1 Day Spirit (Just back)

Hi all,

Just back. Got kicked off at 9:30am and home by 10:10am. The Spirit is very nice but doesn't compare to the Dawn. Of course it was a very young, rowdy crowd. They tried to have an art auction at 10:45pm but only 6 or 7 people showed up. Shows were empty but the casino and bars were unbelievably packed as expected. $25 minimums for black jack. Not bad altogether but it is just a tease. 22 totals hours on the ship. 11:30am through 9:30am. Oh well, I gotta run now.

Phil:)

Of course the Spirit is a different ship from the Dawn.... Its not even a sister ship like the Jewel. Did you think the decor of the Spirit unique with its Asian decor? Were the restaurants and clubs similar although different? Were the cabins sizes and layout similar? After her drydock did you see lots of rust?

Any information about some of the drydock changes such as the new Maharani's lounge and the Shanghai bar near the casino. Or any information about the size of the new Galleria shops and Photo Gallery areas?

Where are they holding the art auction on the new after drydock Spirit?

I would go the other way in comparing the ships. I have sailed on the Dawn, Jewel and just got back from the one-night sailing. Unless you are someone looking for a Garden Villa or Courtyard Villa (a HUGE minority) then I'd dare say the Spirit is the best choice in many cases. Yes, the Spirit is the smallest of the three, but It would be interesting to see a study of space once you took the villa accomodations out of the mix (Gross registered tons non-villa...GRTNV) LOL

I'd then be willing to bet the size for us common folks is pretty equal on all three ships. Now with things being equal in size, lets look at the facilities:

Cabins: Pretty similar for all three. The Spirit has slightly smaller furniture since it was built for an Asian market and slightly narrower balcony, but it also looked to have more storage space. I think this one is a toss-up.

Decor: All three are Asian influenced. The Jewel and Dawn are Asian bright...the Sprit is Asian classy. I'd actually tip the scales slightly in favor of the Spirit. Yes, the Dawn has original artwork, but that is really only useful while you are dining in Le Bistro.

Shows: Probably similar on all three

Show lounge: I'd give this one to the Jewel with the Dawn similar. The Spirit one didn't work as well. Interesting that the front has a huge gap between the first audience row and the stage to accomodate the animal acts popular in the Asian market.

Bars/Lounges: I'd give this one to the Spirit. All ships try to have one theme that a bar goes for and they build a bunch of different themes into the ship. The Spirit really worked in this respect. The English pub really felt like an English pub. All Champagne bars look similar on ships. The Jewel gives you the bar central concept, but It just seemed like 3-4 bars cramed together to me. I think I'd rather have them separate. The Jewel and Spirit also have individual Karoke lounges, while the Dawn does not. One might say that isn't a benefit unless you use them, but they are pretty cool anyway. The ones on the Sprit were nicer than the Jewel. The observation lounge on the Spirit is hands down better than the Dawn or Jewel. There is more space, better layout and the little navigation bridge thing in the front.

Restaurants: They are all very similar with pretty much the same restaurants. On the Spirit you lose the Tex-mex and one less main dining room. I suppose you can make a case that the Jewel/Dawn is better in this regard because there is one more dining choice. I'm not counting another main dining room since the menus are the same anyway. I'd give the slight nod to the Dawn here...more choices and I like the restaurant Decor in the Dawn the best. Le Bistro on the Dawn is the best dining experience out there and Impressions is another nice room with the same kind of feel (faux Le Bistro?) The Jewel gives you a better space for the Blue Lagoon, but not enough to make it a better ship choice. The Jewel also has the best buffet set-up with the multiple island style for serving. I'd rank them: Dawn (for restaurant decor), Jewel (buffet) and Spirit, but all three are very close.

Casino: Not much to debate here...the Spirit is that much better. The Casino is HUGE with a 2nd step-up level. It is also well laid out and easy to walk through. Then off to the side is an adjoining (and lively) dance club and then an adjoining lounge with plush couched and lots of daybeds. The Casino complex on the Spirit is the best I've seen.

