Tour My Texas: June 2011

We loved the Carnival Spirit! It is a beautiful ship, the layout is easy to maneuver, and, best of all, it never seemed crowded. Even with nearly 2,000 passengers onboard.

Embarkation
Embarkation in Seattle was the easiest we've ever done. We arranged for Seattle Shuttle to pick our family of 9 up at the hotel at 10:00am. The cost was only $7 per person. The shuttle van arrived about 15 minutes early and we were ready to go. We arrived at the port, tipped a porter to take care of all our luggage, and went inside the terminal to begin our embarkation. There was absolutely no waiting in line. We showed our passports and tickets to security, and then went straight to the check-in window. We had a booked an Ocean Suite cabin, so we were given VIP boarding cards. That meant we would be in the first group to board, following those needing special assistance (i.e. wheelchairs). After getting our Sail & Sign cards, we had to wait about 30 minutes until they had set up the screen and camera for the embarkation pictures. But we didn't mind waiting . . . we just spent that time looking through the Alaska coupon book that one of the employees was passing out. After we got our picture taken, then we waited about another half hour until it was time to board.

At 11:30am they began the embarkation process. They called for those in wheelchairs first. Then the VIP passengers. Again -- no waiting in line. We walked up, showed them our Sail & Sign cards, had our pictures made (this time for ship security), and then began the walk up the winding gangway.

Exploring the Ship
Once onboard, we were directed to elevators to take us to the 9th floor Lido Deck for lunch. It was absolutely empty since we were the first group to come aboard.

The Lido Deck offered several dining options. We couldn't decide between the hot meal buffet line, sandwiches and paninis at the deli, hamburgers and hot dogs at the grill, or pizza. I think we ate a little bit of everything that first day. And my brother-in-law Tom was sent on a mission to find Carnival's famous french fries. They have the best, crispiest shoestring french fries! They remind me of what McDonald's french fries were like back in the day. He brought back a plate full of french fries from the grill that everyone quickly devoured.

Since the room stewards were still cleaning the cabins, we went exploring after lunch. The ship was still virtually empty. The kids felt like they had the whole ship to themselves! We saw it all, from stern to aft, top to bottom. One of our first stops was the Jungle, a long hallway at the front of the ship that leads to Camp Carnival and the Arcade. We noticed lots of crew members in the Jungle making calls to their family while the ship was in port. So we tried to keep it quiet as we walked through there.

Next we went outside to explore the decks. The kids wanted to see everything!

We found the waterslide on the aft deck, but all agreed that it would probably be too cold to use it on an Alaskan cruise. But there were two other pools on the Lido Deck, one of them with a retracting roof. The roof was kept closed our entire cruise making it a nice, warm indoor swim area. Even this area, though, never seemed too crowded. Just a handful of people there at any given time.

We also found the giant chess set at the back of the Lido Deck. That became a favorite spot to hang out and play while enjoying ice cream from the nearby ice cream machine.

And one deck up was the sport court with basketball, miniature golf, and a running track. The scenery from this top deck was always breathtaking!

Our Cabin
Finally it was 1:30pm and the cabins were ready. We were all excited to see our new home for the next week. We were in Ocean Suite 6195, located in the middle of deck 6, starboard side (right). The rest of the family had cabins on deck 7, port and aft. Our suite had a king-sized bed with bunks directly across from it. The bottom bunk was actually a couch that had been made into a bed. And the top bunk folded down from the ceiling. But we just left it in the bunkbed formation for the whole cruise, rather than fold it up and down each day.

One of the nicest things about having a suite, especially with four people, was the large bathroom and dressing room. If you've ever been on a cruise ship then you know that most bathrooms are barely big enough for two people to turn around in. They have a sink, toilet and shower crammed into a room the size of a closet.
But the suite bathrooms have double sinks and a full-sized jacuzzi bathtub with a shower.

The freebies in the bathroom included a new razor, shower gel, tooth whitening toothpaste and lotion. There's also shampoo and shower gel dispensers in the shower, so no need to bring those from home.

