Norwegian Spirit Review - 12/18/11 - 12/25/11

[margaretevanescence]

I am writing my very first review, I hope I can get as detailed as possible without being too boring. I will try and answer any questions that you might have.

 

I went on the Norwegian Spirit December 18th - December 25th and leaving from New Orleans. I live in Niceville, FL. Yes, there is a town called Niceville and it is only 4 hours away from New Orleans.

 

Day 0 - Packing Day

Every time I go on vacation I pack the day before. It doesn't matter how long the trip is I always do it the day before. I will give you some tips about packing that saved me some hassle.

 

First off, PACKING CUBES! They are the neatest little inventions ever. I purchased three. The small size kept all my underwear, the middle size kept all my shirts and shorts, and the larger one kept all my pants, skirts, and dresses. I might have brought 15 outfits and was able to fit them all inside the packing cubes. Pretty amazing. I know people say there is no need to bring a lot of outfits but on my trip I usually wore about 2 - 3 different outfits per day.

 

Below is a picture of the packing cubes with all the clothes I listed. I kept my swimsuits in a zip lock bag in another part of my suitcase. I think I brought 4 or 5 swimsuits.

 

 

The other think I brought along is a little controversial. It is up to you whether or not you would like to bring them along, and they are rum runners. Honestly I am so happy I brought them along. I like having access to a drink whenever I want and not worried about paying for it or having to tip. I brought three rum runners. They fit about 750ml of vodka between the three of them. I also brought along some cranberry juice and a coffee mug so that I can walk around with my "coffee" without being questioned or stopped. The only thing that was kinda annoying was having to go back into my room to refill, but it wasn't so bad. A little exercise never hurts anyone. I still bought a drink from the bar and I also had a guy I met on the cruise buy my drink. LOL. Below are pictures of how I hid them in my suitcase. And yes there are rum runners in each one of the pictures, try and point them out.

 

 

I have heard that people who work on cruise ships and at the ports look for boards about people planning to smuggle in alcohol so just be careful.

 

Packing time for me only took 2 hours because I created a packing list and read hours on end tips and tricks here on cruise critic. So not only will I write a review about the trip I will also tell you some tips that could help make your trip even more special.

 

And again I will try and answer any questions you may have. (I am sorry for any typing errors I may have, I didn't proof reed)

[PreciousCruiser]

Looking forward to your review... :)

[margaretevanescence]

Day 1 - Sunday, December 18, 2011

I left my house around 6:30am and got to New Orleans around 10:30am without a problem. I parked at Fulton Parking. I payed for the parking a couple of weeks before and it only cost $12 per day, in total $84.

 

I recommend everyone parking there because it is fast and simple and they provide free shuttle to and from the port and they do not charge tax. They shuttle also comes often so there wait time was not long at all. I think we waited 5 minutes.

 

After parking, we parked on the 7th floor so it took awhile to get all the way up there, getting ourselves together in the garage, and getting our luggage to the shuttle, we were at the port around 11:30am. Once we got to the port it only took about 10 to 15 minutes to sign-in. We waited in the lobby area for about 20 - 30 minutes because we were so early. They were VERY organized. They even held up signs to direct people where to go.

 

We were inside the ship around 12:20pm. We were allowed to drop off our luggage inside the room while they were cleaning it so that we could go and eat. There wasn't that many people on the ship I guess because me and my aunt was so early getting there.

 

Below is a picture of your cruise card that you will carry around with you the entire time. DO NOT LOSE! It is your key, your ID, your credit card, your best friend!

 

 

You also receive your Freestyle Daily Day 1 (make sure to bring a highlighter so that you can highlight activities you want to do)

 

 

Another thing that I found out from cruise critic is decorating your door. I read so many cool things that happened when people decided to decorate their doors so I decided to do the same.

 

 

You can't really tell what some of the stuff says but basically I put some funny little cards on the door that I changed out daily. This would encourage people to visit my door, and trust me they did! I also put a Christmas gift bag on the door with index cards and markers inside so that they could could write messages for me. Just to let you know the door are metal so magnets work well on the doors. Just make sure your magnets are strong. I used magnets and tape for my door.