Family Facilities: Not much to debate either...the Spirit is a clear choice. The indoor part of the children's program is hands down the best I've seen at sea. It is room after room of dedicated space. They must take up 1/4th of the whole deck. A ball-pit room, climbing tubes room, art-room, computer/tv room, movie theater room with padded kiddie grandstands. It goes ON and ON. The outdoor area gives you a big kids area overlooking the back of the ship with slides in a pirate theme. It also gives you an ampitheater on the other side going up to the deck above it for parents to lounge and watch their kids with a pool bar on top. If I was sailing with my family this would be a no-brainer decision. They were very smart to switch the itineraries and give the Orlando travelers the Spirit.

I didn't notice anything different in the shops or the photo gallery. The shops on the Jewel and Dawn are horrible, so it couldn't have gone downhill.

Visible rust? I didn't notice anything. The hull art pretty much takes your attention from the outside on all three ships. The promenade deck looked to be in good shape on the Spirit.

I'll probably think of more later, but my initial impressions of the Spirit was very positive and I was pretty negative going in. I just thought it was going to the the smaller/older version of the Dawn and instead got something very unique and better in many regards.

Michael

I also just got off the Spirit. It has to be the most beautiful ship on which I have sailed. The decor was very elegant, but not stuffy. Cagneys was just as good here as it was on the Dawn. Galaxy of the Stars was lovely and it was fun looking at the electronic display showing the ship information. We went downstairs from Galaxy to look into the bridge. It was amazing to see it at night when the bridge was in total darkness except for the glow of the lights on the displays. The crew was fabulous as it always is on NCL ships. Everyone is very friendly and you will receive greetings from every crewmember you meet. The library had many comfortable seats and will be put to use when we go on the 8 day cruise in July. The verandah cabin was small but nicely laid out for its size. You never have to worry about falling in the bathroom; you would never have enough room to land on the floor. We enjoyed Henry's Pub, at night we watched people playing darts. We got a big kick out of Maharani's; you have to see it to believe it. The ship seemed crowded but it could be because on a couple of decks there is only one corridor to walk down. There were many drunks on board. I heard one man complain this morning when he saw his bill that he had spend over $200 on margaritas. I thought the show was fun, my husband & daughter didn't agree. My big disappointment was that the Logo shop was typical Norwegian. When we sailed Holland America the shops were great; we spent quite a bit of money and came home with many tee shirts and other Holland America items. On NCL ships there is nothing I want to purchase. I was fairly annoyed by the tee shirt with the sea animals at urinals and drunks falling off bar stools. I came away having purchased nothing. I can't wait until July for my next Spirit cruise.

I'll start off by saying good company & a cruise ship is always a blast (I'm in la-la land when on a ship), we had a wonderful cruise...this is only my opinion since I see there are different ones already, no right no wrong, I'm just used to sailing on newer ships & nothing beats new. I have been on the Dawn & I feel it's a much nicer ship!!! You could see wear & tear, but I stayed on the 11th deck & there was an awful oder on our floor, I think the carpets had a wet oder as well. Food was ok...The spa's decor was plain, some of the other ships I sailed the spa took my breath away, btw...my Mom had a facial & the tech. was quite mean, she told my Mom (who is 60 & doesn't have a wrinkle on her face) she has terrible skin, my Mom was taken back & responed...really, I've never heard that before...she said yes, you need alot of work!! At the end of the facial she told my Mom tip is not included so don't forget!! Noone should ask for a tip, anyway at night my Mom wanted to go back to buy something my sister bought, they told her shop was closed & she can't buy anything anymore, it was right in her cabinit, they not very nicely said too bad!

Thought the casino (my favorite part) was small, I was on the Voyager RCI in June & thats huge, but the Spirit's casino had no vents, it was sooooooo smokey our eyes were burning, so we had to end it early (3am) lol

Ran out of room, just to sum it up I guess I like the modern hi-tech gagets the newer ships have, but that being said we still had an amazing time, lot's of laughs & relaxation since we left the hubbies & kids home & although a longer cruise on this ship wouldn't be for me, I would do a 1nighter again. When you start out a 11am. & go to 3am, it makes a long cruise day!!

We just got home late this afternoon. I definitely have things to say about our 1 night Spirit Cruise. However, I'm really tired and just a wee bit hung-over so I will post something more detailed tomorrow. I also have the CD, ACD names, etc/ as requested by Intrepid.

