Spirit back to back review

[lostie]

Got back yesterday from back to back Spirit. First week 6 night Bahamas, second we 8 night Bermuda. It was awesome. I have much to say so I'll be revisiting to finish. My 4th cruise (1st NCL), DH 1st, DS 6, and DS 2.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation - took a limo from Philly. It came almost an hour early so we got to port around 11am. Checked in but were not letting people on till closer to noon. My DS 2 had his first of many tantrums here. He actually threw himself into the porcelin sink in the bathroom and banged his teeth, blood everywhere. DH & I thought we had made a terrible mistake, but he ended up LOVING kid's crew. He would tantrum whenever we picked him up from there. Made me feel less guilty about leaving him knowing he'd rather be with them then us! Once we got on we went to Window's. They did try to send us to Raffle's but I resisted. This was where we met Reynaldo. Him & Olga were awesome and we requested them every time at Windows. Had an inside cabin on 8th and it was always spotless. My cabin steward gave us whatever we needed, extra hangers, ice, my DS had wet the sheets one night and he changed them immediately. Of course we tipped him extra. We ate at Garden Room, only once but it was lovely. I am a HUGE eater and I don't know how anyone can say portions are too small. I ordered one of each course and usually skipped dessert b/c I was full. DH & DS skipped the lifeboat drill b/c cranky boy was sleeping and there was no way I was waking him to take him to a crowded deck of people. He wasn't missed. DH donated to casino one night and they gave back another.

 

Day 2 Sea Day

Went to Windows for breakfast and let me say out of 14 breakfasts I can share that MOST people go to Raffles. SO if you don't like crowds, go to Windows. Especially early port days, get up early and go to Windows. I ran to raffles each day to fill a thermos of Apple juice for DS and it was generally packed. Kid's went to Kid's Crew and I went to Margarita tasting. First formal night and we had to skip it b/c DS slept thru dinner. DH & DS 6 got room service and I ran at the gym. Later when he woke, we ran up to Raffles and then DH & I went to Not so Newlywed game. It was our 8th anniversary on this day so we wanted to participate but Julie (New CD, took Darin's place) wouldn't pick us. She wanted newest couple, oldest couple, and a couple right in the middle. This criteria leaves a lot of fun people out. Mixed emotions about Julie, she does have a cute sense of humor but comes off a little fake to me.

 

taking a break, any questions...:)

[dadof2]

Loving your review. Two year-olds can be "testy"...as you know:)

 

Julie has gotten many questionable reviews in the past!

[klct39lg]

Thanks Lostie,

 

I am looking forward to more.

 

On our last cruise my sister-in-law and her DH (married 10 years) wanted to be in the Not so Newlywed Game and they weren't picked either, but my MIL and FIL were picked because it was their 50th. My DH and I have been married 22 years next month and we wanted no part in the game. Yikes!:D

[lostie]

Day 3 - Port Canaveral FL - We got up early for our Airboat Adventure. It was good, not great, BUT it was very hot and gators don't really come out when it's really hot. We did see ONE but he swam under when he saw us. They have a 3 foot gator at the end of the ride and you can take pics of him for a donation. Worth it b/c the money goes to a wildlife refuge and my kids LOVED him. Then we took a bus to Ron Jons Surf shop. It is huge! DS fell asleep and we left his stroller on the ship (big mistake). So DH and I took turns sitting with him while the other shopped. When we left we had a voucher for a return bus, but a bus passed us with all ship's employees and they must have felt sorry for us b/c they picked us up. They didn't stop for any other cruise people, only us. He didn't even ask for our voucher. When we returned we were starving so we went to Blue Lagoon and it was NOT crowded as I heard it ususally is after port days. We were beat so we all napped. Had dinner at Trattoria. It was good, really good pasta. Getting dinner reservations was no problem at all. Sometimes they would only have after 7pm, we like to eat early so I would try for the next day and always got 530 or 6pm. Ate at Cagney's 3 times.

At night we saw Shark Bait. Kid's Crew took my older son, my younger son stayed & played in crew. Shark Bait is fantastic! Funny too.

 

Day 4 - Nassua - We braved Raffles this morning and it wasn't too crowded at the time we went. Same food everyday, but pretty my anything you could want for breakfast (except creamed chipped beef and scrapple). Took the #10 Jitney to the Wyndam resort (advice I got here). It was $15pp, $7.50 kids, and the baby was FREE! It was the best advice I got from CC. Great water slide, huge pools, hot tubs, free towels, chairs by the pool, private beach, snorkeling area, bar, food, awesome day! We all loved it. Avoid the straw market, it's nasty. You can walk down the street before it to get the #10 jitney. Went to Tivoli Pool on return and ate BBQ. Wasn't crowded at first, but when we sailed away, it was. I NEVER had a problem finding 2 chairs together near the pool. It was never the chairs right next to pool, but I always found a spot in the sun or shade, whichever I was in the mood for (and the ship was FULL capacity). There are many towels on chairs for hours, but I never had to move one b/c I always found a spot. Had dinner at Windows, really good prime rib. GSC at night. Wore bug spray, no bites. Good pizza. ***Complaint*** Kid's Crew had a dinner planned for Thursday. Sign ups were at 7pm. I called b/c DS was asleep. They said it was booked already. I spoke to the staff about signing up early for the next cruise's kid dinner and got conflicting answers, some said "sure" others said "NO". Needless to say, the next cruise I showed up 1/2 early for sign up and was the first in line. Advice, get there early especially if you child is 2 - 5. They only take like 12 from the 2 - 5 group!:D

