Back from teh 4/19/08 SPIRIT!!

[Smellytoes]

Hey Andy, it was great meeting you and Judy and one of the kids as well. I can't wait to read your review. The lines were absolutely ridiculous, I was worried about arriving too early, because I know how those lines can be.

 

If so, I will only leave from Bklyn or Bayonne from now on. I hate waiting in Manhattan.

 

Please don't swear off Manhattan all together. It's usually not that bad. I've left out of Manhattan 5 times now and it's the first time I saw that kind of a nightmare.

[familyof4cruising]

Please don't swear off Manhattan all together. It's usually not that bad. I've left out of Manhattan 5 times now and it's the first time I saw that kind of a nightmare.

 

That was my 6 time out of NYC, and I have NEVER seen something like that. My first impression was this is what is always going to happen with the 4th engine being out, but when we came in on time to NYC, I realized that they must have hit a storm on the way up. Believe me that does not happen often at all! I have always been on board by 1:00 the latest ( all times from NYC with NCL). I did find it annoying with the "SORRY we are early again" from the CD. As if they were compensating for the DISASTER embarkment.

 

Again I have and had my issues with the Spirit, but that is my fault until she is refurbished I need to stay away. Although I had my issues with the ship, NCL was a pleasure to my family.

[KerCar]

 

For those interested, we chose to wait on board with the last (white) luggage tags. We waited in Galaxy till the final call and walked of the ship with no effort at ~12:45.

 

Thanks for the info on disembarkation.

 

I feel your pain about having to wait in line. We had to wait 3 hours last year with two small children:( We found out that it was due to a customs issue. Someone from the previous sailing was caught bringing drugs into the country. The customs agents run the show and whenever something like this happens it turns embarkation/disembarkation into a nightmare. Sounds like something like this might have happened with your sailing. Like the others said, what happened to you and I are the exception to the rule. Leaving from NYC is usally a breeze:) Even with the long wait we had a GREAT trip and look forward to leaving from NY again in 2 weeks:D

[KerCar]

Thanks, we had a ball. Disembarkation was okay for us, we did express and were off the ship by 11 or so. They called express embarkation first and we ran with our suitcases.

 

Darin was the cruise director aka "Fatty Matty, your bingo daddy" God! That got annoying.

 

Thanks for the info:) I wonder if the CD was the same one we had last year. He was Darin Earl from Canada. I had heard there was a new CD on the Spirit. Maybe Darin was on leave for the past few sailings and now he's back???

[CaptainChoppers]

So happy to hear that you had a great time on the Spirit! DH and I will be on the 6/14 sailing. Did you visit the casino on board? If so, how was it. Also, did they have the soft-serve ice cream this time. Thanks:)

[debjo]

THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEW...

We sail on 5/17...so here are the first of my questions:

1. How many "dress-up"/formal nights and what evenings were they for your NYC to Eastern Caribbean itinerary?

2. What were your favorite spots on the ship?

3. My husband collects "ship" memorabilia...what type of offerings did the gift shops have (i.e. key chains, magnets, floaty pens, post cards, anything with the "SPIRIT" ship on them)?

4. Ditto on the "soft-serve" ice cream...is it available?

5. How warm was it in San Juan, Samana, & Tortola?

6. What shipboard activities are NOT to be missed?

 

Thanks for your answers to these "very important" questions!

 

Debjo

[muwarr90]

Thrilled to hear you had a great time!

 

Any issues with rough seas and the stabilizers? There were some reviews (one particularly dramatic) about the last cruise that implied there was a problem with ths ship stabilizers.

 

 

What's the temperature like during the sea days? Is a light jacket needed at all?

[plcruiser]

I think a large problem with the disembarkation was that so many people decided to take their own luggage. The ship got in about 8:00ish and passengers immediately started heading to the 7th deck with their luggage. I don't understand why NCL didn't make some announcement telling passengers not to come up to the 7th deck until 10:30 which was the time listed in the previous days daily. The entire 7th deck was a madhouse with everyone banging their luggage into everyone. There was barely any room to walk on deck 7; a lot less when you are carrying luggage. One lady was screaming on the top of her lungs at an NCL officer.

 

Your best bet is to wait in your cabin or go up to deck twelve and relax and wait for deck 7 to clear. There were hundreds of people that waited for hours on deck 7 when there was really no need for it.

