How I Spent 4/23 Week on the Spirit

[awatt]

Almost wet my pants laughing with the bra story! Thank you again.

[gigizhere]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip so far......we are sailing on the Spirit on 6-11.....just counting down the days!!!!!:D

[snorklinbarb]

Hi Coka,

Sounds like getting "bumped" from the Star Princess worked out just great. Can't wait till we're on the Spirit in a couple of weeks. Our Spirit Swizzlers group is now over 80!

 

Too too funny - the bird story - that would have been the strangest guest call Hugo's ever gotten!:eek:

 

We will definitely ask for some of the great staff you mention. Any other waiter recommendations?

[MJEasley]

I'm addicted to you don't stop now - this has got to be the #1, best overall, no doubt about review ever. Wake up - have a cup of coffee and keep typing. Thanks Cudos Wow - I leave in 24 days and can't wait

[DARNAILZ]

Coka,

 

What night was lobster in the dining room?

[wallygator]

Coka,

 

What night was lobster in the dining room?

 

I believe it was Friday night. Coka will know for sure. I think I had chicken McNuggets with the little ones that night what a lucky guy:) :mad:

[mush71]

HI Coka,

I love the story about the bird. When I was a kid we had a bird fly into our house. Your story made me think about it again.

 

I love your review. When I am reading it, I feel like I was there.

 

Keep the great review coming.:)

[linsue1231]

Coka,

 

LOL, this is one of the best reviews I have ever read....:D I just found this post and read it all. Well done and I look forward to the rest of it.

 

My sailing on the Spirit is not until Nov. 9th, and I was already excited, but now after reading your review you have upped my excitment to "Out of thihs world" LOL.

 

Keep it coming.

 

Linda

[wallygator]

I saw WallyGator and his family and I allowed him one picture of me to post. I kind of got into trouble having it taken, but I pretended to not hear the person telling me that I could not do that...I did it anyways...

 

Coka

 

Folks talk about towel characters in their cabin. Coka did you find anything like this in your cabin at night?

 

 

Boy was I surprised:confused: :confused:

[coka]

WallyGator, you are too funny! I love the picture!

 

MJ, Overall, Leonardo in the Garden Room was the best! When we first met him, he said his name is Leonardo but people call him Leo. I introduced myself and my SIL and added that people call us "Lo" and La" (the first two letters in our real names). He called us that all week. Too funny.

 

Lobster night was Friday.

 

Will get to next segment now...Thanks all for the encouragement!

 

Coka

[coka]

After the little birdie incident I was wide awake so I went dancing in Maharini's until it closed. I had not worked out in the gym at all so I was using dancing as my form of exercise.

 

The weather was once again beautiful by the time we got off the ship. I had very little sleep because we got up early to spend a few hours in Nassau. Cousins already left for their Pearl Diving Snorkel Tour. They later reported that they had fun but thought the experience was a bit contrived. The shells were wrapped in rubber bands and they had to find them among a group of others. Three were awarded. CH could not keep the conch shells he found. They still had a fun and were glad they went because the water was beautiful and warm early in the morning. SIL and I shopped a few stores and lasted in the straw market about 15 minutes. I found some neat trinkets but did not purchase anything. I was just waiting for SIL to say, "Let's go back to the ship." When she did I immediately agreed. I have been to Nassau before and did some tours/beaches/Atlantis so I felt like I was not missing out on anything. I explained to SIL what she was missing and she said she would rather go back to ship and lay in the sun. I secretly thanked god to myself because by this time of the week I was a hurting unit.

 

Back on the ship we easily found chairs by the pool. Hardly anyone was on board. The Tivoli pool is a deep pool pretty much on both ends. Little children will not be able to stand up on the shallow end so I recommend taking them to the aft pool for children (which is definitely a cool set-up for little kids)---you gotta see it. The track music at the Tivoli pool was easy listening so it was very very relaxing. Even when the pool band played, their music was also very very relaxing. I remember laying there 1/2 asleep thinking how wonderful to not be awoken to "hot hot hot!" and then have to find a different location to rest. The pool water was bath temperature warm but I found a shower off to the side to cool my head and skin.

