My review of the NCL Spirit

Review of the NCL Spirit: New Orleans to Barcelona April 15, 2012

For me, one of the best parts of cruising are the sea days. I love being at sea with a boat full of fun people while on vacation…hey, my hotel is moving across the seas! So when I saw the great deal on a transatlantic to Spain I jumped on the chance. In fact, within a few weeks, 5 other friends of mine also jumped on the chance. And soon we had all converged from different corners of America upon New Orleans for our trip on the NCL Spirit. Here is my review of the ship and her crew, et al.

But first, I’m a 40-something single white guy who works in the travel industry. I cruise for the glamor of cruising. I enjoy dressing up for a nice dinner in the main dining room and being pampered. There’s nothing like the attention given by a good crew on a cruise; to go to breakfast and have my room made up by the time I return to brush my teeth; to have my bed turned down at night with a chocolate on my pillow and a cute towel critter googling his paper eyes lovingly at me as I enter my room. Somewhere in my mind, for the duration of the cruise, I’m finally wealthy-part of the 1%- royalty (yes, I have to bear a lot of morons traveling around me, but who doesn’t these days!).

I’m tired of hearing people use as an excuse that they are on vacation to get away with dressing down in the MDR. If you were on vacation in New York, you’d still have to dress up to dine at Del Frisco’s! There ARE other dining choices on board. Basically, NCL seems to be a step above Carnival; which is infested with…well, I feel cruising should include a certain level of sophistication. But I digress.

This was my 4th cruise and my first that was longer than 8 days. I found out on my last cruise that I enjoy the smaller ships; easier to meet people, to get around and not as many crowds; so I liked what I saw in the Spirit. It was also my first time with NCL. I noticed right away in researching the ship how small the rooms were. Yes, they were super tiny compared to the rooms I found on MSC, Carnival and HAL. I also wasn’t sure I was going to like freestyle cruising. I like my late dinner time with my table mates. I seem to have gotten past this for the most part on this voyage, mainly due to the fact that I was in a party of 6 and had met many people from Cruise Critics.

Embarkation: 10 out of 10. From MSY this was a breeze. I got there early; by 11AM. I don’t mind waiting in the lounge (found other CCers to hang out with), but I hate waiting in long lines (like my cruise from Miami a few years ago). We took a cab from our MSY hotel and transferred checked luggage easily. I went on inside while my travel partners went back into the city. There were few people checking in. Going through security was simple and the check-in process was quick. I told them I had cruised with NCL before, so I was placed in a shorter line with maybe a dozen people. The entire process took about 15 minutes.

The wait was painless for me because I started meeting CCers from our roll call. They had cookies and morning breads out on a table and plenty of seats. One of our CCers had early boarding for a possible wheel chair that she wound up not using. When they called for early boarding, she suggested that we accompany her. No one said anything about our party of about 8 utilizing the early boarding. We got on board and went to Windows for lunch, where we met up with others from our roll call, something I had organized prior.

The ship: 7 on a 10 scale. Spirit was well appointed and very pretty inside. She was clean and was always being cleaned. I found it easy to navigate her public areas. She had decent public spaces, but I wasn’t overly happy with many of them. For example, Henry’s Pub is really out of the way, not entirely comfortable, very small and loud.

I was organizing daily happy hours and I had a difficult time finding a place suitable for these. I needed a place that was central, open and inviting, not too loud so as to obstruct good conversation, with drink specials and preferably snacks or hors d’oeuvres. Champagne Charlie’s seemed to be that place…the only place… but no drink specials or food. However, it was always busy with games, like trivia contests or Wii on a big screen, or had live music so loud it was nearly impossible to have a conversation. So I wasn’t at all happy with the bar situation on Spirit.

The Beer Garten was a nice space, but often very breezy, being outdoors, and groups were unable to move the furniture to sit together. They had decent food, including pretzels and brats. Raffles Bar, aft, was very nice, but again, difficult for groups to sit together. We did start coming here later in the cruise and several of us would bring plates of snacks to share from the buffet, and that worked out fairly well.

The night club, Marharini’s, was a wonderful space with dark curtains, mirrors, eclectic furniture and even beds to lounge in, but access was through the smoky casino, unless you know about the secret port-side door to the promenade. It opens at 8pm, however. The staff was very friendly and every night I would wind up down there after the other entertainment, for dancing and hanging out with the younger-at-heart crowd. Smoking was allowed at the bar, but not in the lounge or the disco. I rarely sat at the bar for this reason and only once did the smoke from the bar actually bother me while sitting in the lounge. Yes, Maharini was definitely my favorite space on Spirit.

