Laura Vucich

Age: 53
Occupation: CruiseOne Franchise Owner
Number of Cruises: 9
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Spirit
Sailing Date: October 19th, 2002
Itinerary: Baja Mexico

As Carnival only sails occasionally from San Diego it was inevitable that there would be problems during embarkation and disembarkation, and there were many. The biggest problem, however, was the lack of communication from Carnival to the hundreds of frustrated people waiting to board and to disembark. However, my review is of the ship.

I own a CruiseOne Franchise and sell cruises for a living. I just completed a one time, 6 day sailing on the Carnival Spirit for our yearly conference. What a wonderful choice this ship was. There were close to 450 of us and Carnival had no problem at all coordinating our meeting requirements and the requirements of our social calendar for this event. Our cocktail parties were filled with wonderful food and drink and entertainment, the staff gracious and determined that no one leave hungry or thirsty.

What a beautiful ship she is. Bright and open and airy during the day and copper and brass and luxurious seating with the look of stained glass and huge, colorful murals that span over 6 decks high.

The Promenade is centered around a beautiful curved marble bar and access to all decks is easy and entertaining via an array of glass elevators that are entered through glass doors so that you don’t miss a thing during your ride.

The Pharaoh’s Palace theatre with its Egyptian deco is spectacular and the shows and costumes were great. The Versailles Lounge is beautiful and well appointed with comfortable seating and unique lighting. The Versailles Lounge was used for almost all our workshops and meetings as well as our cocktail parties; it was very comfortable and served us well. The Jazz trio and the chamber trio in the Deco Lounge were extremely good and the music from the unusual disco made you want to dance. The Casino is huge and entertaining and the sports bar is not to be missed. If I tried to describe it, I know that I would blow it, suffice it to say, it never looks empty or boring.

The dining room is a delight; our head waiter and wait staff took fantastic care of us and were eager to meet all our requirements. The food was a vast improvement over my last experience with Carnival. We did not have the opportunity to eat in the alternative restaurant but heard from those that did that it was out of this world with 5 star service and food. We had breakfast most mornings on the Lido deck and the food, although typical of breakfast buffet food, was always fresh and hot, the juice was always cold and the chef at the omelet station was always willing to make my eggs over easy. We had breakfast and lunch once in the dining room and the eggs benedict was delicious as well as the pan fried trout and salad for lunch.

We had a balcony cabin and it was quite comfortable with more than enough storage and light. We found the bed to be quite comfortable and had no problem falling off to sleep each night. The cabin came equipped with hair dryer and just down the hall was a washer and dryer and ironing board. I didn’t remember reading about that and was quite pleasantly surprised.

We visited the ports of La Paz and Cabo San Lucas and attended a private beach party in La Paz so I never had the opportunity to actually go into the town of La Paz. It is quite a ride from the pier to the town and you must take a bus or taxi and it costs approximately $25 for a taxi full.

Cabo San Lucas was its usual and charming self and we shopped for silver jewelry and just enjoyed the lovely day. We came back early and sat on our balcony and looked out over Land’s End and the Arch. We pulled away just prior to sunset and were soon on our way back to San Diego.

I thought that this ship was beautiful and for the most part very well run and maintained. The Purser’s desk was very cordial and helpful and the dining room staff was ready to meet our every need.

If you have any questions about the Spirit, please contact me at

lvucich@cruiseone.com

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