 

SIL went to casino or cabin and I stayed at pool until about 3:30pm. Although I ate lunch earlier, I ate at the barbecue set up for sailaway. The pool competitions were funny and I had premier seating. Anyone who sat next to me was very nice. When you find yourself alone in ship situations, it is always nice to know that whoever parks next you is your friend! We received a tip to try some pretzels from the Biergarten which is the outdoor bar located above the Tivoli Pool. Not really caring for pretzels, I went up to check it out. OH MY GOSH...however they made the dip/sauce along with the mustard to put on the pretzels were geniuses! So my secret tip for the day is to try them!

 

I went to cabin for my afternoon nap. Crawled into bed and thought, geez, am I getting old because I am really looking forward to these afternoon naps. Tonight was lobster night in the dining room and I thought if I did not eat anything for five hours, then I would be ready for them! It then dawned on me that I had not yet been to the gym or power walked the promenade and here it was Friday. I crawled out of bed and put on my workout clothes.

 

The gym was perfect for a ship of 2100 passengers. Not too big and not too small. Inside the gym behind a door are two small pools that you can swim against the waves. It looked interesting but I thought "next trip" as I continued to sculpt my arms. The jogging track is on the top deck and it goes through the sunbathers and in front of the biergarten bar. I figured powerwalking was too slow for any jogger to pass me in certain areas. So I went to the promenade deck and had the power-walking space all to myself. Three times around is one mile. I walked 12x around to make up for the previous days. Elderly passengers looked so cute on their lounge chairs as they were bundled up in a towel or blanket next to a loved one. Some read a book while others caught a few winks sleep. I decided a secret spot on the ship is the promenade deck aft. Nobody was ever there and the view and sounds were mesmerizing. Location was perfect for yoga moves and body stretches until I spotted the big fat camera two feet away from me. Oh well, get a good workout and entertain security...I'll never see them.

 

After showering I planned on going to the Sabbath Eve Service. I thought how cool would that be and I have never been to one before. Although raised a Catholic, I always secretly suspected I was Jewish for a variety of reasons. I layed down on the bed for a two minute rest until getting ready for the service. I was awoken two hours later by SIL who said I was getting late for dinner. I was disappointed that I missed it. I thought of lying and telling you that I went. But I would feel too guilty and God would punish me.

 

Coka

[Hatsoff389]

Arrghh, Great review but are ya ever gonna get to Saturday!!! I wanna hear about the ship and the rough seas:D I've been waiting all week!!!!

[Balkan Soul]

Coka,

 

I truly enjoy reading about your adventures, and can't WAIT to go on one again with you. But, If I stay in the Balkans, when are you going to come and cruise the Adriatic??

[SueSun]

Arrghh, Great review but are ya ever gonna get to Saturday!!! I wanna hear about the ship and the rough seas:D I've been waiting all week!!!!

 

Yes....hurry Coka....I want to hear about Saturday too :o :p :D !!

 

Hey WallyGator, you didn't introduce us to your new cabinmate, didn't see him around the pool area, ...he must of been hanging out on the smoking side:) !!

[DARNAILZ]

Great review, but I leave Sunday and want to read it all before I leave!!!

 

Any suggestions of things to do or things that you missed?

 

Wally like your friend!

[realblonde]

:) Hi wally,coka and suesun welcome home! glad to see u all made it thru the rough seas. I posted my review on the review page and i am glad to see a good time was had by all! we really enjoyed this trip and meeting all of u To wally miss u already! we have already gone back to work and i'm a little depressed. Finally stopped rocking about 4 days after we got off the ship. Hope to see you all soon on another cruise we are definately hooked ! Take care!:) :)

[spirit rev]

To all who have posted about this cruise thank you. I, too, am enjoying reading all of them.

