Review Spirit 7/17-7/24

[txtara]

I have not submitted this yet...got really long winded so need to shorten it.

This cruise was a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for my in-laws. In total there were 14 of us ranging in age from 8 to 73. My immediate family consists of me, my husband, and our three girls ages 8, 12, and 17. This was our 8th cruise, first on NCL. We have sailed with Disney, RCCL, and Carnival. We sailed July 17th thru the 24th.

We arrived in New Orleans on Saturday the 16th and stayed at the Embassy Suites Convention Center. We paid $99 for the night which included the full breakfast in the morning for all 5 of us. Keep in mind parking is $30 a day. Our room was located in their loft section which was very nice. The Riverwalk Mall was a 2 minute walk from the hotel. We shopped and had dinner (gumbo and oysters) at the Hilton with the rest of the family. Very yummy! We walked from there to the French Quarter and did a very quick walk down Bourbon Street. The sun was not down yet but the party had begun down there. It was also rainy that day but helped us stay cool. We walked some more (this became the theme of the night) and ended up in Jackson Square. We walked down to Café Dumonde(if not further) before I called it a night. Took the girls back to the hotel in a taxi as we were too far to hoof it. The next morning we had our breakfast, got our car loaded up, checked out, and headed to Walmart. We wanted to pick up some water and Gatorade to take on board. We arrived at the port at 11:00.

Once we arrived at the port we had to wait about 20 minutes before we could check in. It was all painless and were on board not long after noon. Our cabins were ready pretty quickly so we dropped everything off after getting the kids the soda cups and headed for lunch. The Raffles buffet lunch was always good. My kids loved the Ceasar salad station and of course the ice cream. I was again a rainy day so we toured the ship, unpacked, did the lifeboat drill, and headed to Galaxy of the Stars for the sailaway party. We finally decided to head to Windows for dinner. We all had shorts on that first night and were told that starting the next day shorts were not allowed. After dinner we saw the show ( it was just ok) and headed to bed. Husband to the casino. Went to bed day 1 without meeting our stateroom host/hostess. (1st disappointment)

[txtara]

Day at Sea 1 we slept in! Finally got up, had breakfast(greeted by Washy Washy) and then it rained for the next 3 hours. The sun finally came out after lunch so we hit the pools. I have heard that they will let kids swim in the Tivoli pool. Nope! If they look like they are young enough for the pirate pool then they do not let them into the main pool (at least on sea days when you are not in port). This was a biggie for me. My 8 yr old loved the slides at the pirate pool but also like to swim in deeper than 3 feet of water. The Spirit lost big points from me on this one. So much for family swimming time. All of the games at the main pool were drinking games for adults (at least what we saw). We were at the pool for a majority of the 2 days at sea. You could not be anywhere around the pool without someone asking you if you wanted a drink…..repeatedly. That night we had dinner in Windows (celebrated anniversary that night). We had tried to get ressies for our party of 14 that morning. Everything was either too early or too late so. This became a theme for this trip. We never got to sit together as a family with the exception of the first night on board. We always ended up with an adult table and a kid table. If we wanted to sit together we had to eat at 5 or 8:30. This was another big disappointment. Went to the show and then off to bed. (Still had not met our cabin host/hostess).

[txtara]

Stateroom:

We had an inside stateroom for me, my husband, the 8 and 12 year old. My advice: if a family inside is available, take it. My oldest shared a cabin with her cousins. We were forward on deck 5. In my opinion it was a great location. The Spirit does not have rooms with 2 pull down beds so our room was wall to wall bedding. The two twins were pushed together against one wall with a trundle on the floor next to it. We literally had a 3x3 area to get dressed in…if that. We basically kicked the kids out as soon as they were ready. The room was always damp and only got really cold a couple of times. Our wet clothes never really dried the entire week. Was not the best experience in that department. Oh….and did I mention we never met our stateroom host/hostess?