By the way, at night, they also put out a table of snacks in the casino. I loved the tuna sandwiches and there was always a hot option. For the hungry, one could also walk the short distance to Blue Lagoon late at night/early morning.

Besides Henry’s, Spirit has another wasted space, in my opinion- Shanghai Bar. It rarely had more than 3 people in it at one time, and mostly that was staff late at night watching a game on the TVs. Behind this was the arcade, never saw anyone use it. I would have rather they kept the old karaoke rooms that once occupied this space. If I owned Spirit, I would return the karaoke rooms and put the arcade in the hallway that is currently the Shanghai. To me, it’s more exciting to pass through an arcade than a casino!

The Stardust Theater, located aft, was awkward in that one enters from behind the sides of the stage. Most people who left early would leave on the lower level and it was very distracting. The crew did a fairly good job of closing the doors on deck 7 when the show started, but this meant one has to climb to deck 8 in order to enter the theater. There was also a very large space between the front of the stage and the first row of seats, meaning even the first row was a good 20 feet back, excepting the big production show, “Elements”, towards the end of the cruise, where they added onto the front of the stage, thus taking up this space and bringing the stage closer to the audience.

I liked the configuration of the theater itself, however, in that it was a large seating area that inclined towards the aft of the ship. It was easy for groups to sit together and the view was unobstructed. The seats in the balcony were a bit obstructed, but these were reserved for suites guests- so whatever! The lights and sound had a lot to be desired in the Stardust. There were many times the stage lights shown on the audience and nearly blinded me. The sound was a bit tinny and just didn’t sound complete.

Galaxy of Stars was a neat space, with lots of seating. During the day it was used for large lectures, bingo, dance lessons and special events. At night it became a show lounge with acts or bands and dancing. It was also a very interesting place for the White Hot Party. Sometimes it was a great place to escape and watch out to sea. It was very crowded as we neared the Strait of Gibraltar. I actually wish they hadn’t used it so much during the day for large events, such as bingo. It would have been a nice place to meet and hang out and could have otherwise been an option for happy hours.

The Celebrity Disco, which is mainly a kid’s place to party, was used by crew as a smoking lounge. I wondered why it reeked so badly when I first checked it out. Then, three days into the trip, I needed a quiet place to make a phone call while in port. Knowing there were few kids on board, I entered this space to find 4 crew members smoking it up in there. I was appalled. They quickly left, but I didn’t stay.

As one allergic to the tar of cigarettes, and being very sensitive to smoke, I will say that the smoking on board very rarely affected me. Of course, it was difficult having to pass the casino getting to Maharini’s. The forward staircase nearly always reeked of smoke wafting up from the casino. The port side top decks allowed smoke as well, so I kept to starboard. Everyone seemed to be happy with this configuration.

Blue Lagoon was wonderful with great food open nearly 24 hours. Best cheesecake on board. Wonderful chicken strips and burgers and a really nice Asian soup. But their biscuits…how anyone can make such hard and disgusting biscuits is beyond me. How they can actually serve them should be a sin! (Others on multiple days said the same thing.) I used mine to carve my name on the nearest bathroom mirror, ‘cause that’s how I roll.

I loved the Windows MDR with its classy décor and large windows, which provided great viewing of numerous sunsets; never stepped foot in the Garden MDR. I also never dined in any of the premium restaurants. I spent enough on the cruise already, thank you.

Great gym on Spirit, but with only 2 recumbent cycles, which I need for my back. The men’s locker room was nice, but very small and with very little privacy when someone opens one of the 2 doors. (Perhaps I should include this remark in the entertainment section!) Great sauna and steam area, as well. I enjoyed the pool and hot tubs. It was a fun game each day to find the hottest tub (there was generally only one that was hot, the others were warm). I was limited to the use of only two hot tubs, however, as I need shade and the other two were in the sun. There were plenty of loungers, but our ship was not completely full.

It’s an older ship that has been kept up well; however, I did notice some rust spots around the windows in the Raffles buffet on the port side. I visited the suite of a friend and noticed rust spots there as well. His couch was also more worn than I would have expected in a suite. She was mostly easy to get around and I loved being able to walk around the entire ship in the shade of the Promenade deck.