I'll be back with the good, the bad and the ugly!;)

Now you got me really curious, sleep can wait!!! LOL

Kingtns,

I agree with you completely on the smoky casino...that was terrible. We couldn't handle it and just left after about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, when we checked in, our cabin also reaked of smoke. When we attempted to use the blow dryer, even the air coming out of that smelled like smoke...gross! (we obviously do NOT smoke and I prefer not to smell like a stinky cigarette all evening, but hey, that's just me)

I'll post my full Spirit 'experience' tomorrow.

Interesting differences of opinion. I guess that is what keeps it interesting. I was comparing the casinos with the ones on the Jewel and Dawn. Yes, the casinos on the Voyager class ships are monsters, but I also feel they are cramped and poorly laid out. The casino room itself on the Spirit is not that size, but it seemed more open. When you add on the two adjoining lounges into a suite of rooms to form a "casino complex" then it appeared to me to be bigger than even the Voyager class casinos. It was certainly more fun and lively. I've never been on a ship where a nightclub, casino and swanky lounge were all connected. It really worked.

I agree the shops are always horrible on Norwegian. They haven't figured that part out yet.

I didn't see much of the spa, so can't comment on that one. Wow...that sounds like a strange comment from a spa employee. However it is just one person out of almost a thousand. I found the staff to be very friendly.

Other things I forgot......

forced hand sanitation upon entering the ship. Good I guess, but felt like you were being greeted by Mr. Clean...a white glove and glass of champagne would have been nicer :-)

Many signs still in three different Asian languages along with English. I thought this was pretty interesting and added a certain flair to the ship. Of course I met people who were offended by it and gave the usual "we're in America now" attitude. geeez!

No muster drill. An officer explained they can skip it if they are at sea less than 24 hours. Not sure how accurate that was, but no one was complaining.

More later as the headache wears off :-)

Michael

I agree Michael that the lounges attached to the casino were way cool, but I thought the machines & tables were pretty close together. Maybe part of it was the very low tables & chairs at the black jack , seemed like tables for little kids, which btw I didn't see the little cute tables for the kids in the buffet area like on the Dawn. Guess had I won I would have loved every aspect :) There were so many people just pulling up chairs near the poker slots I was near it just seemed tight to me. I did love those guys screaming at the craps table, nothing like hearing grown men having fun!!

That's what it's all about!

Yeah, no muster drill got a huge ovation. Did it enough times. The Spirit is suppose to have one texas hold-em. When I couldn't find the table, a worker said that they made it a blackjack table just for the night. Gee, I wonder why, considering that they hardly make anything on texas hold-em.

Anyway, it's still a nice ship and I wouldn't hesitate to consider it next summer.

Phil

I was on the 1 day NCL Spirit last night too. I have to agree with Kingtns. The casino was way too smoky and way overcrowded, but I think that was because of it being a 1 nighter. I don't know if the rest of my complaints is b/c of it being a 1 nighter but the service in the dining room was the worst I have ever experienced. I had to ask for a drink 5 times to 2 different people before finally getting a drink when my main dish came out. It took them a long time to bring out our food and was even told we couldn't order additional items because it was 10:00. (we also waited 30 minutes to be seated) So we ended up missing most of the shows. The food was the worst I experienced (and I have been on carnival:eek: ) There was a very limited selection in the Raffles. Being a vegetarian and a huge dessert person I think I am the only person who actually LOST weight on a cruise ship. Even the dessert wasn't good! The only dessert I liked was the Cooking Light Berry one from the main dining room.

The ship seemed small (agian maybe because everything was crowded b/c it was a 1 nighter) but I thought the cabins were small too. I did like the shower size though!

I have to agree with meridianfan about the shops. Not much to purchase as far as t-shirts and that that type of stuff. I did like the decor of the ship and thought the rooms were nicly done. I liked the observetory room a lot and thought that little viewing room of the "Captain's Bridge" was cool. I had a blast in the nightclub which was also nicely decorated. (Which reminds me of an incident at the bar when the bartender lost my cabin card. He gave me back a man's card and was insisting that was the card I gave him. This went on for a few minutes until another bartender came over and told me to go to the reception desk to have them switch my card. I told them to go and look for my card. A minute later the first bartender came over with my card and apologized)

I was booking this ship for Dec. 8 but before I could it was sold out so I am doing the Dawn again on the 11th. I was a little upset b/c I have gone on the Dawn (and loved it) but wanted to do the Spirit for the ports of call. Now I am glad it was booked!

