Spirit 5/31-6/8 Pleasantly Surprised!

[Monaco02]

We recently returned from our first cruise with NCL. I must admit we were a bit apprehensive due to the numerous negative reviews we read about NCL and in particular the Spirit. However, we are positive thinking people who generally take reviews with a grain of salt. Our past cruises have all been with HAL and Princess and I have to say we were very happy with our NCL experience and actually took advantage of their cruise rewards program to book our next cruise! I am not going to do a day to day review, just some random thoughts and our opinions on things. I will warn you that some may be negative - but remember I said we enjoyed our cruise enough to book another one !!

 

EMBARKATION: I would like to know the method for handing out numbers for boarding! We arrived very early (we had relatives drop us off) and were given number 12, people in front of us got number 20, people that arrived an hour later were given number 8. Just seems strange. They also should give the man announcing the numbers to board, a megaphone - where we were sitting we could not hear him or see the number he was holding up, therefore a huge group of people swarmed over to where he was standing to see what was going on! No big deal, just seemed a bit unorganized compared to our other sailings.

 

OUR CABIN: We had a balcony cabin on deck 11. Since I had researched and seen photos of it I knew what to expect. We actually liked the layout of the bathroom and the shower was roomy. The hair dryer is another story! The air pressure coming out of it isn’t bad, maybe even better than other cabin dryers I’ve used, however, it’s very hard to direct the flow for some reason - maybe because it comes out of a rectangular shape instead of round? Plus the tube gets extremely hot after a few minutes. I gave up trying to use it after 2 days and just air dried ! The balcony was the smallest balcony we’ve ever had, but better than nothing. We thought it was odd that they never cleaned the balcony glass - every cruise we’ve been on they come through and clean the balcony glass at the first port. It was so dirty you could barely see through it - tried cleaning it ourselves but plain water and a towel didn’t help. A piece of the ceiling of our balcony fell off on the 2nd day - we really didn’t care, just put the piece off to the side, well the room steward must have seen it and reported it - a maintenance guy showed up a few days later and fixed it. Speaking of room steward - they were both very pleasant and nice, however, they were consistently late with tending to our room. It got annoying especially on port days. We got back from an excursion at 1:30 (hot, sweaty, wet bathing suit, etc) and just wanted to get a shower and chill on our balcony and he still hadn’t done our room - wet towels from the morning were still on the floor, etc. Same at night, our room typically did not get turn down until 9:30 - 10:00 ! We tried putting the “makeup room please” sign in the door but it really doesn’t matter if you do or not! On HAL our room stewards have always “learned” our habits quickly and room was always done by the time you got back from breakfast or dinner. I just think they do them in a particular order and not by who has left their room and who hasn’t.

 

FOOD: We ate almost every night at Windows. We actually have never paid extra to eat in a specialty restaurant on any cruise, I just don’t see the sense in it. Meals there were hit and miss. I only had one entrée that I felt was disgusting. It was garlic chicken. I am not a fussy eater, but I took one look at it and was grossed out before I even tasted it! You know they say you eat with your eyes before your tongue - how true! It was chicken on rice and covering the whole thing was a neon yellow sauce that looked like bile (being a former nurse didn’t help). I ended up eating some of it, my husband actually thought it wasn’t bad! We thought the portion sizes were perfect, I’m always shocked when people say the portions are too small - it’s a five course meal; the appetizer, soup and salad aren’t supposed to be “supersized” ! We generally had excellent service, usually had to wait a bit for coffee and desert, but it eventually would arrive!

We ate at Blue Lagoon one night - excellent burger and fries. Raffles for lunch and breakfast. Lunch had a good selection, I would have liked to have seen more items at the salad bar. Sandwiches were also good. Deserts were very boring - I usually can’t decide what to pick but on this ship I ate more fruit than anything for desert. Breakfast had a lot of choices but most of the food was cold - I just cannot eat cold scrambled eggs, I did have waffles (hot off the waffle maker) that were good and my husband said the omelets were very good also. A bit disappointed in only 2 juices (OJ and cranberry) HAL has at least 6 I can think of. Thought it was strange that the buffet was closed (except for coffee, tea, water) at 9:00 at night. We’re used to buzzing through late at night and grabbing some pizza, cookies, or whatever. I know, you can get something from Blue Lagoon, but we found it annoying to have to sit down, order, etc. when you just want to grab something and go. Speaking of cookies - there were none !!! HAL and Princess have several varieties out all the time and they’re to die for! Oh well, less calories is a good thing. We also typically order room service several times - this was our first cruise that we never utilized room service due to the lousy choices. Really missed having a hot breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, coffee) delivered in the morning.

