Spirit 5/28 - 6/3 Review (day by day)

[danyelle]

Hi All,

 

Firstly I must say THANK YOU to all of you NCL vets who gave me the scoop I needed while preparing for this cruise. I loved reading the reviews and getting all the tips n tricks from you pros.

 

Overall I loved my cruise and had a great time despite a few minor annoyances. To me, a problem has to be truly severe in order to ruin a cruising vacation. I don't know how anyone could have had a bad time on this one. I guess I'll do this review day by day in sections, I'm not sure how long this will be but I'll try to get in as many details as I can, as the cruise booze has fuzzed up the memory a bit.

 

My boyfriend (29) and I (24) were on our third cruise, first with NCL, previously with RCI. I loved that the Spirit left from NYC, perfect for us and saves us airfare costs.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation - NYC

 

I'm in LI so I took the LIRR to Penn Station and met my boyfriend (he took the PATH from Jersey City). We caught a taxi to the pier for $10 total including tip. The ride, with minimal traffic, was about 5 minutes, but felt like an eternity. We got to the pier at 12:10. After filling out the bahamas forms, and waiting in line a bit, we were on the ship by 12:45.

 

You first enter the ship on Deck seven, the grand atrium. It's very pretty, these fake marble columns everywhere, lots of wood and a fountain w/ a dolphin in it...kinda zen-like. It wasn't as overbearing to your senses as I was expecting. We then stood in line to make restaurant reservations. They make it easy for you, there were a few attendants standing around helping you make your decisions while you waited on line. They had all the menus from the specialty restaurants and the main dining rooms for you to look through as well.

 

We had lunch at the Raffles Buffet at around 1pm. It was not the largest selection but it was adequate. There was a beef stew, curry chicken (which was surprisingly flavorful), 2 pastas, a pasta station with a decent variety of options, salad station and assorted breads and cheeses. Iced tea and coffee were the only drinks available and there were no waitors available asking you for drink orders for sodas or alc. beverages.

 

After lunch we went to our cabin (9191) interior. It was wretched!!! It was very tiny and I immediately felt cornered in. I'll never get an interior stateroom again, you live and learn. Anyways, it seemed like there was no space to put anything, but John and I were able to fully unpack and there was extra space left over. The room was very clean though, and the bathroom wasn't bad. Great shower. We had two lower beds plus a bed that pulled out from below, plus a bed on the wall that came down. The beds were apart when we arrived but our cabin stewardess Gladys (awesome woman) had them together at turndown. Our cabin was noisy. It felt like there was a running car engine under our bed. Above us was the kids club and I think they must have had a bowling alley there or something. Plus everything just shook rattled and rolled. I thought there was a poltergeist in our closet, it just opened and closed at random. Ugh, BUT it turned out the room was adequate. I guess I got used to feeling closed in but John, at 6'5" and 275 lbs.(?) kept bumping into things. Needless to say we didn't spend too much time in the cabin.

 

We explored the ship a bit and then came the muster drill which was complete b.s. compared to RCCL. This is one area that I loved NCL for, they basically seemed not to care if you came to your muster station or not. RCCL will hunt you down like fugitives in your cabin, NCL was way more relaxed. We didn't go.

 

We went to the sail away party by the pool next. We met our cruise director, an energetic wiry guy from Jamaica named Ricky. Despite every other word out of his mouth being "Pump It Up!", I liked him, his enthusiasm and his cheesy jokes. The band at the party was decent, the crowd was participating, clapping along, dancing. I immediately loved the vibe of this cruise more than the other 2 combined. The staff was energetic and fun, kids were running amok but not to the point of annoyance. We passed the statue of liberty, got great photos, and had a countdown for passing under the Verrazano bridge that let us know we were "officially" on vacation. Good fun. Oh, and the pool was warm, i like it that way.

