Review of NCL Spirit Canary Islands & Morocco Nov 22-Dec 1, 2013

[Norwegianlatvian]

Looking forward to more! Good review so far! Going on Spirit in February myself.

[TracieABD]

Funny... Our airfare was less than half of the cruise fare per person. I have never been able to get to Europe for under $1000. This time we are a couple hundred under that! So grateful!!!:)

[rhinomike]

There are 6 of us in my family. Our 2 weeks on Spirit is $8k for our 2 rooms. Our airfare came ton$31k...... But we are flying first class. Lol. :)

[jlajr]

Loving your review. We got off the Spirit the day you got on!

 

Cool! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

 

Im going on this on Tuesday! hope we get to the end before I leave:)

 

Great review so far... Hope, you´ll be done with it before I leave for the Spirit next Monday ;)

 

Oops, sorry. I hope you both are having a great time!

 

It doesn't look like I'm going to be writing installments during the week. On the other hand, winter arrived where I live this week, and this weekend is going to be colder than normal and rainy, so I might be able to finish or at least get through most of it.

 

I'm enjoying reading your review. I'm not doing this itinerary, but will be doing a cruise in January on the Jade/med. I did consider this itinerary though. I'm also interested in it from a solo travellers point of view as January I always have 5-6 weeks off work which doesn't fit into my traveling companions work plans, so if I want to travel in January I have to do it solo. I also like the thought of being a full time traveller.

 

I envy those cruisers whose flights are a similar price to the cruise. For me my airfares are always 3 to 4 times more. 12 weeks out seems to be the best window for booking flights as the cost of the airfare can rise significantly or you have less choice of dates and times. (I'm always traveling during peak school vacation time over here in Aus). I have already saved $1000 by booking my flights 9 weeks ago. So now I just book the cheapest category for the cruise and then if the cost of the cruise goes down I ring and negotiate a better cabin. My inside cabin for the second part of my B2B is now a balcony. The first part of the B2B-28th Dec is nearly sold out so it was just as well I bought in when I did.

 

Looking forward to reading more of your review! :)

 

Thanks.

 

I think you and I should both reconsider our priorities regarding where we live. I'm starting to realize that it's much more important to live near a popular cruise departure port. :D

[irnbru]

Great review so far. Enjoying reading it especially as we are on the Spirit next Thursday:)

 

Is the cookies etc free in the Blue lagoon?

 

I shall be keeping up with the review as much as I can.

[jlajr]

Again:

 

• I apologize to those who have already sailed and were hoping I would finish my review before you did.
  
• Thank you for your kind words, and for reading in the first place.
  
• It looks like I won't be writing installments during the week, but this weekend is cold and rainy, so maybe I'll finish it.
  

I forgot to mention that on day 2, at sea, it was warmer outside than Barcelona was, maybe 15 C/60 F, and mostly sunny if I remember correctly. But, I did not spend a lot of time outside on open decks because it was still kind of cold for me, it was windy, and I was beginning to feel cold symptoms.

 

On the morning of day 3, I woke up at around 0500, and then went up to Galaxy of the Stars to watch us pull in to the port of Casablanca:

 

 

 

As you can see, it was raining. This would turn out to be the only rain we encountered, as far as I know.

 

After we docked, I ate breakfast at Raffles Court, and then went back to sleep. The cold symptoms were hitting me pretty hard at this point. Whenever anyone said something like, "Too bad you're sick on vacation", I replied, "I would rather be sick on a cruise than healthy at work", which is the honest truth. :)

 

When I woke up, it was already lunch time. I went to Raffles Court for lunch, and saw that the skies had cleared.

 

So, I decided to get off the ship, set foot in Africa, and see how long I could last before my cold symptoms got the better of me.

 

Here's a photo of the front of the ship from the pier:

 

 

NCL offered no-added-charge shuttle buses into/from town, which dropped us off near UN Square. (Nothing on a cruise is really free, right?) I took the shuttle bus and walked around the immediate vicinity for about an hour or so. Entrances to the downtown medina were nearby, and I briefly walked immediately inside the medina. There was also a Hyatt nearby, where Kyle and Kathy told me later were able to arrange for a taxi to take them around to a number of places of interest in Casablanca, including the Hassan II Mosque.

