Live from the Spirit - Grand Med 1st Aug

[KeithJenner]

There were no checks for drinks on boarding, so anything purchased at the duty free shop would have avoided the corkage fees.

 

Interestingly, we had a couple of small bottles of water which weren't spotted at the main security. Water is usually spotted and checked. That's the second time we have taken drinks through at Barcelona with no problems, which makes the duty free shop even less worth it.

[www3traveler]

When you get a chance could you please post a list of both the Bridge and Hotel Officers. Thank You.

[Carlaclaw]

To answer a couple of questions. We arrived at port at about 10.50am and they were taking luggage, but I'm not sure how long they had been doing so for (we are in boarding group 1 and it's still very quiet here). That's the earliest we have ever arrived at Barcelona, so I'm not sure how much earlier you can drop off bags.

 

Muster drill is at 4.30pm.

 

Thanks Keith! I'm glad to hear your boarding went smoothly. Can't wait to read the rest of your posts.

[Hitcher13]

This has been possible in the past (we did it as recently as last Christmas/New Year's), but you have to call them, you can't do it online. You can also buy liquor by the bottle from the ship's bars, and take it back to your cabin with a few mixers. Unless things have changed very recently.

 

Thank you so much for that info....will check on it.

[KeithJenner]

Thank you so much for that info....will check on it.

 

 

I'm pretty sure I saw prices per bottle on one of the bar menus yesterday. I'll have a look later.

 

Regarding the wine, if corkage is paid then I really don't think it's worth the effort to carry it onboard to save money. If you buy the wine onboard using the Viva Vino package than it costs from $22 a bottle plus tip, so you don't save much from carrying it on.

 

Whenever I've taken my own wine on its been to have a bottle I prefer rather than to save money.

[KeithJenner]

Yes, per bottle prices are in the menus $89, $99 or $129 depending on what you want

[KeithJenner]

Just got back onboard from Toulon.

 

We went up the cable car. You have to get the bus (number 40), which you catch from the main road that is just outside the port.

 

I had read that you can get a combined ticket for the bus and cable car for €6 from the tourist office, but we saw the bus before we found the office so just got on it. Buying the tickets separately costs €9.80 so the saving is worth it if there are a few of you.

 

It's an interesting bus journey. Pretty well standing room only and a lot of sharp turns.

 

We had to queue for a while for the cable car but the views are worth it. There are a couple of bars/cafes near the top.

 

The biggest problem we had was that we were walking across some rocks to see the view and a wasp stung me on the bridge of my foot. Really quite painful. There were quite a few wasps around, so be careful if you go up there.

 

Toulon looks unite nice and there are quite a few bars etc near the port. A nice first port.

[Educators2]

Thanks, Keith, for doing the live report.

We're doing this cruise on October 12 and have a few questions.

 

I don't know if you are Platinum on NCL but if you are, how many free laundry bags do you get per room for 12 days? I like to pack light.

Also, when is the Behind the Scenes tour for Platinum cruisers? I hope it doesn't interfere with the Meet and Greet.

 

If they post the price for bus transfers from the ship to the Venice airport, could you please post that information. There are five ships in port on October 24 so a taxi might be hard to get.

 

We all appreciate your "live streaming" from the Spirit.

Have a great time and thanks again.

Susan

[fabnfortysomething]

Room 10686 is a great cabin on this ship. The standard balcony rooms are the smallest I've been in on NCL, but this one is a really decent size and the balcony is double length.

 

Raffles Terrace is very close. The only possible issue could be noise from people passing by to get to the kids pool.

 

Really pleased with our choice.

 

Hi Keith -looking forward to meeting you again on Escape inaugural!

 

we are planning to book this trip for next year and are struggling to find non connecting balcony cabins!

 

have you noticed any problems so far being near kids club?

 

will be following along on this trip and working out whether Ian/6 can cope with a more DIY approach than formal tours this time

[KeithJenner]

Thanks, Keith, for doing the live report.

 

We're doing this cruise on October 12 and have a few questions.