 

We had dinner for Le Bistro scheduled for today, I LOVED it from seating to dessert. The staff was friendly, had some cute jokes, knowledgeable and on the ball with service. We ordered the worst wine on earth (but we drank it anyway :)) I had the mushroom soup, escargot, spinach/goat cheese salad and the fillet mignon with foie gras. All were fantastic! Fillet slightly overcooked and I couldnt care less. John had the french onion soup, Salmon timbale, seared tuna salad and the sea bass. He loved everything except the timbale. Dessert was Creme Brule and the flambe special (strawberries) the brule was like an omelet with sugar on top so John traded it for a lemon tart that he loved. I enjoyed the strawberry flambe but was jealous of the couple next to us with their beautiful fondue! The cappuccino (sp?) was great here as well as everywhere else on the cruise)

 

Our waiter rolled us out of the dining area and we were off to explore more of the ship. We gave a donation at the casino and vowed to get it back before the cruise was over. We went to relax outside but I was too sleepy, feeling that god awful wine I suppose. I went to bed, John went to the gym which was completely empty. The gym was a decent size for the ship and I never saw it completely packed, one day John did. I never had to wait for a treadmill or weight machine. The treadmills have TVs on them and you can plug in your headphones to hear that or you can listen to the pop type songs they have playing throughout the gym.

 

The bed was really uncomfortable for me and all the noises and possessed closet door kept me up. I actually woke up earlier than I do for work the next morning. John slept like a champ.

It was a great first day...

 

More to come later, day 2 sea day.

If you have any questions feel free.

 

Oh! some things I noticed: this was a very family-friendly cruise, there were kids everywhere, and lots of young families. There was every ethnicity and age range under the sun represented on the cruise and in general a great attitude/atmosphere. It seemed like everyone (save a few bad apples) came on board with the intention of having a kickass time.

Also, the ship had tons of little hideaway areas to be alone w/ your loved one(s) on board.

Oh yeah and the staff we encountered everywhere was very friendly, not to the point of saying hi as we passed, but very personable and helpful when we asked a question or asked for anything. They make it really easy for you to not do anything. "It'll be my pleasure to get that for you/do that for you/call them for you" et cetera.. is what we heard a lot. Some staffmembers really went above and beyond our expectations here.

 

 

Ok now I'm really done.:o

[danyelle]

Day 2 - At Sea

 

I woke up around 6:30 and made coffee in the cabin. I went to the gym that had maybe 5 other people in it around 7am. There's a nice variety of cardio machines, weight machines, some stability balls, bosu, mats, free weights and 2 benches. There's an aquaswim which is the equivalent of a treadmill for swimmers. I didn't get to use it unfortunately as it turned into a makeshift pool when the main pool was full.

 

We kept the TV turned to the ship's camera as suggested by some CCers to have some natural looking light in an interior cabin. I liked seeing what the day looked like before heading out. I went back to cabin and got ready for breakfast. We ate at Raffles. I must say, I'd read on cc about the runny eggs but was shocked at just how runny they were....Further shocking event: My boyfriend LOVED them that way. ick. Anyway the Buffet was just a standard breakfast buffet, eggs, sausage, bacon, hash, cereals, fruits and pastries. There was a lovely waffle station and of course the famous omelet station that had a line wrapping all the way out to the pool at all times. Waffles were our staples, with freshly whipped cream.

 

We tried our luck at the "spin to win" a large slot machine where we can win a free cruise. Well, we didn't win. We did get a $5 matchplay for the tables. I went to nap and John went to the gym (crowded) we met up for lunch at Windows. Slowest service in history, but very friendly. I had a chilled peach soup (great!) and some pasta that was wretched. Traded it for a burger, decent. John had a burger and a cuban sandwich and enjoyed both. Desserts were apple fritters a la mode for us both and it was yummy.

 

We went to a dance lesson and are now decent Rumba dancers. The teacher was nice, patient, and great at her job. They broke the class into males / females taught each separately then together. It was in the Galaxy of the stars and very crowded. We missed the 2 other dance classes during the trip but they were Salsa and Swing. They were held in larger venues I heard.

