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NCL Spirit Review 12/12-12/19

Cruisermom2nick

By Cruisermom2nick,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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Travelers: Myself and hubby, ages 44 & 44, son age 16 and mom age 69, who had her own cabin

Cabins: Us- 9532/Mom(Grandma)- 10536

Staff- Gio was a personable and fun CD- although he still was not as great as Joel from the Getaway! :) Fernando at Future Cruisers was excellent and extremely helpful. Nino our server in the dining room and at the Beirgarten was fabulous! George at the Champagne Bar was amazing and so kind. :) He was attentive to every guest's needs and suggested wonderful drinks! NOT Helpful was Elena in guest services- with our UBP being left off our sign and sail card she acted like she could care less when we boarded and asked for her help at the front desk of the ship. Her attitude was aloof and uncaring- and she had us sign to charge the UBP to our account again even though we had all the paperwork printed to prove we had it. Needless to say we had the asst. beverage manager come to take care of the situation after asking for a manager several times. Despite this initial incident the rest of the cruise and staff were all top notch. :)

Dining- The food was excellent on the Spirit! We especially loved Shogun, the complimentary Asian restaurant. Be sure to get there by 6 for a table without a wait. The Garden dining room was our favorite as we don't prefer the aft of the ship due to the vibrations. However, breakfasts in Windows were always excellent. :) Raffles was always good and hot- so was Blue Lagoon. We enjoyed the tomato soup, wings and burgers there a lot!

Drinking- Shanghai makes a mean Tokyo Ice Tea- be sure to ask for it! :) The martinis at Champagne Charlie's are not to be missed- esp. the Rum Cake! The dining rooms easily got us bar drinks with our dinner- the Moscow Mule was a favorite for me.

Cabin- Our room was very nice and well appointed. My only complaint was the seperated potty area in the bathroom which was very tight. Our steward John was AWESOME and made us cute towel friends and left us chocolate every night!

Entertainment- The shows were different every night and excellent! We all enjoyed the variety of entertainment and the acrobats were really good.

Things to Do- We played shuffleboard, went in the pool/hot tub, played games in the sunny gameroom and enjoyed music around the ship. My 16 year old had fun with the teens at the teen club too. The Galaxy Lounge is beautiful and a lovely place to enjoy a relaxing evening or afternoon!

 

All in all going from the Getaway to the Spirit was a great experience. While we have the Getaway booked again for May 2016 we would not hesitate to book a smaller ship if the itinerary was desirable. The Asian themed decor, as well as the charm and elegance if the Spirit is for us a valuable cruising experience. :)

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katiecat

katiecat

Posted
Posted
Travelers: Myself and hubby, ages 44 & 44, son age 16 and mom age 69, who had her own cabin

Cabins: Us- 9532/Mom(Grandma)- 10536

Staff- Gio was a personable and fun CD- although he still was not as great as Joel from the Getaway! :) Fernando at Future Cruisers was excellent and extremely helpful. Nino our server in the dining room and at the Beirgarten was fabulous! George at the Champagne Bar was amazing and so kind. :) He was attentive to every guest's needs and suggested wonderful drinks! NOT Helpful was Elena in guest services- with our UBP being left off our sign and sail card she acted like she could care less when we boarded and asked for her help at the front desk of the ship. Her attitude was aloof and uncaring- and she had us sign to charge the UBP to our account again even though we had all the paperwork printed to prove we had it. Needless to say we had the asst. beverage manager come to take care of the situation after asking for a manager several times. Despite this initial incident the rest of the cruise and staff were all top notch. :)

Dining- The food was excellent on the Spirit! We especially loved Shogun, the complimentary Asian restaurant. Be sure to get there by 6 for a table without a wait. The Garden dining room was our favorite as we don't prefer the aft of the ship due to the vibrations. However, breakfasts in Windows were always excellent. :) Raffles was always good and hot- so was Blue Lagoon. We enjoyed the tomato soup, wings and burgers there a lot!

Drinking- Shanghai makes a mean Tokyo Ice Tea- be sure to ask for it! :) The martinis at Champagne Charlie's are not to be missed- esp. the Rum Cake! The dining rooms easily got us bar drinks with our dinner- the Moscow Mule was a favorite for me.

Cabin- Our room was very nice and well appointed. My only complaint was the seperated potty area in the bathroom which was very tight. Our steward John was AWESOME and made us cute towel friends and left us chocolate every night!

Entertainment- The shows were different every night and excellent! We all enjoyed the variety of entertainment and the acrobats were really good.

Things to Do- We played shuffleboard, went in the pool/hot tub, played games in the sunny gameroom and enjoyed music around the ship. My 16 year old had fun with the teens at the teen club too. The Galaxy Lounge is beautiful and a lovely place to enjoy a relaxing evening or afternoon!

 

All in all going from the Getaway to the Spirit was a great experience. While we have the Getaway booked again for May 2016 we would not hesitate to book a smaller ship if the itinerary was desirable. The Asian themed decor, as well as the charm and elegance if the Spirit is for us a valuable cruising experience. :)

 

Thank you

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CruisnDeb

CruisnDeb

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Please let me know if anyone has questions- I am happy to answer them if I can! I miss the Spirit! :)

 

I too am glad to see someone have a positive experience on the Spirit--there are so many bad ones out there. I know most people only post when they are unhappy, but the Spirit seems to have her unfair share of them lol.

 

How did you find the movement of the ship? Were there many passengers getting seasick? I am looking at sailing on the Spirit to the Eastern Caribbean in the spring. I recently sailed on the Pride of America and definitely felt movement often, but didn't get seasick. I'm a little worried about the Spirit since she is even smaller than the POA.