 

At one point, one of the vendors struck up a conversation and started walking with me. I didn't want to be rude, but I really was not feeling well, and in any case, I was not buying anything regardless of how good of a salesperson he was or the products and their prices. Eventually, he understood I wasn't going to buy and left me alone. I live in the Middle East, so I was already familiar with this behavior and it did not bother me in the least - any more than it bothers me to speak to anyone when my throat is really sore and I've almost completely lost my voice.

 

After I took the shuttle bus back to the ship, I went up to deck 12 to get into one of the hot tubs, and there I found Peggy and Ron, the couple I had met at the fitness center raffle drawing on day 1. BTW I didn't mention it before, but they also are from the US but now live in Germany.

 

After the hot tub, which made me feel better, I had another bowl of fruit from the nearby Raffles Court. Then, as I made my way back to the hot tub, I saw a bag of golf clubs at the towel station. I guess I had forgotten about the driving nets up on deck 13. I'm right-handed, so even though most of the clubs were left-handed for some reason, I found one I could use, grabbed some balls, and for the first time ever, hit golf balls on a cruise ship - well, except for mini golf, which I had done before. It had become a beautiful, clear day, the temperature around 15 C/60 F I think.

 

Having had enough golf, I headed back to the hot tub, where Derrick, Tami, and Natalie had by then joined Peggy and Ron. I think Peggy and Ron had met Derrick, Tami, and Natalie, along with Kyle and Kathy, at the previous night's Pub Trivia, which I did not attend. Sitting in a hot tub, having a conversation with fun, friendly people, under a clear sky, is kind of what makes the cruise experience so great for me, and I was thrilled to be doing just that.

 

But, all good things come to an end, and we split up to get changed and go to dinner. I went down to Windows, and ordered the plate of cheeses on the dessert menu as an appetizer, chicken, and cheesecake, all of which were really good.

 

I then went to Henry's Pub for Pub Trivia, where I met up with Peggy, Ron, and the rest of our "group". As with the hot tub, I was thrilled to be playing trivia, with an entertaining Gustav as the host, and enjoying everyone's company.

 

After trivia, I think most of us decided to see the Angels show in the Stardust Theater, which I believe we all liked a lot. We hadn't departed from Casablanca yet, so I wondered how they could perform this show - which relies heavily on balancing weight - while at sea.

 

The show ended at around 2230, and even though I had slept all morning, I was tired, and continuing to feel cold symptoms. So, to bed I went.

 

More soon.

Edited December 13, 2013 by jlajr

[jlajr]

Great review so far. Enjoying reading it especially as we are on the Spirit next Thursday:)

 

Is the cookies etc free in the Blue lagoon?

 

I shall be keeping up with the review as much as I can.

 

Thank you.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as I did - or even half as much. :)

 

Blue Lagoon is "free" - that is, as I prefer to say, no-added-charge. And, it is open 24 hours a day.

[Stu K]

Thanks for review we go in March a treat from my mother in law shes paying for us to go! You made my wife's day by saying strongbow is on board! Was it angry orchard the other cider on board? Could not find apple orchard on google.

 

Stu K

[jlajr]

Thanks for review we go in March a treat from my mother in law shes paying for us to go! You made my wife's day by saying strongbow is on board! Was it angry orchard the other cider on board? Could not find apple orchard on google.

 

Stu K

 

My pleasure, Stu.

 

The only thing better than a cruise is a cruise that you don't have to pay for!

 

I'm glad I made your wife's day.

 

Yes, it was Angry Orchard cider. Oops.

 

I hope you have a great time!

[jlajr]

As many of you already know, it is common on cruises to keep track of time according to the day of the cruise, and lose track of the day of the week. So, on day 4, after I woke up at around 0600, I went to Raffles Court for breakfast, and then watched the sun rise from Raffles Terrace:

 

 

On this day, I would only take a few photos, all of the sunrise, and the one above is arguably the best one. I took it with my tablet camera, which is not that great, after leaving my digital camera in the room. I was too lazy to go back and get it - and I also didn't want to miss these views.

 

I was still feeling the effects of the cold, so I went back to sleep until about 1135.

 

For lunch, I went down to Windows, where for the first time I noticed chicken noodle soup on the everyday menu. Thank goodness. It rocked! I also ate the shrimp Caesar salad, and the chocolate mousse.

