Live From Spirit

[Goldens4]

Last day of our 1st segment in the Caribbean. 138 of us are staying aboard. It has been wonderful. Food and service have been outstanding. Wine selections at dinner have been excellent. I love this ship. It has become my favorite.

 

Our first day was supposed to be a sea day and then Turks and Caicos. We were informed that the port at T&C is closed indefinitely. The employees at the port have been complaining for months about a smell of sewerage. Other cruise lines have been reporting passengers becoming ill after visiting this port with gastro distress. So, T&C is digging up the port and surrounding streets to find where the problem is. :(

 

There are 2 groups on board. They have not changed the dynamics in any way that has negatively impacted the cruise.

 

I saw Nico and his parents by the pool on Thursday. Nico has his own pool at the front of ours. Scuttle is, too many passengers were complaining about a baby in diapars in the pool. Haven't seen the family since.

 

Our weather has been sunny and clear. On our way to Becquia today. Will be in Barbados tomorrow and going on a tour for in transit passengers.

 

Would give this segment a 10.:)

 

PS: Not doing Internet much, so will check in whenever.

[WesW]

Hi Marcie, Thanks for your very nice Spirit on board report. Happy to hear you're having a good time. Very chilly here in metro Atlanta (minutes from going on a.m. walk and it is 37 degrees (feels like 28) can't wait to board the Spirit next Wednesday. If y'all are returning to Atlanta next Wednesday post cruise, should be in upper 60's and low 50s.

[Stumblefoot]

Last day of our 1st segment in the Caribbean. It has been wonderful. Food and service have been outstanding. Wine selections at dinner have been excellent. I love this ship. It has become my favorite.

 

Our first day was supposed to be a sea day and then Turks and Caicos. We were informed that the port at T&C is closed indefinitely. The employees at the port have been complaining for months about a smell of sewerage. Other cruise lines have been reporting passengers becoming ill after visiting this port with gastro distress. So, T&C is digging up the port and surrounding streets to find where the problem is. :(

It's always nice to hear when someone is having a positive experience. I look forward to sailing the Spirit someday.

 

Also, sorry to hear about T&C. It's such a beautiful place. I can only imagine the economic impact vendors and retailer have suffered due to the mysterious illness.

[Ithaca]

Marcie, thanks for the report. Looking forward to your thoughts on Becquia and Barbados, since we will be visiting these ports next week on the Cloud. Hope you continue enjoying your cruise!

[duct tape]

Have a great cruise and thanx for posting!

[ging466]

Hi Marcie

 

Great to hear that u r loving the Spirit! I love her too.

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

Best wishes

Jennifer :)

[Silver Spectre]

I saw Nico and his parents by the pool on Thursday. Nico has his own pool at the front of ours. Scuttle is, too many passengers were complaining about a baby in diapars in the pool. Haven't seen the family since.

 

Sorry to harp on about this but Silverseas own Health & Safety regs state quite clearly that infants who are not toilet trained (or are in diapers) are NOT allowed in the pool. All the staff and the entire hotel management have to do is enforce their own regulations, it should never be up to the guests to have to complain about shortcomings of this nature on the ship.

 

This is not the first time that this has happened on a voyage and its about time that SS woke up and fixed this once and for all.

 

And thanks for the update Marcie, glad you are having such a wonderful time.

[duct tape]

What always works for me...to the HD...You know that USPHS would not like to be hear about the infant in diapers in the pool or hot tub. Over.

[Older Party]

Sorry to harp on about this but Silverseas own Health & Safety regs state quite clearly that infants who are not toilet trained (or are in diapers) are NOT allowed in the pool. All the staff and the entire hotel management have to do is enforce their own regulations, it should never be up to the guests to have to complain about shortcomings of this nature on the ship.

 

This is not the first time that this has happened on a voyage and its about time that SS woke up and fixed this once and for all.

 

And thanks for the update Marcie, glad you are having such a wonderful time.

 

This is standard operating procedure, even on Carnival. :D

[Goldens4]

Started our 2nd segment. This crowd not as friendly, so we are with shipmates from first segment. 2 groups of 18 each on board. 1 is from J Vinyards/Winery in CA. The other is a Cabaret group in NY. Not performing here, to my knowledge. There are 2 babies :eek: on board in addition to Nico. About 4 other children. So far so good. We are in Roseau, Domenica this AM and on to St. Barts tomorrow. Weather is beautiful.

