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Just back! Spirit 10-19 thru 10-29

xranger39@aol.com

By xranger39@aol.com,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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xranger39@aol.com

xranger39@aol.com

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What a great time!

I will post so much more later on, but it was a fantastic time. The ship looked great inside and out, the specialty restaurants were outstanding (with all new menus starting this cruise!), even the 18 foot seas on the way back didn't spoil the trip (though it was very difficult to walk around and sleep!).

Once I unpack and get settled in, I'll write a detailed review.

 

Lisa

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xranger39@aol.com

xranger39@aol.com

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Ok, it was a long time coming, but I have finally gotten a few minutes to do this.

 

I should start by saying that this was my 7th cruise (5 on Celebrity, 1 on Royal Caribbean). My good friend recommended NCL to me and I have to admit that some of the previous reviews made me a little nervous. But as you know, my husband and I had a great time!

 

We live in VA and we flew up through Newark NJ and stayed at the Hilton NY the night prior (thanks to all of my corporate travel, the miles and hotel points made this possible). The hotel was very nice and very close to the pier....only cost 12 dollars to go from the hotel to pier. I do recommend coming in the night before and enjoying NY (I am from NJ originally).

 

Embarkation:

We got to the pier around 1:00. I had heard many conflicting ideas about coming early and coming late, so the mid point cost us a little over an hour on line. It was very easy dropping off bags and going through security. The check in line was very long and moved slowly. Lattitudes line went a little faster, but there a alot of people there too. Check in was fast once we got up to the front. We proceeded to board the ship in less than 5 minutes once the check in was complete.

 

The ship:

Personally, I thought the ship was very beautiful. It wasn't as impressive as the mega-ship that I sailed on with Royal Caribbean (but that was my least fav. cruise, so it doesn't matter), but the Asian-themed decor was very nice.

It didn't take long to get familiar with the layout, though some decks would have dead ends and you'd have to go up and around to get to certain areas. There are 3 elevator areas on the ships; all were clean and working. The lounges were all very well kept. I apologize that I don't have any specifics on Henry's Pub as it was very smoky all the time, but it looked nice and was the karaoke hotspot tucked away behind guest relations. The atrium was nice with the glass elevators overlooking decks 7-13. The atrium also housed shore excursions and the future cruise consultant. There is a little cafe' in the back next to the elevators. There are sitting areas near the large windows here and it made for a nice getaway on a sea day when the pool (more to come) was crowded. Note: the cafe' charges $1.00 for the cookies and slices of cake. (more on food later) The bars (Shanghai, Galaxy of the Stars, BierGarten, raffles Terrace) were never crowded though Shanghai did get busy with the World Series and Giants games being broadcast. I did eat in every specialty restaurant, main restaurant, and in every other food area and I have to say that I was impressed with the cleanliness and how smooth everything ran for being freestyle. I didn't spend time in the Celebrity Disco and it seemed like this space could have been used more often. Galaxy of the Stars was the secondary show lounge to the Stardust theater. I thought that the Stardust theater balconies made it difficult to see, but it was a better alternative if you had ordered drinks. The main floor seating lacked small cocktail tables as I had been used to. (more to come on entertainment). The casino was a good size with many table games and slots that you'd find on other ships. There were 5 and 10 dollar tables which was nice, and there were also 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollar slots too. No one used those. The casino offered slot, blackjack and Texas Hold-em tournaments which here popular. Behind the casino is Maharini's lounge. This lounge was very dark, the drinks were pricier here, and it was definetely the adults lounge (read: lounge beds with velvet pillows, areas separated by velvet drapes). I wasn't impressed to be honest, but hey, it pushed the envelope and it was popular. The spa was very nice with a good sized fitness center (15 or so treadmills and elliptical machines). There was the aqua swim which was 2 small pools designed for 1 in each to swim against the current. It often got very crowded and people decided to use it more as a whirlpool and there were 3-5 people in it sometimes. The spa services were expensive. My advice would be to wait later in the cruise, even though you run the risk of having something get booked up. On a 10 night cruise, it wasn't the case. My husband booked 2 spa treatments that totalled 300 dollars and then found out through the Freestyle Daily that later on in the cruise he could have had another treatment (making 3 total) for the same price. There was a $20 discount if you booked an appointment on a sea day.

A new Colombian Emeralds store opened on the ship and I thought the jewlery was expensive and then noticed a 50% off sale on the last few days. The duty free alcohol and tobacco was the same as you'd find on any ship. The gift store was small in my opinion and didn't offer the amount of merchandise as on other ships. Photo gallery was large.

