If you are expecting variety, pleasant atmosphere, entertainment, luxury, relaxation, or well maintained facilities, EVEN wifi, you'll be in for a nasty shock. This was our first cruise. We will NOT be going back to Carnival cruises ever again. Our cruise was just a 4 dayer to Moreton Island. It's fortunate my husband and I can entertain ourselves, because this cruiseline is geared towards a) little children who don't know any better b) people who like to be in bars for 26 hours a day c) those with bad hearing d) dummies who would pay for things that should be freely available and e)....ah...shall I say less than your average sort of person. BOARDING: We had priority boarding. It went quite well. We arrived at 11am and boarded at 11.10. The problem was, our room was supposed to be one of the first ready, and it wasn't. No where near. We had nothing to do for 2 hours + while it was sorted. In fact, doors to accommodation were closed, with signes on Do Not Enter, until 1.30. Even then, ours was still locked and incomplete with no card to get in. Apparently we should have been able to get in early. So we had to hang around, lucky Sydney was so pretty to look at. CABIN: Our room was nice, we'd paid extra for a vista suite, one of the most roomy cabins in the ship, aft. Very nice, and nice and clean thanks to our very nice lady, Sunny, who was one of the few highlights of the cruise. The balcony was dirty and glass filthy. Don't expect a roomy suite, it's still a little cramped, but to be expected. It has a very nice balcony, wrap around the stern. Worth the money for the view and the 'get away from it all'. It had a delicious bed,...that's one of the 'dot' ratings. Pillows annoying, but the bed was lovely. The room had curtains on rails which swung and squeaked after every trough and wave. Try that when you're going to sleep??? Door to the bathroom kept swinging too. The lights, which dimmed if held pressed, were a nightmare to navigate. all over the place and which ones did which was a mystery. Plenty of hanging space and drawers (if you need that sort of thing), a big bathroom, if you need THAT sort of thing. Stupid shower water mixer, obviously people are scalded by it, because there was a sign on the wall. I hate combo faucet/shower heads where you have to press or pull the button to choose. A small lounge area with TVs, one chair had back wheels missing, never could work out if on purpose so it leaned back, or not. Lounge was diabolical. FAR to wide to sit leaning back, and vinyl, so you slipped when you tried. No cushions. If you're only 157cm, (5'2") it was ridiculous. Bottles of water cost $4.50 each. Not even one for free. Hmmmm. I'm beginning to start to wonder. DECOR: of the ship......oLD FASHIONED TACK. oh me..oh my. Think a cross between a bad Buckingham Palace / Titanic / Op shop - and you'll get my drift. (pardon the pun). ANY level surface was patterned with faux 1930s patterns. Nauseating carpet patterns, golden cupids and fat GOLD heads, swirls and glass and pretend copper and brass, wood veneer, and giant chandeliers and claw footed furniture. Oh, and my personal favourite.....the fake frescos of nude gods, goddesses, angels and just...well just naked people badly painted ...actually really HORRIBLY painted, all over the ceilings and on multiple rondels around the walls. Add to that the framed artwork...matching I'll add....of (yes you guessed it) more naked people, very ordinary artworks of things like greek gods. In our suite, Venus was being fondled by Cupid. It was pedophilic. I can't understand why someone let that be hung in a room! You've no idea how off-putting it was to wake up to that huge poster every morning. the artist should be shot. So should the decorator. It was the most hideous attempt at vintage glamour I've ever seen. TACKY. Ostentatious Tack. MAINTENANCE: The outside of the ship was not much better. I was literally scared that the balcony of our room might fall off, there was so much rust under the paint. The RAILING was stuck on top of the old one, which was warped, peeeling and rusted. The glass along the railing was absolutely filthy, as were our cabin windows. That's a shame since you could see nothing when inside the cabin, looking through dirty windows and a dirty glass railing. aLL throught the ship I noticed peeling veneer, broken foam faux gold leaf cupids etc, In our suite I found it ludicrous that a fairly nice birds eye veneer was used on cupboards and drawers and then old 1980s gold tone plastic handles attached which colour was worn off. Wardrobe door would not slide. Looking at the interior of other ships, this one was a decor disaster, and I'm not even fussy! SAFETY DRILL - i WAS pretty annoyed when we were hearded out onto the deck (though the temp was nice) and made to stand there for 20 minutes, while nothing happened, then a ridiculously simple safety blurb - how to put on a life jacket. (really??) and then stand there for a