Spirit to Bermuda

[Don Haynes]

When she was built Star Cruises were proud to call her the tenth largest cruise ship in the world. Sadly just about every ship built since have been larger. But she is the first to have so many restaurants.

 

Star required an Asian main dining room, a continental dining main dining room, a large buffet, a French restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, a quick fast food restaurant, and used part of the buffet during dinner as an Indian restaurant.

 

NCL used part of the buffet during dinner as an Italian restaurant, combined the Asian and Japanese restaurant into one, and used the other as a steakhouse for the American market.

[Fire LT]

DW and I have done the Boston to Bermuda trip twice. If there are no storms, the only real rough waters are when the ship crosses into the Gulf Stream. On both cruises this was done in the middle of the night (around 2 AM or so). The reason I knew this is because I had returned from the casino a bit after 1AM and had not fallen asleep yet. So unless you are a night owl like me you may never even realize that you went through rough seas.

 

Now storms are a different matter. Our last trip we went through a pretty big storm on the first sea day that had the Majesty rocking and rolling ;). Quite a few people needed the plentiful bags that were spread around the ship. As for me...well I loved it. Of course I am just a 55 yo kid who loves roler coasters :p.

 

Alan D

[veggie59]

Never been on the Boston to Bermuda cruise even though I am from the Boston area. What is there to do in Bermuda that isnt beach or sun related? Is there enough site seeing to do for the amount of time the ship is docked there?

 

I sailed on the Majesty 8 years ago on a Caribbean itinerary and I did not fair very well with the motion of the ship. Since then I have sailed 8 more times on larger ships with better stablizers and for the most part been okay. The Spirit is larger than the Majesty, but probably smaller than the other ships I have sailed on......how will it measure up? Probably looking at a late September sailing....so the waters may be cooling and could result in rougher seas......?

 

Thanks

[lawton54]

Dw and I just returned from sailing the Spirit out of NOLA. We have sailed the Pearl on two previous trips, and found the Spirit to be just as much fun. While she is a bit smaller than the Pearl, the Spirit still has plenty to do. In fact, after 7 days aboard we didn't find all of the places and things she offered until the last day of just exploring (and we still probably missed some). The overwhelming feeling we got was that everyone was glad to have you aboard and wanted to do whatever they could to make you enjoy your trip. I was almost repromanded in Le Bistro for re-filling my wife's glass. The waiter approached and said " that is my job, I am here to make you feel like a king and queen". We certainly did, every person we met during the entire cruise who was in any position with the Spirit greeted us with a smile and a kind word. It seemed everyone aboard had the "Spirit" and it was very noticable, so what the Spirit lacks in size she more than makes up for in service.

[fridaythe13th]

Never been on the Boston to Bermuda cruise even though I am from the Boston area. What is there to do in Bermuda that isnt beach or sun related? Is there enough site seeing to do for the amount of time the ship is docked there?

 

I sailed on the Majesty 8 years ago on a Caribbean itinerary and I did not fair very well with the motion of the ship. Since then I have sailed 8 more times on larger ships with better stablizers and for the most part been okay. The Spirit is larger than the Majesty, but probably smaller than the other ships I have sailed on......how will it measure up? Probably looking at a late September sailing....so the waters may be cooling and could result in rougher seas......?

 

Thanks

 

There is lots to do in Bermuda. Get a bus/ferry pass as that is the cheapest way to get around. The locals are super friendly. Take the ferry from the Dockyard to St Georges and enjoy the history and sites there. It's a great town to walk around. There is a lighthouse (Gibbs??) that you can climb up stairs to the top and view the island. Here is a link so you can see the options. There are also horse and carriage rides. I don't think you will be bored. http://www.bermuda.com/

 

We have been in Sept and Oct. The seas can be rough or calm. It's just something you have to hope for the best. I start taking Bonine the night before we board and take it every night just in case.

 

I hope you decide to visit the beautiful island of Bermuda, you won't be sorry.

