Spirit May 6-17 Mediterranean Cruise Review With Photos

i am so looking forward to my first time on Spirit this fall!

From earlier in your review, this picture of Dubrovnik - we ate at the restaurant that is marked with the arrow. It was right on the way towards the fortress. Restaurant Orhan, a family owned and operated place.

 

 

 

The food was great, service was very nice as well, view was AMAZING. My wife raved about how amazing the sauce was in the mussels she ordered. We spoke to the waiter about his acting role in Game of Thrones.

 

I'm really enjoying your review and pictures. Its really bringing great memories back and I wish to be on the Spirit again!

Call me Al - nice post. Pictures sure bring back memories. I remember your restaurant. Maybe there will be a next time for me and if so I will be sure to make a point of eating there. Thanks for the tip. Great views indeed.

Al I looked over my photos and here are a few more showing your restaurant.

To get to Call me Al's recommended restaurant...... After you walk the wall exit the old city and cross the moat at Pile Gate. Turn right, down the steps and under the moat as seen in the photo. Walk to the small beach where they rent kayaks. Follow the walkway toward the fortress and you will pass the restaurant.

To the right as seen in this photo take the walkway below the wall. Restaurant is in the far right of picture. Pass the restaurant is where you take the steps up to the Fortress.

Restaurant is on the left next to this inclined walkway.

and above this boat and wall.

Call me Al

Found these photos too........... Here are the views similar to those you enjoyed from the restaurant

Found another photo of the restaurant taken while climbing the steps to the Fortress

KOPER UPDATE - SKOCJAN CAVES

I forgot to mention that the caves our group of six visited while in Koper was the Skocjan Caves. The larger and more popular caves are the Postojna Caves (these caves have the train ride).

The Skocjan caves are about a 3 km walk. I don't think NCL had shore excursions to the Skocjan Caves but I stand to be corrected. Both caves are excellent, but ........ be sure you visit the caves that suit your needs. One has the train ride and the other has the roaring gorge/under ground river.

Great pics thanks! I actually walked a bit different path to the restaurant, seeing the one you sent is a nice walk, and probably a bit more adventurous. There's a staircase in the area in front of pile gate that leads down to a back alley that takes you to the same area where they rent kayaks. I'm not sure if this link will work, but its a neat 360 degree picture on google maps that looks up the alleyway, and also down towards the water and restaurant, the fortress, etc, with some pretty stormy looking seas.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.6415894,18.1052546,3a,75y,4.34h,100.53t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN8rjNBDd4IqeuLGqRbLBBzMTUuczbpmtEX5LlH!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN8rjNBDd4IqeuLGqRbLBBzMTUuczbpmtEX5LlH%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya174.87-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Looking forward to more updates in this thread, keep them coming!

Corfu

Another DIY day. We had planned to walk to the port entrance but …… Corfu provides shuttle buses to the entrance and being off early the first shuttle bus was half full when we were walking by so we hopped on. The shuttle dropped us at the port building near the entrance.We stopped at the TIC inside the port building to get directions and bus numbers to Kanoni for our visit to Mouse Island.

The bus stop is outside the entrance to the port. We purchased the all-day bus ticket from the driver for 5 euros pp. The bus company had a very knowledgeable and friendly staff person assisting passengers, selling tickets and providing bus schedules. During ship days they run extra direct buses to and from the old City and port. Very convenient. Tip - get a bus schedule from the assistant or on the bus. Our bus had them located on the left-hand side just pass the first couple rows of seats near the front.

The bus dropped us off near the front gate entrance to the old town. From there we took a leisurely stroll in the old town and shopped a bit. We made our way to Spianada Square and somehow came upon the bus stop for bus 2B to Kanoni. The bus stop is located pretty well in the center of the square on Viktoros Dousmani Street. This street runs through the square and the bus stop can be found on the left side under the trees. The bus arrived and departed a few minutes ahead of schedule.

We got off at Kanoni, the last stop on the route. Kanoni is the drop off point for the most famous and photographed spot on Corfu, the church of Panagia Vlacherna and Pontikonissi better known as Mouse Island. A James bond 1981 “For Your Eyes Only”scene was filmed here.

We enjoyed the view from the café near the bus stop and watched a few planes land. We took the steps through the café which led us to the waterfront. We took the 5-minute boat ride out to Mouse Island. We were accompanied by one other couple on each leg of the trip. The boat ride was quite refreshing and we enjoyed the breeze and views.