 

I was able to book excursions at the desk, surprisingly there weren't a lot of people in front of the desk. I booked one excursion, the Amazing Secret River Tour, trust me it was Amazing. Make sure to come back to read all about that adventure!

 

We ate at windows for lunch. The food was wonderful! I had Penne Alfredo and my aunt had fish. We were able to sit by the window. We saw the river boat come by.

 

 

There were hardly anyone in the restaurant. Most people went to the buffet. As soon as we got onto the ship the crew kept saying go the deck 12 for lunch. I didn't want to eat the buffet and I remembered reading that Windows would be open and we decided to go eat there. Apparently not too many people knew it was there and had the place almost to ourselves. Maybe a few other families were there but not many. My aunt was wondering where everyone was hiding.

 

We went back to our rooms, the room was ready after we ate lunch. The weird thing was our bags weren't there yet. I was worried they found my rum runners and I would be sent to the naughty room. I think it was around 2pm and thought we should have had them by now. I noticed other people had their bags were outside their rooms.

 

We then left and went to the pool on deck 12 for the sail away party. That was a lot of fun. I like being in front of people and when they played the song wobble I quickly went up by the pool with the professional dancers and danced along with them. I asked the staff first if I was allowed and they said yes. A few other followed behind me. I got a lot of attention, being a theatre minor, I like attention, lol.

 

I also joined in on a conga line and then we wrapped around the pool area and did the Macarena. I have a lot of this on video I will make a video later and post it on youtube and let ya'll see it. If you like partying, go to the sail away party, loads of fun!

[margaretevanescence]

After dancing for awhile I got a little tired and decided to take some pictures before the sun went away.

 

 

FYI, I took all pictures with my iphone. If you don't want to take a super expensive camera, your iphone camera works totally fine. Just remember to keep it on airplane mode so you won't get some crazy charge at the end of the trip!

 

For dinner we ate at the Blue Lagoon. It was really good. This is a 24 hour restaurant which is perfect for the late night munchies.

 

I went to the casino. I am not a gambler so I spent my time on the penny machine. The casino doesn't open until we leave port btw. I went to the club but nobody was there. The bartender said people don't show up the first night usually. I got a drink and he put a lot of liquor in it. The drink I ordered naturally has a lot of alcohol but he added even more. I got a long beach, (rum, tequila, vodka, and triple sec) 4 shots of liquor but I think he added a couple more. I am not complaining. It was worth $8 bucks (including gratuity, which they automatically add into the bill)

 

That was the last thing I did before it was time for me to go to bed. I think I was in the bed around 12ish. Long day but loads of fun and was looking forward to the trip ahead.

[Destinite]

Hey Margarete

 

We sailed the Spirit the week before you did. Love the way you decorated your door, very creative:D

 

Did the Fulton parking shuttle bus have to come in to the terminal the same way all of the private vehicles did? This was a problem when we sailed, great if they figured a way to move the traffic in quicker.

 

Your neighbor across the Bay,

Destinite

[margaretevanescence]

 

Did the Fulton parking shuttle bus have to come in to the terminal the same way all of the private vehicles did? This was a problem when we sailed, great if they figured a way to move the traffic in quicker.

 

 

I forgot about that actually, yes the Fulton parking shuttle bus had to come in the terminal the same way the other private vehicles had to. The traffic wasn't too bad because we were really early so once we were at the the Norwegian spirit terminal there were hardly anybody there. So I guess the trick is to go early.

[margaretevanescence]

Here is a video tour of Day 1. I hope it turned out okay. Just click on the picture and it should play.

 

[www3traveler]

I will be sailing on the Spirit on January 15th. What did you think of the staff? Did anyone stand out?

[dohspc]

 

Nice upgrades to the Spirit from September 2011 Drydock. I was on her in April and I almost took the same pic you did!!

