NCL Spirit Grand Med Barcelona to Venice May 19-31, 2015 Review

[dexddd]

The ship is in great shape! The crew was hard at work 24 hours a day to clean, paint, replace, and refurbish. Our cabin was impeccably clean. As soon as we got to our cabin on embarkation day, 2 crew members knocked on our door to ask if we were going to lunch because they wanted to reupholster the sofa in our cabin. It looked fine to us so I asked why they were fixing it. They pointed out a 1/2 inch tear that didn't even go all the way through the faux leather. When we came back from lunch an hour later, we had a newly upholstered sofa. Also, on our NAPLES day, they repainted our balcony railings. The only thing I noticed was that there was a large, what appeared to be wine, stain on the carpet in one of the hallways. The crew cleaned it as best they could but it never fully went away.

 

We only ate in Blue Lagoon once during the trip but had no trouble finding a table when we went. However, it was usually really busy around the time of all aboard on port days. So, if we had to be back on the ship at 5:30pm, it would be mobbed from 5pm to about 6:30pm. Sometimes it would be really busy around 10:15pm when the second show let out.

 

We had the dining package so we ate in specialty restaurants most nights. Tepanyakis was full most nights but we were able to book it for twice during the cruise on embarkation day. Most nights there was no problem getting a table for 2 in Cagneys, Le Bistro, or Trattoria, but it was more difficult to get a table for 4 or 6. The only night that we were not able to get a reservation was the second sea day. One of the perks of of organizing the meet and greet was having a concierge so I don't know if that made a difference. Your best bet is to either prebook or get on the ship early on embarkation day and book right away. Most shows in the theater were at 7:30 and 9:30 if that helps you plan.

 

Thanks for the info. While the oldest ship in the NCL fleet, we did like it the last time.

[blan2]

Yes, the official M&G was on the first sea day at 10am in Henry's Pub, which was the 6th day of the cruise for us. So, we planned an unofficial M&G for embarkation day immediately following the Muster Drill. We met in the aft of decks 10 and 11 where there is graduated, covered seating...and a bar. :D

 

Thank you for our feedback. I love planning almost as much as I love cruising!

[aussie cruzer]

Thanks for the review.

 

Is the duty free shop at Barcelona cruise port still after customs.

[Giggs]

25th anniversary for us.Leave in 5 days for pre stay in Barcelona prior to the cruise.

 

We are on our own for all the stops and plan to walk lots.Cant wait

[b_cruise]

Ummm.......I have a confession to make. Although I should have, I never went to the gym on this (or any other) cruise. :p

 

According to the Dailies, they offered morning and sunset stretch every day at 7am and 7pm. Then they alternated between yoga, awesome abs, total body conditioning, body sculpt, pilates, TRX training, and fight klub in the mornings and afternoons throughout the rest of the cruise. On Day 6, they offered Tour De Cycle at 8am. On Day 10, they offered Indoor Cycling at 8am. Most of these fitness center activities had a fee associated with them, but I don't know how much the fee was.

 

THANK U. U have no idea how long I've been trying to get this info!!! Glad u had a great cruise!!

 

We are in a deck 5 forward...how was the movement?

[Loving My Life]

Thanks for the review.

 

Is the duty free shop at Barcelona cruise port still after customs.

 

I wish I could answer this question for you, but I just don't remember. We didn't shop there before boarding the cruise.

[Loving My Life]

THANK U. U have no idea how long I've been trying to get this info!!! Glad u had a great cruise!!

 

We are in a deck 5 forward...how was the movement?

 

I've been on 5 cruises before this one and I've never had a problem with movement. However, even though I never felt much movement, I was pretty nauseous for the first 2 days of this cruise and couldn't eat dinner these nights. Once I started taking Bonine twice a day, one in the AM and one in the PM, things got much better. I took it religiously for the rest of the cruise and I was fine.

[blueridge20]

So excited to see your review, we are sailing Venice to Barcelona in September, looking forward to reading about your wonderful trip.

