hateswaterloves2cruise Posted April 3, 2011 #1 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Just exited the Spirit after an amazingly smooth cruise to the Western Caribbean. Very easy embarkation. Got to port about 10:30-11 a.m., parked ($112 at port, cash or cc) and was thru registration and onboard by 11:30 (we were 2nd group called) Rooms were ready at 2 p.m. You could leave your bags in the casino, turn right as you enter on deck 7. Rooms are smaller than most NCL ships but very well appointed. We had a balcony cabin for 2 and I wouldn't have wanted to be 3. We found the cabin cleaning to be very slow during the cruise. Usually you go to breakfast and when you stop back, room is clean. For the 1st 4 days of the cruise our room was not cleaned til around 2:30 p.m. Our stewards said they had 32 rooms to clean and obviously we were at the end of the schedule. Only problem with this was if you wanted ice late in the a.m. or early afternoon. Food (always subjective) was fine. Anytime I don't have to cook, serve or clean up, I am happy. Not gourmet but then what do you expect when they are cooking for 2000+. Didn't do any specialty restaurants this time. Entertainment - heard complaints from some of the teenagers that there wasn't anything to do and they would rather be on Carnival. As senior citizens, we were happy just sitting on our balcony, sitting in a lounge listening to the entertainers. As far as the big shows went, the best one was the comedian, Sam Griesbaum. The singers and dancers were very amateurish and way too loud (I said I was a sr citizen, remember) Seriously, I miss the Jean Ann Ryan company. They were very professional and the singers could sing! Crew - like everywhere, you found some happy people, some not so happy. Everyone loved "wakey,wakey" and there were many other people (waiters, stewards, pool people, bartenders) who were pleasant and friendly. At times you did run into someone who got up on the wrong side of the bed but then sometimes I wasn't "happy, happy" either. We had a great cruise, for a very reasonable amount of money. We are happy happy!! We definitely saw many more happy faces (in building, customs people and staff) than sad ones. In fact my husband left something on the ship and we returned to the port and after a wait, they found it and delivered it to us. We are very happy.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NW Pacific Posted April 3, 2011 #2 Share Posted April 3, 2011 We are sailing mid May- how was your weather? any excursions you would recommend? We also like to enjoy a cocktail and listen to bar music, which one was your favorite place? This will be our first time on the Spirit, have been before on the Sun, Star, Pearl and Gem, know it is smaller, how would you compare if you have been on others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribsun Posted April 4, 2011 #3 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I thought Champagne Charley's had the best lounge entertainment along with the 2 for 1 Martini's.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hateswaterloves2cruise Posted April 4, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted April 4, 2011 We are sailing mid May- how was your weather? any excursions you would recommend? We also like to enjoy a cocktail and listen to bar music, which one was your favorite place? This will be our first time on the Spirit, have been before on the Sun, Star, Pearl and Gem, know it is smaller, how would you compare if you have been on others? Our weather was amazing. Hi 80's to mid 90's in all the ports. We very much enjoyed the Playa Mia deluxe beach break in Cozumel, but it was the only beach we went to in Cozumel. You can go thru NCL or get a taxi and do it yourself. We did a Roatan tour/beach break and was disappointed when most of the people on it didn't want to go to the beach. We did, but only stayed about an hour. Beach was kind of sea weedy (Turquoise Bay). We enjoyed sitting in the atrium below Champagne Charlie's listening to Alvin & Emily. CC was always jammed and you could hear just as well in other locations. You can get the martini's and take them down. Cabins are definitely smaller than the ones we were in on the Dawn, we've never been on the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primetimegirl Posted April 4, 2011 #5 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm so glad to hear that Alvin & Emily are still on the Spirit! We sail on May 22 and are looking forward to seeing them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkportersat Posted April 4, 2011 #6 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Glad you had a good time :) I too thought the singers were really bad, but thought the dancers were good. We also experienced some slowness with the cabin cleaning, even when I put the little thing in the door to clean the room. Our steward was so nice though and worked really hard. We didn't make it easy though as with a baby we were in our cabin a lot. Welcome back to real life! Just exited the Spirit after an amazingly smooth cruise to the Western Caribbean. Very easy embarkation. Got to port about 10:30-11 a.m., parked ($112 at port, cash or cc) and was thru registration and onboard by 11:30 (we were 2nd group called) Rooms were ready at 2 p.m. You could leave your bags in the casino, turn right as you enter on deck 7. Rooms are smaller than most NCL ships but very well appointed. We had a balcony cabin for 2 and I wouldn't have wanted to be 3. We found the cabin cleaning to be very slow during the cruise. Usually you go to breakfast and when you stop back, room is clean. For the 1st 4 days of the cruise our room was not cleaned til around 2:30 p.m. Our stewards said they had 32 rooms to clean and obviously we were at the end of the schedule. Only problem with this was if you wanted ice late in the a.m. or early afternoon. Food (always subjective) was fine. Anytime I don't have to cook, serve or clean up, I am