9 night NCL Spirit 10/22

[JUSRN]

It was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

A different island each day! St. Lucia was my favorite. Cause we went to a wonderful beach. Didn't take any ship excursions. Always took a taxi to a beach. My only suggestion is to be sure you know which beach you want to go to. I had the feeling the taxi drivers brought us to their friends' beaches and maybe got a cut. They weren't always the best! The taxi drivers always came back when we said and we'd spend the afternoon near the ship.

 

Food in the dining rooms was great! Went to Teppanacki, Bistro, and Maxim's. The service was wonderful in all three. Maxim's was the most expensive and I might hesitate going back to that one. Didn't think much of the buffet food but I always do prefer being served on vacation. Lines for the dining rooms weren't bad when we went between 7 to 7:30 PM. Never waited more than 10 minutes for a table for 4.

 

We had a balcony room. Having had one on our last cruise, I'll never settle for less. There were very few chairs on the promenade deck. And I don't like the crowds by the pool.

 

We were off Miami about 10AM Sunday and waited for the harbor pilot. It was a wonderfully relaxing morning. Dining rooms were open for breackfast and lunch. They started disembarking around 11AM.

 

Any questions, I'll be happy to answer!

[dbcruise]

hello i leave Fri. How was the weather ? Did you hear anything about Grenada Not being ready for a while or anything ? How was the shows ? were there many kids that you saw I have a 10 year old > Thanks for any info you can give Doreen

[kimmariecarr]

Which beach did you visit in St. Lucia?

 

KimMCarr

[1kycat]

Thanks for posting…

 

 

If you have the time…I'll ask just one of the 100 questions that I would like to ask…

 

 

How much did your port schedule differ from the scheduled itinerary? For those of us trying to schedule things to do in each port….that’s pretty important. I’ve heard so many rumors about them trying to extend the times of the NEW schedule.

[JUSRN]

I don't remember exactly what the scheduled itinerary was but this is what we did: St. Vincent 11AM - 7PM

Barbados 7AM - 7PM

St. Lucia 7AM - 7PM

Antigua 7AM - 6PM

Tortola 7AM - 1PM

Approximately....I don't remember exactly.

 

I got the impression from the cruise director that Grenada has a lot of work to do. He didn't say when they'd be going there.

 

I didn't see many kids on the cruise. I would guess less than fifty. Good for us because we didn't have our kids with us. The kids play area on the back of deck 10 looked great! Much larger than the one on the Dawn. I was wanting to go down the slide!

 

I thought the entertainment was just so, so. Three comedians, a male singer, and two or three musicals. But I didn't care much because we went to bed early so we could see the arrival in each port early in the morning.

 

I love freestyle! There were two optional formal nights. People were pretty dressed up. Although you wouldn't feel out of place if you didn't. Anything goes.

[JUSRN]

We went to Rodney Bay. That was suggested by one of the taxi drivers. It was a large bay with many spots where you could enter. Sandals is at one end.

[1kycat]

Thanks....

 

So I guess they reversed the order of Barbados and Grenada (St. Vincent) and you were in Barbados for 12 hours instead of 6.

 

I'll sneak a couple more in if you don't mind....

 

Did you need reservations for the specialty restaurants?

 

What time did you embark? Busy?

 

Were there any formal nights? (that one is for my wife :o )

 

Thanks

[rainy]

Thank you for posting.Glad to hear you had a great time.

 

Were there lots of tables for 4 in the main dining rooms? Was lobster on the menu? Was there a chocoholic buffet and what time was it?

Thanks.

[Lib0007]

Glad to hear you had a nice relaxing cruise - thanks for posting the info about the Spirit.

 

You mentioned the kids area - does that pool area look crowded also? I have a feeling we will be there alot and hoping that there will be available chairs.

 

My husband wants to go to all 3 of the pay restaurants also - how far in advance did you make your reservations?

 

I'd also like to hear about embarkation - what time did you arrive, etc.

 

Thanks!!!

[Stevie17]

I'm so glad that you had a great cruise! Here's my question: What time were you able to board the ship? Given the late departure time (7pm), I was very curious as to when we would be able to board. Thanks!

[Grandpp]

I also was on this cruise in an oceanview (cat e) on deck 5. Cabin was great and good size...you could hear people arguing in next cabin sometimes though.

 

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale about 11 am and were on the ship about noon for a nice lunch in Windows restaurant. We ate at Teppanyaki (food good but chef kept getting orders mixed) and Trattoria (fettucine alfredo and caesar salad and nice atmosphere) and both main dining rooms. The dinner on Sat. is lobster and on the last Friday is filet mignon. Meals were good (especially bread) but desserts weren't "special". Choc buffet was at 10:30 on Thurs. (I think). They had some ice carvings and lots of choc. cakes but nothing really "Special". You can make reservations in the lobby in the centrum (no one ever answers the phone). I had to wait an extra day for Teppanyaki because it was booked.

 

We don't have kids but I noticed they had a very large arcade area by the kids pool and play area. The teens hung out in that area too. I loved the Galaxy of Sea area. They have very good music, especially band called 60280. Comedians were pretty good but not really "name" acts. Its kind of hard to time your meals in order to make shows in freestyle. Most times dinner took about 1-1/2 hours but on formal night in Windows was much longer. The propellor makes Windows pretty noisy too. Part of the Raffles buffet area has a basketball court over head. So Gardens became my favorite restaurant.

 

We had great weather. Enjoyed ship's tours

Best of Barbados (bus trip to Harrisons cave and orchid farm and tower)

Volcano Expressions in St Lucia (catamaran and swim was fabulous;

Creole lunch good and bus ride back too long)

Antigua bus to Shirley Hts and Nelson's dockyard and BQ and beach

break at Millers by sea (Ft James)

 

Overall a wonderful trip and fabulous weather. Despite best efforts we only won at the casino 1 day and lost rest of time. A lot of people played penny and nickle slots. My husband liked "Rake it in" by door.

[JUSRN]

We boarded around 1:15PM with very short lines. Our friends arrived around 11AM and boarded almost immediately. The 5 night cruise docked at the usual early hour. We disembarked about 11AM - 11:30 AM. We left about 7 - 7:30pm Friday night. Then we went to dinner. Life boat drill was 10AM Saturday morning. (Needs to be within 24 hours of leaving.)

 

Chocaholic buffet was later in the week at about 10:30PM. It was at the buffet. We didn't go. We've been to enough of them. Attractive presentations but don't taste so good. Not worth the long lines.

 

The kids area was not crowded at all last week with plenty of chairs around for adult supervision. However, during school breaks I would imagine it will get a lot more crowded!

 

There were plenty of tables for 4 in the regular dining rooms. That's what I like most about freestyle! Many of them were occupied by only 2 people. We usually reserved the specialty restaurants 2 mornings before we wanted to go. Didn't have any problem. But I don't know if it was a lot more difficult the closer you got to the night. The italian restaurant served only pasta, salad and bread. But it was a nice change. By the end of the week we were tired of BEEF! There was lobster on the first Saturday night.

 

The last morning was a disaster picking up liquor you bought on the islands or in the on-board store. They did not deliver it to your room as they used to.

[rainy]

Thanks for your informative replies, JUSRN and Grandpp. I can hardly wait for my cruise! :)