[blueridge20]

We did this same itinerary back in November of last year. I agree...this was the MOST awesome cruise either of us has ever taken. We are Norwegian platinum, so not a lost of comparison to other cruise lines, but I see no need to go anywhere else. The only reason I would switch would be if a comparable cruise line offered a better itinerary for less money, and more perks.

 

I also agree with the OP.....if you need to save money...do it in your cabin, and save your money for the excursions. Mediterranean shore excursions are expensive, mostly because you have to travel from the port to the main city, but DON'T hold back here.

 

I'm not going to hijack this thread, as the OP is giving some great advice and review...HOWEVER...just in case we did some different excursions and you want to know about them, I will be happy to give you that info.

 

Toulon/Marseilles - we did not do a ship's tour here as we were saving for grander ports.

 

 

Rome - We have visited Rome before, so did this city on our own. Be careful if you do this!! The train took a little longer than expected to return, and we almost missed the ship. Scary!

 

We are planning to take train to Rome also, could you please give more details on what happen. Maybe we can learn from what happened to you! :eek:

[Cruisercl]

Thanks for the review.

 

Is the duty free shop at Barcelona cruise port still after customs.

 

Yes!!! picked up a bottle of wine in the shop which was after the security check; very nice.

 

We were on the Spirit in the Med from 25 Apr - 7 May 2015...it was great;

Barcelona to Venice!

really looking forward to the OP review; it will help me re-live the great cruise we had. :)

 

Happy and safe cruising al!!! :)

[Loving My Life]

OK, I apologize for not making another post about our trip, but I've been trying all afternoon and evening to post pictures and its just not working. :(

 

I've tried hosting them on icloud, dropbox, and flickr, but when I try to post the url and preview the post, I only see a little box with a ? I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it!!!

[b_cruise]

Here is a great post on how to post picks. I just use photobucket and copy the link in but here is this

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1673867&highlight=how+to+upload+photos

[wanderingoz]

OK, I apologize for not making another post about our trip, but I've been trying all afternoon and evening to post pictures and its just not working. :(

 

I've tried hosting them on icloud, dropbox, and flickr, but when I try to post the url and preview the post, I only see a little box with a ? I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it!!!

 

Flickr is the only one I've used.

 

Once the picture is uploaded, click on the pic you want to isolate it in Flickr, then click the Share tool at bottom of screen

 

temp1 by Wanderingoz, on Flickr

 

This gives you the share options. Select BBCode and copy the link. Paste that in your CC message where you want the image to appear.

 

temp2 by Wanderingoz, on Flickr

 

You can trim the Flickr code from your post as well to exclude all the guff at the end.

 

 

Hope this helps.

Edited June 4, 2015 by wanderingoz

[Loving My Life]

Flickr is the only one I've used.

 

Once the picture is uploaded, click on the pic you want to isolate it in Flickr, then click the Share tool at bottom of screen

 

temp1 by Wanderingoz, on Flickr

 

This gives you the share options. Select BBCode and copy the link. Paste that in your CC message where you want the image to appear.

 

temp2 by Wanderingoz, on Flickr

 

You can trim the Flickr code from your post as well to exclude all the guff at the end.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you!! I did some tests and this works. Just trying to figure out how to remove the "guff."

 

However, shouldn't posting pictures be easier?!?!?

[Loving My Life]

Day 1: Travel from Boston

 

After almost a year of planning, the day was finally here!! We got the kids off to school, finished up our last minute packing, and ran two quick travel-related errands. Because we were going to be away from the boys for three weeks, we dismissed them from school at noon so they could see us off. At 1:00pm, after spending an hour with the boys, our airport limo arrived to pick us up for our 4:40pm flight. We said our goodbyes, loaded up our luggage, and headed to the airport!

