Spirit Review 8/19/06-8/27/06

[TomBxyz]

Hi all. Got back from our first ever cruise this past Sunday, on the 8 night Spirit to St Thomas, Tortola, and Bermuda. The short review is this – we had a blast! We would do it again in a second. If you’d like the longer review, read on :)

 

Embarkation: My wife, 2 sons (9 & 13) arrived in NY about noon. Parking at the pier was relatively easy but expensive ($180). Got inside and had to wait about 45 mins or so before we started heading on board. Got through the document check, security, and picture taking in about ½ hour and were on board.

 

CC Meet and Greet: We all got together on Sunday at Henry’s. It was great putting faces to the names from our roll call. They had cookies and coffee set up for us and a lot of the ship’s staff came by and introduced themselves. They were very friendly and seemed genuinely interested in any comments, concerns, etc. They said they do read the CC boards. Remember that when you’re discussing how to sneak your booze on! :cool: And they take the comments here seriously. I talked to Julie the CD for a bit and I was very proud of myself that I was able to refrain from making any Love Boat comments! (like she hasn’t heard them all before!).

 

Ship: We loved it. It was very clean. I know the Spirit isn’t huge by cruise ship standards but this was our first and it was quite big to us! The pool was a little smaller than I expected but it was nice enough. We didn’t go to the pool area too much in the mornings and afternoons as it was very crowded but went a couple times in the evenings. I used the Aqua Swim in the spa a few times and liked that a lot! The theater was nice, seats were comfortable. It was easy enough to find our way around. As has been mentioned before in CC posts, it make it a lot easier to know your way around once you remember the color scheme for the carpet in the stair/elevator areas. Red is forward, blue is mid-ship, and green is aft.

 

Room: we had an inside stateroom on deck 9 so it was obviously small. But I don’t see any big advantage to an outside room and though I’d love a balcony, they don’t seem to have any that fit 4 people. So it was fine for us. Enough room for our suitcases under the bed and all our clothes in the drawers and closet. The TV reception sucked, but thankfully it had input jacks on the front so we could hook up the kids’ portable DVD players to watch a Simpsons episode or 2 before bed and while waiting for each of to shower, etc. The bathroom was adequate and the shower was nice. The drain was a bit slow though. On the 2nd day my wife left a note to tell the stewards about the drain and they must have done something because it was fine the rest of the trip.

 

Food: I’ve heard a lot of complaints here on CC about the food but I will say now that overall we were very happy with the food. Now we aren’t they type that want/expect 4 and 5 star restaurant meals every night, so YMMV. With the exception of a steak my son got one night that was very tough, we all thought everything was very good. Had prime rib the 1st night and it was good but the portion was a little small. I figured all the dinners would be like that so the 2nd night I ordered 2 entrees but they were much bigger this time so I was stuffed! We ate at Windows 4 or 5 times, the Garden Room a couple times, 1 night at Le Bistro for just my wife and me and once with the four of us at La Tattoria. Le Bistro was fantastic, the filet mignon was out of this world. We had the anniversary pack (it was our 20th), which included dinner there. We didn’t know about the cake they bring out at the end, and they sang “Let me call you sweetheart”! It was really nice. We were stuffed and didn’t touch the cake so we took it to our room and ate it with the kids the next night. We all thought La Tattoria was very nice also. My 13yo got a kick out of the waiter when we ordered him a coke – the waiter said “One rum and coke coming up”. He (my son) had to taste it carefully to see whether it really was or not! I haven’t read the best reviews about this Italian restaurant but we enjoyed it. Also had some snacks at Blue Lagoon, they were OK, and the fish and chips at Henry’s were good but they weren’t quite as good as I expected from past comments here. Overall, I’d rate the food a B+/A-

 

Shows/Entertainment: We saw most of the shows. Dr. Trance the hypnotist was fantastic! We went to the 730 show and liked it so much we went back at 930. Also went to his adults only show the next night. It was hilarious! But, it did suck that it was in Galaxy of the Stars so it was packed and very hard to see. I know it was more of a nightclub type of show and that’s why it was there but I would guess the place was so packed probably only 25% of the audience had a decent view. We also went to his hypnotism lecture one afternoon which was very informative. My whole family, and just about everyone we talked to who saw any of his shows thought he was great! Highly recommended. Saw the 2 Second City shows, one at Stardust and another Improve show at Galaxy. They were OK, the Stardust show was a little better than the improve one. Also saw the comedian/magician (his name escapes me at the moment). He was pretty good. The guest talent show was entertaining. I think 4 out of the 6 or 7 acts were all from 1 family! Also saw the “On the Radio” show. That one was just OK, nothing special. Overall entertainment I’d give a B, with Dr Trance getting an A+!

