We took the northbound inside passage cruise with our two sons ages 12 & 16 on the Carnival Spirit in August 2008. This was our fourth cruise with Carnival. Flew WestJet from Toronto to Vancouver. We love this airline for service with a sense of humor, but as they no longer serve in-flight meals, we recommend taking your own snacks on the flight. A taxi from the airport to the cruise terminal cost us about $32.

Embarkation: We arrived around 1pm, boarding was very quick, with only a short wait in line. Cabins: were clean with TV, hairdryer and locked minibar. Our room steward unlocked the minibar upon request. Room service on this cruise was very unobtrusive. In fact, we rarely saw our steward, but the cabin was always freshly made up, and he appeared within moments on the two occasions when we called for service (one call to unlock the fridge, and one call to get extra pillows) Our cabins had 'obstructed view' - which our travel agent had assured us would not be more than a couple of feet obstruction at floor level. We were very disappointed, as the life boats immediately outside our room came up to the hand rail height.

Dining: 6pm seating in the Empire Dining Room with excellent service provided by the waiters. Salmon and steak were on the menu every day, along with a variety of other delicious entrees. We ate in the dining room every evening, a meal which was supplemented by our teenage sons by visits to the pizza place and ice cream machines - open 24 hours. Read more