I was in room 11083, which was configured sideways; meaning when entering, the bed is to the left and the bathroom is to the right. My cabin mate slept most of the trip (I know, very sad) and it was awkward to open the door and anyone walking down the hall could see her in bed sleeping. (More free entertainment?) I was disappointed in the small size of the room, but there was ample storage. This room can accommodate 4, with a bed in the wall and another taking up space under the main bed. I couldn’t imagine 4 in this small room! I guess to use that 4th bed would make a wall to wall bed area, as there was nowhere else to put one. Fun for the polyamourous!

This was an inside cabin, which I am used to. My usual trick is to keep the TV tuned into the camera of the ship’s bow. This way I know when it’s light out and what the weather is like. It’s just like having a window. However, on NCL, the actual camera shot of the bow is a small screen within a screen, and it rotates to other information as well. The border is bright and includes other information. This means that at night, it illuminates the room and it’s difficult to sleep with it on. I would like to suggest to NCL that the other info be placed on another channel and leave the bow camera as just the bow camera, taking up the entire screen with no other illumination. So my trick didn’t really work well on this ship and thus devalued my interior cabin.

Service: 9.5. They lost half a point here because there were a few times I passed crew members/staff who didn’t acknowledge me as I passed. But the staff, from my room steward (Leo) to the washy-washy crew (Yeni was so sweet) to the officers were all excellent. I always saw smiles and many had learned my name quickly; even those who had very little interaction with me. Of course, with a name like Penguin… I’d also like to point out the hard work of our assistant maître d’ in Windows, Shridhar. He always went above and beyond to accommodate our group. Both he and Kwazi really made dinner a pleasure.

While not quite part of what I consider service, I do have a major complaint in that the crew didn’t seem to know what was going on. We were told there was a martini tasting on our first day at sea. Wrong, it was on our 2nd; after leaving Miami. (I still don’t understand why NCL doesn’t just offer this at any time, as they did on HAL, but I wasn’t on HAL, was I.) I was given the wrong information on when lobster night was. Many passengers wanted to know when we would pass the Strait of Gibraltar but no one seemed to know. I asked the front desk and was given the wrong date. One of our CCers was told it was on the starboard side, when it was on port. I felt simply that the crew should have been briefed on such things that the passengers would want to know about.

Side note: A crew member did call and leave a message about the correct time of passing the strait. However, the phones in the rooms don’t have a flashing light to indicate a message. I was shocked to find 8 messages on my last night, when I finally picked up the phone to check on a message I was expecting. So be warned. Also, a special thanks to our captain for speeding up to make the Strait of Gibraltar during daylight.

Cruise Director: 4 on a 10 scale! This was bar none, the worst cruise director of my 4 cruises; and for reasons that should have her dismissed. For one, I met with her on our first day at sea to organize a daily 5 o’clock happy hour for our group of about 20 or more. I also wanted to combine our happy hour with the LGBT daily meeting. At first, we were assigned to a bar that didn’t open until 8pm. I spoke to Jill, our CD about it, and was told we could meet in Champagne Charlie's. The short story here is, as I walked away, I could hear Jill make a derogatory comment about our group and my trying to organize this daily event to another staff member! That she did this in ear shot left me incensed.

She was great on stage and made people laugh. But she always had an attitude and came off as superior when one on one. A friend had a talk with her and mentioned that she heard she was ending her contract in Barcelona. Instead of graciously stating this information was incorrect, she got all hot under the collar about it and nearly made a scene.

Another thing about our cruise director- It was my third day on board before I saw her interact with people, and that was as we disembarked for our first port stop in Miami. I saw her stroll past the pool one day and she failed to say hello to a single person! She was never to be seen interacting with passengers before or after shows or moving around the ship’s activities to check on things. She was very hands off.

Finally, for this portion of the review, she made an announcement that was so full of pops (when pronouncing P’s and B’s) that it was actually near impossible to understand her. Lesson one in public speaking with a microphone is to hold it to the side of one’s mouth to prevent this. She failed that portion, I suppose. Or just didn’t care, which is my judgment of her job on Spirit…she just didn’t care.

Food: 7. The food on Spirit was hit and miss. One meal was great. The next had me thinking I may stop at the buffet on my way to the show! Every night there were chef’s specials on the menu. Only 2 of the 13 nights did I find them interesting. I might add that the service in the Window’s MDR was also spotty. Most staff were great, especially Kwazi, who we asked for each night. But others were standoffish or difficult to communicate with and often the service was super slow. We quickly realized that it was better to have a group of smaller tables than one or two large ones.

