We (family of 4 - parents, my brother and I aged in our 20s) were very excited to embark on the Carnival Spirit. We had heard so many good things about Carnival and what an exciting trip we were in for. Boy, were we wrong!

EMBARKATION

Embarkation seemed ok. The first thing that surprised us was the lack of usual health questionnaires that are given to passengers before boarding (we have travelled on 6 other cruises with other cruise lines, and received one each time). I had had a severely bad cold/flu leading up to the cruise and was not over it at the time of boarding, in fact, I was still quite sick (visibly). When we went to the check in counters, instead of receiving a health questionnaire we were only asked if we had been sick recently. I told them about my situation (actually expecting to be sent to a doctor and possibly quarantined as my sickness was evident just by looking at me), but they just smiled and nodded and let us through. At the time I was surprised, but also glad. In hindsight, this was just a taste of the lack of care and concern Carnival showed for its passengers health and wellbeing. Read more