The dressing room just outside the bathroom got lots of use. Since it has a pocket door that closes it off from the rest of the cabin, I would sit in there most mornings while everyone else slept and use the vanity as a computer desk. I had trouble sleeping in when the sun would rise each morning between 3:45am and 4:00am!

Closet space and storage was plentiful in our suite. The dressing room had a large closet divided into two sections, one for hanging clothes and the other with shelves where we stacked our jeans and t-shirts. The bedroom had another closet with two sections for hanging clothes. And then we had 4 large drawers plus 3 nightstands with drawers. So everyone had their own space for their belongings.

Our balcony was a nice size, too. It was one-and-a-half times bigger than a standard balcony. Plenty big enough for all four of us to enjoy.

Our inlaws had one of the coveted aft Vista Suites with a wrap-around balcony. These large cabins are always the first ones booked on every cruise and are pretty hard to come by. (I think they made their reservation a year in advance.) The Vista Suite is comprised of two separate rooms, a bedroom and a living room. Plus it has a huge walk-in closet in the bedroom. The bathroom and dressing room, though, are identical to the Ocean Suite.

But it's the balcony that makes the Vista Suite so nice. There are only two of these cabins on each deck, so the balcony is half the width of the back of the ship . . . and then some. It wraps around the side, too. Leah and Tom graciously made their cabin and balcony available to the rest of family throughout the cruise. So each day when the ship sailed away from port, we'd all sit out on their balcony and enjoy the scenery. And the balcony is so big that there was plenty of room for all nine of us.

Nana and Poppa had a standard balcony cabin just a few doors down. These cabins are plenty big for two people, with a king size bed and a couch. The bathroom, though, is the typical closet-sized one with no tub, just a shower.

Dining Onboard
The Carnival Spirit has one formal dining room, the Empire Room. It is located on deck 2, with a balcony area for anytime diners. We had early dining which was moved up from 6:00pm to 5:30pm. Aside from the two Elegant Nights, the dress was very casual in the dining room. Most night we wore slacks or blue jeans and sweaters.

We had a fabulous table right in front of one of the large round windows. In our section, all the large parties were seated in front of the windows. The smaller tables and booths were located in the center of the room. So every night at dinner we got to enjoy a close-up view of the ocean and were always on the lookout for whales.

Our head waiter Orlando, from the Philippines, was super friendly. His assistant Zoran from Serbia was new to the Spirit. He seemed shy and quiet the first night, but it turns out that he was simply tired since he had just arrived that very day from Serbia. But he soon perked up after we introduced ourselves and the rest of the week we could always count on Zoran finding us on the Lido Deck at lunch to offer his assistance.

The food in the Empire Dining Room was always good and the servings way too big. Or at least they seemed big after eating on the Lido Deck and snacking on ice cream throughout the day. But we always seemed to find room for dessert! Carnival's famous Warm Chocolate Melting Cake was usually the dessert of choice, with a scoop of ice cream on the side.

We only ate breakfast in the main dining room once. We had room service twice and the rest of the time we headed up to the Lido Deck for some cereal and yogurt before our excursions ashore. Lunch was also usually pizza or burgers on the Lido Deck. Although on one of our days-at-sea we did find time for a leisurely lunch of Chicken Parmigiana in the main dining room.

The Carnival Spirit also has a Sushi Bar on deck 2. It seemed like there were always 2 or 3 people waiting in line, but we never did eat any. It just seemed too far out of the way from where we happened to be.

The Steakhouse is one flight up from the Lido Deck, under the big red Whale Tail (which cast a red glow over the restaurant). We did not eat at the Steakhouse, but our inlaws did and said it was fabulous. The Steakhouse is a reservations-only restaurant where you pay an extra $30pp to dine. But we hear that for your $30, you receive food and service comparable to a $200+ meal.