 

The rest of the day was spent by the pool, out playing shuffleboard, doing trivia (i think) and relaxing and watching the water. Oh that reminds me, I felt the motion on this ship more than any other. I got mildly nautious, but not to the point of needing any meds. Looking at the water calmed my stomache immediately, it was a quick fix.

 

Cagneys for dinner that night. We dressed up but were seated next to a great family in shorts and flip flops. No one cared either way. I had 1/2 lobster and fillet, caesar salad and crabcakes. The crabcakes were too salty to enjoy. John had the most massive 24oz porterhouse/tbone i've ever seen, french onion soup, oyster rockerfeller and shrimp cocktail. The oysters were gross but he enjoyed everything else. They cooked his steak perfectly. Mine was overcooked again (i ask for medium). I cannot remember what we had for dessert, but I do remember having to be rolled out of there too so I'm sure it was tasty.

 

We went to our first show, Music Through the Ages. It was a singing/dancing production and was pretty good. The performers really try hard and the choreography was of good quality and fun. The musicians were great also. Some bits were a little cheesy (read: a neon hoola hooping robotic dance to the song weird science) but mostly good and wholly entertaining, which is the ultimate purpose. I liked it. John tolerated it.

 

We went to the casino after that. I got friendly with some penny slots and John played the tables before joining me at the slots and winning $60 or so. Then off to bed since we had port canaveral in the morning.

 

Stuff I noticed: Friendliest guests ever, the assistant cruise director makes these annoying announcements that play throughout the ship and in your cabin calling people to come to bingo or art auctions. I didn't like that too much. On prior ships they only do it once and in your cabin only. It felt too forceful for my taste. If I wanted to be at bingo, I'd be there. If i'm at trivia that's where I want to be. Bartenders were super friendly and made strong drinks if you asked when you make your order. Tipping goes a long way.

 

- This review is therapeutic. I'm curing my PCD (post cruise depression) as I write. :)

 

Up next, Day 3, Port Canaveral

[Nic'sMama]

- This review is therapeutic. I'm curing my PCD (post cruise depression) as I write. :)

 

Great reviews so far, Danyelle! You are curing me of my post-cruise depression too, as I am reliving my tirp through your reviews!!

 

Keep it coming.

Barb

[rutjk]

"IT'S BINGO TIME!"... i completely agree with you about John the asst cruise director making that annoucement. And he said it the same way Every single time he said it and Every single day.

[Hikini]

We loved the Spirit last September, and we miss having her here in Seattle!

 

You mentioned the chilled peach soup! Aren't those chilled fruit soups terrific?!

 

2 weeks from today we'll be on the Star and I'm looking forward to ALL of the experience!

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I look forward to reading more.

 

Hikini:D

[Lotteryfan]

"IT'S BINGO TIME!"... i completely agree with you about John the asst cruise director making that annoucement. And he said it the same way Every single time he said it and Every single day.

 

 

You forgot to mention that he prefixes that statement with..."GUESS WHAT" every time he does that bingo announcement. When I was on the ship in April you could always here someone, or a group of people, yell out "WHAT!" everytime he said "Guess What? over the loud speaker.

 

Did you ever hear him try to explain the cost of the bingo games? This usually went on for ten to 15 minutes before Bingo began in the Galaxy of the Stars room.

[ptownguy]

Great review. Thanks. I was on the same ship. It helps cure too. :) Yeah this cruise seemed to have a retatively even distribution along the age. If you plot a histogram along the age, it will be quite flat. :)

[tinker]

Great review and hope there will be more!!

[gigizhere]

We are leaving on the Spirit on Sunday!!!! Thanks for the info!

[danyelle]

Day 3 - Port Canaveral

 

Woke up to the room service call letting us know our breakfast was on it's way. I haven't hung the phone up and there's a knock at the door. They were 10 minutes early too, I liked that. Oh, FYI there are only cold items on the breakfast menu for room service. We only got teas and toast. Went to raffles quickly to shove something warm down before heading to catch a cab.

