A March 2012 photo of the Carnival Spirit docked at the pier in Manzanillo, Mexico
My wife and I have cruised on the Carnival Spirit four different times now. most recently in March of 2012 for a 9-day cruise to Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Ensenada. That was our 13th cruise with Carnival! As you can probably tell by the way we keep coming back for more, we really love Carnival cruises and we especially love the Carnival Spirit!
The Carnival Spirit was in dry dock in January of 2012 to get some improvements. such as flat screen TVs in all the rooms, a hugely-improved water slide, and an adults-only Serenity Retreat. I was really curious to see the changes for myself, after getting to know the Carnival Spirit pretty well on those three previous cruises.
This Fall, Carnival is taking her off of the California-to-Mexico run and moving her to Australia. so I thought I would try to document all the things I like about cruising on the Carnival Spirit in case there are any curious Australians searching the Internet for information about her.
I'll be sharing with you a lot of pictures that I've taken of the Carnival Spirit over the years. Every picture on this page is my original photo. none are stock images or supplied by Carnival. Most of the photos were taken with my Canon Digital Rebel T2i camera.
Let's get started by telling you about the renovations that were done to the ship while she was in drydock in January of 2012. The biggest changes were done up on the top decks. On the Lido deck, at the aft (rear) end of the ship, a new Serenity Retreat was added.
All of Carnival's newest ships from the last few years have had these Serenity Retreats, but Carnival hadn't come up with that feature yet when the Carnival Spirit was a brand new ship back in 2001. Now, she finally has one. What's so special about the Serenity Retreat? First off. thick, comfortable cushions on all the loungers. Plus, there are several very large loungers that can fit a snuggling couple. and that have a shell which provides shade. Also, the entire Serenity area is adults-only. so, there's no pesky kids to ruin the serenity of it all. There's also a jacuzzi and a small swimming pool. and again you will only find adults in them. no kids. The only problem with the Serenity Retreat on the Carnival Spirit: it's too small. EVERYBODY wants to hang out here, so it fills up really fast in the morning and it's tough to find an empty spot during the day.
Another improvement they made during the January 2012 renovation was to change out all the old CRT televisions for flat screen LCDs. and this includes the TVs in all the passenger cabins, even the least expensive ones. Here's a look at the new TV in our balcony cabin on our March 2012 cruise:
I think that Carnival was kind of stingy when they bought the new TVs and opted for a somewhat small TV to save on costs. There's room up there on that shelf for a much larger TV, and because it's typically viewed from the bed on the other side of the cabin. this TV seemed a little too small.
They did spend a whole bunch of money on brand new exercise equipment for the gymnasium. They had some really impressive looking treadmills, exercise bikes, and weightlifting equipment. It's not my thing, so I didn't take a picture of it.
New gym equipment, new TVs, and a Serenity deck only bring the Carnival Spirit up to the level of the newest ships in the fleet. The next item on the list of improvements gives the Carnival Spirit something that no other cruise ship in the world has! I'm talking about the world's fastest and steepest waterslide at sea. the Green Thunder slide. A still photo does not do it justice, so take a look at this video I made of people having fun on the Green Thunder slide:
I shot this video in high-definition, so for best viewing
go "full screen" and change the quality to 720p
This video has "gone viral" on YouTube! It has been viewed over 90,000,000 times!
The Green Thunder slide is awesome. I went down it two times! I would have done it more often, but the weather during our cruise was just a little bit on the cool side. The first time I rode it, I was really intimidated by it. because the thought of the floor dropping out from under me at the beginning of the ride just scared the heck out of me. Plus, on a similar waterslide in a waterpark near our home, I got scraped up going down the slide. So, I was worried that the Green Thunder might be both too scary and a bit painful. Well, it was scary, for sure. but not at all painful. There was no scraping at all as I shot down the slide. It was an adrenaline rush, though! In retrospect, I regret not going down the Green Thunder slide more than two times during the cruise. It was one of the highlights!
