Magical Mystery Tour - Live from the Norwegian Spirit April 12th

Starting this thread at the Hilton Gatwick Airport, before flying to Venice tomorrow to board the Spirit on Wednesday.

I wasn't sure whether I would do a live report this time. I don't have the unlimited internet package (although my mobile phone includes internet at every port but one), so won't be able to log on as much as usual. This will be more of a semi live report.

Also, the itinerary itself may not be of as much interest to many NCL cruisers as usual, as many of the ports are not visited all that often. Having said that, it seems that they are appearing a bit more regularly on itineraries these days, so they may be of some help.

The Spirit has recently been through a very short dry dock. What was expected to be a full refurb got scaled back to just a couple of days. I'm not expecting much, if anything, to have changed other than a bit of tidying up, but will see how the ship looks since I was last onboard in Summer 2015.

Anyway, I'll be back later to give a bit of background on the itinerary itself. I'll try to report on how things go in Venice over the next couple of days and then see how things go once onboard.

As usual, ask any questions you want and I'll try to help. Food and drink questions will have more chance of a response than spa and gym ones.

Looking forward to your semi live report! We board the Spirit next month for 14 days, our first time on that ship. Take good care of her for us! Will be following along here.

looking forward to reading

But I insist you visit the spa!;p

Lyn

Looking forward to following your postings. We are on the Spirit in June (after over 10 years since our last cruise on her). Slightly different itinerary but includes Venice

Have a safe journey and great trip :D

Although you sail ships and itineraries that I likely never will, I always follow and enjoy your trip reports. Have a great trip!

Well I will be following it! It's one of the cruises I'd love to do one of these days.

Nice to see a few people following along, including those that I have cruised with previously.

A bit of background, for those who haven't followed one of my reports before, and about this cruise.

I'm travelling with my wife and our son, who is 12 next month. We are NCL regulars, having been on two or three cruises a year for about the last 5 years. Most of those in Europe, although we've done a few in the US (and I've done a couple of solo transatlantics.

This will be our third time on the Spirit. We went to the Canaries at Easter a few years ago, and then the Barcelona to Venice Grand Med in August 2015. I honestly don't have a particular preference for either the new mega ships or the older ones, with less bells and whistles. I can see the pros and cons of either.

Overall, The Spirit is one of our faves. We love Raffles Terrace, and you will probably hear reference to Henrys Pub a few times. Last time we were on the Spirit, a group of us, mostly British, were regulars there. It's possibly my favourite bar at sea.

How we got on this particular cruise is a bit of a long story. I have been referring to this cruise as the Magical Mystery Tour for some time.

About two years ago, when the Epic was supposed to be the ship in Europe for Winter 2016/17, we booked a cruise to the Canaries from Barcelona for this Easter. The main reason for booking was that it was such a good price, and the ports it was visiting were quite different to our last visit there. It was a bit of a speculative booking due to the price, although I suspect we would have gone had the itineraries not changed.

Anyway, a few months later, NCL had a change of mind and the Epic was redirected to the US for the winter. As part of the rescheduling, a really interesting itinerary on the Spirit from Venice to Istanbul via Israel was added. Despite being a day longer, we had our reservation transferred at the same cost (with a small adjustment for tax and DSC) plus some OBC. Amongst all the angst here at the time, I was really pleased. Had the Epic not been cancelled and this one added then we would probably have moved anyway (at the far higher cost they were asking for).

There was then another change when NCL removed Turkey from their itineraries. This cruise was changed to a Venice round trip with Istanbul (and Kusadasi I think) being removed. As we have been to both of those places before, I wasn't too disappointed, and getting to the airport at Venice will be easier than Istanbul. Since then (except for a rumour on the roll call that the cruise had been cancelled), everything has stayed the same for a while.

So, where are we going?

Despite having been to the Eastern Med on three previous cruises, there are only two ports (Venice and Split) that we have been to before. The itinerary is:

Venice

Heraklion, Crete

Haifa, Israel (overnight)

Limassol, Cyprus

Rhodes, Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Split, Croatia

As usual, we will be doing it ourselves in the ports. We've got some plans for some of them and in others, it's a case of just walk round the ports.

One final thing. In a typically dismal bit of planning, I'm doing a long sponsored walk the weekend after we return, so I will be doing a fair amount of walking, both round the promenade deck and also in port, to keep my fitness up. Don't follow any of my suggestions if you want to avoid some walking. I'll be clocking up some miles.

You make a valuable contribution to the board Keith by sharing your experiences, so it's good that you are getting to enjoy the life at sea again and we're looking forward to your reports. Only 37 days and I'll get to see for myself what life is like on Spirit.

