Best and worst experience onboard the Spirit

[daisy-mae]

Just off the Spirit -- we returned to Boston yesterday, and I'm still feeling a little queasy (rough crossing for a landlubber).

 

Although reading about an upcoming cruise is part of the fun, I've learned from these boards that everyone's impression is subjective and personal. But for what it's worth, here is my answer to your question:

 

The best part about the Spirit is its size -- it has character, and it is just small enough for everything to be easily accessible. We found the crew to be, for the most part, particularly friendly and helpful.

 

Bermuda is beautiful, and well worth the discomfort of the rough seas that we experienced. One word of advice -- if you are a sun-worshipper, take advantage of the port days to use the pool deck, as you may not have an opportunity once the ship is underway.

 

The worst part, in my humble opinion, is the fact that, unless you are a fan of gambling or drinking, there isn't a whole lot to do after the sun goes down. We are not big on the bar scene, and once the shows were over, there was not much to do but retreat to our cabin and watch CNN. We were particularly frustrated to learn that none of the limited sports channels carried the NHL playoffs, and spent most of our internet allowance trying to follow the progress of our team's last quarter-final game.

 

I may post a review later on (once the unpacking has been done and the larder re-stocked -- it's tough to come back down to earth after having been spoiled for a solid week)

[luv2c00k]

To be honest, I researched the heck out of this last year, and thought I was good by purchasing a converter (from Walmart) for all kinds of different electrical currents....this ship is from Asia, so the converter I purchased was fine for that type of current. My problem was when I opened the package ON BOARD THE SHIP (not before - shame shame) it said the converter could not be used with plugs that have a built-in surge protector, or trip, which mine does. So I tried plugging my hairdryer straight into their plugs and it would work but it blew so fast I was afraid it would explode. A curling iron will work because it is only 15 watts of power, or something like that (check it out on the NCL website, it talks about the electrical system). Next cruise I will bring my curl iron and maybe a curl brush, for styling, after I use the horrible hairdryer in the bathroom. Let me know if you find anything good - I'm not sailing 'til July!;)

 

Thanks for the info - we won't be sailing until next April :(! Hate to wish the year away but I can't wait to try NCL.

[Queen_Of_Natick]

I love the Spirit, though the one thing I hated the first time was our room placement. We were on the 4th floor and had a ton of foot traffic all day and night. And then there was that weird banging noise we had to call the desk about.

 

Oh yeah, about the hair dryer.... try to live without it if you can... The ones in the bathrooms are ok for most people (terrible for those of us with really thick hair though)

 

the 2nd time was much better as our room was on floor 9.

 

Anyway thats just an FYI I would warn you to choose any floor but 4 if you can help it.

 

Bermuda is very lovely, you'll have a great time.

 

-Q

[Ocean Spirit]

I booked the Spirit because it was cheaper than Carnivals 7 day out of New Orleans.... and I worried for months that I made a mistake and would regret my decision. I was wrong. We loved the Spirit and want to sail her again.

We liked the size of the ship and found it easy to get around. But we like any size of a cruise ship! We also enjoyed the night crew members performed, some great talent and it was great to see something that wasn't a canned production.

The worst part of sailing her is if you are a "large" person, the furniture isn't build for big folks. (Built for the Asian market) The furniture can handle big folks just snug. Average size folks will feel every comfortable

[Lynda59]

I was on the repo cruise (N.O. to Boston) in 2009 and loved it. We met a lot of great Cruise Critic friends. We loved the ports and the varied activities. We docked in Bermuda for our cruise so we did not have the problems the others on the 2010 repo had.

 

Likes: the food - since we were on for 12 nights we ate in many different places including the steak and the French restaurant. NCL has freestyle dining down to a science. Even the food in the buffet was very good - especially the scalloped potatoes. Only complaint was the tables can be too close together - especially in Le Bistro. Other likes - even though we had a small inside cabin - the bathroom was a nice size - especially the shower. The shower door was a plus, too, after sailing on Carnival and Princess with their tiny showers and water everywhere.

 

I also like the large area in the shade near the pool in the back of the ship. I love being outside, but need to limit my time in the sun.

 

Dislikes: no laundromat. I know laundry service is offered - but $25 for a tiny bag was expensive. I am very picky about my clothes (many need to be line dried) and I prefer to do them myself.

