Almost Live from NCL Spirit - Dec 21-28,2008

[nolaAlive]

That was a great photo of the boots with the stuffed animals in them. I have several family members who are commercial fishermen that I will share these photos with.

Thanks

Paul

 

That picture was actually from last Christmas.

 

I do want to say that the animals were Mr Bingle! A New Orleans legacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Bingle

 

And now you know, the rest of the story!

[mylesf]

Almost live? Either dead or alive...Everything else does not matter...

[nolaAlive]

I guess it's always 5 o'clock somewhere.

 

I did like that the Spirit had "leader" boards that would show how busy individual restaurants were.

 

[AdrianaG]

"And..... more questions on the computers...... do you have an idea of the pricing of packages they are offering......is it less costly to sign up the first day or do they offer better pricing later in the week?"

 

We bought our tickets about 3 weeks before sailing and cruisesdotcom offered much cheaper prices than NCL did and we wound up with upgraded cabins to boot. I would definitely use them again.

[crusingici]

I know I am repeating 'thanks' - but there can never be too many thank yous to someone who has spent so much time and effort to feed our hungry souls here on dry land last week!!! :D

 

I am leaving Sunday on the same itinerary and we are so excited. We have not sailed NCL before and your photos and reports and especially the Dailies have made us look forward to the cruise even more.

 

I printed them all out for us to read on the way to New Orleans - I am sure a lot of the info will be the same.

 

The spa specials and laundry offerings were especially appreciated by our group - it gives us a heads up of what might be offered during our week.

 

There are some interesting activities on this ship that we've not experienced and we do plan to try every sur-charge restaurant so it helped to see the DR menus to read what we might not care for as much;and, choose that meal to eat elsewhere.

 

Your website is amazing -- what fun to see excursions we did not choose so we can experience it 'vicariously' anyway.

 

I hope you enjoy your New Year celebration in cold KY!

 

You helped make our pre-cruise week a joy.

 

I look forward to more of your cruises if you do this for all of them! :p

 

Thank you again.

[crusingici]

I just happened to think of a qt -- do they offer you an onboard mini-map to carry around? I love that Carnival does this.

 

Just curious if I should try to make a cheat sheet or if a mini-map is available.

 

Thanks

[crusingici]

"And..... more questions on the computers...... do you have an idea of the pricing of packages they are offering......is it less costly to sign up the first day or do they offer better pricing later in the week?"

 

We bought our tickets about 3 weeks before sailing and cruisesdotcom offered much cheaper prices than NCL did and we wound up with upgraded cabins to boot. I would definitely use them again.

Did you book a guarantee or a specific cabin before the upgrade? Amazing you would be upgraded that close to sailing.

 

Good for you!

[curcurt]

I used a local TA that had group rate for the week of Mardi Gras. Her prices were lower than NCL. We also got a price drop on the day we paid the cruise off, plus the fuel surcharge refund was refunded to my credit card.:)

 

NOLA thanks for all the great pictures and information. I've got to get a better digital camera, your pictures were great.

[nolaAlive]

I just happened to think of a qt -- do they offer you an onboard mini-map to carry around? I love that Carnival does this.

 

Just curious if I should try to make a cheat sheet or if a mini-map is available.

 

Thanks

 

They have the deck plan cards just like Carnival does. You can pick them up at the pursers area when you walk on the ship.

[goinginmarch]

BEST THREAD - EVER!!! If your going on the Spirit this is it!

[Gingee]

Thanks for your neat pictures also. So are you going to do this again on your next cruise?

[nolaAlive]

I'm not sure i'm done with this one, but I have been doing for a while and currently don't plan on stopping.

 

Next two are:

Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Splendor Round the Horn,

 

and previous ones:

Carnival Freedom - Nov 30-Dec 6, 2008

Carnival Splendor July 2-25, 2008

Carnival Pride Feb 3-10, 2008

Fantasy - Dec 24-29, 2007

Carnival Conquest Nov 11-18, 2007

Fantasy - September 3 - 8, 2007

Carnival Freedom Inaugural Cruise March 5-14, 2007

2006 ZydecoCruise NCL Sun November 12-19, 2006

Valor Adventure Sept 3-10, 2006

April Fools 2006 Cruise on Liberty

Christmas 2005 Cruise on Grand Princess

ZydecoCruise 2005 NCL Sun Nov 6-13, 2005

[mactrio]

That picture was actually from last Christmas.

 

I do want to say that the animals were Mr Bingle! A New Orleans legacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Bingle

 

And now you know, the rest of the story!

 

We have many Mr Bingle ornaments on our tree. I remember going to Maison Blanche every year and donating a toy to get the ornament. Jingle jangle jingle. Here comes Mr Bingle. I miss Maison Blanche, the giant Mr Bingle down on Canal went away when I was still in high school.

[Gingee]

Wow you do like cruising. I do too but can't cruise that much.

[Suesan Jean]

First, HAPPY NEW YEAR.....!!!

