Spirit Review March 28 - April 4

[chickadee66]

My husband, 7 year old son and I sailed on the Spirit March 28 – April 4. This was the first cruise for my husband and son and my second. My husband felt it was a little too long for him because he has a hard time disconnecting from the phone and computer but my son loved it and would still be on the boat and in the kid’s club right now if he had his way. Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves but needed a vacation once we got home to recover!

 

Embarkation

Traveled with friends who were Latitudes members and the greeter sent us to the Latitudes line with them. The line for the regular folks (like us) was actually shorter than the Latitudes line but we were on board in about 20 minutes. For those bringing wine on board – we were stopped and asked to pay the $15/bottle corkage fee.

 

After getting on board we went to the atrium and signed up for the pub crawl and martini tasting that were taking place the first day at sea.

 

Room

We were in a balcony room (10630) which we really enjoyed. I knew going into this that the rooms were small so I did not expect to be able to move around without bumping into each other and that we would have to wait until one person moved before going to the other side of the room. At night when the futon was down we had to crawl over it to get to the balcony or fold it up while my son slept (and he was so tired he would’ve slept through anything) so it really wasn’t that big of a deal. We did enjoy keeping the balcony door open at night so we could hear the waves and enjoying our wine on our balcony.

 

Sea Days

On the first sea day we attended the pub crawl, which was a lot of fun and a great way to see the ship and meet new people. We also attended the first of two martini tastings, which were also a lot of fun and a great way to meet new people. The first martini tasting featured five martinis. The pub crawl is $25/person and the martini tasting is $15/person. Gratuity is added to both of these automatically.

 

On the last sea day we stayed by the pool most of the day. I encourage you to get there early as the chairs go quickly. There were a lot of chairs saved for people who didn’t show up for hours while others walked around looking for chairs. That afternoon we went to the second martini tasting which featured six different martinis.

 

Side note: Champagne Charlie’s has 2 for 1 martinis each day from 5-7. Antonio (bartender) and Alfredo (jr. bar server) are great and it’s the best deal on the ship!

 

Ports

Costa Maya – Heading to the taxi area wanting to go to the Malacon/Mahahual village we got roped into going to Tequila Beach for an “all you can drink and eat” day with kayaks and snorkeling. Personally, I would not recommend this. The “special” that day was $30/adult and $20/child and included the use of the kayaks, chairs, umbrellas and tables, all you can drink beer and mixed drinks and all you can eat nachos, chips and salsa and guacamole, quesadillas and french fries. You could also get beachside massages (for a fee) and they had a little shop. Basically it is a very small beach area with little cups of only one brand of beer – Sol – poured from a big bottle. I did not sample any of the mixed drinks. The food was little plates but they were plentiful. Also the free bar ended at 3:00. I wouldn’t say we had a bad time, but it just wasn’t that impressive and we missed what we really wanted to see. On our way back to the ship we swam in the pool by the pier and looked in some of the shops and got henna tattoos.

 

Guatemala – We spent the day on the boat as I had heard unless you have an excursion booked, there really isn’t anything to do.

 

Belize – We did the Bannister Island Beach Break through NCL. The cost was reasonable and my son LOVED the water trampoline. We also used the kayaks, lounge chairs, floats and innertubes. There are cycles of excursion passengers stopping on the island so it was never really crowded and you could always find a chair. If you like to snorkel though I would recommend combining it with the snorkeling portion of the excursion because other than a few starfish and some coral, there wasn’t really anything to see. The island has a food area and waitresses serving drinks but if you order through them, the cost of the beer is $5 vs. going to get the beer yourself at $4. There is also a bathroom and changing area and beachside massages and henna tattoos, etc.

 

After the tender took us back to the ship we changed and took a tender into the city and did a little shopping and had the best, greasiest nachos and cheap beer at the Wet Lizard.

 

Cozumel – We swam with the dolphins at Chankanaab which we booked through Dolphin Discovery. This was well worth the price (which was less expensive than the boat). If you plan to do this I would suggest getting a locker (they are free) and putting all of your belongings in it, especially any prescription glasses. My husband left his in his hat on the pier and somehow they were knocked into one of the holding tanks. A diver who worked at the park dove in and came right back with them which was like a miracle to us. In the afternoon we went to Carlos and Charlie’s and did a little shopping before boarding the boat and going to the pool until sail away.

 

Food

Before I go into my review of the food, keep an open mind in reading this and know that we are from Louisiana and like it hot and spicy. We are not food snobs but have tons of incredible restaurants in our state so the bar was set very high when it came to the food. Overall I was not impressed with the food. I realize they have to mass produce a lot but there wasn’t much that stood out to me as a must have which is a good thing because it kept me from spending all my time eating just because it was available. Things we did enjoy: black bean soup at Windows; hot and sour soup and egg drop soup at Shogun; flourless chocolate cake at Windows. We went to Cagney’s one night and I got the 5 oz. filet and my husband got the prime rib. In my personal opinion, it was not worth the $25/person. We also went to Shogun one night and my husband got the sushi and we sampled various items and did enjoy our food very much this night.

