03/25-04/01 Spirit Cruise out of NOLA

Pre-Cruise 03/24

Actually arrived in NOLA on 03/24 to spend the night pre cruise. We were in a group of 12, of which I will say upfront that does not drink. We ranged in age from about 16 to 50.

Hotel

We stayed at the Quality Inn and Suites in Gretna, as most everything in NO was booked. We done the Park and Cruise package. The room cost about $145 for 4 people and you could leave your vehicle there for the entire cruise. The parking lot and area appeared to be very safe. The Hotel was very clean and provided a hot breakfast. We checked in and signed up for the 9am shuttle. Off to New Orleans.

NOLA

We drove down to Algiers Point to take the ferry over to NO. The ferry is about a two mile drive from the QI. We parked ($10) and walked to the ferry.(free) The ferry departs every 15 minutes and takes you to Canal Street. We got off the ferry and walked around for awhile, checking out the many shops and sites. We decided on eating lunch at Mother's, of which I had heard about their great Po Boys. I wound up getting the fried oyster plate with turnip greens and potato salad. It was delicous, and the best turnip greens that I have ever had. Everyone in our party enjoyed their meal.

After lunch, we walked toward Bourbon Street. We only made it a few blocks down Bourbon Street, before venturing down toward Royal Street. Bourbon Street was very eye opening and especially too much for 16 year olds. We went over to Cafe Dumonde's and had some delicous beignets. As we were walking back we watced a street show with some great break dancers. Next, we slowly made our way back to the ferry and floated across the river. Got in our car and went back to the hotel for a good night sleep before embarkation.

More to come.................

Keep it coming...

Day 1

Left the hotel on shuttle at about 915am and arrived at the port approximately 10 mins later. Someone called for the porters to take our luggage, but they would not carry the cases of cokes or waters. We had luggage tags on them, per instructions on website, but he said he could not take them. We stuffed the waters in a group members suitcase and took the sodas with us. Were were instructed to have a seat while the other passengers finished unboarding.

We patiently waited until they told us we could began the process. At approximately 1020am we went to the first lady to check our information. We all made it through except, one in our party had a military birth certificate, which had to be double checked. One of the NCL employees was called and he took the bc to be verified by his supervisor. After waiting there for about an hour, watching many people going by us, we were getting kinda antsy. The gentleman from NCl finally arrived and told us to proceed. Whew! After going through the first checkpoint they pulled us to the side and went through our carry on bag. We did not carry anything illegal, but I guess they thought they saw something.

We finally made it to the waiting room and it was getting packed. We were in group 1, which meant we were the first to go after all of the latitudes members. We finally made it onboard about 1pm and went straight to our room. I am not sure why it took so long to board, my guess was maybe a previous noro virus cruise, but only a guess.

Our 5th floor rooms were great, my wife and I had a port hole room. My teenage boys had an inside across the hall. We dropped off our carry on bags and went to meet our group in the Windows dining room. I had the fried calamari, new york strip, and cheescake. Everything was very good, and those in our group enjoyed their meals as well. We done some exploring, went to muster drill, and then unpacked. We all met in Windows again for dinner. Tonight was lobster night and not very many people attended. Our waitress was Jeanne and she was great! I had asked for double lobster and she even brought me a third, without asking. We watched the introductory show and it was very good. The comedian had us all laughing hysterically. After the show we explored some more, eat some ice cream and smoked a cigar on the back deck. Then to bed.

Day 2

Awoke to a beautiful warm, sunshine day. Got up about 6am and went to Raffles for breakfast. The buffet selection was very good for breakfast, my favorite was the waffles with strawberries and whip cream on top. My wife had custom made omelets every morning and also loved them. The women in our group had deciding on sun bathing, so us men explored the ship some more.

We played several games of ping pong, played some basketball and then hit golf balls. I went back to the Windows dining room for lunch, while everyone else decided to eat the buffet. I had the fried Calamari, Philly Cheese Steak, and bread pudding. I love Philly Cheese Steaks, but this one was not too good. Basically very tough bread, meat, onions and nacho cheese poured on to it. Everything else was wonderful.

