FSNA5861

5 hours ago, redtop101 said:

NCL has recently updated their web page for vaccines that will be accepted for ships embarking or disembarking at US ports. This is good news for Canadian cruisers and other countries that were subject to having to accept the “vaccine of the day” when they went for their shots. This was due to supply problems with Pfizer and Moderna and so many Canadians had to have whatever mRNA was in stock on the day of their appointments. So here is the change and addition to the vaccines that will be accepted to be fully vaccinated, taken from their updated web page:

 

• A mixed vaccination protocol of only Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna combinations (mRNA vaccines) with a minimum interval of 28 days.

This is good news to Canadians and possibly Europeans whenever they are allowed to travel to USA.

Both Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines and mixed vaccination was approved by our Canadian health experts.  As you mentioned, we didn't have the luxury to chose our vaccine as measures had to be taken to curb this pandemic.

Looks like commonsense is finally prevailing.

19 hours ago, GStuart said:

My Oct 2022 14 night sailing has been complete reconfigured to be a 7 night Italy/France exclusive on the Splendida... something funny appears to be afoot.

Hopefully, It's only a glitch with their system.  Just looked at the Splendida  itineraries from the Marseille port and it still shows the cruise as a 14 night.

4 hours ago, MarkusToe said:

Nope, no tent...nor butlers....

Today was formal night...

Excellent dinner +1 had lobster feast 😄

Thanks for sharing these pictures.  Looks like it was very tasty.

Seeing that it was a formal night, can you tell me if men had to be dressed up with jacket and tie.  Being retired and having had more than my fair share of formal functions in the military,  I now try to dress casual with dress pants and dress shirt and no jacket in my luggage.

Enjoy your cruise

Very good and informative review.  Thanks

FDR doesn't care about customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction or loyalty to the cruise line.

In a recent CNBC interview, he stated "He will add more ships to its line and is going after its fastest-growing customer base.  He is attracting Millennials through Instagram".

In another interview he said" the cruise industry is experiencing some of its best years ever, and for cruise companies like his, bookings are robust, with consumer demand high.  Accordingly, consumers can expect to pay more for their cruises than they did in the past, as demand is high enough to merit price increases." He never mentioned increasing your cruising experience.

He is definitely looking after his own interests and those of the shareholders.  We should not be surprised with all those increases as he he trying to get more of your hard earned money. Furthermore, most sailings are full.

I always had a great time on our cruises and I totally agree with the frustration expressed by fellow Cruise Critic members lately.  We have decided that our next cruise is going to be our last one as we can no longer afford cruising.  The ongoing escalation in prices during the last few years and predicted increases, as per FDR,  is getting ridiculous.  Living on a veteran's pension,  there is no way that we can save enough money for future cruises as cruise prices are increasing way much faster than my pension's yearly inflation indexing.   

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DSC increase should not be a surprise.  Mr FDR recently mentioned that he is looking at increasing cruise prices in 2019 and 2020.

A few years ago, he had mentioned that he was looking at ways to get another $5 US per day per cruiser and he is definitely true to his word.

So far, he has increased the cruise fares,  the DSC, the price of drinks, the % of gratuity on drinks and SDP,  the value of the Beverage package and Dining package, removed  some favorite items from MDR and Specialty restaurants menus, reduced the benefits of the latitude program at the Platinum level, and the list could probably go on forever.

Within the last eight years, and before the Free at Sea, there were a lot of cruisers who were begging for All Inclusive (AI) cruises similar to what Resorts offer.

NCL listened and introduced the Free at Sea (not so free in my  mind) program. What I have noticed with the introduction of that program is that the basic cabin fares have increased across the board to subsidize it   I am a firm believer that even if you do not drink and do not eat at Specialty restaurants, you are paying in your cruise fare a portion of that perk.

For those who would like to chastise me, in Nov 2014, we did a 21 day Mediterranean cruise on NCL Jade and the cost was $4,305 for a mid-ship balcony (BA).  For Nov 19 same cruise duration with same cabin type (BA) without the Free at Sea is $10,340 for basically the same itinerary.  It is almost a 150% price increase.

