Not So Good Spirit Review August 20 - 27

[Hunwolf]

Probably because she left the towels on the floor after using them only once thinking they would be replaced with fresh towels....

 

 

If they are left on the floor they are supposed to be replaced. If they are hung up they are to be left alone.

 

That's the standard guideline in hotels and on cruise ships.

 

You can argue whether it's energy conscious or not...but the towels should be replaced if they are laying on the floor.

[cod]

I am not doubting the OPs word, but must say that on two Spirit cruises, we've never encountered service like she describes. I hope her cabin steward is gone or improved in case we should get him on our next Spirit cruise.

 

As for towels, we always neatly hang ours back up to use agains (and perhaps 'again'!) but 9 times out of 10 they're replaced with clean ones which I've never quite understood. This has happened at hotels too!

 

What I really don't understand is not liking Miss Jane L Powell. We've seen her on two of our NCL cruises over the years and I would be overjoyed to find out she was on another of our cruises! In fact, hers is the only show I've ever seen twice in one evening. After seeing the early show with DH, I decided later - when he decided to 'hit the hay' - to go watch her second show. It was even better as she picked another 3 fellows from the audience to be the 'pips' and they were a hoot.

 

Oh, well, as they say...different strokes etc etc.

[halos]

Probably because she left the towels on the floor after using them only once thinking they would be replaced with fresh towels....

 

...

 

I usually use my towels twice...but I shower twice daily so I expect my towels changed daily.

I have NEVER on any cruise line or at any hotel NOT had towels replaced once I put them on the floor and this includes NCL.

I would expect the towel I put on the floor to be taken away and a fresh one in it's place....this is what I have always recieved.

 

I have seen signs posted in cruise ship bathrooms that if your towels are hung up, they will not replace them, but if you put them on the floor they will be exchanged for fresh ones. If the OP had her towles on the floor, they should have been replaced.

[luddite]

I am not doubting the OPs word, but must say that on two Spirit cruises, we've never encountered service like she describes. I hope her cabin steward is gone or improved in case we should get him on our next Spirit cruise.

 

As for towels, we always neatly hang ours back up to use agains (and perhaps 'again'!) but 9 times out of 10 they're replaced with clean ones which I've never quite understood. This has happened at hotels too!

 

What I really don't understand is not liking Miss Jane L Powell. We've seen her on two of our NCL cruises over the years and I would be overjoyed to find out she was on another of our cruises! In fact, hers is the only show I've ever seen twice in one evening. After seeing the early show with DH, I decided later - when he decided to 'hit the hay' - to go watch her second show. It was even better as she picked another 3 fellows from the audience to be the 'pips' and they were a hoot.

 

Oh, well, as they say...different strokes etc etc.

 

There ya go. If she didn't like the show that Jane L. Powell did, she simply cannot be pleased by anything reasonable. Always catch her second show. Better audience and she's ready for the better audience after the stodgy group that sees the first.

[dtiger]

Guess I've had a better experience on the six Spirit cruises I've been on. If I want ice and there isn't any I take my bucket and go down the hall and find the room stewart, also towels. Guess I'm not very hard to please and feel very fortunate to be able to cruise.

[Traveller20074]

Just a couple of comments.

 

The room steward and how other people dress have nothing to do with my enjoyment of a cruise :D

 

Ok..maybe one more comment about towels lol

 

Towels go through 100's of people. You can clean mine after one use, please. Different if it was just my towel at home - I am the only one using it. Same with sheets. Clean em often on the ship please.

[medicalma'am]

I have always had clean towels if I placed them on the floor. I do reuse ones that I deem not 'dirty' to save on laundering. I only change sheets once a week at home and do not expect more on vacation. I always have had ice in buckets, but would not expect them to fill my ice chest from home, but that's just me. Why didn't they ask the steward to empty the fridge and keep a few in there for each day?

 

It does not surprise me that they were asked late if they wanted their extra ice. Thinking about it, I am sure the stewards have the items that they HAVE to complete done first, then go on to SPECIAL requests at the end of their day. Yes, their day may last that long!

[newmexicoNita]

If they are left on the floor they are supposed to be replaced. If they are hung up they are to be left alone.

 

That's the standard guideline in hotels and on cruise ships.

 

You can argue whether it's energy conscious or not...but the towels should be replaced if they are laying on the floor.