I think today was the day that we attended the magic show. We only stayed about 10 minutes and left. It was very boring, he interacted with a movie screen image of himself.

For dinner, we all met at Windows again. We requested Jeanne, and our party of 12 was quickly seated. Even though we had a party of 12, we never had to wait over 5 minutes. Most of the time we would eat about 6pm. I can't remember what we had each night, but it was always very good. We went to a show, but I will probably have to list those all in one review, because I cant remember which one was on which night.

Day 3

The Spirit docked at Cozumel at 8am. We were instructed to run our clocks back one hour the night before. Even though the islands are on Central time, they do not observe Daylight savings time.

I asked the room steward about some foam for the bed and she quickly got us some. Made the beds a whole lot better. We also requested robes from guest services and was brought two.

We had decided to go to Paradise Beach for the day. We got off of the boat and went to the taxi stand. It cost us $28 one way for six people. We arrived at Paradise beach and was quickly showed to some chairs. The waiter only let us have 6 chairs on the front row and made us get 6 on the third row. The cost was $2 per person for the chairs and $12pp for the ones wanting to play on the inflatables and kayaks.

After everyone had some virgin drinks and was tired of the sun, we headed back to the boat. We went to the Blue Lagoon for some lunch, and everything was great. Cheese Burgers, Fries, chicken wings, and cheescake.

We changed clothes and went to the stores around the port for some shopping. I have been to Cozumel many times and just did not want to face the haggling in town. We bought a few tshirts and some cigars and went back to the boat.

After showering and changing clothes, we all met up at Windows at 6pm. We asked for Jeanne, but she did not have a big enough table to accomodate us. The waiter that we had was very good also, Jeanne did come by and say hello. I think our group is becoming attached to her. Dinner was very good as usual and service was great too.

We went to a show and back to Raffles to check out the snacks. We would take our cups and put some milk in them, then go to the ice cream machine. Great milkshakes! We also like the chocolate fountain in Raffles everynight, you could get pound cake or fruit dipped in it. We also had some hand dipped ice cream with the chocolate on it. We went to Maharinnis for some late night dancing and went to be about midnight. Tomorrow is Belize!

Day 4

Awoke and went to Raffles for breakfast. Then went to get tender tickets. We got group number one and was off the boat about 830am. we had already made reservations with cavetubing.bz. After a short walk through terminal one, I found Vitalino wearing the yellow shirt. We were escorted down the sidewalk and told to stand with many others. There was many people cave tubing with .bz today. We waited until all of the other groups had left, and another van showed up about 9am.

We got into the van with David and Axle and drove an hour to the park where everyone cave tubes. The ride was very informative and interesting. I would suggest sitting in the front, we sat close to the back and could not hear half of what he was saying. We asked him to speak up, but could not hear good still.

We arrived at the park and got some tubes, helmets, and lifejackets. David and Axle took us through the jungle and explained many trees and things along the way. We even got to eat a termite and taste plants.

We floated thru three caves, actually I thought it was two. The river was down very low and they had to pull us through many spots, butts up! After floating for about an hour and half we loaded the van and went to Vitalinos to eat lunch. The lunch was delicous chicken, cole slaw, beans and rice. The tour guide told us they did not have enough for seconds, due to the large groups. But, the owner came out and said we could eat as much as we wanted. We all just left after having our first helping. As soon as we got out of the van in front of the port, we were hounded by people trying to sell us everything. I mean right in your face, we did purchase a couple of things and quickly went inside the port gate. I talked to some people on the tender that booked thru the cruise to do cavetubing. He told me that it cost them close to $100 and they only got to do one cave. Ours was $40pp in our group, regularly $45.

Met our group at 630pm in Windows, asked for Jeanne and was quickly seated. Everything was great as usual. I think we went to a show, but will list them all in the end.

Excited to hear about your day in Roatan too. This is my favorite itinerary. I've done it 3 times now and look forward to doing it again!

