A Solo Fashionista review of the Norwegian Spirit

[lara_lox]

Thank you everyone, I'm glad you enjoyed it. And to those of you with upcoming sailings on the Spirit, have fun and I hope you like the ship as much as I did :)

[SteveH2508]

Thanks for a well-written interesting review. We fly out Tuesday to pick up the Spirit on Boxing Day in Malaga. Can't wait!

[Da-Painter]

Thanks for taking the time to post pics and write a review on your cruise.

We were on the Spirit in April for the 12 day Med cruise, and really enjoyed the ship and crew. And in 1 year will be on it again for the 10 day Canary Island, your review will be helpful.

Happy Holidays to you. :):)

[lex_n_saph]

Thank you, Lara, for providing such a detailed and interesting review of the Spirit, on its Canary Island tour. We have this voyage booked for 2015 and are looking forward to it. Your brilliant review, of both the ship (which we have never traveled upon) and the exotic ports, added to our anticipation.

 

Although we are a pair, we often do solo ship board activities, due to divergent interests and not wanting to tax the other. It's encouraging to note that you have had such an excellent experience completely by yourself.

 

Congratulations, and we look forward to reading more of your travels. It encourages us to consider posting similar stories or our own.

[tymike]

As always...so fun to read!! Many thanks!:)

[mugtech]

Thanks for your excellent, in depth review of the cruise. I love to be reminded why I do not drink alcohol.

[Jinkypoo]

Day 1 – Barcelona

 

To keep costs down I decided to fly into Barcelona the day of the cruise. I know this can be risky, but I don’t mind taking the chance when it is only a short flight to my destination. However saying that, I just read that someone had their flight from London cancelled yesterday and they were having to catch up with ship in Casablanca, so I guess I should count myself lucky that I didn’t encounter any such problems. I had been working right until the last moment, and due to doing shifts my sleep pattern was messed up meaning that I only had about two hours sleep before I had to get up and drive myself to Liverpool Airport. It’s funny though how much you don’t mind being tired when you are getting up for something good! The car park at the airport is only a 5 minute walk away from the terminal building so it was no problem for me to wheel my two suitcases there by myself. Yes I said TWO cases! Given the unpredictable nature of the weather in December, plus the very different climates of some of my destinations, I needed more clothes than usual. With the clever (or maybe that should be obsessive?!) planning you should have come to expect from me, I worked out a number of mix-and-match outfits that were based around layering, so that during the day I was prepared for all weathers. For travelling I wore a floral vest, long black cardigan, pink jeggings and black ballet pumps. I also took a beige belted raincoat and an umbrella just in case!

 

 

The hand luggage allowance was 10kg, which I didn’t want to waste, so I filled a small cabin bag sized case with wheels with all my shoes! Plus I like to take an outfit for that first evening plus a few essentials in case my luggage isn’t delivered in time for dinner, or it gets lost. My long term worry of travelling solo is that if my case doesn’t make the flight with me, I have no-one to share their things!

 

My flight went smoothly, and was made more enjoyable by having a very attractive lad as my seat mate ;) He chatted away to me and before I knew it I, along with my luggage, had arrived safely and on time in Barcelona.

 

Although I booked my flights independently, I still decided to use NCL transfers to and from the ship. It cost me £20 each way, whereas a taxi is about E38-40. The taxi would work out cheaper and quicker if there are 2-4 of you but for me it wasn’t worth it. The NCL rep was waiting in the arrivals hall and clearly identifiable. I had to wait for around 40 minutes for people on other flights to arrive before we were taken to our bus. We then drove to terminal 1, where we had to wait a further 30 minutes for passengers arriving there. As a result it took longer than expected (almost 2 hours) to finally make it to the port at around 1.15pm. The Latitudes check in line was actually longer than the regular one, so I went to that instead. Even though it was what I considered to be peak time, the terminal wasn’t too busy and it only took about 10 minutes to check in.