nother 10 minutes whjile nothing happens. Then a very loud horn (there go a few more of my aural cilia) and we're apparently allowed to go. FOOD: tHERE are 3 main areas to eat. a) the communal eat what you want, as much as you want, wheneve you want. (Except you can't, because it's not open all the time, only the pizza, tea and coffee is.) b) The posh restaurant upstairs. c) the main restaurant comprising of 2 levels. The food was ok. Pretty good, acceptable. I don't want to make it sound great. It was fresh enough,a nd there was plenty of it. We ate at all 3 places. POSH RESTAURANT; we booked in very early. Months ago. When we arrived we were annoyed that there was not a window table as we'd asked. "Sorry, we don't do that' he said. Why book then?? He said first come first served. Again...why book then? Food was nice, but my lobster was way overcooked. I'd say in a warmer or something for a while. It was even tough to cut. (It was my one splurge dinner.) Sides were ordered. Broccoli. 2 tiny pieces of broccoli. (If I'd known that I would have order 4 serves!!) and mash with wasabi for my husband. About 2 tablespoons of mash with no wasabi. I couldn't taste any. He couldn't taste any. So I'm saying the sides were a waste of effort. Big steak though. And tender. And we were asked "All OK?" "All good?" "Is food ok?" so many times, I lost count. Literally 20 times by 3-4 different people. It was sooooooo annoying. I had a mushroom entree which was delicious. Then the overcooked lobsters. Then a chocolate sphere, which I understood to be filled with something else..., actually it was all just chocolate, melted with melted chocolate, and with chocolate inside and chocolate smeared on the edge. ERgh. I love choc. But no counterpoint to give some contrast it was sickly. Hey chef, ever heard of raspberries? or orange? or even cream? Meals are $55 for choice of 3 courses. EMPIRE RESTAURANT: (THE middle one) Staff are tremendous. Work like trojans serving all the hundreds of people, sitting at decadently decorated tables in the ostentatious huge dining room. They're quick, efficient, and super friendly. The menu is not anything special. It has most of the food that is also served upstairs at the posh restaurant (for an exctra $30), and all of the food from the serve yourself buffet, but put on a plate for you. (free). You can choose what you want, multiple times if you want. So it's really like a buffet, but you can't see the food and someone else gets it for you. It's ok food though. Except I had bouillabaise last night which was just a broth with a few teeny bits of seafood chucked in at the last minute. And a cooked apple with lime pie inside, the apple was so tough I couldn't cut it, obviously not cooked enough, and my husband had one too, but it was only half the size!!! Breakfast is also held in this room. BUFFET: Welcome to cattle class. In many respects. Pushers, shovers, pigs. (sorry, but true. - I guess this style attracts it.) I enjoyed my couple of visits to the buffet as the food was fine, it was the people who weren't. Also, Carnival, your set up...organisation of food stations is abysmal. Identical lines of food from both sides, both converging inwards to the same place is ridiculous. Especially when that place is also the coffee and tea station. I enjoyed a cantina outside which did taco type things. It was fresh and interesting. There's an all day pizza place, but other than that, only tea coffee hot choc and something they called lemonade, but to us (Aussies) it's very strong sweet lemon cordial. It was hideous. Really, no soft drinks or even WATER!!! No juice either. I suppose you could get it from the bar if you wanted to. BARS: Speaking of bars...the inumerable multiple bars all over the ship. You couldn't escape them. Clearly the focus of attention for designers. 2/3 of the public areas ...at least...were bars. Maybe you like that.. I didn't. Why on earth would you drink inside a ship, when you could ...well...drink outside of one? And why is there a need for 7 or more bars? Bar people will not make drinks to order. One day, I went to get a cocktail. I wanted one without orange juice as I'm allergic to it. I asked for a cocktail off the list, but substitute the oj for coconut milk or something, as I like it creamy. Barman said no. I thought he was joking. He said can't do. I said 'What?" he said can't leave out orange juice. I said I don't want oj. He said I can't do. People around me are shaking their heads...what? why? pick something else. OK...pina colada but no ice. No. Can't do. (pina colada's aren't made like dacquiri, they're not icy, and he was making them like that.) No can't do. I asked him why, he just shook his head. I said, but I'm paying for it!!! So I had to make a complaint. I never ever complain. Long stoir short. Dep Head Barman explained. They won't make drinks to order. Too many people on board. (I'm thinking, why would you hire barmen that can't make