 

We caught a cab (thunderstorm taxi? 321. 783. 4445) to cocoa beach for $20 plus tip. It was about a 15 minute ride max. You can arrange for your driver to pick u up or just call when you're ready. Ours dropped us off in front of Ron Johns surf shop. We walked 2 blocks down to the beach. The beach itself was relatively clean and the water was full of waves, kids were surfing and bodyboarding. You can rent bodyboards, chairs, umbrellas on the beach. You can also buy anything you need at the nearby stores. There are the surfshops, winn dixie for subs, ice cream shops, mcdonalds, i hop, kfc, pizza, cvs, walgreens and more i cant remember right now. Instead of buying our beach stuff at the surf shops we went to walgreens got things for $1.99. Much better deal. There are tons of souveneir shops that have the same items as RonJohns for almost 1/2 the cost.

 

Where we were on the beach there were no on-beach restaurants but if you ask your cab to drop you off earlier than ron johns you'll have 2 on-beach restaurants and you'll also have a huge crowd. Our area of beach was quiet. We stayed for a few hours, went to eat and shopped a bit. We got our cab back to the pier (a thunderstorm taxi van $5 per person and shared it with a great group of gals - Hi Joane! AKA LOLA!....she was a showgirl) and went to the pool. It was nice and empty. Fusion wave band was playing and we just relaxed. Oh, the pool water is warm and it IS salt water.

 

We had Teppanyaki reservations and our chef was not very enthusiastic. It set the tone for the group. But he made delicious food and did a few cute tricks (ie: tossing egg into his chef hat and making a beating heart out of the fried rice). The Miso soup on ship was the best I'd ever had and the monkfish, shrimp, scallops, calamari and fillet were all cooked perfectly. The only seasonings were salt, pepper, soy sauce, garlic and butter... YUM Dessert was green tea and coconut iced cream. Also yum.

 

The show tonight was 'the misfit of comedy, Ed Alonzo' (for any who remember early Saved By the Bell episodes, Ed Alonzo played Max, the owner of the diner the kids hung out in who would do these cheezy magic tricks) Ed Alonzo had me laughing. He had tons of naughty innuendo but it was still ok for the kids in the audience, he had tons of potty humor that the kids loved, his magic was cute and he's just a funny entertainer all around. Yes I've seen much better but the point was to be entertained and I was.

 

I wanted to see the burlesque show tonight but after we hit the casino, the drinks hit me and we were off to bed.

 

Things I noticed: From talking to many others I realized that tons of first timers were thoroughly confused about the goings on on the ship. No one understood the difference btwn Shogun, Sushi and Tepanyaki, or what was needed to debark etc. Little things. I referred SO many people to cruise critic and I felt like a true pro being able to help them out a bit w/ their questions. In general it seemed people were really upset with NCL keeping them in the dark about certain charges and where to go to get things done. I'm glad I had CC to help me out before I left.

 

Up next: Nassau

[mkutun]

Hi All,

 

Firstly I must say THANK YOU to all of you NCL vets who gave me the scoop I needed while preparing for this cruise. I loved reading the reviews and getting all the tips n tricks from you pros.

 

Overall I loved my cruise and had a great time despite a few minor annoyances. To me, a problem has to be truly severe in order to ruin a cruising vacation. I don't know how anyone could have had a bad time on this one. I guess I'll do this review day by day in sections, I'm not sure how long this will be but I'll try to get in as many details as I can, as the cruise booze has fuzzed up the memory a bit.

 

My boyfriend (29) and I (24) were on our third cruise, first with NCL, previously with RCI. I loved that the Spirit left from NYC, perfect for us and saves us airfare costs.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation - NYC

 

I'm in LI so I took the LIRR to Penn Station and met my boyfriend (he took the PATH from Jersey City). We caught a taxi to the pier for $10 total including tip. The ride, with minimal traffic, was about 5 minutes, but felt like an eternity. We got to the pier at 12:10. After filling out the bahamas forms, and waiting in line a bit, we were on the ship by 12:45.

