Spirit questions

[kevins]

We are taking the April 9th Spirit out of NYC. This is our first time with NCL but we have (as a family) gone from Celebrity to Holland America to Radisson. We chose NCL for the Easter break convenience, NYC location and the fact that the Spirit had more to offer in comparison to the other cruises we've been on.

 

The last few Spirit posts have not been complimentary. Are my concerns about the food quality unfounded? We're not expecting RSSC food, but are the main dining rooms really that bad? It almost sounds like you are going to Outback Steakhouse rather than a sitdown dinner. From all indications, it sounds like one should book the "fee" restaurants often rather than the main one. I'd appreciate comments on the restaurant comparisons. Also, would you do room service breakfast (we have a suite), the buffet or the main restaurant?

 

Besides the food, it really sounds like if you are on a cruise with either a bunch of kids or a group outing you have to deal with the nonsense and not expect NCL to do much policing. Is that a realistic take or am I reading into the posts too much. Kids having fun at the pool is normal. Kids lobbing pebbles at dinner is another.

 

By the way, the NCL website doesn't do much of anything for me. Kind of surprising. Does anyone have sample menus of the specialty restaurants?

[Don Haynes]

It does appear NCL has reserved the choicest cuts for the speciality restaurants, and has changed some of their menus lately in an attempt to lower its costs. After all, their fuel bills must have skyrocketed, while their booking prices haven't.

 

When I was on the Sun in December, I noticed more eastern European dishes I had not seen before. Eastern European dishes are just as continental as the more familiar Western European dishes. I found the food interesting, as I enjoy new dishes, so I would give NCL three stars, meeting expectations in the main dining rooms.

[electricron]

You can read the NCL's pay speciality restaurants menus here:

 

http://www.cruisingreview.com/6204041901.html

 

Yes, I know these are for the Dawn, but the speciality restaurants menus are basically the same fleet wide.

 

Don't forget you still have the free options of the Blue Lagoon and La Trattoria.

[Seago2]

I agree that the NCL site is the worst.

 

The Spirit is a great ship. I found the food to be quite good. The ship was absolutely spotless last year, and that was before she was drydocked. The crew/pax ratio is among the highest in the industry. I can't speak for your cruise, but when I sailed on her last March 27 there were no spring breakers on board that I could see. Most of the rowdies are on 3 and 5 day cruises out of FL, not 7 days out of NYC. Ship security was all over the place- I remember trying to sneak outside in the middle of one very windy night and security had their arms on mine in a heartbeat.

 

To be honest, I can't believe some of the criticisms I read sometimes. It's like... what does "good food" mean to some people? The menu was excellent in the main dining rooms. I found no reason to go to a specialty restaurant except curiousity.

 

I wrote a review after that cruise- here it is: http://www.cruisereviews.com/NorwegianCruiseLine/NorwegianSpirit14.htm

 

Listen- don't worry. Imagine my panic last summer, reading all the anti-Carnival postings, knowing that I was taking four kids on a 7 day cruise- alone. I was expecting rowdy Texans, horrible food, screaming kids, dirty cabins, etc... it was great. We had the time of our lives. The Spirit is a huge step above that. When you get a look at the Asian influenced interior, and step into the Windows restaurant, and get a look at the pool, you will kick yourself for ever worrying.

[greenie]

I agree that the NCL site is the worst.

 

The Spirit is a great ship. I found the food to be quite good. The ship was absolutely spotless last year, and that was before she was drydocked. The crew/pax ratio is among the highest in the industry. I can't speak for your cruise, but when I sailed on her last March 27 there were no spring breakers on board that I could see. Most of the rowdies are on 3 and 5 day cruises out of FL, not 7 days out of NYC. Ship security was all over the place- I remember trying to sneak outside in the middle of one very windy night and security had their arms on mine in a heartbeat.

 

To be honest, I can't believe some of the criticisms I read sometimes. It's like... what does "good food" mean to some people? The menu was excellent in the main dining rooms. I found no reason to go to a specialty restaurant except curiousity.