Have a great cruise. :cool:

Following... we have just under 15 months till our Spirit cruise.

So, where are we going?

 

Despite having been to the Eastern Med on three previous cruises, there are only two ports (Venice and Split) that we have been to before. The itinerary is:

 

Venice

Heraklion, Crete

Haifa, Israel (overnight)

Limassol, Cyprus

Rhodes, Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Split, Croatia

 

As usual, we will be doing it ourselves in the ports. We've got some plans for some of them and in others, it's a case of just walk round the ports.

 

One final thing. In a typically dismal bit of planning, I'm doing a long sponsored walk the weekend after we return, so I will be doing a fair amount of walking, both round the promenade deck and also in port, to keep my fitness up. Don't follow any of my suggestions if you want to avoid some walking. I'll be clocking up some miles.

Now I'm even more intrigued by this thread. Our originally scheduled cruise on the Spirit (next month) too was cancelled to remove Turkey from the itinerary more than a year ago (we were originally going to Alanya, Turkey). Our itinerary was then subsequently totally reshuffled. And although I think it is now a better itinerary overall I am bummed about missing Haifa, Israel and Kotor, Montenegro from the original itinerary and I see you are going to both of those locations so I look forward to your input about those places especially (we will just have to take another cruise to go to those places ;p)! We are excited about our revised itinerary though as we have only been to 1 of the 12 locations. So it is nice how sometimes changes can work out for the better. Have a great cruise! Looking forward to reading more!

Following closely as we will likely be on the spirit in the fall...does anyone know if they have any further updating or dry docks for the spirit in the future..thanks

Checking in from Venice.

When we've been to Venice previously we have either arrived by ship, or by air late at night before embarkation (so stayed near the airport).

This time, as we are staying for two nights pre cruise, we are staying at the Hilton Molino Stucky. It isn't on the main Island, but just across the water from it. A shuttle boat takes you across, and we have a nice view of Venice from our room.

We tend to use Hiltons a lot and our status meant that we got upgraded to a suite. Very nice it is too. We were considering going over to the main island today but decided to have a wander around here instead before settling down for some food and a drink. We're in the room now with our feet up. Tomorrow will be spent walking around Venice. No great plans, as we've done Venice a few times before, but we're planning on a nice lunch and just wandering around to see what we find.

A quick point on getting here. Venice presents unique challenges with regard to getting from the Airport. We had considered the Alilaguna, which is cheap but takes about 90 minutes to get to this hotel. Another option was the bus to Piazalle Roma and then a shorter Alilaguna ride, but that takes a similar time in total.

In the end we decided to go for the easier (but vastly more expensive) option of a water taxi to the door of the hotel. It was well worth it. 30 minutes to get here. We have another one booked for Wednesday to get to the cruise port.

I've read some discussions elsewhere of how long it takes to get to the water taxi pick up. It was about 600 yards, much of which has a moving walkway if you want to use that. Really no problem to get to. I'd recommend it. We arrived at our hotel about 75 minutes after our flight touched the ground.

Looking forward to a relaxing day in Venice tomorrow (although I have vague plans to do get some walking done in the evening). I'll check in again when I fancy it. :)

there's a moving walkway from airport to water taxi dock?

must be new as would have been really handy for Ian a few years ago!-was a long walk with luggage and a limp!

This time of year you are probably OK but I was badly bitten by mosquitos in Venice[in July]

beware!

Lyn

there's a moving walkway from airport to water taxi dock?

must be new as would have been really handy for Ian a few years ago!-was a long walk with luggage and a limp!

 

This time of year you are probably OK but I was badly bitten by mosquitos in Venice[in July]

beware!

 

Lyn

Yes, the walkway looked quite new. It would have made it a lot easier for you guys.

We will be overnighting in Venice on our cruise, noon to 6 pm the next day. Thoughts on what first timers should focus on? Enjoying your review!

Following closely as we will likely be on the spirit in the fall...does anyone know if they have any further updating or dry docks for the spirit in the future..thanks

There's quite a bit of speculation as to a future dry dock, but nothing definite as far as I know.

To be honest, I can't really see what they can do other than refurbishing rooms and perhaps renaming bars etc. There just isn't the room to do the bigger changes that have been done on other ships.

I suspect we will never see a full Norwegian Edge refurb. Given that the cabins were a bit tired a couple of years ago, I'd also be surprised if they had covered all that in a couple of days, so it's difficult to say where they are going with it.

We will be overnighting in Venice on our cruise, noon to 6 pm the next day. Thoughts on what first timers should focus on? Enjoying your review!

I think the best thing to do in Venice is just walk it. You never know what is round the next corner.