 

You first enter the ship on Deck seven, the grand atrium. It's very pretty, these fake marble columns everywhere, lots of wood and a fountain w/ a dolphin in it...kinda zen-like. It wasn't as overbearing to your senses as I was expecting. We then stood in line to make restaurant reservations. They make it easy for you, there were a few attendants standing around helping you make your decisions while you waited on line. They had all the menus from the specialty restaurants and the main dining rooms for you to look through as well.

 

We had lunch at the Raffles Buffet at around 1pm. It was not the largest selection but it was adequate. There was a beef stew, curry chicken (which was surprisingly flavorful), 2 pastas, a pasta station with a decent variety of options, salad station and assorted breads and cheeses. Iced tea and coffee were the only drinks available and there were no waitors available asking you for drink orders for sodas or alc. beverages.

 

After lunch we went to our cabin (9191) interior. It was wretched!!! It was very tiny and I immediately felt cornered in. I'll never get an interior stateroom again, you live and learn. Anyways, it seemed like there was no space to put anything, but John and I were able to fully unpack and there was extra space left over. The room was very clean though, and the bathroom wasn't bad. Great shower. We had two lower beds plus a bed that pulled out from below, plus a bed on the wall that came down. The beds were apart when we arrived but our cabin stewardess Gladys (awesome woman) had them together at turndown. Our cabin was noisy. It felt like there was a running car engine under our bed. Above us was the kids club and I think they must have had a bowling alley there or something. Plus everything just shook rattled and rolled. I thought there was a poltergeist in our closet, it just opened and closed at random. Ugh, BUT it turned out the room was adequate. I guess I got used to feeling closed in but John, at 6'5" and 275 lbs.(?) kept bumping into things. Needless to say we didn't spend too much time in the cabin.

 

We explored the ship a bit and then came the muster drill which was complete b.s. compared to RCCL. This is one area that I loved NCL for, they basically seemed not to care if you came to your muster station or not. RCCL will hunt you down like fugitives in your cabin, NCL was way more relaxed. We didn't go.

 

We went to the sail away party by the pool next. We met our cruise director, an energetic wiry guy from Jamaica named Ricky. Despite every other word out of his mouth being "Pump It Up!", I liked him, his enthusiasm and his cheesy jokes. The band at the party was decent, the crowd was participating, clapping along, dancing. I immediately loved the vibe of this cruise more than the other 2 combined. The staff was energetic and fun, kids were running amok but not to the point of annoyance. We passed the statue of liberty, got great photos, and had a countdown for passing under the Verrazano bridge that let us know we were "officially" on vacation. Good fun. Oh, and the pool was warm, i like it that way.

 

We had dinner for Le Bistro scheduled for today, I LOVED it from seating to dessert. The staff was friendly, had some cute jokes, knowledgeable and on the ball with service. We ordered the worst wine on earth (but we drank it anyway :)) I had the mushroom soup, escargot, spinach/goat cheese salad and the fillet mignon with foie gras. All were fantastic! Fillet slightly overcooked and I couldnt care less. John had the french onion soup, Salmon timbale, seared tuna salad and the sea bass. He loved everything except the timbale. Dessert was Creme Brule and the flambe special (strawberries) the brule was like an omelet with sugar on top so John traded it for a lemon tart that he loved. I enjoyed the strawberry flambe but was jealous of the couple next to us with their beautiful fondue! The cappuccino (sp?) was great here as well as everywhere else on the cruise)

 

Our waiter rolled us out of the dining area and we were off to explore more of the ship. We gave a donation at the casino and vowed to get it back before the cruise was over. We went to relax outside but I was too sleepy, feeling that god awful wine I suppose. I went to bed, John went to the gym which was completely empty. The gym was a decent size for the ship and I never saw it completely packed, one day John did. I never had to wait for a treadmill or weight machine. The treadmills have TVs on them and you can plug in your headphones to hear that or you can listen to the pop type songs they have playing throughout the gym.

