We have Spirit, yes we do!! Review 2/13 to 2/27

[janymac]

This is my first review as I really want to put it out there how much we enjoyed this cruise

We have been fortunate to cruise once a year and have been cruising with NCL for about 9 years and have enjoyed each and every cruise we have been on.

 

We just got off the NCL Spirit on a B2B and had a blast. This was our first B2B and also the first time on the Spirit. We had an inside cabin on the 10th floor, 10611 to be exact and found it to be quite accommodating for two people for 14 days. Our room steward was awesome, his name was Victor.

 

The personnel on this ship were the most friendliest personnel we have ever met on any NCL ship. The officers seem to be out and about more than on any other ship, the guest services personnel were so nice and answered all of our questions and were very helpful.

 

 

We ate most of our meals at the Main Dining Room, Le Bistro, La Trattoria, and Cagney's. I can say that we never had a bad meal. I am a chef and feel that I am the ultimate foodie!! My only complaint was that they seem to have super sized all of the courses. I liked it when the portions were smaller so you could have a tasting menu. I feel they have really stepped up the buffet area in the lunch/dinner department. We did not eat lunch or dinner there, but had to see what they had to offer and spoke with many people who said they really liked the food and the variety to choose from. We ate a few breakfasts there and everything was great, again a huge variety. Like in any of the dining facilities, if you cannot find something to eat, you must not have been hungry in the first place!!

 

Our first leg we stopped at Nassau, St Thomas and USBVI.

 

Nassau - We did not do a tour, we just got off to stretch our legs and walk around town. The weather was a bit on the cool side for this time of year in the Caribbean. Enjoyed the relaxing day in the Bahamas.

 

St Thomas - We have been to this island every time we have been on a cruise and love being on the water. We are not avid shoppers so always go on tours. This time we thought we would do a new tour through NCL and we did the mini boat tour and to say that it was exciting was an understatement!! We had to tender in which takes you right into Charlotte Amelia which was great if you want to see the main area. Captain Nautica was the company that took us out for our tour. They were great, you drive your own boat, they can go up to 40 mph, it was quite an adventure and we drove the boats to Christmas Coves to go snorkeling. The water was a bit rough but we had a blast!! The tour guides were awesome and gave us rum punch when we were done with the tour.

 

USBVI-Tortola

We have been told by many of our cruising friends that we needed to go to Jost Van Dyke so we took the NCL tour over there on a catamaran and had a blast. We were there for over three hours on the beach and enjoyed the day of good drinks, and relaxing beach. Soggy Bottom Dollar Bar was fun and you can use their chairs for free. There are more bars but you need to buy food and drink to use their chairs.

 

The entertainment was very good and usually went to the late show that was not crowded as the personnel said the early shows are packed. Elements was one of the best shows we have seen, something for everyone!

 

This is week one of our cruise. Please let me know if you have questions, will try to answer them if I can.

 

I will get to week two soon!

 

janymac:p

Edited February 28, 2016 by janymac
spelling

[www3traveler]

Do you know who your Senior Staff Officers were both on the Hotel and Bridge side?

 

Glad you have a fun.

 

The Spirit is a neat ship.

[suzannebander]

Sailing on the Spirit in 27 days, so any information is helpful. Do you have dailies to share?

 

Thanks!

 

Suzanne

 

NCL Spirit Spring Break 2016

NCL Breakaway Spring Break 2014

NCL Star Spring Break 2012

[FSNA5861]

Thanks for your review. That's the Spirit.

 

As your cruise was a B2B, did you have to get off the ship after the first leg or could you stay on board.

 

We are doing a B2B on the Spirit in April.

[Keith1010]

You are off to a great start.

 

Thank you for your post.

 

Keith

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review, and looking forward to the next one.:)

[janymac]

Thanks for your review. That's the Spirit.

 

As your cruise was a B2B, did you have to get off the ship after the first leg or could you stay on board.

