Live from the NCL Spirit B2B July 5-19, 2023 (more sarcasm and grumpiness!)

[Langham1865]

27 minutes ago, omahabob said:

 

Oooo. A bartender scavenger hunt. Any extra charge for that onboard activity?

I love it... a new spin on a bar crawl!   I think we are on to something!!!

[omahabob]

I may put one of those into my next Roll Call.

[bluesea777]

Only the trivia that is “micced” is in Henry’s Pub. Other trivias are on the screen in Atrium. 
 

Don’t forget to go to Taste for dinner. 
 

 

Edited July 6, 2023 by bluesea777

[YVRteacher]

Spirit day 2

 

So some NCL cabins rattle.  Some squeak. This one has a sound like no other: the balcony door wails like a cat being squashed in a panini press.

 

 

After a delicious breakfast in Cagney’s we did the latitudes Behind the Scenes tour with Raymond.  

Our first stop is the theatre where we meet the production manager, Jo.  She is from New Jersey (Exit 165.) We learn that the Spirit is the only NCL ship with stage extensions (for Elements) so it’s more intimate with the audience. There is a circle in the middle of the stage and people think it’s a trap door. 

It is not.  

It is the motor for the revolving stage. The theatre seats 800.

 

Now we are in the galley for Windows, Taste and some of the prep for the Garden Cafe. There is no running in the galley. The sign says so.

Sanjay is the Executive Sous Chef and he enthusiastically guides us through the various busy prep stations. His pride shines through and even though we couldn’t hear everything he said we could tell he enjoys his job. He told us the Spirit will be bringing salmon from Alaska on board once we reach Alaska.

 

This galley serves 400 people for breakfast and 800 for dinner. There are 126 hardworking chefs on board.  I asked Chef Sanjay what his favourite food is and he said bacon and fried eggs.

 

On our way through 1-95 we pass the garbage separating room.  We peer in to the large space and Raymond tells us the bottles are ground up, cans are compressed into piles as small as possible and cardboard is bundled and sold. 

He also mentioned there is a food pulper which creates a fine fish food particulate. (My words, not his.)

Before traipsing through the laundry we see both the crew uniform issuing station and the crew uniform tailor station. James Taylor is the ship’s tailor.

 

Romer is the laundry master.  

He shows us the 400 lbs capacity washing machines and the 10 dryers with 57 kilo capacity. Then he guides our eyes to the medical laundry which is washed at 70 degrees F then dried at 400 degrees to kill any bacteria.

 

Romer explains that the ship’s laundry processes 5 tons of laundry every day using non-allergenic, unscented chemicals from Ecolab. Water is from seawater which is desalinated. 129 gallons of water are used per cycle.  9000 napkins are washed per day. (This seems like a lot.) Ten people work the day shift, 6 at night. 

 

Romer says steam is good for removing those notorious laundry tags.

 

At the end of the tour Raymond told us that last week there were 1300 passengers and this week we have about 1900.  I asked at guest services at there are 269 people under the age of 19.  The crowdedness is palpable.  At the end of next week Raymond finishes his contract and flies home from Vancouver to the Philippines. He has been with NCL for 5 years and his favourite ship is the Getaway although his favourite show is Choir of Man (he included some Choir of Man references in his tour which delighted me!) Raymond remembers being in high school when Richard first went off to work for NCL.  My dad and I were talking about Richard this morning and one of our fondest memories is him wearing a bedsheet toga-style doing Fountains with Gabi and Tahani. I mentioned this to Raymond and he made the appropriate yuck face.

 

We made a little detour to the casino which remind me of a Vegas casino. I LOVE that the smoking area is fully enclosed.  The fates were not kind to us today.  Oh well. We briefly went to the Cruise Critic meet and greet.  I’ll write about this at the end of my review. The good part was 8 officers attended for a smile and wave (no words) and the Cruise Director, Jerry, spoke well.  Jerry worked for RCI for 8 years before switching to NCL. 