 

The bed was really uncomfortable for me and all the noises and possessed closet door kept me up. I actually woke up earlier than I do for work the next morning. John slept like a champ.

It was a great first day...

 

More to come later, day 2 sea day.

If you have any questions feel free.

 

Oh! some things I noticed: this was a very family-friendly cruise, there were kids everywhere, and lots of young families. There was every ethnicity and age range under the sun represented on the cruise and in general a great attitude/atmosphere. It seemed like everyone (save a few bad apples) came on board with the intention of having a kickass time.

Also, the ship had tons of little hideaway areas to be alone w/ your loved one(s) on board.

Oh yeah and the staff we encountered everywhere was very friendly, not to the point of saying hi as we passed, but very personable and helpful when we asked a question or asked for anything. They make it really easy for you to not do anything. "It'll be my pleasure to get that for you/do that for you/call them for you" et cetera.. is what we heard a lot. Some staffmembers really went above and beyond our expectations here.

 

 

Ok now I'm really done.:o

Hello danyelle,My name is Matt.My wife Lisa and I are the ones that sat next to you in le bistro.I can tell from your the way you describe the fondue.Because you had said how good it looked.

[danyelle]

Hello danyelle,My name is Matt.My wife Lisa and I are the ones that sat next to you in le bistro.I can tell from your the way you describe the fondue.Because you had said how good it looked.

 

HAHA Hi Matt n Lisa!! Oh I was so jealous I was forced to make reservations at Le Bistro again on the last night just so I could have that fondue for dessert!

 

note: It was SOOO worth it! :)

 

hint to all ordering fondue at le bistro. Also order the cheesecake and dip away....that's called Heaven.

[danyelle]

Day 4 - Nassau

 

Today is where my annoyance with NCL really came to a head.

We woke up early for Nassau and had a quick breakfast at raffles (those delicious waffles w/ whipped cream) Oh, and I must say the breakfast sausages on the ship were surprisingly un-greasy. I was shocked. Anyway...

 

Getting off the ship at nassau was a serious fiasco. We werent even tendering and there was this huge backup to debark. No exageration, there was a line from deck four up the stairs to deck 7. They had two exits open but they only announced one on the speaker. It wasn't until we were at the front of the line to exit that they announced the second exit was opened. The line was moving extremely slowly and we couldn't understand why. Finally when we got outside we realized it was because there was only a 2-person sized lane for you to exit and at the end of it was some dude dressed as a pirate stopping each family for a photo. Directly at the end of the line. Why he wasn't off to the side is beyond me. Okay enough of that complaint.

 

So we walked through town past the straw market and took the #10 Jitney to cable beach with no problems ($1). We got off at the Wyndham and walked through to the beach without being stopped. It was overcast and showered a little bit but the water was still beautifully clear and calm, beach clean, and I was loving it. We swam and relaxed most of the day and then took a jitney to the fish fry. The fish fry is a strip of restaurants mainly serving seafood and some meat dishes. I forget the name of the restaurant but we had delicous conch fritters, grilled conch, and pepper steak and it was fantastic. Service was slow, but it's to be expected in the islands. Jitneyed back to pier area and looked in a few stores, didn't find anything too appealing and headed back on ship.

