Carnival Spirit New Years Cruise
NEW YEARS EVE CRUISE – CARNIVAL SPIRIT
Having never cruised over New Years’ this cruise was a great opportunity to experience.
I’ve have sailed on Carnival Spirit a number of times I was able to settle straight into relax mode. Embarkation was very quick, onboard by about 12.15pm and after having nice lunch of taco’s at the Blue Iguana looking over Circular Quay.
Being school holidays, it was decided to get a balcony so if it was very busy we could relax between there and the Serenity deck. Our cabin was an obstructed balcony meaning we had a lifeboat under our balcony but beautiful 180 degrees views. As always very comfortable!
I will concentrate on New Years cruise aspects but my review of Spirit is available on my blog.
This cruise is quite different in its passenger makeup. Yes, there are more kids but not a problem. All well behaved and having a great time. There was a bigger proportion of family groups, so maybe 3/4 families travelling together and often three generations. The makeup was also of people whose work limits them to this time of year such as teachers and tradies. I also noticed a lot of people who do this cruise every year and have already booked next year. If you are thinking of this cruise it’s something to bear in mind.
Because of the passenger made up lots of group activities such as trivia it was very crowded. You often needed to arrive half an hour earlier to get a seat. This also applied to early stage shows and PG Comedy show with the later show quieter. We often worked our scheduling to that.
The casino was a lot busier than normal all cruise, particularly at the tables.
Anytime dining was very easy to get a table after about 7.30pm with no-one coming in after 8pm. Attending the dinner and then late show worked well.
New Years’ Eve
The key event was a formal night with many people getting photos. The dining room had many fun hats to choose from with 2018 New Years’ printed on them, tiaras with feathers for the ladies and gold hats for the guys. Very festive with a great menu. I understand Nouveau steakhouse was busy early and then much quieter.
Over the evening they invited everyone to write their New Years’ wishes to be put in a balloon for the big balloon drop in the Atrium at 11pm. This was fun with hundreds of balloons being released down the 10-storey atrium with everyone stomping on the balloons. Not a bad end to your New Years’ wish!
NYE Party
The party was on Lido Pool deck sailing from Noumea to Suva with fabulous weather. House band Manilla was playing and the crew handed out heaps of clappers, poppers and hats. Just before midnight Sydney Harbour came up on the big screen and everyone counted down to midnight, celebrating whilst watching the Sydney fireworks as a back drop. For those that kicked on the Piano bar it was the place to be; with a breakfast offered in the buffet at 2pm with bacon, eggs, hash browns, etc. It was pretty quiet around ship next morning.
Climate
We had the most amazing weather all cruise. Maximum swell was no more than 1 metre, so you hardly felt any movement with little wind and blue skies. Evenings were magic. Fiji however, was very hot and humid. It’s amazing what difference a day or 2 of sailing makes, 36-37 degrees with high humidity made for uncomfortable exploring. Ashore in Port Denarau, had the most places in the open though it was too hot to eat or drink. After I went back to the ship and enjoyed the Serenity deck and pool. This was the case for most shore excursions that were in the sun.
In summary, it was really enjoyable cruise and found it very relaxing after everyone settled down in first few days. Because of the demand and special nature of the cruise it is expensive compared to other times of the year. Plus it is one of Carnivals longest trips at 11 nights. If you only have holidays at this time or want to a change in New Years’ celebrations it is definitely worth considering!