Dennis McGuire

Age: 40s
Occupation: IT Mgr
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Carnival
Name of Ship: Spirit
Sailing Date: February 20th, 2003
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

Summary – for those who don’t want the detail. We had a great time, ship is beautiful and kept remarkably clean. All service was friendly, even the casino dealers. The Kamp Carnival program for kids is excellent and greatly adds to Mom & Dad’s ability to relax and enjoy. Food plentiful and good quality. Hard to beat value of this trip (or would be if I didn’t drink at all!)

This was the third cruise for my wife and I, previous two being on Norwegian Norway and Carnival Imagination. It was the first cruise for our daughters, ages 6 and 10. We had gone back and forth over going to an island versus a cruise, and whether to bring the girls or go by ourselves. Finally decided on a cruise with the girls and booked just a few weeks ahead through vacationstogo.com, our first time using them. Nothing but positive feedback on their site & service.

Flew from Rochester, NY to Fort Lauderdale on the 19th via Airtran. As we had almost missed our last cruise due to late/missed flights, and Rochester had already received 120+ inches of snow this season, we didn’t want to take any chances. Probably a good decision as most of the Eastern Seaboard was shut down the previous weekend from major snowstorms.

We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Hollywood, about 15 minutes from the airport - they have a free shuttle from the airport, but if you’re in a hurry you might want to price out a cab ( or lie when you call hotel and tell them you already have your luggage!). Cost for the night was $132, including a shuttle the next day for the four of us to the Miami Seaport. A pretty nice buffet breakfast was also included.

Shuttle ride to the seaport took about 30 minutes. Usual chaos there. Carnival rep directed us to give our bags to a porter, who was obviously expecting a tip, and who threw our bags into a cart approximately 3 feet away. Nice racket. We started the embarkation process about a half hour before it was scheduled to begin, along with quite a few other people. It didn’t take very long, and we were allowed to go right to our rooms which pleasantly surprised us. Our biggest surprise was that our room had been upgraded from oceanview (probably on 1st or 2nd deck) to a balcony room on the 5th deck. While the room was the same size, and the balcony is only about 3x6 feet, the perception was definitely more elbow room. We had not had a room assignment until we boarded, and the contact at Vacationstogo had mentioned this might happen. With 4 people in one stateroom, every additional inch helped!

Room – Carnival really does a nice job with the 185 square feet claimed in the specs. In addition to the 2 twin beds which can be pushed together, there is a couch piece that converts to a bed and has 2 drawers underneath (some space taken by bedding), and a Pullman type bed that drops out of the ceiling to form an upper bunk over the convertible bed. We had to let girls take turns in the upper bunk to keep the peace. The guard to prevent rolling off the bunk was secure and long enough for us to feel it was safe, even with our very accident prone 6 year old up there.

There was sufficient closet and storage space for the four of us, and my wife is not a light packer! There are leather thong pulls on the drawers and closet doors, which doesn’t add much to the look, but does prevent you from catching clothes on knobs in the tight quarters.

Bathroom/shower – again, roomy for the limited space available. Several rimmed shelves for storage, and the shower had sufficient room and plenty of water pressure. I generally prefer shower doors to a curtain, but this one wasn’t bad.

Food - Mostly went to the buffet for breakfast. It was ok, nothing outstanding. Scrambled eggs were ok, bacon not as crispy as I prefer, ham and sausages were good. After first day, I usually had an omelet made which were very good. Plenty of fresh fruit. We usually ate between 9 and 10AM which would be a little crowded but never exceedingly so. Started getting a little perturbed one morning when everything was closing up when I went thru, only to discover I had forgotten to change my watch went we went to different time zone!. Word to the wise…….

My wife and older daughter had room service continental breakfast a few times, food OK and service quick. Never tried dining room for breakfast.

We only had lunch a few times, also from Lido buffet. Again was good with a quite a variety. Sometimes was a little confusing with the multiple stations if I had seen everything, especially if crowded. Featuring different regional cuisine each day for lunch is a nice touch. Hamburgers from grill by pool were alright.

Because of the kids, we took early seating at dinner. We were happy with our table for four on the lower level. It was off in a corner, with a partition on one end, blocking off a server station. There was a nice view, and we didn’t find it disruptive being next to the station, in fact we were always able to find our servers! I was glad we weren’t in the main part of the lower dining room as it seemed more crowded and noisy.