:D

Day 5

Tendering took a long time today. We had group number one, but we were taking life boats and those who booked through the boat got to go first. We finally got onto the life boats about 915am. I had read that you could negotiate a taxi for $40/day outside the port. We quickly made our way through the port and the last vendor stopped me. He wanted $25pp to spend the day with us. I advised him no, we could get one for $10 pp. He said $15 was the best that he could do and we could all go together.

Our group got into the van and headed toward the Pirates of the Carribean ziplining. Our driver did not speak good English, but we had an 18year old young lady tour guide, named Alayna. She even ziplined with us and took pics. 10 of 12 in our group ziplined, so we got them to give us a group rate. The extreme zip line cost $55pp.

After ziplining, they wanted to take us to the beach. Alayna said, it would cost $10 pp. We declined and just asked for some good shopping. She took us to the first shop and the prices were outrageous. They told us they would give 40% discount, but was still outrageous. I told Alayna we wanted to go somewhere else. She said that maybe the next shop would have better prices. As we got to the next shop, there was many people leaving and getting into the same company vans that we were riding in. (notice a pattern) Alayna offered to take us to a nice restaraunt, be we declined. We asked to go back to the port.

Once back to the port, we settled up with the driver. Alayna worked off of tips only, so we tipped generously. She said that she would walk up the street with us. The prices on the street were probably 1/4 of the amount. I think Alayna hinted to us, but could not tell us that. She would probably have lost her job. Alayna was great and very informative. We said our goodbyes and tipped her again. Roatan was great, people was very nice and the country was beautiful. I could see myself retiring here!

Met at Windows, with Jeanne and dinner was great! Found the crepe station in raffles,fabulous. Shows, dancing, to bed about midnight. Tomorrow is Costa Maya.

Day 6

Woke up about 630am. My butt is starting to drag a little now. lol. Bfast at raffles, waffles with strawberries and whipcream. Docked at 8am and walked through the ports and to the taxi stand next to Hard Rock. $2 pp one way and off to Tropicante.

When we arrived to Tropicante, they met us and called my name. We had reserved some loungers and quickly got comfy. My eldest son elected for a massage right off the bat. My wife and I chose to wait a few minutes to get ours. The massages were great and only $25pp for a one hour massage. My youngest son chose to go snorkel with the rest of the group, it was $20pp. The waiter arranged the massages and snorkeling. We all had mulitple drinks and walked down the beach for a little shopping. There was many good deals, but some you had to bargain a little harder for. My wife bought many dresses for $15 each. Beach vendors are continuously walking by, but are not pushy.

We came back and all ordered some food. Between the group, we had chicken nachos, pizza, chips and salsa, heart attack platter, and beef fajitas. All of the food was amazing. I asked about desert and all they had was bananna homemade ice cream. My son and I both ordered some and it was delicous. Tropicante was wonderful! My bill was only $150 for 3 one hour long massages, 1 snorkel trip, pizza, chicken nachos, ice cream and many drinks! The lemonade is awesome!

$2 pp taxi ride back to the port. Wife bought a few more things, and I bought a hat. Now time to get back on board and go to Windows.

Met at 530pm in Windows and requested Jeanne. We were quickly seated and enjoyed our wonderful meal. Show and dancing, tried to stay up late, since tomorrow was a sea day. But by 12 we were headed to bed. Tomorrow is not only sea day, but sleep in day too!

Day 7

Wakey wakey about 0930am. Raffles for bfast, you guessed it, waffles with strawberries and whip cream. Wife had the usual omelet. Played some ping pong after breakfast and the ladies sunbathed. We ate lunch at the grill beside the pool. The ribs and fajitas were very good. After lunch we all entered the scavenger hunt. Our group won and received playing cards and a key chain.

We also entered the shuffle board tournament. My son and cousin won it and received a tshirt each. We decided to play in the basketball tourney, but quickly found out that the younger boys could jump higher and run faster. lol.

