NCL Spirit or Carnival Conquest?? HELP

[tinner]

DW and I are trying to plan our 2nd cruise for this winter in either Jan or Feb. Our first was on the Crown Princess last year out of Ft Lauderdale, and we are addicted to cruising now!

 

However, this year, since we have both always wanted to see New Orleans, we are trying to find a cruise out of there, and these seem to be the two ships and itineraries that we are most interested in. (Spirit and Conquest)

 

Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated! Also one major question...do either offer refrigerators in Balcony staterooms?

 

Thanks!

[tinner]

Also, any opinions on who has the best room service would be helpful.

[slotaddict]

While I have done Carnival and enjoyed it, I never sailed the Conquest....I have sailed the Spirit and loved her....a very charming ship with a top notch crew...

[newcruiser123456789]

Leaving in a month - hoping for the best. Our decision came down to price - we could afford a balcony on the Spirit and couldn't on the Conquest at the time (they were running a big promotion - we got our room for 579/pp). Anyways we chose it primarily because it left from NO and went to Belize, Roatan and Cozumel. Also read great things about the crew and the ship - although older it sounds like the attitudes of the staff are top notch which makes all the difference in the world to us! Anyways - good luck with your choice, it seems that there are quite a few very loyal Spirit cruisers on these boards which made me feel a lot better about our decision.

[ann1bell]

We went on the Spirit last Jan and loved it.. want to go again this winter but are not sure about it. You will have a great time!

[Cubechick]

I have never sailed Carnival. However, we are sailing the Spirit February 12th...to tie the trip into a few days post cruise in New Orleans in with Mardi Gras. I'm sure it will be excellent!

 

This will be our third time on the Spirit. She's a very unique ship, having been built for the Asian market. Her decor is stunning and unlike any other ship I've been on. Her crew has always been wonderful. We can't wait to sail her again (in just over 3 months!).

 

:D

[Cubechick]

Leaving in a month - hoping for the best. Our decision came down to price - we could afford a balcony on the Spirit and couldn't on the Conquest at the time (they were running a big promotion - we got our room for 579/pp). Anyways we chose it primarily because it left from NO and went to Belize, Roatan and Cozumel. Also read great things about the crew and the ship - although older it sounds like the attitudes of the staff are top notch which makes all the difference in the world to us! Anyways - good luck with your choice, it seems that there are quite a few very loyal Spirit cruisers on these boards which made me feel a lot better about our decision.

 

I really think you'll have a wonderful time (and hope you'll come back and share your experience). I'm really glad that we booked the Spirit for this year...not knowing at the time that she'll be moving to Europe. Who knows when we'll be able to sail her again?

[Lena B]

We're on the same sailing as Cube Chick and this will be our 4th trip on the beautiful Spirit. Come and join our Mardi Gras/Valentine's Day fun! She really is a great ship with a wonderful crew and we always return home feeling totally pampered. NOLA is a great city any time - but especially when you can soak up some of that Mardi Gras Spirit!

[tinner]

Thank you all for the responses. Can any of you tell me if there are refrigerators in the balcony cabins? Thanks

[Lena B]

There are no refrigerators in the balcony cabins, but you can request one ahead of time for a medical reason. I usually do this to keep some presciption eyedrops at the proper temperature, but they have to store the fridge under the desk - so the desk chair kind of gets in the way.

[Sauer-kraut]

Okay, I never sailed sailed on either ship you are asking about, however, I have sailed NCL and CCL and can comment on room service.

 

I thought NCL had better choices, hot breakfast items (read omletes anytime) whereas CCL had only cold options. There are surcharge items on NCL room service, but the soup, sandwiches, etc were free and very tasty. I wouldn't hesitate to order NCL room service.

 

CCL really didn't 'grab' me with their room service items. It could have been that I wasn't in the mood for what was offered or I was in the Caribbean and probably too hot to want to order much. I usually opted to get something from the buffet or the pizza ovens while sailing with them.

 

Food overall was good in my opinon for both lines, always something I enjoyed eating. I really love desserts, but both line for me were lacking anything special. I don't care for the chocolate melting cake, and on NCL all I found that was really good was their bread pudding in the buffet. So on that note, you'll just have to judge for yourself. :rolleyes:

 

Good luck on whichever you choose, have a wonderful cruise.

