NCL Spirit - April 19, 2009 - New Orleans - Boston

Will any other Family be on board?

Hi Lee,

My partner and I will be on this cruise. This will be the first time we will cruise to our home port.

Bob

Great to hear from you Bob. My partner Gary and I have had the trip booked for a while now and are looking forward to it. We've been to Belize before, but the other ports are new for us. Haven't really made any excursion plans or anything as of yet. We are looking forward to Boston, and hope we can spend a night or 2 there after the trip as we haven't ever spent time in the city before. I hope we can meet during the trip for drinks or dinner!

Hi Lee.

It would be good to get together for dinner, maybe on one of the "at sea" days. We booked this a couple weeks ago and haven't made any port plans yet either. Chuck and I haven't been to any of these ports before. Boston should make a pretty good cruise port for you. The terminal is not too far from the World Trade Center "T" stop (Silver Line), across from the large Boston Convention & Exhibition.Center. This line connects to the city in one direction and the airport terminals in the other. The city itself is very walkable and there is a lot to see. Sorry it took me while to write this. I hadn't checked this forum recently.

Bob

Hello! Good to hear back from you. Belize is the only port we've done before. Last time we did the Laminai/New River excursion and had a blast! It is one of our favorite excursions on all the cruises we have been on. This time we are going to do the Discover Scuba excursion thru NCL.

In Santo Tomas de Castilla, I've been reading up and many people recommend Go With Gus Tours, http://gowithgustours.com/puerto_santo_tomas.htm and also Happy Fish Tours, http://www.happyfishresort.com/pg014.html. It seems that both companies will have booths at the pier.

Costa Maya we will probably just go to town on our own. No plans for Curacao yet. In Bermuda I think a friend is picking us up to take us around, If not we will probably just take the ferry over to Hamilton. You can get ferry info here, but they haven't posted the spring schedule yet: http://www.seaexpress.bm/portal/server.pt If you do the ferry you have to buy a pass or fare ahead of time, they don't take cash onboard the ferry.

I'm hoping we can spend a night or two in Boston, but not sure about my May work schedule yet. It's probably going to be a last minute plan as I may not know anything about my May schedule until the 21st of April!

Lee!

Hey Lee,

Thanks for the link to the Bermuda ferry. That looks like a fun way to jump around the island. We have just started to look into tours. For Costa Maya we may be doing this: http://costamayacruiseexcursions.com/Dzibanche_Kinichna_CostaMaya.htm.

Are you going to arrange a tour In Santo Tomas de Castilla once you get there? I also have read a lot of good things about Gowithgustours. It sounds like you may be able to negotiate a price at the pier that may be less expensive than the online price. I have just started looking into the offerings. The Guatemala links will be helpful.

Thanks, Bob

Hi Lee, I am sorry that I could not find the other thread or I would have gone there. In any case glad to here from you guys. I fly for NW, March 30th we will be DL. Arughhhh!

Usually there are a few others at the FOD. Are you guys overnighting in MSY or are you flying in the same day?

I sure wish my honey could have came with me on this trip but he can not get the time off. I will have fun though. I usually do on any cruise.

Lee, Do yo know how I delet the other thread that I started? I can not figure it out.

Hey Keith,

Right now, I think our plan is to just fly over to MSY on the day of departure unless the flights start looking bad, then we will go over the day before.

I'm not sure if you can or how to delete a thread - I'd think the moderator would have to do that. I know you can close it, but it shouldn't be a problem to have them both going at the same time.

Hey Keith,

 

Right now, I think our plan is to just fly over to MSY on the day of departure unless the flights start looking bad, then we will go over the day before.

 

I'm not sure if you can or how to delete a thread - I'd think the moderator would have to do that. I know you can close it, but it shouldn't be a problem to have them both going at the same time.

Hey Lee, I am on a layover in MIA and seeing all the ships here makes me want to get on one so bad!!!!! I actually am toying with the idea of taking Amtrak To Chicago then to MSY just for the hell of it. We will see. I need to wait until my bid award comes out to make sure I have the days off that I need. In any case I hope all is well with you and yours!

Hey Bob, we are still talking about our excursions and haven't booked anything other than the Discover SCUBA in Belize. We are doing that thru the ship. I've heard that sometimes it's less at the pier in Guatamala, but others have said it's the same price so not sure which approach we are taking yet. If Gary and I ever have a day off together we will talk about it, but lately our schedules haven't been lining up too well!

Keith, LOL, I get ship envy also - usually in San Diego though. We stay right across the street from the cruise terminal there! I have lots of pictures of lots of ships that I've never set foot on! Gary and I have done 2 different long distance Amtrak trips - West Palm to NYC, and Seattle to Chicago. We enjoyed both trips, but you do see some interesting people on the trains! We had Deluxe Bedrooms on both of those trips. It's not an inexpensive option though! I had actually looked into taking the train from Houston to New Orleans, but the Sunset Limited only has service on certain days of the week, and it just doesn't work out for this trip. I'll probably start checking the flights in 2 weeks or so. On the way home, I'm not sure if we are going to bus it to MHT or PVD, or if we are going to get off-line passes and fly from Logan.