 

FREESTYLE: As far as the freestyle concept, it didn’t feel any different than our past several cruises. Both HAL and Princess have “anytime dining” now so we’ve been “eating when we want, where we want and with whom we want” for a while now! Absolutely no difference at all. The only difference is the dress code. This was our first cruise that we didn’t need to pack formal clothes. I liked not having to dress up !

 

THE SHIP: We knew (from research) that the Spirit was an older ship and in need of some refurbishing, so the carpet stains, rust on the balcony, cloudy windows, etc. really didn’t bother us. I’m sure after drydock she’ll be beautiful again. As far as people saying they felt it “moved” a lot and mentioning stabilizer problems - we don’t know what they’re talking about! We were in an aft cabin and felt very little roll and less vibration than on newer ships. If they want to feel movement they should have been on the Noordam in February - for 2 days we had 15-20 ft waves and gale force wind! We had 2 bottles of champagne fly off the desk in the middle of the night.

The pool area is just ridiculous (as is on most ships) on sea days. There’s just not enough space for the number of people trying to utilize it. We just avoid it like the plague - not my idea of relaxing being crammed into a small area with a bunch of annoying people.

 

CASINO: We thoroughly enjoyed the casino! Free drinks (always tipped) are a huge plus for us, as are the points towards on board credit with your players card. We found the slots to be much looser the first 3 nights and the last 2 nights than the days in between when we had been in ports. I know they say that casinos cannot adjust the machines (including land based casinos) however quite a few other people noticed the same thing. I know a lot of people complain about it being smoky but we didn’t think it was that bad. My husband absolutely hates smoke (and I smoke!) and he said it didn’t bother him at all.

 

CREW: In one word - Excellent! The staff and crew were extremely friendly, cheerful and helpful. I definitely would rate the crew as equal to the quality of crew on HAL. Everyone you passed by would say hello and smile. This may not seem like a big thing to some people, but we find it’s nice to see that a ship has a happy staff.

 

PASSENGERS: Very diversified mix from young singles to families to elderly. We witnessed the usual rude, no class type of people and the complainers. My biggest gripe was many people in the buffet with no shoes on and no shirt (men of course) Do these people have absolutely no common sense? Are they allowed in any restaurant at home without shoes or shirt on? Totally disgusting to be standing next to some sweaty shirtless man dishing out food! We actually saw people walking through Blue Lagoon and other indoor public areas without shoes on also.

 

As I said, we had a great time and are already looking to book our next cruise, most likely the Gem in February. To all those who are hesitant about NCL, I say go for it and don’t knock it till you try it ! And, a big thank you for all the great information and photos I found on the CC NCL board !!!

[Toyz711]

cookies vary...some of the blue lagoons have them to just grab and run.

you can get ice tea/coffee at the self serves at the blue lagoons...

it's tricky to learn where everything is hiden on each ship...

glad you enjoyed the spirit...you did your homework well.

since you are now a latitude member, you will get treats...maybe even cookies...on your next cruise. :D

[electricron]

Sorry, double post.

[electricron]

From what I read, it seems you had a great time aboard the Spirit. The Spirit next overhaul-drydock is late this fall. You shouldn't be surprised how much wear and tear a ship takes over three years. You've seen the wear.

 

Did you forget that the Spirit has two pools, and two areas to sun? I assume you weren't happy about the pool deck pool, being too crowded, but did you try finding a chair at the kids pool area near the stern?

 

You could have found cookies near the Atrium by the coffee ship. Expecting everything to be at one locale, specifically the buffet, is slightly foolish when there so many places to find food aboard the Spirit. Did you or your mate try the knats at the Biergarten or the fish & chips in Henry's Pub?

