Just off Spirit 2/3-2/10 sailing!

[NolaGirl99]

We have been home for a few hours now and I have to say all in all it was a GREAT time!

Embarkation was quick and easy. They gave us some trouble when we asked to be directed to Windows to eat--I found this to be a theme all week while the staff was friendly many if not most of them could not answer a question or answered it incorrectly---we were shuffled along to Raffles "sanitized" and led to the buffet. It was OK since we were starving. Staterooms were ready at just before 2:00.

 

Our stateroom 10580 Balcony-Forward was quite warm--I opened the sliding glass balcony door and all was well (or so I thought ) . Our luggage arrived quickly. We spent the evening watching the Superbowl. We ate fish and chips, hamburgers and chicken wings from Blue Lagoon while watching the game and did not "officially go to dinner." This was a nice option!

 

By Tuesday AM I realized the stateroom AC was broken and the further south we sailed the more uncomfortable the room became. I must say that within 1 hour of a call for repair they had the entire ceiling down in my stateroom--it took them quite some time to fix the problem because I went back twice to fetch items and they were still working. They fixed it and before our LATE (nearly 4PM) arrival in Roatan the room was cool.

I was quite pleased with everything until Thursday we began have problems getting beach towels replaced. (NCL should rework this entire system--this is my 10th cruise and the first one that I have ever had a problem getting beach towels on.)

 

Then Friday morning was a TRUE MESS.

We arrived a little late in Cozumel-- many of us had NCL excursions booked that asked us to meet on the pier for 8:20, others had met at 7:45 in the Stardust Theater, still others had independent tours or just wanted to get off the ship. They began letting us off the ship at about 8:00 but wanted to empty the theater first. Well everyone was crazy. It was like an angry mob. NCL could easily avoid this. They need to plan the meeting times and places better. The people who work the shore excursion desk are very nice but the do a crummy job of moving the crowds to excursions . (My mother and I were also completely lost trying to follow a group from the Stardust Theater on our Discover Roatan tour.)

 

Later Friday,I was slightly annoyed when I was asked to leave Windows at dinner for wearing "shorts". Well I wasn't going to argue skort, Skirt, Shorts. I felt as if I was dressed up as I was wearing heels, a nice blouse and a skort (Knee length.) Well , a higher up saw our group and before I could turn to leave she ran over and said "Skirt in front, you tricked us, its ok" I guess they had just seen my back view which just looks like shorts( but honestly even from the back it looks more like a skirt to me). I was very surprised as I considered what I was wearing MUCH dressier the jeans and the warmups ( yes warmups ) that some others had on . Strictly speaking the dress code posted says no shorts or torn jeans after 5pm. Anyway it ended ok but it was annoying.

The food was just OK but we learned to find what we liked. We thought the stir fry was the best thing in Raffles. As it is cooked fresh-- seems like much of the food here is leftover and a little stale.

 

We also had a problem with our bill-- to make a long story short we were charged for 2sets of "pull tabs" at bingo and only got and only wanted one. My hubby signed the charges for 2! The line was long, he was trying to hurry ........ This AM we saw the mistake on the bill-- we took it as high up the ladder as we could , but we were told "he signed it ,we pay it" Thank Goodness it was only $20.00. MORAL----check every bill before you sign!

 

 

As I proofread it looks like I had a miserable time! I promise this is not the case. The Spirit is a beautiful ship! We had a wonderful time with just a few minor problems.

Let me know if I can answer any questions!

 

 

 

 

[Preds]

Any idea as to why you were an hour late in Roatan? Were seas rough in the gulf or something? The week prior arrived 30 minutes early if I recall correctly.

 

Did NCL do anything to compensate a 3rd lost hour there? 3 1/2 hours in port (max) is virtually a complete waste.

 

We sail next week, so I'm curious fro some insight on Roatan. We're still hoping to go ziplining there.

[MMB]

Is there a quiet place to layout?

[familyof4cruising]

That makes me very nervous that you got to Roatan and Cozumel late. Did they give you an excuse? Where you late to any other port or back to NO? Thanks

[eggpee]

Do you happen to know if the shore excursions still went on after docking late in Roatan?

[gordon fisherman]

Thanks for the post ! what was the problem w/ Roatan ? and did NCL offer anykind of credit for being so late?

