuinely very nice. Extra fees on everything. There's a mandatory tip for all staff that will be charged to your card. I'm addition there's another mandatory tip ("service fee" on receipts). And you're also expected to tip 20% on top of this. So essentially they're triple dipping on tips. Food is alright but there's very limited vegan options and they don't seem to understand what vegan even means. Things that are obviously not even vegetarian are listed on the "vegan" part of the menu. The timing of the ports is also pretty bad. It lists Victoria as a port (they only stop there because it's required by law) but you only get about 2 hours there at night when nothing is open. Meanwhile you're in Skagway with nothing but overpriced tourist shops for an entire day. All this for almost $4,000 plus tons of extra fees and costs. Would not recommend.

Discount experience at a premium price

We took an Alaskan cruise Aug 13-20th, 2024. We were in Vista Suite. There were a lot of pluses to this cruise. Alaska is beautiful. We saw some amazing scenery and wildlife. The Tracey Arm Fjord and Mendenhall Glacier/Wildlife Quest excursions were really great. We enjoyed our times in port and will always remember the experience. Our room attendant Dhesha was wonderful. Also our servers at dinner: Jennifer, Rexter and Heri were awesome. We also really enjoyed some of the entertainers on the cruise: Blue Velvet, Duo Forte and Ginger Girls. We caught there shows many times throughout the cruise. Ship was easy to navigate and we decided we really love staying at the very back of the ship. Going up one floor to the LIDO made things so much easier. 

Now for the less than great... This is the first carnival cruise that we have been on where the food just wasn't that great. There were some good things. Blue Cantina, Deli, Seafood Corner, Steakhouse but the buffet was really not good and even the MDR was lacking. My husband's favorite dessert The Chocolate Melting Cake came out undercooked and the consistency of pudding on two occasions and was basically inedible.  Don't get me wrong  , we didn't go away hungry but the quality was definitely down from previous cruises before the pandemic. 

Our cabin definitely needed some TLC. The Vista After Corner suite's balcony was great for viewing the scenery but it was dirty and rusty in places. The door that went from the living area to bedroom would not shut and would bang around during rougher seas. The cabin itself was very loud with a lot creaking, banging and unusual noises. TV's in cabin was small and not good quality. Jacuzzi tub did not work. At one point toilet wouldn't stop flushing. 

Casino was very smoky (even on non-smoking side) and very warm. Had some good and bad luck there but did end up ahead for the day when I cashed out on last day. 

Embarkation and Debarkation easiest we have EVER experienced. On and off the ship in record time. 

And unfortunately, what really killed the trip for us with both us coming home with COVID. So disappointing. But pretty sure the buffet and casino were are downfall. Lots of germs being shared.

Ship needs some TLC and food was not good!

This was the smallest carnival ship we have been on but for us that was ok.  It had great restaurants and shops and was easy to navigate.  The staff were great. We loved the coffee shop on deck 2. Andri was a doll.  From day 1 she remembered our names and orders. She was amazing.  

Boarding was easy and luggage was delivered by 4. Rooms ready by 1:30.  First thing we noticed was there was one outlet on the desk.  Yep, one outlet and no USB anywhere. There was one 110 and a euro outlet so if you had a converter you could have more outlets.  Nothing by the bed. Friends husband uses a CPAP and had to ask steward for extension cord and tape to stick it to floor to keep from tripping in middle of night.  We got ready for bed and there was jewelry and hair in bed from prior guest and a fresh stain on pillow case. We called and steward came and changed it all.  The ship is older but common areas were very clean so to us age doesn’t matter. Cleanliness does.   We would sail on the Spirit again.

First cruise through the Inside Passage and the crew members on Carnival Spirit were exceptional.  They were all kind and accommodating.  Particularly our evening dining staff, Joel, Christopher and Sunwapta. Simply wonderful and made our twins 27th birthday extra special.  The entertainment on the ship was top notch. Violins from Italy, guitarists from Argentina and stage performers so very talented.  During dinner a magician came to our table to evening and added wonder.  The fitness center and spa were both clean and well staffed.  Our family took advantage of the fitness center each day.  The adult pool area and bar were a bonus.  As the Carnival Spirit is one of the newer smaller Carnival ships, our Inside Passage journey took us through Tracy Fjords which was spectacular.  Waterfalls, ice bergs, glaciers!  We highly recommend Carnival Inside Passage cruise for your family.  So many excellent off board excursions and onboard activities!