 

I missed the swing dance class due to my nap. Woke up late for the murder mystery too. Went to Sushi restaurant for appetizers with intent of windows or garden room for main course. I noticed the 50% off early seatings at Shogun (which is connected to Sushi and Tepanyaki) and was able to get a seat there for dinner, luckily. The sushi (tuna), and maki rolls (asian-california) were the best I'd had in a long while. And we eat out quite often for sushi and in general. Also the prices were fantastic. Shogun started us with edamame, miso, a salad (i forget what we had) and spring rolls (yum) My meal was schecuan (sp?) beef and John had seared ahi tuna. His meal was delicious. My beef was wretched. (after speaking with others who'd dined at shogun we realized it really is hit or miss with many of the dishes there)

 

After dinner we played shuffleboard and won a bit in the casino. The show tonight was Second City. It's an improv comedy troupe from Chicago. Lots of SNL folks start out there. We found out after the show that this was the first performance together for the castmates that we had. There were 3 men and 2 women. One woman was truly awful but the rest of the cast was great. Some jokes didn't go over well but most did. The crowd was thin due to lots of people being over at the private island for the party, so the vibe wasn't as strong, but we all enjoyed ourselves and laughed a lot.

 

We went for drinks and dancing at maharini's (the club connected to the casino) and had some fun. The d.j. on this cruise truly stunk (but i'm used to nyc nightlife d.js so I'm biased) but everyone had fun anyway...booze helps. :) The cruiseline dancers did a lil hip hop performance there. We danced on to bed early the next morning.

 

Things I noticed: The announcements just never stop on this ship. All evening up until 11pm they were announcing the party at the private island and trying to get people over there. We got feedback from many who went that it was pretty crappy and weird. I guess NCL has to work out the kinks. We were confused at this point too. The freestyle said the casino was closed and an anouncement said all the games were being taken over to the island so you could gamble there. We went thru the casino and it was up and running. Also there was supposed to be a big barbeque on the island and all they had was cold pizza as many reported to us. They had nothing for kids to do there either we were told. I'm glad we didn't go over but a little annoyed at the misrepresentation and the non-stop announcements.

 

Up next... Great Stirrup Cay

[Heytoots]

Great review, Danyelle!!!

 

My DH and I are planning on the Sept 2nd cruise on the Spirit..and I am hoping that you have some info on the spa........

Did you have any treatments? And if so, how were they?

 

Can't wait for the next installment!!!!!:D

[rutjk]

HAHA Hi Matt n Lisa!! Oh I was so jealous I was forced to make reservations at Le Bistro again on the last night just so I could have that fondue for dessert!

 

note: It was SOOO worth it! :)

 

hint to all ordering fondue at le bistro. Also order the cheesecake and dip away....that's called Heaven.

 

 

Oh man.... dipping cheesecake sounds WOW... i'm so mad at myself for not doing this.... my mouth is watering as i'm waiting for my salad for lunch. (trying to lose the weight i gained last week). EXCELLENT ADVICE.

[danyelle]

Great review, Danyelle!!!

 

My DH and I are planning on the Sept 2nd cruise on the Spirit..and I am hoping that you have some info on the spa........

Did you have any treatments? And if so, how were they?

 

Can't wait for the next installment!!!!!:D

 

I'm sorry I didn't do any of the treatments at the spa.

 

The facilities looked nice. I passed by the salon a few times on the way to the gym and everything looked like it was in order BUT I heard a few people complaining about their blowouts.

 

I hope you love your cruise.

[danyelle]

Oh man.... dipping cheesecake sounds WOW... i'm so mad at myself for not doing this.... my mouth is watering as i'm waiting for my salad for lunch. (trying to lose the weight i gained last week). EXCELLENT ADVICE.

 

Well despite what my scale is telling me, I'm a staunch believer that anything consumed on a cruise (or any vacation) has NO calories.

[cazlap1129]

Thanks Danyelle for the day by day posting- Me and DH are booked for a Spirit cruise July 2nd! Your info is helping alot with figuring out my days agenda- thanks~

Caz

[judyf]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

[sweetp]

Day 4 - Nassau

 

Today is where my annoyance with NCL really came to a head.

We woke up early for Nassau and had a quick breakfast at raffles (those delicious waffles w/ whipped cream) Oh, and I must say the breakfast sausages on the ship were surprisingly un-greasy. I was shocked. Anyway...