Appreciate all the previous comments. I would be happy to sample the Spirit if only to avoid having to see "Bollywood" again.

As for the muster drills, I believe they are required to be held within 24 hours of sailing so on a one night cruise, they are not required since the passengers will be debarking in less than 24 hours.

Great, detailed review. Thank you.

I have not sailed the Spirit:mad: but your comparisons of the Jewel/Dawn are "on the mark".

Look forward to your further comments:)

IMHO, I think that we need to hear later from folks who are done a "regular" sailing from NYC. It seems that the 1 nighter didn't give a good impression.

One more thing about the casino. In some areas, if you are bigger than 6' 3" then duck. I am 6' 1" and I just cleared the ceilings. Not the full casino just in one section. An don't say anything about it was built for Asia. What about Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.:eek:

Phil

We were also on the 1 nighter...must say we had a great time. will leave a detailed review later

here are some pics

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=508052810

My DH and I did the one night Spirit dinner dance. This was our third cruise, having done one week on the Carnival Miracle, and one on the Dawn in June. We have loved all three of our cruises.

We arrived at the pier early, about 10:15. As an aside, when cruising, they charge for parking by how many nights on the cruise, so you don't have to worry about paying extra if your car is there for over 24 hours. No traffic, and not many people waiting this early. We sat in the Latitudes area. At least three NCL people approached and introduced themselves, and offered any assistance we might need. They brought us down at about 11:30 to start boarding. Everything was smooth, and we were the second ones on the ship.

We immediately went to the reservations table, and made a 5:30 reservation for Le Bistro. I just had to have that chocolate fondue again. That done, we started to look around a bit.

This is definitely an Asian ship, nothing subtle about that, but the decor is understated and very elegant. We found it beautiful. We then made our way to our room, an inside on the 10th deck, 10627. This was our first time in an inside room, having previously had a balcony room and a mini suite on the Dawn. We thought it would be a good chance to try it out without committing for a week. I took the glass elevator up and enjoyed the view of the Grand Centrum.

The room was definitely smaller, but adequate for two people. I noticed that things were shorter, but at 5'1", that didn't bother me. The closet was pretty roomy, with shelves built in on one side. Not enough hangers of course. The safe was inconveniently in the bottom of the closet. Bathroom was adequately sized also, with the shower bigger than expected. There was a small chest of drawers, with shelves over holding the coffee service, ice tray, and tv. Small desk with mirror over top, could be used for makeup table in a pinch. One small arm chair with foot stool. Two single beds. Steward stopped by right away, brought our Daily, and we asked him to push them together for the evening. Fold down bed on the wall, and pullout bed under one bed. Room fine for two, would be pretty crowded for three or four. Overall, a reasonably comfortable and attractive room, but I probably wouldn't be tempted to spend a lot of time there like I would in a balcony room.

One very wierd thing about this room. One wall was next to an area that must have held or been connected to some workings of the ship. There was a constant rumble, and the beds were like those vibrating beds that you feed quarters into. In a way it was like white noise, and could lull you to sleep, my DH slept like a baby. I was kind of keyed up, and didn't sleep well, so I did notice the rumble and vibration. I would choose a room in a better location next time.

Once unpacked, we headed to Windows for lunch at around noon. It was very similar to the Venetian on the Dawn, very beautiful, with the large windows along the back, and nice window seats along the sides as well. We were at a lovely table right at the large center window in the back. At this early hour, it was not crowded, and we had several people help us. We had Goulash which we both liked. Skirt Steak I liked, DH thought the sauce was funky, Vegetables delicious. Cheesecake with Cherry Compote was delicious with a lovely presentation, I took a picture before devouring. I had the foamiest Cappuccino ever, a little bit of heaven. Reviewed our Daily during lunch.

Next, we decided to discover the ship, so we elevatored up to deck 13. DH wanted to shoot baskets, and someone was already driving golf balls, even though it was a bit chilly. Jogging track, but nobody jogging yet.

Down to Deck 12, and we checked out Raffles. Seemed very comparable to the other buffets we had seen. We didn't end up eating here, as we prefer the restaurants. One side doubles as La Trattoria in the evening, the same setup as on the Dawn. Peeked into the Spa, Aquaswim looked awesome but I didn't get to try it.