happy. Not gourmet but then what do you expect when they are cooking for 2000+. Didn't do any specialty restaurants this time. Entertainment - heard complaints from some of the teenagers that there wasn't anything to do and they would rather be on Carnival. As senior citizens, we were happy just sitting on our balcony, sitting in a lounge listening to the entertainers. As far as the big shows went, the best one was the comedian, Sam Griesbaum. The singers and dancers were very amateurish and way too loud (I said I was a sr citizen, remember) Seriously, I miss the Jean Ann Ryan company. They were very professional and the singers could sing! Crew - like everywhere, you found some happy people, some not so happy. Everyone loved "wakey,wakey" and there were many other people (waiters, stewards, pool people, bartenders) who were pleasant and friendly. At times you did run into someone who got up on the wrong side of the bed but then sometimes I wasn't "happy, happy" either. We had a great cruise, for a very reasonable amount of money. We are happy happy!! We definitely saw many more happy faces (in building, customs people and staff) than sad ones. In fact my husband left something on the ship and we returned to the port and after a wait, they found it and delivered it to us. We are very happy.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser willy Posted April 4, 2011 #7 Share Posted April 4, 2011 L O V E the Spirit!!!!!! I so hope the Dawn compares favorably to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newmexicoNita Posted April 4, 2011 #8 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Just exited the Spirit after an amazingly smooth cruise to the Western Caribbean. Very easy embarkation. Got to port about 10:30-11 a.m., parked ($112 at port, cash or cc) and was thru registration and onboard by 11:30 (we were 2nd group called) Rooms were ready at 2 p.m. You could leave your bags in the casino, turn right as you enter on deck 7. Rooms are smaller than most NCL ships but very well appointed. We had a balcony cabin for 2 and I wouldn't have wanted to be 3. We found the cabin cleaning to be very slow during the cruise. Usually you go to breakfast and when you stop back, room is clean. For the 1st 4 days of the cruise our room was not cleaned til around 2:30 p.m. Our stewards said they had 32 rooms to clean and obviously we were at the end of the schedule. Only problem with this was if you wanted ice late in the a.m. or early afternoon. Food (always subjective) was fine. Anytime I don't have to cook, serve or clean up, I am happy. Not gourmet but then what do you expect when they are cooking for 2000+. Didn't do any specialty restaurants this time. Entertainment - heard complaints from some of the teenagers that there wasn't anything to do and they would rather be on Carnival. As senior citizens, we were happy just sitting on our balcony, sitting in a lounge listening to the entertainers. As far as the big shows went, the best one was the comedian, Sam Griesbaum. The singers and dancers were very amateurish and way too loud (I said I was a sr citizen, remember) Seriously, I miss the Jean Ann Ryan company. They were very professional and the singers could sing! Crew - like everywhere, you found some happy people, some not so happy. Everyone loved "wakey,wakey" and there were many other people (waiters, stewards, pool people, bartenders) who were pleasant and friendly. At times you did run into someone who got up on the wrong side of the bed but then sometimes I wasn't "happy, happy" either. We had a great cruise, for a very reasonable amount of money. We are happy happy!! We definitely saw many more happy faces (in building, customs people and staff) than sad ones. In fact my husband left something on the ship and we returned to the port and after a wait, they found it and delivered it to us. We are very happy.:) great, objective review. I can agree with the entertainment. We felt the same. We did enjoy the comedian and we always like second City, but we miss the Jean Ryan company. As for the slow cabin cleaning, your cabin steward was right, they do have 32 cabins to clean and we did have a slow group on the Spirit 2 plus years ago. Our last cruise, just over a month ago our cabin stewards were the best we have had and we certainly are vet cruisers. I will add, we were near the end of their route as well. never was our cabin cleaned later than about 11am. Nita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrymtex01 Posted April 4, 2011 #9 Share Posted April 4, 2011 OP.. thank you so much for sharing your vacation with us. Very nice well rounded review. Our weather was amazing. Hi 80's to mid 90's in all the ports. We very much enjoyed the Playa Mia deluxe beach break in Cozumel, but it was the only beach we went to in Cozumel. You can go thru NCL or get a taxi and do it yourself. We did a Roatan tour/beach break and was disappointed when most of the people on it didn't want to go to the beach. We did, but only stayed about an hour. Beach was kind of sea weedy (Turquoise Bay).We enjoyed sitting in the atrium below Champagne Charlie's listening to Alvin & Emily. CC was always jammed and you could hear just as well in other locations. You can get the martini's and take them down. Cabins are definitely smaller than the ones we were in on the Dawn, we've never been on the others. The beach trip you did in Roatan, was it through NCL or did your book it independently? We have planned our all of our excursions for our cruise this Nov with the exception of Roatan. Last time there we booked the beach excursion through the ship which was Tabayana (sp?) beach club which we enjoyed, but are looking at maybe doing an independent type thing this time to try to get a beach club that actually has a swimming pool. As weird as it makes me sound, I enjoy being on the beach, but so afraid of what may bite me in the water that I usually don't go in it with Doug so he has to be out in the water all by himself..If