Hmm..Spirit or Pearl for 2nd cruise?

[jollycruise]

Ok everyone, need some advice here. We just got off the Dawn to the Eastern Caribbean and loved it! We are now going to book our second cruise in the next couple of weeks and would like some info on the following two please.

 

I would like to know what you thought of the ships and the ports. Especially New Orleans.

 

Choice #1: Spirit from New Orleans to Costa Maya, Santo Tomas De Castilla, Belize City and Cozumel.

 

Choice #2: Pearl from Miami to Roatan, Belize City, Cozumel and Great Stirup Cay.

 

We loved the Dawn and are very casual people. Really don't need info on Miami and Great Stirrup Cay since we have been there. But I would like to know if the Pearl and the Spirit are pretty similar to the Dawn.

 

Thanks

[electricron]

The Pearl is a near sister of the Dawn. It is 4 years younger than the Dawn. It will have the Courtyard Villa complex, rock climbing wall, and the bowling lanes the Dawn lacks.

 

The Spirit is four years older than the Dawn, and 15% smaller. It lacks the Garden Villa complex, and the mini-suites classification you'll find aboard the Dawn.

 

Either ship can provide a platform for a great cruise.

[jp2001]

3 ships are different but they all have been built with Freestyle concept in mind. Compared to the Dawn, Spirit is smaller, Pearl bigger which means there are more restaurants and lounges on the Pearl than the Spirit. I've never been on the Pearl but have been on the Dawn and the Spirit and I prefer the Spirit (not by much but I had a better overall experience on that ship).

 

The Spirit is NOT going to Costa Maya, it's going to Roatan (at least until March 2008) and those sailings are affected by an broken engine so we dock in Roatan at 3pm (was supposed to be 1pm) and sunset approx. 5-30 -6pm... not much daylight time in that port unfortunately.

 

I've never been to NOLA but I researched it and there is so many interesting things to see and do, I can't wait!

[jp2001]

The Pearl is a near sister of the Dawn. It is 4 years younger than the Dawn. It will have the Courtyard Villa complex, rock climbing wall, and the bowling lanes the Dawn lacks.

 

The Spirit is four years older than the Dawn, and 15% smaller. It lacks the Garden Villa complex, and the mini-suites classification you'll find aboard the Dawn.

 

Either ship can provide a platform for a great cruise.

 

True, less suite choice on the Spirit but since I don't book them, it changes nothing to my cruise experience (I guess it also means more space per passenger since there is no Courtyard unaccessible to us, steerage :D

[cliffd64]

Both ships are great freestyle ships, and as mentioned above the Pearl is bigger and even more suited to freestyle than the Spirit.

 

Analyzing the itineraries, be advised Costa Maya was destroyed. It no longer exists as far as a cruise destination at least for the foreseeable future.

 

That being said, your two trips differ in only Guatemala vs Great Stirrup Cay.

 

Pick the one that interests you the most and you can't go wrong.

[jetskier]

Also on the Spirit you can not fit 4 people in a balcony, suite, or OV cabin. The max capacity is 3. The Pearl you can fit 4 in a balcony, OV and IS.

 

Like previously mentioned, the Spirit is down one engine. They are not sure when the engine will be repaired at the moment. The next drydock is scheduled for Oct 31st, 2008.

Dave

[jetskier]

Also on the Spirit you can not fit 4 people in a balcony, suite, or OV cabin. The max capacity is 3. The Pearl you can fit 4 in a balcony, OV and IS.

 

Like previously mentioned, the Spirit is down one engine. They are not sure when the engine will be repaired at the moment. The next drydock is scheduled for Oct 31st, 2008.

Dave

[coffeebean]

To the OP...

IMHO, the Pearl and the Spirit are like night and day. The Spirit is a smaller ship, not as many dining venues and has an Asian influence throughout much of the ship. The Spirit once sailed in the Asian market and it's decor speaks to that and is quite beautiful.

 

Having said that...the Pearl is a stunning ship and is a major step up from the Dawn. DH and I have cruised on both Spirit and Pearl and we were blown away by Pearl. We have cruised on the Dawn twice and enjoyed her.

 

Wait until you see the action stations on the Pearl (aka buffet but NCL does not call this dining venue a buffet). This dining venue has many different stations so there is no line to wait on. There are Chefs at many of the stations to prepare cooked to order food. The Pearl has the best buffet in 21 cruises I have done. Bringing all NCL buffet dining venues up to Pearl/Gem standards is one of the many Freestyle 2.0 upgrades NCL has in store for all their ships.

 

Happy cruising!!!