NCL Spirt out of New Orleans BEWARE

[AuntieBarb]

Well I'm back said I would'nt post here again but just could'nt resist. You can call me a troll and get you're little popcorn out if you like, but if there's any native New Orleanians out there you most certainly will not like the food on the NCL spirt.

 

No one here minds a good, honest and fair review; negatives included. This however boils down to bashing.

 

Furthermore, we got off the repo cruise on the Spirit with folks from New Orleans. Didn't hear any complaints from them!

 

Perhaps you should try the paddle boat down the Mississippi, so the cuisine is more true to your tastebuds.

 

Yours truly,

A "Northerns"

[Cosmopolitan]

The crew is'nt that friendly either unless you're paying for the specialty reaturants, seems to me Norwegians serving very low grade bland food in there main dinning rooms in hopes that the passengers will pay for specialty dinning . quote]

 

Crew was ONLY friendly in the specialty restaurants:confused:

[Cosmopolitan]

Perhaps to let people with more upscale tastes know that there may be lines that they would enjoy more.

 

:confused: Can you just let us know what "upscale" restaurants you dine in?

Thanks:)

[Cosmopolitan]

The excursions were great! The shows good. The room servise not good had to clean my own coffee pot out, that should have been done had to go down get my own towels almost every day. Pull out bed they were putting my son in was full of black mold it was really bad. Garbage cans not emptied. It just was'nt good for me maybe it was just a isolated case.

 

You paid "thousands" for your family with a pull-out bed:confused: :confused:

 

Where did you go "down" for your towels?

[bamaboi1999]

Makes me think of a trip on the Mayflower or something. LOL

[Cosmopolitan]

Here in New Orleans its all about the food, hospitality, and the PARTY and NCL missied the boat on all three. GO Carnival!!! I learned my lesson.

 

Does this mean your going back to Carnival...bye:D

[mbisson]

Does this mean your going back to Carnival...bye:D

 

 

ROTFL

[MonaCK]

I definitely agree - the food that is on a cruise ship CANNOT COMPARE to the food that is in New Orleans. I think it's just a matter of expectations. If the food is not up to par, (while food is a BIG part of my life - my family is in the food industry - and trust me - sitting at the dinner table with my husband and father in law is like sitting with two of the worst food critics that you can imagine) - and even they do not let food not quite being up to par ruin a cruise for them. I hooked my husband on cruising, and my husband hooked my father in law on cruising. For what we usually end up paying for a cruise, we look at it as a per day expenditure -- for what we pay per day, we are getting a great deal for our money.

 

Mschuchu, we LOVE New Orleans. It's possibly our favorite land-based vacation. I can honestly say that the last time we were down there (in May), we did NOT have a bad meal. We had one disappointing meal at Murials, but only because we did not feel we got a value for our money. everything else... gastronimical delight. If we wanted to get our drink on, you could do so very cheaply down bourbon street. We stayed at a great bed and breakfast just outside of the Quarter.

 

I can't compare New Orleans to a cruise. For me, it's two completely different vacations.

[swampfox28]

I can't report on the food on the Spirit - yet! (We sail in less than a week!)

 

But as someone from southern Louisiana who lived in New Orleans for almost 15 years I don't really expect the food to be as good as typical New Orleans fare.

 

I mean - let's face it - people come to New Orleans for many reasons, but one of the TOP reasons would be the FOOD.

 

I don't think that many people cruise mainly for the food - but more for the experience, the amazing ports, etc.

 

I hope the food is good. Heck, I even hope it's great! :o)

 

But to think it'd live up to the restaurants I know and love in New Orleans - that would a TOUGH order to fill!!

 

 

P.S. - Not ALL of us Louisianans can handle the "hot stuff"!! I'm a total wuss and can not handle ANYTHING too spicy. For the record, IMO, GREAT southern food should be well seasoned - not simply full of red pepper!

 

 

-Sarah

[logcabin]

I was on the RCCL Explorer of the Seas in August. Found the food to be lower in quality than NCL. From my understanding, all cruise lines are cutting back on food quality to save money... Still enjoyed it, though. Going on the Dawn again in June.. We'll see.

[sharonax3]

I am kinda new to these boards, and I appreciate all the great tips and info I have received, but it amazes me that the majority of the posts revolve around food. Food just can't be the most important thing on a vacation!

There are so many other things to do. I go on a cruise to see as much of the country as I can. Food is secondary. All I am expecting is a decent dinner. If I want an excellent dinner, I know I have to spend $$$. You cant expect great food when it is being mass produced for a couple thousand people.