[gordon fisherman]

sorry guys, I didn't read your posts ! I guess I got my underwear in a knot:eek: after reading Nolagirl99's post and jumpped on the defence,it's starting to become a normal reaction after reading a SPIRIT comment :mad:

[familyof4cruising]

sorry guys, I didn't read your posts ! I guess I got my underwear in a knot:eek: after reading Nolagirl99's post and jumpped on the defence,it's starting to become a normal reaction after reading a SPIRIT comment :mad:

 

I completely understand. I still think NCL is taking a risk running on 3 engines for such a long period of time. But they know better then us.

 

I hope she has an answer.

[Toyz711]

the quietest place to lay out is on deck 12...if you want a tan. lots of sun, wind shields...less people then around the pool. great views if you use one of the loungers near the front of the ship. i use a area near the basketball court. very quiet, still gets bar service..plenty of sun.

another place is outside on deck 7..more shade, but still quiet.

[gordon fisherman]

I read on another post somewhere,maybe Whippets, they spoke directly to the Captian. He explained it wouldn't be until the Spirit went to dry dock (NOVEMBER) to fix the propeller problem, until then it would be a little slow getting places but would be completly safe! and there was no credit of any type to compensate for being late to Roatan, and we would be on time @ all other ports.......... sure we will! not according to Nolagirl99!!

[awatt]

Do you happen to know if the shore excursions still went on after docking late in Roatan?

 

I was on the 1/20 sailing. We docked about 3:15 and were off very quickly. They have redone teh shore excursions to adjust to the new times, so there will be excursions available. For instance the beach excursion now is a beach and sunset tour.

 

The week before us, the ship did not dock till 4PM. I heard it was because seas were rough.

 

We went horseback riding at Barrio Dorcas, had a greeat time and there was plenty of time to do it.

[Toyz711]

the 1st of dec, the week before the engine problems begin, we were an hour late getting into roatan. there was a big storm over the island. thunder and such...you can see the storm clouds in my photos. if felt like the ship slowed down to avoid the storm...i have one photo where i looked like a water spout or tornado was trying to form. the skies never cleared and it was cool and breezy...not good beach weather.

it was just one of those things...

in cozumel the tenders started about 8am...with the NCL tours meeting in the theater at 7:45. the big difference, they had security on the stairwell...to keep line jumpers out. they were very strict about the tendering.

same as recent cruises and we had all good engines. :D

[familyof4cruising]

the 1st of dec, the week before the engine problems begin, we were an hour late getting into roatan. there was a big storm over the island. thunder and such...you can see the storm clouds in my photos. if felt like the ship slowed down to avoid the storm...i have one photo where i looked like a water spout or tornado was trying to form. the skies never cleared and it was cool and breezy...not good beach weather.

it was just one of those things...

in cozumel the tenders started about 8am...with the NCL tours meeting in the theater at 7:45. the big difference, they had security on the stairwell...to keep line jumpers out. they were very strict about the tendering.

same as recent cruises and we had all good engines. :D

 

Thanks makes me feel better. I just hope I made the right choice. I am going on the Spirit with ill feelings from a prior trip, and now the engine problems. I enjoy NCL and never had any problems prior ,so I was hoping it was a one time occurance. Thanks

[NolaGirl99]

Sorry it took until this AM to reply--I was doing wash!

 

We were not given a reason for late arrival in Roatan. (at least I didn't get one) The weather was nice (Seas- moderate 4-8 feet both Monday and Tuesday according to the "ship weather channel " on the stateroom TV) the cruise staff told us that we were having the best weather and nicest seas that they had in the last few weeks-true or not--we were all fine!

 

The TV told us to expect arrival at 2:30. The first clue I had that we were late was when I did not see land from my balcony at 2:30! I went to the Stardust theater and there was a sign that said shore excursions scheduled to meet at 2:45pm will meet at 3:30 pm due to late arrival in Roatan. We were held there until 4:00. I don't ever remember hearing a reason for late arrival---I automatically assumed it was the engine problem. Honestly I was more concerned with just GETTING OFF! My hubby and kids did the Island Canopy tour and felt as if they had more than enough time to do all they wanted before dark. As a matter a fact my husband said he was able to "ZIP" down toward a palm tree on the beach at sunset and it was quite beautiful. (It crossed my mind that we should get a shipboard credit, since they told us 3:00, but since at the end of the day my hubby and kids were happy with their tour and my mom and I saw what we wanted to see I forgot about it.) HOWEVER-- If I had an independent tour booked I would not count on being in ROATAN at 3:00 and then remember they are going to take NCL tours off the ship first.