The bread was always wonderful (except the hamburger buns were always hard and stale, but they were not baked fresh on board). The butter was in foil, but no big deal. The kitchen was always very accommodating. Our group made special requests numerous times and never did we hear any dissent. We would order calamari for the next evening’s meal and I even had lobster one night when it wasn’t on the menu! That was good service. The portions weren’t huge, so it was great for watching your food intake or for trying more than one main course.

Each night, and remember, this was a 2-week cruise, there was a parade of chefs winding through the dining room. I’ve seen this on other ships, of course, but usually towards the end of the cruise. It got very old and we felt if we didn’t applaud, we might get less than expected food the following night! And it was difficult to applaud them on the nights when the meals were less than stellar.

The buffet on Spirit may have been the best buffet I’ve encountered at sea. The food was always fresh and there was always a great variety, including daily items from India and Asia. Late riser? They kept a small section of breakfast items open during the early part of lunch. I liked very much that they had extended hours; I think this buffet was open more hours than other ships I’ve sailed on. There were times most of the buffet was closed to prep for the next meal, but they always left a section open with sandwiches, salads and snacks. Added to the fact that one could always eat at Blue Lagoon and often at the Beer Garten, it was very eater friendly. I do still wish they had a free pizza place, though. The pizza on the buffet was just plain unusual. But if you can’t do pizza well, don’t do it all, I guess. Again, I was too thrifty to pay $5 for their pizza delivery.

It also would have been nice to have someone coming around to offer water/tea refills. But the buffet staff was always pleasant and everyone seemed to like working on the Spirit. Special requests were not a big deal and tables were always cleared quickly.

I never ordered room service on this voyage, so I cannot comment on that.

Entertainment: I have to break this down – The ship’s cast, who were enjoying their very first cruise of their contract, were superb! Definitely a 10. The ships entertainment staff: 7 of 10. Specialty acts in general: a 6. Let me discuss the cast first.

They spent a lot of time rehearsing during the day and I know they were tired by the time they performed their shows. In fact, we didn’t really see them in a show until days into the cruise. But they were full of energy and gave it their best; even after some bad luck, with one sprained ankle and one case of upset stomach. Even short 2 performers, the cast were phenomenal. Very well put together and very entertaining.

The cast were full of smiles and very friendly when seen around the ship. I got to know a few fairly well because they were just so friendly and open. (I really like that NCL allows all their staff above decks when off duty, even though it was rare to see staff above decks.)

The ships entertainment staff (under the direction of the Cruise Director) was also hit and miss. There was one young man who was always obnoxious, in my opinion; I know others adored him. He led daily games in Champagne Charlie’s (really?... that’s the best place for games during the day and during happy hour?). I stopped by to say hello to a friend, who I didn’t realize was playing trivia. He stopped and blared out on his microphone an affront to me that I might be cheating. I called right back to him that I wasn’t even playing and was merely saying hello to a friend. If you don’t want people coming up to other passengers, hold your games in locations that aren’t so public! But that’s part of the Spirit’s problem, not enough spaces for such activities. Still, Henry’s may have been ideal for this.

Sadly, I didn’t always see the entertainment staff interacting with passengers as I have on past cruises. But I suspect it stems from the lead of the cruise director. The lady who taught the dance classes was seen a lot, and the woman who ran the bingo was outgoing. In fact, she would have made a better CD.

A huge issue with the Spirit was the scheduling of events. For example, during dinner one night there was a dance class. Who schedules daily activities during dinner hours? Oh, yeah, the cruise director. Anyone going to these classes would be people who would dine in the MDR! On another night they scheduled the Mr. Spirit contest during dinner! On the night of the chocolate buffet was scheduled an adult hypnotist show. I went to the show because it let out 15 minutes before the scheduled end of the chocolate buffet. But by the time we got down to it, they had already put the desserts away! I had saved up to enjoy some decadence and I was robbed due to the poor planning on this cruise! A friendly server did bring out a plate of treats that a few of us shared.

Another point I’d like to make about scheduling- the LGBT gatherings. They were originally scheduled for 9PM, (or was it 10…I forget). This is a group of people who normally would enjoy being at the shows, not hanging out in an empty bar. Jill did accommodate a schedule adjustment which seemed to work out very well. This is not a problem with Spirit, but with NCL, as all their ships schedule these at this hour. But if you request a change, it can be accommodated.