 

***Side note: We managed to pack for three weeks for the two of us in a 29-inch suitcase, a 20-inch carryon, a camera backpack (dh’s personal item) and an anti-theft cross body (my personal item). We could have gotten away with a 25-inch suitcase, but we needed room for all the souvenirs we planned to purchase to placate the kids and the grandmothers we left behind. :)

 

 

We were flying Lufthansa, a partner of United Airlines, for the first time. We used miles to purchase dh’s ticket and paid for mine. Check in and security at Logan was a breeze, with almost no lines or wait times. Before we knew it, it was time to board and we were off! Good bye Massachusetts…

 

(I usually fly out of Logan a few times a year but I have never flown over the tip of Cape Cod before).

 

…Hello hot, sweaty cabin air. Apparently Lufthansa doesn’t believe in air conditioning or individual air vents. I have never in my life been so hot on a flight before!! :eek: I stripped down as much as I could and drank my weight in water during the 6.5 hour flight to our layover in Frankfurt, Germany. To the woman seated in the aisle seat beside us, I apologize profusely for my obscene number of trips to the bathroom as a result of the gallons of water I consumed.

 

Next Up: Paris!

Edited June 4, 2015 by Loving My Life

[Tyskie]

Gorgeous picture of Cape Cod !

[Loving My Life]

Day 2: Paris

 

We boarded a new Lufthansa plane in Germany for the 1.5 hour flight to Paris and to my utter surprise and relief, this plane had personal air vents!! :D After a short, smooth, and wonderfully temperate flight, we landed at CDG Paris at 8:30am Paris time (2:30am Boston time).

 

We did not sleep on the plane at all so we were tired, but we still had to get from CDG airport to the apartment that we rented through HomeAway. Our choices were to take a taxi, which would cost over €100 and take at least 1-1.5 hours (due to rush hour traffic), or use public transit, which would cost €12 each and take about 45 minutes. We decided to use public transit, which involved four steps. First we had to take a free airport shuttle from the terminal we were in to the terminal where the RER was located. Then we took the RER from CDG 2 TGC to the Etienne Marcel Chalet stop (€10 each). Then we jumped on the Metro for one stop to Louvre – Rivoli (€2 each), and finally, we walked 2 short blocks to the apartment. All in all, this took about 50 minutes and was not nearly as confusing as it sounds, although maybe that’s because (a) we are used to the train and subway systems in Boston, and (b) we used a brilliant app - Metro Paris Subway. You enter your starting location and your ending location and it tells you the best way to get there, complete with step-by-step instructions and pictures.

 

During the planning stages of the trip, I discovered how expensive hotels are in Paris. We were only staying for 2 nights, so I started looking at apartment rentals on HomeAway. The problem was that most places only rent by the week, or at the very least, 5 days. Finally, however, I found a place with good reviews that would rent to us for 2 nights. It was a studio apartment with a tiny bathroom and tiny kitchen but it was more than adequate for our needs during our short stay.

 

(Sorry, not sure why this one is so small).

 

It was located at 148-150 Rue Saint Honore, only 2 blocks from the Louvre, which turned out to be an excellent location for accessing the RER, Metro, HOHO Bus, and batobus. We pre-purchased 3 day HOHO bus and batobus tickets through L Open Tour. This allowed us to use both the bus and boat systems to get around Paris and proved to be an excellent way to navigate the city.

 

Some pictures taken during the walk to our apartment:

 

 

 

 

[Loving My Life]

Ooops! I accidentally uploaded my unedited pictures on the last post. Sorry about that. Here they are the edited versions:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2015 by Loving My Life

[cardbucfan]

That hot Lufthansa flight makes me nervous! That's what we are flying too!

[Loving My Life]

Day 2: Paris (Continued)

 

The owner met us at the apartment, made sure everything was to our liking, explained how to use the tv, free wifi, and washer/dryer combo, and collected the remainder of our payment.

 

***Side note: The apartment cost €100 per night total, with all taxes and fees – a true bargain in Paris!

 

After the owner left, we contemplated the best way to deal with jet lag and adjust to our new time zone. We decided to take a 4 hour nap, explore the city, stay up until 11pm Paris time, and get a good night’s sleep. This worked very well for us!

