Girl's Week Away From it All
Carnival Spirit Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska
7 Night Southbound Alaska (Whittier To Vancouver)
Sail date: May 24, 2006
Ship: Carnival Spirit
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 14 years ago
Review summary
My friend and I took the cruise as a week away from it all--work, children etc... so our goals were less about the cruise ship itself and more about having the some girlfriend time together to do some things out of the ordinary. I have cruised before and she hadn't, but this was a first cruise with Carnival for me. While the Spirit was not the finest ship I have sailed with, it certainly wasn't the worst. Our cabin staff was courteous and efficent; we thought our room was always well cleaned and stocked with ice, towels, and whatever else was required. Our dining staff were friendly and anticipated our wants after day one. The excursions were well organized and the excursion staff were helpful in answering our questions while booking. The main detraction of Carnival is the quality of the food. I only ate at the upstairs buffet for one disappointing breakfast and two or three lunches but found the quality of the food there to be substandard and a little too much like mess hall dining. The dining room food in the Empire room was little better than mediocre by cruise standards--not in terms of cooking but in terms of food quality--it was a little like Marriott-Sodexo catering on the high seas and while we were fine with it, our expectations were for better. We were never impressed with any one of the meals to the point where we could say we really enjoyed it. But our wait staff were fun, and every evening in the dining room ended with a little "show" put on by the staff. Despite the disappointment over the food, we had a good time--Carnival may be a "fun" dining ship, but it is certainly not a fine dining ship.Ports of call
Pros: Our main staff were friendly and helpful
Cons: Quality of the food in the buffet
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