NCL Spirit Hints and Tips

[Lydia B.]

Good day,

I just returned this evening from a wonderful cruise on the NCL Spirit. I thought it might be helpful to give out some hints and tips about the ship so here goes. Just so that you know this is my third NCL cruise and first European cruise.

. The food is pretty darn good and I felt that the buffett had a lot of variety. We found that all food was at a good temp, in the specialty restaurants, buffetts or main dining rooms. Service was pretty fast, except very last night.

. Lets talk money. One as others have said ATMS in Europe are pretty easy to use to get Euros, but you don't want to have too many left and have to pay again to convert. IF you have Euros the cashier in the casino with convert with no fee. IF you convert in customer care, E to $'s or vice versa it is $10. IF you convert with the NCL ATM it is at least $5.

. Our favorite public room was the Galaxy of the Starts on 12 forward. It has huge windows and a great place to put your feet up and watch leaving a port or looking for dolphins. NCL does have many events here, but ok for all to be there.

. The kids pool area is great, if you have kids or not. On Deck 10, aft make sure you check it out.

. As for pools and loungers....the Spirit simply does not have enough chairs and everyone and I mean everyone simply goes out before nine AM and saves...it is what it is, you dont have to like it, just telling you the facts.

. when you first get on the ship make sure you register for the "have dinner with an officer" contest it is free. We as well as two others couples were chosen to have dinner with Armando de Silva, the Hotel Manager and we had a wonderful time. We stayed a very long time after he had left to chat with the others, (Armando left orders to give us any thing we wanted, like drinks, but not the breakfast menau (I thinik he tought we were going to be there all night).

. Only one English speaking movie per day in your room and very repetative. We enjoyed catching part of a film late at night.

.Plenty of daily activities so if it rains you will still be busy.

. We did anythime dining and had to wait just a bit a couple of nights in either of the dining rooms. We preferred the Garden, because it just seemed prettier to us.

. Ship is easy to get around, most public facilities are on 7.

.The crew coulnd't have been more helpful and friendly, everyone was just great.

.What shows we saw were pretty good. Some of the staff activites were a lot of fun and they hold their own talent show, go and enjoy.

Ok that is about all for me...must admit I am pooped. Enjoy your cruise, Lydia of Ohio

[rnvaniderstine]

Lydia thanks for posting your tips for the Spirit! Will be on her a few weeks and can't wait. It'll be my second time sailing on her and I have to admit she is a favorite. Especially love the tiered back deck overlooking the children's pool area. Wanted to ask about your cabin. Have they been updated at all?

 

Heard ya'll had snow this morning! Originally from southwestern Ohio so the parents keep me up to date on what's happening with the weather :)

 

Rhonda

[CruiseRansier]

We love the Spirit:D Thanks for your review.

[Lucinarei]

Cruising on Spirit in July '15… can't wait. Thanks for the hints! :D

[navy60wife]

Very nice of you, thank you Lydia. The Spirit will be waiting for us June 23rd at Venice.

[b_cruise]

On sea days, what time do u need to be out on deck to get a chair? Would I be able to find two at 1030? Doesn't have to be right pool side.

[Lydia B.]

Rhonda,

As to the rooms not sure if they have been upgraded as it was my first time on this ship. They do have flat screen TV's. I did notice that the shower have many cracks, but as a whole they are trying their best to keep things ship shape.

b_cruise...hate to say, but to get ANY loungers need to be out there by around nine!

Lydia

[Lydia B.]

Just a few more hints and tips. My luggage finally arrived at my home sometime after 2:00 AM and found my notes!

. in Cagneys stay away from the macadamian ice cream sandwich, looks very nice, but simply has no flavor at all.

. indeed they still have the pretzel rolls daily for lunch in Raffles and the wonderful chocolate cruisants at Raffles every morning. ( you can also order them for room service for breakfast.). For room service breakfast you choose a time, but we found that it always arrived 15 minutes early, they will call you about 2 minutes before it is delivered which is nice.

. On level 7 you can walk around the entire deck and they have a couple of mile markers.

. Very few outside photo opps, but a ton inside, more than I have seen on any ship.