The Green Thunder slide is just one piece of the "WaterWorks" park that was added up on to the top deck of the Carnival Spirit. Most of the other WaterWorks features are geared towards the kids. Here's a photo I shot of one very cute little girl having fun on the kid's slide.
A funny thing happened as I was shooting photos of all the little kids having fun in the WaterWorks area. Some kids are very easy to get good photos of, because they have a very expressive face that shows off how much fun they are having. The little girl in that cute slide photo was one such photogenic kid. So, after a while I started ignoring all the other kids and just pointing my camera at this little girl. Her parents were right there and it was obvious that I was shooting photos of their daughter. I wondered if they might think I was some kind of creepy old guy who got his kicks out of taking photos of girls in swim suits. After a few minutes, the father walked over to talk to me. and I thought "oh, no, he's mad and he's going to ask me what the heck I'm doing taking photos of his kid." Imagine my surprise when the guy came over and introduced himself and said that he recognized me because he had seen my web page about the Carnival Spirit! He said that in his pre-cruise research he had Googled "Carnival Spirit" and found my page. He introduced me to his wife like I was some kind of celebrity! It was funny, and the truth is that this was actually the second time that someone on the ship had recognized me from seeing the pictures I had posted on this page. It has happened to me on the Carnival Spirit before this, too. It always surprises me to meet someone that has actually read one of my cruise reviews.
Here's a video that I put together that features that cute little girl (and several other kids) playing with the Carnival WaterWorks area.
One more thing about Carnival WaterWorks before we move on to other things.
You do have to be at least 48 inches tall to go down the Green Thunder slide, and there's a sign with measurements on it to help kids see if they are tall enough. My wife is a bit short, so I thought it would be funny to have her pose for a photo (on her knees) in front of the sign:
So, that's a quick look at the new WaterWorks, the new gym equipment, the new Serenity deck, and the new TVs that were added to the Carnival Spirit during drydock in January of 2012. No real surprises. all of these enhancements had been publicly announced by Carnival. However, I did spot a few minor changes on the ship that I hadn't read about in advance.
The loungers that used to be located next to the jacuzzi in the spa area, under the heat lamps, were taken out and replaced with some nice cushioned chairs that serve as a waiting area for people who are about to have massages and other spa treatments. Here's a photo:
Another change I hadn't heard about was that the sliding glass doors that sit between the Lido restaurant and the new Serenity Retreat have been made opaque and now have big bold signage indicating that the Serenity area is only for guests 21 years old or over.
Also, the old electronic signs above those sliding doors, which say "Childrens Pool" are still there, but they have been turned off so that you don't notice them unless you are really looking for them. The picture above does not show enough of the area above the door for you to see what I'm talking about, but this photo I shot on an earlier cruise does.
Back in the days when the Carnival Spirit was brand new, they designated the pool in the far back end of the ship as the children's pool. But at some point, they decided this was a bad idea and they went the complete opposite way and designated the aft pool as "adults only". I think they realized that it made no sense to have a children's pool located next to the Fantail bar. you probably don't sell a lot of cocktails next to the children's pool! I always thought it was funny that years after they designated the aft pool adults-only there were electronic signs above the doorways indicating that this was the way to the childrens pool. Hurray to whoever finally noticed it and had these electronic signs shut off! The signs are still there, but you can barely notice them anymore because they are no longer lit up.
Another thing I hadn't heard anything about was that part of the new Serenity Retreat features tables and chairs where you can bring food from the Lido buffet and have a nice quiet lunch. It's in the shady area near where the old fantail bar used to be. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it. Also, there is still a bar where the old fantail bar used to be. I just don't think they call it the fantail bar anymore. It's probably the Serenity bar, or something like that. Sometimes having a bar in the Serenity area is not a good thing. as the serenity can be shattered by loud drunk people. but on the other hand it is nice to be able to get a cool drink back there.