 

I have a problem beliving they were never replaced. Maybe the cabin steward got busy, that is possible and just forgot. A simple phone call would solve the problem.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

There ya go. If she didn't like the show that Jane L. Powell did, she simply cannot be pleased by anything reasonable. Always catch her second show. Better audience and she's ready for the better audience after the stodgy group that sees the first.

 

Jane Powell has to be the very best of best...

[newmexicoNita]

There ya go. If she didn't like the show that Jane L. Powell did, she simply cannot be pleased by anything reasonable. Always catch her second show. Better audience and she's ready for the better audience after the stodgy group that sees the first.

 

Jane Powell has to be the very best of best...

 

As for ice, by the way (this has nothing to do with your comments) they cabin steward has a lot of cabins. He/she can only bring ice a couple of times a day. After that one needs to call room service.

[michelle1172]

The OP states that the $12 DSC is the highest ever paid, well they should know that on Cunard on which htey have previously sailed, has a graduated scale from $10-$13 per day depending on cabin class. Gee, NCL must be very democratic in averaging that out to just $12.

 

This made me laugh. I am an easy going person, and have fun just about anywhere, but I have to say NCL and Cunard are NOT even close to being in the same class of cruiseline, so for NCL to charge at the high end of what they charge is a bit steep... sorry.

 

We are booked on the Spirit in March, and am looking forward to it. From all I read, it does sound like we will incur more shipboard expenses than we are used to, but I think we will still enjoy it.

[newmexicoNita]

This made me laugh. I am an easy going person, and have fun just about anywhere, but I have to say NCL and Cunard are NOT even close to being in the same class of cruiseline, so for NCL to charge at the high end of what they charge is a bit steep... sorry.

 

We are booked on the Spirit in March, and am looking forward to it. From all I read, it does sound like we will incur more shipboard expenses than we are used to, but I think we will still enjoy it.

 

Just to let you know, according to several I have talked to Celebrity is now up to either $12 or $13 a day. It is something we are all going to have to adjust to. However look at it this way: hubby and I just went to Outback for dinner the other night. The meal, without wine, appitizer or dessert was $50.00. Had we chosen to have dessert and an appitizer it would have been about $70.00. On a cruise most of the time we all have an appitizer and a dessert and I would rate the food on NCL, as well as other mass marketed lines on a par with Outback. Now, tip on $70 would be in the neigborhood of $12.50 or $6.25 each. Add to that lunch and breakfast at say, $10.00 a person: tip: 1.80 per meal. Now we are up to almost $10.00. I don't know about you, but we tip the house keepers at a hotel at least a $1.00 each (usually more) if they come twice a day, that would be $2.00. I think we have just accounted for the $12.00 per day, without considering all the others that are in the pool. None of us jump for joy when we realize how much we are tipping over a 7 day cruise, but if you break it down daily or by meal etc you will realize it isn't all that bad. By the way, I am basing the tip on 18% which is standard around here.

 

Nita

[monteman]

Just off the Spirit and am very happy to be home. We took this cruise as we live close to the cruise port in Boston and love Bermuda. We have cruised RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, and Cunard so we have lots of cruises for comparison. I guess I am writing this because i did not enjoy this cruise and i have to vent somewhere. Remember, just my opinion.

 

Day 1: Son drove us to Black Falcon Terminal around 1:00 PM where there were lines of people waiting with luggage. I was a little taken back until a porter with a luggage cart offered to take our luggage for us. My husband helped load the luggage, tipped the porter and we were inside the terminal in 2 minutes. I don't know why other passengers were waiting in line, oh well. Brought two 12 packs of soda and a case of water in bags and were never questioned or asked to open the bags. Carried them on to the ship and right to our cabin on deck 5. Briefly met our cabin steward...never got his name. Asked him to keep ice in our cooler bag to keep soda and water cold. Shakes his head "yes". Take a walk around the ship...very pretty and make a reservation for La Trattoria on deck 12 for dinner. Buy a bucket of beer (buy 5 and get 1 free) and find a table outside to watch our sail out of Boston. Go to La Trattoria for dinner.This restaurant is actually part of the Raffles Food Court that they partition off each evening. Portions were average sized and average tasting. After dinner take in the show at the Stardust Theater and afterwards head to Raffles for some ice cream. Unfortunately Raffles closes at 9 PM so a crew member told us to call room service. We go back to our room and call and were told no ice cream from room service, go to the Blue Lagoon on deck 7 that is open all night. Now we are giggling over trying to find ice cream on a ship this big so we go to the Blue Lagoon and guess what? No ice cream! Just shakes for $4.50 each...plus gratuity of course. My husband gets his shake and we walk around the Promenade Deck.

