Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

NCL Spirit back today...

Cruisedeacon

By Cruisedeacon,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

Recommended Posts

newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

Posted
Posted
:D Hello everyone... back from the first week of the NCL Spirit out of New Orleans... will have some feedback for all starting tomorrow.. (Have to unpack and wash etc...) just thought I would start the thread... anyone have any specific questions...

 

back to you tonight or tomorrow...

 

one thing NCL needs to know is that the ship is leaving from the port of Orleans... cajuns and louisianaians love our food spicy... or at minimum with some spice... the food was sooooo bland...:(

 

I am not making fun or you or not believing you, but the comment about the food is making me laugh: the reason, when we were on the Jewel we kept getting sat with this one woman for lunch and breakfast over and over: all she could do was talk about how NCL needed to learn not to use so many spices. The food was unedible. She was from Canada..

 

I would agree with you for the most part. I wish they would spice things up just a little. I do like the buffalo wings.

 

One more thing, if you think the food on NCL is bland, try HAL?? Good choices, no spices.

 

Nita

Link to comment
Share on other sites
newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

Posted
Posted
I do not believe that there are any bad cruises, but since this was my first Norwegian Cruise, I was a little disappointed with the Cruiseline. The ship was small, but easy to get around. We paid to eat several dinners, because the buffet was so bad. Even breakfast was not good. My personal opinion was that they are making the buffet bad, so that passengers will purchase meals at specialty restaurants.

 

I wanted to pay bingo, but did not want to spend a minimum of $39 to play 1 card. Spent money on dinner instead. The employees are very nice and cordial as you pass them. Other than the food, I would say that our room stewart had too many rooms to clean. He would get to us after lunch, so we got where we put our please make up room sign.

 

We also had some excitement like the Carnival Splendor. There was a room several doors from us that fell asleep in bed and set their bedding on fire. I heard some of the crew talking about it, as we walked by. I do not know what they ended up charging the passengers.

 

This ship is very easy to get on and off at each port. I did not feel hounded to take photos or buy drinks. We had a relaxing time, but will probably not sail with Norwegian again. Princess and Carnival are more to my liking.

 

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise and I think everyone knows no line is perfect for everyone. My only surprise on what you have to say is: the buffet was so bad. We are not buffet addicts thus we use them only for breakfast and lunch, but we thought the buffet on the Spirit was the best we have seen out of 25 plus cruises. One thing that impressed me about the breakfast buffet was the hot cream for cereal. Although I am not a huge cereal eater I thought it was an awesome touch. Some might have missed it though. The salad bar at lunch was another feature we loved.

 

I agree about the stewards maybe having too many cabins to clean. That was one of our few complaints on the Spirit, but others we knew (we were with a very large group) did not have any problems with their stewards.

 

As for Bingo, I would never pay the money they want to play. I can't beleive how many do. I would rather drop my $40.00 in a slot machine.

 

Nita

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mtwingcpa

mtwingcpa

Posted
Posted
What about the promenade deck?

 

When I was on the Spirit in April 2009, smoking was allowed on the entire promenade deck, and on virtually all outdoor decks EXCEPT one side of the pool and designated areas in outdoor food service areas.

 

I complained about smoking twice in outdoor food service areas and the wait staff promptly dealt with the problem. :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dajbman22

Dajbman22

Posted
Posted
I am glad you enjoyed your cruise and I think everyone knows no line is perfect for everyone. My only surprise on what you have to say is: the buffet was so bad. We are not buffet addicts thus we use them only for breakfast and lunch, but we thought the buffet on the Spirit was the best we have seen out of 25 plus cruises. One thing that impressed me about the breakfast buffet was the hot cream for cereal. Although I am not a huge cereal eater I thought it was an awesome touch. Some might have missed it though. The salad bar at lunch was another feature we loved.

 

Come to think of it, I think its that I am just not a big fan of the buffet on cruises in general. In fact I can't really say I liked the buffet on any of my 4 previous cruises for anything other than a quick snack or some cold breakfast items to bring back to the cabin (And in Raffles, the pretzel rolls are enough to keep me happy anyway, lol). That being said, even if I don't care for the buffet, the Spirit is still one of my favorite ships, and I always recommend it to others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alwalaska

alwalaska

Posted
Posted
I also watched her pull away this evening. I will be sailing on her this next sunday and have been reading everything I can find. This will be my first time with ncl. I have been with carnival 7 times and after reading for the last few months, I am anxious to actually see the differences. Hope to hear more from you soon and when i return I will also give a review.