[txtara]

Ports

Costa Maya: Took a taxi over to Mahahual (40 for all 14 of us). The driver dropped us at the Tapas restaurant beachfront. We got tables and chairs for free. We ate, drank, and played in the water. The water was beautiful. No sea grass and crystal clear! Took taxi back to port ($2 a piece) and swam at the pool at the port before doing some shopping and heading back to the ship. This was our second time to visit and enjoyed it just as much as the first time.

Roatan: Book the island tour with Bodden Tours. We had a great day. We toured the island, visited the Iguana farm, Victor’s monkey place, stopped at all of the great picture spots, and shopped. We had a couple of teachers in our group so we stopped and talked to some elementary school kids that were playing outside. We took some pics with them. They loved seeing their pics on the camera. We had lunch at Half Moon Bay(yummy) and headed to the beach. We were taken to the Bananarama resort and swam for a couple of hours. Easily the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

Belize City: Cave tubing with Cave-Tubing.bz. What a wonderful excursion this was. Vitalino really knows how to do this trip. They are like a big family and they treat all their customers the same way. When they found out that it was my inlaws anniversary, they had a cake made for us to eat with our lunch. We had 3 guided for our party of 14. My inlaws had a guide and then had the rest of us split into 2 groups. The caves are gorgeous. The water was cold and refreshing. The most beautiful river I have ever seen. I would highly recommend them! Once we returned to port we shopped and headed back to the ship.

Cozumel: Spent the day at Paradise Beach. I would recommend water shoes. The water right off the beach is rocky and has quite a bit of sea grass. The kids loved the water toys, kayaks, and paddle board. As more people arrived the water got cloudy. We ended up walking down the pier they have and swimming off of it. The water was crystal clear and great for snorkeling. Saw stingrays, lobster, and fish. Did some shopping and headed back to the ship.

[txtara]

Food on board:

We congregated everyday up in the Biergarten. Seemed to be our snack of choice. Good food there. We ate in Raffles one night for dinner which we found to have a great variety. We had dinner one night in the Blue Lagoon (this was also a snack place for us). Great cheesecake and wings! My daughter loved the hot dogs there. We tried Teppenyaki and found it to be awesome. The filet was melt in your mouth! A few members of our group ate at La Trattoria and said it was really good. All of the food in Windows was pretty good. I did not have any complaints. Service in Windows was pretty slow at times. Our kids always got their food quickly and one night had their meals before we had our appetizers.

Shows/ Entertainment:

The shows in the main theater were pretty good. I think there is only 1 we did not see. Word of advice: take a sweater as it is freezing in there. There is always music in the bars and by the pool. You can always find something to do. My family frequented the casino especially the craps table.

This brings us to the last day at sea: This day was for more sun and packing. It had been a long, eventful week. We took this time to swim and rest in the sun (not that we needed more of that). We again had tried that morning for dinner ressies to sit together the last night of the cruise….didn’t happen. Had to get 2 tables. After dinner we headed for the show and then a late night snack in the Blue Lagoon. While we were sitting there we passed right by the Carnival exiting the Mississippi as we entered it. That was really cool! Finally headed to bed (oh, still had not met my stateroom host/hostess).

[txtara]

Disembarkation:

It was a breeze. We got up that morning and had breakfast up in the buffet. Full breakfast so that was nice. Went back to our rooms, picked up our stuff, color was called, picked up luggage, got thru immigration and pulling out of lot by 9:30.

Summary:

My major disappointments came in the swimming pool issue, dinner reservations in Windows/Garden Room, oh…and never met my stateroom host/hostess. This is the first cruise ever that I have not been greeted by name by my stateroom host/hostess. I have also determined that I really enjoy having the same server every night. The server who knows I want ice tea with dinner and it is waiting for me not the other way around. Freestyle did not work for us. We made the best of what we could do onboard. We will not sail the Spirit again. I will be looking for the ships that really look at family activities.

[spatton]

We were on that same cruise, and I will be posting my review soon. Looks like you hit the nail on the head.

 

We also experienced some of your "issues," and feel the same way about certain things.

[txtara]

Looking forward to reading it.