 

Service has been outstanding. May I suggest asking for Alex or Raj on The Restaurant and Yasar in La Terrazza. We have not had a bad meal anywhere. Not done Stars or Seishin simply because it is not our "thing".

 

We took a tour in Barbados, but stayed on board in Becquia.

 

Don Fluke is a lot of fun. We had dinner with him the other night.

 

Thank you all for the good wishes. :)

[Goldens4]

Sorry I didn't update while on board. The Internet was terribly slow since St. Bart's. We hit rough weather during the night in route to St. Bart's. St. Bart's was a complete wash out. Wind, fog, heavy rain and a bit chilly. Seas were slightly rough but many passengers were ill from the night before. We got reservations at La T. due to cancellations. The next day it was beautiful and remained so till we disembarked today.

 

There were 2 babies besides Nico, 6 children way under 12 and 2 teens. Problems arose around the pool on our sea day. The kids tried to take over the pool, but no one gave them an inch. Too many adults were in the pool with their drinks and did not appreciate the kids splashing and jumping into the water. They were advised to use the small pool that was set up on deck. The "parents" got in a snit over this. Did they really think the adults were going to get out so that the children could have the pool to themselves????

 

The best was when a Dad decided to dunk the 16 mo. baby in the pool like a tea bag. The baby was wearing a onesie over a diapar. The diapar was not the waterproof type. You can tell by the thickness. I hit the ceiling over this and notified Myra, the Pool Deck Mgr. She took this seriously and notified the parents. Never did it again. What was weird is that she asked my name and ste # for her records. Several people also complained that the older ones were running through the halls screaming and throwing garbage down the staircases. IMO, too many dang rugrats on board with nothing to do. Yes, I know this was during Easter, but if WE want to cruise during a holiday, we should not be punished by children. If SS wants to become "family friendly", they need to figure out what to do with them. Thank God we eat late. The early crowd was serendaded by screaming babies. Since the DH's vacation is usually during holidays, I doubt if we will ever book

SS again.

 

Another issue was the food in Le C and La T. Not as good. Too bland in La T.

I cook better Italian at home and that includes the Duck Ragout. Le C menu was just not that impressive. The Restaurant was way better. But, food is subjective.

 

The shows were the same from last year and the entertainers in the shows just didn't click.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did enjoy myself, but this is not the SS we discovered in 2006.

[Goldens4]

We saw a difference in the taste of the food in LaT from week 1 to Wk 2. Very strange. Has anyone else experienced this?

[dusababy]

Bummer Marcie! Really sorry you couldn't enjoy a long awaited adult vacation.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your posts.

 

Keith

[Goldens4]

Thanks, dusa and Keith. On Easter we all received an Easter basket and there were services on board. Also services for Passover and a special Passover dinner that you signed up for. The Spirit is a beautiful ship. Just a few of those design flaws that we have all noticed. Especially the lack of space between the vanity and bed. Service was excellent. Fruit baskets are on request. Our butler did a wonderful job of unpacking. DH said the hot stone massage was excellent. Tips are included. Before anyone asks, NO smell of smoke anywhere. Smokers (including my husband) all in designated areas.

Driving back from FL today. If you have any ???, I will get back to you ASAP.

[Silver Spectre]

Thanks, dusa and Keith. On Easter we all received an Easter basket and there were services on board. Also services for Passover and a special Passover dinner that you signed up for. The Spirit is a beautiful ship. Just a few of those design flaws that we have all noticed. Especially the lack of space between the vanity and bed. Service was excellent. Fruit baskets are on request. Our butler did a wonderful job of unpacking. DH said the hot stone massage was excellent. Tips are included. Before anyone asks, NO smell of smoke anywhere. Smokers (including my husband) all in designated areas.

Driving back from FL today. If you have any ???, I will get back to you ASAP.

 

Hope the Dashwood held up for your entire trip.

[Goldens4]

Yes, it did, Silver. A new bottle in my suite every other day and plenty in the Panorama.:)

[duct tape]

Glad you had a good trip. We had a great week on the Cloud, no kids, just a few teenagers who were kept under control. See you on the seas somewhere.

[Goldens4]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the Cloud. We really lucked out with just 1 bad day in St. Bart's. We've been there so many times, but felt bad for the folks who were looking forward to it.