 

I look forward to reading your review as well as any others. It would be really great if you could take pictures of the main dining rooms menus or to bring home the dailies. I would love to see this information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruisedeacon

Cruisedeacon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

:D First of all I want you to know that we tried NCL about 15 years ago and have pretty much been loyal to RCI... but we got a good deal on the NCL price and it was out of NOLA which allowed for us to drive a couple of hours and not have to deal with the luggage issues... that said... we did enjoy our cruise. VERY MUCH... Please note that the comments I make are my opinions.. I am not to trying to influence anyone to sail or not to sail... again we did enjoy our cruise very much.

 

* We attempted to get on early but due to a jewelry show at the covention center (right next door to the port) we got stuck in a tremendous amount of traffic... backed up all the way to the I-10... I would recommend not using the Tchipitolas (mispelled I know)... find out what exit is just prior to that exit and exit there... it still takes you down to the port... anyway... we finally arrived at the parking garage ($16 per day ouch!!)... but the garage is right above the terminal so it is easy to bring luggage down and back up... (the porters will actually bring the luggage up to the level of parking you are on for a few bucks ...)

 

We parked about 12 noon and went through embarkation procedures without any problems... (for those of you questioning liquor... I did see a couple that tried to bring on scotch and were stopped ... it was taken away to be returned on the day of departure) you can take wine on board... some are stopped to pay a corkage fee but most are not... we brought on a box of wine and were not stopped... was nice to have wine in the evenings in our room...without paying for a whole bottle...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ms belp

Ms belp

Posted
Posted
Oh, and if that LA spice is "really" important, stash some Tony's or Louisiana Hot Sauce in your luggage!! ;)

 

Yep. Gotta agree. Both are excellent for spicing things up! We have a co-worker who will not eat anything except sweets without spicing it up with Cajun seasoning.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruisedeacon

Cruisedeacon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

We loved the embarkation procedures very quickly done... easy and friendly... I did notice one couple asking about changing rooms from an aft cabin to a center and they were quickly accomodated...

 

We then went to our room... they advised would not be ready before 2pm but they were ready at 1pm.... went to Raffles and ate lunch... Raffles had great variety and good tasting food... the seasoning was well done across the board... loved the salad section and the many types of bread... yes the pretzel rolls are great...

 

we scoured the ship before departure and then went to Windows MDR for dinner... we noticed a marked difference in the seasoning between Raffles and MDR's was pretty disappointed with the seasoning... I know I am from Louisiana and we love our spicy cajun food... but I wasnt looking for cajun food since we are fully aware that local food does not follow a cruise ship.. but I am telling you the food was not seasoned..:rolleyes:my opinion..

 

This is the first for us as far as FreeStyle crusing as well... Again please understand that this is just MY opinion... but I feel that the staff is not as quick to serve and take care of needs (ex: my glass of water stayed empty for over 15mins on a couple of occassions)... is this due to the fact that the staff knows they will receive their tips no matter what since they are removed from each cruiser on their shipboard accounts each day? just my thought... (I am all for tipping and usually do tip WAY beyond the reccomended amounts... I usually tip our room steward 50 dollars the first day in addition to the recommended amounts)... we arent looking to be treated as Royalty but the service seemed slighted...

 

We were in room 10072 balcony cabin... very happy with the cabin.. I like the idea that the bathroom is subdivided into the sink area (center) and the shower to the right and toilet to the left... but boy is it a tight squeeze to get to the toilet... the shower has plenty of room... thank goodness the toilet area has a handle on the wall to hold onto to get up and down...:)

 

Very satisfied with the room and the balcony.. air condition worked REALLY well... room was not noisy at all... convenient to all on the ship.. we use the stairs to excercise so that we can eat more...:o

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruisedeacon

Cruisedeacon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Some have asked about the cleanliness and age of the ship... we found it to be in great condition and always very clean ... the staff does a wonderful job in keeping it up... they are also very friendly.... MAKE SURE you check out Kwaski Pierre from St. Lucia at Raffles... you can hear him from 2 floors away... he is such a hoot... he loves to tell the men (with wives) that they are "Chick magnets" and that the women are "Naughty Naughty"... take time to talk to him... he is a GREAT employee... everyone who went to Raffles got to know him... but I spent a little extra time with him talking to him about his family in St Lucia and how Hurrican Tomas tore up their island... he loves his people... and he loves working for NCL... at times you might also hear him say "wakie wakie" in the mornings... always a fun time.. he loves to see a smile and will ask you for one if you dont have one plastered on your face...