 

I wrote a review after that cruise- here it is: http://www.cruisereviews.com/NorwegianCruiseLine/NorwegianSpirit14.htm

 

Listen- don't worry. Imagine my panic last summer, reading all the anti-Carnival postings, knowing that I was taking four kids on a 7 day cruise- alone. I was expecting rowdy Texans, horrible food, screaming kids, dirty cabins, etc... it was great. We had the time of our lives. The Spirit is a huge step above that. When you get a look at the Asian influenced interior, and step into the Windows restaurant, and get a look at the pool, you will kick yourself for ever worrying.

 

Carla, I thank you for this! I am on the same cruise and want to hear all the good stuff. (I don't care about anyone's idea of "bad stuff", it's so subjective.)

 

Thanks again :)

[kevins]

Thanks for the menus and the comments. It takes a bit to filter through the grousing (ie. the weather was bad) to really find out what a different cruise line is all about. I don't want to sound like a prima donna with the food issue either. You know what to expect in a buffet line-don't complain about it. When I sit down in any restaurant I like courteous service, warm and properly cooked food and no excessive waiting between courses.

I'm looking forward to it-after all it is vacation. I plan on an open mind and no unreasonable expectations.

If anything, the entertainment seems far superior to anything Radisson or Celebrity had to offer.

[TheKid]

Kevins,

 

I just got off the Spirit on January 19. We did an 11 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean. The ship is one of the most beautiful I've ever been on. Not tacky like a lot of Carnival ships, but decorated with rich woods and marble. The Atlantic was rough the entire time however.

 

I also had read very negative reviews about the food on the ship, but did not find any of the things I read to be true. I found the food to be very good and the service from every departement was exemplary. There we're days that I did not like the selections on the main dinning room menu, so I choose to go to a specialty. I do think that the specialty restaurants have an edge as to quality, but nothing I had in Windows was terrible.

 

Go! have a fabulous time, eat, drink and be merry!

 

TheKid

[Seago2]

Greenie: let's hook up in the Roll Call!

 

Kevins: One thing that I HAVE read that I do agree with, and this can be a negative or a positive, is that the dinner menu tends to be seafood heavy. There was usually a fish and a shellfish choice out of the five or six available. The thing that brings the food rating down, if you can call random postings a "rating," is the Raffles buffet. It was totally overhauled during drydock. The problem was that the serving area was planned for the Asian market and did not have enough steam tables and other heating areas. Everything had to be trucked up from the galley as needed. The serving stations were awkward and the food was not very hot. My understanding is that this has been rectified.

 

There is much to love about this ship. I wouldn't be forking out the $$ to cruise on her twice in one year if I didn't really love her.

[Seago2]

Oh, BTW: I found that the Freestyle Dining let me eat at my pace, like in a land based restaurant. Works the same way. In no case did I wait around for the next course or anything like that. Try to separate the awful POA and POAM reviews from the NCL reviews...

 

Here is the Spirit bridge cam: http://www.kroooz-cams.com/nclindex.html

[Don Haynes]

I think a lot of Americans don't like European continental dishes... They would rather eat American food such as fried chicken, chicken fried steak, roast beef, baked ham, pork chops, meatloaf, spare ribs, and cheeseburger with french fries. The main dining rooms don't do American as much as I guess some think they should... Otherwise, Iwhy does a third of the passengers dine at the buffet?

 

Frankly, I missed the President's dinner on my last cruise, it was the most American dish of all....

[Seago2]

I think a lot of Americans don't like European continental dishes... They would rather eat American food such as fried chicken, chicken fried steak, roast beef, baked ham, pork chops, meatloaf, spare ribs, and cheeseburger with french fries. The main dining rooms don't do American as much as I guess some think they should...

 

I agree. I have seen people turn their noses up at the more adventurous dishes...

 

The funny thing is that I have yet to taste a good dessert on a cruise ship. They all seem overly sweet, flavorless and full of gelatin.

[chrisv348]

I agree. I have seen people turn their noses up at the more adventurous dishes...

 

The funny thing is that I have yet to taste a good dessert on a cruise ship. They all seem overly sweet, flavorless and full of gelatin.