[rvsullivan]

Sorry this one didn't work out for you! We've cruised Spirit several times now and are going again in Dec. A couple of comments though. There have been many posts on CC about large groups trying to sit together for dinner. Always the answer has been talk to the maitre d and you will have to take either very early or very late dining. The other thing that is pretty well known is the fact they are pretty strict about kids in the adult pool.

If I had not been in contact with my steward by early morning of the first sea day, I would have been on the phone with the hotel director. Sounds like this is not a good match for you and your family and thats to bad. Spirit is a great ship.:)

[glorialagos]

Hard to believe we were on the same cruise! Our friends joined us on the cruise, leaving their kids at home, and one of their biggest complaints were the amount of kids in the adult pool and hot tubs! I know one day my friend and I were in the hot tub and were joined by at least 8 kids under 13!

 

We had the most wonderful room stewards and were greeted by name at least 3 times a day, if not more! I know we were fortunate and we definitely rewarded them both with tips and with the cards supplied to acknowledge great service.

 

Sorry you did not enjoy the Spirit as much as we did. (I also would probably not cruise on the Spirit again but only because we prefer larger ships.)

[cruzelover65]

I can only hope that on my cruise coming up this week, there are not kids in the ADULT pool!! That's why they have a KIDS pool!! If you want FAMILY TIME, go to the KIDS POOL with them!!

[dasmonkey]

That night we had dinner in Windows (celebrated anniversary that night). We had tried to get ressies for our party of 14 that morning. Everything was either too early or too late so. This became a theme for this trip. We never got to sit together as a family with the exception of the first night on board. We always ended up with an adult table and a kid table. If we wanted to sit together we had to eat at 5 or 8:30. This was another big disappointment. Went to the show and then off to bed. (Still had not met our cabin host/hostess).

 

I am thinking it probably isn't realistic to think anyone is going to get a table for 14 during prime dinner hours, 6:30-7:30 PM, on a Freestyle dining system.

 

If I were cruising with 14 people that wanted to eat at the same table I would probably go with a fixed dining line.

 

It does however sounds like you could have all had dinner together at 5 or at 8:30. 5 is early but 8:30 is pretty typical of a late dining time on most any main stream line with fixed dining times.

[txtara]

I can only hope that on my cruise coming up this week, there are not kids in the ADULT pool!! That's why they have a KIDS pool!! If you want FAMILY TIME, go to the KIDS POOL with them!!

 

Actually the point is that there is no FAMILY pool. Take a look at the pirate pool....can't swim in there. All the younger kids have is a pool you can't swim in.

[txtara]

I am thinking it probably isn't realistic to think anyone is going to get a table for 14 during prime dinner hours, 6:30-7:30 PM, on a Freestyle dining system.

 

If I were cruising with 14 people that wanted to eat at the same table I would probably go with a fixed dining line.

 

It does however sounds like you could have all had dinner together at 5 or at 8:30. 5 is early but 8:30 is pretty typical of a late dining time on most any main stream line with fixed dining times.

 

The first night on board we walked into Windows and got a table for all 14 of us with no problem. Every night there were many large groups sitting together at the times we were in the restaurant.

[txtara]

Hard to believe we were on the same cruise! Our friends joined us on the cruise, leaving their kids at home, and one of their biggest complaints were the amount of kids in the adult pool and hot tubs! I know one day my friend and I were in the hot tub and were joined by at least 8 kids under 13!

 

We had the most wonderful room stewards and were greeted by name at least 3 times a day, if not more! I know we were fortunate and we definitely rewarded them both with tips and with the cards supplied to acknowledge great service.

 

Sorry you did not enjoy the Spirit as much as we did. (I also would probably not cruise on the Spirit again but only because we prefer larger ships.)

 

On port days they seemed to be more lenient about kids in the pools. My 8 yr old walked near the pool and got shooed away.