 

Day 2: Up early and up to Raffles for coffe. Go to the gym and it is packed. Have to wait for an eliptical or treadmill. Shower, change and up to the pool with my book. Enjoying the quiet but by 10:00 AM people searching for pool chairs. Many passengers put towels on chairs and leave and come back. At 11:00 AM the pool band begins and you can barely carry on a conversation it is so loud. Many passengers bring food to the pool area from Raffles. Woman sitting next to me has her husband and son sharing her chair while they all eat their lunch. We decide to give up our chairs...maybe that was their ploy all along.....hmmmm. We go to Raffles for lunch and i find a digital camera which I turned into Guest Services...hope the owner got it back. Back to our cabin and I call housekeeping to request more coat hangers and to borrow an iron. I was told I had to be in my cabin to request an iron....what? I am in my cabin ...they bring an iron and plastic hangers I am told I only am allowed the iron for 2 hours and to please call as soon as I am done. Iron a few things and call Guest Servives to pick up the iron and ironing board. No one came. Called after dinner and srill no one came. No one picked up the iron all week! Eat in Windows main dining room and have a table for 2. No one asked for a drink order which I thought was unusual. When we left around 7 PM the line to get in was out to the elevator. Attend the Broadway Review in Stardust Theater and head back to our cabin.

 

Day 3: Not a great night's sleep as kids were running up and down the hall banging on cabin doors. Where are the parents? Our cabin steward never left us towels last night so we take a few from the gym after working out. Not as crowded as yesterday. Leave a note for our cabin steward requesting ice for the cooler bag and off the ship around 11:00 AM and rent motor scooter at Oleander's. Drive around Royal Navy Dockyard and check out a few shops. Drive to Southampton Princess Hotel where we enjoyed a nice lunch and a few frozen margaritas. Drive along Shore road enjoying the scenery. Back to the ship and dine in the Garden Room restaurant which is not as crowded as Windows. Can't believe how casual everyone dresses for dinner. Shorts, T-shirts and flip flops. Walk around the ship....no show tonight.

 

Day 4: Wake up to light rain that quickly burns off. Drive into Hamilton and walk in and out of shops on Front St. Have lunch and off to Horseshoe Bay Beach. We are not there very long when it begins to pour. Take cover and wait out the storm. Beach is less crowded now and we stay all afternoon. Back to the ship for an early dinner in Garden Room and take in the Second City comedy show...it was fantastic. Best show of the cruise. Afterwards go to Raffles for ice cream (before 9 PM) and the cast of Second City is sitting across from us eating their ice cream too!

 

Day 5: Up early for coffee and than hit the gym. Big day planned. Decided we would do a "Beach Crawl". taking the motor scooter along the south shore seeing how many beaches we can take a swim. We sneak into the Southampton Princess Hotel beach for a quick swim. Next walk over to Horsehoe Bay Beach as it is next door. You can see the Southamption Princess tennis courts from Horseshoe Bay parking lot. Strong winds and big surf...awesome. From here we drove to Chaplin Bay and Stonehole Bay...amazing. Watched kids jumping from rock ledges. My new favorite beach, small but breathtakingly beautiful. Cannot rent any chairs or umbrellas so you don't get the crowd like horseshoe bay. Next stop Jobson Cove and Warwick Long Bay. Again very pretty and not crowded at all. Our last stop was Elbow Beach. The public beach is next to the Elbow Beach Hotel. Leave as we have to return our motor scooter by noon time as we had only rented for 2 days. We walk around kings Wharf and buy a 6 pack of beer and bring it on the ship. No one says anything. After lunch we head over to Snorkle Park for an afternoon of sunning and snorkling. What a joke. In my opinion don't bother going to this beach. $5.00 admission fee gets you into what seems like a man made tourist trap. The sand(?) is very hard. Almost like it was put down over cement. We got 2 chairs put on our snorkle gear and headed into the water. The water was cloudy and we saw very few fish. We chuckled about how we were on all the beautiful beaches that morning and had to end our last afternoon in Bermuda on this poor excuse for a beach. Do not waste your time! Lasted about an hour and back to the ship for a frozen drink by the pool. Watch our sail away and off to dinner.