 

Other major dislike - the constant selling on the ship. It was always "bingo time" or something else going on. It seemed like they were always making an announcement on the PA about something else being sold. Also - the constant harrassing to buy drinks in the lounges when you went to see a show - we were sometimes asked 10 times in 15 minutes. This never happened on the Princess cruise we just returned from - with only one exception we were only asked once about a drink. The wait staff passed frequently, but they never bothered you again - they just waited until you signaled for them.

 

I do not think you will be disappointed with this ship. But then I am in the group that has never been on a bad cruise!

[Got Tequila?]

What kind of converter do you need? How about for plugging in other things?

 

We were in an inside cabin and there was one plug in the bathroom for a razor, and 1 outlet in the cabin (near the desk) that we plugged our surge protector (long thing with several outlets on it) into.......we then plugged our phones, camera chargers into that.

[luv2c00k]

We were in an inside cabin and there was one plug in the bathroom for a razor, and 1 outlet in the cabin (near the desk) that we plugged our surge protector (long thing with several outlets on it) into.......we then plugged our phones, camera chargers into that.

 

 

Thanks Tequila - we travel with a compact surge protector to use for laptops and cell phones - wanted to be sure it would work. Sure wish I didn't have so long to wait for my time on the Spirit!!

[TomAndJane]

The Spirit will always have a special place in my heart because it was the very first cruise my wife and I went on to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. We went on a 7 Day Alaska cruise and the entire trip was wonderful. However, the most special time I have ever had on a cruise happened the last night.

 

We had just entered Washington State waters and it started to calm down. That evening we were in the Spinnaker listening to the music with the ship rocking gently from side to side. It was like it was written in a book but 'What a Wonderful World" started playing and the ship was rocking right in time with the music. I looked at her and she looked at me and we both knew What a Wonderful World it really was!!!!! The Spirit will always be special to us!!!!!:o:o

[romrai]

best.....a toss up......the staff or 16 days at aboard (repo)????

 

worst....that's easy. cancelling our snorkelling tour at 8 pm the night before, because the average age was 74 and there wasn't enough interest. Too late to make other plans. Last tour I book with NCL.

[apc0204]

Hi Everyone,

 

On the Spirit this Friday and all this talk about electrical outlets has me thinking......

 

We are booked in one of the new cabins 10686 and was wondering if anyone knows if the new cabins have the regular outlets?

 

Thanks

[BBTT]

as someone else mentioned earlier the spirit was built for star cruises and to the dimensions of the asian market (staff told me this when we were on a few years ago)a lot of the features on board are shorter etc. she is a beautiful ship but doesn't have a lot of the new bells and whistles. the best area on the ship is the way she is tiered on the aft, lots of cozy spots to hang out but no aft cabins that we prefer :(

[CruizinSherry]

Hi Everyone,

 

On the Spirit this Friday and all this talk about electrical outlets has me thinking......

 

We are booked in one of the new cabins 10686 and was wondering if anyone knows if the new cabins have the regular outlets?

 

Thanks

 

Which cabins are new???

[Rileyz]

May 2009: Um, well my cousin fell in love with the fitness director and he got off the ship the following week to be with her. Unfortunately he had to go back to South Africa and after a year he is now engaged to someone else. I got to meet and spend time with a lot of the crew which was interesting. My cousin lost her camera and another guest turned it in. I went down to the desk for some reason and everyone looked at me funny. Come to find out they had looked at the pictures on the camera hoping to identify the owner. I was in some of the pics as were some crew members including the fitness director and head nurse!! They asked me if I had lost something and I said no. Then they showed me the camera :eek: and realizing it was my cousins I went and got her. Embarrassing!! :o Mind you I am 35, married and my cousin is 24 just graduating college. So while it wasn't the best or worst it was certainly the most INTERESTING and MEMORABLE experience aboard the Spirit! The ship was great :)

[RWFrye5]

I don't think there is anything NOT to like about the Spirit. I think the size is perfect - bigger is not always better! The cabins are a bit smaller than other ships - which could be a negative if you plan to spend a lot of time in your cabin. History has shown me that we usually spend very little time in the cabin. We usually travel just my wife and I in a room and always book a room that sleeps 4. We find that those rooms are generally a little bit bigger.

 

I think someone else already said it - the worst part about the spirit is leaving her!

 

Have a GREAT time!

[mikenhe]

Hi Everyone,

 

On the Spirit this Friday and all this talk about electrical outlets has me thinking......

 

We are booked in one of the new cabins 10686 and was wondering if anyone knows if the new cabins have the regular outlets?

