The "Spirit" - My Worst Carnival Cruise Experience

by Lori Corpening
(Charlotte, NC, USA)

Carnival Spirit is poorly designed. The Serenity area for adults is literally right below the water slides and the kids' water park. It's difficult to enjoy the beautiful view and relax with screaming kids overhead.

We were assigned to cabin 6153, which was a balcony view cabin. The room's temperature was not adjustable. We called each night to have the temperature checked, but to no avail. Either the room was freezing cold or humid and warm. There was no in-between and they were never able to correctly adjust it nor did they ever come back to fix it after multiple calls.

The bed slept horribly. You could feel the separation in the middle where they pulled two twins together to make a full. Extremely uncomfortable! The fridge in this room did not work as well. It would not keep anything cool.

The Princess Cays were beautiful, but the beach sand is coarse and rocky. It does not compare to Half Moon Cay's white powdery, soft sand. It also has very little beach access. The entry into the water is challenging because of all the rocks, boulders and corral reefs. You have to be very careful not to fall and injure yourself.

There was very little adult entertainment onboard Carnival Spirit and the kids were not monitored at all. There appeared to be no supervision of children as they ran and screamed about the ship until late evening. There were even underage children sitting at bars, occupying adult seating.

The best thing about this ship was the dining room wait staff. They provided superior customer service every time! Thanks to the dining room staff for adding a bright spot to our cruise.

The Carnival Spirit lacked spirit! It was not the type of Carnival Fun Ship to which I've grown accustomed.