$100 Million Makeover for NORWEGIAN SPIRIT!

[eroller]

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/21805-100-million-drydock-set-for-norwegian-spirit.html

 

 

There is a video in the link.  Looks wonderful.  New bars, lounges, restaurants, spa ... and in a surprise move the kids Splash Academy waterpark will be replaced with an adult's only Spice H20!   Bravo NCL on this one.  This might end up being the best NCL ship for adults.  I never had the desire to sail on SPIRIT before ... but I do now.   Even new hull art.  NCL is saying it's their most extensive and expensive refit yet.  

 

Oh and in a bold move, looks like the white duvets with the runner that you see at EVERY hotel and on EVERY cruise ship are going away.  It's time for something different and glad NCL is doing it on SPIRIT.  

Edited October 28, 2019 by eroller

[CazV]

Looks fab!!!

[fshagan]

Nice. I noticed they are adding more cabins and thought that usually means taking from lounge spaces like the Spinnaker Lounge on some ships. But it looks like the Spinnaker Lounge is in the video as all-new. 

 

We're not a fan of big ships with 4,000 passengers, so seeing updates to a smaller ship is nice. I know they are probably increasing passenger capacity of the Spirit with the new cabins, but I'm hopeful that the increase won't lead to the kind of environment that we don't like on the bigger ships.

[Laszlo]

Unfortunately the ship is sailing Asia for the foreseeable future

[Port Power]

5 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Unfortunately the ship is sailing Asia for the foreseeable future

 

That's good. Much easier than flying to Rome.  She's back where she started!  I really like Spirit: good size and a good layout.  Love all those rear decks.

[FreestyleNovice]

The dry dock listing on Crew Center already showed some 2 months for Spirit, which amazed me.

 

Nice move NCL!

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Wow! I sailed Spirit in the Med and thought she was lovely as she was. This looks spectacular, and I love the addition of Spice H2O. If this is an indication of where NCL is headed with Leonardo class, they may win me back sometime in the future after my infatuation with MSC.

 

Oh, and I like the new hull art. More expansive than the existing, but simplified. I would rather see NCL go with geometric, non-representational hull art instead of commissions with artists.

[www3traveler]

Now I have 2 questions:

  (1) Where are they moving Blue Lagoon (The Local) to?  As She stands now it is more of a passage way than a restaurant.

 

 (2) Wonder if they will convert some of the Inside Cabins to Studios?

 

 

[KeithJenner]

10 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

  (1) Where are they moving Blue Lagoon (The Local) to?  As She stands now it is more of a passage way than a restaurant

 

It looks as though what is currently Champagne Charlies will become the Local. I think that the whole block which is currently Blue Lagoon, Shanghai, Henrys Pub, Le Bistro and the Arcade will be totally redone.

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, eroller said:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/21805-100-million-drydock-set-for-norwegian-spirit.html

 

 

There is a video in the link.  Looks wonderful.  New bars, lounges, restaurants, spa ... and in a surprise move the kids Splash Academy waterpark will be replaced with an adult's only Spice H20!   Bravo NCL on this one.  This might end up being the best NCL ship for adults.  I never had the desire to sail on SPIRIT before ... but I do now.   Even new hull art.  NCL is saying it's their most extensive and expensive refit yet.  

 

Oh and in a bold move, looks like the white duvets with the runner that you see at EVERY hotel and on EVERY cruise ship are going away.  It's time for something different and glad NCL is doing it on SPIRIT.  

Changing the aft waterpark to an adult area isn't a complete surprise. I did a post back in August with the rumours I'd picked up onboard:

 

"Finally, we were told by a staff member about plans for Raffles Terrace. I have no idea if this is correct (and he wasn’t necessarily someone who you would expect to know detailed plans), but he said that the kids pool was going and a big screen being added to create a Spice H2O type area."

 

 

 

[www3traveler]

So far I have seen 3 DIFFERENT dates for dry dock.  One press release says entering dry dock 2 January, another says leaving dry dock on 2 January.  A staff member friend says that dry dock is 2 February to 10 March according to the schedule posted to staff.  Wonder which is correct.

[FLConnie]

Sailing Spirit again in April and can't wait to see the changes from our last trip.

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

29 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

So far I have seen 3 DIFFERENT dates for dry dock.  One press release says entering dry dock 2 January, another says leaving dry dock on 2 January.  A staff member friend says that dry dock is 2 February to 10 March according to the schedule posted to staff.  Wonder which is correct.

 

Those boarding the first cruise scheduled on Feb. 11 from Rome will be in for a shock if your friend is right! 😱

[KeithJenner]

33 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

So far I have seen 3 DIFFERENT dates for dry dock.  One press release says entering dry dock 2 January, another says leaving dry dock on 2 January.  A staff member friend says that dry dock is 2 February to 10 March according to the schedule posted to staff.  Wonder which is correct.

We are getting off the Spirit on the 2nd of January. It was originally supposed to be the 3rd, but we’ve lost a day to the dry dock.

 

The next cruise after ours is on the 11th Feb.

[DublinFC]

They should do this to the other "smaller" ships.  I think I would be more interested in sailing on them if they did.

[eroller]

13 minutes ago, DublinFC said:

They should do this to the other "smaller" ships.  I think I would be more interested in sailing on them if they did.