 

Getting off the ship at nassau was a serious fiasco. We werent even tendering and there was this huge backup to debark. No exageration, there was a line from deck four up the stairs to deck 7. They had two exits open but they only announced one on the speaker. It wasn't until we were at the front of the line to exit that they announced the second exit was opened. The line was moving extremely slowly and we couldn't understand why. Finally when we got outside we realized it was because there was only a 2-person sized lane for you to exit and at the end of it was some dude dressed as a pirate stopping each family for a photo. Directly at the end of the line. Why he wasn't off to the side is beyond me. Okay enough of that complaint.

 

So we walked through town past the straw market and took the #10 Jitney to cable beach with no problems ($1). We got off at the Wyndham and walked through to the beach without being stopped. It was overcast and showered a little bit but the water was still beautifully clear and calm, beach clean, and I was loving it. We swam and relaxed most of the day and then took a jitney to the fish fry. The fish fry is a strip of restaurants mainly serving seafood and some meat dishes. I forget the name of the restaurant but we had delicous conch fritters, grilled conch, and pepper steak and it was fantastic. Service was slow, but it's to be expected in the islands. Jitneyed back to pier area and looked in a few stores, didn't find anything too appealing and headed back on ship.

 

I missed the swing dance class due to my nap. Woke up late for the murder mystery too. Went to Sushi restaurant for appetizers with intent of windows or garden room for main course. I noticed the 50% off early seatings at Shogun (which is connected to Sushi and Tepanyaki) and was able to get a seat there for dinner, luckily. The sushi (tuna), and maki rolls (asian-california) were the best I'd had in a long while. And we eat out quite often for sushi and in general. Also the prices were fantastic. Shogun started us with edamame, miso, a salad (i forget what we had) and spring rolls (yum) My meal was schecuan (sp?) beef and John had seared ahi tuna. His meal was delicious. My beef was wretched. (after speaking with others who'd dined at shogun we realized it really is hit or miss with many of the dishes there)

 

After dinner we played shuffleboard and won a bit in the casino. The show tonight was Second City. It's an improv comedy troupe from Chicago. Lots of SNL folks start out there. We found out after the show that this was the first performance together for the castmates that we had. There were 3 men and 2 women. One woman was truly awful but the rest of the cast was great. Some jokes didn't go over well but most did. The crowd was thin due to lots of people being over at the private island for the party, so the vibe wasn't as strong, but we all enjoyed ourselves and laughed a lot.

 

We went for drinks and dancing at maharini's (the club connected to the casino) and had some fun. The d.j. on this cruise truly stunk (but i'm used to nyc nightlife d.js so I'm biased) but everyone had fun anyway...booze helps. :) The cruiseline dancers did a lil hip hop performance there. We danced on to bed early the next morning.

 

Things I noticed: The announcements just never stop on this ship. All evening up until 11pm they were announcing the party at the private island and trying to get people over there. We got feedback from many who went that it was pretty crappy and weird. I guess NCL has to work out the kinks. We were confused at this point too. The freestyle said the casino was closed and an anouncement said all the games were being taken over to the island so you could gamble there. We went thru the casino and it was up and running. Also there was supposed to be a big barbeque on the island and all they had was cold pizza as many reported to us. They had nothing for kids to do there either we were told. I'm glad we didn't go over but a little annoyed at the misrepresentation and the non-stop announcements.

 

Up next... Great Stirrup Cay

 

 

hi, enjoying your posts greatly. :p did you post the GREAT STIRRUP CAY adventure? going in August and was looking forward to the rest of your posts. :eek: thanks:D

[danyelle]

Thanks guys, GSC and final Day at Sea are on the way.

[PhilBiker]

hi, enjoying your posts greatly. :p did you post the GREAT STIRRUP CAY adventure? going in August and was looking forward to the rest of your posts. :eek: thanks:D

We're sailing in August/Sep on this ship. Sweetp, I don't see you in the roll calls for this ship. You want to stay anonymous?

[judyf]

Thanks guys, GSC and final Day at Sea are on the way.

 

We will be looking for it!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post a review.