 

Entertainment

We only attended one show – Second City – and found it really wasn’t for us. We also attended the White Hot Party and 70s Dance Party, both of which we enjoyed. There is just so much to do that it was hard to keep track of.

 

Kid’s Club

Not much to say here other than my son loved the kid’s club. If you use their services please make sure to give them a tip as they are not included in the tip pool. We gave them $50 but looking back we probably should’ve given more because, like I said, he loved it, and was there every time the door opened and we did use in port and late night service most nights.

 

Miscellaneous

The last night I requested a copy of my bill so I could see where we stood and get ready for the sticker shock. The shock wasn’t really in how much we had spent, but in that our OBC had not properly been credited to my account. We booked through a travel agent and somehow what was supposed to have been a $125 OBC turned into a $50 OBC. My bad for not double checking this earlier in the cruise because by now they claimed there was nothing they could do despite showing them my final invoice with the $125 OBC on it and it would have to be handled when I got home. So now I’m in the process of trying to claim the remainder of my OBC.

 

Maybe I’m naïve and didn’t know I was supposed to tip our room stewards everyday (am I or at the end of the cruise?) but I found our service went down as the week went on. On the first day I requested 4 towels and 4 wash cloths for each day. That happened for the first 4 days. After that we were back to 3 towels and 2 wash cloths and the towel animals my son loved seeing were also cut out. Other than that they did do a nice job of making sure our room was clean.

 

Disembarkation

We chose to carry our luggage off ourselves and were in line around 7:30 and through customs and out of the garage by 8:00.

 

I know this was long but I tried to cover everything and will try to answer any questions.

[biker@sea]

I appreciate your well balanced review.

I do like to tip my steward daily. I think I get better service that way. JMO

[newmexicoNita]

My husband, 7 year old son and I sailed on the Spirit March 28 – April 4. This was the first cruise for my husband and son and my second. My husband felt it was a little too long for him because he has a hard time disconnecting from the phone and computer but my son loved it and would still be on the boat and in the kid’s club right now if he had his way. Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves but needed a vacation once we got home to recover!

 

Embarkation

Traveled with friends who were Latitudes members and the greeter sent us to the Latitudes line with them. The line for the regular folks (like us) was actually shorter than the Latitudes line but we were on board in about 20 minutes. For those bringing wine on board – we were stopped and asked to pay the $15/bottle corkage fee.

 

After getting on board we went to the atrium and signed up for the pub crawl and martini tasting that were taking place the first day at sea.

 

Room

We were in a balcony room (10630) which we really enjoyed. I knew going into this that the rooms were small so I did not expect to be able to move around without bumping into each other and that we would have to wait until one person moved before going to the other side of the room. At night when the futon was down we had to crawl over it to get to the balcony or fold it up while my son slept (and he was so tired he would’ve slept through anything) so it really wasn’t that big of a deal. We did enjoy keeping the balcony door open at night so we could hear the waves and enjoying our wine on our balcony.

 

Sea Days

On the first sea day we attended the pub crawl, which was a lot of fun and a great way to see the ship and meet new people. We also attended the first of two martini tastings, which were also a lot of fun and a great way to meet new people. The first martini tasting featured five martinis. The pub crawl is $25/person and the martini tasting is $15/person. Gratuity is added to both of these automatically.

 

On the last sea day we stayed by the pool most of the day. I encourage you to get there early as the chairs go quickly. There were a lot of chairs saved for people who didn’t show up for hours while others walked around looking for chairs. That afternoon we went to the second martini tasting which featured six different martinis.

 

Side note: Champagne Charlie’s has 2 for 1 martinis each day from 5-7. Antonio (bartender) and Alfredo (jr. bar server) are great and it’s the best deal on the ship!

 

Ports

Costa Maya – Heading to the taxi area wanting to go to the Malacon/Mahahual village we got roped into going to Tequila Beach for an “all you can drink and eat” day with kayaks and snorkeling. Personally, I would not recommend this. The “special” that day was $30/adult and $20/child and included the use of the kayaks, chairs, umbrellas and tables, all you can drink beer and mixed drinks and all you can eat nachos, chips and salsa and guacamole, quesadillas and french fries. You could also get beachside massages (for a fee) and they had a little shop. Basically it is a very small beach area with little cups of only one brand of beer – Sol – poured from a big bottle. I did not sample any of the mixed drinks. The food was little plates but they were plentiful. Also the free bar ended at 3:00. I wouldn’t say we had a bad time, but it just wasn’t that impressive and we missed what we really wanted to see. On our way back to the ship we swam in the pool by the pier and looked in some of the shops and got henna tattoos.

 

Guatemala – We spent the day on the boat as I had heard unless you have an excursion booked, there really isn’t anything to do.

 

Belize – We did the Bannister Island Beach Break through NCL. The cost was reasonable and my son LOVED the water trampoline. We also used the kayaks, lounge chairs, floats and innertubes. There are cycles of excursion passengers stopping on the island so it was never really crowded and you could always find a chair. If you like to snorkel though I would recommend combining it with the snorkeling portion of the excursion because other than a few starfish and some coral, there wasn’t really anything to see. The island has a food area and waitresses serving drinks but if you order through them, the cost of the beer is $5 vs. going to get the beer yourself at $4. There is also a bathroom and changing area and beachside massages and henna tattoos, etc.

