Just back from 12 day Spirit Hawaii, Fabulous Cruise

Just returned from the Spirit from Ensenada to Hawaii. Our cruise was fantastic. So good, in fact, that I cried not only on the bus back to the airport but on the plane and the following day. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I'll do my review in parts so ask questions and I'll try to answer them. (DH and I were supposed to do the Liberty Transtlantic on Oct. That fell through for us. But honestly I can't think of a more perfect vacation to have done instead).

We had great table mates, the best waiter in the world and Hawaii truly is a little piece of paradise.

Day 1, we flew from Oakland, CA to San Diego, CA. Getting to the ship really is a pain but we knew this ahead of time and just made the best of it. Once we landed the Carnival folks took us to a truck where we handed over our luggage and then we waited for buses to the San Diego pier where the Spirit ended it's last cruise. We checked in in about 5 minutes, then were told to enjoy San Diego as if it were a port day until the buses arrived to transport us to Ensenada where the ship would meet us.

DH and I wandered around and did a 2 hour harbor cruise for $20 each. Nice way to kill some time. We were in the first group to board the buses. We made it to Ensenada by around 6:30pm I think. The ship was not there yet. I didn't feel like waiting at the pier with upteen other people (and it was getting crowded) so DH and I went for a walk. We went to a bar (I'll get the name later) and the owners were so nice to us. They made great maragaritas with fresh lime juice and decent tequila. You must visit this place. Appetizers were good too. We eneded up staying there until 9:00pm having so much fun.

Went to the ship and there was still a line to get on but went quickly.

Into our stateroom, room 6297 on Empress aft with a balcony. We did a Balcony guarantee and I was very pleased with the room. That deck is great as it is between two passenger decks so very quiet. This was our first balcony after cruising numerous times and I loved it, we'll definitely have those again.

Our room steward was Muhammed. Rarely saw him but when we did he was gracious and kind, our room was always clean.

Our next 5 days were at sea. The first day was pretty rough. I'm not prone to motion sickness but I took some meds. as I felt really queasy. The weather was fairly cool and overcast but got warmer each day.

The cruise director was Michael Mullane and he was great, one of the best cruise directors I can remember.

They had lots of activites. This was an older crowd but by no means a bunch of fuddy duddies. DH and I thought we'd be bored as most cruises have the same old stuff but there were good dance classes, they had great dance music at club cool lounge every night. There were art and crafts and lots of other activities. One sour note is we've always attended and enjoyed Carnival's art auctions through Park West galleries. They are now doing it in house. We thought the auctioneer was just bad and he auctioned off more than one piece at a time.

I'll talk about the ports in another post hopefully later or tomorrow. I'll check back to answer questions.

Glad you had a wonderful time. I am taking the Spirit next spring on an 8 day Mex Riv itinerary. I would like to hear about the ship itself,food etc.

Thank you,

John

we are considering this cruise so I was pleased to see your post. I look forward to hearing more on your experience. we would be taking my wifes sister and husband with us on this one as it will be their 20th anniversary and their first cruise. our next cruise is the trans atlantic on the liberty so too bad that fell thru for you. it would have been fun to meet up. as it is there is a huge group already planning on meeting in rome before we sail and then we all plan to party for 2 weeks on that ship. anyway, hurry up and post more on your experience in hawaii

DLS, Do you recall the name of the group playing in Club Cool. Last spring on our Panama Canal cruise on the Spirit it was Stan and Cindy Russell and they were excellent.

As I just posted on the other Hawaii thread.....I'm jealous. Loved this cruise back in 1998, and always wanted to do it again......on a Spirit class ship!

VictoriaLemons,

Yes, I believe it was Stan and Cindy. They were great.

We had a great time also - I miss it already, I am sitting here typing my own (lenghty) review and sorting thru 1052 digital photo's

Ken & Deb

PS - if anyone is interested in some pic's, send me an e-mail at kenlap5@yahoo.com

We'll be doing this cruise in September - Vancouver to Hawaii - and so we are VERY interested in everything you have to say about your experiences onboard and ashore! Thanks for any information you can give us! Aloha!

dls

THank you very much for your review on the Spirit. We have a group that will be doing this itinerary in april and I have some questions. When you had to transfer from SD to Ensenada was it a big hassle? About what time do you think you were able to get on the ship? My TA said that we are able to head over to Ensenada by noon and be there by 1:30 and will be able to board promptly--does this seem accurate to you? I see that according to Carnival the ship leaves at 9pm. Is Dinner still served this nite in the dining rooms? Sorry for all the questions but we are really looking forward to this trip. Oh yeah, if you get a chance could you finish your wonderful review and if you have pics I would love to see them.

Tanya:)

dls, tell us more about this ship itself! What was it like???

I cannot wait to hear more about this wonderful cruise!!! We are doing a Hawaii Cruise in October and I am reading everything that I can....

:)

dls--are you out there? Anxiosly looking forward to your reply.