 

Kids Crew: My 9yo loved it. He went almost everyday for at least an hour or 2. The staff seemed very friendly and my son seemed to like them all. My 13yo was a little disappointed with the teen program. It was mainly because he was the youngest and they were kind of pushy trying to get him to do some goofy activities the 1st night (I understand it’s to break the ice and get everyone to know each other but he just wasn’t into it). He had more fun once he made a friend his age from another CC family. The 2 of them spent a lot of time together so that was really nice. He did do some of the other teen activities during the rest of the week like the Hold Em tournament and capture the flag game which he really liked.

 

Ports: in St Thomas we had 23 of us from our CC roll call do they Sunny Lipton tour. I almost didn’t contact him about it because his times didn’t seem to mesh well with our arrival in port. But I’m glad I did because he was very flexible and accommodating. We only had about 15 mins shopping time which didn’t bother me at all. Then we did his top of the mountain tour. Then he dropped a couple at Saphire Beach while the rest of us went to Coral World/Coki Beach. Coral World was OK, but looking back I would have rather spent the extra time at the beach. The underground part where you can watch the people doing the helmet dives was neat, and the Iguanas walking around were really cool! I guess it’s worth going to if you have the time, but it’s very small. Don’t expect a Sea World-type of place! Coki Beach was small but not as crowded as we expected. Found a spot to throw our towels down and headed in to the water. This was our 1st time in the Caribbean and we couldn’t get over how clear the water was. It was really beautiful! I found a big dog biscuit on the beach and we took it in to feed the fish. It was awesome! Swarms of them would come right up and eat out of our hands. Very cool! The ride back was a little long with some heavy traffic, but Sunny kept us all going with his singing! The songs will drive you nuts after a while, but it was a lot of fun. I highly recommend his tour.

 

Tortola: We didn’t do much. Just went to the shopping area close to the dock.

 

Bermuda: very nice! This is the place we’d like to have more time at. Hooked up with some of the other CC folks and took the ferry to Hamilton. Walked around a bit and then caught the bus to Horseshoe Bay. We didn’t have enough time there as we didn’t want to be late getting back to the ship, but thoroughly enjoyed the beach there. Water wasn’t quite as clear as St Thomas but it was mainly because the surf was a little rougher. Fed the fish here too, was a lot of fun.

 

Summary: I’d give the overall trip a solid A! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and are looking forward to planning our next cruise! And I will honestly say the one thing that I think made our cruise so much fun was Cruise Critics! We found out so much valuable information here before we left that made a huge difference (like free cappuccinos in the dining room!). And most of all, what really made it fun was our fellow CC passengers. It was great to have people to hang out with and even those we didn’t do much with, we would run into them in the halls and stop to chat for a while. I think it really made a huge difference and I want to thank you all for helping make our vacation one we will remember for a long time to come!

 

If anyone has any questions I can answer feel free to ask.

[phillyf]

Great review Tom, it was great meeting you and family hopefully we will see you on the Dawn. We are considering the Dawn for next summer and may have to go the same week pending Susan's schedule.

 

We are glad you had a great time and enjoyed your first cruise.

 

I agree with you the people make the cruise!

[Maryfrei]

Thanks for posting your review of the Spirit, sounds like you and your group really enjoyed her:)!

[newlywedcruisers]

Great review, glad you had fun.

One question, did you send an email to the shipboard relations to setup your CC M&G?

[brooklynphil]

Hi Tom,

 

Great review. It was nice meeting all of you guys. Sunny was the best. Thanks for hooking us up. If I didn't cancel the NCL tour to Coral World for $39 x 4 and go with you guys I would have been pissed. $156 just to Coral World for 2 or 3 hours would have been a rip-off. Sunny was well worth the $25 per person. I still have that song (Everyday of the week) stuck in my head. At the Italian restaurant my daughter also orderd a Coke and we though the the waiter said Rum & Coke also. That's funny. Anyway, glad that you and your family enjoyed your first cruise. Hopefully most of us can cruise together again. Take care.