Mouse Island is,should I say very quaint. We walked around the island and then climbed the short set of steps up to the church of Pantokrator. I purchased a cold Greek beer for 2 euros from the small gift shop/café next to the church. We relaxed and enjoyed the James Bond moment for half an hour or so enjoying the romantic view for two (plus the shop keeper, two dogs and turtle). TIP - keep camera ready on the island as the planes fly directly overhead prior to landing nearby. Not quite as dramatic as St. Martin in the Caribbean but very nice still the same.

Upon exiting the boat on our return we noticed a beach a short distance from the boat dock. We checked it out and the beach has umbrella’s and loungers. We did not go close enough to see if the chairs can be rented or if they belonged to the property at the top of the hill. I did a search and there is a place called Brachera Beach Bar that shows up on google maps. It may be worth checking out during the summer heat for those wanting a refreshing dip to break up your day.

We took bus 2B back to Corfu town and hopped off one stop past the post office. There were plenty of non-tourist shopping opportunities along these streets located just outside old town. Unfortunately they were closed as it was late on a Sunday afternoon. We walked back to through the old town and caught the local bus back to port. From there we took the complimentary shuttle offered by the Corfu Port Authority back to the Spirit. We planned on checking out both castles/forts but we did not get around to it. Overall a very relaxing day.

Tip – McDonald’s is located at the edge of the old town next to the square. They provide free WiFi. I don’t think a purchase was necessary but in good conscience we purchased a coke and a couple of fries to eat while checking in back home. A purchase also gives you a code for the upstairs bathroom for those in need of a washroom break.They have outside tables which make for a great place to sit and watch the world go by. Been a while since we had McDonald’s ……. and the fries are still tasty.

Mouse Island - the most photographed place on Corfu

Another view of Mouse Island showing the view from the restaurant

Church of Panagia Vlacherna

Inside the Church of Panagia Vlacherna

Planes landing at the airport

Walking around Mouse Island - very peaceful by the water, the other couple on the island went to the church first so we had plenty of quiet relaxing time. There are big rocks to sit on for nice photos.

Church on Mouse Island - note the dog

Turtle on Mouse Island - Nice views from the picnic table in the background while having a beer or treat from the cafe

The beach near Mouse Island

A few old town pics

We are doing this same cruise end of September so reading your wonderfully detailed review is a major help.

Can't wait to read the rest!!

 

Peggy

Hi Peggy I think we will be on same cruise. This review is great and has really

helped with planning for the adventure. Cant wait.

Donna

Oh the Spirit, I love this ship too. We were on her in 2015 for the Grand med and had a fabulous time. Thank you for posting your experiences! Hope to read more!

Nancy

Oh the Spirit, I love this ship too. We were on her in 2015 for the Grand med and had a fabulous time. Thank you for posting your experiences! Hope to read more!

 

Nancy

Nancy ....... another worshiper of the Great Ship Spirit ........ as you can see I have a few more ports to go and up next (when time permits) we'll go back in time when people worshiped at the Temple of Zeus, while today we worship the Great Ship Spirit LOL

We did the Grand med on the Spirit in late August 2015. We loved the ship so much we booked her again when she moved to the Caribbean in the fall of 2015, sailing on the Thanksgiving Week Cruise out of Orlando (USA Thanksgiving not our's here in Canada).

one question. were shows at 7 and 9?

one question. were shows at 7 and 9?

Not 100% sure but there are two shows each night and these times are about right. Maybe 15 minutes give or take at the most. Hopefully someone who cruised on the 11 day trip recently sees this and has copies of the dailies to post or can recall the exact times for you.

One of the pluses for the Spirit is the shows do not need require reservations. There are plenty of seats in theater style seating.

Having the exact times for the shows would be helpful for booking specialty dining times.

Anyone out there with the dailies at home to assist our fellow cruisers plan their upcoming vacations?

Is Jefferson still playing guitar in Henry’s Pub at night? He was great, remembered all the regulars names each night and played songs for them.

Thanks for your posts & pic's. We love the Spirit and have had several great Med cruises on her.

Is Jefferson still playing guitar in Henry’s Pub at night? He was great, remembered all the regulars names each night and played songs for them.

We checked out Henry's but no Jefferson. Our oldest son really enjoyed watching him. Between sets near the end of the cruise he would sit and chat with oldest son and those at his table. We would drop in every night to check in with our son and watch a set and Jefferson would nod and say "welcome Josh's parents". Classy guy. Great musician.

