Spirit leaves until October

Spirit bids Mobile farewell until fall: Carnival Spirit, the 959 foot by 127 foot passenger ship sailing under the flag of Bahamas, heads out of Mobile Bay Thursday afternoon, marking the end of cruise ship travel out of Mobile for about eight months. Moving at 15 mph, the ship sets course for Miami and later the Mediterranean, where it will enter drydock for nearly four weeks. Spirit’s first passenger voyage post-drydock comes in mid March when it leaves Spain for two weeks with stops in Portugal and Bermuda before winding up in Miami. In late March, Spirit heads for the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast to Seattle where it will spend the summer offering cruises to Alaska and Canada. Spirit returns to Mobile in October. Photo shot from Orange St pier in Fairhope, roughly 6.5 miles away…