With that being said, I think all the food I have enjoyed on any of the cruise lines was okay and not worth complaining about.

 

Sharon

[shark&minnow]

Give me a beautiful dining room, a view of the ocean and serve me my food and I will hardly care what the food is!

[sonadom]

Our experience (a group of 9 from southern Louisiana) mirrors the OP's. The food was not particularly good and the service was not either. But we enjoyed our family cruise - and vacation from work, housework, and cooking.

 

I say this comparing to our other cruises - on Carnival, RC, and, yes, Norwegian. On all those other cruises, the room stewards were great. You couldn't open your door without them popping into the hall to ask if you needed anything - ice, towels, or just to say hi. Ours didn't even tell us where they were from and we had to track them down if we needed something.

 

While our trash was always emptied and towels always straightened, we never got ice unless we took the bucket into the hallway, tracked down the steward and asked where the ice machine was. I also didn't appreciate being blamed for the stale smoke smell in the room one evening (none of us are smokers) and then told I should 'go tell someone about it' - told this when I found our steward and asked for assistance. It was also a challenge to get ice tongs or egg crates - took several days and repeated askings. We only got them when the floor manager was called. Our steward then told me 'only he has the authority to get those things'. Strange.

 

While this did not ruin the cruise for us, it was surprising, since we have always had such great stewards.

 

In the dining room (we ate 6 nights in Windows) - our waiters never introduced themselves or made any conversation with our family other than to take our orders. Again, quite different from all of our other cruises. The exception was Edguardo. He was great - and very quick in service. We were in and out of Windows, with our best meal (food wise and service wise) in under an hour. Other nights service was very slow and although we had 6 p.m. reservations and were seated promptly, we didn't make most of the 7:30 shows since we were still dining.

 

The food - well I've posted elsewhere about the Thanksgiving turkey fare in Windows vs. the carved turkey in Raffles. Most of the food wasn't tasty. Breakfast in Raffles was ok - lot of variety. Omelet making (you could get eggs cooked to order here too). Danish always fresh. But grits and oatmeal were watery - I'm used to them thicker. Lunch - they had a great chicken salad and the jerk chicken some days was also very good.

 

Dinner in the restaurants was hit or miss. Some nights it was good (they served an appetizer that was a grapeleaf wrapped around a lamb sausage on a bed of hummus that was the best thing I'd eaten in a long time - cruise and on shore). Other nights, it was just a miss - the 'grilled asparagus soup' was actually a 'chilled asparagus soup'. Nothing indicated a cold soup. Earlier in the week there were some very good hot soups. Our group enjoyed the lobster and prime rib. But the first night, the beef ragout had only 3 fingernail sized beef tips in the stew and the strip steak was only about 2 oz of meat.

 

The Italian restaurant - was not that good. Surprising since it had gotten such good reviews and we had to wait several days to get reservations. Tiramisu was the best dessert we had, though.

 

Cagney's Steakhouse - 5 of our group ate there and had a great meal. Reservations were had to come by here also.

 

Since it was their first cruise out of the New Orleans port, I'm sure there were some glitches that could be attributed to the new port. Hopefully it will all work out and those with later cruise dates will have great food, great service, in addition to the great time.

[Rowan555]

I'm from New Orleans - lived here all my life - I'll be on the Spirit on Sunday and while I know the food will not compare to Brennans or Gumbo Shop or Redfish Grill, I also know I'll enjoy it. I'm not paying Brennan's prices for this cruise - so it would be silly to expect that level of food and service. Hell, we're paying about $220 per day for our family of 4 for lodging, food, entertainment, and children's programs - so as long as they feed me, I'm happy!

 

I think people go into a cruise with unrealistic expectations, and they're bound to be disappointed. When I was a child, I remember thinking cruises were only for the very wealthy, and that they were treated like kings and queens while on board. Well, that's no longer true - cruising is a mainstream family vacation now, and the prices and quality will be LOWER than if you were sailing on an upscale line limited to those who can afford $10,000 per person for a week's vacation.

 

I'll be sure to report back after the cruise to let you guys know my thoughts on the food on the NCL Spirit...

[blindrid]

The excursions were great! The shows good. The room servise not good had to clean my own coffee pot out, that should have been done had to go down get my own towels almost every day. Pull out bed they were putting my son in was full of black mold it was really bad. Garbage cans not emptied. It just was'nt good for me maybe it was just a isolated case.