One thing I noticed they didn't do anymore back there at the tail end of the Carnival Spirit was to offer the "make-your-own ice cream sundae" bar. In my previous cruises on the Spirit, they had these several times during each cruise. but no more. The area where they used to have these is now part of the Serenity area, so I suspect the ice cream sundae bar went away at the time Serenity went in. There was one day on our 2012 cruise (the day they had the chocolate buffet at lunch) where they were serving real scoops of ice cream in the desert area of the buffet. but without all the topping choices that they used to have in the old days.
Here's an old photo of the "make your own ice cream sundae" bar that they used to have on the Carnival Spirit.
The guys behind the counter would scoop the ice cream for you, and then you could add on any of the toppings at the counter.
A very positive change that I was happy to see was that prices for Internet access are now lower than they used to be. That was a really nice surprise to discover. I bought 255 minutes of Internet time for my 9-day cruise, and that set me back $92.95 Also, FINALLY, you can read John Heald's blog for free with no Internet charges. He's been saying for years that it was supposed to be that way. this is the first of our 13 Carnival cruises where that actually was true.
One thing I wish they had done during the recent refurbishment would be to get rid of those ugly bird sculptures up on Lido deck!
I'm sure that Joe Farcus, the interior designer of the Carnival Spirit, thought the sculptures (there are THREE of them!) were whimsical and fun when he came up with the idea. I think they're a bit creepy! When I see them, two thoughts come to mind. vultures picking at the carcasses of passengers as they suntan on deck, and giant sea gulls pooping in the jacuzzis. It would have been great if Carnival had removed these during the refurbishment. but they didn't! So, get used to them. just like the pink circles on the Carnival Splendor.
I do have to stress that overall we did have a nice time on our 9 day cruise. Just because I point out a weird thing or two, don't get me wrong. a cruise on the Carnival Spirit is a great vacation!
This was the first time we ever booked an "extended balcony" cabin on the Carnival Spirit. We had always stayed in regular balcony cabins prior to this. Here's a photo of my wife that shows the extra space on an extended balcony cabin:
The extra space in an extended balcony cabin is really nice. It only amounts to about an extra 1.5 feet added to the depth (not width) of the balcony, but that does make it feel less cramped than a regular balcony cabin. In the photo above, if this had been a regular balcony cabin. my wife's toes would have been right up against the glass. We had always thought it would be best to go with a regular balcony because they look straight down on the water, rather than straight down to the lifeboats like the extended balcony cabins do. But this didn't turn out to be much of a factor. I think in the future I'll be quite likely to book an extended balcony again.
As you can probably figure out from the fact that this was our 13th Carnival cruise. my wife and I just really enjoy cruising with Carnival and we find it an exceptional vacation value. We like the entertainment, the food, the atmosphere, the size of the cabins and all the storage space, the awesome luxury of having a room steward cleaning up after us, and all the fun things we get to do at all the ports of call.
There are lots of little things that Carnival does that I have learned to appreciate, too. especially after I did a little experiment and took one cruise (a few years ago) with Norwegian Cruise Lines to see if there was any advantage of one cruise line over the other. It really helped me to see the little things that Carnival does to improve my cruise experience. For example, have you ever paid any attention to that big silver cart that they use in the Lido buffet restaurant to store the plates? Ever notice that it has a power cord plugged in to the wall? That's because the big silver plate storage thingie is actually a plate heater. so that your plate is nice and warm when you start piling food on it in the buffet. This helps keep your food from getting cold before you get to your table, because the warm plate helps keep the food warm. It's a neat little thing that Carnival does!
The silver contraption holding the plates is heated, and ensures that your plate does not make your food cold.
This is one of the little thoughtful things that set a Carnival cruise apart from some of the others.
Ever notice that Carnival toasts the bun of a hamburger before they serve it to you? Norwegian Cruise Line just served cold hamburger buns when I cruised with them. And in the main restaurant on Norwegian when they serve you a dinner roll, it is not a heated roll. and furthermore it is served with chilled butter. which makes it impossible to spread the butter on the roll. In Carnival's main dining room, dinner rolls are served heated. and the butter is at room temperature, so it spreads easily on your roll. Little things make all the difference!