 

Second, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for a TRULY EXCELLENT review of the Norwegian Spirit.....!!!

 

YOU TRULY DID GO ABOVE AND BEYOND ANYTHING I HAVE EVER SEEN, HERE ON CRUISE CRITIC.....!!! ALL THE PICTURES, THE LINKS, WOW....!!!

 

YOU ARE FANTASTIC.....!!!

 

I am looking forward to being on the Spirit this August and I have printed out ALOT of your information.

 

Again, THANK YOU......!!!

[CCinSTL]

Hi, I have been enjoying your photos as we are leaving Sunday on the same trip.

I am hoping you can tell me what company you booked your snorkeling trips through, were they done through the cruise line, before or at the port? The boat looks like it was easy to get on and off of, we have done a trip like that before but you had to haul your booty back onto the boat at your own risk and it was not a pretty site!

Thank you so much for your help and sharing your gorgeous photos!

~colleen

[3rdtimecruising]

Hi,

 

This is Ann from Boston. I cruised on the Spirit a few years ago and am thrilled that she will be here with us for the Bermuda run during the spring and summer. My DH Bernie and I are booked on her again in Sept. over Labor Day. A beautiful time to be in Bermuda (hopefully no hurricanes) and this will be our 3rd cruise there and 5th time to visit.

 

Your posts were wonderful and your pictures marvelous. The ship looks great. The drydock improvements look great.

 

We are on the Gem out of NYC on March 29th and are looking forward to another CC Meet and Great with all the passengers.

 

Happy New Year to all and Happy Sailing...

 

 

Ann and Bernie

[nolaAlive]

Hi, I have been enjoying your photos as we are leaving Sunday on the same trip.

 

I am hoping you can tell me what company you booked your snorkeling trips through, were they done through the cruise line, before or at the port? The boat looks like it was easy to get on and off of, we have done a trip like that before but you had to haul your booty back onto the boat at your own risk and it was not a pretty site!

 

Thank you so much for your help and sharing your gorgeous photos!

~colleen

 

 

Hap Hap Happy New Year. All organized tours were through the ship.

[doctor]

Thanks so much for your review. I love all the information. I was wondering if you saw much ballroom dancing on board. My parents are avid dancers and are looking for information on how dancing is on board. Do you have any recommendations for them? We will be on the Spirit this Sunday. We are really getting excited.

[Gingee]

Dear Doctor - if haven't checked it out, we have a post on Norweigen Spirit for this Sunday. There are quite a few people on this thread. If interested, come on over.

[biker@sea]

What is your opinion about your N.C.L. cruise all in all.

 

I hope you liked it at least 1/2 half as much as we loved your thread

 

If you do this again on another cruise line would you please come here and tell us first so we can find and read your next one??

 

THANK YOU soooo much for this thread.:D:D

 

Happy New Year to you and yours. :)y

[AdrianaG]

Talked to my husband and we are interested in the Guatamala waterfalls after looking at your pictures. I know this was a couple years ago but did you see any prices advertising this excursion? I wonder how long the tour is?

 

Thanks for all your help.

We did Rio Dulce with Javier of Hotel Casa Rosada and it was awesome! It was a private small boat - cost $350 for 7 people and worth every penny. We left around 10 and got back at 4, Javier stopped and gave us as much time as we wanted at different places. There is no way that you could do that on the bigger Spirit excursions or even Gus, the other commonly mentioned private operator.

 

Rio Dulce was simply magical and the highlight of our entire cruise. To contact Javier email info@hotelcasarosada.com.

[nolaAlive]

Standard Rio Dulce tour at the port is $50pp and you can just show up.

 

I see the specialty menu link was a circular link, but have now fixed it.

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/NCLSprit08/menus/index.htm

[nolaAlive]

Thanks so much for your review. I love all the information. I was wondering if you saw much ballroom dancing on board. My parents are avid dancers and are looking for information on how dancing is on board. Do you have any recommendations for them? We will be on the Spirit this Sunday. We are really getting excited.

 

Oops. Sorry. Didn't notice this post, but no, I didn't see ballroom dancing, but I imagine there is/was some.

[nolaAlive]

What is your opinion about your N.C.L. cruise all in all.

 

I hope you liked it at least 1/2 half as much as we loved your thread

 

If you do this again on another cruise line would you please come here and tell us first so we can find and read your next one??

 

THANK YOU soooo much for this thread.:D:D

 

Happy New Year to you and yours. :)y

 

Hap Hap Happy New Year.

 

I like NCL - but prefer Carnival overall.

 

NCL ships are nice, but the cabins smaller than Carnival.

 

I think the food is a push, but the serving portions on NCL are smaller and they seem to try to encourage you to order only a starter, entree, and desert, although certainly allow you to order as much as you like.

 

Smaller portions are not a bad thing, since everyone tends to overeat on cruises. The entrees on Carnival are usually large enough to split between two people.

 

The itineraries on NCL can be more interesting, although I think Carnival is doing better in this category.

 

Anyway, I'll no doubt sail NCL at some point in the future.