BTW, my direct email is jla665@sbcglobal.net if that is easier for you guys to reach me!

hello to all. my friend and i will be onboard. im from austin and work as airline crew and he is from san francisco. will spend at least 2 nights in nola before cruise and not sure about boston yet. got a really good deal on this ship thru airline employee discount website. looking forward to meeting up.

hello to all. my friend and i will be onboard. im from austin and work as airline crew and he is from san francisco. will spend at least 2 nights in nola before cruise and not sure about boston yet. got a really good deal on this ship thru airline employee discount website. looking forward to meeting up.

Welcome borgerboy, There are a few other F/A's on board as well. WN and NW. Welcome to the group. We will see you at the FOD on board if not beforehand.

Hi borgerboy,

Welcome to the group, Bob

Hi borgerboy,

 

Welcome to the group, Bob

Robert, Forgive me, I never introduced my self to you guys. I am Keith From the Metro Detroit area. I sort of poped in from another link in to this one that Lee started. I look forward to meeting you as well.

Lee, I did decide to book Amtrak. I got a small bedroom on the train. No oversized cruise bags stuffed in the overhead bin for this trip! Yeah. I leave Ann Arbor for Chicago in the early morning of the 17th. Spend all day there then that evening board the "City of New Orleans" for the 18 hours southbound! It will be nice to see the ole birthtown again. I will be staying at the Drury Hotel on Poydras Street on the night of the 18th.

Hey Guys!

Just make sure you leave the Spirit in good shape for my sailing! I'm on the third sailing after she comes up here from NOLA going to BDA. I would love to hear your thoughts on the ship when you return from the White Hot Party to the ship itself and good places to hang out onboard and good crew members who provided excellent service. :)

Thanks!

~Jake

Hey Guys!

 

Just make sure you leave the Spirit in good shape for my sailing! I'm on the third sailing after she comes up here from NOLA going to BDA. I would love to hear your thoughts on the ship when you return from the White Hot Party to the ship itself and good places to hang out onboard and good crew members who provided excellent service. :)

 

Thanks!

~Jake

Will do Jake, how was the Solstice?

Fantastic! I have a review posted now...

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=52870

I'm on the May 15, 2009 sailing of the Spirit. I accidently posted it the first time with the wrong date (May 22nd). I'll keep that thread going until you guys get back so you can find it easily. :D

Robert, Forgive me, I never introduced my self to you guys. I am Keith From the Metro Detroit area. I sort of poped in from another link in to this one that Lee started. I look forward to meeting you as well.

Nice to meet you too, Keith. I am envious of your trip. I have always wanted to sleep on an ovenight train.

Nice to meet you too, Keith. I am envious of your trip. I have always wanted to sleep on an ovenight train.

Robert, This will be my first overnight on a train. I have been wanting to do it for a long time as well. The cards just seemed to fall in to place for this trip. Here's to pulling it off with out a hitch! I want to hear all about your M/V Discovery trip. I keep eying their trips. I saw her in Greece last November. How was the sister of the love boat?

Well I guess there is just a handful of us on this cruise. Maybe a few others will pop in on the FOD get togthers.

Hey BorgerBoy, Welcome to the party!

Keith, I'm betting there will be more on board. On one of our cruises, we never got a response on here, but there were a nice group on board, and we all ended up hanging together in the evenings. Hope you have an enjoyable trip down on the train. Gary and I have enjoyed both our trips. I think we want to try the Coast Starlight next, but the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver is also spectacular I hear.

Has anybody made any plans for Santo Tomas or Curacao yet? Just curious. The only thing we've booked so far is the discover scuba excursion thru the ship.

Hey BorgerBoy, Welcome to the party!

 

Keith, I'm betting there will be more on board. On one of our cruises, we never got a response on here, but there were a nice group on board, and we all ended up hanging together in the evenings. Hope you have an enjoyable trip down on the train. Gary and I have enjoyed both our trips. I think we want to try the Coast Starlight next, but the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver is also spectacular I hear.

 

Has anybody made any plans for Santo Tomas or Curacao yet? Just curious. The only thing we've booked so far is the discover scuba excursion thru the ship.

Lee, I have not made any plans for any port. I have a sour tsate on NCL excursions after the last few I booked. I usually just haggle with the locals for something. I am always open to suggestions though.

I want to do VIA rail to Vancouver as well. I live just a half hour drive from the station in Windsor. 4 Hours to Toronto then over. I am looking forward to this trip indeed.

Hey guys does any one know where there is a nice gay sit down place for a drink in the French Quarter area? Not to pick any body up, just to relax in a good atmosphere.

hi to all with excitement about the upcoming cruise.

as for a cool, comfortable cocktail bar in the french quarter i really like the bar at the hotel monteleone. i think its called the carousel and it has a feature that i wouldn't want to ruin by telling. also, there is a brewpub/restaurant near harrahs casino that i think is comfortable (and good beer). kelly and i will be at the drury hotel on fri and sat night before the cruise.

jerry