Spirit reviews since coming over from the Med.

[opshannon]

There seems to be a common theme in the reviews since she came over from the Med. People again and again are talking about a really disinterested/ineffective crew. That seems to be resulting in poor service and food in the restaurants and buffet. I know there is the general rule of taking reviews with a grain of salt, but go look at member reviews and you'll see it again and again. Any chance this gets fixed or are future Spirit cruisers going to just have to deal with it?

[100th Meridian]

I've noticed the same issues brought up in recent reviews of the Spirit. I'm sailing on her Jan. 23 and hope part of the issue is new staff on board since the move to Port Canaveral. I've sailed twice previously on the Sun and Dawn and had no issues with service or food. My preference for cruising vs. all-inclusive resorts is generally there being better food/service/entertainment. If it is an issue, I hope it improves in time for my cruise.

[perkydebrajean]

We just got back from a cruise on the Spirit a couple of weeks ago. We enjoyed the cruise but one thing I did notice was slow service in the specialty restaurants. This is just my opinion, but I think one of the reasons service was so slow was because of the "unlimited beverage package" promo that so many people have now. Our server seemed to spend most of his time going to get drinks for people. We ate in Cagneys several times and it was like that at almost every meal.

 

I also spent 45 minutes sitting at a table at the outside bar at the aft of the ship and never had a server stop at my table. That happened two or three days. I was going to go get my own drink but there were at least a dozen people waiting in line at the bar to order a drink. I gave up and got a glass of iced tea instead.

 

We booked before the promos came out so we didn't have any of them. But I really wish they would do away with the drink promo. I still think that was a major reason for the slow service. They were overwhelmed.

 

All in all we enjoyed the cruise and would cruise on that ship again.

[dexddd]

I'm not sure where you are seeing this - at the actual review area where people post reviews under a specific ship? We got off the 19th and I'd say the crew was actually very good and pretty much consistent with what we've seen on other NCL ships. I will say I did hear some negativity with changes impacting them under the new management. Our room steward seemed awfully busy and not one of the best we've had.

 

Of course there was one or two who seemed not engaged and the drink package did make for some lines at the bars. Our service at all of the restaurants - both specialty and MDR and Blue Lagoon was some of the quickest we've ever had. Food overall very good but of course some of it was not.

 

The one gripe I've seen posted here on the main page a couple times is the tendering which did seem a bit slow and aggravating to people. FWIW if you are sailing the Eastern it sounds like Spirit will tender there quite a bit this season. We were on the Western and had two tender ports.

 

The ship was in very good shape for its age. Crew had a party one afternoon since they got 100% on their recent health inspection.

Edited December 31, 2015 by dexddd

[100th Meridian]

I'm not sure where you are seeing this - at the actual review area where people post reviews under a specific ship?

 

 

Cruise critic does list reviews by ship.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/v-4/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=299

 

Currently at 72% satisfaction rate. Was at 74% a few weeks ago. My concern is the poor reviews on service and food. That is something I would not have any concern with, but with the steady number of unsatisfactory reviews of food and service, I am having some anxiety over it. Granted, the reviews are from mostly people who have not bothered to write a review previously, so hopefully it isn't as bad as it actually is. My previous NCL experiences were fine, it's been 7 years since my one, so I hope it hasn't gone downhill too much, if it has.

[barnacle_boy]

The issues about food are about to become moot anyway. New menus and a la carte will rollout on Spirit In two weeks.

[shibby sails]

That will probably make it a bigger mess. I am platinum on Carnival so my expectations are not that high, so I will probably think everything is great. Sailing on the 23rd also. The drink promo does sound like it might slow things up as previously posted. I will be on vacation, and on a ship so I will not have many complaints.:cool:

[barnacle_boy]

A la carte should speed up service and reduce wait times. The theory is that people will be less likely to order more dishes with the a la carte model as opposed to a flat cover charge.

[eddeb]

Our handle is eddeb, our post is: Spirit Nov. 28th>Dec. 5th, Any questions?

 

Spirit If you tip a waiter bringing drinks, they will be back, and back and back.

 

We tipped them all all week long, 5'ers, 2 'ers, etc.

 

Make them happy and you'll be too! TIP TIP TIP!

 

They would start making me a drink before I even got up to the bar... :)

 

We had an awesome time. The entire staff was great.

