6 Day Spirit review AB PH suite 10502 part 1

[maryln]

My DH and I and our 4 year old DGD returned yesterday from our 6 day cruise on the Spirit. We were in AB Deluxe PH Suite 10502, in the corner, right under the bridge.

 

NYC: My son drove us in. I told myself beforehand to try & be calm. I'm glad I read the directions on CC how to get to the pier. I always take the train into NYC, but there was no way we were going to do that with the 4 year old & all that luggage. For anyone driving in through the Lincoln Tunnel, try to get into one of the lefthand tubes, because when you exit you'll want to bear to the left onto Dyer Ave. Make a left onto W.41st or W.42nd & a quick right onto 10th. The entrance to the terminal is at W.55th and the West Side Hwy. The cars were backed up a couple blocks to and down 10th. As was suggested to do on CC, make a left onto W.59th & go under the hwy. & make a left onto the frontage road. You'll see the signs to the terminal. I remained calm until DS said he was jumping out of the car when we were on the frontage road to use a porta-potty by a line of garbage trucks. No way...could he pick a worse time or spot? I made him wait. This was between 11:30 & noon & the traffic was quite something since both the Spirit & Dawn were in port. The Spirit was at Pier 88 so we had to inch our way past all the coming & going Dawn passengers. We found a porter and DS found a potty. I was afraid they weren't going to let him in the terminal, but they did. Whew! Since we were suite passengers we had a very fast check-in & sat in a room where there were snacks & juice, etc. available. We met our concierge, Jacky. She gave us our key cards & made our dinner reservations for the week. Of course we changed some of them later on, because of other things that were scheduled at the same time which we wanted to attend. At 12:30, the suite passengers that had their key cards followed Jacky onto the ship. We were not supposed to go to our suite until 2PM, so we explored a little then went to our deck and the steward, Leonardo, said it was fine if we wanted to drop off our carry-ons.

 

OUR SUITE: Wow! I've been in all kinds of cabins, from one on the SS Constitution under the waterline with a shared bathroom down the hall to nice balcony cabins. 10502 is awesome! There are 2 balconies, one under the bridge and 1 on the port side by the bedroom. There is a door between the living room and the bedroom. There isn't one between the huge bathroom and the bedroom. I think the bed is queen size, but it seemed bigger for some reason. The sofa pulled out for our DGD, but you know where she ended up. Yup! Right smack dab between the two of us. There's also a powder room & a bar. I'll post some photos when I figure out how to. My DH says from now on he only wants a cabin like this....terrific. There was champagne waiting for us & a bottle of wine & flowers from our TA. We met our butlers, Jojit & Jose, right away. They delivered canapes & fruit to our suite everyday. We really didn't ask them for too much during the cruise. We didn't have any meals delivered to us or anything like that. We kept the concierge busy, though. Jacky always came through for us with restaurant reservations & changes & excursion help & getting us off the ship quickly. She was so helpful.

 

1ST EVENING: We had a reservation at Le Bistro at 7. DH's one & only piece of luggage didn't arrive until 6:30. That was a relief when that showed up. The best thing I ate the whole week was the chocolate fondue at Le Bistro. It's served with fruit. If it's not on the menu, ask for it anyway. (Good thing I brought the Oxi Spray...the chocolate was all down the front of my DH. I can't take him anywhere!) :D

There was one show Sunday evening at 9:30, Chantz Powell, a very talented trumpet player. I almost forgot. We arrived at the theater after the lights had been turned down. I went through the door and made a right and almost walked right up the steps onto the stage! :eek: I don't think I've ever been in a ship theater in that location before. It's hard to sneak out of there, too. Sitting on the deck 8 level was better for that.

To be continued.....

[KerCar]

Looking forward to part 2:)

[Grandpaul]

We had that room last year. Had a great time and some great views out the front of the ship. Great place to sail into NY Harbor from. I'm also a big fan of Le Bistro. Had the Chateaubriand and loved it. My favorite meal.

[Chipster2]

Thanks for part 1. waiting for part 2.

[maryln]

We had that room last year. Had a great time and some great views out the front of the ship. Great place to sail into NY Harbor from. I'm also a big fan of Le Bistro. Had the Chateaubriand and loved it. My favorite meal.

