Seas2mountains

Thank you for all the detailed information on your hotel in Reykjavik!! It does sound small from your description. I know my husband and his neck would probably not appreciate that elevator! Wow! Your information on possible hotels is very helpful as we are considering the Star Iceland/Greenland itinerary for June 2024. We have not been on the Star but have been on her sister, the Dawn. We love Los Lobos on the Dawn and wish it was on the Star, too. When I was researching the Star before knowing that you were going to on the ship and doing a live review, I noticed the information about Spice H2O from NCL and a YouTube video and wondered if it is usable space on a colder weather cruise. Well now that you are on the ship, I'm sure you will cover this in your review.😀 Sorry to hear the heated tile lounge chairs were not very comfortable. We all got spoiled on those hot ones on the Spirit. Now we have some ideas for traveling in Reykjavik and I will closely watch your review for ideas and excursions for the ports that are in common. Norway was beautiful when I traveled there many years ago on land and with boat trips. It's exciting to follow along with you as I do want to return on a ship. So glad to hear you are feeling better. Enjoy Day 1 and the many more ahead. I'm curious how full your ship might be as I hear this itinerary isn't always full. Thank you again for all the time you take for this wonderful live review!

@TfromBC I didn't want to hijack @YVRteacher's live review on the Star or on her Spirit review but know you are looking for excursions on your B2B on the Spirit. I know it can get really expensive and some budgets don't allow for all excursions at all ports. Like @YVRteacher recommended, I will second many of hers: Sitka - we did the NCL Best of Sitka tour which takes you to the Raptor Center, Fortress of the Bears, and Sitka National Historical Park where you will see the totem poles. I would do this tour again. You can read some of my comments earlier in this review. Juneau - I do recommend going to Mendenhall Glacier and a whale watching tour as Yvonne suggested. You can also ride the tram up to Mt. Roberts and the views are excellent if the clouds aren't too low. I know you have two stops here. I also did a review on the Alaska museum which we did on one stop as we have been to this port a few times. It was very interesting if you want to learn more about the native Alaskan tribes and their history. Skagway - I definitely recommend the White Pass railway excursion and the Ghost and Good Times Girls Walking tours as Yvonne did. I do cover the Ghost and Good Time tour in this review. You should also go to the creek in the park near the port as the salmon may be running and they can be fun to watch. Icy Strait Point - we did like our whale watching tour but I think the one we did in Seward was better for seeing a variety of whales. You may be lucky and will see one or more from the ship as we have at times. The free tram with a chance to walk around the beach area and towards Hoonah are great choices, too. Seward - I second Yvonne's recommendation for Major Marine or Kenai Fjords tour and found that the one we took on Major Marine was probably the best excursion out of all the excursions we took in Alaska besides the White Pass railway but if those aren't in the budget, you can walk or take a free shuttle to the Sealife Center or you may also find a way to get to Exit Glacier to walk on it as we have done in the past. If you can do the Major Marine or Kenai Fjords boat tour, you will likely get close to a glacier and they will even make margaritas out of glacier ice. For some crazy reason, they let everyone touch the glacier ice and after everyone touched it - then they made the margaritas. We didn't care to drink ice that had been touched by 50+ people. LOL. Ketchikan- we did not do any excursions here but enjoyed walking around town and Creek Street. We only saw 4 salmon swimming and a seal that was trailing behind them. We have stopped here on other cruises and saw many more salmon than on this visit. Our bus driver mentioned that the commercial fishing of the salmon had been impacting their salmon population. Hubbard Glacier - we struck out on both scheduled visits due to fog or too much and no one even got to go on the Hubbard Glacier boat trip that Yvonne and her Dad got to do. It looked lovely and if you can't do an excursion in Seward to see a glacier up close from a boat, it sound like this would be a great choice. On previous cruises with Hubbard Glacier on the itinerary, we got up much closer and were thrilled to see the calving. When on the Spirit, do not miss a chance to eat dinner in Taste as the service was a bit better than in Windows for dinner and the food temperature was hot. Onda was also a favorite of ours and I know Yvonne also mentioned this as one she also enjoyed. I also wanted to thank @bluesea777 for the many suggestions given to me during this review including the recommendation to go to Taste for dinner. If you search, you may find a previous review @bluesea777 did on the Spirit or maybe they can tag it for you that covers many details about the ship that were really helpful to me when I was considering the Spirit. Have a wonderful cruise and I hope my additional comments confirming many the great suggestions @YVRteacher made are helpful to you. Maybe you can do a live review so we can all follow along? 😀