 

Cabin:

We booked and inside cabin on deck 4 because the price was too good to pass up. CAUTION: look at the deck plans carefully while booking to make sure that there are no spaces beside you or above you that is used by the crew to transport carts and such. Each morning at 6 and every night at 12 we would hear loud banging and carts rolling. We inspected and found out that a large service corridor was next to and above us. The cabin was more than adequate. There was a dresser, plenty of hangars, and 6 small shelves in the closet. A safe was in the room and there was no mini bar. The bathroom was actually large in my opinion with a shower stall that had plenty of room. Shampoo and shower gel is provided in a dispenser. You can see that there was some wear and tear that needs upkeep. The mirror was chipped, the sink had large chips on the edges, and the shower floor had uneven cracked tiles. The room was clean when we got there, but it wasn't vacuumed once in 10 days because we saw the same sand on the floor from day 4. Our room was always made up by our room attendant and he was very efficient in listening to our requests. Someone mentioned bed bugs, but I didn't notice any (thank goodness). The beds are VERY hard, but the pillows and comforters were nice. I am not sure how often sheets and pillowcases were changed because I never saw these supplies on the attendant carts (I did see them on the carts of the attendants on the suite decks). I found a previous passenger's earring and prescription pills on the floor the 1st day, so I can tell that maybe there wasn't too much attention to detail here.

 

Food:

OK- Here 's the deal. Book your specialty restauarnts at 5:30 or 6 and you get 50% off the cover charge. It is also less crowded at this time and allows for you to really enjoy the evening. I'm not trying to sound cheap here, but it really allowed us to afford to eat at some of the specialty areas twice. We ate at LeBistro ( 15$ cover charge) on night one before then menus changed. Food was great and I recommend the forest mushroom soup. I had the chocolate fondue which is now missing from the menu. It was very good. I thought the food here was excellent and it has since changed to a Mediterranean menu. The filet mignon has been replaced here as well. Cagneys' ($20) was good, though not the best in my opinion. There are 2 sizes of filet to choose from, sirloin, NY strip, salmon, about 6 or 7 sides, 2 salads, 3 soups, and 4 appetizers. The desserts were very good (get the mocha creme brulee). For an extra 5 dollars you could get the 24 ounce porterhouse, surf and turf or the 1 1/2 lb. lobster. I met someone who got the surf and turf and said the lobster was small. I got the 8 oz. filet mignon and thought it was better in LeBistro. The creamed spinach and gratin potatoes were good. Lobester bisque was very good. I actually lied earlier because I did not eat in Teppanyaki (sorry!) The a la carte pricing has been replaced by a flat $20 per person fee (no early discount here). Shogun was my favorite of all. The food was very fresh, authentic, and presented nicely. I had the chow fun noodles the second night and the shrimp fried rice the first. The spring rolls, lettuce wraps, tempura, soups were excellent. We went here twice. La Trattoria was average, it is free of charge. I am Italian, my husband is Italian, and the food here was not what I had hoped. A section of the buffet was closed off and it was tastefully done up to look like an Italian restauant. The first menu was better than the enhanced menu in my opinion even though the new menu has more options. The pasta was not overcooked, but the sauces were just okay. I had penne bolognese, tomato and mozzarella salad, minestrone soup, and panna cotta the first night. I wanted the lasagna, but the waiter told me it wasn't good. I would rate it a 6 out of 10. The bruschetta, olives, and breadsticks at the table were yummy. We ate here a second night because I wasn't happy with the main dining menu one night. That night I tried a new menu item, tortellini with a tomato-butter sauce. I got cheese ravioi instead and that wasn't on the menu. That was better than the bolognese. The antipasto is a cold dish, even though some items are traditionally served hot. OK-on to to Windows and Garden room. This is where I like the idea of freestyle choice, but not the freestyle service. Just my opinion, but the service was very hurried and both times we ate in the main dining rooms, our orders were rushed and wrong. On formal night, we had rock lobster which I found to be very chewy and tough. It was very busy and we were given our next course the second we were done with the previous one. It took us about 45 minutes to be seated, order, eat entrees dessert and coffee. Windows was nice, but I much preferred the Garden room. Food is the same in both restauarnt, but it seemed to be a little better paced in the Garden room. In either case, the service was so-so, with the waiters not very friendly and difficult to understand. The second night in Garden room, we had 3 different waiters, and we gor the wrong entrees. My husband jad to ask twice for his soup. We were selected through a drawing to have dinner with the ship's officers and we were seated with Tony, the Food and Beverage director. Service was much better that night. The cod and flounder were very good as was the turkey scallopini. Food in the main restaurants would get an 8 of 10, compared to a 9 in LeBistro, 9 in Cagney's and a 10 in Shogun. Oh...I forgot BierGarten. In the afternoon, burgers, brats, sausages, and a yummy sauerkraut were served. It was a good alternative to raffles on a sea day. Speaking of Raffles, the food was okay here. There were a lot of choices, a nice salad bar, sandwich station, pasta station, and stir fry station. There is a special area on the pool deck on sea days (weather permitting) and that served wok specialties and a tex-mex menu. I had the tex mex and it was good. Breakfast at raffles was popular and I understand why after eating at Windows for breakfast. Portions at Windows were very small and service slow. At Raffles, the omelet station was popular as were the waffles (very good). French toast went fast and my hubby liked those. Bacon was overdone (crispy) and the eggs were on the runny side as has been posted. Raffles was popular for dinner too. I would say that many families ate here on port days. Menus ranged from pasta to chicken, lots of sides, and salads. If you see the spicy fried chick peas, they are delicious! Buffet: 7 of 10. Blue Lagoon was the most popular of all. What's not to love about 24 hr. hamburgers, fried rice, chili, potato skins, soups, wings, and coffee??? We ate here about 5 times. At some point though, you say how many hamburgers have been ordered here? Fried rice was delicious, hubby was not impressed with the wings. Tomato soup was very good as was the chili. You can get banana bread an pound cake (the best!) here for free while the cafe' down the hall charges $1. Open all night, it was packed until about 1 a.m.

