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Ship: Carnival Spirit
Dates: Depart San Diego 5 Mar 2008 - Return San Diego 13 Mar 2008
Ports of call: Acapulco, Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa, Manzanillo
Embarkation/Debarkation:
Embarkation was a breeze! We got in line at 11:00 and by 11:45 or so we were having lunch on the Lido Deck! We had all of our paperwork/passports, etc in hand and before we knew what was happening we were just waiting for them to start boarding! Of course we didn't know about the surprise US Coast Guard inspection that caused us to be a couple hours late in leaving! We ran into one rude security guard, otherwise the port folks and the Carnival folks were very helpful. I think that guy just needed to be getting on the ship too! Debarkation was just as easy. Since we live in San Diego we did not participate in the luggage express or anything, we really didn't want our luggage flying anywhere without us! We had a higher number so it seemed like forever, but eventually they called our group and we debarked. Getting off the ship was easy, and we had our passports and declarations in hand. The customs guy was laughing and joking with us and we breezed through that too. The hardest part was finding our luggage in the massive amount of luggage that was out there! I would probably tie a colored ribbon or something to my suitcase handle next time. It's amazing how they all look alike!
Spirit:
She is a lot bigger than she looks! It took me all darned week to figure out where I was! LOL! I would find one thing then forget what deck it was on! Finally by the end of the week I had the plan down pretty good. She is in good repair. There were a few things like a stainless steel pole on the Lido at the Fantail Bar where someone had obviously kicked it a few times, a loose molding in the elevator, a couple small spots of rust, but honestly I was looking for things to report and this type thing is all I could find. The crew was constantly cleaning and working on her! Oh, let me slip this in here too! No-one wrote about this that I could find ahead of time so let me warn everyone now; at 6:30 AM on the first day, then 7:30 AM on following days (daylight savings time switch) there were mechanized window cleaners that clean the windows on the Lido deck. If you are on your balcony at that time you will get wet! I got a good laugh out of that and learned not to be out there at that time! As far as cleanliness goes, I have no complaints at all. If there was a mess, it was cleaned up quickly! Sometimes they were a bit slow to clean the tables out on the fantail bar area, but I'm not above lifting a finger myself and we tried to always put our dishes and trays on the trash containers so the next people would have a clean table.
Service:
Although some people claimed to have other experiences, our party of 4 never had to want for anything! Our room steward was great, our servers fantastic and every person we saw from the crew always had a greeting and helpful hand. Many times I would be looking at the ships map (okay, I'm a bit slow sometimes!) and a crew member would come by and offer to help. I never even had to ask where something was, they must just know that look of "Dang it, I'm lost again!". We had stellar service in the supper club (another group from CC said they did not, sorry guys!) and the food was exceptional. The wine was excellent too…oh, wait…I brought that! LOL! In fact I brought 2 bottles of wine, the second was a 97 cab (excellent year, fantastic wine) and the sommelier came by, decanted it, I offered him a taste and we talked wine for a good few minutes. We did not get charged corking fees. We also sent the head chef a glass of the 97 and he responded by sending up a dessert that was not on the menu that was a sort of a study in chocolate. Fantastic! I just can't say enough good things about the service.
Crew:
As stated in service they were all friendly and helpful. The only complaint I had was the photographers. Some of them tended to be too aggressive. They would grab people with mobility problems and try to drag you to pose in a picture. If someone already has problems walking, don't grab them. I almost whacked one with my cane! But that was the ONLY issue I had with any crew member! The crew was clean, well dressed, and though at times communication could be difficult (not everyone's first language is english) they all made the effort to understand and assist if necessary. We ran into our waiter and his asst several times on the Lido deck and they would always say hi and ask if we were having fun and chat for a few seconds. Very friendly.
Officers:
I only really had any interaction with one officer, on the last day. He was helping someone to clean up a coffee spill, I turned and started down towards the aft lounge area to eat and someone had again spilled their coffee in the middle of the walkway. I went back and let him know so that no-one would slip and he was very apologetic and thanked me profusely for letting him know. He grabbed a rag and went to clean it up immediately!
Cabin:
We had cabin 5110, extended balcony, port side. Very windy at times on the balcony. Room was very comfortable, clean and well cared for. I tipped the cabin steward $20.00 when we got there and never wanted for anything! Did the tip make a difference? I don't know, but at least he knew I wasn't going to stiff him! One day I even forgot to put away a couple pouches of….mineral water and iced tea…yeah, that's it, and never heard a word about it. We had a bottle of Champagne we had brought on and another bottle we had purchased through the BV dept. He kept it iced the whole time, and made sure we had plenty of ice for…other things! The room was larger than I expected and seemed well enough appointed for our use. Sorry but since this was our first cruise I can't do comparisons.