We have Cruise Critic Group, "Hot Lei's & Lava Tour" doing this exact cruise in April 07. We have a large group of CC'ers going, so I'll pass the word on your review! Can't wait to here more.

Doesn't sound like embarkation was to bad,:D

bump

bump

we are considering this cruise so I was pleased to see your post. I look forward to hearing more on your experience. we would be taking my wifes sister and husband with us on this one as it will be their 20th anniversary and their first cruise. our next cruise is the trans atlantic on the liberty so too bad that fell thru for you. it would have been fun to meet up. as it is there is a huge group already planning on meeting in rome before we sail and then we all plan to party for 2 weeks on that ship. anyway, hurry up and post more on your experience in hawaii

ken56,

We did that cruise way.....:( back in '99 aboard the Jubilee. It was fantastic! On each island we rented a car and spent the days seeing the 'real' Hawaii! If you like sea days (my DH favorites) you will love this also.

We flew to Honolulu and sailed from there to 4 other islands, two days on the big island. Then back to Vancouver. I only wish we had flown in a couple of days earlier, then would have had time to see Ohau again. We were there on a landbased vacation in '85. Loved it! Try to get fly in at least the day prior to cruising. Every American needs to see Pearl Harbor! A very moving experience. Would love to do this one again. Of course thats what I say after each other cruise! :eek:

Happy cruising!

Luv's Crusin'

Well since someone brought this back to life, what happened to you review :( ?

DLS

we are still anxiously waiting for the rest of your review.

DLS

we are still anxiously waiting for the rest of your review.

Your a very patient person!

Thanks jckvpa0 --I would just like to hear more about this cruise. We are leaving on April 16, 2006. So I suppose the more I know the better for me in our future travels.

Tanya,

So sorry you've been waiting for me to reply. I'm not on the boards too often. I happened to find this doing a search for something else. Funny.

I searched for the second part of the cruise but couldn't find it. It's too lengthy to repost.

In a nutshell, for the most part hubby and I rented cars. In Hilo we drove to the volcano (actually thought it was a big snore). We went to Volcano winery, that was fun. If you go to the volcano the visitor's center can direct you. Drove to a couple of waterfalls then back to the ship. I believe the car rental company gave us a map.

In Kauai we took a small plane tour of the island, it was great fun. http://www.airventureshawaii.com We took the $99pp island tour. It was fabulous. They picked us up at the ship and dropped us off. In the afternoon we went to the Marriott by the ship and walked around, they have a beautiful coi pond.

On our 2 days in Maui we kind of screwed up. We didn't rent a car because I had read they had public transit. Well, I never saw any by the ship or even about 2 miles from the ship. After part of day 1 went by we went to a car rental place by the ship. It was like rent a wreck. Don't go there. After a block we returned the car and demanded our money back. We then called I think Avis. They came to pick us up and took us to the car. Once we had our car we drove half way up Haleakala. We also went to a plantation on that side of the island and there is a famous rock point. I forget what it's called but we went there too.

Day 2 I was dying to go snorkeling as I had not done that in Hawaii. I bought new gear for the occasion. Around 8:00am we headed to the other side of the island south of Kehei (sp?). There is supposed to be great snorkeling.

Well, let me say I've snorkeled many places and if rough surf and murky water is your thing then Hawaii is great. Of course that was just my expereince, maybe it's better other times of the year. We did ask some locals where to go and they told us around La Perous Bay (sp?). It was good but the water was very cold and the surf rough even and 8:00am. I like the Carribean and Mexico better. Now I know why first time snorkellers who do it in Hawaii are not enthused.

Kona was better. If you like snorkeling, right when you get off the ship there is a little "beach" and I mean little. It is in front of a hotel. There were lots of angel fish, parrot fish and someone even saw a sea turtle althought we didn't. The water though was freezing. We did that about an hour and then back to the ship. Later we wandered around the shops by the port.

Warning here: by this time we had was it 5 port days? We were pooped by this time. The next day was Honolulu. I wanted to hike Diamond head which we did. We took the public bus out there. There is a bus stop about 1 block from the ship. Just ask the ship personnel or wander around, you'll find it. The hike was intense. I'm glad we did it but after I was so exhausted I had nothing left for anything else. Went back to the ship, showered (it's a very sweaty hike) ate lunch.

We wandered around some shops. I sat in one and promptly fell asleep. In the afternoon we went to see a movie. Near the ship there is a theater that had I think $2 movies, current runs. I literally had 0 energy.

I learned something from that trip: several port days in a row is taxing. In May of this year we are going on the Liberty to Europe and I'm pacing us as it is port intensive.

If you have any questions, please post. I'll check for postings.

It's a fantastic cruise. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I highly recommend a balcony cabin.

dls,

Hi, quick question. We are booked for the Spirit cruise in April. Did theship sail past Kilauea in the evening to see the lava flow? Sail past the Na Pali coast of Kauai?