There was a piano in the main lobby that was only used at disembarkation, as far as I could tell. Sad. The piano in the MDR was never used when I was in it. There was no string quartet on board. In fact, there were few bands. Past ships I’ve enjoyed have had numerous areas to enjoy a variety of music; a piano bar for example, or a lounge with live acts.

Another thing that disappointed was that the two shows in the Stardust were so close that to enjoy the late show, one had to dine at 7PM, where, as you know, most cruises have their second dinner at 8PM. We missed the beginning of numerous shows and a few altogether because dinner takes a minimum of 90 minutes and usually more like 2 hours, even though we dined early. And with dance classes and such scheduled at dinner time, our friends who attended those had to eat afterwards and totally miss the shows. Not sure why the second show was so early. And going to the first show would have made daily happy hours more difficult. It’s dinner and a show…not show and then dinner!

There were a few specialty acts on board. There were two comedians, the first of whom told many jokes we’ve all heard before. The hypnotist was very entertaining. The aerialist act was spectacular. There was a magician, who after a few transparent tricks showed a commercial on how great he was. We walked out! There was also another musician, but again, because of the early scheduling of the second performance and a long dinner that night, we missed it. The show, “Oh, What a Night” was extremely entertaining. Those guys made me enjoy music I don’t typically enjoy.

I can’t fail to mention my fellow Cruise Critics members that I met on the roll call prior to boarding. I’ve been on CC for 3 of my 4 cruises. I’ve never encountered a group of people who came together in such a way as to make the cruise more special than it really should have been. The cruise let us off in Barcelona just over a month ago, yet our group is already planning reunions on Facebook (I had started a page before our voyage). There were about 70 or so of us. We also incorporated others on board, since we were having so much fun. There were about 20 or more who really seemed to bond well.

We started with an informal meet and mingle on our first day out of MSY, meeting in Galaxy of Stars and then going to lunch in Windows as a group. We had a formal MM after leaving Miami, since we took on members there. Some officers showed up but spent very little time answering questions. I know- they have a job to do, not really complaining. They did provide sweets and drinks. They also allowed us to use public spaces for other meetings, but we were disappointed that they refused to list one of them in the daily, even though it was open to the public. (We organized a pre Ponta Delgada meeting with slide show and information, and quite a few non-CC members did show up).

We met nightly for happy hour and then had dinner together. Most nights we had 4 or more tables of 6 and as others would wander in a little late, we’d annex a few 4-tops as well. A few of us were writers, so I also organized a few writers’ lunches, where we enjoyed networking. One day, the women had a lunch together. It was nice to move around the ship and always have someone to sit with, dine with, talk to, share a hot tub with or have a shoulder to lean on. Thank you CC for this wonderful gift! I love my new Spirit friends!

After all is said and done, I give my time on the NCL Spirit a 7 of 10. I loved the size of the ship, as I’m not one for the mega ships with their high gloss and neon. I appreciate the more sophisticated touches of cruising. I liked the freestyle attitude more than I thought I would, but I think a large part of that is having made so many friends from CC. The staterooms were small, the MDR service and food was spotty, some of the public spaces were a waste of space, the scheduling of events was amateur and the crew wasn’t properly informed. But they went above and beyond. I would say that most of the shows were entertaining. One of the gems of the Spirit is the bridge observation area. Don’t miss this opportunity to watch the bridge in action!

It would have been worse had this been a full cruise of people (we were at about 60% capacity). I had a great time. I loved the sea days and we really lucked out with great weather and calm seas. There were times there were no activities for me to enjoy, but that’s when I worked out or enjoyed the hot tub or took a nap.

And what a great trip it was; I spent a day enjoying the French Quarter Festival in MSY before the cruise. I found Ponta Delgada perhaps more beautiful than much of Hawaii. I spent 6 days enjoying the sights of Barcelona. And let me tell you, when they say to watch your wallet in Barcelona, they mean it. I’ve traveled around the world to more dangerous places than Spain and have never had any problems. But those crafty devils got my camera and travel wallet from my front pocket while enjoying a late-night disco, and I had no idea. The worst part of my trip- as it turns out, the woman I shared a cabin with turned into the Kraken. Lesson learned: choose your travel partners wisely.