Boy, I wish I knew that before. I had a million questions about 10502, especially where the outlets are located. Now I'm a 10502 outlet expert. That's why I put the suite # in the thread title, in case someone else had questions.

[maryln]

Hello, KerCar & Chipster2---I just finished part 2. :D

[PassionFruit]

Great review! I came across part 2 first, so I read it backwards. :p

 

We're sailing on the Spirit in a week. Can't wait! Thanks for posting!

[cod]

Wow. Sounds great. We are in a JJ for a December cruise out of NO so all-and-any info/advice is going into the memory bank.

 

I've also pulled out my 'in general' wish list and have added, "Call from the NCL upsell fairy offering us Suite 10502 for a song". I can hear you all now..."yeah, right!"

 

Thanks for your review!

[maryln]

Wow. Sounds great. We are in a JJ for a December cruise out of NO so all-and-any info/advice is going into the memory bank.

 

I've also pulled out my 'in general' wish list and have added, "Call from the NCL upsell fairy offering us Suite 10502 for a song". I can hear you all now..."yeah, right!"

 

Thanks for your review!

Well, you never know. I had orginally booked 10522. When I saw the price had dropped for the AB's to the exact same price I had paid for the smaller suite I called my excellent TA & we were UPGRADED to 10502! :D

I checked out all the other suites near our's on deck 10 after the pax had disembarked Sat. and they are all beautiful. Having the 2 balconies in our's was really something.

[capecodMT]

We are cruising on the Spirit for our first cruise and were wondering about this "upsell"? We currently are booked on a balcony room on the 11th deck. Are upsells offered as the cruise gets closer? How do you find out about them?

[cod]

You're right..you never know. As long as I don't hold my breath, there is no reason not to wish.

 

The closest I've come to having the word 'suite' in conjunction to my cabin number is our Sun Hawaii repositioning cruise last September. We started in an inside but when outsides went down to just a few dollars more, we called and upgraded. (I was working as a part-time TA at the time and could do my own haggling). THEN the upsell fairy called a couple of weeks before sailing and we were offered a balcony or a suite...both - to my mind - for more than they should have been asking. We did end up with a balcony because she was willing to negotiate on it but not the suite. HOWEVER if DH (also known as CS and PP) wasn't sitting next to me when she called I might just have taken the plunge!! I am glad we at least had a balcony for that one as I sat out there often. Not only for the days in-and-around Hawaii but even on the days crossing the Pacific.

 

I also enjoyed your part II which I found after reading this!!

[Toyz711]

We are cruising on the Spirit for our first cruise and were wondering about this "upsell"? We currently are booked on a balcony room on the 11th deck. Are upsells offered as the cruise gets closer? How do you find out about them?

 

 

the spirit doesn't have any mini-suites and very few suites. if you are, already, in a BA..you are as high as you can go..other then a suite.

chances are very slim. you can check, on-line, and see if any of the suites are available...then cross your fingers. only the upsell fairy knows who will get the next call.

last dec, on the spirit...they only has 1 suite availabe 3 weeks before the cruise, the others were sold. no chance for a suite upgrade. some of the oceanview and inside cabins were offered balcony upgrade, since the insides and oceanviews could be resold easily.

[capecodMT]

Thanks for the info about the upgrades availability. We're new to this cruising...and have lots of questions. Looking forward to our 25th anniversary celebration onboard the Spirit May 17 cruise!! Thanks again!!:o

[Grandpaul]

Thanks for the info about the upgrades availability. We're new to this cruising...and have lots of questions. Looking forward to our 25th anniversary celebration onboard the Spirit May 17 cruise!! Thanks again!!:o

 

Just a word of warning. We took our first cruise for our 25th anniversary and we just completed our 40th cruise. I hope they never come up with a cure for this addiction.

[Grandpaul]

I believe I attached these pics of the room properly.

[maryln]

**Right after we arrived in our suite there was a knock on our door & a young woman was standing there. She introduced herself & said she was in the suite next door. I was thinking that was nice of her, but she was really there to tell us to be quiet, because her 2 year old was sleeping & he does every day at that time. The whole cruise we felt we had to whisper & keep the TV's down low. She was right. You can hear everything through the screen that divides the suites. I heard her kid crying the whole cruise.

