Carnival Spirit: The Inside Story

Our cruise tales from the Carnival Spirit continue with a tour of some of our favorite on-board places . . . the ‘inside story', you might say.

It was our second sailing on this ship that stretches 960 feet in length (about the size of three American football fields) and 106 feet in width. When completely full – as it was on our cruise – the total guests number 2,124.

Now, more than a decade old and recently renovated, it sports some new ‘fun ship’ features, yet it retains many we remembered from our earlier cruise.




We loved the light fixtures and the seat backs in the Artist’s Lobby. Located in mid-ship we often strolled through it on our way to the Empire Restaurant.


The Empire Restaurant, the main dining room, is -- as is the case with most present-day cruise ships -- enormous. It takes 45 teams of three people – to serve dinner to guests that fill this elegant two-story venue each night.  There are two set-mealtimes and 'any-time' dining options, so the place is a continual hub of activity. (I’ll tell you about one of our culinary adventures on board in a future post.)



At the opposite end of the ship is the equally enormous two-story theatre, the Pharaoh’s Palace. The eye-popping motif remained as we recalled it being the first time we sailed this ship.



The Lobby was always one of the liveliest places on the ship as there was always some musical entertainment or other activity and  guests were always gathered at the circular bar.

The best way to get an overview of it was to ride the glass elevators.  This shot should give you an idea of the height of our ship as well.



Our balcony cabin was located toward the front of the ship, not far from elevators and stairways – one of our preferred locations on a ship.
Spending time on our own balcony is one of our favorite parts of cruising.  (Balcony rooms do cost more than inside rooms that have no windows or views but we think the cost difference is worth it.)

What about you?  What is your favorite part of cruising?