Carnival Spirit Cat 8 booking?

[KaferKruzer]

Looking at booking Carnival Spirit for Alaska - Vancouver R/T first sailing in May 2007. Want to book Cat 8C,E,G,or I (extended Balcony). Right now we're leaning toward booking 8C Guarantee. Are we tempting fate here or should we go with a specific available cabin? Any comments - good or bad - are welcome.

RatherBeKruzin
Len

[serene56]

Len- How about booking a specific cabin across the back of the ship on the main deck?
The baclonies are way bigger then on the side so you are getting more for your money.. PLUS these balconies are totally covered in case of rain youwill be sheltered.

An 8C guarantee-- could get you a balcony where you cant look directly down into the waters as there will be life boats a few decks below. Thats about the only thing. You could get upgraded to a higher cat or you could get what you paid for.

[Natasha487]

Check with a travel agent and see if there are any specials going on. We booked the Spirit for 1/26 and got our choice of any available balcony cabin. This was a past cruisers special.

[ShippinOut]

Hi KaferKruzer,

I love the Spirit. It doesn't have a particulary wonderful layout but not bad and the crew is just great. The balconys on this ship tend to be a bit on the small size, two chairs and a small table is about it (the table is a low and small end-type table I believe, not a regular eating table like on Princess for instance). The Extended balconys are a bit deepter. I reccomend that you go deck 6 or higher so that if there is wind or rocking you don't have to be bothered by the little plastic clips rattleing on the life boats. Notice that cabins 5238, 5236, 5245, 6232, 6234, 6281, 7258, 7260, 7303, 8232, 8234, and 8239 (not counting the cat9 cabins) have a longer balcony and a different arrangement of the cabin. Most of these rooms tend to also be handicaped. they give you a nice long balcony though. What they also give you is right next to the service area of the ship where ice and other items come from so it gets noisy at times expecially in the moning if you are not early risers. This area is only shown by a blank void in the deck plans. Also, because some of these rooms are by the stairs, not to be confused with the ones by the elevators, they get a bit noisy sometimes with kids jumping and the air flow really makes closing the door quietly a bit of a challenge.

My advice is book one of these if you are an early riser (and in Alaska, often you are getting an early start for tours anyway. If not, book a few doors down (which is what we did on our last Spriit cruise) and enjoy a deeper balcony but just not as long as the ones listed above.

Keep in mind what you wish to see and what side of the ship those things will be on. If you are doing a round trip, it may not be as big a deal though.

As serene56 suggested, the far aft cabins do have a longer balcony and are covered, and they are not too far from the elevators. (Remember though you are also at the Extended Balcony prince range on these as well). The aft view is extended (you can see both to port and starbord) but some passengers go nuts with either always looking at the wake of the ship or the sound of the lightly churning water. Though cruising in Alsaka is usually at very slow speeds. Oh, and don't worry about the late nights in Alaska. The curtains on the Spirit have a fantastic liner that block out ALL the sunlight if that is what you want. If not, they also have a darker colored sheer.

Enjoy your cruise. The sandwich shop makes great sandwiches, grilled steak sandwiches are available for the asking at the pool grill, enjoy lunch and breakfast in the fomral dinning rooms as often as possible, try a calzone (with the red sauce on top) at the pizza place, and give the supper club a try one night (the food is fantastic but the music is wonderful and/or very romantic whether you are with your special love or or just enjoying the songs and memories. But, make your reservaion as soon as possible. If you have enough formal clothes, book it on a non formal night so that you don't miss special menu items during formal nights at your regular dinning. Also, stop in on an art auction. This is the ship that hooked me on art aucctions. If you or your cabin mate likes to read advendure stories pick up a copy of Louis L'Amour's SITKA before you go and see for yourself all the places the main character experiences. Bring and buy maps of the areas you will be exploring and bring both long range (heavier) and lighter (compact) binoculars to enjoy on your balcony and on shore.

Sorry, very long. I hope this info helps.

[serene56]

Originally Posted by ShippinOut

. I reccomend that you go deck 6 or higher so that if there is wind or rocking you don't have to be bothered by the little plastic clips rattleing on the life boats. Notice that cabins 5238, 5236, 5245, 6232, 6234, 6281, 7258, 7260, 7303, 8232, 8234, and 8239 (not counting the cat9 cabins) have a longer balcony and a different arrangement of the cabin. Most of these rooms tend to also be handicaped. they give you a nice long balcony though. What they also give you is right next to the service area of the ship where ice and other items come from so it gets noisy at times expecially in the moning if you are not early risers. This area is only shown by a blank void in the deck plans.

FOr one-- For Carnival the spirit class ships is the easiest to get around. ALl other class ships have dead ends and you will have to go to one deck-- walk then go to the deck where you want.

Handicapped cabins are 6234 & 6281 7260 & 7303 8234 & 8239.These cabins sleep 2 and if you dont have a need for a handicapped cabin you could be moved up til the date of sailing if someone comes along and shows need. Booking these cabins you take a chance of being put somewhere else.

the ice/service room is located across the hall from these cabins and you cant hear from inside your cabin.

7258 & 8232 sleeps two and is highy sought after. 6232 sleeps 4 and its very hard for 2 people to book this cabin unless its not the high family season.

[ShippinOut]

Originally Posted by serene56

FOr one-- For Carnival the spirit class ships is the easiest to get around. ALl other class ships have dead ends and you will have to go to one deck-- walk then go to the deck where you want.

Handicapped cabins are 6234 & 6281 7260 & 7303 8234 & 8239.These cabins sleep 2 and if you dont have a need for a handicapped cabin you could be moved up til the date of sailing if someone comes along and shows need. Booking these cabins you take a chance of being put somewhere else.

the ice/service room is located across the hall from these cabins and you cant hear from inside your cabin.

