Carla's Tipsy SPIRIT 3/26/06 Live Blog

[sclauss]

Don - those 2 cabins do have a front and side balcony. They aren't nearly as large as they were on the Dawn but that are a nice feature. Lounge chairs in the front need to fit sideways since there is no room front to back. Small chair, table and bench on the side balcony. I was in 10002 and my friend in 10502 on the 12/8/05 sailing.

 

Sharon

[dongordon]

Wow, two balconies.....now I have a place to hang out when the ship is at full speed (no wind!)

Size is not a concern.

 

Thanks.

 

Don

[AdelaideAussie]

Carla,am so enjoying cruising with you.Sailed on her 5 times when she was here in Australia & had so much fun.The friends I went with & I are planning to fly to New York sometime this year,{he has a terminal illness} to have one last big fling, & a hellava good time!They are hoping that some of the crew & Officers are still the same.Can you tell me if Chief Engineer Rolf Isaacson,& Staff Chief Engineer Ulf Vlajnen are still sailing with her,& who the Captain is?We have been on several Princess Cruises over here since , & nothing compares to the friendliness & service of Spirit.Thanks.

[Seago2]

It's been two days since we've heard from carlalena1. Is she still alive? Has she gone overboard? Is she passed out somewhere from all the drinking? Is she partying too much to even want to bother with us? Has Donald Trump fired you?

 

Please Carlalena1, I am going on the ship in three days. Tell us what's happening. We want to know. The excitement is killing us.

 

Should I look for you when I get on the ship Sunday, just in case you refuse to get off?

 

Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

 

Lol.

 

Okay, let's see.... the number one thing about this ship is the cleanliness. You will never find a cleaner ship. It is absolutely gleaming 24/7. I saw a napkin on the stairs the other day and jumped back-the shock was so great. ALERT! Napkin. Look out. Cognitive dissonance.

 

The food in the main dining rooms hovers between lame and good. The pasta is not great. I will get into it more when I return. I also hate to admit it but after wolfing down 20 items at breakfast in Raffles, then eating another 50 items at lunch, Windows seems a bit contrived. What is this quaint notion, ordering from a "menu"? What, I only get one thing? But then I realized last night that I have had Caeser Salad four times in Windows- and it's part of the"available everyday" section of the menu. Doesn't say much for the other appetizers, does it? The Indian food in Raffles has been very good. DH had a Tandoori chicken in Windows last night that was GREAT. I had a pasta dish that was esentially a Michelina's entree. Service in Windows was better than Garden, FYI. Oh- by the way... we have eaten at Windows at every time they are open- 5:30, 7, 8, 9. NO LINES NO LINES NO LINES. Food served on time. All hot.

 

Let's see, what else... Oh! Second City was great. You have to give them about ten minutes to get into their groove. Very funny. Very clever. The reggae band on board is good. There is another band, Love Brothers and Lira or something along those lines, that BLOWS. BAD! AHHH! Quiet, please, go away.

 

Caribbean Deck Party: AWESOME. Really, really fun. Who can argue with a pineapple drink in your hand, good music, good food, warm breeze? Not me. The CD is great. Good looking, nice voice, pretty pumped up that night. Very approachable.

 

GSC: okay, I don't want to go on here because I know you are all stressing whether you wil even go here, but FRIGGING BEAUTIFUL. Previous posters are sooooo right: get off the tender and go RIGHT. Keep walking around this little point and voila! Private beach. What can I say about GSC... I'm actually looking out the window at it right now... It's just great. The main beach is crowded, but really- not as bad as some have said. Forget getting up at 3am to get the tender tickets. We ate at Raffles and just walked on to a tender at 9:30. No problem.

 

Nassau: would definitely have preferred a full day at GSC instead of here. The straw market is pretty sketchy but I have had a few million straw markets in the last year (it seems). We jumped on a bus (#10) to Paradise Island. One dollar each. It drops you off at the foot of the bridge and you walk across. We then walked to Cabbage Beach. Do not do this if your feet hurt or you are overweight. Well... what's overweight, anyway? On the Spirit we are all free to be who we are, right? So it's okay for me to go get another burger now that Love Bros and Lira have disappeared? And some dessert then? Anyway..... long walk. But I really needed it. Cabbage Beach = awesome beach. Rough water, though. Took a cab back: four bucks each.

 

What else..... the water is so blue out this window right now... oh by the way, they still have beer helmets but you have to leave a $5 deposit. Why? Am I going to throw the plastic helmet off the ship?

 

Okay... pax. Pax are behaving themselves. There are about 8 obvious spring breakers on board. 8 loud ones, anyway. The are kind of funny to watch and we have begun to depend on them to get things moving (like the Ms. Carmen Miranda 2006 contest). No prob with them. Kids all fine but getting sunburned and starting to get yelled at by parents. People are beginning to get preliminary bill printouts and "discussing" them. People are just generally tired, sunburned and sick of salmon. Four ports in a row is too much. I have seen not one instance of crew harassment. But this crew is very hardworking and polite.

