Spirit 9/02-9/10 Review

[PINECONE]

I miss the ship so much I have to write a review now to relive my vacation!

 

I'll try to make my review short and to the point :)

 

1. SATURDAY: We arrived around 11 am to the ship, which had been delayed due to weather.. but I would say the embarkation process was fairly smooth, although it seemed that the workers didn't know which lines were for Latitudes and which weren't (we ended up in a Latitudes line and we aren't even members). Was a bit sad that the rain prevented a sail away party, but it happens. The muster drill was surprisingly fast to me as I remembered the Celebrity Zenith drill dragging on and on. BF and I went straight to the reception desk to make our week's reservations (Thanks to reading CC tips on this) and there was NO line!!! Took us 5 minutes to do that, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! However, our dinner was cut short because I got very sea sick from the rough water and we just went to sleep for the night.

 

2. SUNDAY: After a very bad night at sea, we spent the day in the sun sipping drinks. It was the Captain's Dinner so we dressed up (but it is optional). We ate at Windows and I had to giggle at the people waiting in the long line who were giving me bad looks for jumping to the front, confirming my reservation, and being seated immediately. We spent the evening touring the ship and sitting on our balcony. The rooms are the same to me on any ship. Although the bed did give me some horrible lower back pain.

 

3. MONDAY: We spent another afternoon in the sun. Ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch.... all buffets are the same, expect buffet food. No complaints though. We liked the waffles and bacon best. Dinner was at Teppanyaki and we had a blast there and the food was very good. A+

 

4. TUESDAY: St Thomas-We had Raffles breakfast again and then set off for St. Thomas! Went to Magen's Bay and had a great afternoon on the beach.. until it rained. So we took a cab to town and did some shopping (cabs here are gov't run and are flat rates, not like NYC cabs that charge by the mile). Ate at the buffet for dinner because we were too hungry to take it slow. Went to the casino for drinks and loved the lounge area in the back by the bar. Went to bed early for our early morning excursion in Tortola.

 

5. WEDNESDAY: Tortola- Our original catamaran snorkel excursion was cancelled and they offered us a safari bus to compensate, but from my parents' experience with the bumpy safari bus, we switched that to the other catamaran snorkel excursion. It was pouring out for a good hour in the morning and I was worried we would be miserable, but the weather cleared up beautifully and we had an awesome time snorkeling on the private Nathan's Island. This was a great excursion and I was glad we changed it. Tortola was surprisingly very pretty and I was glad we went there. Ate Sushi this night and it was great for us (sushi lovers). Then we went to Dr. Trance's Hypnotism show where we met a great couple and we had a lot of fun at this show.

 

6. THURSDAY: Missed breakfast cause we slept in. More tanning out on the deck. Ate at Windows (without a reservation) and had no wait and the food was decent. Saw the Second City show with our new friends which was a good time, and then we saw the Newlywed Game Show which was a lot of fun.

 

7. FRIDAY: Bermuda- Took the ferry to Hamilton (I recommend the ferry if you're going that way, it's a good way to see a lot of the island in a 30 minute ride for 4 bucks one way). Did a little shopping there and then walked to the bus terminal (few blocks from the ferry) and took a bus to Horseshoe Bay (beautiful beach)-round trip fee was 10 dollars for 2 of us, we took the #7 bus from Hamilton to the beach and then from the beach to the Dockyard. We got there around 10:30 and it was pretty empty. Spent 3 hours in the water and taking pictures of the amazing sand sculpture there. I loved Bermuda the first time I went and I loved it this time. When we got back to the Dockyard, we walked in the shops there and saw some outstanding pottery and glass, and ate a lot of samples of rum cake (for free!). Hung around Snorkel Park for a bit just to see what it was about (very cute for kiddies) and then got back on the ship at 4:30. Dinner in the Garden Room with our friends, and then we sat around the Bier Garten until we were tired.

 

8. SATURDAY: Breakfast in the Garden Room, lunch in the Garden Room. No sun because it was very cloudy that day. We spent most of our time looking at the pictures that were taken throughout the week, shopping the sales, and just relaxing. 2:00-chocoholic buffet!! We ate so much chocolate!! Saw the talent show which was impressive. Watched the farewell show with Ed Alonzo (who was great) and Rebecca Lowe (amazing voice) and the crew dancers. Then we played shuffle board with our friends which was more fun than I thought it would be. We also saw some strange birds flying in a cluster which very well might have been flying fish, but I'll never know :P

 

9. SUNDAY: Ate breakfast in Windows, and left the ship at about 8:30 am. We chose express debarkation and were off the ship in 10 minutes. No waiting for a 'color' to be called and no searching for our luggage.

 

SUMMARY: For people wondering about the difference in Freestyle Cruising vs. Traditional, all I can say is they're very similar. You can still dress in your gown if you want to, but YOU DON'T HAVE TO! And rather than chose the 5:30 or 8:30 dinner, you can chose 6, or 7, or 7:15 if you want to. I liked having the option. I don't like being on someone else's schedule so I'd have to say my first 'freestyle' experience was positive. If I wanted to eat in jeans, I did. If I wanted to wear a gown, I did. If I wanted to sit alone, I could. I prefer not to be forced to do something I might not be in the mood to do.

 

 

Well I tried to be short lol. I think I covered everything I experienced. The crew was friendly and pleasant and I had no problems with anything at all. Except maybe that it's over :(

[PINECONE]

One thing I forgot! I read somewhere on the boards that the tv had poor reception. We never had a problem. BF likes to doze off to the television so we always had a movie on at night and the selection was pretty decent and the picture was always clear. We especially liked Finding Nemo :)

[tecknicole]

That was a wonderful review. Thanks for sharing your adventures. We will be on that crusie next Saturday. :)

Thanks much.

Nicole

[mappa2]

pinecone -- is it adviseable to make reservations for the dining rooms

as well as the speciality resturants?

how do you compare windows and the garden room.

[VampyBuff]

mappa - we were on the same cruise, the longest we ever had to wait for a table was 20 minutes, and that was only once. We preferred having about half the nights with no reservations because you eat so much during the day that you just don't know when you'll be hungry and if you'll even be in the mood for what's on the menu that day.

The Garden was slightly more intimate and much smaller, so the service was quicker and better, but Windows is more impressive.

[PINECONE]

We made reservations for the sea days only. I do advise reservations for the specialty restaurants, especially if you're planning on eating at one for the last few days as they were filling up quickly. But most of the time we didn't have to wait, regardless of reservations.

 

And yes, Windows was more elegant and 'fancy' and the Garden Room was more quaint and personal. Same exact menu for both.

[PINECONE]

I keep remembering things here and there...

 

Towel animals were so cute and we had a different one every night. I loved that they even made eyes out of little buttons.

 

Shortage of ashtrays in public areas. Thankfully we had one on our balcony seconds after we requested one.

 

The wait-staff: They were wonderful to us every day/night, whatever restaurant we were in. They chatted us up and told us all about their lives. I think because we were interested in them, they were much more attentive to us. First night at Le Bistro (rough water) I got sick 10 minutes into dinner, and they were kind enough to fix up our entire meal to take to our room. That to me was beyond what they 'had' to do.

[disfan13]

Thanks for the review! We're on the same itinerary this Saturday. Can't wait!