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Lisa McGrath
Age: 34
Occupation: HR Manager
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Spirit
Sailing Date: October 19th,
2002
Itinerary: Baja Mexico, Cabo San Lucas & La Paz
12:00 – Arrived
at pier to drop our luggage and was told that registration
would begin at 2:00pm and to come back to the pier.
We went and parked the car, had lunch and returned to the pier around 2:30.
There were a couple of hundred people in line waiting for a bus to take
them to an offsite facility for the registration
process. The cruise terminal was being used by another
line, so Carnival had to do their check-in elsewhere.
We decided to skip the bus line and take a cab over to the
remote terminal. There were about one hundred people mulling around and
another two hundred in line. We got thru in about an hour and were told
to sit and wait until they called our bus #. We waited
there for several hours. Finally a bus came to take us
to the ship. I think it was around 7:00pm before we
boarded. My sister, who has taken lots of cruises said she
had never experienced anything like it before. It was a mess!
The boat was supposed to leave San Diego at 9:00pm, but because of the
delayed registration and a medical emergency (an elderly person had to be
removed to the hospital) the ship did not leave San Diego harbor until
4:00am.
The late departure threw off the crews schedule and they never seem to
regain composure. The itinerary had to be changed so we spent the next
two days at sea instead of one and went La Paz first
instead of Cabo. The change through them and as a
result the capers were wrong just about every day.
The ship is beautiful and the rooms were great. We were on deck 5 aft and
we had an extended balcony. Being in the back was nice because the ship
blocked the wind so even when it was cool or windy at the pool it was
lovely on our private patio. We had a lounge chair, a
regular chair and a little table.
Because of the schedule change we went to La Paz first. La Paz was not well
met to receive such a large ship. There is nothing at the pier at all. We
had to wait in a very long line to take a bus (which there were not
enough of) to either the beach or to town. We went to
the beach first. The beach was very pretty, but again,
no shops or vendors at all. Just the beach and a
little bar and restaurant. We pulled up a lounge chair and hung there
for a couple of hours. You could rent a jet ski if you wanted but that
was about it. Then we took a bus back to the boat to
get onto another bus to go to town. The town’s people
were very nice and pleased to see the cruise revenues,
but their prices seemed a little high for Mexico. I don’t know if
they bumped them up for our arrival or they are always high. La Paz is
not a tourist town, but a mission town. There is not
much to see on the way to the beach or town, just lots
of cacti. We pulled out of La Paz at around 5:00 and
headed for Cabo.
Cabo is the polar opposite of La Paz. We got a late start in Cabo because
we waited around until 10:30 am for our excursion to start and when we
went to where we were supposed to meet, we found out
they had moved the time up two hours and we were never
called. They credited it, but we were pissed. We got
off the boat and were hit by a wall of locals selling their wares,
you could not escape them. We opted for a water taxi ($16 for 2 ppl –
round trip) that took us to see Lover’s beach, the sea
lions and the pelicans and then deposited us on the
beach. The beach was small and crowded with vendors
walking up and down power selling their wares. It was like home
shopping club from hell. No matter how many times you said “No Gracias”
they kept coming back like a bad penny. I even turned over and attempted
to sleep, but they would just poke me and offer to
braid my hair. Now, I’ve never been to Cabo so I don’t
know if it is always like this or it was just because
United Nations had been there all week and there were no tourists
all week. Either way, it was really annoying.
Now, I’ll tell you briefly about the rest of the cruise:
Guests: Eclectic group. Lots of families, lots of seniors and loads of
really nice gay men. Now, I am married and didn’t really care, but there
were few singles on this boat to be found, so if I were single I’d think
twice about this cruise.
Disco: Loud and empty most of the time. The set up reminds me of a
fishbowl where the folks dance down below and people hang over the top
and watch them.
Casino: Seemed to pay out early, then dried up towards the end. We played
slots and roulette and did well the first couple of days and then
nothing. I don’t know if they do this on purpose to
get you hooked. I did see one guy hit a dollar slot
machine for $1600 and I heard about someone winning
big at craps.
Pools: The pools were much smaller than I would of thought, but it was
fine for sunbathing. Lots of chairs and waiters
willing to sell you a souvenir drink in a $6 plastic
glass.
Spa: We got massages ($89 each). The massage itself was nice, but the
hard sell on the overpriced products was a bit much.
Dining Room: We had second seating and our wait staff was very nice and
accommodating. The food was nothing to write home about, average at best
I can’t remember a single meal that stands out and the deserts were
disappointing.
Pizza Bar: Open 24/7 and the pizza was ok.
Entertainment: The first big glitzy show was very good. They compiled a
bunch of popular dance acts from popular musicals and it was very well
done. It went down hill from there. There was one “R”
rated comedian and he was very funny.
Staff: Dining staff was very good and we loved our room steward, Vania.
She was great. The staff at registration in San Diego
needs to work on their people skills, but I think they
were bussed in from L.A., hence might be the problem.
They were an unhappy lot. The cruise director tries a little too
hard to be funny, but was fine otherwise.
In conclusion, we had a nice relaxing time, but that had more to do with
being away without the kids and just relaxing & hanging with my sister
than it had to do with the boat. I have cruised
Carnival once before & always heard good things about
Carnival so I was a bit surprised at all the
screw-ups. The boat is big and pretty, but these ports weren’t great and
schedules changes didn’t help. I would probably try another line before
going back to Carnival.
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