 

 

 

I don't know if you are Platinum on NCL but if you are, how many free laundry bags do you get per room for 12 days? I like to pack light.

 

Also, when is the Behind the Scenes tour for Platinum cruisers? I hope it doesn't interfere with the Meet and Greet.

 

 

 

If they post the price for bus transfers from the ship to the Venice airport, could you please post that information. There are five ships in port on October 24 so a taxi might be hard to get.

 

 

 

We all appreciate your "live streaming" from the Spirit.

 

Have a great time and thanks again.

 

Susan

 

 

We have just one laundry voucher. On previous cruises we have had more than one lot done, regardless of the number of vouchers, but I think we were only planning on one lot this time, so I don't think I will be able to check.

 

There is no time on the voucher for the behind the scenes tour. We were going to go and find out later so I will report back.

 

I'll update with transfer details in Venice when they post them. We use the people mover/bus so I'll give up to date details about that as well.

[KeithJenner]

Hi Keith -looking forward to meeting you again on Escape inaugural!

 

 

 

we are planning to book this trip for next year and are struggling to find non connecting balcony cabins!

 

 

 

have you noticed any problems so far being near kids club?

 

 

 

will be following along on this trip and working out whether Ian/6 can cope with a more DIY approach than formal tours this time

 

 

Hi Lynne,

 

We're looking forward to getting together with you and 6 on the Escape. We can talk you through some of the ports there.

 

I certainly wouldn't recommend what we did in Toulon for Ian, and diy for the next couple of ports involves quite a lot of walking. Many of the other ports are quite easy to diy.

 

The closeness to the kids club isn't a problem for this cabin, but people do pass it to get to the kids pool, so I wouldn't recommend it for someone who doesn't want to hear kids at all. Not a major problem, but a little noisy at times. The "make up room" tag has been nicked from our door already. Apparently that happens a lot.

[KeithJenner]

We aren't doing much in Livorno and Civitavecchia, as we've been a few times before and are having a couple of quiet days. Tomorrow we will stay on the ship, but today we are going into Livorno to have a wander around, and give my wife chance to spend some money.

 

As I'm sitting on the shuttle bus, waiting to leave, I thought I'd just give some details. Feel free to ask any questions about doing these two ports by yourself as we have done them before.

 

The shuttle to the town is €5 (free for kids). I believe they are doing another one direct to the train station for €15. To get to the station using the cheaper shuttle, you need to catch the number 1 bus from near the shuttle drop off.

 

Pisa is only a short train journey and is easy to do by train. Florence is a longer journey and given that there is more to do when you are there, it would be a very full day if going by train.

 

The station in Pisa is a little way from the tower, but it's a pleasant and easy walk to get there.

 

The main thing we found is that getting back to the ship is a pain at the end of the day, with the two buses. If we did it again, we would probably budget in the cost of a taxi back to the ship.

 

This shuttle only runs about every 15 minutes, so be prepared to wait. Just leaving now.

[Educators2]

Thanks, Keith for your quick reply.

 

I just thought of one more question. Is the Blue Lagoon (or O'Sheehan's> open for breakfast? We loved going there on the Jade.

 

Enjoy your days in Italy.

Susan

[KeithJenner]

Thanks, Keith for your quick reply.

 

 

 

I just thought of one more question. Is the Blue Lagoon (or O'Sheehan's> open for breakfast? We loved going there on the Jade.

 

 

 

Enjoy your days in Italy.

 

Susan

 

 

It's Blue Lagoon on here, and it is extremely small. It isn't listed as a venue for Breakfast in the dailies, although it is always open. My guess is that it is open but doesn't necessarily serve breakfast items.

 

I will try to have a look, but we aren't usually up and about that early. :)

[KeithJenner]

I just noticed details about the airport transfer in Venice. It's $40 a person.

[marbleski]

Yes, the shop has water but it's expensive (€8 for six big bottles). Again, I would buy it in Barcelona if you want to take any onboard. You can carry on as much water as you want.