[Lena B]

I love the Blue Lagoon on the Spirit - open 23 hours a day and really tasty comfort foods after a day of drinking more than usual...When I've been drinking, I really want to eat something late at night before going to bed, besides cookies - that has been lacking on some ships. By the time late night room service arrives - I'm ready to snooze!

 

For dessert items on NCL, I enjoy anything that says creme brulee. I did not enjoy the static lunch menu offered on NCL last year - well - I enjoyed it on embarkation, but didn't opt for it again on Saturday. Fortunately we had lunch in port Tues-Fri. We haven't yet experienced the more static dinner menus on the Spirit, but I think that we will opt for more specialty restaurants, if that is our option in Feb. I could eat at Le Bistro several times!

 

Our first cruise (ocean view stateroom) cost us twice as much as we are currently cruising for (balcony). The food really is not as good as it was when we began cruising. However, my home grocery budget is much, much higher than it was back then. I've just come to the conclusion that if we want to have really tasty dining experiences on any line, we have to pony up a little extra for the specialty restaurants. I like the fact that NCL offers a lot of different choices for that.

[jennbill]

As frequent Carnival cruisers (never on Conquest) and having sailed on the Crown Princess, we really like the Spirit. Two cruises on her this year. Great officers and crew. The ship has lots of charm. Food is decent to very good. Do research on her and understand that she's like no other ship out there. I think you might like the Norwegian experience. NOLA is a wonderful port from which to sail.

[ctnecruisers]

We sailed on Conquest a couple of years ago out of Galveston. Loved the ship and the service was great. We have not sailed on NCL yet so I can't make any comparisons but the Conquest was great.

[gogonodough]

DW and I are trying to plan our 2nd cruise for this winter in either Jan or Feb. Our first was on the Crown Princess last year out of Ft Lauderdale, and we are addicted to cruising now!

 

However, this year, since we have both always wanted to see New Orleans, we are trying to find a cruise out of there, and these seem to be the two ships and itineraries that we are most interested in. (Spirit and Conquest)

 

Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated! Also one major question...do either offer refrigerators in Balcony staterooms?

 

Thanks!

I've been on both and I vote Conquest all the way! While I enjoyed the Spirit, the overall service, food, and activities were much better aboard the Conquest. The Spirit has more of a casual, intimate feel though. One caveat, if anyone in your party is overweight are very tall, the fixtures and furniture on the Spirit are on the small side. The seats in the theater are low and the toilets in the cabin bathrooms are behind a sliding door that doesn't fully open.

[dchang]

We just returned from our cruise on the Spirit this past Sunday 11/6. We had a wonderful cruise and the staff of the Spirit was excellent. We never once passed a crew member without being greeted and they were always smiling. Our room attendant was excellent and always made sure we had whatever we needed. We were in an aft penthouse suite and felt totally pampered by our Butler, Randy. He handled all our room service requests and anything else we needed in our suite. The concierge, John was always in Le Bistro where we had our Breakfast and Lunch. He was always checking if there was anything we needed or if he could make dinner reservations for us. He also called our cabin to check on us if we did not make it for Breakfast or Lunch. It was an outstanding cruise and I would not hesitate to book another cruise on the Spirit again. We did not want to leave the ship on Sunday. For the oldest ship in the NCL fleet she has been well cared for. Of course she just came out of dry dock at the beginning of the month and looked to be in excellent shape. I enjoyed the food and found plenty of options in Windows or the Garden room. The menu had a specialty side which changed nightly and a standard side which also changed occasionally during the cruise. We also had a great dinner in the Teppanyaki restaurant. My partner who will need go to these restaurants at home, eat everything in our dinner at Teppanyaki and was surprised he actually enjoyed all of the food. Who knows we may get to eat at one of our local hibachi restaurants now. Just have to make sure they have the seaweed salad he enjoyed so much. Our neice and her freind were in an inside cabin and they felt just as pampered as we did. Their room attendant supplied them with robes and slippers and they were able to get a fridge for their room. He checked on them constantly and made a banner for their room to welcome them back from one of our shore excursions. He even serenaded them on his guitar one evening. We all left the Spirit feeling pampered after a wonderful week on the Spirit. We had the full spectrum to compare from our neices in an inside cabin down the hall from us, to our aft penthouse suite the service was excellent, the crew outstanding and the food was great. We always made sure to stop by the blue lagoon for afternoon and late night snacks. What a week we had......