 

Realblonde, I do have a question for you. I read your review and noted that you were in an AD suite. DH and I will be in one in late January. After reading a couple other comments on the boards about vibrations in the aft, I'm wondering if you noticed any vibrations in the AD suite? If so, how disturbing were they? Thanks for your info.

[logcabin]

realblonde; My wife and I are also staying in an aft AD Penthouse Suite on the Spirit. Could you perhaps give some more info on them. Size, vibration, who was your butler and was he/she good, perks, size of balcony, any noise from above while out there, etc.

 

Thanks so much

[SueSun]

Welcome home RealBlonde!!!

 

It was great meeting you and I am sorry I did not get a chance to visit your cabin, but I thank you for the invite:) Seems like I would set off to do something or see a show and end up doing something else...train of thought was on vaction too:D

[coka]

(BalkanSoul: Are you definitely staying in the Balkans? Cousins and I are planning next summer for Mediterranean Cruise...but I notice you need to use up your MBNA points...so how about our free cruise somewhere this summer on NCL...when is the last time we celebrated our birthdays together?)

 

Lobster night was great in the main dining room. The tails were larger than I thought they would be. We requested melted butter and it was not a problem getting it. Everyone except me ordered the beef dinner in addition to the lobster dinner. I wish I ordered both because the beef looked awesome too and was told indeed it was!

 

The evening show was NCL's Production Company tribute to memorable show tunes. Lots of singing and dancing and I thought it was good. The farewell performance by the NCL officers, crew and staff was memorable as usual. Cruise Director Julie made a good point that if over 100 nationalities could live cramped together peacefully for years, then so too could nations exist peacefully together.

 

Afterwards, we went to the casino to try to win our free cruise with the big "spin to win" slot machine. You get one pull every day during a certain two hour period. We cheated a bit because sometimes a different staff member manned the machine during the same two hour slot. The Late Night show in Galaxy of the Stars was Chicago's Improv Comedy team from second city. I told my SIL that we should give second city a second chance and attend. We arrived after the show began and as we approached the stairs, a lot of people were coming down. I asked the crowd if the show was over

and a passenger replied, "no...it is just bad!" I said let's go laugh at bad comedy but we only lasted about five minutes. The pajama party in the late night disco sounded more entertaining.

 

I believe it should cost people to see me in my pajamas so I went fully dressed with what I wore to dinner. The regulars were there and only a few young gals had their pj's on. The staff had some sort of contest for them and they seemed to have fun. I thought the concept might get more participation if they had the pj party on Saturday night. Wouldn't that be great to walk around in your pajamas because all your clothes are packed? Some ships have been known to organize a few toga parties on the last night in the disco...

 

By the time I returned to the cabin, I noticed the ship was moving fast and furious home. I was glad that I spent a good portion of the day sunbathing because tomorrow sure was going to be a rough day at sea. How was I so sure? A little birdie told me so.

 

Coka

[coka]

Oh My Gosh, it was GREAT! Well, it was great for me, but not for 3/4 of the passengers and crew. Saturday's experience made me conclude that I would be one of the few survivor's of armageddon. You know the ones...similar to a nuclear holocaust, most passengers were never to be seen again. Some walked around in a daze trying to escape their pain. Some layed down and groaned in any area that brought them comfort other than their inside cabins...a window, lounge chairs pulled together, the maharini nightclub beds...The rest of us just walked around all day and totally enjoyed the experience!

 

I have been on over 25 cruises and I had the ride of my life! I found it BETTER than Hurricane Wilma. You want to know how wavy it was that last day at sea? It was so wavy that:

 

1. your wake-up call was the sound of your body hitting the floor as you fell out of bed...

2. you never needed to climb the stairs...you just stood at the bottom and the motion took you up one flight at a time...

3. the wet-vac guys should have been tipped...

4. you finally went down that little stairwell to the bridge area to ensure the Captain and staff were there...

5. you needed to get drunk in order to walk straight...

6. the window washers on the 12th deck had the day off...

7. they should have made a shipwide announcement about the dangers of shaving...