 

Cruise Critic started in 1990 and was purchased by Trip Advisor in 2007. There are 6 million people registered.

 

After Jerry spoke we ducked out for more important endeavours: Wines Around the World.  Our head wine sommelier, Mario, welcomed us then people went to stations to sample the goods. I prefer it when it is a presentation and everyone samples at once. I turned my back for one second and dad was dumping his rinse glass in the wine bucket for serving.  I was aghast as was another passenger. My dad doesn’t like being told what to do but we both firmly explained to him this was not the dump bucket. Sorry other passenger!

 

At lunch in Windows (once we found it) we had a beautiful aft window seat.  We decided this is the nicest of NCL’s MDRs. We figured out the speed of the ship by calculating the knots per hour, wave height, velocity, enthusiastic wake and streamline of hull. After this very scientific process by two people who know nothing about speed we determined the Spirit is going full-on Turbo. 

 

Our lunch took an hour and everything we had was excellent.  I had seen @shadowmeboyrave about the Bay Scallops Gratin so convinced my dad to try them: definitely a hit!

 

[LloydJr]

11 hours ago, omahabob said:

 

Oooo. A bartender scavenger hunt. Any extra charge for that onboard activity?

I have little doubt that there are NCL bartenders who would/will remember me.  I'm not sure that's a "good" thing. 🤣

[ChiefMateJRK]

Following along good friend.  Wishing a wonderful time for both you and your great father (I look forward to greeting you both face-to-face one day)!🐀

[YVRteacher]

12 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Following along good friend.  Wishing a wonderful time for both you and your great father (I look forward to greeting you both face-to-face one day)!🐀

Glad to have you along on this journey!  Missed you!

[YVRteacher]

@www3traveler Mandy, Hasan says hi! He says why haven’t you come on the Spirit recently? He was so delighted when I said you said hi!

[www3traveler]

4 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

@www3traveler Mandy, Hasan says hi! He says why haven’t you come on the Spirit recently? He was so delighted when I said you said hi!

Thank You   Hasan is one of my favorite people.

[broncofan99]

This is fun to follow, I have read your others and all are entertaining .  Thanks for sharing your time and adventures. Love to cruise and hear your views.  Love to see your end of day tallies. LOL Enjoy your travels.  

 

[YVRteacher]

Peach watch 2023:

Still beautiful and firm. Has not yet reached maximum juiciness.  Currently gently cradled in the fruit basket, nestled beside the protective bananas. 
 

[www3traveler]

I hope you and Dad are having a wonderful time and finding meals you can eat.

 

Does Raymond know what his next assignment will be?  I pray he has a very safe journey home and a wonderful vacation.

[quack2]

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Spirit day 2

 

So some NCL cabins rattle.  Some squeak. This one has a sound like no other: the balcony door wails like a cat being squashed in a panini press.

 

 

After a delicious breakfast in Cagney’s we did the latitudes Behind the Scenes tour with Raymond.  

Our first stop is the theatre where we meet the production manager, Jo.  She is from New Jersey (Exit 165.) We learn that the Spirit is the only NCL ship with stage extensions (for Elements) so it’s more intimate with the audience. There is a circle in the middle of the stage and people think it’s a trap door. 

It is not.  

It is the motor for the revolving stage. The theatre seats 800.

 

Now we are in the galley for Windows, Taste and some of the prep for the Garden Cafe. There is no running in the galley. The sign says so.

Sanjay is the Executive Sous Chef and he enthusiastically guides us through the various busy prep stations. His pride shines through and even though we couldn’t hear everything he said we could tell he enjoys his job. He told us the Spirit will be bringing salmon from Alaska on board once we reach Alaska.

 

This galley serves 400 people for breakfast and 800 for dinner. There are 126 hardworking chefs on board.  I asked Chef Sanjay what his favourite food is and he said bacon and fried eggs.

 

On our way through 1-95 we pass the garbage separating room.  We peer in to the large space and Raymond tells us the bottles are ground up, cans are compressed into piles as small as possible and cardboard is bundled and sold. 