Internet room, Library, Mahjong rooms all were comforatable and attractive. Seemed like a good amount of books in the library.

The Tivoli pool looked like the biggest pool I have seen on a ship, and was almost 8 feet deep in the deep end. There was a hot tub on each of the four corners, bubbling and steaming invitingly away, even on this chilly November afternoon. The Bier Garten overlooks the pool from Deck 13, similar layout to the Dawn.

The Galaxy of the Stars is a beautiful lounge. All around the perimiter is a glassed off sitting area to enjoy the view from the windows. Near the dance floor, a spiral stair case leads to an area where you can observe the bridge area, which is very cool, especially at night when it is all dark except for the glow of the panels and screens.

The video arcade on Deck 10 seemed to be the largest we've seen, nice child care area. The Buccaneers wet and wild area is awesome. A children's pool with a pirate motif, with 2 slides, surrounded on three sides with terraces where parents can sit and eat and drink while observing the young ones. Would love that set up if my kids were still young enough.

Down a couple of decks. Shops looked like the typical ship board shops to me, though I admit I am not that interested in shopping on board. Champagne Charlie's was a nice lounge, but I just walked through. Peeked into Cagneys and it looked lovely.

OK, this is getting too long, I'm going to try to rush on. We decided to do a ship tour at 2. We met Scotty, from the cruise director's staff, at the casino at 2. He was engaging and funny. Turn's out the tour was pretty much the same as what we had just done on our own, and we didn't see any non-public type things, but it was fun.

Back on our own, we went through Raffles, starting to get crowded now. They have an ice cream bar where they will scoop you vanilla or chocolate, and there are sauces and some toppings. There was a warm peach cobbler there, so I tried that with some vanilla ice cream. Wonderful. I noticed people in the hot tubs, so I thought, why not? Changed into my suit and sat bubbling with the November sun shining on my face. I could have sat there all day, it just felt to very nice. But, we must move on. Back to the room for a 45 minute power nap, and get changed for dinner. Still had enough time for another stroll before our 5:30 revervation.

Le Bistro opened promptly at 5:30. We were the first ones there, and had a lovely seat in front of the windows. The ship was under way shortly after six, and it was dark. We opened the curtains, and sailed away enjoying a wonderful meal while watching the lights of the city outside. It just doesn't get any better. The meal was pretty much identical to the Dawn. We loved it on both ships. We had filet mignon, the couple next to us on one side had the surf and turf, the couple of the other side had the fire star, which is stunning. Standard surcharge is $15, fire star is $18, surf and turf is $20. And the chocolate fondue is as decadent as I remember. They even offered to refill DH's pineapple with fruit! Service was attentive and subtle. Our leisurely meal lasted about 2 hours, just right to make the 7:30 show. Restaurant never seemed crowded.

In the theatre, we sat in the mezzanine, second tier, second box from the stage. Even from that corner area, the view was excellent. The show was Standing Room Only, a review of mostly well known Broadway tunes. I especially liked the tap dancing sequence, and All That Jazz. We found the show enjoyable. Julie, the cruise director, stopped by for a few words. Can't comment on her though from this cruise.

From there, we made our way to the Galaxy of the Stars to catch David Naster's comedy show. He was funny, not tears running down the face funny, but good for some laughs. He was followed by the band 60280.

They were fantastic. If you like to dance, they play non-stop great dance tunes. So like the originals, that in many cases, if I weren't watching, I would have thought I was listening to the Juke box. We spent a good long while listening to their performance and really enjoyed them.

I never got to try the fish n chips at the Blue Lagoon on the Dawn, so we went down to the Blue Lagoon. Well, they didn't have fish n chips. They did have fish cakes, but trust me, they're not the same thing. My DH tried the fried rice. Unfortunately, we didn't really like what we tried. On a good note, they also have that wonderful banana bread.

Next we went to the casino. It seemed to be the largest we had seen. We played a couple of certifed loose slots until we lost $25. OK, we're cheap. But we did play for a while and had some fun. There were tables set up in the back with some hot food, and some cookies and cakes and coffee. behind the casino there is a lounge and and a dance floor with DJ. I would say this area is for the more adventurous or edgy crowd, whereas the Galaxy was more traditional. We belonged there, but the crowd in this club seemed to be having a good time too.