[veggie59]

Thanks for your reply fridaythe13th. I will have to check it out more. Just not a sun person and I dont like salt water as it bothers my skin. Hubby likes the sun and water,......but I stick to site seeing and shopping. I hear that the prices are very steep in Bermuda....so I will probably have to pass on shopping and just take some photos if we go. :)

[Carnac767]

my dh and i are thinking of a 25th anniv cruise next may on the spirit from boston. this will be his first cruise and my second. i have heard the seas can be choppy on this route and the smaller size of the ship can make it a bit rockier (*gulp*). if you have sailed the spirit from boston to bermuda before, what do you think?

 

Size is relative. The Spirit might be smaller than the Jade, Jewel, Pearl, etc., but at 76,000 tons she's still a big damn ship.

[Ms belp]

We sailed on the Spirit out of New Orleans and loved her. I hear she is an improvement for the Boston market rather than a negative. I wonder about your "gulp". Could it be you don't really like ships and/or the ocean that much?

 

Size is relative, depending on you. Are you large people?

[mactrio]

Anyone been on the Spirit lately? We live in Boston and are thinking of doing the Boston to Bermuda trip this summer. However, I have seen some horrible reviews of the Spirit on this site. I want to understand if there's anything to them. I saw a lot of complaints about food and cleanliness. For reference, we were recently on the Pearl, W. Carribbean, and had a great time. No issues with the service or cleanliness. Our room had a few small stains on the carpet, but everything seemed clean, and the public areas were immaculate I thought. The food in the main dining rooms was pretty forgettable, but we loved the buffet. The ship seemed crowded and the chair hogs and teenagers were pretty annoying. Those were really our only complaints, other than disorganized debarkation at every port.

 

Given that was our experience on the Pearl, how do you think we will like the Spirit? How does it compare to the Pearl? Is the food quality really an issue?

 

Also, anything you can tell me about Bermuda as a destination would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

We sailed on the Spirit 2/22 - 3/1 and the entire ship was clean. There were a few dirty windows due to the sea spray; but every port day the window washing machine was moving. There were staff members cleaning the ship all the time, they would spray cloths and wipe down the elevator buttons and door handles; our steward (rm 10160) cleaned everything. I watched him spray and wipe the tv remote, the telephone, the a/c control, door handles, closet door handles, the light switch, the coffeepot tray, he sprayed and wiped everything on the balcony, railing, chairs, table, door etc....our room was spotless!!! I shed alot of hair when blowdrying etc....so I know he mopped, vacuumed/swept daily because I never found my hair on the floor.

The food was good; our worst meal was in the Garden Room. Slow service, forgot my sons salad, didn't refill drinks, the food was luke-warm etc...but the other meals were fine. The breakfast & lunch buffet at Raffles was much better than the night buffet; nothing tasted bad, I just preferred the lunch choices. Teppanyaki was good, La Trattoria was good. Blue Lagoon was small, too crowded and the food was ok, some items were served right away and other things we waited for. Like my chicken sandwich arrived before our spinach dip appetizer and my fries arrived after my sandwich had been eaten. I just went with the flow, I'm pretty laid back and easy going; but some people bit**ed about it and got mad and angry and it really only made things worse because the staff had to stop to listen to the irate complainers which just slowed them even more.

The staff were friendly, outgoing and weren't rude. There was only 1 guy in the jewelry store who was extremely pushy and I said No thank you until I just finally turned my back to him.

The people in the photo gallery were super friendly; partially because the boss was named Liam and he and my son (named Liam) became friends lol. They would hand us our photos toward the end of the cruise, she would just have them behind her counter waiting on us. (we got the $79 special photo frenzy)

The kids crew (Angelfish, timber, coffee, Nemo etc....) were AWESOME. My son loved it in there. He was in the 9 yr old group and had a blast playing with the kids.

The pool area was clean, not too many chair hogs, the staff did have to ask several adults to get out of the kids hot tub though :eek:

The shows were ok, we enjoyed the Not so newly wed game, family fued was fun (I got picked to do it) we did the Murder Mystery dinner (I was Mrs. Holly Day) we enjoyed the crew talent show, the kids talent show and then the crew finale show. Fountains was very funny!! Soozy was our cruise director; but she has gone to another ship now and Karan Arora was the Concierge and he was wonderful.

