Live, NCL Spirit-Tahiti to Hawaii 4/10 - 4/22

[Rick&Jeannie]

I did not see any other posts for a "Live" thread...so I will try!

 

This is only our 3rd NCL cruise, the other 2 both being Greel Isles itineraries on the Gem and Jade (I think.)

 

I'm posting this first entry on our first full day...I'll share some thoughts on embarkation as soon as I can. (It was *not* good!)

[vacation44]

Looking forward to reading your live thread.   Sorry to hear embarkation was not good.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Today is Raiatea. We have an independent tour because we were not able to find anything from NCL

[CptBoatface]

Raiatea is great!

[Rick&Jeannie]

We learned the hard way to always go into the starting port a day early (long story there...) but this time we went 2 days earlier. We are traveling with 2 other couples and we all agreed that we should spend a little time before the cruise. 

 

We stayed at a "guest house" called Fare Suisse for 2 nights. We had seen some good comments on this place here on CC so we thought that we would give it a shot. Very good pricing, a little different from most places we have stayed.  It is run by a German gentleman named Beni and his wife Theresa. It reminds me a lot of some European hotels we have stayed at. No TV, no telephone, no refrigerator.  They *do* have wifi, though it's not very robust throughout the complex. It is obviously very popular...we got the very last room available for the 2 nights we needed. 

They have a very small kitchen with a very limited menu, along with your typical European style breakfast of cheeses, bread and cold cut meats & juices.

More to come....

[Rick&Jeannie]

We have cruised a lot with Princess, so we inevitably do some comparing between the 2 cruise lines. I understand that the Spirit has undergone a major retrofit not too long ago...it really shows. Of course, I can't give a real first-hand evaluation since this is our first time on the Spirit,  but you can just tell that there has been money spent. Everything looks "new".

That being said...it may take me the whole cruise to figure out where everything is and especially how to get where I want to go! I'm used to ships where you generally have passageways that run almost the full length of the ship. Several times already we have had to go up a deck and then fore or aft just to get somewhere on the same deck. It just seems so "chopped up" as far as the main design. I'm hoping we'll figure it out soon!

[Rick&Jeannie]

I really can't say much of anything good about embarkation yesterday. I have never had such a bad experience just trying to get on a ship. 

We had a 12:30 arrival time. We waited until almost 1:30 before showing up at the pier. I don't know whether there was an actual delay for everyone but it seemed like an inordinate amount of people that showed up at the same time. The driver (who shuttled us from Fare Suisse) explained that the terminal building was undergoing construction/remodeling. As such...everyone had to stand out on the actual pier in the hot sun. It was pretty rough! Finally,  NCL personnel began handing out cups of cold water. But to be honest, I don't think that they started that until after one woman actually passed out while in line. The whole process just seemed very inefficient. Actual "check in" was done on board the ship in one of the dining rooms. They could very easily have made much more room for people to wait *on* the ship instead of outside in the heat. Perhaps things will be better when the terminal is finished. 

One other example of seemingly inefficiency was the gangway usage today. There was only one gangway total in use...not even a separate one for crew as you usually see. This was a very narrow width...single file only. As people were trying to get back on the ship after excursions they would have to wait while people were still getting off the ship. About 20-25 people would get off and then they would let the next 20-25 people board. Of course, it was very hot again (it's the South Pacific after all!) and people were having flashbacks from yesterday trying to embark.

 

I don't really mean to sound so negative in a live thread...but it's just so different from what we've been used to seeing. 

The ship is really nice; we tend to lean towards smaller ships. We've done our one stint on a Royal Caribbean mega ship...once was enough!

[Rick&Jeannie]

[Rick&Jeannie]

[Rick&Jeannie]

We have yet to try the MDR or any specialty dining...soon. Looking forward to Cagney's and Teppenyaki.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Did I mention that it's hot? It's really hot! It's crazy hot even for this southern boy! It reminds me of that scene in Good Morning, Vietnam where Robin Williams is giving the weather report...

[Rick&Jeannie]

Returning from our pearl farm and vanilla field excursion. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

One thing I forgot to mention about the Fare Suisse guest house...as with many places in Tahiti, there are LOTS of chickens and especially roosters. The local roosters start crowing at about 3:00am....

 

Edited April 12 by Rick&Jeannie

[jean87510]

We just disembarked the Spirit for the March 28 cruise from Sydney.  I was going to post about our experience instead of a live thread.  Have fun!  

[kjquilts]

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

We just disembarked the Spirit for the March 28 cruise from Sydney.  I was going to post about our experience instead of a live thread.  Have fun!  

 

We're enjoying the live thread because we're on the next Spirit cruise.  Would also love to hear about your cruise. 

 

 

[schmoopie17]

I'd love to do a Tahiti cruise, but can't handle all the flying back and forth.

 

So, instead, I'll follow along and I'll be there in "Spirit".

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, kjquilts said:

 

We're enjoying the live thread because we're on the next Spirit cruise.  Would also love to hear about your cruise. 

 

 

I did post about the snorkeling in the Pacific Islands threads.  