 

After lunch, I went up to Galaxy of the Stars, where a destination lecture for Funchal, Madeira, and then a flag trivia contest were being held. With the temperature outside on the cool side for me, Galaxy became a favorite place to hang out, both for me and for a lot of my fellow cruise-mates. Except in the early morning, it was almost always at least partially filled with people relaxing or, in the evening, listening to music and dancing. On occasion, I even saw some people lying down, sleeping.

 

The library, internet room, board game room, fitness center, and spa are all in the near vicinity, so there's a lot of foot traffic here, but it never felt too crowded. In fact, the ship as a whole never felt too crowded, although I'm not sure how full it was. With the prices so low as sail date approached, and with me being assigned a IA room about 24 hours after booking an IX Guaranteed, my guess is that the ship did not sail at full capacity.

 

Another sunny day, I then went out on deck and laid out for a while.

 

At 1700 on most (all?) days, there was Name That Tune at Champagne Charlies, with a different artist or theme each day. Today, the theme was the 80s. I'm in my mid-40s, so I grew up during the 80s and would like to think I'm pretty good at recognizing music that was popular in the US then. It was going to be the first time playing Name That Tune on this cruise, and I was pleased when I ran in to Ron, Peggy, Mark, and Mark's wife, Linda. Ron, Peggy, and I played as a team, and we almost won. I think we were a half or whole point behind the winners, as Mark gave us half a point for me naming part of the chorus, but not the title, of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up...

 

I'm not quite sure why, but I decided to try Blue Lagoon for dinner. I had the chef's salad and cheesecake, and both were quite good. I know, I sound like a broken record when it comes to the food. But, really, I thought pretty much everything ranged from quite good to really good. Of course, I'm pretty happy whenever I don't have to cook or clean myself.

 

After dinner, I went over to Henry's Pub for that night's Pub Trivia contest with my team (Peggy, Ron, and so on). Again, we all just continued to enjoy each other's company, along with Gustav, Rex the bartender, and the other trivia contestants.

 

After Pub Trivia, most or all of our group went to Soul Rockin' Nights at Stardust Theater. I was disappointed, as I would be with every musical act I heard on this cruise except for Prism, which I heard for the first time later this night.

 

I guess this is an appropriate time to mention the passenger demographic breakdown. I and the people I was spending time with are not part of the demographic represented the most on this cruise. Most people on this cruise were significantly older than us and natively European. On the first or second night, I did not attend the show during which Gio, the cruise director, announced the nationalities and their representation on board. But from what I heard, there were a lot of Spanish, Germans, and Russians on the ship, along with a few Brits and about 100 from the US (which included me because I boarded on a US passport, even though I don't live there).

 

It is possible that many people on board didn't mind if these performers couldn't sing Livin' on a Prayer well, but I was quite frankly a little embarrassed. The women lead singers in the ship's production show group were better, but I think only by comparison. I also did not like the piano and guitar players who usually played at Champagne Charlie's and Henry's Pub. A shame, but it did not affect how much fun I was having.

 

After not enjoying Soul Rockin' Nights, I went up Galaxy of the Stars to hear Prism, which I had heard was a good cover band. And indeed, they were good.

 

I didn't stay too long, although I did get back to my room and went to bed late by my standards, 2330. I guess I forgot to mention that the ship's clocks moved back one hour the night after we sailed from Barcelona, but I doubt this had any real effect on me. The ship was now only two hours behind my home time zone, which was four pleasantly long and enjoyable days ago.

 

More soon.

Edited December 13, 2013 by jlajr

[Stu K]

<<Yes, it was Angry Orchard cider. Oops.>>

 

No oops required double made her day!

 

Stu K

[jlajr]

Even though I fell asleep relatively late, for me, the previous night, I woke up at around 0500 on day 5, as we approached Funchal, Madeira.

 

As it was kind of cold out, probably about 10 C/50 F, I watched us sail into port from Galaxy of the Stars:

 

 

 

I think it was a little darker out than it appears in the first photo, and a little lighter out than it appears in the second photo. I was playing around with my camera's settings.

 

I'll mention here something that I mentioned in my first installment: I've never taken any organized shore excursion, and only once in my last three cruises - all of the cruises I planned for myself - have I made any plans before the ship docked. I'm just not that interested in any of the particular places I've been to commit to any plans. I enjoy simply playing it by ear, and I've so far never regretted it.