@YVRteacher Thank you again for posting another excellent live review. Where are you staying in Reykjavik and do you recommend it? When you were on the Star in the past, did they have Spice H2O or will that area be new to you? I know it does not look as nice as the Spirit H2O area but may be a nice place to watch scenery since there isn't a Spinnaker lounge. I do not like how that observation area does not exist on the Star or Dawn. Did you get a thermal spa pass? Have a wonderful cruise!

@bstreep you are going to love the Spirit! It’s my favorite NCL ship out of 13 NCL ships we have sailed. The Gem is my second favorite ship. If you are arriving in Vancouver on the Sunday before the cruise, that is great as there is a lot to do in Vancouver. Do you need suggestions? I do recommend checking on your options to upgrade. Sometimes it can be a minimal amount. Please don’t beat yourself up. What excursions do you have planned for Sitka, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Skagway? You are so lucky to be on this cruise. The cabin isn’t everything.

Not that it matters, but are you sure you have the correct ship and dates? The Spirit Alaska itineraries are Wednesday to Wednesday. It left Vancouver two days ago and won’t be back in Vancouver until August 2nd. It looks like there is plenty of availability to upgrade to a picture window oceanview or balcony. Have you tried calling to get prices on the options? The Jewel itineraries are Monday to Monday. The Spirit is a beautiful ship. I hope you have a great cruise.

Thank you for a wonderful live review as usual! We loved the Spirit, too, and really hope we can return soon. Please keep writing these live reviews as they are greatly appreciated! 😁. I’m so excited to follow your cruise on the Star as we are considering the Iceland/Norway itinerary on the same ship for a cruise in June 2024.

Whew. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that, too! 😄

Yes Yes. We have been in this situation two times in the past year. One was a cruise departing within a week. As long as you call before the 24 hour mark after booking.

If she cancels within 24 hours of making the reservation, it is all refundable.

Was the bartender Made? He was on the Getaway in the Haven when we cruised last September and we ran into him on the Escape in early June. If it is Made, you will have fantastic service at the Haven bar all week! Thank you for taking the time to do a live review! I look forward to reading about your cruise!

Pricing for the Haven on NCL Joy in September is actually lower than other times of the year and is quite comparable to MSC YC pricing for deluxe balcony cabins. You could pay to upgrade to get a confirmed cabin. The Haven pool area on the Joy has a retractable roof for the poor weather days. The NCL ships have much better entertainment options than I have experienced on MSC when in YC and the staff on NCL provide excellent service throughout the ship. When on MSC, we have had great service in YC but it’s not as great when leaving the YC area. You may be surprised to find out that NCL can provide a wonderful cruise experience whether in the Haven or not.

You can arrive at any time for check-in. We haven’t had anyone ask for our check-in time when embarking in Miami this year. Since you are in the Haven, you will get to board ahead of the others close to 11am. Have a wonderful cruise!