 

I find this hard to believe as my experience has been 180 degree opposite. Gonna have to believe you though.......

[arlettecruiser]

Rowan,

 

I look forward to your review of the food from the Spirit. We will be on the Spirit for the Jan 6 cruise.

 

I am also from New Orleans and understand the points of view regarding the food. We've been on NCL before as well as Carnival and RCC. People have asked which line I prefer. Best so far - RCC, Food - RCC, Entertainment Carnival. NCL - not at the top of any list. But....

 

The cruise we took before on NCL (Dream also from New Orleans), was the worst of them all. But saying it was the worst doesn't mean it was a horrible trip. It just was bad timing no our part, bad weather, too small a ship, decent food, good entertainment, still enjoyable, but not up to what we had experienced on previous cruises. Trying to keep an open mind!

 

We took a freestyle cruise Thanksgiving week and had to wait every night for a table. On Thanksgiving night, we had to wait 1.5 hrs to get a table for 4, when we really had 6 in our party. The other 2 waited just as long for a table for 2. We decided freestyle dining and holiday weeks don't work, especially on that ship.

 

But, needing a vacation and not wanting to travel to Galveston again this time, I am willing to give NCL a try again. I understand the Spirit is a bigger ship and is better set up for freestyle dining.

[newmexicoNita]

I'm glad you posted again. :)

 

We need balanced opinions on these boards in order to make informed decisions. I happen to agree with you on the food - it wasn't up to par. I'm going on NCL again because of the great people I will be cruising with and the great itinerary. I know the food is going to be pedestrian but I'm going into it with my eyes wide open. I will have a great time anyway.

 

For anyone who considers food important (me, usually) - choose another line. It's not NCL's strong point. I wish everyone had the cruises that they had taken in their signature so when they say NCL's food is great we can see what they are comparing it to.

 

Unfortunately, the NCL board has quite a few people who will jump all over and trash anyone who dares to say anything negative. Anyone who reads the boards here can probably name them all.

 

NCL has its good points - food and dining room service aren't among them.

I have never found NCLs food bad, in fact some is very good, other meals so so. I say this as a "blue Ribbon" cook, so I do know a little about food. Many are writing the same about other lines, including Princess and RCI as well as even HAL. Food has gone down hill in the past few years. we have 2 choices, either accept the quality that is being offered and splurge on the alternative dining rooms or pay higher prices for cruising. It is that simple. A perfect example: Lobster is being phased out on many lines, one way or another. Even escargot isn't available on all lines. I actually talked to a couple on our last NCl cruise that complained because NCLs food was a little to spicey for them. Go figure....

 

bTW: I am not meaning to jump on anyone that doesn't care for the food, I think food is too subjective to jump on people. The Op, well I do have a problem with his/her posting.

 

Nita

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

I paid thousands for my family and pampered is what any normal person would expect, one with any since anyway.

If you paid $1000.00s you must have had a suite: most cruise lines are not charging $1000s for a week long cruise. Of course if you cruised Thanksgiving week you paid more, any cruise line jacks up the prices for holiday sailings. How many times have you cruised? Maybe you were expecting something that mass marketed lines can not produce. As for being pampered, I don't think most of us cruise to be pampered. If that is your goal you should have booked an upscale line. yes, they do pamper you, and guess what? The prices are double or more what mass marketed lines are charging. bTW: I agree with you on the salad dressings; they are the worst!!!! The desserts, well we certainly didn't get jello etc on our cruise last month. Were they yummy? Maybe not the richest in the world, who needs that after a heavy dinner, but most were quite acceptable. You forgot to blast the home made breads....

 

Nita

[jp2001]

No I don't think its so much about being spicey, the salad dressings were like watered down very very runny every time. deserts were all the same made with jello and whip cream, there were no rich yummy derserts only in the specialty dinning areas. I'm not looking for diet food on a cruise! They could add a little sugar to thier desserts.

 

Maybe it's the reason we had such different experience with the food on the Spirit. I try to eat healthy and I did order from the ''diet'' menu most nights and I was not looking for their decadent desserts, I chose mostly frozen yogourt and the ''real dessert'' I had was in Le Bistro (chocolate fondue).

 

And one of the nights that I ordered from the regular menu since the diet option didn't interest me, I actually did find it bland (but it was a german entrée that I had never tried anywhere before, I thought it was only my personnal taste for this dish, not a general trend for all other entrées).

[jp2001]

Here in New Orleans its all about the food, hospitality, and the PARTY and NCL missied the boat on all three. GO Carnival!!! I learned my lesson.