 

When the alarm went off at 2:30pm, it seemed like we had only been in bed for 15 minutes. It was so hard to get up, but we did…eventually. :) At about 4pm, we headed to the Louvre. My research revealed that the Louvre Museum is usually open from 9am – 6pm but that on Friday nights, it stays open until 9:45pm and the crowds are supposedly much lighter, so we decided to check it out. The reports were true. We waited in line for about 10 minutes, bought our tickets (€12 per person), and spent a delightful 4 hours exploring this wonderful museum.

 

I took hundreds of pictures here, but I’ll only share a few. Some of these pictures were taken on Friday, which was beautiful and sunny, and some were taken on Saturday, which was overcast and drizzly.

 

 

 

 

 

(Dh and I)

 

(If you look closely, you can see a bride and groom who were taking wedding pics at the Louvre. How cool is that?!?!)

 

 

[Loving My Life]

That hot Lufthansa flight makes me nervous! That's what we are flying too!

 

Although I haven't gotten to that part of the review yet, on our return flight to Boston, the air was on and we had individual air vents. In fact, I was so cold on the flight that I used my jacket and the blanket the airline provided. Apparently its either feast or famine, or in this case, swelter of freeze.

Edited June 4, 2015 by Loving My Life

[Loving My Life]

Day 2: Paris (Continued)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, the Mona Lisa:

 

(The whole picture and frame is behind glass so its hard to get a good picture. Its also much smaller than I was expecting).

 

 

We would have been happy to stay at the Louvre until closing, but we were starving, so we walked to a nearby café for dinner. Dh had Beef Tartar and I had a salad with warm goat cheese on a toasted baguette. Both were delicious and relatively inexpensive.

 

By the time we were done with dinner, it was 10:30pm so we headed to the apartment, talked to our kids via Face Time, and called it a night.

 

 

 

[Miss JAD]

can't wait to hear more about Paris and the rest of your trip. We are planning to do 4 nights Paris as well after our cruise.

[Loving My Life]

Day 3: Paris

 

Dh got up, took a quick shower, and went in search of breakfast. I took a longer shower, got ready, and waited for my breakfast. Back to the shower though…

 

The apartment had to tiniest shower I have ever seen. It was 28 inches by 28 inches, I kid you not. It was almost impossible to raise my arms over my head to wash my hair, and when I tried to wash my body, I kept hitting the temperature knob and would either scald or freeze myself. We got many laughs out of this shower. ☺

 

Anyway, dh came back from his breakfast search with a huge smile and 2 yummy smelling bags. He walked around the corner from our apartment and found that a nearby street turned into an outdoor food market overnight. Vendors were selling fruits, vegetables, cheese, wine, and… crepes! Dh’s was filled with fresh fruits and mine was filled with Nutella and bananas (a favorite of mine).

 

After eating breakfast, I located our pre-purchased HOHO bus/batobus tickets and we walked over to the Louvre to pick up the bus. We spent the morning hopping on and off the bus as the whim hit us. It was overcast and rained on and off throughout the day, but that didn’t stop us from exploring!

 

First we stopped at the Eiffel Tower for pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Next we hopped off at Notre Dame for pictures and a tour.

 

 

 

[Loving My Life]

Day 3: Paris (Continued)

 

More pictures of the inside of Notre Dame. The stained glass windows were so beautiful!!

 

 

 

 

 

Outside of Notre Dame there was a bread festival under a HUGE tent. Vendors were selling homemade breads of all sorts with a variety of toppings, including local cheeses, fruits, veggies, meats, eggs, jams, and more. It looked and smelled so good that we ended up eating lunch here - so yummy!

 

Next up, we stopped at the famed “Love Locks” Bridge, but we did not leave a lock after reading about the negative consequences of doing so. The city is removing locks by the thousands after the weight caused part of the bridge to crumble and break.