At 2am, we decided to get a few hours sleep. DH slept great, while I thought about were all that rumbling was coming from. We still got up at 6:30, and DH went for coffee. This is when you really miss the balcony. At any rate, he made me get up so we could watch the city scape. We had coffee at Raffles, and then at 7 went to Windows for breakfast.

Again, it was uncrowded, and we had a lovely table by the large windows. I enjoyed my final cup of their wonderful cappuccino, with my eggs and french toast. And DH was thrilled to find those baked beans on the menu.

We returned to our room to pack, then went back to Raffles. It was elbow to elbow, why more don't go to the dining room I'm not sure. We actually got some coffee and went out on deck for a bit. DH went up and sank his final basket of the cruise.

We loved the Spirit. DH thought it the best of the three we have tried. I know it is smaller, but it doesn't really seem smaller. I know it is older, but everything feels fresh and well maintained. We found the service friendly and attentive. I would cruise her again in a heartbeat. Sorry about the length of the post!:)

Sorry electricon, I thought I paginated properly the first time!

You did well. Your post was an easy read.

Did you find the :eek: D R A G O N :eek: ?

I did! I thought he would be right out there, but he was hidden down there in the observation room!

mary

I'm sure the next time you cruise on the Spirit you'll choose a balcony cabin outside. No crew elevators to contend with, I think your inside cabin may have been beside one.

Why the Blue Lagoon on the Spirit doesn't serve fish and chips I haven't a clue, but to port Henry's Pub does on sea days for lunch.... Yes, the banana bread is great, but I actually enjoyed the fried rice at the Blue Lagoon....

I was kind of hoping NCL would have added DVD players to all the cabins similar to the Sun, and for the small refrigerators in every cabin during the last drydock. It appears this isn't so. Well, maybe the next drydock....

For her future cruisers, please bring some clothes hangars, as the ten or so NCL provides really isn't enough for a 6-7-8 or 10-11 day cruise. Keep in mind in Asia Star Cruises longest cruise was 4 days in length....

I didn't realize the stuarts were working for the 1 day cruise. We never had ice, luggage paper never removed, not enough towels & noone turned down our beds...AND NO CHOCOLATE ON MY PILLOW :( But they managed to still charge us $10.00

Why should they turn down the bed from the city that never sleeps.....LOL

We were on the 1 nighter as well and had a wonderful time.

I'll add that we were there for the dinner, the dancing and just to spend some time together as a break from everything else going on. We had an AB Penthouse 10502 a nice suite, but one VERY weird thing...the bathroom is part of the bedroom. There is no door between the bathroom and the bedroom. It opens right onto the tub/sink area (nicely set up tho), with separate shower and toilet rooms. The weird part: to turn on the light in the toilet room, you have to turn on the main light to the bathroom. So if your bedmate is sleeping and you have business to take care of...he/she won't be sleeping when you're done. On the other hand, if you want to shower in the middle of the night, there is a separate light switch for the shower. Oh well, guess the people who built the ship do things differently from me, but I like a little privacy now and then.

The suite decor is quite elegant and restful, with light woods and light creamy colors. the ceilings are very low and the balconies are narrow, but there are two. The biggest issue is that the walls are paper thin and the blaring TV all night long in the cabin next door kept my husband awake. I, on the other hand, had two Manhattans and slept through it.

The dancing was okay, but we missed most of the real 'standards.' While we liked the energy of 60280 (or 08?), the same beat over and over again is somewhat limiting for us. Personal preference. We had fun, spent the time together and laughed like we hadn't in a long time, so the details didn't really matter.

Dinner was Cagneys and we had terrific service and great food. The lobster was tender (husband said among the best he's had) and my boneless rib eye was perfect. The service and the food were better in the Spirit's Cagneys then the Dawn's.

Alex the Concierge remains the gem he has always been. I forgot my passport and he helped us make the necessary arrangements for us to get on the ship (didn't actually need it since we didn't really GO anywhere!). Boy, did I feel stupid. On a one-nighter, he really didn't need to help us much (dinner reservations).

The ship was nice, but truth is we really like the Dawn...Java Cafe is a favorite of ours and there isn't one on the Spirit. What is the same is the culture of the staff and that is pleasant, helpful and pretty efficient.