I find it difficult to conceive that for me a day of cruising can be anything except enjoyable and this cruise didn't change that view. This was our fourth cruise for my wife and I, and it was the first one where we were disappointed with our cruise selection.

We flew from Brisbane to Sydney on the morning of the cruise Before catching the airport train to Circular Quay. Everything went perfectly and it was exciting to spy the Carnival Spirit before the train even stopped. However, embarkation was a shocker. It took us over 3 hours to board and I think we did OK compared to many others. Apparently, the boarding team lost access to Carnival's boarding systems about 30 minutes after boarding commenced and their backup manual procedures were a nightmare. The staff tried their best to be accommodating and there were lots of apologies on board and a free drink at dinner the second day, but it was a massive fail compared to our previous embarkation a with Norwegian, a Royal Caribbean and Disney.

We were cruising with our 4yo son. It was his second cruise after kicking off with a trip on the Disney Wonder last year. The differences between the kids clubs of Disney and Carnival Australia are immense. The kids club aboard Carnival Spirit was uninviting and their staff appeared poorly organised. Lots of little things were poorly executed due to poor organisation. Kudos to Jeffrey however who was a ray of sunshine. Carnival Australia need to employ someone with enthusiasm to take a Disney cruise as recon then detonate Spirit's current kids club policies, and reorganise the way they are looking after the younger kids. Read more