 

Phil:)

[NJBear]

TomBxyz,

Thanks fir the nice review, I was on that same ship / itinerary in June. We enjoyed it as well, thanks again for taking the time

[TomBxyz]

Newlywed - One of the other CC members did email someone from the ship to set up the meet 7 greet. I'm not sure of the email to send to, but if you start a new thread and ask, I'm sure someone will be able to tell you.

 

Bphil - we were glad you could cancel and join us. The vruise ship excusions was a rip off. And just taking a cab to the beach and back would have been almost as much as Sunny's tour. Sunny was pretty funny, wasn't he? And I don't think I'll ever get that song out of my head!

 

Phillyf - let us know if you start seriously looking into the Dawn for next year and what dates you will try for. It would be great to hang out with you and your family again. Also, if you have a recommendation of a TA, let us know (my email is the above user name @yahoo.com). We weren't thrilled with the online TA we used for this trip and would like to try another.

[jimswims]

Hi Tom-

It's Liz. We have an excellent TA with a cruise agency who always gets us a great price and is great to work with. He would love to help you out. If you want his contact info you can email Jim at jimswims@comcast.net, we will forward all info.

[Zeno]

Very nice review!

[mappa2]

tom -- did you make reservations for windows? was their a wait?

[Janscrusingagain]

Tom - Great review!!!!! It was great meeting everyone. I'm getting jealous want to book with everyone for the summer........

 

Should have bought Sunny's CD........ "Everyday of the week" it just will not leave my head either.

 

Tom - We also have a great TA. She also does all of Tony's work travel so she always gets it right.....

 

Talk soon..

[phillyf]

Hi Tom,

 

We are definitely going on a cruise next year. My wife and I agree it should be on the Dawn. Can you go the third week with Jim Swim? We are seriously considering that week, my wife has also asked for the last week of June just after the kids are released from school.

I am hoping that this great group will all wind up on the same cruise again since I enjoyed hanging, chating, meeting, touring and having dinner with everyone.

The last night Brooklyn Phil, my familyand Bill's all had dinner together and we really had a great time.

I think we were so fortunate that you arranged the tour with Sunny since it really added to the trip and having the three families see Bermuda together was also another highlight of the trip. We covered so much in limited time.

The four / five families appeared to have a great last night in the lounge, it was a lot of fun just to sit back and talk about the cruise that night and not have to worry about the kids who fortunately all made friends and had a great time.

Booklyn Phil - any interest sailing on the DAWN?

[brooklynphil]

I'm still trying.

[TomBxyz]

Liz - Jim had mentioned your TA and I couldn't remember the name. I will send him an email tonight for the info. Thanks!

 

mappa2 - we didn't make any reservations for Windows. It was usually 4 of us, though one night we had 6, and we never had to wait for more than a few minutes. If you plan to go early, before 6pm or late, say after 8pm I don't think you really need them. But maybe we were just lucky. The 1st formal night it was getting a line filling up so my wife got a pager while we got dressed and the pager went off before she even got back to the cabin!

 

Phil - unfortunately, I think the latest we can plan is the 2nd week in Aug. DW works at a college so things get crazy the last 2 weeks in Aug getting ready for the students to come back. Her boss made an exception for her this year but I doubt she would do it again next year. Just think, if you go the 1st or 2nd week in Aug, it will be here sooner! :D

[jimswims]

Hi Tom:

 

What a great review. We had a great time as well and LOVED meeting all of our Roll Call friends.

Liz and I both felt that the food was great on this trip and this was our 9th cruise!

However,I think that you left out your experince at the Murder Mystery Dinner!

 

We are booked on the Dawn next year, but we are going on 8/18/07. We also felt that the inside cabin for 4 was pretty small. We decided to go with a bigger cabin on the Dawn....we booked a penthouse suite! I hear that they are really nice.

 

Take Care!

[TomBxyz]

Jim is right, I forgot all about the Murder Mystery dinner. We had forgetten to register for it the first night when we were supposed to, but when I mentioned it to Julie the CD at the M&G she said to go anytime to the reception desk and register. We did that later in the day with no problem. The one complaint I have though is that neither Julie nor the clerk at reception knew when the MM diner was! They said we would get a notice in our room. We thought this was kind of dumb. And of course when we did get the notice telling us when it was (Wed) it was for the same night we had already scheduled our Anniversary dinner at Le Bistro. We really wanted to do the MM dinner though, so we changed our Le Bistro reservations to Friday. Luckily we were able to get another day/time. I think they should really have the day/time for the MM spelled out from the beginning so people can plan better.