That's great to hear you got a Matador made by Froilan! He does make the best Matador's and other drinks! I do agree with you about the acoustics in Henry's Pub as it was frustrating to try to hear the musicians play when people were yelling or speaking so loud in that venue. Wow on all the crew turnover to include Jerry being replaced with Jeimy. Do you know how long Jeimy will be on the Spirit? We are still hoping my husband can get time off from work for the Sept. 15-27 Honolulu to Papeete so we hope some of the crew will still be on the ship in two months. The Spirit Bridge camera does not look good right now. Was there "too much ice" again? Did I miss your update about the Dinner with the Officers or did that not happen as planned? How sweet on the Peach Bellini with your name on it in Magnums! Was that Jane or Cherryl? I think she had two R's in her name and not two Y's. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed listening to Valentyna and are now liking Anfisa's music. That is too funny about Dad finding his truffles in the safe. Yes, sometimes you just have to go with his answer. 🤣

I'm so glad to hear you are having a wonderful cruise! Was that Cheryyl (I might have the spelling wrong but I don't think it was Cheryl) or was it Jane? Cheryyl went all the way to Henry's Pub to get me a Matador. In either case, they were wonderful. Do you know who will be replacing Valentyna? We also loved Onda. Have you had a chance to go to Taste for dinner? Sorry about your Cagney's experience earlier in the week for dinner. I'm hoping you can get closer to Hubbard tomorrow.

When considering the big NCL ships, Bliss is my favorite over Encore, Getaway, and Breakaway but we have not tried Joy or Epic. I agree with you about Bliss in Alaska. It’s also one choppy sea day to get there and another on the way back. It’s best to consider Jewel or a longer Sun cruise or my new favorite, the Spirit for the short time left in Alaska this season.

Port: Seward Ship: Spirit Room: I initially thought you meant room/venue on the ship. Lol. Doesn't matter. Whatever you can afford. Room/venue on ship: We hung out in Spinnaker lounge (a beautiful observation lounge) when it was cold but scenic and in Spice H2O when the weather was nice.

Cruised several times on NCL in the past two months. Sky - May 5th. Cabins ready at 2:30pm Escape - May 28th Cabins ready at 2:30pm Spirit - June 21st. Cabins ready at 1:11pm Spirit- June 28th Cabins ready at about 1pm.

@YVRteacher I’m dying laughing about your spa etiquette class. When we were there one day last week, a man was in the jetted shower area and was apparently quite happy with it. He sounded like the restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally and he did that for several minutes. Those of us in the spa area were all giggling as I think he must have had no idea we could all hear him. 🤣 On the passenger counts for our cruise last week, I kept getting different answers but they ranged from 1500-1700. I got the latitude level info from Ray and I was also disappointed that Stephanie didn’t mention it during the party. For me, it’s interesting to hear the numbers by level and I do think they should recognize the Ambassador and Diamond guests. We had the same thing happen at Onda when we had one night with a late reservation at 8:45pm but they had no problem seating us at 6pm. Next time you go, you’ll have to see if you like the San Remo if you haven’t already tried it. I’m glad you like B12 as much as we did and I’m sorry to hear they are too loud for Dad. Yes, Over the Moon is fantastic. I hope you can catch Jonathan when he plays Free Bird from Lynyrd Skynyrd as he is so talented as is Jellica with the amazing range of songs she can sing. If you are in Magnum’s when Over the Moon is there and also when the server, Jane, is present, please encourage her to sing with them as they did have her sing the first week and we really enjoyed it. I hope you can get into Henry’s Pub as Froilan was the best bartender and we also loved the server, Orlando. If Over the Moon is playing there, you can ask if Orlando can sing with them as he did last week and he was also excellent. He was nervous as is expected but also so proud of how the crowd cheered him on during and after his performance. Did anyone touch the sheets during the BTS tour? @bluesea777 is spot on about going to Taste for dinner. Have a wonderful day in Sitka! I’m so glad to hear you are having a great time and I’m sure the seas will be calmer soon. P.S. We had no noise issues in the balcony cabins on deck 10 except hearing one of our neighbors sound like he was going to cough up his lungs every night the second week. We took plenty of Airborne and have had no cold symptoms so far. Several people on the social media group for our cruise are reporting they have Covid but those reports seem to happen after every cruise we have taken post-Covid. Oh and another P.S., you took amazing notes on the BTS tour. I’m so impressed as I would not have been able to remember 1/10th of the ones you wrote about.