 

So, for Funchal, as with Casablanca, I was not trying to make sure I was ready to get off the ship by a certain time. I ate a leisurely breakfast at Windows that consisted of a plate of fruit, smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel, and country-style potatoes. Yummy.

 

There were free shuttle buses into town, but I think they were supposed to be for those who needed assistance. We could see that downtown was not far away, so I just decided to walk. On my way walking from the ship into town, I saw taxis, bicycles for rent, and finally, small, two-person electric cars - Renault Twizys - for rent. I forgot my driver's license on board, so I walked back to the ship, and then rented one of these from "CityBubbles". For the first time in my life, I was a celebrity, as many, many people pointed, waved, and asked me about it as I drove - or sat in traffic - around town! It cost 40 euros for three hours including insurance, but they had prices for shorter and longer lengths of time.

 

 

It was cloudy out but not raining, maybe 16 C/60 F at mid-day, so that made it even better, as these cars don't have side windows...

 

Two minutes from the port, I got stuck in a traffic jam for 20 minutes. The car came with a Samsung tablet on which they installed a custom satnav/GPS system, and the salesperson had selected a route that would have taken me to one of the points of interest west of town. However, as soon as the traffic started moving again, I saw a sign for the highway around the city, and decided to hop on it.

 

I drove on the highway for about 15-20 minutes. When I noticed that this had used up a lot of the battery charge, I got off, drove around a neighborhood on the slope to the east of downtown, and then stopped to walk around a little and take pictures:

 

 

 

After I got back in the car, I figured out how to change the satnav/GPS system to "Free Drive" instead of one of the predefined routes. I basically had to go into the task manager, stop the task, and restart it. One of the benefits of the system was a location-sensitive audio guide for nearby points of interest.

 

At this point, I decided to look for the Palheiro golf course I had seen on maps and a sign for which I saw when I had gotten off the highway. That sign and the subsequent signs for the golf course led me further up the hill, so when the battery level crept below the half mark, I turned back down the hill without finding the golf course. In the end, I had plenty of charge left. Seems it takes a lot less energy to drive downhill than it does to drive uphill or 70 kilometers an hour on the highway...

 

As I made my way back to the center of town, I stopped at a supermarket for water (1 euro I think) and Powerade (a couple of euros I think).

 

I drove around the center of town, seemingly in circles at times, because a lot of the streets were one-way and there was a lot of construction. But, I was having a great time. I stopped at one point to take a few more photos:

 

 

Cruise Critic limits images to six per post, so this day's installment continues in another post.

[jlajr]

Here's another photo from one of the places where I had stopped in Funchal:

 

 

I parked on an incline, but forgot to pull the handbrake. When I got back in the car, it started to roll backward, slowly and quietly. Luckily, I realized it and pulled the handbrake before I hit the car behind me.

 

I had been with the car for more than two hours by this point, and because I was on a one-way street leading away from the center of town and the port, I had no idea exactly how long it would take me to get back. The Free Drive option on the satnav/GPS system did not provide on-demand directions.

 

But, I had become somewhat familiar with the layout of the city, so within about a half-hour, I was back at the pier, returning my new friend.

 

I had not eaten anything while off the ship, so I was ready for lunch. I went up to Raffles Court, where I enjoyed eating with Cristina. I wrote earlier that she's from Barcelona. She was born there, but now lives somewhere else in Catalonia.

 

After lunch, I went up to Galaxy of the Stars for a traditional Madeiran music and dance performance:

 

 

 

I also watched P&O Cruises' Adonia reverse out of port:

 

 

I headed over to a hot tub for a few minutes, meeting a woman from Morocco, and then laid out on deck before watching us sail away from Raffles Terrace:

 

 

 

I went back to the room and changed for the evening. I'll mention here that at night, I usually wore loafers, nice jeans or slacks, and either a long-sleeved shirt (dress or long-sleeved polo) or a sweater, and I always felt appropriately dressed. Many men did wear sports jackets and ties, but I simply don't own - and don't want to own - either.