For dinner we all met with Jeanne in the dining room for our last supper. I had the tempura fried mushrooms, salmon and coconut soufle. It was very good, Jeanne made all of our mushrooms a double order. We all pooled our money and gave Jeanne and her assistant Jenny a nice tip. She was very appreciative and posed for pics with us.

We went to the Qwest adult game show tonight and laughed hysterically. It was kinda like and adult scavenger hunt within the room. Hillarious! We skipped the burlesque show following and went back to Maharini's to dance. The bartender quickly came in and advised my son, that he was too young to be in there. We told him our group was the only ones there and had been pretty much all week. He said, that was the rule. So we left the place empty and went to bed.

Next.....debarkation and final review.

Day 8

Went to raffles for my usual and saw Jeanne. We all said our last goodbyes and exchanged email addresses. We chose to self debark, so we met our group at 8am on the 7th deck. I did have to get something on my bill corrected. Their was a $126 charge to beauty salon/spa that we had not purchased. The guest service desk quickly corrected and apologized.

I called the hotel for the shuttle and started off of the ship. Debarkation was quick and simple. We waited about 30 mins for the shuttle. It showed up, the gentleman loaded our luggage and we were off to the hotel. We were in our cars and on the road by 0930am.

Final Review= Good, bad and the ugly.

Please do not ream me, this is just my opinion.

Shows that we attended.

Welcome aboard show was great, the comedian was wonderful.

The first Magic show was terrible, we did not attend the second.

Cats in Pajamas show was great! The guy doing the sound effects was amazing.

The acrobat show was very good, the women in our group really liked looking at the muscle man.

Elements was very good as well.

The second night of the comedian was not as good, maybe just because we were very tired.

Newly wed show was good. Family Feud was terrible. Qwest adult game show was hillarious.

White Hot Party= We loved it! Even though we don't drink, it was electric!

Onboard activities= I liked the gym, it was very nice. (word of advice, dont run two miles on the tread mill in swim trunks)

Basketball courts were great, jogging track was great, ping pong and golf nets were great also.

Pools were sufficient, always crowded though.

Service= Excellent! Our room stewards Rotando and Juana were amazing!Dining staff was great! One of the staff my son just loved! I can't remember his name, but he showed him alot of dance moves! Wheelchair Charlie!

Ports= we loved the time that we got to spend in each port! Roatan was beautiful!

I loved the cleanliness and the washey washey!

Now for the bad. Our family had been on three previous cruises with CCL. So that is what we had to compare with.

Food= I think the food selections in the dining rooms is definitely better on CCL. I refuse to pay alot of money to cruise and then pay for specialy restaraunts each night. Our food was wonderful, but our whole group agreed that CCL food was better in the dining room. Blue Lagoon was a nice 24 hour option, but my kids missed the 24 hour free pizza. The cheescake award would definitely go to NCL!

Shows= I think the theater shows on NCL were probably better than CCL. CCL seems to do more to encourage dancing and hanging around the pool. We definitely like the more energy around the deck on CCL. I missed the piano bar from CCL, I went to Champagne Charlies several times, but it lacked the intimacy of a real piano bar.

Karaoke= It was held at Henrys pub everynight. We only went once, because it was standing room only. It was definitely too small of a venue. I think Henrys Pub and Champagne Charlies should swap places. lol

Room stewards= I definitely give the nod to NCL. CCL has better beds though.

All in all, it was a great cruise. We definitely enjoyed our week with no regrets. It seemed like it was mostly an older crowd and the ship was geared that way. I did not miss the obnoxious drunks but did miss some of the things CCL offered. We will probably go with CCL next time, but if it was my wife and I only, we would probably go back with NCL.

Thanks for your candid review!

for the time you took to write this nice review.....

By any chance do you still have the dailies? I would love to see them if you can post them..... if you can't,,, would you please check if the following are still listed as part of they entretaiment.....

70's Disco Inferno dance party

50' & 60" R & R Sock Hop

The Gennadi Orchestra Jazz, Ballroom n Blues

Tribute to Glen Miller

Thanks

AJ

for the time you took to write this nice review.....