I can assure you that as a Veteran, my pension has not increased to keep pace with NCL increases.

We love cruising but our TA cruise next month on the Epic will be our last. We all understand the supply and demand concept and that companies have to make money but this is getting ludicrous.  

I truly think that introduction of the Free at Sea perks has had a huge impact on increased cruise fares.  Although one might say that you only pay the 20% gratuity for the drink package and for some it could be considered a great deal.  However, in order to offer this perk, NCL had to find a way to maximise its profits and one could presumably assume that the cabin fares have been increased to include a portion of that perk. 

Even if a fellow cruiser does not drink, it is fair to assume that he is also paying a portion of the so called "Free at Sea" program in his cabin fare.

As for price increases (before the introduction of the Free at Sea perks), in Nov 2014,  we took the NCL 21 Day Ultimate Mediterranean cruise and the total cost was $4305.98 for me and my DW in a mid-ship balcony (BA).  Similar cruise this coming Nov 19 is $10,340 without any perks.  On top of our cruise fare, our total bar bill including Viva Vino (1.5 bottle per day), 2 beers per day (Bucket of beers) and 1 cocktail per day was $1027 (including the then 15% gratuity). The gratuity for the upcoming Nov 19 would be $831.60.  Needless to say that thousands of dollars can by you a lot of drinks with reduced cruise fares without any perks

I certainly can understand why many people can no longer afford to cruise.  Sure enough, we all agree that inflation has to be considered and that cruise companies have to make a profit but how can they justify a $6,035 increase in just four years.  Mr Del Rio's comments to keep on increasing the cruise fares will only push some loyal NCL cruisers away from cruising especially the retirees and possibly families with young children.  For most retirees on fixed income (me included), I am quite sure that their pensions have not been increased at the rate NCL has increased the cruise fares these past 4 and a half years.

I agree that for some of us who no longer can afford to cruise that there will be new people ready to pay to fill the ships and I am happy for them if they can afford it.

This is my honest opinion as to how I see things.

I think a lot has to do with the ship you are on. The Away/Away+ ships have the concierge desk located in the haven itself, so unless you are in haven, it's next to impossible to just drop in to see them. On the Jewel class and earlier, the concierge desk is outside the haven, so you can try and catch them face to face. Also, the larger ships have a lot more haven rooms, so I think the concierge is stretched thin just taking care of haven,

I agree with your comment about Concierge services on the smaller ships as he/she is readily available. We always had great service dealing with Specialty restaurants reservations, tender boarding and disembarkation. Never been in the Haven but did one cruise on Getaway and the Concierge never returned our calls and never provided any assistance.

I’ve been on two, they are awesome! Beautiful views, great place to gather for drinks and snacks (always had great drink service there without having to go to the bar), a great spot for games and shows, too. One of my favorite spots on the ships that have them.

Totally agree. These lounges are on the "Sun & Jewel" class ships. Excellent location for shows, dancing and to relax on sea days and they can handle a large number of cruisers for various activities and meetings. Bar service is also good. Too bad that they don't have something similar on the larger ships.

Just returned from Spirit. From the Platinum Plus literature left in our cabin, the Laundry Service certificate includes the statement:

 

For certificates for additional Platinum Plus members in your stateroom, please visit the CruiseNext desk. One certificate per Platinum Plus member.

 

So even though only one laundry service cert is in the cabin, every qualifying member is entitled to one bag of free laundry.

Thanks for the information.

On a different note, as a Platinum Plus member, were you offered an alternate venue to La Trattoria for your second dinner seeing that there is no Moderno on the Spirit?

On the Spirit now. Embarkation very smooth, no delays. Ship reminds me of the Sun, not too big and easy to get round. Our cabin, Leo Suite, very clean but some scuff marks on wall and peeling paint on window frame in shower. Have photos but they refuse to up load, not sure if ship wifi can cope. Son and daughter in balcony on deck 11, very clean and good bathroom set up.

