Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Spirit

Spirit Lobby Bar

Situated at the base of Carnival Spirit’s soaring atrium on Deck 2, the Lobby Bar is the hub of the ship. It basks in a pink glow cast from the red glass roof at the top, a color that continues to imbue the room after dark, owing to the salmon colored walls and copper accents that dominate the ship’s design.

Open the longest of any of the ship’s bars, the Lobby Bar stays busy through much of the day and evening, but it’s not hard to find an empty barstool for the crescent shaped marble counter. Pull up a chair at one of the smaller tables flanking the elevator shafts, or there’s seating available at sofas lining big windows.

Live music is scheduled here at various points daily, along with the captain’s welcome event.

Monarch’s Card Room

The ship’s daily program designated meeting times for Bridge- and Euchre-players to meet, but otherwise the room was little used. There was a small selection of board games here, including Battleship, Clue, Parcheesi, Yahtzee, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit.

Chippendale Library and Internet Café

This small venue was one of Carnival Spirit’s more attractive public rooms. There were 10 PCs available for use, and a helpful crewmember was usually on duty here to provide web surfing assistance.

The reading library selection was meager at best.

Additional Details

The basic internet usage plan was .75 per minute, plus a one-time $3.95 activation fee; this covered computers in the Internet Café as well as WiFi around the ship. There were various packages available that brought the per-minute price down to .64 per minute (45 minutes for $29), .49 per minute (120 minutes for $59), etc. Those who purchased one of the plans on the first two days of the cruise received up to 20 minutes additional time, free of charge.

We found the tips sheet provided offers good details on how to improve WiFi access, especially for iPad users.

The Jungle

We never figured out what real purpose this pair of corridors served, but it exhibited the kind of kooky design Carnival is famed for. Painted with jungle themes—animals, bamboo and forest vegetation—the hallways are on Deck 3 forward and line the outside of the Pharaoh’s Palace. There are sofas, chairs and tables and nice portholes for taking in sea views, but not once did we see anyone using them.

Exterior Promenade (Deck 3)

This wide walkway almost encircles all of Deck 3, but for running or walking laps you’ll want to head to Deck 10. This is a nice place for taking in the breeze and/or sun, but there were no deck chairs on the Promenade, meaning it was used primarily only by smokers (smoking permitted on the Starboard side).

This is where the Muster Drill was conducted on the first day of the cruise.

Lobby

Weaving art nouveau and art deco elements at the base of a 12-story atrium, the lobby is the nucleus of the ship. You’ll find the guest services and shore excursion counters here, and at the base of the elevator shaft some cocktail events took place at various points of our cruise.