 

Day 5 - GSC - This day was nice. I woke DS 6 early and him & I ate breakfast at Windows and went to GSC early to snorkel while DH & DS slept in. They joined us later and when DS 2 had enough beach, I took him back and DH got to spend time snorkeling with DS. Had lunch with DS 2 in Windows and this lunch was the best of the whole cruise from soup to nuts. Kids's back to crew, can't keep them away! We ate at Cagney's and it was awesome, hence us eating there 2 more times. I met some Philly friends at movie trivia and grabbed DH to go to Quest with us. We all had a great time (battle scar on my arm from this game, it is NOT for the weary). This was the first night that the kids stayed after hours at the kid's club. I thought they would be asleep when I picked them up at midnight, but they weren't! Best $8 an hour I spent. Can't find a babysitter at home for $8 an hour. :D

[lostie]

I forgot to mention at embarkation, we did bring wine with us (intended to pay corkage fee). I had a roll on cooler with wine and juice boxes for the kids. I didn't try to hide the wine or anything but they never asked me to open it, we just rolled it right on with us. At that point it was their loss and we drank our wine fee free! We also bought some wine in Bahamas (the first cruise) and they returned it the last night of the first cruise so we had another bottle fee free for the second cruise.:D

[cruzholic]

Lostie, We too are going to the NYC pier for the Spirit for its 15 Day repo Nov 3, 2007. I am wondering did you take Dave's Limo from a mall to the pier area or the Philly Shuttle from your house to the pier? We have used the Shuttle one other time from our house to the NYC pier, and were very pleased with their service. If you used that one for your cruise, are they still good?

Also did you have alot of storage in your cabin? We will be up on the 9th deck is a smaller balcony cabin. Did you use any of the cleaning services for your clothes, smf if so , how much did it cost, and did they have any formal nights?

[Seago2]

Hey Karen! Glad you had a good time on your second leg. Was the weather bad on the way back down south???

 

I though Julie was ok- I never pay attention to CD's. But she did kind of mock out Alan (remember him?) during the poolside contest- kind of harsh!

 

Here's my review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=612067

 

Hope you guys are adjusting to real life :( .

 

The kids say hi to you!

[lostie]

Lostie, We too are going to the NYC pier for the Spirit for its 15 Day repo Nov 3, 2007. I am wondering did you take Dave's Limo from a mall to the pier area or the Philly Shuttle from your house to the pier? We have used the Shuttle one other time from our house to the NYC pier, and were very pleased with their service. If you used that one for your cruise, are they still good?

Also did you have alot of storage in your cabin? We will be up on the 9th deck is a smaller balcony cabin. Did you use any of the cleaning services for your clothes, smf if so , how much did it cost, and did they have any formal nights?

 

We took a limo, not a shuttle. I did see a Dave's limo though. We had the closet packed, our steward gave us extra hangers. I used the 4 drawers for the kids clothes. My DH and I each had 2 shelves and hung everything else. We did the laundry promo twice. I also had another load that we got free, they accidentally ruined one of DH's shirts so they comped us the laundry bill plus gave us $40 on board credit. DH went all the way to hotel manager to get that. Don't yell at front desk people, it gets you no where and they have no power. Just ask to meet with the hotel manager and he is very nice. The laundry promo is $18 for everything you can fit in the bag and I fit A LOT! Just roll everything and you can get tons in there, especially kids clothes. They had 3 "formal" nights. We dressed semi formal for one. We completely missed one (baby). But we dressed formal on the last night just because we wanted to.

 

Hey Carla!

 

Your kids are so polite. Every time I saw one of your DSs, they would stop and chat. Weather was perfect all 14 days! Rough seas going from Bermuda to Tortola, barf bags laid everywhere (near elevators, down hallways, etc). DS 6 got woozy and stayed in bed till it smoothed out and the pools were closed, but I went in the hot tub. Best place to be when it's rough. Not too many people out that day anyway.

[cruzholic]

Lostie, What was the name of the Limo you took? The full name of the one we took was Super Trans-Philly Shuttle. Yes, it is a van, limo etc service. We take the 15 passenger van. Can you email me at cckruise a t a o l d o t c o m so I can find out more info off the thread?