7258 & 8232 sleeps two and is highy sought after. 6232 sleeps 4 and its very hard for 2 people to book this cabin unless its not the high family season.

Serene56, Thanks for adding that info about the handicaped layout. I relized later on that I had completly forgot to add that.

One nice thing about the handicaped rooms is the larger shower and therefore the larger bathroom. The shower has a flip down/up seat which turned out to be nice for my elderly mom when seas got rough. When flipped up, it is mostly out of the way. The only thing is when the ship is moving the drain is not the best as it is flush with the floor so the cabin attendant will leave extra rolled towels down to help keep the water at bay. The closets are also longer in these handicaped rooms. However, the layout has the beds along the hall wall so it can be a little less private and only slightly more noisy if you are by the stairs.

You are butted up against the service room which is noisy early in the morning--lots of bumps and bangs. I personally can vouch for this from experience. Oh, and the extended balconies are narrower on the fifth floor and wider on six and above.

It's a great ship and I miss it already.

[serene56]

Friends of ours had 6234 - where is the service area? THis was on the Miracle and it was across the hall. I dont recall a service area next to it.

We personally stayed in 1211 - although not a huge cabin like the ones above and there was a service area next to the butt out on the deck plans. Is that where you are talking?

I am heading on the Caribbean Princess come Feb. Can I expect a full report when you return?

[ShippinOut]

[quote=serene56]FOr one-- For Carnival the spirit class ships is the easiest to get around. ALl other class ships have dead ends and you will have to go to one deck-- walk then go to the deck where you want.

Hello serene56,

I just got back from Pride of Aloha and do you know what, I was thinking of you for most of the time on board. I take back everything I said about the Spirit not having a particularly wonderful layout. I was really talking about the fact that the fitness/spa area was at the bow of the ship and most of the time the gym area (where the view is fantastic) was closed and that this area would be much better with a lounge in it. That and the fact that the lounge/show areas have a split upper/lower entrance--which I grew love. BUT, forget all that. The layout to the Spirit is fantastic.

The layout that is NOT fantastic is that of the Pride of Aloha. Many times you have to go up and accross and down to get to places like restaurants and to disembark to ports and tenders. The only other ship I have encountered even remotely similar to this was Celebrity's Mercury which just had a quirky entrance to the main dinning room.

The Pride of Aloha is the only ship I have seen however, since my dad pointed it out to me as a kid on the Queen Mary hotel ship, that has cabin hallways from stern to bow with no twists and you can actually see the bowed arc shape of the ship's hull. But the Aloha has a crazy layout. My Uncle said the HAL Amsterdam has a few hard to get to places as well but POA tops my list.

Anyway, forget all I said about the layout of the Spirit. It is fantastic and so is the ship. You can get to anywhere you wish without much difficulty.

Serene56, getting back to your question, we stayed on Spirit's 5238 cabin and our friends stayed in 6234 and we both heard a lot of banging in the morning from the service area that boots up next to these cabins. But that was ONLY in the early morning. Other than that it was a very nice cabin. I am VERY much looking forward to the Caribbean Princess cruise. I promise to give a full report.

Smooth Seas

[pinkbuggy]

Good evening. I am booked on Carnival Spirit to cruise Hawaii in cabin 6232. I have heard this is the Carnival party/fun room because of the balcony (many great comments on this cabin). We stayed behind the elevators on the starboard side of the Miracle in this area (8235) before and it was quieter than we expected. We hardly heard anything. I did not know this room could sleep 4. Is it larger or are there 2 beds or the pullout sofa?

Thank you

[pinkbuggy]

Error message received but went through. Sorry for the duplicate.

[ciship]

Originally Posted by pinkbuggy

Good evening. I am booked on Carnival Spirit to cruise Hawaii in cabin 6232. I have heard this is the Carnival party/fun room because of the balcony (many great comments on this cabin). We stayed behind the elevators on the starboard side of the Miracle in this area (8235) before and it was quieter than we expected. We hardly heard anything. I did not know this room could sleep 4. Is it larger or are there 2 beds or the pullout sofa?

Thank you

We are booked in 8235 and 8237 (both 9A's) but Carnival told us that we could only put 2 people in each. Did they give the right info??

[pinkbuggy]

Ciship,

Sorry for the confusion. Cabin 8235 sleeps 2. It is a nice cabin - a little bit wider as it is a demi-suite. The balcony is a little longer than the already extended balcony too. You get the sliding door and a window. We loved it.

I was asking for info on 6232 on the Spirit. Some of the previous messages noted the balcony and room size. It was mentioned it could sleep 4 so I was asking about that one.

Enjoy your cabin. We liked it very much.

[serene56]

6232 does sleep 4 people. There are two beds on the floor. an upper bed that is above the convertible sofa. The upper bed is in the ceiling and wont even see it unless you need it.

Some sailings carnival will not allow only two people to occupy the cabin when they can get two more people to pay.

[cruisecrasy]

Sure wld like to hear your assessment of a Cat 12 or even an 11 on the Spirit. Looking to book asap.

Thanks for any assistance.

[gail811]

If you are interested in a suite, for Alaska you might consider a corner aft cabin. I had 8273 in August and had an amazing views! The suite is divided into two rooms, a living area and separate bedroom. Between the two is a dressing area with vanity and the bathroom. It is well worth the money! I spent most of my time on the balcony. Here is a link to my pictures.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/553196139hdswSN

[pinkbuggy]

Serene56,

Thanks for the room info. We are booked in that room. I guess there is a chance Carnival will bump us up (that is what they did to us last time). I guess we will see what happens when we get the tickets! Thanks again.