there is a pool, we both have fun in the water..8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hateswaterloves2cruise Posted April 5, 2011 Author #10 Share Posted April 5, 2011 OP.. thank you so much for sharing your vacation with us. Very nice well rounded review. The beach trip you did in Roatan, was it through NCL or did your book it independently? We have planned our all of our excursions for our cruise this Nov with the exception of Roatan. Last time there we booked the beach excursion through the ship which was Tabayana (sp?) beach club which we enjoyed, but are looking at maybe doing an independent type thing this time to try to get a beach club that actually has a swimming pool. As weird as it makes me sound, I enjoy being on the beach, but so afraid of what may bite me in the water that I usually don't go in it with Doug so he has to be out in the water all by himself..If there is a pool, we both have fun in the water..8-) It was the Roatan city tour and beach trip thru NCL. Supposed to be a tour of Roatan with 2 hrs at a beach. The "tour" wasn't much honestly. Stopped at a gift shop, an overlook area and an iguana farm then the beach. I don't like water where I can't see what's around me so I was much more comfortable in the pool too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrymtex01 Posted April 5, 2011 #11 Share Posted April 5, 2011 It was the Roatan city tour and beach trip thru NCL. Supposed to be a tour of Roatan with 2 hrs at a beach. The "tour" wasn't much honestly. Stopped at a gift shop, an overlook area and an iguana farm then the beach. I don't like water where I can't see what's around me so I was much more comfortable in the pool too. Thank you. Do you remember the name of the place where you ended up at the beach? Did it have a pool? T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hateswaterloves2cruise Posted April 5, 2011 Author #12 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Sorry, it was Turquoise Bay. Apparently they also go to Parrot Bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajagent Posted April 6, 2011 #13 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Great Review. I was curious. This will be our first time on NCL. You said you can put your bags in the casino? That is great you can just drop your carry on and leave it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hateswaterloves2cruise Posted April 6, 2011 Author #14 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Great Review. I was curious. This will be our first time on NCL. You said you can put your bags in the casino? That is great you can just drop your carry on and leave it? Yes, as you get on the Spirit you come in on deck 7 in the atrium. Turn to the right, go to the casino and you can dump your carryon's. You get a claim ticket and are asked to pick them up by 2 p.m. when the rooms are ready. Very convenient. You don't have to lug your bags to lunch and while checking out the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreySkies Posted April 7, 2011 #15 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Is the casino closed off to people while the bags are there? My carry-on will likely have my electronics, and I want to know if it would be secure to leave it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstratus Posted April 7, 2011 #16 Share Posted April 7, 2011 OP.. thank you so much for sharing your vacation with us. Very nice well rounded review. The beach trip you did in Roatan, was it through NCL or did your book it independently? We have planned our all of our excursions for our cruise this Nov with the exception of Roatan. Last time there we booked the beach excursion through the ship which was Tabayana (sp?) beach club which we enjoyed, but are looking at maybe doing an independent type thing this time to try to get a beach club that actually has a swimming pool. As weird as it makes me sound, I enjoy being on the beach, but so afraid of what may bite me in the water that I usually don't go in it with Doug so he has to be out in the water all by himself..If there is a pool, we both have fun in the water..8-) We were on the March 20th sailing and did a private driver with Bodden and had them suggest a beach. They took us to Parrott Tree Plantation, which was AMAZING. The beach is in a cove so the water is crystal clear and very smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hateswaterloves2cruise Posted April 8, 2011 Author #17 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Is the casino closed off to people while the bags are there? My carry-on will likely have my electronics, and I want to know if it would be secure to leave it there. There is an attendant with the bags. I would definitely lock the bag but it should be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajagent Posted April 11, 2011 #18 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Great info thanks. We are counting down the days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer-kraut Posted April 11, 2011 #19 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Great info thanks. We are counting down the days. After dropping your bags, Bob, go down to the Main Dining Room for lunch instead of getting bottled up in the buffet with everyone else. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mitsugirly Posted April 11, 2011 #20 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Crew - like everywhere, you found some happy people, some not so happy. Everyone loved "wakey,wakey" and there were many other people (waiters, stewards, pool people, bartenders) who were pleasant and friendly. At times you did run into someone who got up on the wrong side of the bed but then sometimes I wasn't "happy, happy" either. Thanks for your review. We are going on the Spirit in September and can't wait. Do you mind me asking....what is "wakey,wakey"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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