 

Day 6: Up early as usual and I decide no gym today. Go to the pool early with my book, get all settled in, and i am asked by 2 crew members if i will please move so they can paint the railing. What??? Don't they do this at night? I move and watch as they paint, move pool chairs, paint all around the pool deck....strange. Swim in the pool and again leave around 11:30 AM because of the band and the smell of the bar-b-que. We find quiet chairs on deck 13 near the golf clinic...listened to the pro for so long that i think I may have to try golfing in the near future. Late afternoon we decide to check out the"sale" in the main atrium. NCL T-shirts regularly 10.99 for 6.99...sweatshirts, buy i get 1 half price...booze and cigarettes....inch of gold...you get the picture. Garden Room for dinner whre my salmon is very dry. Again no one asks for a drink order and service was extremely slow. Stardust Theater for 7:15 show with jane Powell She whistles a lot and makes dew whop and be bop sounds. She also admitted that she stays in her cabin all day....wow. Back to our cabin and no clean towels again. He takes the dirty towels but doesn't leave clean ones. I had requested ice for our cooler bag to keep our soda and water cold and no ice....again. In bed watching a movie when we get a knock on our cabin door (11:30 PM) do we still want ice? What????

 

Day 7: Last full day....yeah!!! Up early and in the gym. All but have it to ourselves...wonder why? Go to Guest Services for a copy of my bill (yes we did purchase alcoholic beverages and sodas while on board) and was surprised by the $12 per person per day gratuity charges. This is the most expensive I have ever been charged. I began to wonder if they charge $12 per day, why am I charged a gratuity for each drink I purchase and it was also added to the charge at La Trattoria restaurant? Isn't that like double dipping? Up to pool area and deck chairs are taken by 9:30 AM. Doesn't mean people are actually sitting in them, they have just staked a claim with a towel and whatever.

Driven out again around 11:30 by the band and back up to deck 13. So windy we leave and go to the Promenade Deck where we find 2 deck chairs in the sun....ahhhh peace at last. Final dinner in Garden Room Restaurant (I wear a casual dress and feel overdressed)and Stardust Theater where it was some kind of acrobatic...Cirque de Soleil (sp?) ...I really don't know...whatever. Left and purchased pictures from the photo gallery....what I don't have to tip? Back to the room and pack up...if i watch the same shows again on TV someone is going overboard! What...no clean towels again! Ice overflowing cooler bag...now I get ice? Iron still in room....

 

FINAL DAY>>>> Up early and on deck to watch our arrival in Boston. Shower (towels from gym again) and Raffles is packed. Everyone looks ready to go home. Down to deck 7 and the line for guest services has to be 30 -40 people deep. Call for self disembarkation around 8:00 AM. I think half the passengers carried their own bags off. Color coded luggage tags are a joke because they call all of the colors at the same time. Off the ship, get our luggage and daughter is waiting to pick us up. YAHOO!

 

Summary: Food not very good and limited selection. Cabin is tiny and cabin service weak. No coathangers in closet for pants or skirts. Requested and never received. One outlet in cabin...cannot use regular hair dryer or you blow the circuit (trust me, i know). Have to claim pool chairs by 9:30 AM or you are out of luck. If you request an iron and ironing board be prepared to trip over it all week!

 

 

I just enjoyed reading your review. Thank you for posting it in detail! I have to say that I am puzzled--as I read each day, I kept waiting for something awful, to explain your comments about being glad you're back and not liking the cruise. What in heck was not to like? Every day sounded fine, with a minor irritation or 2 thrown in. Like any vacation I've ever taken, actually.

 

We always have trouble keeping ice in the cabin. If you ask your steward a few times and it does not happen, call the Head of Housekeeping to (nicely) request it. No hangers or towels? Head of Housekeeping if your steward isn't on the ball.

 

An occasional so-so meal is inevitable on a 7-day cruise, come on. Not every meal is going to be stupendous. If you get something in the MDR you don't like, have it replaced with something you do like. Same with ordering drinks--in busy times you may have to be a little proactive, that's all.