 

We did not tender in Cozumel, only Belize. Belize was fine (actually it was a little rainy so no one was in a hurry to get off of the ship, I guess). I can't even imagine what the hold up was in Cozumel. It was really not much later than expected-- I was more bothered by the lack of organization on NCL"s part. I can close my eyes now and still see an angry mob on the stairs waving yellow shore excursion tickets above their heads pushing and shoving to get off the ship.

 

 

[Nightingale03]

I've done some research about Spirit because we're considering taking a trip next Feb (09)....I've found info about activities for little kids, but what do they have (if anything) for teens? We have a 15....she'll be 16 by the time our next one comes up.

 

We just got back yesterday from a Carnival cruise..it was our second with them and they had a lot going on for kids and teens, but we want to try another cruise line....something nicer! Anything you guys can tell me about Norwegian or Spirit, feel free!

[LilRhody]

We heard that the late arrivals in Roatan and Cozumel were due to engine problems. Although we also heard that the late arrival in Roatan was due to the high winds we had on our first day at sea slowing the ship down. Who knows the truth.

 

In terms of excursions, many were canceled (including our catamara and snorkeling trip) and we heard from many others whose excursions were not canceled that they wish they had been. One couple we had dinner with said that they had a whole 20 minutes of daylight for their snorkeling excursion.

[criscruise]

I've done some research about Spirit because we're considering taking a trip next Feb (09)....I've found info about activities for little kids, but what do they have (if anything) for teens? We have a 15....she'll be 16 by the time our next one comes up.

 

We just got back yesterday from a Carnival cruise..it was our second with them and they had a lot going on for kids and teens, but we want to try another cruise line....something nicer! Anything you guys can tell me about Norwegian or Spirit, feel free!

 

We sailed on NCL Spirit a few years ago with a teenager. She was 14. Like most teenagers, when we went to sign her up , she was embarrassed that we would treat her like a little kid. We saw other parents at sign up dragging teenagers behind them. As it turned out, to this day, may daughter will tell you it was the best vacation we've ever had. There we at least 10 of them and they did EVERYTHING together. I could hardly get her off the ship to go on excursions with us. She wanted to stay with her new friends. I don't think she even ate dinner with us once. We went with it because she was doing great. She's kept in touch with several of these kids. They talk of meeting up again and cruising together sometime. The NCL staff organized dinners together, games, all kinds of things. There's an arcade & I think a teen "disco" if I'm remembering correctly. Hope your teen has as much fun. It was great!

[GORDONCHICK]

We just got back yesterday from a Carnival cruise..it was our second with them and they had a lot going on for kids and teens, but we want to try another cruise line....something nicer! Anything you guys can tell me about Norwegian or Spirit, feel free!

 

I don't know that NCL will be nicer than Carnival, just different. Each line has their pluses and minuses.

[gordon fisherman]

hi nightingale03, My two DS were 16&14 on RCCL Adveture of the Sea, it was their first cruise, and they LOVED IT !! As you probably know boys are very different than girls ! Safety issues,girl drama, etc. The boys "hooked" up w/other teens, some that were about 45 min. away from our hometown, even played against them in H.S. sports! They had the time of their lives! They never got into the teenclub,disco,or the arcade (wrong mix of age) but they did use the internet and hung out in public lounges. Maybe she can take a BFF or cousin? RCCL had a lot to offer them, besides the teen group thing. Some ships offer rock climbing wall,in-line skating,Ice skating,basketballl,bowling,pooltable,surfing, check their web site, RCCL.com

[NolaGirl99]

Nightengale03-

You just never now with teens--but my 16 year old daughter. DID NOT want to go with us last week on the Spirit. (She had a ball last year on Carnival but we were traveling with friends.) She went -reluctantly- to the teen meeting on the first night-after that we only saw her for shore excursions! She refused to admit she was having fun but she was in the teen club until they kicked the kids out about 12:30ish every night and the whole gaggle of them cried liked babies on the last night of the cruise! They have been text messaging from New Orleans ,South Dakota, Colorado and I don't even know where else all week. Everyone is everyone's "Facebook friend"-they miss each other sooo much! They knew each other for exactly one week! Teens just have a way!

 

Now we did go Mardi Gras week out of New Orleans and there were more teens than usual on board --but she seemed to make friends with kids from all over the US.

My 13 year old son did not go to the teen club and hung out with us all week. Thirteen year olds are put in the oldest age group in the teen club. He has only been 13 for a couple of weeks and is just not mature enough to deal with the teen thing. My daughter said most of the younger boys seemed miserable there and she didn't want her brother crashing her space -so to speak. He was happy to hangout playing sports with dad.

 

Hope this helps!