He also mentioned there is a food pulper which creates a fine fish food particulate. (My words, not his.)

Before traipsing through the laundry we see both the crew uniform issuing station and the crew uniform tailor station. James Taylor is the ship’s tailor.

 

Romer is the laundry master.  

He shows us the 400 lbs capacity washing machines and the 10 dryers with 57 kilo capacity. Then he guides our eyes to the medical laundry which is washed at 70 degrees F then dried at 400 degrees to kill any bacteria.

 

Romer explains that the ship’s laundry processes 5 tons of laundry every day using non-allergenic, unscented chemicals from Ecolab. Water is from seawater which is desalinated. 129 gallons of water are used per cycle.  9000 napkins are washed per day. (This seems like a lot.) Ten people work the day shift, 6 at night. 

 

Romer says steam is good for removing those notorious laundry tags.

 

At the end of the tour Raymond told us that last week there were 1300 passengers and this week we have about 1900.  I asked at guest services at there are 269 people under the age of 19.  The crowdedness is palpable.  At the end of next week Raymond finishes his contract and flies home from Vancouver to the Philippines. He has been with NCL for 5 years and his favourite ship is the Getaway although his favourite show is Choir of Man (he included some Choir of Man references in his tour which delighted me!) Raymond remembers being in high school when Richard first went off to work for NCL.  My dad and I were talking about Richard this morning and one of our fondest memories is him wearing a bedsheet toga-style doing Fountains with Gabi and Tahani. I mentioned this to Raymond and he made the appropriate yuck face.

 

We made a little detour to the casino which remind me of a Vegas casino. I LOVE that the smoking area is fully enclosed.  The fates were not kind to us today.  Oh well. We briefly went to the Cruise Critic meet and greet.  I’ll write about this at the end of my review. The good part was 8 officers attended for a smile and wave (no words) and the Cruise Director, Jerry, spoke well.  Jerry worked for RCI for 8 years before switching to NCL. 

 

Cruise Critic started in 1990 and was purchased by Trip Advisor in 2007. There are 6 million people registered.

 

After Jerry spoke we ducked out for more important endeavours: Wines Around the World.  Our head wine sommelier, Mario, welcomed us then people went to stations to sample the goods. I prefer it when it is a presentation and everyone samples at once. I turned my back for one second and dad was dumping his rinse glass in the wine bucket for serving.  I was aghast as was another passenger. My dad doesn’t like being told what to do but we both firmly explained to him this was not the dump bucket. Sorry other passenger!

 

At lunch in Windows (once we found it) we had a beautiful aft window seat.  We decided this is the nicest of NCL’s MDRs. We figured out the speed of the ship by calculating the knots per hour, wave height, velocity, enthusiastic wake and streamline of hull. After this very scientific process by two people who know nothing about speed we determined the Spirit is going full-on Turbo. 

 

Our lunch took an hour and everything we had was excellent.  I had seen @shadowmeboyrave about the Bay Scallops Gratin so convinced my dad to try them: definitely a hit!

 

Totally concur about the bay scallops gratin.  Probably the best thing I ate all week.  And it was just a lunch appetizer!

[YVRteacher]

1 hour ago, www3traveler said:

I hope you and Dad are having a wonderful time and finding meals you can eat.

 

Does Raymond know what his next assignment will be?  I pray he has a very safe journey home and a wonderful vacation.

I’ll ask him next week. Most crew don’t find out where their next assignment is until they have their sign-off meeting.

[YVRteacher]

Spirit Day 2 part 2

 

The sun is shining and it looked so lovely outside we decided to go to Spice H2O.  As soon as we walked out on deck we were blasted by fierce gusts of wind.  My dad, who is very particular about the precise placement of each remaining strand of hair, did not want to get his hair all mussed by the wind so here we are in the thermal spa, doing our part to hold down the hot stone ceramic loungers. Mandara Spa is packed and not everyone has taken and passed the introductory course, Spa Etiquette 101. This is an important course where one learns how to avoid scathing looks from other passengers. Hint: if you are the people sneaking in beer and constantly popping the tops, everyone will send daggers your way. Further, if you are whisper talking, apple munchy crunchy masticating, ceramic plate dropping, iPad cover slapping and beer burping you clearly have not earned a passing grade in said course.  If you are doing the apple munchy crunchy while whisper talking you need to take the remedial course. Snoring is excusable. 