I'd like to mention two crew members that I was really impressed with. One was Abigail, our cabin steward. Out of all the cabin stewards we've had over 13 Carnival cruises, I think she was probably the best! She was extremely friendly, and spoke English extremely well. Sometimes you get a cabin steward with a really thick accent or bad English skills, and it makes communicating with them very difficult. Abigail had no problem there. did her job well. and seemed happy and friendly. Everything you want in a cabin steward.
The other crew member that really impressed me was the keyboard player and lead vocalist in the band "Hi-Lux". Her name is Maria. She was amazing! Not just a good singer and musician, but what really impressed me was the ATTITUDE on stage. smiling ALL the time. and just generally looking like she was having fun and enjoying entertaining the crowd.
HiLux is a 4-member cover band from the Phillipines with a nice sound. We enjoyed them most when they played in Club Cool. because the acoustics in there are really good. They also played at the Mega Deck Party on Lido deck. which was fun, but the acoustics out there are kind of lousy.
It was obvious that the Cruise Director acknowledges that the HiLux band is the best musical act on the ship. as he had them do the music for the past guest party. At every other past guest party I've ever been to, the ship's show band has played. But Hi-Lux was great, and I can see why the CD had them play rather than the show band at the big past guest party.
Sometimes on a cruise you see a musical act that just seems to have it on auto-pilot. They've done the same shows over and over week after week for months and the passengers all look the same and all they want to do is get through one more show so they can go to the crew bar and party. Know what I mean? Hi-Lux, and especially Maria, their lead singer, did not have this problem. In fact, I made a little bet with my wife that it must be the first week or two of their contract on the Carnival Spirit because their attitude seemed so good. not burned out yet, because they just got here recently. So, during one of their breaks, I went over and chatted with the guitar player. and asked him how long they had been on the Carnival Spirit. I was surprised to hear that they had been onboard for two months! I lost the bet, for sure. I told him how impressed I was with their good attitudes, and especially at all the energy coming from Maria. He said she was like the Energizer Bunny with all her energy, and that she keeps them all going.
Speaking of colorful characters working on the Carnival Spirit. I have to tell you about something funny that my wife and I laughed about a LOT. and it involves the Cruise Director of the Carnival Spirit, Stuart Dunn.
We've cruised with Stuart before. so we knew that he is from Australia. Before our cruise, I thought it would be fun to do something nice for Stuart just to let him know that someone was thinking of him and hopefully to put a smile on his face and have a few laughs with him. So, I went on eBay and found a little ski-cap in the shape of a Koala bear. Stuart is completely bald, so I thought it might be a cute visual gag for him to have this little Koala bear hat for his head. In my fantasy, I thought he might get such a kick out of the gift that he might take it with him on stage one night and have some fun with it in front of the crowd. Well, it didn't quite work out that way!
I decided to give it to him after he finished with the "Fun Ashore" talk in the main theatre on the second day of the cruise. My wife and I waited until after his presentation was completely over, and just lurked around the theatre entrance as the crowd was leaving. hoping that we might catch Stuart on his way out. As luck would have it, we did. So, there we were, just outside the theatre and I got Stuart's attention as he was walking out. I told him I had a little gift for him. I had it in a bag so that he couldn't see it until I had a chance to kind of set up the gift with a story. I explained that we had cruised with him before and that I knew he was from Australia and that I was sure he missed home a lot. I also told him that I knew that the first night or two of a Mexican Riviera cruise can be a little chilly, and that since he is bald that he might need a little something to keep his head warm on those chilly nights. And then I pulled the hat out of the bag and showed him that it was in the shape of a little Koala bear. and I waited for his reaction.