 

Thanks

 

I got to look around this cabin a couple of weeks ago but I didn’t check out the outlets – sorry.

One issue that was mentioned to me was that the restroom open won’t open fully – it hits the bed. Plus being at the back of the ship means that you’ll feel the vibration from the propeller occasionally.

However it is huge and the shape of the cabin gives it a very large balcony. And its about 15 steps from there to the outside area by the kids pool.

That cabin has a pull out sofa as well (and if the weather is a bit off then you can sit and look out from the sofa instead of being on the balcony. I think it also has an armchair and foot rest. Very nicely sized room – I think you’ll like it!

[apc0204]

So glad to hear! We picked that cabin because we are traveling with our 6 year old daughter! It is a perfect location to the kids pool and gives us a lil extra room to move around in the cabin!

 

Thanks again for the info.

[2xprincess]

The Best Part.....the kids pool area is wonderful, as is the rest of the ship.

 

The Worst Part.....very limited cabins for families of 4.

[danimalct]

I have to agree that getting on the ship is horrendous. sailed from Boston twice and its a mess at embarkation. If it wasn't close to us with the Bermuda itinerary I wouldn't have done it again. That's the worst.

 

The Spirit is a great ship overall, and we love the 3 days in Bermuda itinerary. You don't need to spend money on excursions if you're just going to the beach or such. Get a 3 day bus/ ferry pass, take them both all over the island. The ferry from St Georges to the dockyard and/or into Hamilton is a great view of the island. The bus can get packed and they drive fast down those little roads, but you see a lot. And you can get to everywhere on the island cheap. just don't forget that it's their public transportation and it gets crowded when people go to and from work.

 

DON'T rent a scooter and drive around the island! There are too many people that do this and get hurt.

 

There's lots of shops at the dockyard and in Hamilton, but definitely go out to St Georges. When I was on the Majesty we docked there, its too small for Spirit and new ships,but its a small pretty port town.

[moneymike42o]

IMHO i feel that some of the high ranking staff can be a little "i don't care attitude".....i was just off the boat from the 4-23-2010 to bermuda and the housekeeping...food...and bar staff CASINO STAFF!!!! was EXCELLENT but management i can't say the same for most of them :(

 

THE SHIP IS A BEAUTY the should name her the GEM!!! cuz she sure is a hidden gem!!! go to deck 12 or 13 all the way forward and in the galaxy of the stars it has a EXCELLENT view from the front of the boat and its all indoors and seating all around plus it has the wheel as if you were driving the boat :)

[RYMOMA]

Just off the Spirit this morning.....

 

 

LOVED EVERY SECOND...

 

 

even when my daughter puked on my shoes.....ok not really that

 

 

embarkation/disembarkation......easy breezy...even toting two kids with me

food....every where YUMMY.....something for me and my kids at all hours of the day and night

 

my 7yo was not a fan of the kids club...not enough 7yo's on board

there were 120 kids under the age of 17

my 15yo i only saw him when he was sleeping

 

 

the towels animals were cute

our room steward was the best

 

shows were fantastic...the new magician was funny, but still your basic magic show

Second City was OMG funny

 

Cruise Director staff kept everything moving

 

if you love beer....wait till Tuesday when you leave Bermuda

the deal goes from buy 5 get 1 free to buy 5 get 2 free and yes you can take the helmet home

 

soda...2.24 per 12oz can

corona was 5.69 per bottle

did the teen passport for the three of us....it was enough for the 15yo and he used it for his sister

 

 

oh the omelette's station guy in the buffet is the best

dont confuse the honey for the maple syrup....

coffee was delicious everywhere.

 

pictures are expensive...and they have many portrait nights

20 bucks 8x10.....13 bucks for the smaller ones

 

that is all i can think of now

[Don Haynes]

About the Spirits electrical outlets. She was built for the Asian market and is wired with sufficient smalller gauge wiring for 220 volts. This smaller gauge wiring is suitable for almost every American 110 volt appliances, except for high wattage American hair dryers which consume much more than her limit of 500 watts.

 

An alternative solution for every women is to use a dual voltage hair dryer switched to 220 using her 220 volt outlet. Since the 220 volt outlet is the European type, you'll need a US 110 to Euro 220 adapter. The European 220 volt outlet has two round holes for their two round prongs of their plugs. Just about every store carries a dual voltage hair dryer which if you don't keep could be given away as a gift later, just be careful with the packaging.