I enjoyed every minute of our cruise; it's not that it was perfect or didn't have bad moments; I just chose to overlook the few not so great moments. Nothing short of death was gonna ruin it for us.

I hope you will give the Spirit a chance.

[Don Haynes]

I live in a small town with very hard salty tap water. If you use tap water to brew coffee, the coffee maker will plug up in less than a month, lots of white stuff growing on the coffee maker. Instructions say to brew vinegar to clean the coffee maker, but doing this only increases the life of the coffee machine another month. We have to use bottled drinking water or use a tap water filter to brew coffee in this town. There is a reason why one uses distilled water with CPAP machines.

 

Give the cruise lines a break with salt water spray clouding up their ships windows. Salty sea water isn't distilled.

[fridaythe13th]

I live in a small town with very hard salty tap water. If you use tap water to brew coffee, the coffee maker will plug up in less than a month, lots of white stuff growing on the coffee maker. Instructions say to brew vinegar to clean the coffee maker, but doing this only increases the life of the coffee machine another month. We have to use bottled drinking water or use a tap water filter to brew coffee in this town. There is a reason why one uses distilled water with CPAP machines.

 

Give the cruise lines a break with salt water spray clouding up their ships windows. Salty sea water isn't distilled.

 

:confused::confused::confused:

[Don Haynes]

:confused::confused::confused:

 

There have been several posts on several threads lately dealing with unwashed cloudy windows. My attempt to answer these posts why the windows cloud up obviously went over your head.... Its not like ship windows are sitting on dry land.... You see them washing windows at every port of call, you see them running the window washer machines, yet the windows still cloud up....

[maggiecatenjay]

...What is there to do in Bermuda that isnt beach or sun related? Is there enough site seeing to do for the amount of time the ship is docked there? ... Thanks

 

 

 

I've surfed so much for stuff to do in Bermuda (and on the Spirit) my fingers are calloused :rolleyes:... Check out, if you wish, http://maggiecatenjay.wetpaint.com/page/Fun+Stuff+2+See+%26+Do

Websites, prices, which parish (I found pinpointing locations difficult but dug, dug, dug).

 

I also have been cutting and pasting questions and answers from CC and elsewhere and came up with a FAQ document (BIG) that I think might be helpful to you. http://maggiecatenjay.wetpaint.com/page/FAQ+%26+A%27S

 

Have a great cruise!

[fridaythe13th]

There have been several posts on several threads lately dealing with unwashed cloudy windows. My attempt to answer these posts why the windows cloud up obviously went over your head.... Its not like ship windows are sitting on dry land.... You see them washing windows at every port of call, you see them running the window washer machines, yet the windows still cloud up....

 

 

Apparently WAY over my head. I had not seen the several threads about the windows as I only read what interests me. I was trying to decipher what a coffee maker or a CPAP machine had to do with windows. Your reply just had me a little confused, that's all....

__________________

[mactrio]

There have been several posts on several threads lately dealing with unwashed cloudy windows. My attempt to answer these posts why the windows cloud up obviously went over your head.... Its not like ship windows are sitting on dry land.... You see them washing windows at every port of call, you see them running the window washer machines, yet the windows still cloud up....

 

 

I mentioned in my post that there were a few dirty windows from the sea spray; but that the window washing machine was cleaning them at every port. It wasn't a complaint or a slam to the cruise line; it was an observation.

[Don Haynes]

Someone posted a review that hasn't fallen off the first page yet mentioning that they were replacing the windows of the Galaxy of the Stars lounge during their cruise. NCL does maintain their vessels, but sea spray cloudy windows is on every cruise ship. When they get bad enough to a certain degree they are replaced. All I am asking is to give the cruise lines a break. They are always painting and washing.... Its not like they aren't.....