 

Entertainment and staff:

I found the NCL staff to be terrific. Julie the cruise director was friendly, but not the best cruise director. She lacked something, I don't know what, hard to pinpoint. Her assistant CD, and staff were great. We saw 2 NCL production shows (On the Radio and America's Beat). The shows were okay but I have never seen so many costume changes in all my life. The shows were very high energy and the dancing was good. It was entertaining to watch except a dance routine to the song Weird Science. It was a glow in the dark performance that reminded me of a bad nightmare. Singers were good. There was a crew show that was entertaining as well on the last sea day. I will admit I didn't see Ed Alonzo, comedian, but he was in another show and was funny. Tony B. sang songs of the Rat Pack and was fantastic. Apparently he has preformed in Vegas and Atlantic City extensively. Peter Sasso's comedy was very funny. There was another comedian that I didn't think was too funny (his name escapes me) and people were walking out during his routine. The Second City Comedy group from Chicago performed improv routines and was hilarious. They did a 2nd show in Galaxy of the stars which was very crowded. In Galaxy of the Stars, Jose and Patti did a Neil Diamond tribute which I liked. Fusion Wave was the night band and I liked them as well. Ariel Jacobe performed mostly in Champagne Charlie's, but did a Sinatra tribue in Galaxy that I thought was terrific.

 

Ports of Call:

We kept it simple. St. Thomas- Back to Magen's Bay which was beautiful as always. Antigua-Not my favorite port, but we hopped in a taxi with fellow passengers to Long Bay. This too was really beautiful. I caution you though to decide on what the taxi fare is before you get in. It was $8.00 pp to Long Bay in a group, but for the 2 of us to go back to the ship alone, it was double. There are seemingly no traffic laws on this island, or sidewalks, or fencing for livestock. It is very crowded in town and traffic is awful. Give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship if you are out on your own. Barbados- We had planned for Accra Beach, but it was very overcast, so we stayed on the ship. St. Maarten- very hot and we walked around a bit, but used the pools that day. Tortola- had to be back on board by 12:30, so again, stayed on board and used the pools.

 

Pools:

The Tivoli pool was small, and very hard to find a lounge chair here, chair hogs are rampant. Just ask the person next to you if anyone is sitting next to them. Most of the time, the answer is no. The pool was closed 2 of 4 sea days due to rough conditions. In the back, near the childrens' pool is more seating and we had good luck there. The hot tub here was always available.

 

Freestyle Cruising:

I think you either love it or hate it. I loved it. I have only had structured dining times which then gave me no flexibility as to what time shows I could see. I loved not having to bring a fomal gown. We dressed country club casual every night and it was fine. Not that I am endorsing this, but there were jeans in the dining room and no one was stopped. It was a very relaxing way to cruise.....do what you want, when you want, eat what you want, when you want. There were so many activities to choose from at night and during the day. Nowegian hit the nail on the head. I wouldn't hesitate to book with them at all! I would say 10 of 10 for the relaxation factor. The auto-gratuities to the account wasn't a problem.

