Yesterday we (Rob and Yanet) boarded the Norwegian Spirit in Honolulu, for a 24 day back-to-back voyage to French Polynesia (Tahiti) and back. This is only the second cruise of the Spirit since her restart on May 7th (the last Norwegian ship back in service).
I'm happy to (try to) answer any questions about the ship and the destinations, as we travel. We've been on the Spirit before, in October 2019, before the refurbishment.
We arrived in Honolulu four days before embarkation, directly off a 35 day b2b2b on the Encore. It's going to be tempting to compare with that ship (and the Bliss, which we spent 37 days on in January and February) but I'll try to resist as they are a very different size and experience.
We got to the port around 10.30. Boarding was the usual current process of waiting to have vaccine cards and test results checked, with no separate queue or priority for any level of latitudes membership. Once past that and security, there was a priority lane for latitudes which saved a little time. We were given boarding group A so after a short wait, with entertainment provided by some Hawaiian musicians and dancers, we got on board by 11.30.
Lunch was in the Windows main dining room, service was excellent, providing a good first impression. The decor in Windows, and really most of the ship, is however quite bland. The elegant decor and beautiful Asian art of the pre-refurbishment Spirit has been replaced with an inoffensive and boring look similar to a modern budget hotel - lots of mid brown laminates and cream.
Our inside cabin was ready by the time we finished, with luggage already delivered. The amount of space to store things in the room seems less than we remember before, it's now as bad as the modern big ships. No elegance or wow factor in the cabins for sure, bland again.
There are 1100 passengers on this first leg. Surprising, as there are very few people on the roll call or on another social media group. There wasn't enough interest for a meet and greet, which would be awkward anyway as this cruise has day five as the first sea day. There are four port days in Hawaii, then four sea days, then four port days in French Polynesia.
That's enough for an intro! I'll keep the next updates short, as things happen. Questions welcome!
Yesterday we (Rob and Yanet) boarded the Norwegian Spirit in Honolulu, for a 24 day back-to-back voyage to French Polynesia (Tahiti) and back. This is only the second cruise of the Spirit since her restart on May 7th (the last Norwegian ship back in service). I'm happy to (try to) answer any questions about the ship and the destinations, as we travel. We've been on the Spirit before, in October 2019, before the refurbishment. We arrived in Honolulu four days before embarkation, directly off a 35 day b2b2b on the Encore. It's going to be tempting to compare with that ship (and the Bliss, which we spent 37 days on in January and February) but I'll try to resist as they are a very different size and experience. We got to the port around 10.30. Boarding was the usual current process of waiting to have vaccine cards and test results checked, with no separate queue or priority for any level of latitudes membership. Once past that and security, there was a priority lane for latitudes which saved a little time. We were given boarding group A so after a short wait, with entertainment provided by some Hawaiian musicians and dancers, we got on board by 11.30. Lunch was in the Windows main dining room, service was excellent, providing a good first impression. The decor in Windows, and really most of the ship, is however quite bland. The elegant decor and beautiful Asian art of the pre-refurbishment Spirit has been replaced with an inoffensive and boring look similar to a modern budget hotel - lots of mid brown laminates and cream. Our inside cabin was ready by the time we finished, with luggage already delivered. The amount of space to store things in the room seems less than we remember before, it's now as bad as the modern big ships. No elegance or wow factor in the cabins for sure, bland again. There are 1100 passengers on this first leg. Surprising, as there are very few people on the roll call or on another social media group. There wasn't enough interest for a meet and greet, which would be awkward anyway as this cruise has day five as the first sea day. There are four port days in Hawaii, then four sea days, then four port days in French Polynesia. That's enough for an intro! I'll keep the next updates short, as things happen. Questions welcome!