drinks to order? the bars are never crowded because there's so many of them.) Also, apparently no coconut milk. Really? on a tropical cruise? They use pina colada mix. No pineapple juuice, no coconut cream. Just a stodgy looking mixture. ergh. NO WIFI - unbelievably, there is no wifi on the ship. (I'm not an idiot, I can work out why. - they do not want passengers on their phones or tablets for free, instead of bars and restaurants, casino and shops where they would be spending money.) For this reason also, there is NO NEWSAGENT, NO BOOKSHOP etc on board. They don't want you reading, when you could be drinking or gambling or otherwise spending more money!!! So after leaving sydney and my 4g carks it, I start to wonder. Where is the wifi. I get the Carnival Hub,a nd to my dismay it costs $72 PER PERSON to get 4 day cruise long middle of the road wifi. (not hispeed and not all sites, eg no youtube). You can switch devices, but not at the same time. So husband and I could not be on wifi at once unless we had two accounts. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Even aeroplanes have wifi. Coober Pedy, in the desert of South Australia has wifi and that's 850 kilometres away from the nearest city. And you're telling me acruise ship, 10kms off coast, can't give wifi? It's because it's another cash grab. Pay for wifi, or pay to do something else. No entertainment for free on this ship. So we bought ONE wifi account, swapping devices, and only one of us using it at a time, when we needed to. however. IT WOULDN'T WORK IN OUR BEDROOM OR ON OUR BALCONY. Wifi is garbage on the ship. It's slow, and I don't know about you, I like lying in bed looking at emails whenI'm on hols. And I had to sit on the bed, as I couldn't sit on the slide wide sofa. But I couldn't get wifi in the bedroom. Soooooo annoying when I'd paid $72 for it. That's more than 2 months worth of wifi I pay at home! ENTERTAINMENT: As you may have observed, I'm not a fan of 24 hour drinking, gambling or eating. I naively expected there to be entertainment on board. Adult entertaiment. Not "ADULT" but for adults. Not bean bag tossing. Not the hairy chest competition. :/ NOT a lecture about ...wait for it....wrinkles. I didn't want to have my photo taken, I can do that. I would have played trivia or even bingo in a pinch, but these more fun games were held in random spaces in side passages in a few seats in a cafe with people filing past and talking through them. It was impossible. Adn it wasn't for grown ups so kids were running around and talking. Seriously? Think about it. Can't hear the question, can't hear the answer. No point. So...THINGS TO DO. Virtually nothing. Unless you like drinking eating or gambling or spending money on rubbish. There are shops (jewellery, souvenirs, photos.) tHAT'S it. There are theme nights, if you're willing to risk your hearing. An 80s night for this cruise. Nothing else going. So if it's raining or windy, be aware. You will be very very bored. No internet, no books, tiny pools, no activities worth doing. Just a thought...Carnival. Try some FREE activities. What about a 'get fit' class on the deck. What about an 'All about Moreton Island' exhibition for 2 days ont he way there, and an 'all about the ocean' exhbition on the way back. What about a singalong, a talent show, a cooking exhibition. What about a FREE tour of the engine room (you had to pay). What about a mini borrow-library? A music room? A makeup show. The activities were pathetic and cash grabs, and here's the worst of them. ART AUCTION: There was the most bizarre art show I have ever witnessed. And being an artist myself, I have witnessed plenty, including some pretty odd ones. The organiser was a woman who spoke 3.75 x the speed of sound. Even when she was speaking 'normally'. People were sniggering behind their hands at her. She needs to take something to slow her up a bit. Around 30 minutes of blurb on how, why, who and when, would have been soporific, but for the voice of Speedy Gonzales. she informed us that SHE would determine the starting price, NOT the buyers who usually start an auction. (OK....), and SHE would put in bids whenever she felt necessary. (??? OK......) And the starting bid for the first piece of work was $6000. Six Grand. Did I hear correctly? or have my ears lost 75% hearing due to the ridiculous noise of the music in all the bars? You might not flinch at that. But the 'work', was done in highlighter and permanent marker. In fact, I have never seen such a flagrant upsell, overqualifying sales pitch for such utter rubbish in all my life. The 'works', were clearly up to 20 years old, absolutely revolting pictures, sad huge old gold tone wooden frames bashed and beaten, and reused over and over agiain, with the work begin recycled for cruise after cruise, until some idiot buys it. at $6000. I would say none of the work was painted in Australia. It6 looked like 1980s American junk store stuff. Oh boy. To