I would sail again with NCL, but I would prefer another ship if given the chance. Of course, it’s also a goal of mine to experience most, if not all of the cruise lines out there. I’m anxious to experience Princess and RCL. And if anyone would like to sponsor me, maybe I can afford the elite lines! Donations kindly accepted.

Well written Penguin......hoping you can make the one in April......

Nice job,Sir Penguin. I was on The Spirit both in January and March and had the same opinion of the CD. There was quite a staff change in Barcelona: Captain, Food and Beverage, CD all kinds of wait staff.

I second Kathy's motion, please join us on The Star next April.

Mandy

Well written Penguin!

I have to say I agree with your interpretation of Julie on our Spirit cruise. Most CD we've came across had a lot of interaction with the cruisers and seemed more excited. She was very bland...even with her announcements.

I do have to say that the snacks in the casino? We must have missed that even though we were probably there for a few hours every night. :confused:

We loved the Spirit (and realized this after cruising on some of the other NCL ships) but absolutely hated the interior room. It made no sense to me why the bed was where it was at in the room. You mentioned that you open up the door and the bed was to the left and bathroom to the right. We opened our door up and you walk right in to the bed. The door actually wouldn't open up all the way because it HIT the bed. You would have to close the door in order to get over to the "space" on the left side (which had a couch and table). We had always commented on this that if they would have just put the bed to the left, it would seem like a much more open area walking in. :(

I agree on every point.

...and who schedules a chocolate buffet during a show, on the opposite end of the ship, that they BEG people to go see??? Leaving trusting people rushing to the other end of the ship to grab a piece of chocolate only to find that it's all being put away!?!?

I could tell from day 1 that when I saw the cruise director taking a port-side walk way, I would be taking a starboard-side walk way. The way I see it, Penguin was my cruise director and he did an AMAZING job.

On the other hand, my room was perfect. I never had a meal I didn't enjoy and I met amazing people that I'll certainly see again.

I'm happy to read that you enjoyed your cruise aboard the Spirit overall. Sorry you didn't get along with your cruise director. I've had some that were always everywhere, and others that were not. I never depend upon a cruise director for guidance on how to spend my fun time aboard a ship.

Scheduling events around dinner is always a problem with Freestyle dining, without strict, set in stone, times of Traditional dining. It's up to you to be flexible with scheduling to do everything you wish to do. And yes, that often means dining at different times. But, I realize it's hard to be flexible with dinner scheduling when dining in large groups, but that decision was ultimately yours.

The reason why there's a large gap between stage and seats in the Theatre was the original act booked for it many long years ago. I don't think you would want to sit very close to a wild tigers. Many of the dressing rooms behind the stage were once cages. That first act also explains the Theatre's backwards configuration.

As for the unfamiliarity of the ships itinerary by the crew, it was after all the first time the Spirit made it. Maybe the next time they'll be better with it, if there ever is a next time.

I second Rays comment. Penguin was our real Cruise Director.

This was an enjoyable cruise for many of us due to his efforts.

Lori and I had dinner in the MDR away from the group tables one night and did notice that the service was faster and more attentive. I think that our large group dinners may have contributed to the length of time it took to serve us.

Great review PenguinScott!! I too would like to see you on the Star next April.

Thank you for the review!

We are sailing the Med end of October-first time on NCL- and very few of the reviews are as detailed as yours.

Really enjoyed it.

I keep wanting to hit a "like" button. Silly facebook! Thanx for the great comments.

It was a more thorough review than I had anticipated writing. I'm not usually that wordy on reviews, but it was 2 weeks and I was taking notes.

Maybe I felt obligated to write so much since I was a VIP for stating that I was writing about the cruise. (One day, you may be able to read a novel about some of my experiences on this cruise; until then, you can read my blog about one apect of this trip at http://www.penguinlust.blogspot.com . The story is called Lynbakr)

I enjoyed your review Scott! What an awesome trip that must have been! If one can't relax on a cruise ship sailing across the Atlantic, where CAN one relax?? I've very jealous of your awesome trip! At 60% capacity, you WERE Royalty!

Boy am I glad I didn't have Jill as a cruise director! She sounds awful! Usually...the cruise director is just "there." Sounds as if Jill should have taken heed to that. When we were on the Spirit last October, we had Kyle. I have to say he must have been the polar opposite of Jill as he was one of, if not the BEST cruise director I've ever seen! VERY friendly, cordial, and proactive! In fact the staff as a whole was the best I've ever seen.