 

After the tender took us back to the ship we changed and took a tender into the city and did a little shopping and had the best, greasiest nachos and cheap beer at the Wet Lizard.

 

Cozumel – We swam with the dolphins at Chankanaab which we booked through Dolphin Discovery. This was well worth the price (which was less expensive than the boat). If you plan to do this I would suggest getting a locker (they are free) and putting all of your belongings in it, especially any prescription glasses. My husband left his in his hat on the pier and somehow they were knocked into one of the holding tanks. A diver who worked at the park dove in and came right back with them which was like a miracle to us. In the afternoon we went to Carlos and Charlie’s and did a little shopping before boarding the boat and going to the pool until sail away.

 

Food

Before I go into my review of the food, keep an open mind in reading this and know that we are from Louisiana and like it hot and spicy. We are not food snobs but have tons of incredible restaurants in our state so the bar was set very high when it came to the food. Overall I was not impressed with the food. I realize they have to mass produce a lot but there wasn’t much that stood out to me as a must have which is a good thing because it kept me from spending all my time eating just because it was available. Things we did enjoy: black bean soup at Windows; hot and sour soup and egg drop soup at Shogun; flourless chocolate cake at Windows. We went to Cagney’s one night and I got the 5 oz. filet and my husband got the prime rib. In my personal opinion, it was not worth the $25/person. We also went to Shogun one night and my husband got the sushi and we sampled various items and did enjoy our food very much this night.

 

Entertainment

We only attended one show – Second City – and found it really wasn’t for us. We also attended the White Hot Party and 70s Dance Party, both of which we enjoyed. There is just so much to do that it was hard to keep track of.

 

Kid’s Club

Not much to say here other than my son loved the kid’s club. If you use their services please make sure to give them a tip as they are not included in the tip pool. We gave them $50 but looking back we probably should’ve given more because, like I said, he loved it, and was there every time the door opened and we did use in port and late night service most nights.

 

Miscellaneous

The last night I requested a copy of my bill so I could see where we stood and get ready for the sticker shock. The shock wasn’t really in how much we had spent, but in that our OBC had not properly been credited to my account. We booked through a travel agent and somehow what was supposed to have been a $125 OBC turned into a $50 OBC. My bad for not double checking this earlier in the cruise because by now they claimed there was nothing they could do despite showing them my final invoice with the $125 OBC on it and it would have to be handled when I got home. So now I’m in the process of trying to claim the remainder of my OBC.

 

Maybe I’m naïve and didn’t know I was supposed to tip our room stewards everyday (am I or at the end of the cruise?) but I found our service went down as the week went on. On the first day I requested 4 towels and 4 wash cloths for each day. That happened for the first 4 days. After that we were back to 3 towels and 2 wash cloths and the towel animals my son loved seeing were also cut out. Other than that they did do a nice job of making sure our room was clean.

 

Disembarkation

We chose to carry our luggage off ourselves and were in line around 7:30 and through customs and out of the garage by 8:00.

 

I know this was long but I tried to cover everything and will try to answer any questions.

 

thanks for a fair and balanced review: as for the OBC, normally there is a letter or something showing the OBC. I do hope you get this cleared up and no, there is no excuse for poor service. You are not expected to tip the cabin steward period, that is part of the $12 per day. If they are very good many people do tip a little extra at the end. As for the Animal towels, it is unusual to bet them nightly anymore. Some don't do them at all as they are time consuming and the cabins stewards do have a lot of cabins to clean.

 

Nita

[garycarla]

Nice review.

 

We were on the same cruise. Staff was great over all. That Pub/Bar crawl was well attended. We were sitting in the Bier Garten as it got started, and at the Casino as it ended. Lots of fun it appears.

 

No, you do not tip daily. The $12 covers it. Personally, we made up our own cabin some days as we slept late and never need much from our stewards, who were great by the way.

 

As to OBC - as you said, should have checked on it the 2nd day. Things happen. They will clear it up in time.

 

We did a big casino draw and they actually put a hold on our AMEX and did the normal charge causing an over limit situation. It will clear up. Not worried.

 

Great cruise overall.

[chickadee66]

Nice review.

 

We were on the same cruise. Staff was great over all. That Pub/Bar crawl was well attended. We were sitting in the Bier Garten as it got started, and at the Casino as it ended. Lots of fun it appears.

 

No, you do not tip daily. The $12 covers it. Personally, we made up our own cabin some days as we slept late and never need much from our stewards, who were great by the way.

 

As to OBC - as you said, should have checked on it the 2nd day. Things happen. They will clear it up in time.

 

We did a big casino draw and they actually put a hold on our AMEX and did the normal charge causing an over limit situation. It will clear up. Not worried.

 

Great cruise overall.

 

I received a message from my TA yesterday that somehow I had gotten moved into a group with a different OBC but she was working to get it cleared up. My mind was spinning from all the stuff on the dailies that I didn't even see "credit desk" until that Saturday.