**Regarding the electrical outlets, there is a US outlet (max 500 watts) by the bar where we plugged in our power strip. I also noticed on the hairdryer there are outlets for shavers only (115V & 230V). I brought along a dual voltage hairdryer, but never used it. The ship's hairdryer was fine.

**I've seen some questions about the shampoo & soap brand. It was the Frances Denney Spa Collection in the suite.

**There are 2 safes in the closet. Also, shelves & 5 drawers. We put our DGD's clothes in the drawers in the TV entertainment center in the living room. Most of the suitcases fit under the bed where I stored more clothes. We left the larger ones next to the bar. They probably would have stored them for us, but they weren't in the way so we left them there.

**There is a full length mirror in the shower. :eek: I was glad when that fogged up! There's also a seat & the showerhead lowered which was good for the 4 year old. The water pressure was really low one evening around 6PM.

**Regarding the ship, I saw some rust here & there, but everything was very clean. I saw lots of polishing being done.

**My DGD drinks a lot of juice. There was apple, cranbury & orange juice at breakfast. I should have filled a water bottle with it for the day, because I ended up paying for it at lunch. We ordered it at dinner-n/c. They have Splenda, Equal & Sweet 'n Low in case you're wondering. There was a large bottle of water in the fridge in the suite-n/c for the first one. I brought some iced tea mix which I put in it.

[JoJo1554]

Hey Maryln, Thanks for the post, this is awesome! I'm going to be in suite 10002 on 5/17. I have heard that the balcony is very windy and in some cases unuseable when the ship is in motion...did you find this to be the case?

[marilynd]

Thanks for the great review. My DH and I are on the Spirit just two weeks from Sunday. We are in an Owners's suite on the aft of the ship.

 

I have a couple of questions:

 

(1) Did you have a hair dryer in your suite?

 

(2) What were some of the movies available from the butler? We they current? What TV channels were you able to get onboard?

 

Thanks

[maryln]

Hey Maryln, Thanks for the post, this is awesome! I'm going to be in suite 10002 on 5/17. I have heard that the balcony is very windy and in some cases unuseable when the ship is in motion...did you find this to be the case?

We mostly were out there when leaving & arriving at ports. It rained the first sea day & the second sea day, on the return, we were at the pool. If it was too windy we just looked out the window. Be sure to bring binoculars & a wind jackets. You're are absolutely going to love it!

I took some photos of your suite on the last day. I can email them to you if you'd like. I haven't had a chance to figure out how to attach them here yet.

[JoJo1554]

That would be awesome if you could email them to me! My email is Joanne_Hasko@yahoo.com. Thanks so much!

[maryln]

That would be awesome if you could email them to me! My email is Joanne_Hasko@yahoo.com. Thanks so much!

I will when I return from D.C. on Sun.:)

[maryln]

That would be awesome if you could email them to me! My email is Joanne_Hasko@yahoo.com. Thanks so much!

I just emailed the photos to you. Have a wonderful time!

[maryln]

Thanks for the great review. My DH and I are on the Spirit just two weeks from Sunday. We are in an Owners's suite on the aft of the ship.

 

I have a couple of questions:

 

(1) Did you have a hair dryer in your suite?

 

(2) What were some of the movies available from the butler? We they current? What TV channels were you able to get onboard?

 

Thanks

1.) Yes, we did have a hairdryer in suite 10502, which worked fine for me. I brought a dual voltage one with me, but never used it.

 

2.) There was a book with the DVD titles in it. I don't remember any current movies in it. We didn't ask for any from the butler. I brought a couple DVD's for our DGD to watch. "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was one of them....what was I thinking?

There are 2 TV's...one in the bedroom & one in the livingroom. We usually had the Cartoon Channel on one of them. From what I can remember, there were the ship's channels (web cam, news from the bridge, safety info, excursion info), at least one news channel (CNN), and an old movies channel (black & whites). I can't remember if there was a sports channel, but I remember seeing sports on the TV's in the bars.

 

Have a terrific cruise!

[hargis]

I also stayed in this beautiful suite. Here's a link I found before I left.

 

http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/bmn68/Room%2010502/

[marilynd]

Thanks for the information

 

The picture of the AB penthouse looks beautiful. I am in an AA and I can imagine it is equally as nice.

 

I saw that there was a regular ship phone on the wet bar.

Does the penthouse suite include a cordless phone that you can take around the ship to call the Butler, Concierge etc.?