 

IMG_4083 by dohspc, on Flickr

[margaretevanescence]

I think the staff was wonderful you will love them! My steward was so sweet and took good care of me and my aunt.

[paulclimb510]

The staff is simply amazing. Please remember these people work at least 70 hours a week (man work 80-90), work 7 days a week for 9 months straight. It is very hard work.

 

We had three favorite waiters Kumar in Champaigne Charlies, Raushid (sp) in The Bier Garden and Evangeline in the Raffles bar. Honestly, everyone was awesome.

[gelo7]

Very nice.

[coka]

More more more! Loving the review and enjoying the pics and video. The Spirit is a beautiful ship. Very nice to read such reviews. I am home for the holidays instead of cruising so this is a nice diversion from deep cleaning my house! Looking forward to reading more posts.

 

coka

[jdvmd]

Loving your very detailed review! Thanks!

[margaretevanescence]

I got up really early this morning, I think it was around 6am. I got up early because I was so excited to be on the cruise and do some fun activities. In case you haven't noticed I am very active and did A LOT of things on the ship with little sleep, but at least I did so much that I can write you all a detailed review, LOL.

 

I went to the fitness center at 7 am to do the stretch class. It wasn't really a workout just something to do to wake you up. The next class was the abs class. Because the class was free I didn't feel like I got much of a workout. It was only a 20 minute abs class. I think the classes you have to pay for were more of a workout.

 

I didn't go to anymore group fitness classes on the ship I felt taking the stairs up and down would be enough, I mean come on, this was a vacation.

 

I noticed that they offered Bible Study at 9am and a Catholic Mass Celebration at 7:30am. I thought that was great especially being Christmas time. They may or may not offer church on your cruise ship but look for it on the Freestyle Daily if you are interested.

 

I met up at the meet and mingle at 10am. It was wonderful. It was nice to put screen names to faces. The officers also came to the meet and mingle. I thought that was great because we were able to meet them personally unlike the other passengers who had to meet them by chance in the hallway or at the shows.

 

The meet and mingle also had snacks and drinks which was very nice. I met up with a woman who said she would give me $20 towards groceries for the orphanage in Honduras. I will tell you all about that trip later!

 

I started to get remarks about my decorated door. I would over hear people talking about the door, saying it was funny and creative. I loved the attention. LOL.

 

We planned to eat after the show at Teppanyaki. If you want to eat there RESERVE EARLY! By the time we wanted to eat there, there were only two spots available, 6:30pm and 9:30pm. We went ahead and booked the 9:30pm

 

After that I walked around the ship taking pictures and videos.

 

Then I took a well needed 4 hour nap :)

 

After the long nap we went to the Broadway show! It was wonderful! They combined several shows into a medley. My favorite was Wicked.

 

Since we had some time to kill we decided to sit at Champagne Charlies. They were wonderful singers. If you want to do something but don't know what Champagne Charlies is a great place to go.

 

It was 9:30pm and time to eat! The food was excellent! I loved our cook. The group we were with were kinda quiet but it was still a lot of fun. He cooked a lot of food. I had the Shrimp and Chicken.

 

 

I will post a video later so you will get a little taste of what the cook was like.

[margaretevanescence]

After dinner I went back to my room to mix my drink. I put it in my coffee mug and walked around the ship.

 

First stopped by salsa night but there wasn't that many people there so I left and went to the Galaxy for 50s and 60s party. There were a lot of people there.

 

It was cute to see couples dancing on the dance floor listening to some golden oldies.

 

After that I went to Karaoke. I sang one song. It was really windy outside most likely because it was outside on the 13th deck.

 

I left there and went back to the club. Just to let you know the club is located at the very front of ship so the ship was really rocky. We had to adjust our dancing to work with the rocking of the ship.

 

I didn't drink that much and I felt a little drunk and I know it was because of dancing and the cruise ship rocking. If you get seasick easy you might want to be aware of that.

 

By 1:30am I passed out in my room.

 

Here is the Freestyle Dallies for Day 2

[PreciousCruiser]

What were your thoughts on your cabin? Did you like the location? What about feeling the motion in your cabin or hearing any noise? Thanks for posting the pic of it.