 

I'd have to agree about the gelatin based desserts. Just returned from the 1/8 Spirit sailing. The Raffles buffet dessert table was frequently stocked an array of these gelatin based goodies, which in my opinion were awful.

 

The Windows dining room dessert menu offered a pineapple upside down cake one evening. I ordered it and found it to be a gelatin based pie. There was absolutely no cake. It was terrible! On the following evening I selected the pineapple cheesecake from the dessert menu. I can honestly say that it was the same exact dessert only presented a little differently. On a positive dessert note, the souffles in the main dining rooms were wonderful.

 

Chris

[Seago2]

Chris- too funny! Last summer on Carnival the desserts were the same.

 

Tell me more about the ship- I am leaving on 3/26. I have to say that I ate at Raffles exactly one time last year...

[Hikini]

Don't listen to the naysayers about the Spirit. It is a wonderful ship and I'd love to sail on her again someday. We were on her Sept 05 to Alaska.

 

Yes, as others have said, food is a rather subjective thing. We didn't find anything to complain about, including the buffet. No, not everything was 100% wonderful, but there is no way you can expect the food to be like a 5 star restaurant on land that has access to fresh ingredients every single day. We always enjoy the varied menu options and enjoy trying new things.

 

The ships Asian influence makes the Spirit unique, but you won't feel out of place - it is tastefully done.

 

The crew was courteous and helpful and we were completely delighted with our entire cruise. I'm sure you will be too!

 

Have fun!

Hikini:D

[Glamourgal]

I have been hearing a lot of comments on rough seas and a lot of rocking on the Spirit out of NYC. I have never cruised in the winter but is the water generally rougher in the winter vs. early June. I am sailing on the Spirit on 6/3. I sailed out of NYC last yr at the end of May on the Legend and although I did get sick the first night out I did not take anything prior to the sailing and once I did I was fine. I figured I'd take something prior to sailing but after listening to all of the comments on the rough seas I am starting to get a little worried. I know that you can't control the weather and I wouldn't blamce NCL for this but it does seem that some ships seem to rock a little more than others??

[greenie]

Greenie: let's hook up in the Roll Call!

 

carlalena1, I meant I'm on the 2/9 cruise same as kevins. but i do wish you were going then too! you sound like my kinda cruiser (and i'm very impressed that you cruised all alone with all your kids). ;)

[Seago2]

Greenie- I cruised with four of the five, boys ages 15, 13, 11 and 7. It was so much fun- one of those vacations where so much could have gone wrong: flights, rental car, hotel, embarkation, itinerary, the cruise itself- and it was perfect. We pulled into Galveston four days ahead of Katrina.

 

I digress.

 

PLEASE come back and let us know how your cruise went!

 

Glamourgal- The Spirit was rocking pretty hard when I was on her last year. The ship I was on last summer I did not feel move once, not one single feeling of movement. I would definitely pick the former over the latter. I love heavy seas but I love to sail, so... My mother, who was with me, was feeling fine but got a little scared one night. We were in the bow and you could feel weightlessness, hear silence, and then WHAM as the bow crashed down. Again and again. We were swaying side to side as we walked on two of the five nights at sea, and you could hear people saying "Whoaaa" up and down the hallways. That being said, I didn't hear of anyone being seasick or see any passengers complaining.

[chrisv348]

Chris- too funny! Last summer on Carnival the desserts were the same.

 

Tell me more about the ship- I am leaving on 3/26. I have to say that I ate at Raffles exactly one time last year...

 

We ate at Raffles often only because of the convenience and not because of the food quality. I personally did not like the hot selections at Raffles, but obviously I did not starve. I am not a fussy eater, so it is unusual for me to take this position. I really enjoyed the wonton soup in the Blue Lagoon though. I believe I had it 5 of 6 times during the 11-day period. This restaurant was right above our cabin so we ate there often as it was very convenient for us.

 

I liked some of the entrees in the dining room alot and others just ok. I did not find anything terrible or unedible. We did not eat at any of the speciality restaurants, as we could not justify paying additional money when other food was readily available free of charge.

 

The food was so-so but the people we met and the things we did made this one of my most memorable and favorite trips.

 

Chris