 

Overall, this was a dream cruise. As I had stated earlier (and didn't want to compare cruise lines in the review) I have sailed with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. My opinion is that the bigger, mega-ships are not always better. There's something to be said about running a mid-sized ship well and comparing it to a modern, mega-resort and piling 4500 people on it and trying to control it. Service, detail, and gourmet cuisine are always important, but letting your hair down and having less structure is just as important. If you are considering the Spirit right now and are using this review to help you, I say go for it. If you have already sailed this ship, I say, how come you haven't gone back yet? I hope this helps and please feel free to email me.

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cathi007

cathi007

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Lisa,

thaks for the review it was great. I am going on the Spirit Nov 19 and I can't wait. I love reading all the reviews. Just a few questions, well for now, did they have lobster tails with the surf and turf? What were the drink prices? And I don't think your cheap for going to dinner a little earlier, I am going to do the same thing, on sea days anyway. I am glad you had a great time and I might have more?????'s Thanks Cathi, oh and I'm glad to hear no bed bugs, that report upset me a bit, Cathi

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Welove2cruise2

Welove2cruise2

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Lisa: Thanks for the great and thorough review! We're really getting excited about our upcoming cruise on the Spirit!

 

Could you give more detail about the new LeBistro menu? Any stand-outs in the main dining rooms as far as appetizers, salads, soups, entrees?

 

Is there a movie theater on board? I remember seeing a photo (in a montage from NCL) but don't see it on the deck plans.

 

Any deck parties? I know they're not as popular on the larger ships (Dawn, anyway) as on the Majesty.

 

Thanks again!

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xranger39@aol.com

xranger39@aol.com

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Good thing I saved the Freestyle Dailies!

Here goes the answers.....

Regarding LeBistro: Unfortunately, I didn't write down all of the new menu items. I know that there was another reviewer who might have more info on that. I am sure that someone will post soon because those specialty menus that just went into effect are fleet wide. The food and beverage director told me that NCL has upgraded thier menus to "compete" with other premium lines. So, just from my experiences with new Shogun and Cagneys menus, I can only imagine how good LeBistro is now!

As far as the main dining room highlights, I ate in them only 3 times. I would recommend what we ate for sure. The soups were very good....even the Cooking Light selections. There was a great cream of cauliflower, a beef broth with tortellini, chick pea with vegetable. The desserts were very good in the main dining rooms. Believe it or not, the Cooking Light selections were outstanding. There was a sugar-free chocolate mousse that you would never guess was sugar-free. Also very good are the frozen yogurts that are served with a little pastry cigar. Those were all different flavors..raspberry, peach, lime, vanilla, etc. There was cherries jubilee on the menu as well one night and it looked fantastic. I should also mention that in Cagney's, the head waiter will prepare bananas foster for you at a little station. For appetizers, I liked the fruits the best. I did that twice (not to be healthy) and I was very pleased. There was an amaretto fruit cup with pineapple, melons, and mint with a syrup flavored with amaretto. The Florida citrus appetizer was orange and grapefruit segments with another liquor which escapes me right now and it was so good! If you are into asparagus, that seemed to be the vegetable of choice and it was steamed perfectly. For entrees, I would recommend the fish of the day on the menu. I had the broiled flounder (not too much butter) served with asparagus and a few slices of potato. The cod was also delicious and that was served with lentils and pancetta. My husband enjoyed the beef stroganoff which wasn't too heavy with sour cream. He also liked the paella (shrimp, chicken, sausage, mussels). I think I mentioned the turkey scallopini earlier too...that was very tasty. I didn't usually order a salad, but the ceasar dressing is flavorful and the tomato/mozzarella salad was always very fresh.

Drink prices are as follows: 8.00 for the drink of the day in a souvenier glass. It is 5.50 without the souvenier glass (and it's smaller) plus there is a 15% gratuity added on top. Coffee of the day with alcohol is $5.75. Cappucino in main dining room is free BTW. I didn't get any in the specialty restaurants but I imagine it is free there too. Smoothie of the day with alcohol is 9.00. Without alcohol smoothies are 6.00. There is a martini of the day and those drink prices are not listed in the dailies, but I know they ranged from 6.00-12.00 because I read that on the bar menus. I will post next all of the drinks of the days in a separate post, how's that? You know, I think when I planned to write down all of the specialty menu items, we hit those bad seas and I couldn't stand still for a second.

Deck parties: There was a sailaway celebration at 4:15 leaving NY, but I didn't attend b/c I wanted the view of NY from a deck chair. BTW: Deck 7 is the wrap around promenade deck which has cushioned wooden lounge chairs perfect for falling asleep on. Grab one of these early on a sea day if you don't want to bake out in the sun. There was a caribbean deck party when we left Barbados and there was a funny contest when the men dressed up like women.