 

Enjoying the whole review. Love the way you are posting the daily each day!

[margaretevanescence]

The room was very small but I already knew that before I got there, I made sure to prepare myself. Packing cubes were wonderful because I was always packed and ready to go but had easy access to my clothes. I hate digging around in a suitcase looking for things. We were also very organized, which also helps a bunch.

[margaretevanescence]

Here is the video of Day 2

This video includes the stardust theatre, champagne charlies, Tapanyaki and 50s and 60s Night.

 

[bmwjeanne]

Enjoying your review and videos. I agree, packing cubes are the best. It's so nice to be organized when traveling and also not having to dig through the suit case to find something. Also, bags going through airport check points aren't left in a mess. Look forward to reading more about your cruise.

[saltydog77]

:oWe live in england and have never seen them before the TUBES I MEAN loving your review on the spirit we are sailing on the 30/4/ 12.feel i am having a private look of the boat. so much to take in,thank you for spending the time to record it all. The browns fom england

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

w

I am writing my very first review, I hope I can get as detailed as possible without being too boring. I will try and answer any questions that you might have.

 

I went on the Norwegian Spirit December 18th - December 25th and leaving from New Orleans. I live in Niceville, FL. Yes, there is a town called Niceville and it is only 4 hours away from New Orleans.

 

Day 0 - Packing Day

Every time I go on vacation I pack the day before. It doesn't matter how long the trip is I always do it the day before. I will give you some tips about packing that saved me some hassle.

 

First off, PACKING CUBES! They are the neatest little inventions ever. I purchased three. The small size kept all my underwear, the middle size kept all my shirts and shorts, and the larger one kept all my pants, skirts, and dresses. I might have brought 15 outfits and was able to fit them all inside the packing cubes. Pretty amazing. I know people say there is no need to bring a lot of outfits but on my trip I usually wore about 2 - 3 different outfits per day.

 

Below is a picture of the packing cubes with all the clothes I listed. I kept my swimsuits in a zip lock bag in another part of my suitcase. I think I brought 4 or 5 swimsuits.

 

 

The other think I brought along is a little controversial. It is up to you whether or not you would like to bring them along, and they are rum runners. Honestly I am so happy I brought them along. I like having access to a drink whenever I want and not worried about paying for it or having to tip. I brought three rum runners. They fit about 750ml of vodka between the three of them. I also brought along some cranberry juice and a coffee mug so that I can walk around with my "coffee" without being questioned or stopped. The only thing that was kinda annoying was having to go back into my room to refill, but it wasn't so bad. A little exercise never hurts anyone. I still bought a drink from the bar and I also had a guy I met on the cruise buy my drink. LOL. Below are pictures of how I hid them in my suitcase. And yes there are rum runners in each one of the pictures, try and point them out.

 

 

I have heard that people who work on cruise ships and at the ports look for boards about people planning to smuggle in alcohol so just be careful.

 

Packing time for me only took 2 hours because I created a packing list and read hours on end tips and tricks here on cruise critic. So not only will I write a review about the trip I will also tell you some tips that could help make your trip even more special.

 

And again I will try and answer any questions you may have. (I am sorry for any typing errors I may have, I didn't proof reed)

[bmwjeanne]

Go on line to E-Bags.com and check for Packing Cubes.

[Kellit1964]

Really enjoying your review! Also, I just noticed that my family and I will be staying in the same cabin on the 1/15/12 sailing. Did you find the location to be convenient?

 

Thanks for taking the time to post such a great review!

[SpoiledTraveler]

Loving your review so far, and the video is wonderful! We'll be on this cruise March 4th and I love seeing your dailys it's really helping me plan :-)

[margaretevanescence]

Did you find the location to be convenient?

 

Yeah the cabin was easy to get to. It is near the elevators in the middle. As soon as you get off the elevators, go right, and then make another right and about 3 doors down will be the room.

 

Having decorated my room made it easier because I never had to look for a number just decorations!