 

Since you have some good cruising experience, you must have done research over the years both online and in person (during your cruises). The daily service charge is made quite clear in the NCL paperwork and (I believe) on their website.

 

The pool area gets crowded and there are lounge chair hogs--after a few cruises you must know that. It's been a subject for debate & discussion on these boards ever since I first joined years ago. Not pleasant, but the way it is. You found a nice quiet area after all, so that worked out.

 

Sounds like Bermuda was great, too. And the entertainment.

 

So .... how exavtly was this a bad cruise?? :confused: It sounds like a wonderful time to me! Especially when I'm sitting in my office at work on a cold December evening! ;)

 

In any case--thank you for posting your experience. I loved the details.

[toesinwater]

ok here's a question for you all... If someone has left only a towel on the deck chair ( no personal property ie..book, purse..drink etc) why can't you just move the towel and rest your buttocks on the chair? This would perhaps do something to "cure" the problem. It is afterall stated everywhere in the mailings and websites that you can't "save" chairs!! Just wondering?

[Toyz711]

there are several folks that either remove the towels or time it and let someone (NCL personnel) know and let them remove it.

on the spirit, while the lounger right along the pool, may be reserved. the next row over there were plenty available. i loved going up to the next deck...quiet, relaxing, nice bar service...wind breaks to protect you from the windy top deck.

[Neiner]

It sounds like the OP received regular hangers but didn't receive any pant/skirt hangers. If I need special hangers I bring my own. I also take along these great little clips that I got at a dollar store that can be used to hook skirts to a regular hanger.

 

And the iron/board. When I was done I called and they asked me to place it in the hall. It was gone the next time I looked. Maybe they were reluctant to remove it from her room because they thought she wanted to continue using it and there wasn't a demand. They might have thought they were doing her a favor. Not only are there chair hogs, maybe there's a secret society of iron hogs out there too!;)

[tkportersat]

Just a sidenote....I always pack my own hangers (the wire ones that come with drycleaning) and then leave them behind after our cruise. There are never enough hangers for me and then that way I don't have to wait for anyone to bring them to me. Either way I am not fond of the cruise/hotel hangers that you have to unhook from the attachment, so this works best for me.

 

A bad room steward can really impact your cruise from the get-go. We had one of our very best cruises on the Spirt over the 4th of July holiday this summer. We were only in a balcony cabin, but were treated like royalty by our two stewards. We brought a very large cooler on board with six 2 liter bottles of Coke products. We put the cooler out on our balcony, never saying anything to our steward. The cooler was filled to the top with ice when we came back to the cabin after dinner and throughout the cruise! Poor guys must have dumped their whole ice cooler into OURS! We usually only ask for hangers on day one and rarely any other requests all week. Sometimes we've had to ask for the hangers a few times. These guys this year were outstanding. I recall one of them named Pacifico. He was from the Phillippines. They have like 25 rooms to service! I've never had bad enough service to warrant writing a bad review of the line or the ship. One cruise, I think it was the Costa Mediterranea - I almost got arrested for my loud verbal dispute with the ship's customer relations staff. We were never (to this day) given the ship board credit as advertised when we booked our cruise. I started visiting the front desk midway through the cruise to check on the credit status, and was given the run around each and everytime I checked in with them. Our $100 PER PASSENGER (first two full fares per cabin) ship board credit was never applied to our bill. Even our travel agent (whom we adore) was unable to make good from Costa. My point is, even though I was exasperated daily by the treatment I received, I thoroughly enjoyed every other aspect of the vacation and did not write a bad review about the cruise.

Just to offer a contrasting review from the O.P.'s experience, I will say that the Spirit is a beautiful ship with the friendliest staff we've ever sailed with. I even wrote to "prem" the ship's hotel director to praise him for his incredible, friendly and service-oriented crew. The entertainment was awesome, the food we ate was delicious, the ship was immaculate, the embarkation and disembarkation process was flawless. Boston is BY FAR the best port we've ever sailed out of. Bermuda is one of our favorite ports of call. If you do enough research you should be well prepared for things like electrical outlet issues and tipping guidelines, etc. I read posts on here about the Spirit's electrical outlet deficiencies and was sure to pack converters and power strips.