 

The NORO virus restrictions had been lifted... though it was good to see a lot of hand sanitizer being used.. and yes you could serve yourself at Raffles buffet..

 

Smoking is allowed in all outside areas of the ship... this was a problem for us due to the fact we are both allergic to smoke.. it was very tough to find an outside area without someone smoking near us... or if we did find an area then someone would usually show up and start smoking... :mad:

 

The Laundy bag special was on Thursday evening if I remember right... 29 dollars for all you could stuff in the bag... we did not use this...

 

Someone asked about early bag check in before the ship left ... I think it can be done pretty easy... and then come back to check in later...

 

No huge TV's on board like Carnival but there are many great areas with tvs etc... pool area has plenty of room ... we never noticed any crowding at all..

 

One of our favorite extra eating areas... (you know its so tough to just have three meals a day :D ) was the Blue Lagoon on the seventh floor... open 24 hours with good fast food type of food... chicken, hamburgers, buffalo wings (which were extra yummy).. etc.. thank goodness this place was here so we could get in the balance of our 6 meals a day..:eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruisedeacon

Cruisedeacon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The first show at the theatre was always packed... the second show had many empty seats... the entertainment was great.. the magician was awesome... still trying to figure out how he made his assistant disappear in the box? (I cant convience the DW to get in a box so I can try it on her :) just kidding...)

 

Second City comedy is well worth the time... go to those shows...

 

Now to the ports...

 

We enjoyed every port we went to even though we had previously been to all of them... if you like to snorkle make sure you take your gear when you exit at Roatan... beautiful coral and fish at Tabyana beach.... we loved the day...

 

We went to Myan ruins in Belieze... Altun Ha... we did this in conjuction with the River cruise... we highly recommend this side trip...

 

You will notice on the side trip review that most say there was not much of a lunch and to bring snacks... we disagree with this.. the food was typical of Belieze... rice and beans... a salad... chicken BBQ... not a lot but more than enough as a light lunch... we enjoyed the local food...

 

We did Playa Mia in Cozumel... which we have done 3 times before... the beach games are fun and the food buffet was awesome (all you can eat and drink)... they now have new beach chairs that are very comfortable...

 

the last day we just lounged around... spent a little money in the shops and then packed...

 

Debarkation is really easy and quick... we left the ship at 10:00 and were in our car by 10:45...

 

Any questions???:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
islandsinmyblood

islandsinmyblood

Posted
Posted

hi, the first few days home is soo hard... did you have an amazing time???.. we are going on the spirit over christmas...counting down the days.:o...what was the best show not to miss??? how was the casino???? any loose slots?? favorite bar? favorite dinner?? did you freestyle or have the same set table every night?? this is first time on the spirit... any tips would be helpfull..... thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruisedeacon

Cruisedeacon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

All dining is freestyle.. very tough to be at same tables for each night... wait staff changes each night.

 

Won 30 bucks on the slots and then won 70 on blackjack... walked away with my winnings...

 

I understand that the Mystery dinner is WELL worth the twenty per person...it sounded like a great time (one of our group went)..

 

as has been said many times over... any cruise is better than work... you will have a great time... relax and enjoy:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
marinaro44

marinaro44

Posted
Posted
Raffles desserts... pretty much the same every night... if you like jello or pound cake you will be in heaven!!

There is a crepes bar in Raffles every night where you can have your crepes made to order with various fruit toppings, nuts, and whipped cream. There is also a chocolate fountain where they will dip fruits and cakes on skewers into the fountain to make fun desserts. The soft-serve ice cream machines are near the crepes bar so it is easy to add ice cream to your crepes.

 

I would also say we had tiramisu and flourless chocolate cake at Raffles in the evening. You might be surprised what can be found there if you look carefully.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...