I'll be on my next NCL cruise exactly a year from when you went on yours! It will be the weekend of the French Quarter Festival as yours was. Hotel rooms are certainly in short supply!

Nice review, glad you had a good cruise.

I got a very nice 2page letter back from NCL. They seem likely to rectify some of the issues I mentioned in the review; particularly where crew were involved.

Chill, we stayed near the airport (hell, across the street!). It was a decent stay and we took a bus downtown and a cab back late at night. I LOVED that festival! But I bet I'd love any festival in MSY!

Hi Folks

I am just back off the NCL Spirit, and the fact that my experience with Jill was enough to make me search this board to find out if I was the only one who felt this way says it all I think!

I thought she was one of the rudest people I have ever met, both on and off any ship - there is no way she should be in a public facing role. I tried to make conversation with her twice, and on both occasions she gave me a one word answer and dismissed me. Sitting in a public lounge on my own, she was sat directly opposite/facing me - but she literally turned her back on me to enter into conversation with other entertainment staff sitting in the lounge. I was at this stage the only person in the room who was not a member of staff and I felt very uncomfortable. The rest of the staff were no better come to think of it. On a walk around deck I had to walk past the "stage door" of Stardust - a load of the dancers were stood there smoking and not one of them responded to my "hello"

I took the time to write a complaint about Jill and her staff whilst still on the ship. I am quite a thick skinned person, but her attitude STINKS and it is this sort of thing that might have really upset somebody a bit more sensitive than me. Felt better after writing the letter though thats for sure!

The actual workers (crew) were without exception LOVELY!!!

That sucks that the CD (Jill) was that horrendous. A good CD can really enhance your cruise (NCL losing Matt Baker was a HUGE loss) and a horrid CD can screw up a cruise for sure. Unfortunately, we have experienced a few more bad than good; most have been mediocre. A great CD seems to be rare.

I know of one of the social hosts (Jayne from Australia) who should have bene promoted to CD years ago. I hope she's still with NCL and if they haven't had the brains to make her a CD yet, I hope they do soon.

OP, thanks for such a comprehensive review!! The Spirit was my first NCL ship as well. I think she's beautiful.

"

 

 

 

I took the time to write a complaint about Jill and her staff whilst still on the ship. I am quite a thick skinned person, but her attitude STINKS and it is this sort of thing that might have really upset somebody a bit more sensitive than me. Felt better after writing the letter though thats for sure!

 

 

 

The actual workers (crew) were without exception LOVELY!!!

It's great that you wrote (to corporate, I hope??) NCL needs to know these things.

Suzieanna,

Verrrry intersting! I know that I was not alone in my assessment of her and now, here is someone from a different cruise alltogether with the same! When did was your cruise with her?

She did the same to us in a bar. She entered with another officer and they sat at the other corner of the Maharini bar. I said hello to her, even tho she ignored us. My friend was more bold and finding out who she was and that she was with the F&D Mgr, mentioned that they were officers and should buy us a drink (he and I were the only ones in the room). She smiled a fake one at us and turned her back to us. We were floored! Those 2 could certainly have bought a drink for 2 pax and really made our day. If she wanted a private conversation, she should not have been in a public bar!

I urge you to send a letter to NCL corporate. The response I received back was from my letter, not my on board comments. I heard from a crewmember I got to know on that trip that she didn't get along with the new cast on my cruise. She never went over to introduce herself to them or to meet with them. They report to her!

I feel that based on my reply letter from NCL that they would greatly appreciate hearing your comments as well, and it might prove to be worth your time in sending a note. (I copied and pasted major sections of my review.)

Thank you for adding your comments.

Suzieanna,

 

Verrrry intersting! I know that I was not alone in my assessment of her and now, here is someone from a different cruise alltogether with the same! When did was your cruise with her?

 

She did the same to us in a bar. She entered with another officer and they sat at the other corner of the Maharini bar. I said hello to her, even tho she ignored us. My friend was more bold and finding out who she was and that she was with the F&D Mgr, mentioned that they were officers and should buy us a drink (he and I were the only ones in the room). She smiled a fake one at us and turned her back to us. We were floored! Those 2 could certainly have bought a drink for 2 pax and really made our day. If she wanted a private conversation, she should not have been in a public bar!

 

I urge you to send a letter to NCL corporate. The response I received back was from my letter, not my on board comments. I heard from a crewmember I got to know on that trip that she didn't get along with the new cast on my cruise. She never went over to introduce herself to them or to meet with them. They report to her!