[bruinfan1967]

Which excursion did you do in Samana? We booked the Cayo Levantado and are wondering if there are rentals there - chairs, scuba gear, etc.

It seems that the problems with embarkation and debarkation have not happened on other NY sailings....I hope that we have better luck

 

Cayo Levantado was excellent Snorkel and Mask for 20.00. We did the Virgin Gorda in Tortola which was awesome and we did the city tour in San Juan which we liked it was a good choice for us with the kids....

[bagelsnbrew]

THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEW...

We sail on 5/17...so here are the first of my questions:

1. How many "dress-up"/formal nights and what evenings were they for your NYC to Eastern Caribbean itinerary?

2. What were your favorite spots on the ship?

3. My husband collects "ship" memorabilia...what type of offerings did the gift shops have (i.e. key chains, magnets, floaty pens, post cards, anything with the "SPIRIT" ship on them)?

4. Ditto on the "soft-serve" ice cream...is it available?

5. How warm was it in San Juan, Samana, & Tortola?

6. What shipboard activities are NOT to be missed?

 

Thanks for your answers to these "very important" questions!

 

Debjo

 

1. I have no idea. I didn't bring a suit and paid no attention to the Freestyle Daily. I did notice that there were more dressed up people around on 2 nights.

2.Daytime, my kids loved the rear pool. Nights, the Observatory which is really the ring around the Galaxy of the stars.

3. Didn't look and wouldn't buy. My guess is that they'll be overpriced.

4. No soft serve, but there's is ice cream in Raffles from lunch through dinner. With less kids on board, maybe there won't be an almost constant line like on our cruise.

5. All were WARM. SJ and Tortola were in the mid 80's, Samana hit 90

6. There were shipboard activities?:D We did a margarita tasting and there were almost constant announcements for Bingo. We traveled with 2 kids, so they took up a lot of our time.

 

Have a great trip!

[bagelsnbrew]

Please don't swear off Manhattan all together. It's usually not that bad. I've left out of Manhattan 5 times now and it's the first time I saw that kind of a nightmare.

 

It's Russian roulette! If you get the refurbished piers, you're probably OK. If not, you're screwed. I've left twice from NYC, both from that pier, both sucked. With the ship being so late, everyone should have been checked in, not just the center section. There's no excuse for holding everyone in pens for hours then releasing them in groups to stand on another line to register. This issue has happened before...repeatedly, for years (I had plenty of time to talk to the workers and security guards) and the PA just doesn't care. To scare you more, we didn't even have it bad, there have been waits of up to 8 hours in the past. The main reason RCI went to NJ and Carnival went to Red Hook was because the city refuses to fully renovate that facility and run it properly. They can't prevent a ship from coming in late. They can make and should make boarding quicker and more efficient and at least make the wait more comfortable.

[debjo]

THANKS BAGELSNBREW...

...for all of your quick answers! I just got done reading your review...thank for posting that so quickly after your trip! Since your cruise was the first in this season's Eastern Caribbean itinerary...do you think that may have had anything to do with the difficulties you encountered on board with the "lines" & "food"? Perhaps there has been a change-over with the crew since the SPIRIT repositioned after New Orleans.

 

Debjo

[heatherandfred]

Thanks for the info:) I wonder if the CD was the same one we had last year. He was Darin Earl from Canada. I had heard there was a new CD on the Spirit. Maybe Darin was on leave for the past few sailings and now he's back???

 

Darin sucks! I think that he could have done a better job with the goings on around the ship. There was really not a lot to do, besides that damned bingo that went on all day every day (Well it felt like it).

[morich]

:D :D :D !!!!!!!

 

Hi All:

 

We (20 friends and family) are just off the ship as well! I can say that we absolutely had the time of our lives!

 

Food in the buffet was ok, Windows and Garden were better and Cagneys was even better!

 

I argree with Sarah that the CD Darin was a bore!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really didn't connect with him or feel like he even cared if the guest were entertained. It appeared to me that as long as he was entertained by himself, then all was well..........

 

Here's the good news! We did have the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Joe Peach! He is a Host and was just the best!!!!!!!!!! Always happy, dancing and greeted us with a big smile! I cannot say enough about him.

 

Also, the dance crew, Paul, Jacob, Kevin and James.............. They made our cruise! Such fun and extremely talented dancers. I can add them to my list of very favorite people and will miss them the most.