Oh my gosh, I wish I had a video camera, because it was hilarious. The hilarious part wasn't that he said anything charming to thank us for the gift, or that he was overflowing with appreciation for someone thinking of him. the hilarious part was how much HE HATED IT, and couldn't hide it. I hope this guy doesn't play much poker, because he's got no poker face, that's for sure. Yeah, he simply hated it. He said something about putting it with his other Australia memorabilia. but it was clear to me that he was never gonna wear it and I didn't dare ask him to model it so I could get a photo! My wife and I laughed about how much he hated it for quite a long time after that! Even though I didn't get his reaction on video, I did have a witness! At the moment when Stuart came walking out of the theatre, we happened to be in the middle of a conversation with the Future Cruise Consultant. So, she was standing right there with us for the entire conversation with Stuart. I was glad that someone besides just my wife and I got to see the look on Stuart's face. The next day, we went back and talked to the Future Cruise Consultant again and had a good laugh with her about how badly my gift for Stuart had bombed!
A beautiful sunset during our March 2012 cruise on the Carnival Spirit cruise ship.
Let's get to the question of whether or not I would recommend this cruise to others. Even after 13 cruises with Carnival, I do still love it! But I have to be honest and say that I think a Caribbean cruise is quite superior to a Mexican Riviera cruise. If you live within driving distance of one of the west coast ports, a Mexican Riviera cruise makes sense. because you can drive to the port, and that keeps your overall vacation cost down. But if you live somewhere far away from California, I don't think it makes any sense to fly out here for a Mexican Riviera cruise. You'd be better off to fly to Florida and cruise the Caribbean. Any Caribbean cruise is better than the best Mexican Riviera cruise. But if you're within driving distance of the port, it's a good value.
One of the problems with a Mexican Riviera cruise is the weather during the first day or two and the last day or two. As I mentioned, this was my fourth time on the Carnival Spirit, and not a single one of them ever had good weather on the first or last day. And this particular cruise had pretty ugly weather for the first day and a half, and the last two days. When I say ugly weather, I'm talking about totally grey sky with no sun, and enough wind to keep you from wanting to spend much time out on deck. You certainly can't blame Carnival for this. it's just a typical weather pattern on the west coast. Cruise the Caribbean, and you tend to have a much larger percentage of good-weather-days.
Another advantage of a Caribbean cruise is warmer ocean water temperatures and better visibility underwater. which makes for better snorkeling. We did a snorkeling shore excursion in Manzanillo, and I could barely see my feet. the water visibility was so poor. Snorkeling in the Caribbean is simply superior.
Don't get me wrong. this was a good cruise and we got a lot of bang out of our vacation bucks spent. I enjoyed the new Green thunder waterslide they added during the recent refurbishment. The entertainment was really good: the music, the four different stand-up comedians, a comedy-juggling show, a comedy-hypnotist show, several Broadway-style shows, and several musical acts including that great cover band, Hi-Lux. The food was good. better than what I get in my normal life at home. I simply like cruising. visiting several different destinations over the course of the vacation, rather than being stuck at one the whole time. but only having to unpack once.
With all that said, though, there is one thing they do on the Carnival Spirit that just makes me so angry! This is something I've noticed on every one of my Carnival Spirit cruises. As a shareholder I'm embarassed by the stupidity of it, and as a passenger. it detracts from my overall cruise enjoyment. What I'm talking about is the way they almost never close the sliding dome above the lido pool. It was wide open for all 9 days of our cruise, even during bad weather. It actually rained one day, and yet the dome was wide open. Here's a photo to prove my point:
Notice the wet deck. it was raining. and yet the sliding dome was not closed
even though they were holding the "mixology" competition out on this deck.
Another example of this was during the "mega deck party" at 10 o'clock at night with 20 knot winds blowing over the ship. It would have been so nice out there if the dome had been closed, but it was wide open. And this is not the first time this has happened. In my previous three cruises on the Carnival Spirit, I have never once seen the dome slid closed over the lido pool, even during bad weather.