add insult to injury, a 'free' glass of champagne and orange was offered just before the auction to soften the wallets of the numbskulls who were considering a hefty purchase. Only to be outbid by the seller, who could put in a bid over you to bid you up. Leaving you bidding against yourself. They called it 'collecting'. You can collect art from your cruises. People. People. Do yourself a favour. Go to Saint Vincent de Paul op shop. Pick up the same type of thing for $4 and be done with it. Or better, go to the art show of a local community Art Society and pick up a beautiful artwork recently painted, with genuine provenance, and the blessing of the artist, in a clean and modern frame. $500 should buy you a real cracker! PUBLIC AREAS: did I mention the music? No relaxing music, just super loud, aggravating ear pounding music. In all the bars, and pool areas. All the time. Even the accoustic guitar guy, who was the best of them, was sooooooo loud I wouldn't have put my children in the pool near him. No relaxing anywhere there. Nup. SPEAKING OF POOLS: Not pools. small spa style areas. They LOOK like pools in the pictures because of the huge overflow areas, like paddle areas about 1" deep, but which take up 2/3 of the pool area. The pools themselves are minute. About 4-5 metres long adn 2-3 metres wide. It would fit 20 people in max. No self respecting adult is going to get into a pool that small with 100 kids trying to get in. There is a 'serenity' area which has an even smaller pool. Think about it. Thousands of people. tiny tiny pools. I didnt travel with my older chldren, thank goodness. they would have been bored out of their trees. MORETON ISLAND. We loved it. We took our snorkel gear and walked the 2kms or whatever it is up to the wrecks and swam around on them looking at the gorgeous sea life. Then found a quiet sushi bar and bought an Asahi and a sushi. OH! I almost forgot. THE SHUTTLE BOAT. How could I forget that. It was an exciting experience to say the least. The WAITING: We were told we could o over at any time. We left at 9.50. We didn't ACTUALLY leave until 11.10am. Why? because there were tiny shuttle boats, and so few of them, and we were all herded into the auditorium with numbers, waiting our turn. It took over an hour for our turn. Really? There has to be a better way. The cruise director made it sound like we were SOOOO lucky to be getting on "Now for lucky 38. If you're 38 you can go to the island!!" It was ridiculous. At least have some entertainment for the 400 or so people all waiting to leave. the DRIVER: Picture this. You give your $150,000 car to your 14 year old to drive up to the shops and back. That's what it felt like. On the return trip, our boat driver was so pitiful it beggared belief. My husband is a Master 5 ticket holder, meaning he can drive BIG boats. He felt like he should go and offer assistance he was so pathetic. First, he zigzagged his way through the passage with reverse thrusters every time he needed to slow or turn. (use twice as much fuel and spin the boat around erratically, over steering to compensate.) It took 10x longer to get back than it did to come over. Worst, when we came alongside the ship, he tried to reverse it again, it should have taken around 12 seconds, with maybe 3 manouvres. It was a fairly calm sea. He botched it so badly the boat spun around 360 degrees TWICE! another boat came in, instead, probably to show the driver how to do it. (aka don't reverse up, just drive up to it!!) our driver still did not do that, mucking around over steering and reversing, and ultimately going forward, but so poorly he crashed into the SHIP!! All the passengers screamed, and while I knew nothing would happen, the sound was tremendous and the other passengers scared. Crew were standing on the ship watching the pitiful attempt, in disbelief. There was even a small vessel coming in, a bumpered vessel like a 'pusher', to help 'push' the shuttle into position. It was atrocious. And terrible of Carnival to hire boat drivers in charge of their passengers who have no skill and put lives at risk. They should be ashamed. You may have figured this kind of cruise is not for me. I have done many things like this, and don't get seasick. But I was dismayed at this cruise. It was a cash grab pure and simple. Only the staff saved it. Most of them anyway. They were helpful and worked hard. Probably don't get paid enough for the hard work they do. Most were overseas workers from the Philippines or Russia. Read Less