Just finished lifeboat drill, amazing how many people manage to be late considering there are multiple announcements during the hour before!

Will take pictures of menus for main dining rooms, speciality ones are no different to those that are readily available on CC. Had lunch in Cagney and menu identical to the Haven on Epic.

Thanks for the information.

I hear you about the lifeboat drill. I cannot understand why people are late.:evilsmile:

I heard that La Trattoria is still a cordoned section of Raffle Court for Dinner.

Can you tell us who is the Hotel Director?

Have you been able to notice upgrades as a result of the recent short drydock?

How is the Internet service?

Please keep us posted if you can.

Have a great cruise

Just came off the 2/23 sailing of the Spirit to the Canary Islands. Although we have been on several NCL ships, this is the first time on the Spirit, so, can't do an after dry dock comparison.

Hope the info is helpful!

Thanks for taking the time to give us some of your feedback.

Heard that some public areas may have new carpet and La Trattoria (Italian) is still a section of the Raffles Court (Buffet) that is partitioned at dinner time.

Of course. That has nothing to do with my post you quoted though. The poster said the price of cruises has skyrocketed since UBP was introduced. I said that is not true - they went up after it was included as a promo (in some cases), but the cruise prices themselves didn't go up when it was merely for sale.

You are right. Prices increased once they introduced the UBP as a promo. I stand corrected.

What I noticed is that there has been a huge price increase in cruises ever since they introduced the UBP.

It will be interesting to see how the second dinner voucher will be handled on NCL Spirit as it does not have a Moderno as an alternative to La Trattoria which is only a partitioned section of the buffet at night.

Hopefully, another option will be offered.

It would be interesting to hear from recent Spirit cruisers.

Apologies for the delay, due to computer problems.

 

Not much to report however. Cabins still the same, although my shower floor had been regrouted! Galaxy of the Stars had new carpet and chairs and looked very smart, but it is a lovely room. I think the buffet had new carpet from my last visit 2 years ago.

 

I enquired at the Cruise Next desk about the full refurbishment, and she said there was nothing scheduled she knew of.

 

I took a peek at our mattress and would say it was new. It had a topper and was comfortable, if a little firm for my taste. We had, yet again, a brilliant cabin steward, Switley. We had to make a complaint about noisy neighbours 4am every morning. This was dealt with promptly and efficiently and we had no more problems. Furthermore on our return to our cabin there was a bottle of wine and a tray of chocolate treats waiting for us from customer services.

 

So that is it really. Spirit is a very elegant ship, let down only by the cabins, and the buffet furnishings. We have picked a cruise for next year which will involve the Spirit again, so fingers crossed for some changes ??!!

Thanks for the information and I hope that you had a great cruise.

Can you confirm if La Trattoria is an enclosed restaurant or still a section of the buffet on the Port side that is partioned in the evening to act as a restaurant.

If Platinum, were you given another option aside La Trattoria for the second Latitude dinner.

Who is currently the Hotel Director?

We are doing an adults only family trip in May 2017 on the Norwegian Spirit to the Mediterranean. I'm looking for help with shore excursion. Since we have 12 ports, I can't afford to book shore excursion with the ship at every port. Are there any ports that you would recommend skipping a shore excursion and just walking around the city on our own? Or if you have any recommendations on local tour companies, I would love to hear those too. This will be our first and probably most of us our last time visiting these countries and we want to see everything we can without breaking the bank.

 

Here are our ports....

Barcelona, Spain

Valencia, Spain

Cartagena, Spain

Granada (Malaga), Spain

Cagliari, Sardinia

Valletta, Malta

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Santorini, Greece

Olympia (Katakolon), Greece

Messina (Sicily), Italy

Naples, Italy

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

 

Thanks in advance! :)

A good source for information could be the Roll Call for your sailing

http://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/?cruise_line_id=24&ship_id=299

Hope this helps

Deck 10 should be Quiet,( Under cabins). :D

 

Deck 11 is under public areas. :(

 

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I definitely agree that deck 10 would be quieter.