8. you kind of wished your husband was with you on the trip when another passenger announced he was going to go have sex with his wife during this...

9. you actually regret not going to bingo as as the odds of winning the free cruise that day were excellent...

10. It was hard to distinguish the "kaboom" sounds...was it the waves hitting the ship or was it cruisecritic SueSun falling off her barstool?

 

I totally enjoyed the motion of the ocean and thanked my lucky stars that I did not feel ill ever. Neither did my SIL or cousin. We sat in Galaxy of the Stars way up front (in the section that juts out from ship) and applauded the really good waves! My CH was doing the best he could. He had 50 million questions for me that day and assumed I knew the answers to all of them. My favorite was "You think the Captain can do something about these waves?"

 

The four of us played cards to practice for No-Limit Texas Hold Em tournament. Cousins and SIL had a blast participating and I got a head start on packing. I went to the Norwegian Spirit Crew Show which was great. Kudos to NCL for letting the crew show their talent. This is great for morale. Both theirs and ours! I especially enjoyed the Bosnian Dishwasher's singing. The Canadian Tattoo artist was also fabulous. It makes you re-evaluate your life and your world when the person cleaning your cabin comes out and gives you a kick-@$$ performance. No matter how sick you are, you must attend this show.

 

My cousins reported later that they had five orders of fish and chips in Henry's Pub after their tournament. They said it was EXCELLENT. I told CH that I hoped they were just as good coming up as they were going down...Later that evening I supposed I could have had free reign of any restaurant including the specialty ones. My cousins got into Teppanyaki no problem. My SIL and I ate in the Garden dining room.

 

When we returned to cabin after dinner I found MORE TREATS from NCL! Laying on my bed was a really nice travel journel and two gold NCL lapel pins. The journal is really cool. It has a nice leather jacket, itineraries, accommodations, restaurants, purchases, travel journal section, notes section, address section, and mementos. An index includes maps, toll free numbers, conversions, etc. I was so impressed! I did not get this stuff when I had a penthouse suite! Dear NCL: If you really do read these boards, thank you so much for all the treats! I loved them all! Do you think I can also get a butler next time?

 

Also on the bed was an excellent pamphlet instructing passengers on how to debark the ship. In all my years sailing, this pamphlet was the best version seen yet. I hope for first time cruisers sake, that NCL continues with this informative and easy to read direction.

 

We were still rocking and rolling into the evening. For safety reasons, the promenade deck was closed, the evening dance performance canceled, and the late-night disco did not open. Instead, Julie put together some acts from the groups who performed throughout the week. Very good I thought. It was great to see that not only do they think of passenger safety but they think of crew safety. Kudos also to all the performers who smiled and entertained throughout the evening while trying to maintain their balance.

 

Captain Gunnar Hammerin runs an excellent operation on the Norwegian Spirit. An excellent Captain has happy officers who have happy crew and happy staff. Throughout the week I never heard one complaint from the passengers regarding the cruise and overall everyone had a great time. It took me a few years cruising to figure out that the senior staff makes the difference on any ship. So I thank Capt. Hammerin for running a safe and immaculate ship with a high morale crew and staff. I would definitely sail the Spirit again and I would definitely sail out of NYC again.

 

Coka

[tinker]

Is this the end?! Say it ain't so!!!!!!!!

 

I so enjoyed your review Coka and you have me even more excited about my upcoming trick next month. (I will be sure and pack an extra box of Bonine to double up when needed!)

[wallygator]

Great review. Never got to give you that cd. If you'd like a copy email me. I don't bite. Please keep us all posted on your future adventures.

 

Smiles back at you:) :cool:

[claudie]

I'm also hoping this isn't the end. Coka, you're a HOOT! Your last entry was hilarious. I really enjoyed reading your day to day review.

[coka]

Aw c'mon you guys, I was feeling the pressure to finish! Okay, let me get another glass of wine (since I decided to stay home tonight to finish this instead of going out dancing...) and I will write more. I did think of a few more things...

 

Coka