 

I have not sailed with Carnival but I can't believe we sailed the same ship (or has it changed that much from September 06???).

 

As I said before, I was satisfied with the food, every crew member I saw when I boarded said Hi and some had a little chat with me and it was the same thing all week long (ok, there is always a crew member who is not up to par but in general, I found the crew, at the time at least, to go out of their way to be friendly and helpful). Did you go to Maharini's Night Club? The party atmosphere for late-night disco dancing was just great on my last cruise. The CD had prepared little games or shows everynight (about half an hour, at around 10-11pm, listed in the Freestyle Daily) that started the party and after that, the DJ spined music and people were dancing, drinking, people watching, etc. and the party was definitely going.

[London_Ozgal]

Our cruise on the Spirit was overflowing with hospitality. On our 15 nighter there were many older people, but the crew had plenty of activities and party activities on the agenda. We made all of them! The staff would be looking for us. My DH was in the Miss Norwegian Spirit contest - and WON, he was in the dance contest by the pool, the sexy legs contest, the Village people (he was the Indian), we went to the Pirate party, karaoke every night, disco every evening.... and on and on. The band by the pool knew our names because we were dancing and singing along with them when by the pool. They'd even come by and talk to us and our friends after their set was over.

 

A cruise is what you make it. Sometimes you have to make your own fun. And we did!

 

Kathy

 

I'll back Kathy up here 100%. It is exactly what you make of it. If you want to focus on the negatives then do so but you ruin your own time.

 

Surely there are some good things happening on there? You have a great crew amd I know because I spent time partying with them. Infact I am in Cozumel at the moment where your ship berths tomorow and am meeting some of the crew when they come ashore.

 

Food isnt what makes the cruise! People are. Not only was our CC group a great group BUT we made the most of everything we did whether it was dressing Kathy's husband up as Ms Norwegian Star or playing shuffleboard. There are things that I think could have been better but none of it ruined the cruise for me.

 

 

KC

[unclepaulie]

:D I thought the food was wonderful.

 

UNCLE PAULIE!!!!!:D

 

P.S. Hi KC-How's the rest of your vacation going?

[loverboy]

:D I thought the food was wonderful too. I never left hungry. I always had a non-watery dessert and I didn't gain a pound. :p

 

Where do people come up with these expectations ? My strip steak was one heck of a lot larger than 2 oz (do you have any idea what a 2 oz strip steak looks like?), and my escargot was to die for. But if you want 5 star food (or for some reason feel that you are not getting 5 star food on NCL) go to a 5 Star restaurant in New Orleans. I am sure they would appreciate the business.

 

The only thing I can say that I missed (it wasn't lobster cuz we had that and almost everyone at the table ordered 2, and it wasn't escargot cuz I sure had that and it wasn't creme brulee because I had at least 6 of them and I had at least 10 of the cookies that are 750 kcal each) was the NCL chocolates. Andes mints just didn't cut it. I gave them to my steward ... he was always around with towels, ice and a friendly smile. :D

 

PS If you're lacking for fun ... try a couple of Miami Vices and barking like a chihuahua. It works ;)

[London_Ozgal]

:D I thought the food was wonderful.

 

UNCLE PAULIE!!!!!:D

 

P.S. Hi KC-How's the rest of your vacation going?

 

Hey Uncle Paulie

 

Holiday is great - Have done 6 dives in the last 3 days. Am taking today off because one of my ears is sore and tomorrow I am meeting the crew off the spirit. Off the Playa de Carmen on Saturday and then flying to Guatemala City on Sunday before heading over to Sans Salvador for a few days.

 

Feel real sorry for you guys that had to go home. I've been reading the threads and have to say, I am glad I'm still on holiday.

 

Say G'day to Barb for me.

 

 

cheers

 

 

KC

[loverboy]

Hey Uncle Paulie

 

Holiday is great - Have done 6 dives in the last 3 days. Am taking today off because one of my ears is sore and tomorrow I am meeting the crew off the spirit. Off the Playa de Carmen on Saturday and then flying to Guatemala City on Sunday before heading over to Sans Salvador for a few days.

 

Feel real sorry for you guys that had to go home. I've been reading the threads and have to say, I am glad I'm still on holiday.

 

Say G'day to Barb for me.

 

 

cheers

 

 

KC

 

 

KC - glad you're having such fun ... next time you're on this side of the pond, you'll have to dive Dominica, Barbados and the ABC islands. Take care.

Cinci:)