Aqua Swim: That is a good question about the age limit. I just concurred with my husband and he doesn't remember seeing an age limit posted. The restrictions I remember was that there were supposed to be no more than 1 person in a pool and there was a 20 minute time limit. But like I said, there were no enforcements, so if a passenger wanted to stay for an hour with no one else wanting to use the pool, it was ok. I should mention here that the ladies section of the spa (sauna and steam room) was wonderful. You could use the sauna and steam room free of charge. Afterwards, you could rinse off and sit in the "relaxation room" as it was called and have a cup of tea, iced water and fresh fruit. There was a beautiful view of the sea here.

If anyone has any more questions, fire away. I have all of the dailies to answer any questions.

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xranger39@aol.com

xranger39@aol.com

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OK Cathi,

I also forgot to mention that maharini's had shot specials every night and the pricing was not listed.

Here are the drinks of the day on the 10-night in order of alcoholic beverage, specialty coffee, alcoholic smoothie, martini specail, and shot special:

 

1) Rum Runner, Mexican Coffee, Banana Smoothie, Classic Martini, "sulfur and acid" shot (that sounds deadly!)

2) Caribbean Freeze, Nutty Monk, Mango Smoothie, Cosmopolitan, Cucaracha shot

3)Bahama Rama Mama, Bahamaian Coffee, Papaya Smoothie, Melontini, Purple hooter shot

4)Fruit Bowl, Cafe' de Antoinette, Cantaloupe smoothie, French Martini, Lollipop shot

5) Pina Colada, Cafe de Paris, Pineapple Smoothie, Chocolate Martini, Zombie shot

6)Mai Tai, Cafe de Francais, Strawberry Banana Smoothie, Sour Apple Martini, Woo Woo shot

7)Blue hawaii, Kentucky Derby, Blueberry Smoothie, Dirty Martini, Between the Sheets shot

8) repeat day 1

9) repeat day 2

10) repeat day 3

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xranger39@aol.com

xranger39@aol.com

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Sorry I didn't reply to this either....

The cinema is actually a conference room. The movies that were shown were:RV, Inside Man, Mission Impssible 3, Ask the Dust, Thomas Crowne Affair, Sahara.

There were two movie channels on the stateroom TV which ran current movies like the Da Vinci Code. I saw Akeelah and the Bee which was great! There is a little timetable in your cabin as to what movies will be shown at what times.

Other channels included the port of call channel which ran all of the excursions available, a bridge cam channel, a report from the bridge with weather conditions and ship location, TNT shows, a miscellaneous comedy and drama channel, CNN, ESPN.

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xranger39@aol.com

xranger39@aol.com

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There were no other deck parties, though the pool band Joy performed on the sea days that weren't rough. There wasn't a BBQ.

The murder mystery dinner sign up took place on the first night between 7:30-8. I don't know when it actually took place though. I think that it was an inconvenient time to have sign ups on the 1st night since so many people get settled in. The maxiumum amount of guests that could participate was 96, so I suggest you check the freestyle daily the minute you board to find out if the 1st night is till sign up time.

Most of the shows in the Stardust Theater were either 7:30 or 9:30. The Galaxy of the Stars shows were usually 10:30 or 10:45. The Maharini's nightclub shows were usually at midnight.

There was a martini clinic that was $15 on the second sea day at 1pm. Margarita tasting was $15 on the 3rd sea day at 3pm.

There are several areas of the ship (I believe 6 total) which show the restaurant's name, their status (open or closed), and a bar which slowly goes from green (not busy) to yellow (filling up) and red (full). The Blue Lagoon always stays at filling up. In the right hand corner, a little box with each specialty restaurant shows the amount of parties they are accepting for 2, 4, 6 or 8+. I forgot to mention this earlier, but we never had a wait for a table for 2 in Windows or Garden Room.

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electricron

electricron

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lisa - did you have much of a wait to get in to the dining rooms? do you remember what night the lobster was served?

larry

 

Didn't you read the OP post in total? Here's what I read:

 

Just my opinion, but the service was very hurried and both times we ate in the main dining rooms, our orders were rushed and wrong. On formal night, we had rock lobster which I found to be very chewy and tough. It was very busy and we were given our next course the second we were done with the previous one. It took us about 45 minutes to be seated, order, eat entrees dessert and coffee.

 

Doesn't read like a long wait to me.

 

As for which night is lobster night, it's the second night you're aboard (the evening of the first "At Sea" day) for ships sailing south from New York.

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