. You will need to ask for a copy of your statement at customer care, it is not on the TV.

. Take a flashlight....always a good safety precaution. But the little shelves for clothes in the closet is very dark and hard to find things.

. There is one US outlet and one Euro outlet, if you have a cheap (got mine at Amazon for under $5.00) take it so you can use both outlets or take a small power strip.

. IF you take an iron they will confiscate your luggage for around 4-5 hours and you have to go and pick it up. We didn't experience this, but over heard it twice. Staff will loan you a iron, so don't bother packing one. The little spray containers of Downey wrinkle release are your friend!

. On our plane there was no standard electric outlet, but they do have the USB slots on the arms so that you can power your iphone or kindle for instance.....so take your cords in your carry on case.

. Dress is casual, but honestly didn't see any real slobs. Two dressier nights, some folks wore gowns, but a dress or slack or crops are ok too.

. no bar soap in the rooms, if you want one for your bath you need to bring it. They still have bath gell and shampoo in the shower.

Ok...for all of you sailing soon on the Spirit have a wonderful trip. I am now unpacked and back to the grind!!! Lydia of Ohio

PS yep central Ohio got snow again, but only 1/4 inch, but it is dang cold.

[Bocadude85]

Thanks for the tips. Looking forward to our cruise next week.

[SpringBreakMom]

Just a few more hints and tips. My luggage finally arrived at my home sometime after 2:00 AM and found my notes!

. in Cagneys stay away from the macadamian ice cream sandwich, looks very nice, but simply has no flavor at all.

. indeed they still have the pretzel rolls daily for lunch in Raffles and the wonderful chocolate cruisants at Raffles every morning. ( you can also order them for room service for breakfast.). For room service breakfast you choose a time, but we found that it always arrived 15 minutes early, they will call you about 2 minutes before it is delivered which is nice.

. On level 7 you can walk around the entire deck and they have a couple of mile markers.

. Very few outside photo opps, but a ton inside, more than I have seen on any ship.

. You will need to ask for a copy of your statement at customer care, it is not on the TV.

. Take a flashlight....always a good safety precaution. But the little shelves for clothes in the closet is very dark and hard to find things.

. There is one US outlet and one Euro outlet, if you have a cheap (got mine at Amazon for under $5.00) take it so you can use both outlets or take a small power strip.

. IF you take an iron they will confiscate your luggage for around 4-5 hours and you have to go and pick it up. We didn't experience this, but over heard it twice. Staff will loan you a iron, so don't bother packing one. The little spray containers of Downey wrinkle release are your friend!

. On our plane there was no standard electric outlet, but they do have the USB slots on the arms so that you can power your iphone or kindle for instance.....so take your cords in your carry on case.

. Dress is casual, but honestly didn't see any real slobs. Two dressier nights, some folks wore gowns, but a dress or slack or crops are ok too.

. no bar soap in the rooms, if you want one for your bath you need to bring it. They still have bath gell and shampoo in the shower.

Ok...for all of you sailing soon on the Spirit have a wonderful trip. I am now unpacked and back to the grind!!! Lydia of Ohio

PS yep central Ohio got snow again, but only 1/4 inch, but it is dang cold.

Thanks for all of the great tips Lydia! Is there really only one outlet available? We are looking forward to sailing on the Spirit in just about 4 weeks.

BTW, we did get a bit more snow up here, about three inches. Just enough for us to break the all time snow total record :eek: It was in the teens this morning just for good measure. I think we may need to go to the Med just to get away from winter :)

[BenandJerry]

Thank you Lydia. So glad to hear great feedback. We will be sailing at the end of May from Venice, and are very excited!

[Cruisercl]

Thanks!!

This is all great info. Will be sailing on the Spirit in April 20105 but I am a planner so I like to get information as early as I can. :p

 

(I live in MN..............where I live, we got 8" of snow yesterday.....places north of here got 19". A BIG YUK!!!) :mad::(

 

Happy and safe cruising all!! :)

[repeater]

this is great--thanks! We'll be on the Spirit in September. Out cruise is very port-intensive, and I'm not sure we'll make to dinner most nights. Did you try the comfort-food restaurant, Blue Lagoon, or what ever it is called?