 

Anyhow, the dinner was great. We started in the theater where they break you up into groups of 6 and everyong picked thier part and got thier scripts. Then we moved over to Windows for the dinner, and talked out our parts over the 3 dinner courses. They could have done a little better explaining it, giving some examples of how the conversations should progress, etc, but we figured it out after a little bit. The other 4 we dined with were real nice, and it was great to have another set of people (in addition to our CC friends) that we would find ourselves running into the rest of the week so that was a nice bonus. It really is a nice way to get to know people. And best of all, I was the murderer! :D

 

Another thing I forgot in my review above was about the only real complaint I had. It's not a biggie, but I think it's worth a mention. On the next to last day, the Excursion desk had t-shirts on sale for $7.99. They had a video running showing the shirts, and all it said anywhere was a sale price of $7.99 and a regular price of $10.99. So we thought that was a decent deal and decided to get one for each of us. After deciding which ones and size for each, the clerak ran my card through and gave me the reciepts to sign. I noticed they were $10.99 each. I asked about it and he said they were only $7.99 if we had booked an excursion through them. I was like *****? (but was polite and didn't say "*****?"). We politely mentioned that nowhere did it say it was only for those that booked excursions with them. He then looked all over the computer display and pointed out it says reg $10.99, today $7.99. "Yes, so how does that mean you had to book with them to get that price?" He then says, "Well sir, this IS the Excursion desk". At that point I decided it wasn't worth getting into an argument over, took the the shirts and left. I wasn't going to let a $12 difference ruin my day and it wasn't worth having him cancel the sale etc. (though if you knew me IRL, you'd know if that happened at a store, I NEVER would have paid the extra and would have made them void it, or had gotten a manager over to complain!). I wonder how many other people may have bought the shirts at that price and not noticed, thinking they were getting the "sale" price.

 

Like I said, not a big deal and if that's about the worst part of our whole vacation, I really can't complain!

[jeannep]

Newlywed,

 

I set up the CC meeting for the 8/19 cruise with:

 

Christina Hernandez

 

Norwegian Spirit Ship Coordinator

 

shipcoordinatorspirit@ncl.com

 

1(866)625-1159 Ext:7777

 

She was wonderful. She responded to my email by the next day. When I arrived in our cabin the 1st day, I had a letter from the on ship events coordinator, Angelina. I called to confirm the CC meet and she was there before the meet with coffee, juice and cookies. She got a few of the VIP's to join us. (The CD, the Hotel director etc.) All went well and we met all of our CC friends.

 

 

Hi 8/19 cruisers,

Glad we went our week. The seas didn't look too good this week. It was such a great cruise.

Phillyf,

Sorry we missed the last dinner at Windows. By the time the trivia was over, you had already gone in. We looked for you but didn't see you. Later on we went up to the Galaxy but didn't see anybody there. I guess we just keep missing everybody.

It was great being with all of you on the ship. Maybe we will sail together again.

 

Happy Labor Day,

Jeanne

[phillyf]

Hi All

 

Jeanne - Sorry we missed each other, we had a great dinner and about 5 couples did meet in the Galaxy of the Stars, unfortunately we were way in the back.

 

It was great meeting you and Joe.

 

Tom - I wish we did the murder mystery, unfortunately my wife and I felt bad since we did not want leave the other couple. Did any other CCers do the murder mystery? It was the one thing I really wanted to do that we did not.

 

The one complaint I have was that I never could find a towel; only once on the entire trip did I find a towel at poolside on the entire trip. It seemed that once the towel boxes were emptied that they were not refilled. It bothered me somewhat but the weather was warm enough to quickly dry off. I shrugged it off since I wanted my son and wife to have one of their greatest vacations.

[TomBxyz]

Phil - yes, that is another complaint I forgot about. I had trouble finding towels by the pool also. One time I went around to all 4 boxes and they were empty. I was ready to walk away and then noticed a huge cart full of clean towels a few feet away from the box! I have no idea why they hadn't filled the boxes with them. I'm sure they go through a ton of towels and I'm also sure a lot of people waste them (taking more than they need, etc), but they really should keep up on the towels better.