 

During the day, I usually wore sneakers, jeans, a "dri-fit" t-shirt, and a cold-weather running jacket. I know what you're thinking: "That's why you caught a cold." No, it really isn't. I always was wearing enough clothing to keep me warm. I simply did not get enough sleep the night before I flew to Barcelona, and that's how my body reacts when I don't get enough sleep, especially when I travel. When I was making my way from the plane to the ship in and under Barcelona, I already had a feeling that when the adrenaline wore off and I settled in on board, I would get cold symptoms. No biggie, although my voice would not return to normal until after I had returned home.

 

For dinner this evening, I went to Windows and had the wonderful chicken noodle soup, along with the New Orleans shrimp and steak, and flan. Again, yummy.

 

After eating, I headed to Henry's Pub for Pub Trivia. On this night, only Tami and Derrick showed up, and their daughter Natalie might have joined us at some point.

 

We all then headed up to Galaxy of the Stars for 80s covers by the ship's production cast. I again was disappointed, and pretty much vowed not to see any more of their performances.

 

Derrick, Tami, and pretty much the rest of our group all enjoyed going to the casino, but I usually do not, and I had not joined them there up until this point. I don't gamble, I don't play poker with my friends, and I just don't usually enjoy it nor see the attraction of it.

 

This night, though, I decided to go to the casino. I ended up sitting and watching for about a half-hour Tami play one of the poker machines. I think she usually played two US cents per hand, and five hands per deal, so she was gambling a whopping 10 cents. I honestly had no idea you could gamble with such a small amount of money. It was fun, but it was already past 2300, and I called it a night.

 

More soon.

[jlajr]

<<Yes, it was Angry Orchard cider. Oops.>>

 

No oops required double made her day!

 

Stu K

 

I know how she feels. A few years ago, I stopped drinking alcohol after being a regular drinker for about 25 years.

 

Then, a few days into my transatlantic cruise on the Norwegian Epic in April 2012, I noticed they had either Magners or Strongbow on the drinks menu. It had been about a year and a half since I had any alcohol to drink, but I decided it was a sign, and lifted my self-imposed Prohibition.

 

Even though I don't drink nearly as much alcohol now as I used to, a lot of the times when I do drink alcohol now, it is in the form of apple - or, as you'll soon read about, peach - cider.

[jlajr]

On day 6, I woke up at around 0730, and then went up to Raffles Terrace to watch the sun rise and the ship dock at Santa Cruz de Tenerife:

 

 

After eating breakfast at Raffles Court, I got off the ship at around 0900.

 

We called at Santa Cruz instead of the planned call at Arrecife, due to weather conditions. They made the announcement the day before, and offered a limited selection of shore excursions. I didn't make any plans for Arrecife, and the specific ports are not so important to me, so I was not upset about the last-minute change. However, I know one person who spent a lot of time organizing a private tour in Arrecife and was not pleased with the itinerary change - specifically the fact that it appears the change was made at least a couple of days in advance, but was not communicated to the passengers until the day before.

 

I walked into town, and I can't remember now if there were free shuttle buses. It took maybe 15-20 minutes for me, a slow walker, and along the way ran into Kyle and Kathy. They also had no specific plans for the day.

 

There's a Hertz rental car office right across the street from the port, so I decided to inquire how much it would cost to rent a car for the day. A young woman who had also just gotten off the Spirit walked in right after me. She was with a couple who might have been her parents. After finding out how much it would cost to rent a car for the day (50 euros plus 100 euro refundable deposit, for an Opel), I asked this woman if she and her parents wanted to share a car for the day. They decided not to, and when I ran into her later the same day, she told me they decided not to rent a car altogether.

 

I had asked Kyle and Kathy not to wait for me at the rental car office, so I decided to just walk around downtown Santa Cruz de Tenerife. I walked up a pedestrian mall, and found myself at Weyler Plaza, where there's a tram station. I looked at the route map, decided to take a tram (1.35 euros per single ride) to the end of the line inland - about a 40-minute ride, and found myself in San Cristobal de La Lunga, a block away from the historic center, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site:

 

 

 

 

 

I walked around the historic area for about an hour and a half, I think, and then hopped on a tram back toward downtown Santa Cruz. After getting off at Weyler Plaza, I walked back in the direction toward the port, stopping to buy and drink a can of inexpensive local beer (Dorado, maybe a euro); a can of non-local peach cider - Rekorderlig - Kyle had recommended and just happened to see in a grocery store (a couple of euros I think); and to buy a bundle of 25 locally-rolled cigars (12 euros I think, and they gave me two extra as a bonus). I don't know if tobacco grows on these volcanic islands.