Dining room:
We had four people in our group and got a booth for four. It worked out pretty well. Part of me wishes we had been at a bigger table with others as well, but we were happy over all. We met our waiter, Kenneth, on the first night. He quickly discovered that the two people with us were visually impaired and so gave menus only to the two of us and allowed us ample time to read them the menu before coming back. We never felt rushed at all. He answered all our questions and kept the glasses full, the bread offered and constantly replaced the silverware if we used it at all. Other than an ongoing joke about the chefs heavy hand with the ginger, we really did enjoy the food. None of us are used to eating a starter a salad an entrée and a dessert, but we made the supreme effort! The starters were usually small in size (I view this as a good thing!), the salads were always good, there was several entrees to choose from and even the SPA menu looked good. One night one of us ordered the SPA menu. She ended up salting it (with apologies to the chef!) but otherwise enjoyed it. I made the sacrifice to try the chocolate melting cake on the last night, just so I could say I had tried it. I was not at all impressed with it. I guess it's one of those things you either like or not. On the last night I did tip the Maitre De, we discussed this before-hand because he had not even acknowledged our presence prior to the last night. After much discussion and finding out that he is responsible for basically all the food service on the ship, including the training of the people that had treated us so well, we decided that the waiters, servers, etc were all an extension of his work and therefore we did tip him. As I handed him the envelope I told him that the next day was my wife's birthday. He said "Well then I guess we need to sing to her tonight!". Nothing happened until desert, then our waiter came out with a slice of pie and they had written Happy Birthday Mary with frosting on the rim of the plate. Then a bunch of other waiters etc came by and everyone sang her happy birthday. As we were leaving the Maitre De made a point of catching my wife's attention and said "Happy Birthday". It was at that point I was glad I tipped him. Maybe the fact that we had no issues at all was reason enough for us not to see him beforehand.
Pharoah's Lounge:
Very nice lounge. Appointed with couches and tables on the first floor. Very comfortable. Drink service is available. The shows we did see were pretty good. The comedian was funny, the hypnotist was a little so-so and the magician was kinda lame. We had a good time anyway. Good sound system. Some of the seats are limited in visibility due to support poles for the upper balcony.
Casino:
Clean, fairly nice. I'm not a huge gambler so to me it was just another casino. I didn't spend much time or money there. Our companions did win about $100.00 on the quarter slots and we witnessed some fairly large winners at the slots while people watching at the bar. I did notice there were a fair number of non-smoking machines across the ship and the ventilation was pretty good.
Port of Acapulco:
We had a great time. Our excursion was a late one, starting at 8:00 PM so we spent the time in the morning and afternoon on the ship just sort of messing around. Seemed really empty! We were there and it was the first weekend of spring break in Mexico. I swear half of Mexico City must have been there! It was packed to the rafters! We did the Aztec Dinner and Cliff Divers excursion. Our tour guide was wonderful! He was very concerned that those of us who were mobility challenged were taken care of. The show was great. The dinner was at the Linda Vista Restaurant. The food and service was top-notch! The bus ride was a bit scary! LOL! It was an easy on, easy off port close to shopping. You may want to get your souvenirs here, because the next two ports aren't as easy to get to shopping.
Port of Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa:
Nice port, but had to tender using ship's life boats. Short ride, not too bad. Plenty of tenders coming and going. We did the Customs and Traditions tour. Even though it was a fairly cheap tour, something like $35-$40 pp, we still all 4 left feeling like we didn't get our money's worth. I would not recommend this tour.
Port of Manzanillo:
Very interesting port. There is currently not a cruise ship port in Manzanillo. The cruise ships dock with the freighter and container ships. This provides some interesting challenges. When you debark you are in a fenced in area surrounded by some very visible military personnel, complete with automatic weapons. Were they threatening?
Well, other than their presence, I guess not, but it was interesting having them there. We got directly onto our bus for our trip to the Jeep Four Wheel Drive Off-Road excursion. It was a blast! The guide was very knowledgeable and filled us in some some very interesting local facts regarding employment, housing, etc. We got to where the Jeeps were and all mounted up to go have fun! If you take this, be sure to dress appropriately! Jeans, closed toe shoes and socks would be a good idea! Everyone was covered from head to toe with dirt by the time we stopped for lunch! All you could see through the dirt was the smiles! Even though this tour was like $99.00 per person, I would recommend this! We had a blast!
I kept copies of all the Capers and will scan and post them after I return to work next week.
I will be happy to answer any questions I can.
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