 

After we were thoroughly warmed and relaxed we tried again to go to Spice H20. People had jackets on with their hoods drawn over their faces with just noses poking out like seals at the ice hole. It may have been the chill in the northern air or it may have been the ice in my Bahama Mama but my hands got too cold for comfort and we returned to the cabin. We were in fluffy bathrobes (that kinda sorta fit but not really) and a woman stopped us and said, “oh, I like your jackets!” I said, “thank you” because I am such a fashionista. (That was sarcasm. Don’t @ me!)

 

We tried to go to Henry’s Pub but they wouldn’t let us in.  On the Freestyle Daily it said they opened at 4:00pm and at 4:20 they still weren’t letting passengers enter, sit or order. Seems like a whiskey tasting went long.  Lucky people sampling Macallan! (Yum!)

 

We browsed the shops and figured out that if you forget to pack your underwear or a shirt you are out of luck on the Spirit.

 

We have never missed a Latitudes party and today was no exception. Cruise Next Manager Stephanie used the time to promote the Prima and the Viva and to announce that NCL goes to Greenland rather than honour the latitudes guests. We were impressed that about 30 officers and department managers attended the party.  They lined the entrances and encircled the bar which was laden with blue drinks.  Officers were friendly and engaged. Impressive!  Heaps of cheese chunks were offered but we didn’t want to fill up on cheese cubes before dinner.  Dad had a beer and I had water and a seasick tablet because the rough seas were giving me a headache.  Aside: barf bags are strapped to the railings  today.

 

When we booked this cruise back in May I tried to make reservations for Onda and couldn’t. When we went to the restaurant host yesterday to book Onda (couldn’t connect with the concierge) he said nothing was available until 8:30.  When we arrived at 5:45 there were 3 occupied tables and plenty of room for us . I don’t know why NCL restaurants so often say full when they are clearly not full. Anyhow, we had a window seat where we could see the sun and the waves and the whitecaps. Onda means wave so this was perfect. My dad was obsessed with the cutlery rattling and falling off the tables and I was enchanted with the food that kept coming by. We had an absolutely wonderful meal!

Appetizer (shared) Market Salad=excellent 

Dad’s Scialatielli= he said one of the best meals ever

Yvonne’s Margherita pizza=delicious (could only eat half)

Dessert (shared) Butterscotch Budino=yummy!

Service=excellent

 

After dinner we went to Spinnaker to watch the view and listen to B12 but my dad had a mini freak out and couldn’t handle the loud music so he left to go to bed and I stayed to enjoy great music. When the music ended I had to go to the Internet cafe because I did that thing where I forgot to logout and needed the minutes restored. Nice Internet Cafe manager hooked me up no problem. He also installed a shortcut on my phone.  Over the Moon was playing in the Atrium and wow! I found a chair and settled in for the set.  They did a beautiful rendition of Shallow. This group of passengers likes their music!

 

Something I love about B2B cruises is if you miss something the first week you can catch it on the other end.  We missed the early show of World Beat so will make sure to attend next week. 