My best advice is to develop an evolving packing list just for cruises with such items listed. I tend to add items to my list every year. As things like cell phones and Ipods/players have come into fashion, their associated chargers have joined the many other items like sunglasses, baseball hats, medications, bandaids, etc. on my ever growing list.

[sbcatcher1]

We had a great time. We wer eon deck 8 & had Edwin as our steward, he was fantastic. Called us by name even when we saw him in port. Seafood wasn't very good but they were happy to replace it with something else. When we got table for 2 , it was by the kitchen except for lunch & got by the windows. Were asked to sit with other people twice & I really enjoyied that. We ate dinner in Windows. Tried the Garden but I had to leave too crowded. We didn't like that lots of stuff you have to pay for. Bingo is up to $39.50 was $20 5 mos ago on Carnival. Drink special was $7.95. We mostly stayed up behine the Bier Garten, was fairly quite. We didn't like the pool band either.

[weltek]

So, where in the cabin steward training do you suppose it's encouraged for them to spend their time refilling coolers with ice for people that bring their own water and soda on board (read: don't spend the money onboard)? I'm sure the trainers put that high on the list. :rolleyes:

 

If you want coolers of beverages you bring or sneak on board filled, expect to tip the steward up front.

 

This is a beef of mine when people gripe about this particular issue.

[newmexicoNita]

We had a great time. We wer eon deck 8 & had Edwin as our steward, he was fantastic. Called us by name even when we saw him in port. Seafood wasn't very good but they were happy to replace it with something else. When we got table for 2 , it was by the kitchen except for lunch & got by the windows. Were asked to sit with other people twice & I really enjoyied that. We ate dinner in Windows. Tried the Garden but I had to leave too crowded. We didn't like that lots of stuff you have to pay for. Bingo is up to $39.50 was $20 5 mos ago on Carnival. Drink special was $7.95. We mostly stayed up behine the Bier Garten, was fairly quite. We didn't like the pool band either.

 

I agree about the Bingo: it is way out of line price wise. I would rather take my $40 to the casino. It gets eaten up as well, but lasts a little longer. As for drinks, we have found there are almost always 2 for 1s at some bar each afternoon or evening. The drink specials are usually the fru fru kind, which don't even like.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

So, where in the cabin steward training do you suppose it's encouraged for them to spend their time refilling coolers with ice for people that bring their own water and soda on board (read: don't spend the money onboard)? I'm sure the trainers put that high on the list. :rolleyes:

 

If you want coolers of beverages you bring or sneak on board filled, expect to tip the steward up front.

 

This is a beef of mine when people gripe about this particular issue.

 

have to agree with you. Same as the booze topic with comes up often. I have to say, even though we do a bar set up, I can overlook people bringing on a little something to drink in the cabin, but only in the cabin. I don't expect my cabin steward to be my private servant, constantly refilling a cooler I choose to bring on board and I don't think anyone should feel it is ok to smggle booze and then drink it in the public areas.

 

Nita

[sbcatcher1]

The only 2 for 1 was for Martini's

[piercetc4]

we have always brought on a collapsable cooler for ice- for ice water or for ice in glass for the diet coke or mtn dew we brought- and to keep a carton of milk chilled a couple nights- has never been an issue-

as for tips - rci 's is 9.75 pp per day- we usually tip extra for above and beyond

i shower once a day and usually use a towel twice so he would only have to replace ours every other day- hubby is same-

hope our first ncl cruise on spirit this may leaves a better taste in my mouth than this one left in yours- ;)

 

thanks for the review

[vols_159]

sounds like the OP never wanted to have fun on the cruise look for the negative around every corner!

[nosekh]

Just off the Spirit and am very happy to be home. We took this cruise as we live close to the cruise port in Boston and love Bermuda. We have cruised RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, and Cunard so we have lots of cruises for comparison. I guess I am writing this because i did not enjoy this cruise and i have to vent somewhere. Remember, just my opinion.