 

Before I embarked I stopped off at the little wine shop in the terminal, where I bought a bottle of Cava for E10 and a bottle of white wine (Vega Roja) for E7.50. As I have done before, I just carried these onto the ship in my hand luggage, which wasn’t scanned again. I was of course willing to pay the $15 corkage fee for each bottle, but no-one asked me or checked, so I didn’t. I later found out that this was also the case for a number of people I met. Another thing I did in the terminal area was sign up for the Chef’s Table. This is a 9 course tasting menu prepared by the Executive Chef, who explains each dish, and a sommelier pairs wines with each course. Spaces are limited with only 12 seats available, and once I had decided I wanted to do this as my birthday present to myself (discounting the cruise itself lol!) I was worried I wouldn’t get a spot in time. However, because there was a speciality dining stand already set up in the terminal I was able to sign up immediately, so I was happy. The cost is $89 but I found the experience to be well worth it. More to come on that later…

 

So I was finally onboard, woohoo! You enter the Spirit on deck 7, into the Atrium. I loved the grand feel of this which is missing on a lot of the newer, bigger ships. My cabin was ready immediately so I dropped off my little case but I didn’t stop as by now I was very hungry and getting cranky! So I headed straight for Windows, the bigger of the two main dining rooms, for some lunch. The restaurant was really quiet so I was seated very quickly at a lovely table by the window. I had olive and eggplant tapenade dips, followed by chicken Milanese with a rocket salad, all washed down with a glass of white wine. The tapenade was good but I found the chicken to be rather bland. Still, it filled a hole and I enjoyed a nice, relaxing start to my cruise.

 

After lunch I returned to my cabin (an ocean view on deck 8) and my luggage was already there; this was the quickest I have ever had it. My cabin felt more spacious than expected, and although it was nice, it was looking a little worn with a chip in the sink and slightly tatty bed covers. I unpacked then went to explore the ship for a while before the muster drill at 4.30pm. This was over fairly quickly then it was time to get into the holiday 'Spirit' (haha, I like to amuse myself!) with a Bloody Mary in the Galaxy of the Stars, a big lounge spanning the front of the ship, with panoramic views looking out to sea. The vodka made me sleepy so it was time for a nap before getting ready for my first evening. Tonight I wore a new body con gold and black midi dress with new, very high chunky black and nude heels.

 

I had joined my roll call here on CC, and noticed that there were a number of Solos on this sailing. One of the first hurdles for a sociable solo on NCL is what to do for dinner on the first night. With no set tables, and having not yet met everyone, the only real way to dine with others is to ask the hostess at one of the MDRs to seat you at a shared table and hope others are willing to join you. As a result I suggested that the solos meet up at 7pm in Galaxy of the Stars to go for dinner together. Everyone was able to see my photos from my previous reviews, so I was banking on people recognising me and coming to speak to me. This led to me grinning inanely at every random person who walked past me, in what I hoped was an encouraging manner, but I think probably made me look a bit simple or like I was trying to come on to everyone, oh dear! Still it must have worked because first of all I got chatting to a guy sat next to me. By strange coincidence Tjibbe wasn’t from CC but he was travelling alone. As we chatted, the rest of the solos, plus a few others they had found along the way joined us, and what was to be our group for the rest of the cruise was formed.

 

We went for dinner at Windows, and as we were a party of 8 and it was the prime time of 8pm, we had to wait for a table. We were given a pager (but no vouchers for a free drink whilst we waited anymore) Still, we discovered the free liquor tasting in the Atrium, and so I sampled some of these instead! Once we were seated I had I had a shrimp and potato salad to start, which was very tasty, followed by beef in gravy with vegetables which was again good but only lukewarm, then a nice chocolate cake with raspberries. One of my new friends Mark shared a bottle with me, which became a standard practice of the cruise, making him my wine buddy!

 

After dinner we all went back to Galaxy for a drink and I met another CC roll call member Steph and her husband after she recognised me.

 

 

A few of us ventured down to Maharinis, the night club and bar, where I met further people as I danced the night away, even though the place was almost empty!

 

 

 

 

[/quote

 

 

Merry Christmas Sarah!

Love from Steph xx

[bagdivaaa]

WOW! What a review.I felt as if I were there. Great.

Thanks

[mimxmom]

Silly question......what color & brand of nail polish are you wearing in post #25? It's very pretty. Looks great with your black dress!

[windjamming]

I stumbled upon this review when it ended up on the first page. What a delightful, charming storyteller you are! You could absolutely be one of those Travel Channel tv hostesses. Thank you for sharing your holidays with us, and I look forward to reading the rest of your reviews!

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Extra points for the white flare leg jeans; very cool!

 

The lack of a DJ on-board would probably have ruined the cruise for me. The ports are most-important to me but the ship's nightclub parties are also important.

 

Had read your prior reviews about the Epic and finally got to sail on her myself this past year. Your tips came in handy. Thanks!

 

BobK/Orlando

http://www.savepleasureisland.blogspot.com

[lara_lox]

Silly question......what color & brand of nail polish are you wearing in post #25? It's very pretty. Looks great with your black dress!

