My observations & “musings” of our trip 1/30-2/7 on Spirit.

[Tyskie]

My observations & “musings” of our trip 1/30-2/7 on Spirit.

It was just me & my DH – CAS guests plus we also had the UBP. We did not eat in the specialty restaurants this time other than Shogun-complimentary (DH did order Sashimi $6).

 

Port Canaveral Terminal 1 was new & very efficient. We drove & parked right at the terminal. CAS boarding was after Suites, Platinum & Gold. (depending on the ship, generally we board after Suites – no biggie)

 

The Spirit is in fine condition for an older “gal”. Everything is clean, Asian theme was a nice change. We loved this size ship, very cozy. It does seem to “roll” a bit (that's me talking, DH didn’t notice) The Captain was telling us it doesn’t have all the “bells and whistles” like the new ships for stabilization.

 

Room: Cabin 10650. Quiet, quiet room! The room looks like all the pictures posted. The hair dryer is a joke. It was posted right by the socket not for use by personal hairdryers. The bathroom had a funky almost like old coffee smell. If we left the door open it was not noticeable. Bathroom clean but definitely in need of new tiling. Toilet space is tight like everyone says. Plenty of storage. Sliding doors on the closet were a pain in the neck – I think it would have been better with no doors. Safe is on bottom shelf in closet. People with mobility problems would have a hard time accessing it. (we were on our hands & knees to do so) TV, although flat screen, you needed to be standing to work the remote - not convenient when in bed. Balcony is the size of the new ships (BA-GA) – 2 chairs & small table. Doors on balcony did not open.

 

Upon talking with many staff members – I found that this was their first contract with the cruise industry and some first contracts with NCL. This is why I feel the service in the MDR (Windows) had glitches. I can truthfully say that only 2 nights were spotty. One of these nights we were visited by a “Training Supervisor” to ask how our service was. I replied truthfully – without giving the servers a negative rating. They all work so hard, they are so pleasant but some things need to be tweaked! They seem to be aware of this and working on it. Of note, shorts for men were not allowed in Windows past the first night.

 

Menu: I did not take pictures of food or menus. Yes, they are the new ones. The upcharge entre each night: Lobster, Surf & Turf and Rib Eye Steak.

 

Shows: We only saw one show – the crew talent show. It was fun, gotta love the Fountains routine, never seems to get old for me!

 

Pool deck & Bar: We always seemed to get a lounger. No problem getting drinks both served & at the bar. The bartenders would make up trays of frozen specialty drinks (different each day – but not “drink of the day”) and wait staff would walk around with them. They were too sweet for us but many enjoyed! Also, they walked around with water/slice lemon– nice touch!!!

 

Con for us: We like to have a cocktail before dinner. We liked go to Galaxy (Bingo) or Champagne Charlies (Name that tune trivia) but up until 6pm these activities were still going on. We ended up most nights at Shanghai Bar which wasn’t our choice but a good “people watcher” place. We usually ate between 6:30 & 7pm.

 

We cruised the Eastern Caribbean – been there many times. We did not get off the ship in Nassau. Thankful that we did NOT have to tender in St. Thomas – docked at Havensight. Tortola we docked next to the Escape. Which leads me to this: When a bigger ship is in port – the little ship gets “seconds”. Our times changed in STT. Our excursion to JVD, BVI was changed from 8:15 to 12:30 – which was annoying but in retrospect, it took the “crowd” out of White Bay and Soggy Dollar. So, NCL does know how to juggle things around so it’s enjoyable for everyone!

 

This was an extremely relaxing trip – an escape from the cold northern FL winter(lol) :eek:. The casino wasn’t good to us this time but there will be a next! We did Latitudes Gold luggage tags and were off right after the Suite passengers – the luggage was well organized in the terminal – no wait for immigration – We were home in 2 hrs.

 

Port Canaveral rocks!!!! We would cruise the Spirit again in a heartbeat! Unfortunately she’s going back to the Mediterranean and staying there for the winter as well. Guess we might just have to try the Epic!

 

*****For some reason the couple of pictures I did want to post are not uploading. Will try and work on that. ;)

[Clarea]

Enjoyed the review, thanks.

[www3traveler]

Who were your Senior Staff Officers- Hotel and Bridge?

[FSNA5861]

Thanks for your very informative review. Looking forward to our cruise in April.

[Tyskie]

Who were your Senior Staff Officers- Hotel and Bridge?

 

 

Commander Roger Gustavsen, HD Carlos, Chief Engineer Ioannis

 

Unfortunately I didn't get the card at the M&G with their full names - too busy chatting I suppose[emoji5]

[hockeyluver]

Thank you for posting your review. I will be going on my first NCL cruise in a few weeks, only cruised Carnival up until now.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

Keith

[Coastalbreezes]

Great review and thank you for posting. It made me excited to leave on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing Fountains again. It never fails to crack me up!

 

Tracy

[SeahawkSiren]

Thank you for the nice review. We are sailing on the Spirit next year for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean. We also have a balcony cabin on Deck 10. Glad to hear that the Spirit is still in good condition for an older gal. We like the older gals and have no plans to cruise on the newer mega ships. I think the Spirit is going into dry dock in 1Q 2017 so I will be curious to see what upgrades she gets prior to our sailing in May 2017. Thanks again for your review.

[Tyskie]

 

These are the first 2pic - a couple more to follow (hopefully!)

[jdd]

Thank you for the review.

 

I'm glad to hear that Port Canaveral was easy. We will be parking at the port for the first time next month.

 

What time did you arrive at the port? We have a 9:30-10 arrival time and were hoping it wouldn't be too crowded and we could get on the ship early in the day.

 

 

Julie

[Tyskie]

We got there about 9:30 - we had the same time frame. They started boarding about 11:30 the latest. We were onboard quickly & had to wait until the DR was open for lunch. Don't be afraid to ask for a window view [emoji6]

[hugocruiser]

Commander Roger Gustavsen, HD Carlos, Chief Engineer Ioannis

 

Unfortunately I didn't get the card at the M&G with their full names - too busy chatting I suppose[emoji5]

 

I have the card from the M&G I will look for it when I get home from work tonight and post. Excellent review Tyskie, my thoughts mirrored yours regarding this cruise especially that of the dining rooms.

[Tyskie]

Not the best quality pics - sorry!

 

desk plug

 

tray of drinks

 

mega vs "lady"

Edited February 17, 2016 by Tyskie

[Tyskie]

our singing Commander - he was really good!

 

"Say Good-night Spirit!"

[dexddd]

Glad you had a good time.

[Tyskie]

Glad you had a good time.

 

Enjoy POA & Hawaii. We were just talking about doing a repeat :)

[NJLVW]

Thank you for sharing your week aboard the Spirit. I enjoyed reading your review as we cruise in April and can not wait. I prefer the "smaller ships" so I am sure we will have a great time. I think we are the last week from Port Canaveral before she goes "away". Thanx again.