 

Day 1: Son drove us to Black Falcon Terminal around 1:00 PM where there were lines of people waiting with luggage. I was a little taken back until a porter with a luggage cart offered to take our luggage for us. My husband helped load the luggage, tipped the porter and we were inside the terminal in 2 minutes. I don't know why other passengers were waiting in line, oh well. Brought two 12 packs of soda and a case of water in bags and were never questioned or asked to open the bags. Carried them on to the ship and right to our cabin on deck 5. Briefly met our cabin steward...never got his name. Asked him to keep ice in our cooler bag to keep soda and water cold. Shakes his head "yes". Take a walk around the ship...very pretty and make a reservation for La Trattoria on deck 12 for dinner. Buy a bucket of beer (buy 5 and get 1 free) and find a table outside to watch our sail out of Boston. Go to La Trattoria for dinner.This restaurant is actually part of the Raffles Food Court that they partition off each evening. Portions were average sized and average tasting. After dinner take in the show at the Stardust Theater and afterwards head to Raffles for some ice cream. Unfortunately Raffles closes at 9 PM so a crew member told us to call room service. We go back to our room and call and were told no ice cream from room service, go to the Blue Lagoon on deck 7 that is open all night. Now we are giggling over trying to find ice cream on a ship this big so we go to the Blue Lagoon and guess what? No ice cream! Just shakes for $4.50 each...plus gratuity of course. My husband gets his shake and we walk around the Promenade Deck.

 

Day 2: Up early and up to Raffles for coffe. Go to the gym and it is packed. Have to wait for an eliptical or treadmill. Shower, change and up to the pool with my book. Enjoying the quiet but by 10:00 AM people searching for pool chairs. Many passengers put towels on chairs and leave and come back. At 11:00 AM the pool band begins and you can barely carry on a conversation it is so loud. Many passengers bring food to the pool area from Raffles. Woman sitting next to me has her husband and son sharing her chair while they all eat their lunch. We decide to give up our chairs...maybe that was their ploy all along.....hmmmm. We go to Raffles for lunch and i find a digital camera which I turned into Guest Services...hope the owner got it back. Back to our cabin and I call housekeeping to request more coat hangers and to borrow an iron. I was told I had to be in my cabin to request an iron....what? I am in my cabin ...they bring an iron and plastic hangers I am told I only am allowed the iron for 2 hours and to please call as soon as I am done. Iron a few things and call Guest Servives to pick up the iron and ironing board. No one came. Called after dinner and srill no one came. No one picked up the iron all week! Eat in Windows main dining room and have a table for 2. No one asked for a drink order which I thought was unusual. When we left around 7 PM the line to get in was out to the elevator. Attend the Broadway Review in Stardust Theater and head back to our cabin.

 

Day 3: Not a great night's sleep as kids were running up and down the hall banging on cabin doors. Where are the parents? Our cabin steward never left us towels last night so we take a few from the gym after working out. Not as crowded as yesterday. Leave a note for our cabin steward requesting ice for the cooler bag and off the ship around 11:00 AM and rent motor scooter at Oleander's. Drive around Royal Navy Dockyard and check out a few shops. Drive to Southampton Princess Hotel where we enjoyed a nice lunch and a few frozen margaritas. Drive along Shore road enjoying the scenery. Back to the ship and dine in the Garden Room restaurant which is not as crowded as Windows. Can't believe how casual everyone dresses for dinner. Shorts, T-shirts and flip flops. Walk around the ship....no show tonight.

 

Day 4: Wake up to light rain that quickly burns off. Drive into Hamilton and walk in and out of shops on Front St. Have lunch and off to Horseshoe Bay Beach. We are not there very long when it begins to pour. Take cover and wait out the storm. Beach is less crowded now and we stay all afternoon. Back to the ship for an early dinner in Garden Room and take in the Second City comedy show...it was fantastic. Best show of the cruise. Afterwards go to Raffles for ice cream (before 9 PM) and the cast of Second City is sitting across from us eating their ice cream too!

 