 

[jlajr]

On my way back to the ship, I sat down on a bench in the pedestrian area across the street from the port, finished drinking the half-liter can of Rekorderlig, and then called my parents in the US to let them know I was OK. I haven't yet seen my cell phone bill for the time I was on vacation, but I called my parents a few times without signing up for an international plan beforehand. I knew calling and data roaming is expensive, but I guess I'm hoping a few calls a few minutes in length each didn't cost me as much as they wanted for the international plan. And I never enabled data roaming. I was more than happy to be off the grid for nine days.

 

It was quite pleasant to sit there on a partly cloudy day, with the temperature again about 16 C/60 F. I also admit to feeling a little buzz from the beer and the cider. My cold symptoms had not completely gone away but I was no longer taking any medicine for them.

 

I got back on the ship at around 1330, and took the following from the pier:

 

 

I went up to Raffles Court for lunch, which consisted of ham and orzo salad, curried chicken salad, corn and black bean salad, and for dessert, blackberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream. Yummy.

 

I then hopped into a hot tub, ran into Derrick and Neil, another guy who rented a car from CityBubbles in Funchal, and then went up to deck 13 aft to watch the sailaway at 1500:

 

 

 

At 1700, I went to Champagne Charlie's to play Michael Jackson Name That Tune, and was joined by Natalie, Derrick's and Tami's fun, sweet 11-year-old daughter. We didn't do as well as I'd had hoped, 13 out of 21, but we still had one of the best results.

 

I went to Windows for dinner, where those sitting near the aft windows were able to watch a pretty sunset. I ordered the grilled pork sausage with hummus appetizer, broiled salmon, and the warm bread pudding. Another tasty meal.

 

After going back to my room for a few minutes, I decided to see if Helaine was in her room, which was not far away from mine. She was, and we had a fun, friendly chat in the hall, trying not to wake Norm, the person she doesn't like to refer to as her boyfriend.

 

Then, it was time again for Pub Trivia with Kathy, Kyle, and the rest of the gang. After the contest was over, we stayed at Henry's Pub for awhile, along with Derrick and Tami, who simply kept all of us in stitches.

 

We decided to head over to the casino, where they played craps and something I'd never seen before, DIY roulette. I was completely confused by the craps table at first, having never even watched it being played. I don't think anything really clicked this night, but it was fun to watch the others getting into it.

 

At one point, Derrick told me that a woman at a nearby table asked about me. She was Petra - whom I'd met at the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet and don't think I'd seen since then - along with a few people she had met over the past few days, Simona from Berlin, Luca from Rome, and Carlos from Hungary.

 

This group did not want to stay in the casino, so we went up to Galaxy of the Stars, where Prism was again performing well, for awhile, after which we went back down to Maharini's, which is at the front of deck 7, next to and on the "other" side of the casino. I was quite happy to be feeling significantly better than I had been earlier in the cruise, and was thrilled to be able to stay up, get to know, and spend time with this different, fun group of singles.

 

As we were heading back to Spain, the ship moved its clocks ahead one hour, so by the time I got to sleep, it was 0130/0230, kind of late for me.

[jlajr]

I just checked my cell phone account. I got charged a lot of money for a total of 15 minutes of voice calls. My own mistake; I should have checked before I left exactly how much it would cost. Oh well.

 

Let this serve as a warning: If you haven't checked out the prices beforehand, even if you get the urge to turn the phone or, in my case, the phablet on and make a quick call, resist that urge, unless it's an emergency.

[jlajr]

On day 7, which also was the first day of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving in the US, I woke up at around 0930.

 

I cannot remember a lot of what I did this day, our third sea day.

 

I do remember being offered a laundry special on this day, but I had already taken advantage of the laundry special on day 4, the second sea day. If I'd known that the special was going to be offered again, I would have waited. I guess I could have called or asked at Guest Services. In any case, it didn't really matter.