11 night Vanuatu and New Caledonia cruise. Second time on the Spirit. Went on her when she first came to Aussie about 5 years ago. Said we wouldn't go on Carnival again; but my Brother and his partner ha recently been on and enjoyed it and we were keen to travel with them. It was a real mixed-bag. Embarkation went very smoothly. Muster is a dogs-breakfast though. Why they need to line everybody up like POW's at roll-call, out on the promenade without shade, packed in like sardines is a mystery. On most Princess cruises we've been on, Muster has been in the theater or one of the lounges. The ship is an interesting mix of decors. We had a Balcony Room. Room was tidy and had a fridge. Beds were ok; but not the luxury you get on Princess. Cruise was outside of school holidays, so there wasn't a lot of kids on-board. The ship didn't feel crowded and there was always somewhere quiet you could go. Service levels fluctuated a bit. Never bad.. but not always great. Sadly, we had a jumper on the 3rd night and the ship was required to return to the area to search. That meant we didn't make it into Port that day. The Captain did an amazing job re-jigging the Itinerary so that we still got to 5 Ports and didn't lose one (and arguably, some would say he gave us an improved itinerary). Mystery Island is always a crowd favourite and didn't disappoint. Port Vila always has many varied options and of course, the cheapest duty-free. We've been to all the Ports before, up to 5 times in some cases; so did our own thing for shore-tours. Entertainment was good. The live band that replaced Music Manila were good musicians (and less corny). There were a couple of good solo entertainers and a good trio of violinists playing their take on some pop and rock classics. There was an MOR sequenced duo (and they had good voices). Saw some good shows including a Freddie Mercury impersonator and entertainment was good. To top it off.. they have the Adults Comedy up to 3 times a night which was great. R18. Some of the comedy was very funny (although def Adult only). Usual trivia most days. The unfortunate let-down is the food. It's bland. MDR service ranged from poor to good (first time we had done anytime dining.. maybe that doesn't help). Felt like they were trying to rush you through.. often serving mains to the table while some of us were still eating our entrees. Constantly having to ask for extra butter.. or even bread rolls. Water empty.. no drink orders taken. Very hit and miss and not of the standard you would see on other lines. The food itself and the menus - very average. Usually only luke-warm. Uninspiring. In the past cruises, we had always looked forward to dinner as one of the highlights of the day. On Carnival.. you eat because you have to. The food is poor and you feel like they're trying to get rid of you. Buffet food was very average. Buffet and all food options close by 9pm except the Pizza which is not a great pizza. No other options for a snack later at night. I guess you get spoiled on Princess with 24 hour International Cafe, buffet open till 11pm, free room service (you have to pay extra on Carnival). Breakfast in the dining room - don't think they got the order right once. The burgers and fries closed super early (and were not great anyhow). The BBQ that they had up on top deck sometimes was good though. Coffee was disappointing. If I want to pay for a decent Espresso coffee; I want a cup and saucer.. not a plastic cup. Disembarking was fine. Pools are salt-water. Not my cup of tea (although admit some prefer them over chlorine). All-in-all, a very mixed bag. Fun to be had.. but the food was such a let down that we will have the fun on a different brand that does things right! Read Less

My sister and I travelled on the Carnival Spirit for an 11 day cruise to the Loyalty Islands particularly to visit Santo as many cruise Lines are no longer visiting this port due to the high Port Fees. We both felt that the embarkation process was too long and uncomfortable with long periods of standing in the heat without moving. The Carnival Spirit is an older ship that is showing is age and is looking rusty on the outside and tired on the inside decor. The best part of the ship is definitely the crew, particularly the stewards and waiters who go above and beyond the call of duty to care, provide for and entertain everyone. They are amazing. Unfortunately the ship experienced an unexpected tragedy on board on the third night of the cruise which resulted in an extra day of sailing so a decision was made to exclude Santo and Mare from the itinerary which was unfortunate. The captain then agreed to include Lifou and Isle of Pines instead. Unfortunately we were both underwhelmed by the meals in the Main Dining Room compared to a holiday we had on the same ship just twelve months before. The presentation and quality of the meals wasn’t anywhere near as good as the previous trip and there seemed to be obvious cost cutting measures in place. The shore excursions provided by the ship were few and usually double the cost of local providers but this is typical of all cruise lines. The entertainment provided in the nightly shows were usually very good however the Comedians hired on this cruise were well below par. We weren’t travelling with children and felt that most movies and on deck activities were directed at children so other than Trivia, Bingo and the Casino adults had very little to do. We did however feel that the new Cruise Director Chloe did a wonderful job in engaging passengers. Carnival Cruise Lines need to look into refurbishing, rethink the cost cutting and looking into hiring better quality entertainment before we will travel with them again. Read Less