 

So far, these are stand out things that are impressing me about the NCL Spirit:

-present, friendly management team

-Raymond Matic

-plenty of bar waiters

-excellent bar service and quality/taste of drinks

-excellent, fresh, yummy food 

-friendly, personable, knowledgeable crew everywhere we go without exception

-the decor is beautiful 

-fish carpet

-all the outdoor and indoor spaces

-the windows, views and light 

-great passengers on board

-great music

 

Drink tally

Yvonne

4 tiny sips of wine

1 Mai Tai

1 Bahama Mama

 2 Bellinis

5 glasses of water

 

Dad

8 samples of wine

1 Bahama Mama

2 regular beers

1 Italian beer

Couple sips of water 

 

Crepe tally

Zero, but we walked by and inhaled the essence

 

Tiramisu tally

One

 

Number of times Dad mentioned that rattling cutlery as one by one the knives fell off the tables in Onda:

I stopped counting at 42

[Gappleby]

 

Last night’s sunset. It wasn’t this red but that’s what I get from my phone. Don’t think we’ll see a sunset tonight.  It’s misty and dreary, very gray. 
 

During the tour Ray mentioned he would be on the Bliss after his break. 

[Seas2mountains]

@YVRteacher I’m dying laughing about your spa etiquette class. When we were there one day last week, a man was in the jetted shower area and was apparently quite happy with it. He sounded like the restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally and he did that for several minutes. Those of us in the spa area were all giggling as I think he must have had no idea we could all hear him. 🤣

 

On the passenger counts for our cruise last week, I kept getting different answers but they ranged from 1500-1700. I got the latitude level info from Ray and I was also disappointed that Stephanie didn’t mention it during the party. For me, it’s interesting to hear the numbers by level and I do think they should recognize the Ambassador and Diamond guests. 
 

We had the same thing happen at Onda when we had one night with a late reservation at 8:45pm but they had no problem seating us at 6pm. Next time you go, you’ll have to see if you like the San Remo if you haven’t already tried it. 

 

I’m glad you like B12 as much as we did and I’m sorry to hear they are too loud for Dad. Yes, Over the Moon is fantastic. I hope you can catch Jonathan when he plays Free Bird from Lynyrd Skynyrd as he is so talented as is Jellica with the amazing range of songs she can sing. 
 

If you are in Magnum’s when Over the Moon is there and also when the server, Jane, is present,  please encourage her to sing with them as they did have her sing the first week and we really enjoyed it. 
 

I hope you can get into Henry’s Pub as Froilan was the best bartender and we also loved the server, Orlando. If Over the Moon is playing there, you can ask if Orlando can sing with them as he did last week and he was also excellent. He was nervous as is expected but also so proud of how the crowd cheered him on during and after his performance. 
 

Did anyone touch the sheets during the BTS tour? 
 

@bluesea777 is spot on about going to Taste  for dinner. 
 

Have a wonderful day in Sitka! I’m so glad to hear you are having a great time and I’m sure the seas will be calmer soon.
 

P.S.  We had no noise issues in the balcony cabins on deck 10 except hearing one of our neighbors sound like he was going to cough up his lungs every night the second week. We took plenty of Airborne and have had no cold symptoms so far. Several people on the social media group for our cruise are reporting they have Covid but those reports seem to happen after every cruise we have taken post-Covid. 
 

Oh and another P.S., you took amazing notes on the BTS tour. I’m so impressed as I would not have been able to remember 1/10th of the ones you wrote about. 
 

 

[shadowmeboy]

Glad he enjoyed the Bay Scallop Gratin!

[YVRteacher]

@Seas2mountains the only person who touched the sheets was my dad!  Ray didn’t give us instructions not to touch anything.

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Spirit Day 3 Part 1

Who’s on board

Captain: Ashutosh Chandra

Cruise Director: Jerry Kubli

General Manager: Vuk Malobabic

Food and Beverage Director: Mohammad Hasan

Executive Chef: Matthew Cole

Restaurant Manager: Manoel D Silva

Executive Housekeeper: Orlando O’Neil Manuel

Guest Services Manager: KitKat Galope-Reyes

Beverage Manager: Jun Caldez

Cruise Next Manager: Stephanie

 

Two little stories: every crew member I’ve chatted with has had multiple contracts with NCL. I haven’t yet met anyone who is on their first contract (I’m sure there are some; I just haven’t met them yet.) 