EXCELLENT STAFF

I was nervous coming on this cruise because I'd read really negative reviews of good, e.g. wrong temperature or otherwise unsafe food. Overall food wasn't a highlight of this cruise, as the buffet options felt limited and dining room food was uneven in quality. We got things like dry chicken,  frozen vegetables, and desserts that seemed to have too much gelatin - not inedible food. There were some standout dishes too: creamy chicken soup, short rib, breakfast hash browns, tiramisu. I consider both Guy's burgers and Blue iguana tacos to be decent, but nothing exceptional. 

I mainly go on cruises to get away from chores and see some nice ocean views, so this cruise was a cheap way to accomplish that. 

Carnival is the only line that has group childcare for under-3s, and we made use of that for at least a couple hours a day most days. The staff there are great and hours offered were pretty frequent - often 10-4, 7-10, sometimes with kid lunch and dinner offered if you sign up. A lot of the older kids seem to whine about wanting to go back to camp ocean or stay longer.

Our cabin and cabin attendant were great. Everything worked well and was clean. The shower was pretty spacious. My one complaint - the provided shampoo was terrible, for me at least. It both dried out my scalp and left my hair oily, and there was no conditioner. Usually I'm fine using random hotel shampoos, but I wished I had brought my own on this trip.

I spent a decent amount of time walking around deck 10 for exercise, and got lucky with mostly good weather. I also recommend the gym and its spa water. The gym has a whirlpool and saunas that anyone can use.

Other random notes:

Embark and debark were both super fast, probably less than half an hour.

Random performances in the dining room and the music shows on the main stage were way too loud.

It costs $5 to use messaging in the app (one time charge) - very small but I expect that for free.

I saw a bunch of whales just sitting on the lido deck while on the way to Tracy arm. Just glimpses, but pretty fun.

First cruise using excellent childcare

Day one at sea was rough. Many seasick people including myself. After that it was great. The food and shows as well as other activities were very good. I really enjoyed the evening movies. The staff on the ship were extremely helpful. The cruise director did a great job! My grandson enjoyed the pool and hot tub. He also did miniature golf, ping pong, and loved the basket ball court. He did a couple of activities such as axe throwing. 

I did not walking through the smoking area on the way to food or deck 10. The whale excursion was disappointing, we did see whales, but so far out. The lunch at the lodge was excellent. It was five star.

Our cabin was a good size. Surprisingly larger than what we heard from others. There was ample storage space for luggage and other materials.  Our steward kept our cabin clean and was very friendly.

First time cruiser

Port Canaveral (Orlando)

My wife, daughter (her 1st cruise) and we had the worst Cruise experience yet. 4 visits to guest services the 1st day. 18 people on our trip, 4 families.

1) they made us book 2 rooms for 3 people.

2) rooms keys didn't work

3) confiscated my bottle of wine

4) I had a drink pkg, so I got 1 beer and then proceeded to Lido Deck where we bought 3 lanyards, and sign for them.

5) Gust Services cut off my drink pkg. because they said we had no CC on file, nor was it linked to everyone in the cabin, so we made another trip to Guest services to put a 2nd CC on file

7) cabin: our sink would not drain, called guest services

8) cabin: our shower didn't not drain

*and the best  one yet...

the carpet in cabin was wet for the 1st 3 days, so we reported it to guest services. The sent someone to vacuum it... mind you we had not other leaks in the cabin at this point in our stay.

day 4 we called gusted services again, they then shampooed the carpet and placed a larger blower in our room with a deodorizer unit. This didn't help, so for the remaining 2 days our cabin smelled like a men's locked room. nasty!!

I'm writing this review because I reached out to Carnival 1 week ago, and they have yet to answer my email. We will NEVER cruise with Carnival again!!

Highly disappointed!!

First the positives, Embarkation was fast and efficient, our ocean view cabin was clean and in good repair.  Excellent cabin steward (Budi).  The crew was very friendly and ship was clean. Best food was at Chopstix or Guy's Burger.

Negatives - Guest services was more worried about playing on their phone than helping. On several occasions they gave incorrect information.  No priority tendering (we are Diamonds with 30+ cruises on Carnival).  The lunch & dinner food on the Lido buffet was subpar to say the least.  Any meat was so tough it couldn't be chewed.  Breakfast was good except for the bacon was nearly raw.  The cruise director Rico was a terrible.  Very difficult to understand. 

Debarkation was a total nightmare!!  No notification of waiting area for Diamond guests.  No organization.  The guy who was supposed to handle it had no clue what he was doing. The worst debarkation in over 30 cruises.  The port is small

Not up to Carnival standards

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