Carnival Spirit Review
Very good Alaska cruise / Inside Passage with Glacier Bay
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Very impressed with the Alaska cruise I took with Carnival. The cruise left from Vancouver, cruising the inside passage of Vancouver Island. The cruise offered inside passage for the first full day (east of Vancouver Island), juneau, glacier bay, skagway & ketchikan. The full day was a return to Seattle in the open waters.
Embarkation was not great, and that was for me the low point of the whole cruise. We were all seated in Canada Place, little to no communication from Carnival or the cruise port employees. The one 30 second spiel from a port employee to inform us the reason for the delay consisted of saying the ship had been delayed getting into port due to bad weather (not true, someone from the roll call who was in Vancouver that AM saw the Spirit in port at 8AM) and to sit & wait our turn - don't try to sneak into the line to get on the ship ahead of time because "we'll be watching you. And if we catch you trying to cut the line you'll be sent to the very back of the group & have to wait even longer to get on the ship." That was it for communication, no further updates. We were delayed a couple hours getting on the ship, and sail away was 90 minutes late, which didn't help the informal m&g that was planned for our roll call.
But once we were on the ship, our cabins were ready so we immediately dropped off luggage. I loved my cabin, a 9A obstructed view balcony. The cabin was spacious & looked more like a suite than a regular cabin to me. There was a nice bar with granite, granite table & also the bathroom had a granite counter top & floor. It had a nice sitting area & the space was worth it to me to have the obstructed balcony. Cabin also had 3 closets, and a dresser to put clothes into. The one downside that surprised me - safe is basically on the floor in a cabinet underneath the tv. The balcony was big, but gosh yes it was more obstructed than I expected. The lifeboat sat not below the balcony, but more flush with it. So you could see out just fine, but despite having cruised before I forgot how BIG these lifeboats are. In my thinking I was expecting more of large rowboat than the huge roofed thing that could sleep 8 if we were talking private yachts. These boats are huge!
Cabin Review
Lots of space, looked like a suite considering the size of the cabin & all the granite. 3 closets, and a good size dresser with 4 drawers for socks & things. Safe on the floor, inside a cabinet beneath the tv. Balcony though quite obstructed. Massive lifeboat sits flush with the balcony - not below. Nice thing about the balcony, once you get past the obstruction, is that it sits in sort of an alcove from the rest of the ship & that provides a bit of a wind block. You are a little sheltered from the wind & cold, which is a good thing on an Alaska cruise.