 

By any chance do you still have the dailies? I would love to see them if you can post them..... if you can't,,, would you please check if the following are still listed as part of they entretaiment.....

 

70's Disco Inferno dance party

50' & 60" R & R Sock Hop

The Gennadi Orchestra Jazz, Ballroom n Blues

Tribute to Glen Miller

 

 

Thanks

 

 

AJ

I did not save my dailies. I do think they had all of those as entertainment, except for the

The Gennadi Orchestra Jazz, Ballroom n Blues. They may have had that one, but I just don't remember it. We did go to the sock hop and a disco dance party though.

Thanks for the review. Much more detailed than mine !!!

We just took mostly beach breaks since we've been on this exact same cruise twice previously. And we are scheduled for the same one again (different ship, though) in November.

I think I might have seen your group in the dining room.

May I ask your opinion on the Sock Hop :)

I did not save my dailies. I do think they had all of those as entertainment, except for the

The Gennadi Orchestra Jazz, Ballroom n Blues. They may have had that one, but I just don't remember it. We did go to the sock hop and a disco dance party though.

Thank you for your trip report which I enjoyed to read it.

but one thing - What is it? - /White Hot Party?

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

if the following are still listed as part of they entretaiment.....

 

70's Disco Inferno dance party

50' & 60" R & R Sock Hop

The Gennadi Orchestra Jazz, Ballroom n Blues

Tribute to Glen Miller

Should I take the aforementioned as a hint of the average age on the Spirit?

Gooch, cool! We ate in the Windows every night. All 12 of us, except one night there was only 8 of us. We had 4 teenagers, 4 in their 20's, 2 in their 30's and 2 in their 50's. So we kinda had a mixed bag. lol

Sock hop. It was pretty good, we done the twist and such. All of the dance nights, really are dependent on your group or fellow passengers, as to how much fun they are.

White Hot Party was good also. Everyone is encouraged to wear white. It is really just a dance party. The crew put alot into this one, making it even more fun. I wish it would be held outdoors. It is in the Galaxy and the dance floor is only about 300sq ft or so. We did not make it to the after party. We are not good dancers, but cruising is the only time we let our hair down and do it.

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

 

 

 

 

Should I take the aforementioned as a hint of the average age on the Spirit?

On our cruise, it did seem more of an older crowd. Like I said earlier, it seems that NCL gears more toward this and less energetic. While CCL aims more for the younger crowd. This is just my opinion.

On our cruise, it did seem more of an older crowd. Like I said earlier, it seems that NCL gears more toward this and less energetic. While CCL aims more for the younger crowd. This is just my opinion.

I think by and large you may be right. Although, we were on the Pearl last week and my 3 kids (9, 12, 14) had fun with the sports activities/kids clubs/rock wall/hot tubs. I am contemplating the Spirit for the itinerary, but fear their boredom in the downtime.

I think by and large you may be right. Although, we were on the Pearl last week and my 3 kids (9, 12, 14) had fun with the sports activities/kids clubs/rock wall/hot tubs. I am contemplating the Spirit for the itinerary, but fear their boredom in the downtime.

Our group never went to the kids clubs, so they may have been very good. Ours were from 15-20 in age, so they wanted to hang together. There was always a ton of people in the game room, playing cards, yahtzee, etc.

Thanks for the review.

I also think the food may be better on CCL, Entertainment NCL, Overall best RCL

That being said I can't wait for our NCL Star Cruise from New Orleans Feb 2013.

Sailed on the Dawn for a 9 day southern out of Miami and loved it I became a NCL fan Being we are now 57 and 61 I guess I am done with the Carnival drunks!

We still drink and like to have fun but we also would like to show our face again

I have to admit i did have some memory losses on the Dawn but it was very harmless

We started cruising in 1979 and still think it is the best vacation.

Gooch, cool! We ate in the Windows every night. All 12 of us, except one night there was only 8 of us. We had 4 teenagers, 4 in their 20's, 2 in their 30's and 2 in their 50's. So we kinda had a mixed bag. lol

Yep. That was you, I bet.