I agree.  They could almost have two products under the same brand.  Not everyone wants the floating amusement parks.  They took it to the extreme with ENCORE, replacing Spice H20 with a laser tag arena.  It’s a ship I won’t sail on.  
 

Now they are adding Spice H20 to SPIRIT.  It makes you wonder what their overall fleet strategy is.  

[coscab]

We sailed on the Spirit in the forward corner suite, it was a great cabin, separate bedroom with balcony off the side and large bathroom area with jetted tub, large shower and double sink vanity, there was also a huge balcony off the front, dining/living area, bar, half bath, I would love to sail in that cabin again some day, I hope they don't split it up.😪

[DublinFC]

22 minutes ago, eroller said:

I agree.  They could almost have two products under the same brand.  Not everyone wants the floating amusement parks.  They took it to the extreme with ENCORE, replacing Spice H20 with a laser tag arena.  It’s a ship I won’t sail on.  
 

Now they are adding Spice H20 to SPIRIT.  It makes you wonder what their overall fleet strategy is.  

I think the two different styles of ships might be what they are going for.  With what they did with Encore compared to this reveal makes the marketing a little confusing to say the least.  I heard NCL has a new ship design in the works.  I hope they stay away from what they did on Encore.  Encore will appeal to some cruisers, I would sail on her if the price was right.  Its still a cruise vacation. 

I would prefer the Spirit treatment though.  That H2O space looks so much better than what is currently offered on the breakaway class ships.  When I was on the Escape there was a water feature that seems to be standard in that space.  I thought a pool would be so much better there.  I get they use it for parties at night and people love them.  Just my own thoughts one it.

[kjquilts]

Here is the NCL press release issued today

 

https://www.ncl.com/press-releases/norwegian-spirit-undergo-over-100-million-revitalization

 

 

[eroller]

5 minutes ago, DublinFC said:

I think the two different styles of ships might be what they are going for.  With what they did with Encore compared to this reveal makes the marketing a little confusing to say the least.  I heard NCL has a new ship design in the works.  I hope they stay away from what they did on Encore.  Encore will appeal to some cruisers, I would sail on her if the price was right.  Its still a cruise vacation. 

I would prefer the Spirit treatment though.  That H2O space looks so much better than what is currently offered on the breakaway class ships.  When I was on the Escape there was a water feature that seems to be standard in that space.  I thought a pool would be so much better there.  I get they use it for parties at night and people love them.  Just my own thoughts one it.

 

 

NCL is full of contradictions for sure.  On some older ships they ripped out the observation lounge (Spinnakers) to adds cabins and suites.  On BLISS, JOY, and ENCORE they eliminated space for cabins/suites to make a beautiful observation lounge.  On ENCORE they removed Spice H20 to make a laser tag arena.  On SPIRIT they are removing a water park to make a Spice H20.  It does make you question their overall strategy and yes it can be confusing.  

 

The next class of ship will be the Leonardo Class.  It's an off the shelf design from Fincantieri shipyard.  Very similar to MSC SEASIDE and Virgin's new SCARLET LADY.  Of course NCL will customize it for their brand, and what that will involve remains to be seen.  I'm hoping less amusement park.  I'm not anti-attraction but with ENCORE they have taken it too far IMO.  A balance is important and they lost the balance with that ship.  I actually enjoy the slides and the ropes course.  I think the go-carts are a waste of space.  I drive a car everyday and at much faster speeds ... I don't need to do it on vacation on a ship.  I guess it's good for the kids but it sure takes up a lot of space.  I'm hoping the Leonardo Class will be a better balance and an overall better design than the Breakaway/Breakaway Plus Class, which have suffered from poor deck space and too many bottlenecks since the atrium lobby is essentially used as an activity lounge.  Time will tell.  

 

Meanwhile I'm loving what I'm seeing with SPIRIT and hope to see more of it in the future.  

 

 

[JohnIreland]

Not sure how they will add public venues and staterooms.

[eroller]

4 minutes ago, JohnIreland said:

Not sure how they will add public venues and staterooms.

 

 

I think many of the public venues will just be repurposed from the existing public space.  

 

I'm guessing cabins will be added where Splash Academy is now.  Where else I don't know?  

 

 

[KeithJenner]

12 minutes ago, JohnIreland said:

Not sure how they will add public venues and staterooms.

By also getting rid of some.

 

My guess is that Cagneys and Le Bistro will be two of the new restaurants, for example. They will be refurbished, and possibly relocated, therefore they will call them new.

 

Some bars (Shanghai, Henrys Pub, Champagne Charlies) will disappear and be replaced my new bars.

 

Not so sure about cabins. I suspect there won't actually be many new ones.

 

As per the rumours in my link above, there was talk of expanding back from the buffet to create new venues. There is quite a bit of outside room there at the moment, so there is room for new venues as well as having Spice.

Edited October 28, 2019 by KeithJenner

[Gershep]

This refurb looks great. Thanks for posting.

[Hoya NICU RN]

5 hours ago, www3traveler said:

So far I have seen 3 DIFFERENT dates for dry dock.  One press release says entering dry dock 2 January, another says leaving dry dock on 2 January.  A staff member friend says that dry dock is 2 February to 10 March according to the schedule posted to staff.  Wonder which is correct.