 

We are doing a B2B on the Spirit in April.

 

Super easy!! Make sure you key card has both weeks on it, we had the same room so no packing up, we met about 9:15am at the theatre if you did not want to go on an excursion. We walked off, went through customs with customs paperwork and passport. We were shown to the waiting room area where we waited for the ship to clear customs also.. It took about an hour total, super easy!!

 

janymac:p

[janymac]

I do not keep the dailies as they seem to be the same, more or less on each cruise. I did find a new thing to me, there was a perforation so you can take the right side with you instead of the entire daily!!

 

For the foodies, the thing I thought was neat was on the 12th deck past the pool going forward near the game room/library. They have posted ALL days of menus in the main dining rooms and the specialty restaurants so you can plan your meals if you are doing any specialty restaurants!!

 

The library/internet café had some crossword puzzles, soduko and trivia sheets which I had fun with everyday...

 

janymac:p

[janymac]

Do you know who your Senior Staff Officers were both on the Hotel and Bridge side?

 

Glad you have a fun.

 

The Spirit is a neat ship.

 

Armando Da Silva is the Hotel Director

Vitor Nunes Da Silva is the Food and Beverage Director

Bijesh Chandran is the Executive Chef

Martin Cliff is the Restauant Manager

Clyde Harbin is the Executive Housekeeper

Gio Artavia is the Cruise Director

Alfie Barrete is the Guest Service Manager

Jun Valdez is the Beverage Manager

 

They all were wonderful....

 

janymac:p

Edited February 29, 2016 by janymac

[janymac]

You are off to a great start.

 

Thank you for your post.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith...

[cruisinforfun9]

Hi - for your tour in Tortola, was there a long walk to get to the catamaran ? We are booked on that tour but my dad cannot walk fast so keeping up with a tour group walking fast is hard for him and a deal breaker. Any insight is appreciated.

 

 

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[janymac]

Hi - for your tour in Tortola, was there a long walk to get to the catamaran ? We are booked on that tour but my dad cannot walk fast so keeping up with a tour group walking fast is hard for him and a deal breaker. Any insight is appreciated.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

It was right at the pier where we were docked, you meet on the pier so you just need to get off the ship a bit early and all will be good. They pull right up to the beach so that is also super easy, just wait to be the last ones off also!!

 

Hope this helps...

 

janymac:p

[bydefault]

What do you recommend in Ocho Rios and Georgetown? Less than 3 weeks until we get the Spirit!!

 

 

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[jeffregpuck]

Armando Da Silva is the Hotel Director

Vitor Nunes Da Silva is the Food and Beverage Director

Bijesh Chandran is the Executive Chef

Martin Cliff is the Restauant Manager

Clyde Harbin is the Executive Housekeeper

Gio Artavia is the Cruise Director

Alfie Barrete is the Guest Service Manager

Jun Valdez is the Beverage Manager

 

They all were wonderful....

 

janymac:p

 

Love, love Gio! Best CD EVER!!! He was always out and about (I don't think he ever sleeps), and was so interactive with us when we were on our Med cruise in 2014. So glad he's still on that ship!

[FSNA5861]

Super easy!! Make sure you key card has both weeks on it, we had the same room so no packing up, we met about 9:15am at the theatre if you did not want to go on an excursion. We walked off, went through customs with customs paperwork and passport. We were shown to the waiting room area where we waited for the ship to clear customs also.. It took about an hour total, super easy!!

 

janymac:p

 

Thank you

[NJLVW]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. So glad to read you had a great time and with a great crew. We will be on her soon and can hardly wait! Love reading when people come back with their experience. Can't wait to read your second week. :D

[vinotinto]

Thanks for posting and for the tip about the menus! I hope they continue doing that during the summer European itineraries.

 

I've been reading up on the changes to the dining and I am wondering if my understanding about the Spririt is correct:

The specialty restaurants have not yet been changed to a la carte pricing.