 

Hi, It's O.P.I. nail polish, but I'm afraid I don't know which shade it was as I just chose it at the salon when I got my nails done, rather than it being one I have at home. It just about lasted me all cruise :)

[lara_lox]

I stumbled upon this review when it ended up on the first page. What a delightful, charming storyteller you are! You could absolutely be one of those Travel Channel tv hostesses. Thank you for sharing your holidays with us, and I look forward to reading the rest of your reviews!

 

Thank you :) I would LOVE that job, I just need to convince someone to hire me and I could have a new career!

[lara_lox]

Extra points for the white flare leg jeans; very cool!

 

I like to mix it up haha :D

[Tonyrefail1]

Love your reviews.Any more cruises planned for 2014 ?

[Homosassa]

Silly question......what color & brand of nail polish are you wearing in post #25? It's very pretty. Looks great with your black dress!

 

My guess would be that it is OPI's "Not Really a Waitress" shade.

[wichitastatecruiser]

Lara,

 

Do you take requests? I would love if you came back Stateside to do a review on the NCL Getaway sailing out of Miami on October 25th. Heard that there will be a group of @ 100 single people on that one, including this one!

[AquamarineBreeze]

Hi!

You said that you we're able to get Ncl transfer from the airport in Barcelona to the ship? Please let me know because my Pcc just told me that he wasn't sure if it was possible for Ncl to do this and I think he's wrong. :confused:

[lara_lox]

Hi!

You said that you we're able to get Ncl transfer from the airport in Barcelona to the ship? Please let me know because my Pcc just told me that he wasn't sure if it was possible for Ncl to do this and I think he's wrong. :confused:

 

Hi, yes you definitely can, that is exactly what I did even though I booked my flights independently. I just called NCL directly and they arranged it for me with no problems at all.

[lara_lox]

Lara,

 

Do you take requests? I would love if you came back Stateside to do a review on the NCL Getaway sailing out of Miami on October 25th. Heard that there will be a group of @ 100 single people on that one, including this one!

 

I do if you're paying lol :D I definitely intend to go back Stateside sometime and I do want to try the Getaway, though there is no way I could wait until October, I would go through serious cruise withdrawal. I doubt I would make it, haha!

[angelofsin]

while the chances of me ever making it over to that side of the pond you and your reviews make the prospect of doing so much more tempting. I am such a party head I would have probably had a fit if there was no DJ on the ship. But the truth is that some DJs are so bad that a computer or CDs are sometimes better alternatives.

 

All and all glad you enjoyed yourself as your reviews are always a delight to read. Cruises must be really cheap over there or you make a ton of money because you go on a ton of cruises (Solo no less) and it seems you afford to do a lot of the extras.

[AquamarineBreeze]

Hi, yes you definitely can, that is exactly what I did even though I booked my flights independently. I just called NCL directly and they arranged it for me with no problems at all.

 

Thanks :)

I'll be off on the Spirit in a few months! Your review helped me decide to try it .... Though my arm doesn't need tooooo much twisting when it comes to a cruise ;)

[giddyglobetrotters]

Evening! Just wanted to say thanks for all your posts and personal accounts of cruising. Going on two cruises this year but we have never cruised, so I've been relying on blogs but yours by far prepare us the most! We are 29 as well, and social butterflies sailing NCL (which now I realize is the PERFECT choice for us) and after reading your detailed accounts I am more excited than ever to go and socialize with folks from all walks of life!! We are living in Germany at the moment so see lots of European cruising in our future. Thanks again, you've really helped us!!! Hope to run into you on a cruise one day!

[cruiseclues]

Thank you for your interesting photo review. :):):):)

[lara_lox]

Hi everyone,

 

I just thought that given some of the comments asking when and where I'm next cruising, I would come back and let you know that I have a plan!

 

Talking about returning to the States got me thinking and looking at my various options. Taking everything (especially the extortionate flight costs from the UK) into consideration, it looks like I will be venturing into unknown territory and finally trying out Carnival. If my leave from work gets approved I will be sailing on the Carnival Sunshine (one of their newly done, more visually muted ships) at the start of May. I will be staying a few nights on Cocoa Beach, Orlando before departing from Port Canaveral to visit new ports for me in the Southern Caribbean. It will be interesting to see how Carnival compares, but as always, I know I will enjoy myself and come back with another ridiculously blog to tell you all about it!

 

I'd better start planning those outfits... :D