 

I feel that based on my reply letter from NCL that they would greatly appreciate hearing your comments as well, and it might prove to be worth your time in sending a note. (I copied and pasted major sections of my review.)

 

Thank you for adding your comments.

Penguin,

I had the same experience with Jill both on my January cruise and on my March cruise. Do you still have my e mail address? I would like to talk to you more. You are not the only to let Corporate know.

Mandy

Hi, Mandy, I do have your addy and I just sent a note. Talk to you soon! Hope you're well.;)

Thank you penguinscott for the good review - this will also be my first time on an NCL cruise - you mention in you review "happy hour" can you clarify for me what this is.

Thanks in anticipation

Margaret:)

Margaret, on NCL, happy hour has no meaning. Many bars in the states have happy hours, usually in the time frame of 4-7pm, where they offer drink specials and light snacks either free or at great discounts.

When I was on HAL last year, they had drink specials and free hors d'ovres. We would meet every evening at 5 in one of the bars (a group of us who met on board, not even through CC!). We'd laugh, chat, drink and meet others. Some would leave for the early dining. Others would stay a little longer, then leave to get ready for the late dining. We'd meet again after the final show in the Crow's Nest lounge for more drinks and dancing.

Happy hour is a very social event and it's sad that NCL doesn't do anything special, even after I requested it (oh, they gave out snack mix, big deal!). As you read, it was often hard to be social, as the music was too loud. We wound up moving it to a better location. It got loud on HAL and we simply asked if the musician could turn it down. The next evening it was.

Next month I'm back on HAL again and very excited that I can try to initiate a daily, and lively, happy hour on my 2 week cruise of the North Sea.

Penguin, many thanks for the info. It is a shame NCL dont have happy hour like you had on HAL.

I am just back off the NCL Spirit, and the fact that my experience with Jill was enough to make me search this board to find out if I was the only one who felt this way says it all I think!

Since Suzie was just off the ship, I guess that means that either Jill didn't end her contract in Barcelona, or it was <gasp> renewed.

I find myself hoping that she's gone by next summer when we are on.:eek:

Thanks so much for such a detailed review. There's not much written on Spirit in general and it is a great help! I've found that NCL's inside rooms are small in general when compared to other lines'. The buffet food tends to be better and MDR service is slow no matter which line (such a shame & continually mind boggling when compared to land restaurants providing the same service much faster). Still, we are looking forward to the itinerary & the cc connections!

Have y'all ever given the thought to starting a new post something like: "WOW what a difference a cruise director can make?" OR "Cruise director horror stories" ?? Seriously... It would get noticed more AND others would be able to chime in. This dialogue, hidden here...won't get the attention it deserves.... Such a cruise director really could give someone a very negative impression of NCL or ANY cruiseline.

Since Suzie was just off the ship, I guess that means that either Jill didn't end her contract in Barcelona, or it was <gasp> renewed.

I find myself hoping that she's gone by next summer when we are on.:eek:

 

Thanks so much for such a detailed review. There's not much written on Spirit in general and it is a great help! I've found that NCL's inside rooms are small in general when compared to other lines'. The buffet food tends to be better and MDR service is slow no matter which line (such a shame & continually mind boggling when compared to land restaurants providing the same service much faster). Still, we are looking forward to the itinerary & the cc connections!

we were on the 21st July sailing and Jill is still at large !

I'm writing a daily review [link at bottom of post]but have failed to mention her in case I offended someone who thought she was lovely!

Mind you not sure who that would be.She didn't spoil the cruise because she was so bad it was a standing joke!

We would be chatting and when her [not so dulcet] tones came over the microphone there was a collective rolling of eyes!

When attending the show we learned to leave immediately the main act finished and before Jill could get on stage!

Another example of bad planning is that martini beer etc tastings were usually scheduled for days in port not sea days when people would be more likely to attend.When we asked the bar staff about this all they could do was shrug and say that was their orders!

It's very disappointing to hear she is still running around on a ship wrecking people's voyage. However, leaving before she took stage during the shows??? That's her best! :D :eek:

All I can say is people really need to write a letter to NCL's main office and let them know how you feel. I think I mentioned that I got a very nice 2 page letter back in response. But I am shocked that she's still around. If she were working for me, she'd be let go or given a new job for what I witnessed on my cruise. Thing is, there is more that I can't really say without getting other NCL employees in trouble. :(