The food was high quality, especially the vegetables. Portions weren’t overwhelming, but there was no problem ordering an extra appetizer on entrée if you wanted. Tried the seafood pretty regularly and was always pleased with it. Kids usually ordered off the children’s menu, which was mostly the typical junk food, plus the a smaller version of the adult pasta entree usually offered as a kids special.

We were happy with our serving team. They always served us in a timely fashion even on those days (most of them) we were running late. The barmaid (barperson?) was friendly and accurate, but not available a lot. On a trip to the restroom one night I happened to see where she had to go for drinks and it was quite a ways from the dining room, so it was understandable.

All the servers treated our two daughters well, and asked about them the couple of times they had dinner at the kids camp.

An older oriental man, who worked in the various dining areas, while not assigned to our table, took a shine to our 6-year old, and always made a point to come over and say hello to her – even though some times he had a hard time breaking away as she’s quite a chatterbox!

We never tried the premium restaurant, which costs $25 per person, but everyone I talked to that did so said it was well worth the price.

We hit the 24 hr pizza place a couple of times, usually after a late night in the casino. We come from a city with many excellent pizza places, these pies were ok, and tasted great sitting out on the balcony at 3AM!

The kids enjoyed the always available ice cream stations also.

We purchased the soft drink cards for the girls - $25 plus the ever-present gratuity, thinking they’d save us quite a bit of money. Not sure it was much more than break even. They usually had juice or punch in the Lido, and soft drinks were included at dinner, and for whatever reason the girls didn’t use them as much as I would have thought. They might be a better deal for older kids.

The Kamp Carnival program was great. We had to take the kids from 12- 2 for lunch, and 5-7 for dinner. Other than that, they could attend camp at no additional charge from 9AM to 10PM, and if over 9 years old, could sign themselves in and out. From 10PM to 3AM, they would watch the 2 girls for $10/hr. We loved the program, and all the counselors seemed both nice and competent. Just be sure to let them know at drop-off time if spouse or other adult can pick up and do NOT forget to bring your ship ID with you, especially if like us you’re at the other end of the ship! They are very strict about following procedures – as you have to be these days.

Speaking of kids, there were not an overwhelming number on this cruise. At camp orientation, they estimated there were about 40 in each of 4 age groups, plus infants. There did not seem to be large numbers of teenagers or rowdy partyers either. Most couples appeared to be in the 35 – 50 age group and overall the atmosphere – for a cruise ship – was pretty sedate. There were 2 average and 1 small sized pools, all filled with salt water. While not as large as I had expected, the pools never seemed greatly crowded. Although the lounge areas close to the pools were almost always crowded, we could always find some place to set up shop, and always found lounge chairs. I must say the one area where quality was obviously lacking was that of the chaise lounges . The recline mechanisms were shoddy, and they regularly fell apart. Even when functioning properly, they did not fold down anywhere near flat.

The waterslide at the top of the ship was closed most of the way down due to high winds – and they were strong at that height! On the way back it was open most of the time and we used it quite a bit. The lines were not that long most of the time and it was a refreshing break and fun for the whole family. Obviously if there had been more children on board, the waits would have extended somewhat.

We only attended one show – a big band tribute to Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., mostly because the kids got to participate with a routine they practiced in camp. They loved being up on stage. I’m not a big show fan, but it was OK. Didn’t hear much plus or minus from other passengers. Skipped most of the orientations as well, so can’t offer an opinion on the cruise director either.

Casino is very nice, roomy, clean, and not real smoky. I usually could find a $10 blackjack table, sometimes $5, and broke even up until the last night (you can guess how that went!). My wife played the slots and found a good variety of machines (not well paying for her though). We both put in plenty of hours here without getting hurt too bad. All the dealers we dealt with were friendly and would offer advice if asked without being condescending. There are a couple variations of Blackjack, roulette, Caribbean Stud, and Let-It-Ride.

Excursions – It was nice that all 3 stops were at cruise docks, and no tenders were involved. St. Maarten was right in a main shopping/beach area on the Dutch side of the island. Barbados and Martinique were industrial/commercial wharf environments. I would have liked the daily newsletter to provide some more general info about the stops but it pretty much focused on cruise sponsored tours and excursions.