[dasmonkey]

Day at Sea 1 we slept in! That night we had dinner in Windows (celebrated anniversary that night). We had tried to get ressies for our party of 14 that morning. Everything was either too early or too late so. This became a theme for this trip. We never got to sit together as a family with the exception of the first night on board. We always ended up with an adult table and a kid table. If we wanted to sit together we had to eat at 5 or 8:30. This was another big disappointment. Went to the show and then off to bed. (Still had not met our cabin host/hostess).

 

 

The first night on board we walked into Windows and got a table for all 14 of us with no problem. Every night there were many large groups sitting together at the times we were in the restaurant.

 

I guess I am just confuzzled. :confused: You tried to get reservations on the first day but there were no suitable times. But you wound up just walking in and being seated without any reservations.

 

Then you couldn't eat together the rest of the week but there were plenty of other large groups eating together all week. :confused:

 

So other large groups were able to get reservations during the week but you couldn't?

[newmexicoNita]

Disembarkation:

It was a breeze. We got up that morning and had breakfast up in the buffet. Full breakfast so that was nice. Went back to our rooms, picked up our stuff, color was called, picked up luggage, got thru immigration and pulling out of lot by 9:30.

Summary:

My major disappointments came in the swimming pool issue, dinner reservations in Windows/Garden Room, oh…and never met my stateroom host/hostess. This is the first cruise ever that I have not been greeted by name by my stateroom host/hostess. I have also determined that I really enjoy having the same server every night. The server who knows I want ice tea with dinner and it is waiting for me not the other way around. Freestyle did not work for us. We made the best of what we could do onboard. We will not sail the Spirit again. I will be looking for the ships that really look at family activities.

We have sailed over 25 times and have had a couple of cruises where we did not meet our cabin steward. They did, usually leave a card with their name on it. I too, prefer to know who they are, but it doesn't affect our overall cruise as long as our cabin is clean and we have ice, etc. Now, as for having the same server, yes, for many traditional dining is very important. It depends on ones personality. For us, it took awhile to get used to Freestyle, we wouldn't have it any other way. I have a gut feeling, traditional dining will soon be a thing of the past except on the smaller, more upscale lines.

 

Thanks for your honest review and better luck on your next cruise. No cruise line is perfect for everyone. I will add, your problem with dinner could have been averted I think had you spoken with someone the very first day and been a little flexible in your hours. From 6:30 to 8pm is the busiest time. We sailed in Feb with 13 and had no problems getting tables together the few times we tried. Normally we preferred not to all eat together. That is why we enjoy freestyle.

 

NIta

[newmexicoNita]

Sorry this one didn't work out for you! We've cruised Spirit several times now and are going again in Dec. A couple of comments though. There have been many posts on CC about large groups trying to sit together for dinner. Always the answer has been talk to the maitre d and you will have to take either very early or very late dining. The other thing that is pretty well known is the fact they are pretty strict about kids in the adult pool.

If I had not been in contact with my steward by early morning of the first sea day, I would have been on the phone with the hotel director. Sounds like this is not a good match for you and your family and thats to bad. Spirit is a great ship.:)

 

you are right about the large groups. For those planning a family cruise, please remember this. I know you love the Spirit, we do as well, but we also, like you, realize it isn't the ship for everyone. Normally, large families enjoy freestyle because it gives them more freedom.

 

Nita

[txtara]

I guess I am just confuzzled. :confused: You tried to get reservations on the first day but there were no suitable times. But you wound up just walking in and being seated without any reservations.

 

Then you couldn't eat together the rest of the week but there were plenty of other large groups eating together all week. :confused:

 

So other large groups were able to get reservations during the week but you couldn't?

 

We tried to make reservations for the first night on board for all 14 of us and again the times didn't work out. So, we just showed up and they had no problem sitting us all together. Everynight after that we could not get reservations or get seated together. There were always big parties sitting together...I guess they had called before we did?

[Cubechick]

I guess what jumped out at me was you mention repeatedly not meeting your room steward (obviously a big deal for you), but you didn't say that your room wasn't cleaned to your satisfaction. Were there issues that you needed to address?