 

After discovering that the scrambled eggs at the Buffet were cold, why didn't you try eating breakfast at Windows or the Garden Room? Lack of time? Or did you forget you're sailing on a NCL ship, which opens one main restaurant for breakfast? I guess too many cruisers are used to not having the main restaurant option. They just commonly herd themselves to the Buffet for breakfast and lunch. It's a common complaint I read here, but the eggs would have been served hot at the main restaurant. You could have had eggs benedict instead of cold scrambled eggs!

 

And did you find Leo in the Bridge Observatory under the Galaxy of the Stars?

[jnmrlk]

From what I read of your review you sail on HAL allot - do you like that line?? I had read they are really firm on the times you eat and how your dress, the one thing I do like about NCL is their casual attire at dining - how does HAL compare to that?

[Toyz711]

the blue lagoon serves breakfast, also...made to order.

also, on the spirit...don't settle for the eggs that are sitting there...go over to the omelet stations, they will cook eggs any way you want.

[JBug]

cookies were in the casino too at different times of the day

[Chipster2]

Thanks for your review, good to hear that you enjoyed your time on the Spirit.

[Monaco02]

Hi jnmrlk! Yes, we really do like sailing with HAL. I know a lot of people think it's a "stuffy, snobby" type of line, especially when you read the posts on their board. However, we found it really isn't like that at all. They now have "as you wish dining" where you just show up anytime at the main dining room. We always have gotten a table for 2 without any problem. They also have assigned dining times (in another dining room) if you prefer to do it that way and specialty restaurants (for a fee). As far as dress code, they do have formal nights where you need to be dressed formally to enter the dining rooms. You can always go to the buffet or order room service - you can order anything off the main dining room menu for dinner, delivered to your room. Dress on casual nights is basically the same as NCL - no shorts, tank tops, jeans in dining rooms.

[WEPunkin]

Hi Monaco02:

 

I enjoyed reading your posting. We too, just got back from being on the same cruise, the same time as you.

 

We were pleasantly surprised too. We didn't go expecting too much after reading some of the postings in regards to the Spirit.

 

We were in cabin 9210 on the back of the ship. I usually don't have any trouble sleeping on cruises. This time both my husband and myself had trouble getting to sleep. It wasn't the rocking of the ship, but the rattle, squeaks, popping sounds, etc. The pillows and mattress were new and nice. We loved our cabin with the big bathtub and walkin shower and windows in both tub and shower areas. The cabin attendants were very good. Of course, it helps when you have a concierge and a butler to interven on your behalf. I am not bragging, just very thankful for them and all their help. I know every cabin doesn't have this, I wish they did.

 

My husband made the comment, that this was the littlest balcony we have ever had to be in a suite catagory. I think it goes with the age of the ship maybe. We didn't let the wear, tear, and the rust spoil our vacation. Our cabin could actually have done without so much furniture in it. After the drydock in November, I was told there would be quite a change take place. I wouldn't mind going on the Spirit again next year to see the changes.

 

 

We did notice the portions were smaller, but you could ask for more, this wasn't a problem for us. I did miss the cookies. We ate mostly ice cream for dessert. By having the cabin we did, we got food delivered to our room everyday but one. We did not go hungry any of the time. We did not order room service, we went to Windows and the La Traelltio (sp) a couple of times. We discovered the Blue Lagoon the last night and ate there and really enjoyed this place. Only sorry we didn't go there earlier on.

 

My husband did clean the sliding glass door, which helped. Noticed the glass did need to be cleaned on the balcony. No one never cleaned this area.

 

We had more trouble with the airlines coming home than with the cruise its' self. Thought we would never get out of New York on NWA. We sat on the airplane from 3:30 p.m. and didn't get off until 9:30 p.m. and the flight was only 1 3/4 hr long. According to the pliot the weather in Detroit was the problem. We got to where we didn't believe anything he told us.

People were hungry, thirsty, hot, worried about connecting flights and short on patiences.

 

We thank the good Lord, that our plane in Detroit to Evansville, was also delayed or we would have had to spend the night in Detroit. We finally got home about 10:30 p.m. without our checkin luggage, which was delivered the next day to us.

 

We do have another cruise booked for Sept. with NCL on the Dawn, looking forward to it. This was our 5th cruise with NCL. (We have had 2 bad cruises, 2 good cruises and now this was the tie breaker.)

 

Most of the time, cruises/vacation are what you make them. Don't go expecting everything to be perfect and enjoy the small things. We enjoyed staying in our cabin and doing nothing alot of the time. I know this isn't for everyone either, but after you have been on several cruises, it is just nice to enjoy the cabin and what it has to offer.