What's the point of having a sliding dome over the lido deck if you don't use it? It would have been SO MUCH NICER if that dome had been closed during the overcast/rainy/windy days. I did a previous Mexican Riviera cruise on the Carnival Splendor when it poured rain one day. and it was so great out by the Lido pool withe the dome closed! But no such luck on the Spirit. they never closed it for any of the bad weather on this cruise. If I were in charge, the policy would be that if it's under 80 degrees outside, the dome stays closed. If someone doesn't like it, they can go out to the second Lido pool, which does not have a dome over it. or go up to deck 10 where there are plenty of loungers in the open air.
I've actually talked to the staff about this on two different cruises and what they tell me is that they are only allowed to open or close the dome when the ship is not in motion. So, basically, a decision about what position to keep the sliding dome in must be made before the ship gets under way. If they run in to bad weather while en route, they can't close the dome because the ship is moving. So, it comes down to anticipating bad weather before the ship encounters it. Whoever's in charge of deciding the position of the sliding dome just isn't bothering to look at the weather forecasts and use a little thought about what kind of weather we're likely to encounter between then and when the ship will be stopped again.
OK, that's my only significant gripe about the cruise. Other than that, it was a nice vacation!
Here's a fun photo from Cabo San Lucas. Check out the Sea Lion begging for fish at the back end of this fishing boat as it returned to the marina.
The sea lions are really smart! They only do this to fishing boats returning to the marina. They don't do it to any other type of boats. such as water taxis or ship tenders. They can tell the fishing boats from the other boats. They also don't do it to boats leaving the marina. only to boats returning.
Speaking of Cabo San Lucas. the dock at the marina is not large enough to handle cruise ships, so they must anchor off shore and send the guests ashore in "tenders". Riding the tender is actually kind of fun, and you get some interesting views. While I was riding the tender from the marina in Cabo San Lucas back to the cruise ship, I let my video camera capture what I saw. Sit back, and enjoy this nine-minute video.
Before I wrap this up, I'd like to talk a little bit about the very beginning of the cruise.
Boarding a cruise ship in San Diego can be a little hectic and frustrating. The facilities in San Diego are not the best for handling large crowds. Boarding at the Carnival facility in Long Beach is a lot better, and the best I've ever experienced was boarding at the Carnival facility in Miami. I don't worry too much about boarding, though, because I've cruised with Carnival more than 10 times and therefore I get some special perks for being a "platinum" level guest. One of them is "priority embarkation". Simply put, that means that I get to jump ahead through most of the lines during the embarkation process. and I get to be one of the first on to the ship. This probably saved me about an hour in San Diego. Not only do you miss all the frustration of sitting around and waiting for an hour, but you also get up to the Lido buffet before it gets crowded. I've done ten ship embarkations as a regular guest and three as a platinum (V. I.P.) guest, and I can tell you without a doubt it's better to be a V. I.P. There is one trick you can use if you've cruised less than ten times but would like to have priority embarkation. you can book a suite. Guests who are staying in a suite get priority embarkation, even if they're not officially platinum level guests.
When I got home from our cruise, I scanned copies of a couple of pieces of printed information that might interest people:
the "Fun Times" (daily newsletters) for the entire cruise, the list of shore excursions (and prices), debarkation information. and list of benefits for platinum-level (10 or more) cruisers. One thing to point out about the list of platinum perks. the list omits the best perk of all: priority boarding on embarkation day. The reason this is not on the list is that the intention is that the list would be read AFTER boarding, so there was no sense in listing a boarding perk.
All the information on this page, so far, was written after our March 2012 cruise on the Carnival Spirit. which was our fourth cruise on this ship! The following information was written about our previous three cruises on the Carnival Spirit.
Our first cruise on the Carnival Spirit was in January of 2009 for an 8-day "Mexican Riviera" cruise to Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, and Manzanillo, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. It was such a great experience that we decided to do the exact same cruise again in November of 2010. A couple of months later, we were back for more. a 5-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas, in January of 2011. All of our cruises on the Carnival Spirit sailed out of San Diego, California.
On a "fun day at sea", the Lido deck is definitely the place to be!