 

Okay, I am missing sailaway from GSC so I have to BOUNCE. Seeing a lot of Lenter, ETSki, ToothfairyNJ and Coloradowahine. Have not seen Pablopbb since the Meet and Mingle. Is he posting? I know he has a 1 year old so he may be quietly beating his head against a wall right now.

 

Cabin is so clean!!!!!!! Crew awesome. Yay. Having a great time. Oh, DH says they need more right handed golf clubs.

 

I have many more things to say but I will post when I get home!

[SueSun]

Carla,

 

Are you sure you don't want to book the 4/23 sailing also? You sound so fun to be cruising with:) , hope my cruise is filled with fun "watchable" passengers.;) I am unpacking the duct tape as I type....

 

Can't wait to read your post when you return. Here's to smooth sailing on the return.

 

Sue

[newmexicoNita]

CArla, glad you have come back to life. I am sorry some of the food isn't up to par but sounds like it certainly isn't keeping you from having an awesome cruise. NMnita

[hersheycat]

Sounds like you're having a blast!!!!! Good for you!!!!

 

 

Please bring back the dailies.......I feel like an addict needing a fix!

[twinss]

Question: GSC---You said to go right when you get off tender for private beach.....are there chairs, drinks and food avail over that side too?

 

Thanks for all the info!

[SueSun]

Carla,

 

Not that I would fling a beer helmet off the ship either but when I was on the Dawn they had both Bucket of Beer (no deposit) or Helmet of Beer ($6 deposit). Will I be able to get my generic white Bucket of Beer on the Spirit?:confused: Corona's taste like Corona from either vessel:D !

 

Bucket or not......I can not wait to go:)!!!

 

Sue

[jeannep]

Twins,

 

When you get off the tender, you walk about 20 feet and up a little ramp. To the right is the lunch barbeque area. There are a couple of places you can buy drinks and also there are guys walking around with drinks. Past the food area is a small place with a few different stalls that you can buy tee shirts and stuff.

 

You will probably be able to find seats on the sandy beach, if you get there early enough. Up on the grassy area are picnic benches and we always found a place to sit there.

 

It is a very relaxing place and the water is very clear.

 

Enjoy!

Jeanne

[danyelle]

What's the deal with outlets? Is it the standard u.s. outlets? is an adapter needed?

[Seago2]

Hi Everybody!

 

Back home at last after a great cruise. I have a lot to tell you all and tons of material for my next review. Go ahead and fire away with your questions if you have them. I will post more tomorrow and hopefully begin the review process then, too. Until then I am going to scroll through your previous posts and repond to them...

[Seago2]

Carla -

Glad you seem to be having fun... too much fun to do a thorough review, which is fine... have fun now - worry about reviewing later!!! :D

 

Thanks for delivering my hellos! Though I cant wait to do it myself in June... so far away right now.

 

Have a blast!

 

~Intrepid

 

Intrep! Alexandra said hello again today as we debarked. Just wanted to let you know....

[Seago2]

I hope it that must not be named was in great shape!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Don't forget to stop partying for a while and enjoy the ship while sober too.

 

:eek: Electricron!!!:eek:

 

It that must not be named, ever, is in fact in great shape.

 

I have a lot of questions for you re: mechanical issues on board. I will start a thread along those lines. Nothing major, but there were a few times when I wished I could ask you a question because you would come up with the answer.

 

Here's one: why do all ships seem to have a bulbous bow? Does it have to do with fuel efficiency? Is the Spirit azipod propelled?

 

Wait, that's two...

[Seago2]

How nice of you to take us along on your cruise.....as we sit at our screens wishing.

 

I'm glad to hear all is going well. We were on the Spirit last fall and totally loved her. It was right before drydock, so I'm glad to hear from someone who was on her pre and post drydock and can tell us that she is even better!

 

Glad to hear of the improvements in Raffles, although we had no complaints before. What do you think of no trays? Such a minor thing to talk about but it's been a big topic lately.

 

 

I ended the cruise with a love/hate relationship with Raffles. The thing about the No Trays policy is this: without trays there is no order because you are not sliding the tray along the tray rails and getting food as you go along. When you are just using plates you are prone to dashing in and out of line to get your food- surgical strike at the bread pudding, mad dash at the ham, yadda yadda. End result: barely controlled chaos at times. Lots of times. All times. The traffic flows smoothly compared to last year, but there is still a lot of circling around the salad and dessert circles and popping in and out of line. Needless to say people are spilling juice, coffee, pieces of chopped fruit, etc because of the lack of trays.

 

But I have to say that it looks good, did the trick, has a nicer ambience, and the food was good:) :) .