The cruise Director Chloe made this cruise amazing!Loved the new menu in Nouveau!behind the fun tour very interesting!room stewards were great and always remembered our name!This ship is really starting to show her age and needs a bit of attention!Food mostly good a few meals were a bit average!Sushi restaurant fabulous!overall a great cruise! Shows were amazing usually easy to get a seat!Onboard shops Heinemann do not like new owners of the shops very expensive duty free alcohol was outrageously priced we bought all our alcohol in Port Vila for a fraction of the price!No varietyIf You didn’t want a watch handbag or overpriced junk jewellery!that was about it all I bought in 11 days was a T-shirt!! Really enjoyed trivia would have like more Aussie trivia!music trivia was always so much fun! We participated in the love and marriage show !we were recognised for the rest of the tour for the wrong reasons lol not sure I would do it again I will stick to watching others but fun to do once! Read Less

Embarkation & disembarkation process was extremely easy & smooth. Very comfy cabin. Unfortunately the drink service from waitstaff was minimal when on deck in comparison with previous cruises. We only dined in the dining room 3 times, once for lunch & twice for dinner. I don’t know if it was because we chose anytime dining but each time we had to wait to get waiters attention to order a drink. The buffet food never changed & they had one side closed off each night & so much of it was cold. We got pizza one night which was obviously someone else’s reject as it lacked any decent amount of topping (pepperoni). Once we discovered the deck bbq, that’s where we chose to eat for lunch. It was absolutely delicious. We chose this cruise for Santo but didn’t get there nor to Maré due to incident on ship. We ended up going to Lifou which we didn’t bother getting off the ship for as we’ve been every other time. Also went to Isle of Pines but because they weren’t expecting us, there were hardly any markets operating. The Casino was a total rip off, put so much money through the pokies with no return ( could’ve gone on another cruise ) which was obviously our choice but just a little run would have been nice. Was very happy with the overall experience of our first cruise on a Carnival ship. Very easy to navigate though the decor seriously needs to be updated. Met some lovely people onboard. Did a great tour while in Vila, going to Raru waterfalls, Blue Lagoon with lunch, Duty free shopping & pub stop with Karaoke. Hopefully we’ll get to Santo one day... Read Less

Have to commend the captain as he had some very difficult decisions to make but he managed to still get us our 5 stops. Wasn't very happy with the food. Main dining room menu didn't change very much and food was not as good as I have had on other ships. Entertainment wasn't as good either. Loved the daytime trivia, seemed to always be a trivia to go to and Chloe the entertainments manager was great. Thought the evening shows could have been a lot better. Room and bathroom were plenty big enough and always clean. Staff very friendly and always ready to help. Embarkation and disembarkation went without a hitch and used Carnival for transport to airport. Shore excursions were mainly booked privately but all went very well and most enjoyable, must say Isle of Pines is now my favourite island. Loved the outside cinema and watched a few good movies there. Also happy to see a few members of staff moving towels so others could sit down. Read Less

We had the best time on this five day cruise to Tasmania. Everything about our holiday was first class. Our balcony cabin was spacious, clean and had a comfortably sized bathroom. Our cabin steward was excellent , friendly and helpfu, the different animals he made daily were really appreciated. The meals in the dining room were varied and delicious and the wait staff very attentive. always remembering our names. The Serenity pool area was a very pleasant and relaxing spot to sit, especially in a cabana with a strawberry daiquiri. Children are not allowed in this area so it stays peaceful. The Mexican food bar provided delicious burrito bowls with large prawns which were a very enjoyable lunch. The entertainment in the Pharaohs Palace lounge was amazing, professional and thoroughly enjoyable. We are regular cruisers having travelled on Cunard, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in the past. We will definitely cruise on The Carnival Spirit again. Read Less