 

Thanks Keith. Another question and this one is about Livorno. We have not set plans for this port but our two boys want to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Our 19 year son also wants to go to Florence as well to see David, Ponte Vecchio and so on. The four of us would like to go Florence but it makes for a long day with so many exciting stops ahead of us.

 

So the question is are there many local taxis or tour operators dockside offering return transportation in case either all four of us or just our 19 year old decides upon arrival to go to Florence with a stop on the return to Pisa.

 

One more question, did you dock in Toulon or La Sayne Sur yesterday.

[dallas16]

From looking at the Toulon cruise schedule. It appears that Norwegian Spirit always docks in Toulon town centre on the Quai Fournel which is a ferry pier with two terminals. The port is a short walk away from the town centre. Larger ships dock in La Seyne sur mer or when there are two ships in port, one will dock in La Seyne

[dallas16]

http://www.portdetoulon.com/index.php/fr/content/download/1854/14336/file/Escales_2015.pdf Toulon cruise schedule

[titangas]

From looking at the Toulon cruise schedule. It appears that Norwegian Spirit always docks in Toulon town centre on the Quai Fournel which is a ferry pier with two terminals. The port is a short walk away from the town centre. Larger ships dock in La Seyne sur mer or when there are two ships in port, one will dock in La Seyne

 

I was on this cruise exactly a year ago.

 

We docked at Le Seyne su Mer.

 

It was also without warning, our private tour actually thought we were docking in Toulon and we had to call them when we got off the ship.

We were told that the were on there way, because the ship was scheduled to dock in Toulon and they went there first.

Edited August 3, 2015 by titangas

[dallas16]

I believe in previous years, Norwegian Spirit docked at La Seyne sur mer. However if you look on the cruise schedule that I posted, Norwegian Spirit was scheduled to dock in Toulon. From looking on marine traffic yesterday, Spirit docked in Toulon

[dallas16]

In some weather conditions, it can however be difficult for ships to dock at the Toulon pier so they will dock at the larger pier in La Seyne Sur Mer. From looking at reviews this year, it appears that Spirit has used the Toulon pier

[titangas]

I believe in previous years, Norwegian Spirit docked at La Seyne sur mer. However if you look on the cruise schedule that I posted, Norwegian Spirit was scheduled to dock in Toulon. From looking on marine traffic yesterday, Spirit docked in Toulon

 

We were the only ship in port.

We were scheduled to dock in Toulon, but we docked at Le Seyne.

 

It can change.

[dallas16]

If you dock at the La Seyne pier, there are reasonably priced ferries that will take you across to Toulon town centre. Also there are public buses which may work out cheaper than the ships shuttle buses.

[hdowney]

So delighted to have stumbled upon your 'live' review. I have just had to transfer my July 2016 Jade trip to another sailing and this afternoon picked and transferred to the October 24th Spirit 12 day itinerary you are doing right now.

 

No questions as yet but I am sure I'll think of some.

[KeithJenner]

A slightly drunken report after an evening in Henry's Pub.

 

We docked at Toulon Town Centre. There was another ship in port (Celebrity or Carnival, I can never remember) which was at the other location. It didn't seem to cause a problem for them. There were quite a few people from that ship on our bus, and I didn't hear any complaining. I don't think it makes a lot of difference.

 

We were talking to a couple today who took a local tour to Pisa for about €20 each. They thought they saw an option to Florence for €40.

 

I spoke to the cruise consultant today about the behind the scenes tour. He's not sure about the details at the moment as there are apparently only 3 cabins with Latitudes Platinum onboard. However, he says it usually happens at 9am on Kusadasi day.

 

The ship seems really quiet at the moment. I assume it's because of the early mornings and busy days, but everywhere has been very quiet. Certainly no problem getting a drink, and there are spaces at the restaurants available to book everywhere. I did book ale Bistro for the second week soon after boarding, and couldn't get the time I wanted, so I assume that things will get busier as the cruise goes on.

 

This really is a fantastic cruise so far, and the bits I'm looking forward to are still to come.