Looks like you had a gorgeous day at ISP followed by a great dinner at Cagney’s. That’s wonderful! I’m sorry to hear about the underwhelming whale watching and seafood fest tour. Was it a tour through NCL or an independent operator? We did the 2.5 hour whale watching one through NCL at ISP and it was actually really good. I’m loving your review! Thank you for all the great photos. Hope you are feeling better. Happy Birthday!

While the first time listed for disembarkation on this says 8:30am, they actually started it at 7:30am. With it being a smaller ship, we had no lines when we got off at 8:30am.

Day 7/14 daily. I was not able to get the PDF version to download as the wifi was too slow.

My final update may be a bit delayed as my summer break ended yesterday and I was back at school where I work at an alternative school that follows a year-round calendar. My husband is also back at work. We keep trying to decide if the extended vacation like a 14 day cruise plus travel time is worth the craziness of diving back into work before getting all laundry and other tasks done. I think it may be worth it. 😃 My next extended school break is in September so we would love to go on the 12-day Spirit cruise from Hawaii to French Polynesia and Tahiti. We loved the crew and the design of the Spirit. We did miss some comforts from other ships but also love the itinerary of that cruise. I also need to post the final daily. Thank you for following along.

Your backpacking trip sounds fun and that time of year is nice in that area. That is great that you have FCC to use, too! We were surprised by the Fourth of July celebration, too, and how many people attended. Now the one thing that really surprised me was the fact that they had the Boston Pops concert and fireworks broadcast on the big screen in the atrium beginning at 5pm Pacific time. I did not realize how many people were interested in it as the atrium was filled during the before dinner crowd.

We are home now and I am so excited to stay on the ship through your updates. Ray (I think he referred to himself as Ray and not Raymond) gave an outstanding BTS tour. When you go, watch to see how many people touch the clean sheets after he asks them not to touch them. Ewww - so gross. We loved Jerry the cruise director! He was one of the best ones we have had in awhile. You should not miss the Cake decorating session which may be tomorrow. But it is also a little gross as he feeds some of the chocolate, cake and whipped cream directly to the kids' by putting them inside their mouths. By the end my husband and I wondered, how many times his gloved hands touched the saliva in kids' mouths and in some cases adults were happy to be fed those items in their mouth, too. That is really neat that he is related to a cruise director you know.

We enjoyed lunch outside at the Great Outdoors followed by most of the afternoon in the hot tub and soaking up the sun in H2O. They did serve grilled salmon on the pool deck and in Garden Cafe. It tasted really good so maybe it was somewhat fresh? They also had Fourth of July BBQ items. Throughout the cruise, we really enjoyed meeting new people and having fun conversations about their excursions and their travels. When at the pool, people were commenting that they didn’t plan on having a nice tan after an Alaskan cruise. Since we wanted to see a before dinner set by Over the Moon, we didn’t leave time for a nap but could have used one. We had a delicious final dinner at Cagney’s but ordered one appetizer and skipped the salad or soup option even through we tried eating light for lunch. We had no room for dessert so we were able to catch the final songs played by Over the Moon in a busy Henry’s Pub as they have created many fans of their music. Now that we said our goodbyes to the servers in Magnums and Henry’s Pub, we needed to get to Spinnaker to say goodbye there after hearing B12 and a combined performance by B12, Over the Moon and Nature’s Rhythm. As we tend to focus on live music and don’t go to too many theater events, I dragged my husband to Elements earlier in the evening but we sat on deck 8 in the back row where we were able to quietly slip out when we decided it wasn’t something we cared to stay for the entire time. We loved World Beat and Blazing Boots but this was just not our favorite. On our flight now so will update with final comments later. We hope to be home tonight when the Spirit is beginning. sail away.