 

 

Most likely they will finish the Galaxy of the Stars windows before the Spirit reaches Boston. She should look like new considering her recent dry dock.

[cookie75]

We sailed on the Spirit out of New Orleans and loved her. I hear she is an improvement for the Boston market rather than a negative. I wonder about your "gulp". Could it be you don't really like ships and/or the ocean that much?

 

Size is relative, depending on you. Are you large people?

 

I don't think I mentioned anything about the size of the ship, did I? No, we're not large people, although my s/o is tall and had some issues with the size of the bathroom - but I imagine that's the same on any ship. I will say it seemed like there was always some large, slow family in front of us on the Pearl! Please, people, when you get to the top or bottom of the staircase, keep moving! Don't stop and block the way for everyone behind you and have a conversation. Also, I will give you a million dollars if you keep your teenagers under control rather than letting them roam around in a pack yelling stuff at people and acting like brats.

 

Overall, we loved the Pearl and will probably love the Spirit too. I think we will do the Bermuda run in June or July.

 

By the way, I notice the prices have come down dramatically for the May sailings, and I hope the same will happen in June and July. Any predictions? Right now, balconies for May 1 sailing start at $749, but they are around $1,200 or $1,300 for late June and July so far.

[electricron]

By the way, I notice the prices have come down dramatically for the May sailings, and I hope the same will happen in June and July. Any predictions? Right now, balconies for May 1 sailing start at $749, but they are around $1,200 or $1,300 for late June and July so far.

 

They may come down some more, but not all the way to $749. May and September Bermuda cruises are always cheaper than June, July, and August Bermuda cruises. Just like early December cruises to anywhere are always cheaper than late December cruises. If you're looking for the best cruise deals, look at when to cruise instead of where to cruise.

[Don Haynes]

If you were looking for good cruise prices, this is the year for a cruise concerning the economy. I think the prices will stick until after final payment. Then there will be a significant drop, but maybe not as low as $800.

[cookie75]

If you were looking for good cruise prices, this is the year for a cruise concerning the economy. I think the prices will stick until after final payment. Then there will be a significant drop, but maybe not as low as $800.

 

 

Thanks, that's what I think too. Since we live in Boston, and since our work schedules don't permit vacation until mid-June at least, I think what I will do is watch the prices every day, and I plan to book if balcony rooms get down to around 800. I think that's safe to do, considering we don't have to book airfare. Does that seem like a good plan to you all?

[Don Haynes]

Since it is already after final payment date for a mid-June cruise, when you see a significant drop that's when I would book. Since I don't know how the ship is selling offhand, keep a watch on the number of cabins that are available too. Book before they are gone. You don't want to miss a cruise this year....

[Gram Cape Cod]

Since it is already after final payment date for a mid-June cruise, when you see a significant drop that's when I would book. Since I don't know how the ship is selling offhand, keep a watch on the number of cabins that are available too. Book before they are gone. You don't want to miss a cruise this year....

Since it is after final payment I have been watching our cruise and I was able to get a balcony for $20 more than our oceanview! Our coeanview is now $35 less than we paid - no big deal, but makes me feel good!!

[fridaythe13th]

Since it is after final payment I have been watching our cruise and I was able to get a balcony for $20 more than our oceanview! Our coeanview is now $35 less than we paid - no big deal, but makes me feel good!!

 

WOO HOO!!! How long ago did your prices drop? I'm waiting and hoping our 6/12 prices drop too! We booked one of the few 175 sq ft insides. This will be our first inside but we wanted to cruise to Bermuda again and had to cut back somewhere.

[Leafpeeper]

We are thrilled that Boston will have a ship to Bermuda that has BALCONY cabins. Bermuda will be soooo nice sitting on a balcony any hour of the day.

 

We love docking at Kings Wharf. We enjoyed the short walk to Snorkel Beach, as well as the swimming and cocktails. Great location for transportation.

[Don Haynes]

Without a doubt, this is the year to cruise as far as price is concerned. Many have posted similar results. The cruise lines are wheeling and dealing to fill their ships.