[Seago2]

Carla,am so enjoying cruising with you.Sailed on her 5 times when she was here in Australia & had so much fun.The friends I went with & I are planning to fly to New York sometime this year,{he has a terminal illness} to have one last big fling, & a hellava good time!They are hoping that some of the crew & Officers are still the same.Can you tell me if Chief Engineer Rolf Isaacson,& Staff Chief Engineer Ulf Vlajnen are still sailing with her,& who the Captain is?We have been on several Princess Cruises over here since , & nothing compares to the friendliness & service of Spirit.Thanks.

 

So sorry! Did not read this post til I got back. No idea....:(

[Seago2]

Question: GSC---You said to go right when you get off tender for private beach.....are there chairs, drinks and food avail over that side too?

 

Thanks for all the info!

 

Okay... go to the right, go past all of the tables and food and the band. There is a smaller beach there with chairs and people. Keep going around the peninsula/bend. You will be walking on rocks and sand. It's about a 15 minute walk. When you get around the bend you will literally die right there- truly a private beach. There were 8 chairs there that previous cruisers had obviously made off with to that spot. We were there for three hours and saw three other people. Funny story there but I'm not sure if it's kosher for CC... Anyway! AWESOME- worth the whole trip. Then we went back to the crowded part and snorkeled.

[intrepid_guy]

[quote name=carlalena1

Here's one: why do all ships seem to have a bulbous bow? Does it have to do with fuel efficiency? Is the Spirit azipod propelled?

 

Wait' date=' that's two...[/quote]

 

WELCOME HOME CARLA!!!!!!!!

 

I think I can answer both for you. The bulbous bow is designed to cut down on the resistance at the front of the ship and to reduce the (I cant think of the word) wake? at the front, where it splashes up on the bow. This helps lower the resistance of the ship plowing through the water, probably to increase fuel efficiency.

 

The SPIRIT is podded.

 

Glad you had fun!

 

~Intrepid

[snorklinbarb]

Hi Carla,

 

Glad you had a great trip. You gave a lot of good info on the buffet. Wonder what the tray mystery will be when we sail in May.;)

 

I always thought the reason they charge a deposit for the helmet relates to so many people wanting to take the helmet home for a "souvenir." They were losing so many helmets they had to do something!:eek:

 

Who was the CD? Wasn't sure if you were talking about Julie?

 

Did they say anything about the "trial" for the new menus? Good thing you like caesar's salad...I do, too! But I like it along with a good appetizer!:D

 

Any idea how long the band you didn't care for will be onboard? What was the name of the Caribbean band?

 

Did you have a CC get together? If so, where was it held? Just wondering what lounge/bar NCL generally assigns.

 

Thanks and welcome home!

[pablopbb]

Carla,

 

We did in fact survive, and even managed to have a blast with the two One-year olds in our group (us and one other family). I think we (the hubbies) were hanging out with both the kiddies when you saw us in the Shangai/Sports bar. I had to keep my daughter in my arms so she didn't impeded the foot traffic in that busy bar (she walks and wanders) but my friend was able to let his daughter wander around the built-in barstools without getting underfoot and she had a blast (she only cruises around stuff, but she's about to take her first steps).

 

It sounds like you were able to take in alot more of the activities, but we were really tied to the kids sleep/eat/play/eat/nap/play/eat/sleep schedule, so we were only able to wander around and explore the ship in 'bursts' when the kids were awake, fed and happy. We even took the kids to a show once. The 'On the Radio' show, hanging out in the balcony for the 7:30 early show, since the balconies have little cocktail table areas where we could keep the daughters occupied/entertained without annoying other pax. It was perfect to jump over to the balcony at Stardust straight from our 5:30 dinner at Teppanyaki (Hibatchi style), and it was early enough in the cruise that the kids were meltingdown yet (Monday- I think).

 

FYI, the question about the electrical outlets. There is at least ONE US-type outlet in each cabin. I believe they're typically in the bathroom (ours was attached to the built-in hairdryer). As posted elsewhere, you may want an extension cord w/ multiple outlets &/or a outlet splitter to make the most use of the outlet. It is not a high-current outlet (no blenders or ultra-power hairdryers please). Our cabin also had another US outlet next to the bar, right near the livingroom phone. This came in handy since we brought a baby-monitor and needed to plug it in at the livingroom to listen to keep an eye on the sleeping baby in the bedroom or on our friends/neighbors cabin when we were hanging out having cocktails.

 

Kudos to Roberto, Lisa and Erlindo for being so accomodating on the ship, and helping make it enjoyable, which otherwise would have been very hard with two little ones in our group! We ate at Windows (Capt. Gala/Lobster Night), Garden Room (Italian Night), Cagney's, Teppanyaki and Lebistro once for dinner, and Shogun twice. We also ate Sushi once for lunch(final sea day... they're open for lunch on Sea days), Blue Lagoon once for lunch. We ate at Raffles for one breakfast and we split the remainining breakfasts between Windows and room service. I preferred the leisure of dining in-room for breakfast (the baby could run around), but my DW preferred going to windows with our friends.