Thanks

EVACruiser

Wow great review... I'm curious.. Did you do any of the ships excursions? And if so, can you tell us about which ones you did and how they were?

We will be on the Spirit in April and I'm looking at the ships snorkeling excursion in Kona. Also the Luau's... I know the best ones and will get those for our week in Maui before the cruise.. but the ship has a few and I'm curious if they are decent????

I'd love to do the Fairwinds snorkeling, but we dont get into port till 8am, and we have to be at Fairwinds by 8:45. This doesn't leave much time to tender in, get a cab and get there in time.

Any suggestions?

Again, sorry for not seeing these posts. I'm not on the boards as much as I'd liked to be.

Hard to believe we did this cruise already over 1 year ago.

To Evacruiser, I don't think we sailed past Kilauea, well if we did it wasn't very memorable. The volcano was a big snore during this time. DH and I rented a car and drove to the Volcano Park. The ranger gave a talk about the volcano and said nothing had been happening at all for a while.

We spoke to some folks who hiked to what little lava activity there was and they basically saw nothing.

Now, on our Liberty Europe cruise this past May we sailed by Stromboli Volcano and it spewed for us. Now that was neat!

We didn't sail by the Na Pali Coast.

To Cruizinangel: DH and I never take the ship's excursions, prefering to rent cars or take public transit. Regarding the Fairwinds snorkeling, you won't be able to make, we thought of that too.

We snorkeled on Kona at the little beach by the hotel when you first get off the ship. Someone else there saw a turtle, I didn't, bummer. There is supposedly an area not too far from the ship that has good snorkeling and sea turtles. Sorry I don't remember the name but I would probably grab a taxi, a local would know where to take you.

We did hear good things about the ship's excursions. You may want to do that in Kona.

Didn't do any Luau's, been there done that. Sorry I don't know about the better ones.

You'll love this cruise. I would love to do it again but there are far too many other places DH and I have yet to see.

Enjoy!

Just returned from the Spirit from Ensenada to Hawaii. Our cruise was fantastic. So good, in fact, that I cried not only on the bus back to the airport but on the plane and the following day. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I'll do my review in parts so ask questions and I'll try to answer them. (DH and I were supposed to do the Liberty Transtlantic on Oct. That fell through for us. But honestly I can't think of a more perfect vacation to have done instead).

 

We had great table mates, the best waiter in the world and Hawaii truly is a little piece of paradise.

 

Day 1, we flew from Oakland, CA to San Diego, CA. Getting to the ship really is a pain but we knew this ahead of time and just made the best of it. Once we landed the Carnival folks took us to a truck where we handed over our luggage and then we waited for buses to the San Diego pier where the Spirit ended it's last cruise. We checked in in about 5 minutes, then were told to enjoy San Diego as if it were a port day until the buses arrived to transport us to Ensenada where the ship would meet us.

 

DH and I wandered around and did a 2 hour harbor cruise for $20 each. Nice way to kill some time. We were in the first group to board the buses. We made it to Ensenada by around 6:30pm I think. The ship was not there yet. I didn't feel like waiting at the pier with upteen other people (and it was getting crowded) so DH and I went for a walk. We went to a bar (I'll get the name later) and the owners were so nice to us. They made great maragaritas with fresh lime juice and decent tequila. You must visit this place. Appetizers were good too. We eneded up staying there until 9:00pm having so much fun.

 

Went to the ship and there was still a line to get on but went quickly.

 

Into our stateroom, room 6297 on Empress aft with a balcony. We did a Balcony guarantee and I was very pleased with the room. That deck is great as it is between two passenger decks so very quiet. This was our first balcony after cruising numerous times and I loved it, we'll definitely have those again.

 

Our room steward was Muhammed. Rarely saw him but when we did he was gracious and kind, our room was always clean.

 

Our next 5 days were at sea. The first day was pretty rough. I'm not prone to motion sickness but I took some meds. as I felt really queasy. The weather was fairly cool and overcast but got warmer each day.

 

The cruise director was Michael Mullane and he was great, one of the best cruise directors I can remember.

 

They had lots of activites. This was an older crowd but by no means a bunch of fuddy duddies. DH and I thought we'd be bored as most cruises have the same old stuff but there were good dance classes, they had great dance music at club cool lounge every night. There were art and crafts and lots of other activities. One sour note is we've always attended and enjoyed Carnival's art auctions through Park West galleries. They are now doing it in house. We thought the auctioneer was just bad and he auctioned off more than one piece at a time.

 

I'll talk about the ports in another post hopefully later or tomorrow. I'll check back to answer questions.

That is wonderful, I loved the Spirit - beautiful ship! We went last Dec. on the Mexican Riveria 8 days. Geeze I didn't want to get off the ship, in fact we had the best service from all the staff and met so many great people. Now I'm hooked, and am looking to go to Hawaii or at least try and do a cruise every year or so.

I realize now, I'm one of those people that could do a 28 day cruise or more, just a wonderful way to vacation!!!