 

At this point in the cruise, I think I had only charged about $35 to my Sail & Sign card, including the $25 for the laundry special. I had that one Angry Orchard on day 1, and I bought from the gift shop Hall's cough drops and a small bottle of body lotion to keep my nose from drying out from blowing it so often. For almost a whole week on a cruise ship, I thought that was pretty amazing, actually.

 

I do not drink alcohol that much these days, and when I do, it's usually when I'm on vacation. So, now that I was feeling better, and spending more time at Henry's Pub and other bars with the people I'd met, I started buying alcoholic drinks. By the end of the cruise, my Sail & Sign account was still pretty reasonable, I think, at less than $130.

 

And, when I think about it, I gladly prefer to spend money on drinks with others than on extra-charge restaurants, shore excursions, or spa treatments, for example.

 

So, even with the relatively expensive airfare, the recent discovery of expensive cell phone usage, and a relatively expensive day in and around Barcelona to come, I'm thrilled with the value I got out of the whole thing, and I do appreciate that NCL made it all possible in the first place with such an attractive base cruise fare.

 

Getting back to my poor memory about what I did on day 7, I do remember participating in a ping-pong tournament at 1100, winning my first game but losing my second.

 

I made a note in my travel log - my first, actually - that I spent most of the day with Peggy, Ron, and the others in our group, but again, I do not recall exactly what we did.

 

As mentioned, it was Thanksgiving, and all of the others in this group celebrate it, so we decided to have dinner together at Windows. They had a more or less traditional Thanksgiving meal on the menu, so many, if not all, of us ordered it: turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and sweet potato fries. It was really good. I again ordered the warm bread pudding for dessert. Excellent.

 

I hadn't been at a Thanksgiving meal in at least a few years, and never one at sea, so it was special, and I think we all enjoyed each others' company celebrating the holiday.

 

We then all went to Pub Trivia together, after which we went to see the comedian/juggler in the Stardust Theater. Most of us thought he was funny and entertaining, but that didn't stop me from dozing off at least once.

 

Knowing I'd had enough for one day, I called it a night at around 2300.

[Lobbylin]

Hi Jlajr,

 

Thanks for dropping by on the rollcall for our upcoming Spirit cruise, and for the great review here - I have enjoyed reading it all!

 

One question - I know there are no fridges in the staterooms on the Spirit, but do you get a bucket of ice when the room is made up every day and also at turndown?

 

Thanks Linda:)

[wilson2579]

Hi Jlajr,

 

Thanks for dropping by on the rollcall for our upcoming Spirit cruise, and for the great review here - I have enjoyed reading it all!

 

One question - I know there are no fridges in the staterooms on the Spirit, but do you get a bucket of ice when the room is made up every day and also at turndown?

 

Thanks Linda:)

 

Linda, we had a fridge in our cabin two months ago.:cool:

[jlajr]

Linda, we had a fridge in our cabin two months ago.:cool:

 

There was a stocked mini-fridge in my room as well.

 

I asked my cabin steward, Isagani, to clear it out, which he did.

[jlajr]

Hi Jlajr,

 

Thanks for dropping by on the rollcall for our upcoming Spirit cruise, and for the great review here - I have enjoyed reading it all!

 

One question - I know there are no fridges in the staterooms on the Spirit, but do you get a bucket of ice when the room is made up every day and also at turndown?

 

Thanks Linda:)

 

My pleasure, and I'm glad you are enjoying this review.

 

As mentioned, there was a stocked mini-bar in my room.

 

I only checked my ice bucket once or twice, but it was full when I did.

 

I'm confident that if you mention it to your cabin steward, he/she will make sure to fill it when you want.

Edited December 14, 2013 by jlajr

[Lobbylin]

Wilson & Jlajr, thanks for the confirmation on the fridges. I thought I had read somewhere that there were no fridges in staterooms on the Spirit, so thanks for clearing that up. :)

[mypleasure]

 

I asked my cabin steward, Isagani, to clear it out, which he did.

 

Isagani!

 

He was our steward on our first Grand Med cruise, he is lovely. Whenever I am on board I always seek him out just to say Hi and find out how he is doing. I hope he is still on board when I sail in January.

[irnbru]

Wilson & Jlajr, thanks for the confirmation on the fridges. I thought I had read somewhere that there were no fridges in staterooms on the Spirit, so thanks for clearing that up. :)

 

I also thought I read somewhere there are no fridges in inside cabins.