 

On Wednesday our (wonderful) room steward was in the cabin preparing for evening turn down.  I had my big planning cruise calendar page on the coffee table and offhandedly said sorry, I’ll move this. I meant to bring magnets but they aren’t in my bag.  I Ketut said, “you need magnets? I have magnets in my cabin you can use.”  He went to his cabin and came back with two magnets. So kind! (The two of us then giggled as we tried to attach the magnets to every wall and door before finding the one wall that is made of metal! I thought all cabins had magnetic walls but as we discovered, nope!)

 

A little tip if you are sailing on the Spirit: I obviously can’t speak for all cabins since we have only stayed in this one, but there aren’t any North American plug socket thingies in the main part of the cabin. I have a new iPhone which is USC not USB so there isn’t anywhere I can charge my phone. I have converters for both the UK and Europe at home and would have brought them if I had known.  I Ketut had a converter in his pocket and he found an outlet hidden in the underneath of the bedside table next to the couch.  The outlet only works if all the lights are on so I have to strategically charge my phone before I turn out the lights. Yes, I tried putting the drink card in the slot that turns on the lights but it doesn’t change the electrical flow to the sockets. Look at me sounding like I know what I’m talking about!

 

When we were eating dinner at  Onda last night we had the pleasure of meeting the Maître D, Luke Fernandez. He has completed contracts on the Spirt twice, the Epic twice and the Getaway. He said that when he was first on the Spirit what is now Onda was the Great Outdoors and that the reason why the Garden Cafe is so small is because during the refit they took out the other half of the Garden Cafe seating and food stations and made a galley for the Garden Cafe.  This is interesting because on the first day my dad had a feeling we were missing half the Garden Cafe. He was right!

 

I am so excited to visit and explore Sitka today! Last night I took a shower in the cabin before bed. One full shower side is a window. Fortunately we were at sea and there were no boats or creatures to be seen. I was thinking that the people of Sitka should be very glad I used the windowshower last night instead of this morning when we are in port. There are just some things the public doesn’t need to see!

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Peach Watch 2023

I have smelled the peach. I held it in the palm of my hand, felt the tender soft skin and lifted the peach up into the air. Inhaling, I was immediately filled with memories of summer and my Nana.  For dessert in August when the blueberries from her garden and the peaches from the Okanagan were ripe she would layer the bottom of the bowl with peeled peach slices, generously scatter blueberries then top with Island Farms freshly churned vanilla ice cream. Today as I took in the scent of this beautiful peach I thought, how do I describe the smell of a peach? You either know it or you don’t. Part of the enjoyment of the peach is the smell, that fresh, ripe smell that brings to mind the sun and the orchard and the bees and the farmer.  A lot goes into the growing of a peach.  What I smell is joy and anticipation. Maybe tomorrow will be peach day!

 

A wayward apple stem made a little poke in the peach so I have rearranged the placement of the fruits in the basket to avoid all future poking hazards. Raising a peach is serious business.

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Here’s the photo I tried to post yesterday that wouldn’t upload.

[YVRteacher]

Laundry photos.

 

 

Last night it was so rocky I had a dream that I went to the laundry room, grabbed a bunch of those robe belts and tied myself to the bed so I wouldn’t fall out.  Such a seafarer!

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Day 3

 

When I woke up this morning the seas were still so rough that our 10th floor balcony doors were being splashed with sea spray. The weather looked like a beginner painter was really enjoying applying a heavy blending technique and the ocean melded with the sky in a grey haze.  As soon as we sat down for breakfast the sun appeared and we could see craggy land on both port and starboard. 

 

My favourite conversation from breakfast was this:

 

Me: what flavour is your yoghurt?

 

Dad: yellow

 

I checked in with Ray today (he is excited about the sunshine and going off ship without a jacket!) to say good morning and got the following scoop

Ambassador: 1

Diamond: 4

Sapphire: 19

Platinum: 41

[www3traveler]

I am assuming that Ray is in serious countdown mode by now.

If you can ask him if Richard will be home at the same time he is.  Wonder when they were both home at the same time.