We finally got round to doing a gondola last time, and it was quite fun. I'm glad I did it. The area round St Marks is very busy, and you need to go there, but make sure you get away from the busy areas as well.

There are loads of great food options as well. We had a great meal a couple of years ago in a restaurant on the Grand Canal, just by Rialto Bridge. Just the sort of area which could be a dismal experience, but it was a nice affordable meal. Be prepared to pay for anything near St Marks though. Not from personal experience, but I understand that even a cup of coffee can cost a huge amount there.

Be prepared to pay for anything near St Marks though. Not from personal experience, but I understand that even a cup of coffee can cost a huge amount there.

Oh yes! We were there four years ago and they were asking 13 euro for a cup of coffee as the price included an "Orchestra supplement!" And you thought NCL nickel and dimed. We left the square, walked less than 50 metres and paid 90 euro cents.

Checking in from Venice.

 

 

This time, as we are staying for two nights pre cruise, we are staying at the Hilton Molino Stucky. It isn't on the main Island, but just across the water from it. A shuttle boat takes you across, and we have a nice view of Venice from our room.

 

We tend to use Hiltons a lot and our status meant that we got upgraded to a suite. Very nice it is too. We were considering going over to the main island today but decided to have a wander around here instead before settling down for some food and a drink. We're in the room now with our feet up. Tomorrow will be spent walking around Venice. No great plans, as we've done Venice a few times before, but we're planning on a nice lunch and just wandering around to see what we find.

 

:)

I am following along :)

We will be at the Hilton Molino Stucky in May post cruise. How was you walk around the hotel and surrounding area?

Congrats on the upgrade! Do you get executive lounge access? I would be interested in what they have to offer.

Enjoying your review so far!

I am following along :)

We will be at the Hilton Molino Stucky in May post cruise. How was you walk around the hotel and surrounding area?

Congrats on the upgrade! Do you get executive lounge access? I would be interested in what they have to offer.

Enjoying your review so far!

The area we walked round was OK. We were looking for a shop to get some water to carry around tomorrow, and ended up in quite a residential area. Quite different to the main city, but interesting to see.

If you walk along the waterfront there are some nice views of Venice.

Just across the bridge is a filling station for boats, which isn't something you usually see.

Overall, if you aren't likely to have many opportunities to see Venice then I wouldn't particularly hang around here. It's a nice alternative though.

As for the hotel, we booked an executive room, as much for the city view if I remember my thinking correctly (it didn't cost much more). The lounge offers is fairly standard as far as what they offer for food and drink. We stopped in for a couple of glasses of wine and some snacks. Some shrimp and mozzarella balls, things like that. It will probably be handy tomorrow as we plan to eat a lunchtime and will likely want a snack in the evening.

It isn't a lounge as such, but an area around edge of the bar/lounge near reception. I quite liked it, to be honest as it made it part of the open space. Overall, I thought it was better than average. I've read reviews on TripAdvisor from people who didn't like it, so it seems to be a preference thing.

The area we walked round was OK. We were looking for a shop to get some water to carry around tomorrow, and ended up in quite a residential area. Quite different to the main city, but interesting to see.

 

If you walk along the waterfront there are some nice views of Venice.

 

Just across the bridge is a filling station for boats, which isn't something you usually see.

 

Overall, if you aren't likely to have many opportunities to see Venice then I wouldn't particularly hang around here. It's a nice alternative though.

 

As for the hotel, we booked an executive room, as much for the city view if I remember my thinking correctly (it didn't cost much more). The lounge offers is fairly standard as far as what they offer for food and drink. We stopped in for a couple of glasses of wine and some snacks. Some shrimp and mozzarella balls, things like that. It will probably be handy tomorrow as we plan to eat a lunchtime and will likely want a snack in the evening.

 

It isn't a lounge as such, but an area around edge of the bar/lounge near reception. I quite liked it, to be honest as it made it part of the open space. Overall, I thought it was better than average. I've read reviews on TripAdvisor from people who didn't like it, so it seems to be a preference thing.

All good information, thank you!

We booked an executive room with a view also, so here's hoping our Gold Status gets us an upgrade like you.

We will only have 1 full day in Venice, so we will be taking the shuttle across.

We will only have 1 full day in Venice, so we will be taking the shuttle across.

Absolutely. Going over is essential. We would have done so today if we hadn't had tomorrow.

The one issue about this location is that you can't just nip out and have a wander round the city. The shuttle will add a significant amount of time. If we were staying on the main Island then we'd probably have gone for a longer walk there, but it was fine for us over here.

Just don't expect to be able to just nip back to the hotel. The shuttle runs every 20 minutes, so it can take quite a while to get back here and then back to the city.

Following

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Looking forward to your posts. Have a wonderful cruise!