[lostie]

Day 6 - At Sea - Everyone's last day but us and one other family doing the back to back! Dared to eat dinner in Raffles and the pickings weren't so great. Lunch was actually better. They have awesome chicken salad, if you're into that. Saw Carla at dinner and her and her 2 DSs felt the same about dinner. Dessert was worse. The ONLY edible dessert at Raffles is ice cream. If you are into dessert, go to Windows or Cagneys. Went to Sharkbait's second show and it was super again! My son now wants to be a juggler thanks to them. Brenda Kaye did a hypnotist show tonight and it was hilarious. Our friend Dave was picked. He was funny. Some people did not go under, but that's why she pickes 14 people to participate. Brenda's last day on the Spirit was the same as ours. She was going home for a week then on to an Alaskan cruise. She told me she is not an employee of NLC, she is contracted. She was very nice, actually went to Margarita tasting with her. This was the 2nd night our kids stayed at aftercare and again they were still awake and kickin' when I got there after midnight!

 

Day 7 - At New York - drop off/pick up! If you take a back to back, never attempt to get into an elevator when other's are disembarking! We pretty much had the ship to ourselves. We went to the kid's pool and were the only ones there. We did not have to get off the ship or anything of the sort. I actually had a spa treatment (facial, massage). It was incredible. I had my DH ask about the Muster Drill b/c DS was asleep again and they said back to backers don't have to go the 2nd time. Let me say that the buffet was wonderful for lunch. Really good roast beef, mashed potatoes, and some other yummy stuff. It's funny b/c Cruise Critickers usually go to Windows on this day but the buffet was really good. AND I noticed this crowd of people (NOT you Carla) was very different from the last (in a good way). No butting in line at the buffet, everyone lined up like good girls & boys. Less running around the ship. The people just seemed to be classier. We ate at Cagney's today. I figured we could eat anywhere b/c we had first dibs on reservations. It was superb. We had Phillip & Leo and Phillip cut up the baby's pizza for him and Leo cut other DS's prime rib. They wanted my DH & myself to be able to enjoy our dinner so they tended to the kids! I was SOOOO impressed. We left them $10. That's above and beyond service. Went to Not so newlywed game again, but it's a good thing they didn't pick us. I was beeped by the Kid's Crew. This is a strange story. DS 2 said someone bit him and he was crying. They asked him to point to who did it and he couldn't. He had 2 marks on his arm. When we took him back to the room and took off his shirt he had hives all over his back?!!!:confused: I realized what happened after thinking about it. I was beeped earlier in the night to change his diaper. They have a changing station there so you don't have to go back to your room. Well the germ-a-phobe I am, I decided to spray the station down BEFORE I put DS on it. They have spray and towels there. I must not have dried it completely before I put DS down because all of the body parts that touched the changing station had hives. My DH bought some hydricortisone cream and we had Benedryll with us. He was fine by morning. I was scared that if it didn't go away, we'd be quarentined. But he was fine the next day. ;)

[SweetpeaOne]

Thanks for sharing your review. I am glad your baby turned out to be fine. Can't wait to hear the rest..

[Seago2]

Hey Karen! I had a feeling the next cruise would have a different feel to it- the one we took was the lowest price offered of the whole summer. I'm so glad you guys had such a good time. It's not easy to cruise with munchkins but you guys always looked totally relaxed- and so did the kids. Even when you had blood all over your shirt! You still managed to tote your beer helmets to Sharkbait and basically have a GOOD TIME. You could tell the kids were having an awesome time, too. Makes you wonder how it is that other people are screaming at their kids, glaring at each other, and the kids are crying and flipping out all the time. I think the answer is: IN LAWS.

 

I always have a great time and so do the boys. People just need to relax! Of course, in non-Cruisecritic fashion, I give my kids free reign of the ship, sooooo..... it's pretty relaxed. One DS met this cool kid at the kids club and they had a plan to get their Nintendo DS's and play together later. The parents picked the kid up: "NO. NO Nintendo, that's for the cabin only, what did we tell you, you have to go to this place and that place now, DON'T ASK FOR THE NINTENDO!!!" And they whisked him away. JOY KILL! Of course the kid starts whining, etc. Well, you only have 6 days on one ship, better start laying down the law!:rolleyes:

[lostie]

Carla,

 

I'm looking at future cruises already. I have spring break March 15th - 24th. I found the Majesty out of SC for a good price. Have you been on the majesty? It looks small but the itinerary and price are great. I also found Spirit out of NO at a good price but I don't know if I want to go on the same ship. The Gem out of NY is a great price but the itinerary is close to the same we just went on. Any suggestions?

[Seago2]

Gotta run but I just wanted to say that I loved the Spirit twice but I was less thrilled the third time. Beautiful, wonderful ship but... it's nice to experience new things. That's why I'm also getting sick of the Bahamas. I would love to do a Western Caribbean again, not to mention about ten other cruises I KNOW I can't afford. ;) I also really loved HAL and found it a bit hard to go back to NCL. Also: don't know if I can stomach spring break! Next cruise will probably be just the two of us, but if we can't wing it by next summer then I will definitely be looking at a family cruise during summer vacation. Then price RULES.

 

Kids + Carnival = awesome cruise. Just make sure it's 7 days or more or it will be bedlam.