Day 5: Up early for coffee and than hit the gym. Big day planned. Decided we would do a "Beach Crawl". taking the motor scooter along the south shore seeing how many beaches we can take a swim. We sneak into the Southampton Princess Hotel beach for a quick swim. Next walk over to Horsehoe Bay Beach as it is next door. You can see the Southamption Princess tennis courts from Horseshoe Bay parking lot. Strong winds and big surf...awesome. From here we drove to Chaplin Bay and Stonehole Bay...amazing. Watched kids jumping from rock ledges. My new favorite beach, small but breathtakingly beautiful. Cannot rent any chairs or umbrellas so you don't get the crowd like horseshoe bay. Next stop Jobson Cove and Warwick Long Bay. Again very pretty and not crowded at all. Our last stop was Elbow Beach. The public beach is next to the Elbow Beach Hotel. Leave as we have to return our motor scooter by noon time as we had only rented for 2 days. We walk around kings Wharf and buy a 6 pack of beer and bring it on the ship. No one says anything. After lunch we head over to Snorkle Park for an afternoon of sunning and snorkling. What a joke. In my opinion don't bother going to this beach. $5.00 admission fee gets you into what seems like a man made tourist trap. The sand(?) is very hard. Almost like it was put down over cement. We got 2 chairs put on our snorkle gear and headed into the water. The water was cloudy and we saw very few fish. We chuckled about how we were on all the beautiful beaches that morning and had to end our last afternoon in Bermuda on this poor excuse for a beach. Do not waste your time! Lasted about an hour and back to the ship for a frozen drink by the pool. Watch our sail away and off to dinner.

 

Day 6: Up early as usual and I decide no gym today. Go to the pool early with my book, get all settled in, and i am asked by 2 crew members if i will please move so they can paint the railing. What??? Don't they do this at night? I move and watch as they paint, move pool chairs, paint all around the pool deck....strange. Swim in the pool and again leave around 11:30 AM because of the band and the smell of the bar-b-que. We find quiet chairs on deck 13 near the golf clinic...listened to the pro for so long that i think I may have to try golfing in the near future. Late afternoon we decide to check out the"sale" in the main atrium. NCL T-shirts regularly 10.99 for 6.99...sweatshirts, buy i get 1 half price...booze and cigarettes....inch of gold...you get the picture. Garden Room for dinner whre my salmon is very dry. Again no one asks for a drink order and service was extremely slow. Stardust Theater for 7:15 show with jane Powell She whistles a lot and makes dew whop and be bop sounds. She also admitted that she stays in her cabin all day....wow. Back to our cabin and no clean towels again. He takes the dirty towels but doesn't leave clean ones. I had requested ice for our cooler bag to keep our soda and water cold and no ice....again. In bed watching a movie when we get a knock on our cabin door (11:30 PM) do we still want ice? What????

 

Day 7: Last full day....yeah!!! Up early and in the gym. All but have it to ourselves...wonder why? Go to Guest Services for a copy of my bill (yes we did purchase alcoholic beverages and sodas while on board) and was surprised by the $12 per person per day gratuity charges. This is the most expensive I have ever been charged. I began to wonder if they charge $12 per day, why am I charged a gratuity for each drink I purchase and it was also added to the charge at La Trattoria restaurant? Isn't that like double dipping? Up to pool area and deck chairs are taken by 9:30 AM. Doesn't mean people are actually sitting in them, they have just staked a claim with a towel and whatever.

Driven out again around 11:30 by the band and back up to deck 13. So windy we leave and go to the Promenade Deck where we find 2 deck chairs in the sun....ahhhh peace at last. Final dinner in Garden Room Restaurant (I wear a casual dress and feel overdressed)and Stardust Theater where it was some kind of acrobatic...Cirque de Soleil (sp?) ...I really don't know...whatever. Left and purchased pictures from the photo gallery....what I don't have to tip? Back to the room and pack up...if i watch the same shows again on TV someone is going overboard! What...no clean towels again! Ice overflowing cooler bag...now I get ice? Iron still in room....

 

FINAL DAY>>>> Up early and on deck to watch our arrival in Boston. Shower (towels from gym again) and Raffles is packed. Everyone looks ready to go home. Down to deck 7 and the line for guest services has to be 30 -40 people deep. Call for self disembarkation around 8:00 AM. I think half the passengers carried their own bags off. Color coded luggage tags are a joke because they call all of the colors at the same time. Off the ship, get our luggage and daughter is waiting to pick us up. YAHOO!

 

Summary: Food not very good and limited selection. Cabin is tiny and cabin service weak. No coathangers in closet for pants or skirts. Requested and never received. One outlet in cabin...cannot use regular hair dryer or you blow the circuit (trust me, i know). Have to claim pool chairs by 9:30 AM or you are out of luck. If you request an iron and ironing board be prepared to trip over it all week!

Funny I felt the same way on our SPIRIT adventure in early August....:p