CARNIVAL SPIRIT embodies CARNIVAL’S value for money and family themes. WATER SLIDES and SPLASH POOLS plus TWIN FAMILY SWIM POOLS appeal to the young (and not so – at 73 I can’t resist the high GREEN THUNDER SLIDE nor the 24hour soft serve machines). Dining rooms my 3 previous cruises saw food vary from good to overcooked. Wait-staff usually great – only one guy hopeless. Highlight: the nightly song and dance by wait+kitchen staff – enjoyed by most passengers. + head honcho DESSIE does a brilliant job. Latest trip saw saw gppd waot staff. one meal brilliant – othrs slightly cold overcooked food (how long had they been sitting in the kitchen? – this was the second sitting seeing CARNIVAL could not meet all requests for ANYTIME DINING) + fellow table guests just too colourful fer this introverted couple (I got the impression they thought us boring – not wrong in comparison) + meal finishing time which dictated the LATE SHOW in the theatre – not great for old dudes wanna hit the sack before 1300. Consequently LADY BLACKELDO and I abandoned the dining room for a buffet dinner after the 3rd night. Gotta say there was nothing disappointing about the buffet dinner in comparison. BUFFET food away from dinner echoed dining room. Good ….. and not so. Somehow the spacious buffets seem more crowded than other ships. There are a few bottlenecks – surely some hotshot expert can sort this out. Sunning areas spacious and numerous – maybe best of all ships. But interior lounge/relax areas a bit short. Each theatre spacious – entertainment from good …. to not so. Gyms most spacious and best equipped of all 5 lines I’ve used. I noticed this trip my one complaint re NO CHIN UP BARS had been rectified. Spacious, sunny (but with shade) ADULTS’ ONLY areas policed VERY well. This is important – I’m over sharing the adults’ only pool and spa with kids – suffering the glare of parents – can you dudes read THE SIGN ON ENTRANCE?? …. apparently not. Sensitive types may find CARNIVAL’S Las Vegas style décor a bit flash – although SPIRIT is down a step from LEGEND. But I did notice some LEGEND type wall art in the corridors not seen on previous cruises. DESTINATONS – I kinda like PORT ARTHUR and HOBART. Fer a start, they are a bit different fom our usual PACIFIC ISLANDS destinations. Plus both were great for TIGHTWADS like us who just wanna get off the ship and explore the area independently. I’m over expensive ships’ tours. This latest cruise saw streamlined check-in (cruise cards not issued – waiting at cabin doors [yeah I know what yer thinging]): quickest of all my previous 13 cruises. Read Less

To be honest I didn’t even know what carnival was like when I first booked. It had a 3 days flash sale on and I jumped in as the prices looked too good. I literally had to google where noumea was after I paid for the cruise. I went with my partner and it was truly an awesome cruise. First and foremost we got the faster to the fun programe and it probably took us 10 mins to get on board through customs immigrations etc. Took us about 5 days to get familiar with the boat, there was so much to do. The activities keeps you busy from 8am in the morning till 11pm or late. The cruise director Eli went above and beyond to make things comfortable for all of us. From embarkation to tenders to every shows, he was there to talk us through. Drinks prices were reasonable. We had both the Mad Hatter’s tea and Green Eggs and ham breakfast for $10 each per event. Which was super cheap given the amount of food there was. The staff remembered our names by heart. Trivias, a live game of cluedo, hasbro family games, comedy shows and playlist productions kept us on our toes all day long. All tendering process was smooth and pleasant. Would go on carnival again and again. And last but not the least, the islands were like little paradise. Read Less

It had been a few months between holidays and, getting restless, Kirsten suggested a last minute cruise she’d seen on sale. I started dreaming of all the meals we’d be eating without needing to prepare, shop, cook or clean up and without much hesitation, I was in. The cruise was a 12-day South Pacific jaunt aboard the Carnival Spirit, departing and arriving back to our home city of Sydney which we believe to be one of the most gorgeous ports in the world. I must admit we were both cautiously optimistic about our decision. We’d seen the likes of P&O, Carnival and various equivalents leave Sydney packed with Aussies, and having experienced a luxury European river cruise on Scenic and an upmarket Cunard cruise aboard Queen Elizabeth, we weren’t sure if the ‘big fun ship’ was our style. Thinking ahead wistfully about the work and housework we’d enjoy NOT doing for 12 whole days and nights, we were totally on board (so to speak) with the trip to Noumea, Mystery Island, Denarau, Suva and finally Mare aboard a floating hotel. Apart from Fiji, these were new discoveries for us, some new world experiences for these two travel lovers. The Carnival Spirit, playfully referred to as the Fun Ship, holds approx. 