Once they change to a la carte pricing, it will be more cost-effective to purchase a dining package than to order a la carte in the restaurant.

You can sign up for a dining package during the first two days of the cruise.

[janymac]

Thanks for posting and for the tip about the menus! I hope they continue doing that during the summer European itineraries.

 

I've been reading up on the changes to the dining and I am wondering if my understanding about the Spririt is correct:

The specialty restaurants have not yet been changed to a la carte pricing.

Once they change to a la carte pricing, it will be more cost-effective to purchase a dining package than to order a la carte in the restaurant.

You can sign up for a dining package during the first two days of the cruise.

 

They are ala carte now and it looks like they have the signage done just to have the menus up.

 

I thought that was one of the best things I have seen on any ship!!

 

janymac:p

[janymac]

Feb 20 - Feb 27

 

We did not do a tour of Port Canaveral as we live a few hours away so we just waited to go through customs and come back on board.

If you are doing a B2B, they say to make sure your key card has both weeks on it!! We went to the theatre about 9ish and waited until they escorted off the ship and through customs and then we had to sit in a roped off area until the ship cleared.

We were escorted back on and it was the start of the second week of our cruise!!

Our 2 DD's came onboard and they have an Oceanview on the 6th floor, room 6012 and they were very happy with their room.

They also had the drink package and from their viewpoint, they did not have to wait anywhere to get a drink and they feel that they chose the right freebie!!

 

Now on to the excursions!!

 

Key West -

The Spirit pulled into the Navy Base and they had trolleys that take you right into the main area of the city.

We bought some City View Trolley passes from Groupon. We love Key West and have our favorite places to stop at. We have decided after this trip that we need to spend a long weekend there to see everything we want to see!! If you have never done the Hemmingway House, it is a great place to visit.

We love Kermits (Key Lime).

 

Grand Cayman-

We have been here many times and have done most of the tours so we thought it would be great to go to Seven Mile Beach as we have not done that. I reserved a cabana at Royal Palms Resort, look up their website and you will find the information. They have cabanas on the beach and at the pool. It was a really nice place to hang out for the day. We had plenty of time to shop before heading back to the ship.

 

Ocho Rios -

We took the NCL tour of the Bob Marley Experience. They started out with rum punch, fruit punch or water. It is about an hour plus drive to the birthplace of Bob Marley. They stop for a meat patty that is complimentary and very yummy. They have drinks for sale. This is also your bathroom stop as there is not one on the bus (an old school bus). If you are not open minded, then this is not the tour for you. They do not condone the smoking of the ganga but with the Rastafarian Beliefs...you can buy ganga products outside his home on Nine Mile. We stopped at the same rest stop to have lunch that was served buffet style, jerk chicken, pork, rice and beans, and lemonade (known as belly wash!!) I am glad we took this tour as I wanted to see the history with my own eyes.

 

Great Stirrup Cay-

We have not had great luck getting to the island!! We had the great luck this time to get there, it was still a scary ride over but that was the excitement. It was nice to walk all of the cay and there is so much to do there so you would not be bored. You can take tours, kayak, jet ski, snorkel or just lay around..

It was great fun. They have plenty of places to get your drinks and the food was like having your own cook out!!

 

I have to say that this was one of my most favorite cruises. We loved the Spirit and glad we chose this ship to sail this year.

 

This ship had it's own style and loved discovering how different this ship is from all the others we have cruised on..

 

janymac:p

[janymac]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. So glad to read you had a great time and with a great crew. We will be on her soon and can hardly wait! Love reading when people come back with their experience. Can't wait to read your second week. :D

 

Week 2 posted!!

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

janymac:p

[janymac]

What do you recommend in Ocho Rios and Georgetown? Less than 3 weeks until we get the Spirit!!

 

 

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There is so much to do at each port. If you have never been to either port, the best thing to do is a tour of the island so you can see their history!!

 

Have fun with whatever you decide to do!!

 

janymac:p