 

Ship wise we were on our 2nd NCL cruise and in an inside.  On sea days we sat up on 13 in the shade.

 

Spice H20 was full of chair hogs.  I saw them monitor 1x.  

 

The tender situation (we had 5 tender ports) was ridiculous.  No one honored the numbers.  People with #14 were getting on with #3.  

 

We didn't do any shows or casino or any activities.  Onboard we read, worked, went to gym, watched downloads or slept.

 

Food wise, buffet was fine.  Did have a decent breakfast set up.  Salads and vegetables on their own were not very good.  Salad bar was pretty sparse.  We ate once in Taste and a comment was made about my husband's shorts by a fellow passenger.  We just laughed.

 

Ice cream was great.  There is a soft serve and real ice cream

 

Free coffee was not very good.  The ship always seemed to be out of ice.  Towels occasionally were out.  There is a Starbucks onboard that can be used for free only with premium drink package.

 

We visited Onda, Cagneys and Teppanyaki plus Silk.  Cagneys was really good the 2x we went.  Not a fan of Silk as they gave me food I have a reaction to even though I explained I couldn't have it.  Onda was ok.  

 

NCL air was absolutely terrible with the flights.  It was the cheapest alternative (2 for 1) but the timing was ridiculous.  Regardless, we did make it to and from.  I do have to say I will try to avoid PPT airport in the future.  

 

Dress code was pretty casual.  Since it was husband's birthday cruise and since he is always in suits, I said to just be comfortable.  Bring polos and dress shorts.  A lot of our fellow passengers did the same it seemed.  Except the one blowhard in Taste.

 

The gym was well equipped.  I was able to do my daily runs without incident.  The staff does frequent it a lot which is annoying when machines are tied up.  My husband and I enjoyed walking on the promenade in the afternoons for speed walks as there is no jogging there.  It's on deck 7 and goes around ship.  

 

We contemplated the thermal suite but decided not to as there is no pool.

 

Overall we enjoyed the islands tremendously.  The staff were really nice.  Our fellow passengers were extremely friendly.  We loved Sydney and want to go back.  

[jean87510]

19 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We have cruised a lot with Princess, so we inevitably do some comparing between the 2 cruise lines. I understand that the Spirit has undergone a major retrofit not too long ago...it really shows. Of course, I can't give a real first-hand evaluation since this is our first time on the Spirit,  but you can just tell that there has been money spent. Everything looks "new".

That being said...it may take me the whole cruise to figure out where everything is and especially how to get where I want to go! I'm used to ships where you generally have passageways that run almost the full length of the ship. Several times already we have had to go up a deck and then fore or aft just to get somewhere on the same deck. It just seems so "chopped up" as far as the main design. I'm hoping we'll figure it out soon!

lol we were on deck 6.  We always had to go up and over!

 

Hint - A good short cut to Spice is deck 10.  Any elevator will get you there!

[Rick&Jeannie]

We usually book a balcony or a mini-suite when we cruise on Princess.  We booked late and the best we could scrape up (within budget) was an ocean view with "window". Nice room, a tad small. It is capable of sleeping 3...I can't imagine how anybody could cope with 3 in one of these! With just the 2 of us we have to "coordinate" our movements in the cabin! Still, a day at sea is better than a day *not* at sea!

 

[omahabob]

21 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

One thing I forgot to mention about the Fare Suisse guest house...as with many places in Tahiti, there are LOTS of chickens and especially roosters. The local roosters start crowing at about 3:00am....

 

Memories of Kauai........

[omahabob]

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

...I can't imagine how anybody could cope with 3 in one of these! With just the 2 of us we have to "coordinate" our movements in the cabin! Still, a day at sea is better than a day *not* at sea!

Edited April 13 by omahabob

[Rick&Jeannie]

One thing that we have both discovered that we *really* like...the shower! Most ships we've been on have only had shower curtains. The Spirit has actual glass doors. Now, the shower itself is *still* the "economy" size...but it's really nice to not have to worry about water going everywhere.  The shower sides are the typical fiberglass material, but the floor material *seems* like it is real tile. I'm sure it's not really tile but it has the look and feel of a better quality shower. 

(I guess it doesn't take much to impress us!!) 😄

[Rick&Jeannie]

Today was Bora Bora. So far, this has been our favorite stop on this cruise. We had a really good third party excursion for the first half of the day...the second half not so much (in my opinion.) The first part was just a drive around the island in a small open air 4WD truck. We were taken up to the top of a fairly good sized hill where a lot of telecom type towers lived...but the view was fantastic!

 

 

Then, we visited a WWII gun emplacement on another *crazy* steep hill. We really didn't think that little truck was going to make it because halfway up it started slipping on some large rocks.  Obviously, we made it and were rewarded with similar scenery.

 

Edited April 13 by Rick&Jeannie

[Rick&Jeannie]

Internet on board has not really been that great. These pictures I'm posting take about a minute to a minute and a half each. I would like to be able to post more...

[ChiefMateJRK]

I would like to hear about your experiences with on-board musicians in the bars and lounges.  Thanks.