 

The ship came into most ports early and pretty much left on time. We traveled most of the time at 21.0 knots. Didn't notice the ship having any problems.

 

Sorry this is becoming so long, but just wanted to express what we experienced on this cruise. Enjoy the Spirit if you have a cruise booked.

 

Wanda

[SailAways]

Thank you for a very well written and "fair" review. We loved the Spirit.

 

Nice also to learn of the HAL anytime dining. This is a plus for any cruise.

We are happy to learn that on HAL, you do not need to attend formal evening in order to eat. This is a good thing to be aware of.

 

Thanks again. Your information is greatly appreciated.

[Alex in VA]

The Spirit next overhaul-drydock is late this fall. You shouldn't be surprised how much wear and tear a ship takes over three years. You've seen the wear.

 

I am considering a December sailing on the Spirit and would consider it even more strongly if I knew if I knew it would be overhauled before then - would the overhaul you mention be completed by then?

 

Thanks.

[electricron]

I am considering a December sailing on the Spirit and would consider it even more strongly if I knew if I knew it would be overhauled before then - would the overhaul you mention be completed by then?

 

Thanks.

 

The Spirit's break in its schedule, during which the drydock will occur, starts October 31st and ends November 23rd.

 

Therefore, I'm very sure the Spirit's drydock and overhaul will be finished by December.

[CruisnGram]

We recently returned from our first cruise with NCL. I must admit we were a bit apprehensive due to the numerous negative reviews we read about NCL and in particular the Spirit. However, we are positive thinking people who generally take reviews with a grain of salt. Our past cruises have all been with HAL and Princess and I have to say we were very happy with our NCL experience and actually took advantage of their cruise rewards program to book our next cruise! I am not going to do a day to day review, just some random thoughts and our opinions on things. I will warn you that some may be negative - but remember I said we enjoyed our cruise enough to book another one !!

 

 

Many of us get labeled NCL cheerleaders, but after reading what you wrote, I'm sure you can understand why we are labeled. No, NCL is FAR from perfect, but for some reason, people get total pleasure out of writing horrrible reviews, and stirring up trouble on the NCL board. It gets old after a while and the worst part, is that all the negativity scares a lot of people who haven't sailed NCL, like yourself. Those of us who have had excellent cruises with NCL jump in to give our opinions and are then labeled cheerleaders. It can be very frustrating and I'm glad you didn't let the negative reviews influence your cruise experience.

 

Glad that you had a great time. :-)

[CaptainChoppers]

WEPunkin: DH and I will be on the Spirit in Suite 9210 this Saturday. Can you tell me the name of the Concierge and butler? Also, were there any other 2.0 features, such as the flat screen TV? Did the balcony have lounge chairs? Thanks for your help!:)

[WEPunkin]

CaptainChoppers:

 

You will enjoy cabin 9210. We stay in our cabin alot and just relax and read, etc. The name of the Butler was Jojit and he was great. The Concierge was Humerto Abarca and we really liked him too. The room stewards were also nice and did a good job. Tell them we said hello from Ken & Wanda

 

The bathroom is to die for. We have stayed in Owner Suites, Royal family suites (family of 6) and 9210 was the best of all the bathrooms we have had so far. A large window over the tub and a very nice long window in the shower area. I would like to go back on this ship after the drydock is complete. Our Butler talked to us about some of the remodeling.

 

We have also been on the Jewel and the Pearl which are newer ships, but we still enjoyed the Spirit. We are going on the Dawn in Sept. to Canada/New England and looking forward to this cruise as well. Only thing we have a cabin on the corner and it is not laid out as good as the 9210 on the Spirit. A porthole in the shower area and I think 3 small windows over the tub area. We usually try to book a corner cabin on all our cruises.

 

We did have the new pillows and mattresses, but the tv was small and old. The tv in the bedroom was very small in a nice cabinet. No new lounge chairs either. Some wear on the carpet and furniture, but overlooked this for the other nice things to enjoy. Very little room to get in the bed on both sides. Nice closet, but not much room between bed and closet with 2 safes inside the closet. Room for one person at a time.

 

If you think of anything else you want to ask, just do so or you can email me at har6877@yahoo.com. Be glad to answer your questions if I can.