Thanks for your posts & pic's. We love the Spirit and have had several great Med cruises on her.

Glad to share. Hope to put something together for Olympia soon.

Boy do I miss the Spirit. It was the first ship we cruised on out of Boston for 15 night Caribbean. My favorite so far. Wish they would bring her back to the US.

Katakolon/Olympia

During research I found images of theOlympia Site and they were basically a bunch of rocks scattered about here andthere. This port, we decided, needed professional help. This led me to “The Travel Insiders” –Despina and Sashia.

Great choice. I corresponded with Despina,one of the partners of this small family run business. We exchanged several emails and came to termson price and itinerary. I posted on the roll call and secured a group of ninein her 17-passenger van. Plenty of room for all.

We were among the first ashore. Despina waswaiting dockside and off we went. TIP –be sure your camera battery is in your camera and not enjoying the day in yourcharger, in your stateroom. I woke up,unplugged my charger but forgot to insert battery in camera. Rookie mistake. My iPhone was a great substitute.

Our first stop was at the Monasteryof Kremasti. Great views, quiet, peaceful and two excellentpresentations by the sisters at two separate sites. Be sure to bring your camera battery. LOL

After the Monastery of Kremasti westopped at the Local Association of Agriculture for olive andwine samples. They were waiting for uswhen we arrived. Samples and presentation were fun. I enjoyed the presentation and tasting thewine, olives and dressings, especially tasting the differences in the dressingswe created, starting with olive oil, then adding vinaigrette, then honey and soon. Each addition provided a differenttaste. The wonders of food chemistry.

Like the Monastery, we were the only group on site. Despina made sure theVIP treatment matched her VIP Limo (see photo).

Next, on to Olympia Village. Their website sums it up this way … The Archaeological Museum of Olympia, oneof the most important museums in Greece, presents the long history of the mostcelebrated sanctuary of antiquity, the sanctuary of Zeus, father of both godsand men, where the Olympic games were born.

Despina saved this site for last. She timed it so most tour buses from our ship were done and gone, theywere most likely tasting wine and olives at the Local Association ofAgriculture. While there I noticed theywere set up to host a big group, had to be our shipmates.

Back to Olympia ……our number two trip highlight (hard to compete withSkocjan Caves). Our tourat Olympia Village exceeded expectations. Knowing a good guide is a must for this site we hit the jackpot. Sashiaour guide is the best guide we have ever experienced. One more time – BESTGUIDE EVER.

Between her contagious enthusiasm, engagingsmile, knowledge and visual aids Sashia was able to visually bring us back intime. For those interested in sports,history and Greek Mythology look no further than Despina and Sashia.

The site has plenty of trees and shade. Ateach stop we would pick an ancient rock and sit under the shaded trees. Openair ancient history 101 – sitting in the very spot where it all took place,imagine that!!!

Sashia would show us visual aids andthrough her special gift of presentation we were drawn back in time. Thescattered rocks were “just a bunch of rocks” no more. Sashia made those rockscome alive. At the museum she “tied itall in” perfectly. Every artifact in the museum came from the site. Old stuff indeed.

After our tour Despina was waiting forus. She dropped us in the Town ofOlympia for a half hour of free time and then back to our ship.

An excellent day. I would highly recommend a small private tourwith The Travel Insiders. Be sure tobook Sashia as your guide. A reallygood guide is a must. As with most European sites only licensed guides areallowed to bring groups for onsite tours. For this site the additional cost for the guide was 130 euros, sharedamong our group.

Some photos ….

We travelled in style.......17 seats and plenty of room.

View form the Monastery

Monastery

More Monastery

Local Association of Agriculture

This is spot where the Olympic Torch is lit for each of the modern games. Temple of Hera provides the background for the photo op.

The Stadium

Temple of Zeus. The remains of each statute including Nike at the very top are on display in the Museum.

Temple of Zeus Today - This pillar is recreated for show. Sections of this pillar are original stone from this very site.

Look closely at the photo Sashia is presenting above and you can these original statues at the top of the Temple of Zeus. These are inside the muesum and Sashia will provide you with an explanation for each.