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mexico8

mexico8

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I too am glad to see someone have a positive experience on the Spirit--there are so many bad ones out there. I know most people only post when they are unhappy, but the Spirit seems to have her unfair share of them lol.

 

How did you find the movement of the ship? Were there many passengers getting seasick? I am looking at sailing on the Spirit to the Eastern Caribbean in the spring. I recently sailed on the Pride of America and definitely felt movement often, but didn't get seasick. I'm a little worried about the Spirit since she is even smaller than the POA.

 

We were on the Spirit for 28 days this past November and loved the ship and the extremely friendly and helpful crew. The food was very good with lots of choices for venues and you never have to go hungry.

 

We were in the very forward cabin on deck four and had lots of noise from thrusters etc. when docking and departing from ports but never felt seasick at all. We did have very good weather the whole time so that might be a factor as well.

 

Our cruise was a Med and trans-Atlantic and Caribbean with six days crossing the ocean with only water to look at!! The ship had lots of things to do so we were always occupied. Especially enjoyed the "Name that Tune" and Trivia that was held every sea day during our trip. Gio (the cruise director) is a great dancer and made Name that Tune very enjoyable.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise and have no doubt you will enjoy the ship. I would sail on the Spirit again in a heartbeat.

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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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I too am glad to see someone have a positive experience on the Spirit--there are so many bad ones out there. I know most people only post when they are unhappy, but the Spirit seems to have her unfair share of them lol.

 

How did you find the movement of the ship? Were there many passengers getting seasick? I am looking at sailing on the Spirit to the Eastern Caribbean in the spring. I recently sailed on the Pride of America and definitely felt movement often, but didn't get seasick. I'm a little worried about the Spirit since she is even smaller than the POA.

 

The movement was actually less than what we felt on the Getaway! :) The ship is well designed and we felt very little movement. We were in cabin 9732. :)

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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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Yes could you tell me what restaurant's our free ???? Thanks

 

The complimentary dining is Windows and the Garden dining room, which have the same menu. Windows does require nicer dress- nothing fancy but no shorts, tank tops, etc. The Shogun Asian restaurant is free and SOOO good! The menu is extensive and I think we tried just about everything on it! The buffet (Raffles) is complimentary as is Blue Lagoon- the 24 hr restaurant. I really liked the soup, burger and desserts at Blue Lagoon! It was a nice change from O'Sheehans on the Getaway. :)

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CruisnDeb

CruisnDeb

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We were on the Spirit for 28 days this past November and loved the ship and the extremely friendly and helpful crew. The food was very good with lots of choices for venues and you never have to go hungry.

 

We were in the very forward cabin on deck four and had lots of noise from thrusters etc. when docking and departing from ports but never felt seasick at all. We did have very good weather the whole time so that might be a factor as well.

 

Our cruise was a Med and trans-Atlantic and Caribbean with six days crossing the ocean with only water to look at!! The ship had lots of things to do so we were always occupied. Especially enjoyed the "Name that Tune" and Trivia that was held every sea day during our trip. Gio (the cruise director) is a great dancer and made Name that Tune very enjoyable.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise and have no doubt you will enjoy the ship. I would sail on the Spirit again in a heartbeat.

 

The movement was actually less than what we felt on the Getaway! :) The ship is well designed and we felt very little movement. We were in cabin 9732. :)

 

It sounds like a lovely ship to me. I was afraid when I went on the POA that it would be too small....turns out I really enjoyed the size. We had a Meet & Greet our first day and kept running into other passengers from the M&G. I am really hoping to make my Eastern Caribbean cruise happen in April <<fingers crossed>>!

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paceyswife

paceyswife

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Posted (edited)
The complimentary dining is Windows and the Garden dining room, which have the same menu. Windows does require nicer dress- nothing fancy but no shorts, tank tops, etc. The Shogun Asian restaurant is free and SOOO good! The menu is extensive and I think we tried just about everything on it! The buffet (Raffles) is complimentary as is Blue Lagoon- the 24 hr restaurant. I really liked the soup, burger and desserts at Blue Lagoon! It was a nice change from O'Sheehans on the Getaway. :)

 

Are shorts acceptable for children at Windows? My boys are 7 and 10 and I was hoping to mix the restaurants up a bit. On past Disney cruise, they wore shorts with polo or button down shirts. I was hoping I could get away with that on NCL.

 

Thank you for positive review!

Edited by paceyswife
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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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I am in the process of booking specialty restaurants now, and would like to know what time(s) are the evening shows? Want to make sure our dinners don't interfere with seeing the shows. Thanks.

 

The shows were at 7:30 and 9:30- always 2 a night! :) We eat early (5:30) so we usually went to the earlier show. Getting to the theater 10 min before was just fine too. :)

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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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Are shorts acceptable for children at Windows? My boys are 7 and 10 and I was hoping to mix the restaurants up a bit. On past Disney cruise, they wore shorts with polo or button down shirts. I was hoping I could get away with that on NCL.

 

Thank you for positive review!

 

I think even for kids shorts in Windows are frowned upon. We truthfully liked the atmosphere of the Garden Dining Room- it was mid ship and cozier. Windows is beautiful but right at the back of the ship and vibrates some. Just be sure to either reserve Garden online if you want a certain dining time or go 15 min at least before they open at 5:30. I think the ability to wear shorts makes this free dining venue pack up more then the Windows restaurant. :)

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dexddd

dexddd

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The movement was actually less than what we felt on the Getaway! :) The ship is well designed and we felt very little movement. We were in cabin 9732. :)

 

I don't think there is a 9732 on the Spirit - I think the highest number is 9710 for deck 9.

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