 

WEH

[cruisegal98]

I've been on the dawn twice and I was wondering if the spirit compares? just wondering. I did love the Dawn

[jnmrlk]

I much perferred the Dawn - and not just because the Spirit is in need of an overhaul right now.

I preferred the pool set up at the Dawn and I thought the food and entertainment was better on the Dawn.

However, on the Spirit you can sit on deck 13 - way in the back and watch the wake against the blue ocean - that was beautiful.

If my choice was about ship and not itinenary - I'd choose the Dawn.

[cruisegal98]

I just want a nice relaxing cruise, hopefully the spirit will provide that/

[janetz]

Can't decided between Dawn or Spirit for Bermuda next year. After just getting off the Carribean Princess last week and dealing with NY traffic that morning, which was wild ride, I am leaning towards Boston and The Spirit.

 

Anywhere we can drive to is good. :)

[jnmrlk]

Can't decided between Dawn or Spirit for Bermuda next year. After just getting off the Carribean Princess last week and dealing with NY traffic that morning, which was wild ride, I am leaning towards Boston and The Spirit.

 

Anywhere we can drive to is good. :)

 

 

Apart from dealing with the traffic - how did you like the Carribean Princess???

[janetz]

Apart from dealing with the traffic - how did you like the Carribean Princess???

 

It was our second time on the Carribean Princess. Great ship, good food, great staff. Had a ball. :D

[JACruiser]

CaptainChoppers:

 

You will enjoy cabin 9210. We stay in our cabin alot and just relax and read, etc. The name of the Butler was Jojit and he was great. The Concierge was Humerto Abarca and we really liked him too. The room stewards were also nice and did a good job. Tell them we said hello from Ken & Wanda

 

The bathroom is to die for. We have stayed in Owner Suites, Royal family suites (family of 6) and 9210 was the best of all the bathrooms we have had so far. A large window over the tub and a very nice long window in the shower area. I would like to go back on this ship after the drydock is complete. Our Butler talked to us about some of the remodeling.

 

We have also been on the Jewel and the Pearl which are newer ships, but we still enjoyed the Spirit. We are going on the Dawn in Sept. to Canada/New England and looking forward to this cruise as well. Only thing we have a cabin on the corner and it is not laid out as good as the 9210 on the Spirit. A porthole in the shower area and I think 3 small windows over the tub area. We usually try to book a corner cabin on all our cruises.

 

We did have the new pillows and mattresses, but the tv was small and old. The tv in the bedroom was very small in a nice cabinet. No new lounge chairs either. Some wear on the carpet and furniture, but overlooked this for the other nice things to enjoy. Very little room to get in the bed on both sides. Nice closet, but not much room between bed and closet with 2 safes inside the closet. Room for one person at a time.

 

If you think of anything else you want to ask, just do so or you can email me at har6877@yahoo.com. Be glad to answer your questions if I can.

 

WEH

 

Thanks for taking the time to talk about your cabin! Did you hear anything about 2.0 in the suites on the Spirit? Will Cagney's be open for guests (like the Sun, Sky, etc.)? Are the suites going to be remodeled during drydock?

 

Thanks!

[happy cruzer]

Is the Spirit really being overhauled??? Usually a drydock is very minimal, alot of people can't tell anything happened. Anyone know the plans for the Spirit?

 

Thanks for a great review!

[electricron]

Is the Spirit really being overhauled??? Usually a drydock is very minimal, alot of people can't tell anything happened. Anyone know the plans for the Spirit?

 

Thanks for a great review!

 

Well, the last time NCL had plans to install almost two dozen BA cabins on Deck 13, although the cabins were built, they weren't installed. It seems the California shipyard workers weren't too keen having foreigners install them. Does the New Orleans area have strong unions? It's possible NCL may get them installed this time around, as there is three weeks to get the job done.

By the way, here's the Deck Plan for Deck 13 that was posted on NCL's web site during the Spirit's last dry dock, then silently removed.

 

But I don't know what NCL plans this time around. We do know there are glass planes that need replacing in the Galaxy of the Stars, and lots of carpeting that needs replacing. To implement Freestyle 2.0, action stations in the Buffet need to be installed. And last of all, repairing the engine that has slowed the Spirit down all year.