2400 passengers and 930 crew. We boarded at around midday on what can only be described as a dream experience of Customs, going straight from being dropped off directly outside the passenger terminal at Circular Quay, to getting our bags taken off our hands before entering the building and breezing through the customs checks and scanners, a quick check in to our room and onto the ship. We could then go straight to our booked Stateroom where our room keys were sitting in a box at our door waiting for us. The best in Sydney, I’d say. We were all feeling festive and ready to escape the city on our adventure at sea. Once we’d slowly exited Sydney Heads, and waved goodbye to the pilot boat from our love-cabana for two, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner, and discovered a slight glitch in the merriment – my bag was held up because I had a power board and apparently they are a no go onboard. We had to line up in some lower part of the ship along with all the other people with power boards, irons, or alcohol, all of which are not permitted, so we could open the locked bag and hand over the bugger. We were told we could request one of the ship’s own power boards should we need one, which we did. Go figure. You couldn’t take your own, but you could borrow one at no charge. We experienced our first dinner in the main dining room and took ourselves on a tour of the Carnival Spirit. It’s hard to describe her interior as it’s not completely one style. It’s sort of a mish-mash of themed rooms, somewhat like the special hotel rooms you could hire back in the 80’s. Carnival calls it ”The World’s Great Architectural Styles”. You have the Empire Dining Room which is Egyptian with lots of gold and rich colours, and the Pharoah’s Room where the main shows are performed (also Egyptian themed). The Lido (buffet area) feels like sideshow alley and then there’s a jungle-themed walk, a Chinese themed bar (without Chinese food, or any food for that matter), a Japanese restaurant, an 80’s disco, and a couple of leadlight glass and dark wood detailed areas giving an old English pub feel. The main lobby and bar was small but packed a glitz punch of gold everywhere you looked, fresco’s on the ceiling and 3 glass elevators. It was like being in the Sistine Chapel inside Harrods. To top off our self-guided ship tour, we discovered the Casino, shopping alleys and picture viewing galleries all there to entice those precious dollars from your pocket on a day at sea, which of course didn’t feel like you were really spending because you were using a plastic room card to pay. We were fairly happy to find that the cocktails, beer and wine were all very reasonably priced, at pub prices rather than an upmarket bar or restaurant prices. However, if you didn’t want VB, Tooheys New or a couple of other Aussie beers, you were pretty much out of luck. They used to provide all-inclusive alcohol packages on this ship, or so we were told, but these days you can only buy an all-inclusive soft drink package. Not quite the same. I’m guessing that all-inclusive alcohol served to Aussies is a bad financial deal for the cruise line. In the evenings there is always a show to go to after dinner. While we were ready to be wowed delighted, the entertainment proved disappointing. There’s an onboard entertainment team which do their best but it’s a bit too “High School Musical” for this writer and his travel lover. They also have a Comedy Club inside the Versaille room. We dropped in for a PG performance and sadly we’ve never seen anyone bomb so badly, and we left before he finished his set. The Carnival Spirits best entertainment is from the wait staff, they are really fantastic and dance and sing every night while having dinner. It’s not uncommon for a dancing train to weave its way around the dining room, filled with both wait staff and fellow passengers. Even the Captain was most entertaining with a wry sense of humour and Eli, the cruise director, was brilliant. He’s a Kiwi and knows how to find the ironic and joke in situations. His ships talks were worth sitting in on. Sea days are always a good way to test a ships’ boredom factor. Luckily the Carnival Spirit have an adults-only area called “Serenity” at the rear of the ship as I previously mentioned. We’d get there just after breakfast to claim one of the round cane cabanas for 2, and while away many hours keeping shady and reading books while facing out to sea and feeling the fresh sea air. All good while the weather was fine. But after our Mare stop was cancelled due to a cyclone we couldn’t go to our haven and had to endure 4 straight days at sea, mostly indoors. We started to consider the possibility of swimming to shore. Any shore. These days proved difficult and consisted of towel folding demonstrations, bingo, trivia, secrets to a flatter stomach, and blackjack, not to mention more trips to the buffet out of sheer boredom – pretty common cruise activities. Read Less