Spirit Review 07/20-07-26

[johnnyf0614]

I traveld with my wife, my 1 1/2 year old daughter, my parents, my sister, her husband, and my 1 1/2 year old niece. Embarkation was fairly painless. Arrived at the Pier around 10:45am. Was told we would start boarding around 11:30am. To my surprise, there were complimentary cookies, pastries, and juice for those waiting. Around 11:45, we started the boarding process. We very smoothly and boarded and went straight to windows for a very nice lunch. We did receive our champagne upon boarding, and while walking to Windows, many of the service restaurants were handing out free appetizers to taste.

 

We were able to get into our room at 2pm. No new beds yet. We did have the new bedding though. We did see some new beds being placed on the ship at our debarkation.

 

Room was nice, a little on the smaller side. No dresser to store clothes. Just a closet with some cubbies to put shirts etc... Bathroom was roomy. We had an balcony room on the 9th floor.

 

Shows were very good and crowded each night. The kiddie pool was perfect for our kids. There is a pirate ship with slides, and a smaller kiddie wading pool. I had read on earlier posts that kids need to be at least 2 years old to use the pools and needed to be diaper trained. I found that not be the case. There are signs that say kids atleast 1 years old can use the pool. Which was nice for our kids.

 

We were delayed heading into Port Canaveral due to dealing with the tail end of Cristobol. Didn't matter too much as we still enjoyed our Fun and Sun excursion. Bahamas and Atlantis were fantastic. Just a little slow getting everyone off the ship and to their excursions. A lot of time was wasted dealing with this, but it didn't hamper our fun.

 

All in all, the trip was great. Food was great, and the service was fantastic. We couldn't have asked for a better trip!

[phillyf]

Thanks for a great review. Can you tell us how Raffles, the buffet area, is set up? What type of action stations did they have for lunch and dinner? How was the buffet food?

 

What kind of shows did they have comedian, magican, etc. Thanks for your thoughts

[johnnyf0614]

Thanks for a great review. Can you tell us how Raffles, the buffet area, is set up? What type of action stations did they have for lunch and dinner? How was the buffet food?

 

What kind of shows did they have comedian, magican, etc. Thanks for your thoughts

 

There were not "action" stations per say. The buffet was actually extremely crowded at lunch, which is why we ate a Windows each day. The buffet consisted of, pizza, sandwhiches, stir fry, pasta, and then an assortment of entrees, cheeses, fruits, desserts. At lunch there is also a BBQ lunch at poolside with, burgers, chicken, ribs etc.. That was very good. I thought better than the buffet. We ate at the buffet for breakfast a few times, and pending the time you go, will depend on the crowd.

 

There is no separate action station, as I had experienced on Carnival Cruises, however there is someone making stir fry for you. Otherwise, its a typical buffet style layout.

 

There was a comedian 2 nights, and a magician. There was also Second City doing improv shows, as well as the NCL dance show, consisting of broadway music, and another show of music from various eras.

[johnnyf0614]

Thanks for a great review. Can you tell us how Raffles, the buffet area, is set up? What type of action stations did they have for lunch and dinner? How was the buffet food?

 

What kind of shows did they have comedian, magican, etc. Thanks for your thoughts

 

There were not "action" stations per say. The buffet was actually extremely crowded at lunch, which is why we ate a Windows each day. The buffet consisted of, pizza, sandwhiches, stir fry, pasta, and then an assortment of entrees, cheeses, fruits, desserts. At lunch there is also a BBQ lunch at poolside with, burgers, chicken, ribs etc.. That was very good. I thought better than the buffet. We ate at the buffet for breakfast a few times, and pending the time you go, will depend on the crowd.

 

There is no separate action station, as I had experienced on Carnival Cruises, however there is someone making stir fry for you. Otherwise, its a typical buffet style layout.

 

There was a comedian 2 nights, and a magician. There was also Second City doing improv shows, as well as the NCL dance show, consisting of broadway music, and another show of music from various eras.

[phillyf]

johnnyf0614

 

Thanks for the information. I was hoping f2.0 regarding the action stations would have been incorporated by now. I guess it won't happen until drydock. I hoping the new beds are completely installed for my 8/9/08 trip. Sounds like they're making progress.

 

Glad you had a great cruise!

[johnnyf0614]

johnnyf0614

 

Thanks for the information. I was hoping f2.0 regarding the action stations would have been incorporated by now. I guess it won't happen until drydock. I hoping the new beds are completely installed for my 8/9/08 trip. Sounds like they're making progress.

 

Glad you had a great cruise!

 

The cruise was great. It looks as if they are adding new beds after each trip. It looked like a stack of about 100 beds were being added to the ship during my debark. So hopefully you'll get lucky with that! Although the new bedding was very comfortable. I had no problems with the old bed.

[newmexicoNita]

Thanks for posting, it is always satisfying to know someone had a good vacation. That is what time away from the real world is all about.

 

Nita

[Chipster2]

Thanks for posting your review. It's great to hear that your family enjoyed their cruise on the Spirit.

[paulapatti4]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. I leave this week-end and have been searching for recent reviews; it helps build the excitement for the trip.

There are 6 of us traveling in 3 cabins, 2 cabins are suites. Did you notice a seperate check-in line for suites?

What time did you arrive back in NY? Were taxi's readily accesible? I'm trying to decide if I need to arrange a car service for quick exit to LGA.

Any feedback on specialty restaurants?

 

Paula

[johnnyf0614]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. I leave this week-end and have been searching for recent reviews; it helps build the excitement for the trip.

There are 6 of us traveling in 3 cabins, 2 cabins are suites. Did you notice a seperate check-in line for suites?

What time did you arrive back in NY? Were taxi's readily accesible? I'm trying to decide if I need to arrange a car service for quick exit to LGA.

Any feedback on specialty restaurants?

 

Paula

 

I did not notice if there were separate check in for suite guests. But I wasn't looking for it, so it may be there. We arrived back in NY around 10am. There are tons of cabs outside of the pier waiting. You should have no problem.

 

I did not eat at any of the specialty restaurants either. We were very happy with Windows. They have the same menu in the Garden room, however we thought the service was much better in Windows. We did eat lunch at the Blue Lagoon once. Typical grill type of food. Great wings though!