 

 

BAR STAFF: If yoou enjoy drinks served with a smile and attentive staff, make sure you get to know Brenda and Reynaldo!

 

Do try to meet them, you will love all of them, I promise!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you run into any of these crew members please please please tell them that Maura/Momo says hello!

 

To be honest, I was pretty aware that there were a lot of people complaining for one reason or another. Every time someone asked if I was enjoying my cruise and I rave about how great everything was going, people would ask if we were on the same ship! This was a vacation cruise with lots of kids and was sometimes hectic with that number of kids, but we made the best of it!

 

San Juan: Went to the El San Juan hotel to rent jet skis - just ok. You could only ride in circles in front of the hotel. Wouldn't do it again.

 

Tortola: Took an open air bus at the pier on our own. Milton, the happiest driver, took us on an open bus tour of the island to the top of the island restaurant and beach. The scenery, landscape, beach and views were outstanding. $20.00 per person. Would absolutely do it again!

 

Samana: Cayo - loved it. Booked it that morning at 7:00 am with no trouble. The locals do become a little agressive but not too bad with the "hard sell". Did hear of a couple that experienced some violence in the "town" and were terrified but I did not witness. Probably won't go back there.

 

All in all great time. Great company and a whole bunch of new great friends.

[KerCar]

Darin sucks! I think that he could have done a better job with the goings on around the ship. There was really not a lot to do, besides that damned bingo that went on all day every day (Well it felt like it).

 

It sounds like he is the same guy from my last cruise. I personally had nothing against him, but a lot of people have complained about him and I was hoping for someone different to change things up a bit.

[plcruiser]

[quote name='KerCar']It sounds like he is the same guy from my last cruise. I personally had nothing against him, but a lot of people have complained about him and I was hoping for someone different to change things up a bit.[/quote]

This is one of the problems I felt the Spirit had; [B]the Spirit actually lacked Spirit[/B]. You really had to go out of your way to find out what was going on. I remember being on the Dawn and people having a lot of fun on the Pub Crawls with the cruise director. On the Spirit it just seemed liked the cruise director was almost invisible most of the time.

[crociera]

Great review. I have a couple of questions.

San Juan, which port.
No space under the beds for suitcases, 4 in cabin:eek:.
What time were you able to disimbark in NY.
My first time cruising NCL, I'm a little nervous.

[Tatka]

[quote name='crociera']Great review. I have a couple of questions.

San Juan, which port.
No space under the beds for suitcases, 4 in cabin:eek:.
What time were you able to disimbark in NY.
My first time cruising NCL, I'm a little nervous.[/quote]

In San Juan I thing we used Pier #1, the one with US Customs.

We had two midsize bags and were able to fit them under one bed, there was a mattress under another. Space was tight for three of us (two of which are males).. we barely had enough hangers for casual closing and 1 dress, DH didn't even take his suit.

We used express disembarkation and were ashore at about 11.

Don't be nervous, with all small problems we had we still enjoyed Spirit alot.. Ship is nice... Pool area beats X C-class ships easily... and I think I liked ship design even a little better than my favourite Century's and Mercury's.

[Toyz711]

some of the cabins do have space under the beds. in our balcony, i had to ..slightly...lift the bed to allow my luggage to slide under. there was a small lip, once it got past that lip, it was fine. cabin that sleep more then 2, often have another bed under the main bed. i take wire hangers or old hangers..never find enough on my cruises.

[crociera]

Thanks Tatka,

[COLOR=red]In San Juan I thing we used Pier #1, the one with US Customs[/COLOR]

Is Pier #1 in Old San Juan or The Pan American port?
Would have loved to book 2 cabins, but with 2 kids in college it is not possible:D .

[Tatka]

[quote name='crociera']Thanks Tatka,

[COLOR=red]In San Juan I thing we used Pier #1, the one with US Customs[/COLOR]

Is Pier #1 in Old San Juan or The Pan American port?
Would have loved to book 2 cabins, but with 2 kids in college it is not possible:D .[/quote]

Opps.. "thing" :D I [I]think[/I] we used Pier #1.

In Old San Juan.

[KerCar]

[quote name='crociera']
No space under the beds for suitcases, 4 in cabin:eek:.
[/QUOTE]

I had a cabin for 4. One of the beds had a trundle underneath. The other had plenty of room for us to store 3 large suitcases.

Enjoy your trip:)