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Carnival Cruise Line

MS Carnival Sprit

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Sue Sullivan
# previous cruises: 6
Date of Trip: June 27, 2001
Itinerary: Alaska

This is a beautiful new ship with 80% balcony rooms, spectacular shows, excellent food, a variety of tours, & diverse clientele. Activities were appealing for various ages & abilities. There were many people in wheelchairs. The ride was so smooth, it was difficult to know if we were moving without looking outside

The Egyptian decor & Tiffany style lighting was spectacular. The main auditorium was amazing & comfortable. The dining room was very nice also. We felt that the passageways were often too smoky. There were not enough smoke-free areas & smoke could not be avoided when we had to go through the passageways. There were several nice pools but even the indoor pool area was too cold to use on this trip. The casino was large & had a lot of variety.

The food was generally good. Main courses included various seafood, filet mignon, prime rib, turkey, etc. These were all wonderfully done. The service was good but not excellent. The waiters, unlike those we had on other cruises, could not remember what our preferences were. Tipping is pooled, so there is no incentive to excel. Breakfasts were boring-nothing fancy, with limp bacon, runny eggs, cold pancakes, & no waffles or fruit toppings. Omelets were available however. The midnight buffets were less elegant than most, usually serving obvious left-overs. The pizza at the pizza bar was good. Desserts were disappointing. Unlike other cruises, there were no candles, no flaming baked Alaska, & no flaming cherries jubilee. Those desserts were served but they weren't made with alcohol or flames. (Ice cream with 3 cherries on top & frosted Neapolitan ice cream.) Room service was very fast & a good alternative. The service when we came on board was poor; no one offered to assist us with our 6 pieces of luggage (there were 2 of us.) We ended up hauling it to our room by ourselves.

Our cabin had enough beds for 4 people. There was enough closet space for 2. We could hear the giggling & bed-jumping preschoolers next-door. We had a good amount of space. We could not hear the announcements inside our cabin; sometimes they were on the TV but not always. Clocks would have been nice. Cabin service was good.

The shows were excellent; it seemed like they did a part of every Broadway show. There were 3 major shows. On the other evenings there were jugglers, balancing acts, comedians, a mime, & a talent show. The costumes & special effects were spectacular.

Icebergs caused us to miss Hubbard Glacier. Ports included Valdez (bus tour), Juneau (bus tour, independent shopping, & whale watching), Skagway (bus tour into the Yukon although most took the train ride), & Ketchikan (sport fishing.) Tours seemed overly expensive. Those with children dropped them off at the children's "camp." Bingo was inexpensive. Dancing was great-this is the first ship where we have been able to dance whenever we wanted. Other ships seemed to cater only to teens. Plenty of oldies, big band, & ballroom dance opportunities. It was also nice to just look at the scenery that we were passing. There were sea otters besides ice & mountains. We played shuffleboard also. Some of the hardier people were enjoying the hot tubs. (It was mostly jacket weather.) The on board ships had a few really good clothing specials; I'm not usually so tempted.

There were people of all ages. There were more children than we have typically seen & about 8 people in wheelchairs. There were a lot of Asian people & a few African Americans. We met some people at dinner with whom we socialized & fully intend to stay in touch. Most everyone was pleasant, as we were all having fun with few complaints. We enjoyed talking to upstairs/downstairs balcony neighbors, helping each other to spot otters, etc.