St. Maarten (7AM to 4PM) – Ship docks at a nice area just outside of Dutch downtown/shopping area. There is a water taxi from the dock that goes on a loop to “uptown” and “downtown” stops. Kids under 12 were free and adults could buy an all day pass for $5.00. Tough to beat that deal. We took it to the shopping area right off the beach and hit some stores. This is definitely the place for shopping on this cruise, esp for liquor; e.g. Absolut and Tangueray (sp?) $6-7 per bottle. Be aware they don’t tell you the US limit is 2 litres per family. We had 4, and the customs official looked right at it when we cleared back in Miami but didn’t say anything. You are allowed 2 more bottles from Barbados, but the prices aren’t nearly as good there. Souvenirs were also very inexpensive and negotiable. After a little shopping, we spent the rest of the time at a small bar right on the beach. They had beach service including lunches. We just rented some beach chairs and tanned and swam the day away. I wish I could remember the name of the place, but I lost all my copious notes on the flight back. Facing the beach, it’s just to the left of the ferry stop furthest from the cruise dock.

Although officially “prohibited“, it’s not all that hard to bring a little alcohol back in the ship for in-room consumption. The liquor store owners are glad to offer tips if needed.

Note the ship departed almost exactly to the minute of the scheduled time. I don’t know if the security system let’s them know everyone is back on or if you’re just out of luck if not punctual. We didn’t hear of anyone being left behind.

Barbados (12PM to 10PM) – As noted, ship docked in a rather grim wharf area, and there were buses provided to the main passenger terminals where taxis etc. were available. Some sponsored outings did pick up right at the ship. It rained on and off most of the day, which I don’t think is that unusual for Barbados. Everything here was definitely more expensive than St. Marten, and there was not much haggling. Cab rides from the terminal were posted at $20-$40 to go almost anywhere. We hired a driver for a short cruise of the island as it was raining when we started out. Very lush and scenic. He stopped at a spot where a man had a couple of monkeys that would perch on you for pictures (and a small tip of course). The kids loved this.

We had the driver drop us off at Folkestone Marine Park as we had read you could snorkel right from the beach there. The park was a small area, without a very big beach, but the swimming area is very sandy. There is a small dive/gift shop and changing rooms. It was a great spot to teach the kids snorkeling as there were fish visible in shallow water. If you follow the water intake pipe out that’s just to the right of the beach area there were numerous, if small, fish to see along with a few sea snakes and eels. The cab picked us back up at the end of the day and we returned to the ship for dinner and gambling.

Martinique (7AM – 2PM) – My wife came down with an infection this morning so we got to visit the ship infirmary for some antibiotics. The Doctor and nurse were both very pleasant, and the wait was short. Since the ship was only in port a short time, and my wife wasn’t feeling that well yet, we just stayed on board and enjoyed the sparse crowds. From talking with other passengers that night at dinner and at the casino, those that went into town weren’t too impressed, those that went to one of the beaches said those were nice.

Debarkation – Usual process, not real painful, but somewhat tedious. We had a late flight back, so spent some time on the Lido deck before getting off the ship. Long lines through customs, but they moved pretty quickly, and our inspection pretty cursory. As noted above, the official glanced at the four bottle case of liquor from St. Maarten but didn’t ask about them. He did question my wife as to how many cigarettes she was bringing back.

It was confusing, and took a while to find transport back to the Ft. Lauderdale airport, but as we had plenty of time it wasn’t too stressful. Once there, we found a little spot just past the airport with a picnic table under a tree, where we could have a leisurely takeout lunch. This was a nice find as our terminal was fairly small, and crowded, and not a good place to be with two already tired kids.  Flight back was uneventful. With a 6:30AM wake-up call, it just made for a very long day.

Overall, we had a great time, and would definitely recommend this ship & itinerary, especially for families. There was plenty of at-sea time, great food and service, and interesting islands to explore. Roughest seas we had were about six foot waves, and no one experienced any discomfort. Since we’ve been back, we’ve already had 12 –14 more inches of snow, plus an ice storm that cut the power for four days, Sure wish we were back onboard!

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