 

Do not miss Shogun's, great Lobster tail you can share with your whole table,

 

the Pot sticker apps were great, and they bring everything out "Family" style so you will have "Moore" food than you could ever eat.

 

The production shows are not to be missed...

 

Check out our review with photos also...

 

It's always 5 O'clock on the ship.... :)

 

We are the Moore's

Tampa Bay

[Justaddvodka68]

There seems to be a common theme in the reviews since she came over from the Med. People again and again are talking about a really disinterested/ineffective crew. That seems to be resulting in poor service and food in the restaurants and buffet. I know there is the general rule of taking reviews with a grain of salt, but go look at member reviews and you'll see it again and again. Any chance this gets fixed or are future Spirit cruisers going to just have to deal with it?

 

We just got back and had no issues with service. The food in the specialty restaurants and windows was fantastic. There were maybe one or two dishes that I'd say were just "eh" but there's so much food everywhere, it's not like you'll go hungry if you don't finish an app here or there.

 

The drink service at the bars was fantastic, especially if you tip. Stop at a bar along the way and get a drink to take with you on your way to dinner and you won't notice how long it takes to get your first drink at Windows. They have quite a walk to the bar and back and are getting drinks for many people. They also don't have everything stocked in the restaurant bars and sometimes have to send someone to get what you want from another location, especially if it's something different.

 

If you prepay for an UDP, the ala cart prices won't matter for you. That's only for if you walk in without prepaying.

 

We put down 4 $250 deposits for our next cruises and received a $500 credit, which is applied to your bill, so we paid half price deposits basically. We'll definitely cruise Norwegian again, and would cruise the Spirit again in a heartbeat. We're thinking of the repositioning cruise back to Barcelona. We loved the staff that much!

 

Editing to add that we did notice in the pool area the wait staff was sparse and changed out frequently. So we'd tip one server well and when we looked for them again, there'd be another, tip well and then never see that one again. But we didn't go thirsty! Also, sometimes we did just go up to the bar and there wasn't much of a wait. If there's a line at the bar by the door, slip around the backside to the other bar. Some don't know you can go up there because it looks like the service bar, but you can and there's never a wait and they have draft beer, which you can't get at all the bars.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Justaddvodka68

[epermar]

Our handle is eddeb, our post is: Spirit Nov. 28th>Dec. 5th, Any questions?

 

Spirit If you tip a waiter bringing drinks, they will be back, and back and back.

 

We tipped them all all week long, 5'ers, 2 'ers, etc.

 

Make them happy and you'll be too! TIP TIP TIP!

 

They would start making me a drink before I even got up to the bar... :)

 

We had an awesome time. The entire staff was great.

 

Do not miss Shogun's, great Lobster tail you can share with your whole table,

 

the Pot sticker apps were great, and they bring everything out "Family" style so you will have "Moore" food than you could ever eat.

 

The production shows are not to be missed...

 

Check out our review with photos also...

 

It's always 5 O'clock on the ship.... :)

 

We are the Moore's

Tampa Bay

Can you please explain what you mean by 5ers and 2ers (tip amounts?). We have UBP. What are your recommendations for tipping? Thank you for the great posts and pics you have shared already!

[Justaddvodka68]

Can you please explain what you mean by 5ers and 2ers (tip amounts?). We have UBP. What are your recommendations for tipping? Thank you for the great posts and pics you have shared already!

 

We cruised with another couple. I generally tipped $2 for a 2 drink round and $5 if all four of us got a round. While sitting at the bar, we'd sometimes miss a round, but we were being very generous all around so we didn't fret too much.

 

The staff was always appreciative of the extra. Saying specifically "Thank you for the extra." They're well aware that you already tipped on your package, and don't expect more, but of course, appreciate it and will take care of the tippers first.

 

Norm, our favorite bartender at the Galaxy, never failed to glance at our drinks before waiting on a new customer to make sure we were all set. On the last night, I gave him $40 to say good-bye and thank you. He made our cruise very memorable. Not just pouring drinks but giving us tips about which things not to miss entertainment wise, etc. He'd watch out for me too. I'd switch to Vodka & Tonic once the martinis started hitting me and I just had to give him a look for him to know to lighten mine up.

 

The way I saw it, the drink package was free, (included, whatever) so the small amount we paid on that for gratuity was spent months ago. Felt to me like buying $60 rounds of martinis for $5!