 

Crew and Pax were excellent, with only a few Pax having personalities that I didn't quite agree with. But, you only notice them in obvious 'stress' and crowd situations (times when everyone on the ship is trying to go to the same place at once: Raffles on dis-embarkation, elevator banks right after a show or before/after tendering ashore, tendering to/from GSC, etc.)

 

BTW, GSC was fun (half day for our cruise). We tendered after getting the kiddies prepped (I never knew one tiny one-year old could wear and entire gallon of SPF 50 suntan lotion and any given time) at around 10:30am. No line to get on the tender. Got ashore, walked to the small 'baby' beach to the right (before the bar) and immediately found 4 beach chairs with two umbrellas adjacent to each other for our group. What an EXCELLENT idea to have the kiddie beach (it was very calm water, and too shallow to the rocks to swim so no adults were going to swim into the babies while we waded in with them) directly next to the beach bar. Someone must have been aware that husbands (like myself) would have a hard time walking a long distance with all the frozen drinks, and we're not able to get away for too long since we have to be nearby to find diapers/bottles/food/toys/hats/digital cameras/etc for the wee-ones. Final pax return to ship was posted as the 12:30 tender, but we waited until the last tender (no lines) and stepped onboard at 1:30. It doesn't sound like a long day, but it was a perfect length day to get everyone onboard in time for their naps.

 

Carla, I can only imagine what you 'found' when you walked to the private beach on GSC. The only incidents we had were topless spring breakers in Miami/South Beach. Mind you, I didn't have a problem with any of it...

 

Oh well, I'm rambling on, so my post ends here for now.

[ETski]

Carla

Hi loved the live blog, even though I was sailing on the same cruise. Reading it bought back all the great memories on board the Spirit. You have really given all cruisers a wealth of information. Loved the story of your private beach.LOL My DH keeps asking, has Carla written her review yet? Sorry we didn't get to talk much on the cruise, busy keeping track of my mom. We missed you at the casino on ladies drink free night. I don't know if they do this on every cruise, but one night from 11 till ? ladies drink free if playing. Well....... playing or give the bar staff a tip and the drinks keep coming. Quite a few of roll callers there that evening. My sister and I just barely made it to our cabin. And I had to climb up the ladder to to the top bunk. So to all reading this post DO NOT DRINK AND CLIMB!!!!!

 

Keep the reviews coming. Your posts are great and informative to all! S P I R I T a great ship and a great cruise:p Lynn

[Glamourgal]

Hey Carla, I am looking forward to your post-review. Did you happen to get any copies of the menus or freestyles??

[electricron]

WELCOME HOME CARLA!!!!!!!!

The bulbous bow is designed to cut down on the resistance at the front of the ship and to reduce the (I cant think of the word) wake? at the front, where it splashes up on the bow. This helps lower the resistance of the ship plowing through the water, probably to increase fuel efficiency.

 

The SPIRIT is podded.

~Intrepid

 

The Spirit is not podded! It has two conventional shafts and propellers, with a diesel electric drive. Source: http://www.meyerwerft.com/news_press_detail.asp?what=news&lang=e&pid=14&type=archiv

 

Pertinent Excerpt:

 

Manoeuvring Aids

For the purpose of optimum manoeuvrability the vessel is equipped with 2 fixed pitch propellers, 2 bow thrusters, 1 stern thruster and 2 spade rudders, all operated by a joy-stick.

 

Electric Power Supply and Propulsion

For the electric power generation 4 diesel generator sets, made by MAN B&W. Type 14 V 48/60 are installed, each developing an output of 14,700 kW at 514 rpm and driving a synchronous generator, made by ABB. For the vessel´s propulsion 2 electric motors, made by ABB, each with an output of 20,000 kW are installed. These motors transmit their power via shaft lines to the fixed pitch propellers.

 

Besides the last sentence above, azipod propulsion ships don't use rudders.

[Seago2]

Thanks, Electricron!

 

Glamourgal: I am up to my eyeballs at work and the kids are on the desktop at home 24/7 so I haven't been able to scan them but I WILL. I promise.

 

Review to follow- hopefully this weekend, maybe sooner.

 

:)

[hersheycat]

I am up to my eyeballs at work and the kids are on the desktop at home 24/7 so I haven't been able to scan them but I WILL. I promise.:)

 

Carla,

I'm leaving this Sunday, and I know you are really busy, but if there is any chance you can scan them soon, I would really appreciate it. Thanks for your postings on the ship....I really enjoyed reading them.