We did however attend the wine tasting in the Steakhouse on our first afternoon at sea. For $15 pp, we sampled 5 different types of wine -- a Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Beaujolais Villages, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Each glass was filled about half full and the head sommelier, Yuros, would tell us about the different varietals as we sampled them. (And if you finished your glass before he finished his explanation, he would have the waitress refill it for you.) Each person was also given a plate of food to sample with the wine (steak, fruit, cheese & crackers). The wine tasting lasted a little over an hour and was a fun, educational way to spend the afternoon. Unfortunately, I never could figure out how to smuggle out that bottle of Opus One that sat right in front of me throughout the wine tasting.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries, again and again. MMmmmm . . .

The only unfortunate incident, if you can even call it that, happened one night in the dining room. On the second or third night of our cruise Jackson found a nut in his chocolate cake. Thankfully, being allergic to both tree nuts and peanuts, he saw the nut before he ate it! The Warm Chocolate Melting Cake does not have nuts in it and Jackson had ordered it a couple times already. But on this particular night at dinner there had been another dessert that did have a nut topping. So we think one of those nuts just fell off the top and landed in Jackson's chocolate cake.

Now before the cruise, and again our first day onboard at Camp Carnival, I had filled out tons of paperwork and it all stated that Jackson was allergic to nuts. But I had forgotten to mention it to our waiter that first night. We're always cautious and carefully read through all the descriptions on the menu before ordering. But when I asked Orlando to bring Jackson another cake that was nut-free, he became very concerned. They take food allergies very seriously! He immediately brought Jackson another dessert and then sent the main hostess over to speak with us. She made a note of our table and Jackson's food allergy. And every night thereafter she brought me the menu for the following night so Jackson could select his meal and it could be specially prepared for him. I was very impressed that the Carnival crew was so proactive about this. But I felt they went over and beyond their duty when the next day we found a plate of chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us in our cabin with a card from the head chef! Jackson single-handedly ate 4 of them before he stopped to think that maybe he should offer to share them. Haha.

Speaking of chocolate covered strawberries -- yes they are delicious. Even more so when you're not expecting to receive them! So you can imagine our surprise and delight swhen we got them not just that once. Not twice. But THREE times. We were quite spoiled by Carnival's crew and their excellent service.

We first received a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries from John Heald, Carnival's Senior Cruise Director and Ambassador. He writes a daily blog for Carnival and has a popular Facebook page that I had 'liked' a few months before our cruise. When we arrived at our first port in Alaska, I posted a comment on his wall that we were having a great time on our Alaska cruise. Well, we were pleasantly surprised when we came back from our shore excursion and heard a knock on the cabin door. It was a waiter delivering a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries with a card saying they were from "John Heald, Magic's Cruise Director". Since he was currently sailing the Mediterranean aboard Carnival's newest ship, the Magic, I'm not sure how he managed to contact our ship, figure out what cabin I was in, and arrange for the strawberries to be delivered. But, thankfully for us, he did!

The next day, after Jackson's cake incident, is when we received the chocolate covered strawberries from the chef. But I must say that we were absolutely, positively shocked a few days later to find them waiting for us a third time when we came back from our shore excursion in Ketchikan. And this time they were accompanied by the prized Carnival Trophy aka a "ship-on-a-stick". These little trophies are handed out to winners of the various onboard contests, like trivia, hairy man, etc. They are apparently quite a collectors item.

Our special treat this time was from Stu, our Cruise Director aboard the Carnival Spirit. To this day I don't know why he sent them since we'd had no personal contact with him. Nor had we filed any complaints onboard or volunteered to go onstage during one of the evening shows. But even more surprising, and a testimony to Carnival's excellent customer service, was what he said as we were debarking on the last day. I saw Stu standing near the door leading to the gangway saying goodbye to all the guests. So I walked over to him and said that I wanted to thank him for the chocolate covered strawberries that "he" had sent us. (I assumed that he probably had an assistant or someone onboard that handled such matters for him). But you could have knocked me over with a feather when he shook my hand, smiled real big, and said in his Australian accent, "Oh yeah, you must be Wendi. Glad you enjoyed them." And that pretty much sums up our overall wonderful experience on the Carnival Spirit. I'll leave you with a few more random pictures of the ship.

Onboard the Carnival Spirit