Any recollection of how fast you were going for the vibration? We stayed aft on Spirit and it had a little bit of shimmy but when it was doing 20+ knots it had a lot of shimmy and rattled everything in our room.

 

 

Overall, the public areas of the ship were in great shape for the oldest ship in the fleet so I find it odd some people are saying it is not so nice now. I would say the rooms are probably an issue overall based on seeing some plus the pictures that people have posted.

We were on the Spirit in April 16 on a B2B and the ship, although older, was in great condition. There were always crews painting, cleaning carpets, etc.

I agreee that the cabins could use some renovations and more specifically the bathrooms. We also found that the public areas were in great shape. As for the decor, we liked it and this is also subjective to your personal liking.

Not positive that the Spirit will undergo major upgrades under the Edge program as NCL confirmed that they will get four new megaships built. It just had a very short drydock in Jan 17.

We are all anxious to hear from recent cruisers about the level of improvements that have been implemented in such a very short timeframe.

Looking forward to cruise on her next April.

I don't cruise for the perks, they are privilege not a right however i do have this to say, I don't get the whole dinner voucher for 2 per stateroom, it just does not make any sense. What if there are 3 people in a stateroom they all are Platinum or platinum plus does that mean one of the person's is left out of the dinner?

 

If each person cruised to earn those perks shouldn't it be per person not per stateroom? and why take away a bottle of wine, I feel some of these perks have been watered down, no chocolates, no godiva chocolates, one less bottle of wine and once you get to the Ambassador tier is not a big deal because you get the free cruise but once you do that you get the same benefits as the other Platinum cruisers :D:cool:

I agree with your comments. The perks should be per member and not per stateroom. This is what membership is all about as we all have a separate distinctive Latitude number.

Once again, NCL corporate makes changes without seeking feedback from its patrons. You cannot have a system in place that pleases everyone. However, diluting individual Latitude membership perks is contrary to customer satisfaction and in my book, it is not ethical.

I can see limited the number of guests at the Captain's Reception and the Latitudes Reception. I was on the Getaway from the 29th of January to the 5th of February. Both events were held in Fat Cats. If you were not the very first people through the door, there was NO place to see, you could see or hear what was being said on the mini stage. It was very difficult to move or leave until others did.

I agree that Fat Cats is way too small. This is the problem with the megaships as they do not have an observatory lounge like those available on the Sun & Jewel class ships.

The silver sleeve that contained your coupon for meals, laundry, etc., has been replaced by a blue trifold. It is perforated in places and you tear off the items as needed.

 

BUT! Be sure to read the text which tells you call the latitude desk for other offers, or something like that. This includes the time and place of the cocktail party. They no longer send an invitation to your cabin.

 

As platinum plus we did get a phone call but no one in Other groups did. Apparently a few people did call to ask about it but not many. At the party which was for silver through plat plus, there were 40 people there! Oops! So, call and bug your poor rep if you plan on attending the party. She did tell me yesterday that she had been given permission to post the info on her office door, which has been a no no until now. But you will need to make an effort to get the info.

Thanks for the information. I think that NCL will have to rethink their procedures. There was no need to change a process that has been proven and which worked fine for years.

I can understand the requirement to visit the Latitude desk if you want to do the Behind the scene tour.

Having a personal invite in your cabin to attend the cocktail party is recognition for your loyalty toward NCL. It is already a nightmare geting access to the Latitude rep at times given the office limited operating hours. It will be chaos if all Lat members Silver and above have to physically stand in line to confirm their attendance at the cocktail party on embarkation day.

Are they still providing a paper bag for laundry or has it been replaced with a cloth type.

How does it work for priority embarkation.

Armando Da Silva is currently on board as Hotel Director.

 

Cannot help with any others. Sorry.

Thanks for the info. Armando Da Silva is a great hotlel director who is always omnipresent and cares for your satisfaction.

Link to separate thread regarding names of ship officers etc:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2436678

Thanks, saw that thread but no info on the Spirit. This is why I asked the question on the post dry dock thread as it would be recent information.