Hermes of Praxiteles statue of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, by Praxiteles. One of the masterpieces of ancient Greek art. It is thought to be an original of the great sculptor and it is dated to ca.330 B.C. If you have been to Florence, you’ll note the similarities to Michelangelo's David which was created much later between 1501 and 1504. David is much bigger however.

They found thousands of these ancient toy animals sacrificed at the Temple of Zeus. The poor could not sacrifice live animals so they purchased or made these as an offering to Zeus.

We are on the Spirit in September and your review and pictures has been a HUGE help! Thank you so much for taking the time. Some lines offer offer shuttles from the port in Venice and Dubrovnik, does NCL?

For Dubrovnik we got off the ship and negotiated a round trip price with some drivers right at the port. I don’t remember the cost but it was really cheap. They took us to the pile gate and drove us back about 30 min before the debark time.

We are on the Spirit in September and your review and pictures has been a HUGE help! Thank you so much for taking the time. Some lines offer offer shuttles from the port in Venice and Dubrovnik, does NCL?

Venice - NCL provided a waterbus shuttle from the port to St. Marks Square on both days. The cost was 20 USD per person for each day. You can pay for one day only if you wish. Our friends from Australia used the NCL shuttle on the first day and it worked out great for them.

Dubrovnik - NCL provided a return shuttle from the ship to Pile Gate. Pretty confident the cost was 15 USD per person. For comparison a Taxi cost 13 euros one way and carry 4 maybe five per car. We shared a taxi and it worked out fine for us.

Thanks for following. Looks like I have to back at it and post about our last port of Malta. Enjoy your trip.

Feel free to send along any other questions.

Malta

There is plenty to see in Malta and the sites on my list were spread throughout the island.To get them all in on a half day visit required a driver and guide. Research led me to Amy’s Guided Tours of Malta by Amy Pace. After numerous emails we agreed on both price and itinerary. I posted to the roll call and my wish list of 10 max grew to 13. The size was still manageable in the 17-passenger mini bus we were promised. Between the time I posted to the roll call and got our group together Amy received another tour booking with deposit in hand, so we missed out.

She asked if she could provide another high-quality guide. I emailed the guide change info to our group and all trusted my decision, so I made the booking. Right on cue, Amy emailed exactly three weeks out, as promised,with the tour meeting point, name of our guide and other tour details.

Back to the arrival, sailing in and out of Malta is nice, real nice. The beauty of arriving by ship in most ports world over is you arrive the way most were explored back in the day, by sea. Malta is one of the better ones, up there with Venice, Istanbul and of course through the narrows of St. John’s Newfoundland (my hometown LOL).

Back to our tour. My to do list in Malta included a drive around the Capital Valletta, view the Grand Harbour from the Barracca Garden, short walk down Merchants Street, tour of St. John’s Co-Cathedral,walking tour in Mdina, photo stop at the Blue Grotto arch and a stop at the famous fishing village Marsaxlokk with the colourful boats and waterfront restaurants.

Our group met in Spirit lobby and we departed together. We followed Amy’s directions and found our guide Evelyn waiting as promised. Evelyn looked confused and she asked how many on tour. I said 13 as per our booking. She had paper and notes clearly indicating 13 guests. However, the driver she was sent was driving a 7-passenger van. Was our day falling apart?

Evelyn was able to secure a second 7 passenger vehicle. Our day was salvaged. While waiting for the second driver, driver #1 took half up top of the city and came back about 10 minutes later for the second half.

We had an experienced group of travellers in our group. They were easy going, happy to go with the flow and well aware that sometimes S..T happens.Still, I felt responsible even though I had all my T’s crossed and I’s dotted. TIP - no matter how thorough your plans prepare to expect the unexpected and have plan B in your back pocket or take a cruise line shore excursion.

Evelyn was an OK guide, witty and knowledgeable. She split the driving time between the two vans so both groups had equal commentary along the way. We did not travel in the style and comfort like we did in Olympia, we were cramped in, van #2 was in rough shape but we made do.

Overall a good day. Malta has plenty to see and do. If you DIY and use public transit you will have to pick and choose which sites to visit. Some of our group enjoyed lunch over looking the waterfront during our 45-minute stop in Marsaxlokk. Mdina is certainly worth the visit as is the guided tour of St. John’s Co-Cathedral. If you have time, make the short stop at the Blue Grotto but it is nothing to write home about. Like most in our group we would have liked to have seen more of Valletta.

As for Amy’s Guided Tours of Malta, I suggest you take a pass.

More Malta Photos