Anyone just back from the Spirit?

[Tyskie]

 

BTW - we did not tender in St. Thomas. I am sure you will enjoy the NCL Spirit. We would cruise on that ship again anytime.

 

Wendy

 

I thought that was odd when photogcrazy mentioned tendering in STT as there is plenty of room at Havensight and Crown Bay for more than 4 ships. I'm guessing he was referring to Tortola? :)

[Debala715]

I thought that was odd when photogcrazy mentioned tendering in STT as there is plenty of room at Havensight and Crown Bay for more than 4 ships. I'm guessing he was referring to Tortola? :)

 

 

No, Photocrazy was correct, we did tender in St. Thomas.

 

 

 

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Edited November 30, 2015 by Debala715
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[amf77]

We have sailed on many cruises, mostly Royal Caribbean and Princess, so we have a fair understanding as to what to expect. Here is my review:

 

We stayed at a local hotel in Cocoa Beach Florida that shuttled us over to Port Canaveral. The waiting area for buses was very crowded. We waited in line for over 30 minutes before the bus could pull into its slot.

 

Since my wife had cruised on Norwegian many years ago, we were able to use the "priority line" to check in and this went well.

 

We waited over 8 (yes Eight) hours for our luggage to be delivered to our room and had difficulty determining if our luggage was even on board as the crew could not get information. Their attitude was ambivalent at best. They tried to convey that this is "normal".?????

 

The ship makes a great impression and is very nice looking throughout.

 

This is the oldest ship in the Norwegian fleet. Apparently purchased in 1998 and refurbished in 2014.

 

The bathroom in our cabin was small, but manageable. (we are not large people, but imagine that someone large would have some issues)

 

For the most part the food was good (not great but good) At "Raffles" I sampled pizza that tasted like cardboard with tomato sauce! One morning the eggs were not edible!

 

The bed was the most uncomfortable bed we have experienced on a cruise ship!

 

About two thirds of the staff seemed to really not care, or were not properly trained.

 

The ports: Nassau and St. Thomas are overcrowded.

 

We took two shore excursions: ECO hike in Tortola and the "Baths" in Virgin Gorda. Both were very good. Must be in reasonably good shape to do the Baths event, rocky, and slippery at times but very, very interesting...a highlight! Sells out very fast so if interested book early.

 

On our trip back from Tortola the seas were very rough and the boat bounces around a lot. The sliding doors in our cabin kept slamming open and closed...had to put a wedge in place to keep them from making noise. Same was true of some of the drawers in the built in cabinet.

 

Overall I give this trip a 3 out of 10. Not very high due to items mentioned above. First time cruiser might be more generous, but if you have cruised on other lines you will find the 3 to be about right.

 

That's about it. If I think of anything else I will post again.

Edited November 30, 2015 by amf77

[mexico8]

We have sailed on many cruises, mostly Royal Caribbean and Princess, so we have a fair understanding as to what to expect. Here is my review:

 

We stayed at a local hotel in Cocoa Beach Florida that shuttled us over to Port Canaveral. The waiting area for buses was very crowded. We waited in line for over 30 minutes before the bus could pull into its slot.

 

Since my wife had cruised on Norwegian many years ago, we were able to use the "priority line" to check in and this went well.

 

We waited over 8 (yes Eight) hours for our luggage to be delivered to our room and had difficulty determining if our luggage was even on board as the crew could not get information. Their attitude was ambivalent at best. They tried to convey that this is "normal".?????

 

The ship makes a great impression and is very nice looking throughout.

 

This is the oldest ship in the Norwegian fleet. Apparently purchased in 1998 and refurbished in 2014.

 

The bathroom in our cabin was small, but manageable. (we are not large people, but imagine that someone large would have some issues)

 

For the most part the food was good (not great but good) At "Raffles" I sampled pizza that tasted like cardboard with tomato sauce! One morning the eggs were not edible!

 

The bed was the most uncomfortable bed we have experienced on a cruise ship!

 

About two thirds of the staff seemed to really not care, or were not properly trained.

 

The ports: Nassau and St. Thomas are overcrowded.

 

We took two shore excursions: ECO hike in Tortola and the "Baths" in Virgin Gorda. Both were very good. Must be in reasonably good shape to do the Baths event, rocky, and slippery at times but very, very interesting...a highlight! Sells out very fast so if interested book early.

 

On our trip back from Tortola the seas were very rough and the boat bounces around a lot. The sliding doors in our cabin kept slamming open and closed...had to put a wedge in place to keep them from making noise. Same was true of some of the drawers in the built in cabinet.

 

Overall I give this trip a 3 out of 10. Not very high due to items mentioned above. First time cruiser might be more generous, but if you have cruised on other lines you will find the 3 to be about right.

 

That's about it. If I think of anything else I will post again.

 

We did not visit the same ports as this poster and we had very different impressions about the staff and the ship. We found the beds and also the duvets etc. to be very comfortable. We really enjoyed the variety of food that was offered in dining rooms and the buffet. We have sailed on many ships with HAL, RCI, Princess and Celebrity and also a few other NCL ships.

 

We would give the cruise on the Spirit an 8 out of 10 and base that on over 200 cruising days. The staff were wonderful and went out of their way on many occasions to assist us with many requests.

[barnacle_boy]

I thought that was odd when photogcrazy mentioned tendering in STT as there is plenty of room at Havensight and Crown Bay for more than 4 ships. I'm guessing he was referring to Tortola? :)

 

6 ships were in St. Thomas on 11/24/15. Oosterdam and Celebrity Reflection at Crown Bay. Carnival Valor, Norwegian Escape, and MSC Divina at Havensight. Norwegian Spirit was forced to tender. As I understand, Spirit will occasionally have to tender in this port until the end of the winter high season.

[PH8]

As far as the coffee makers, they come with the 4 cup pods...but does it make one cup at a time or does it have a small 4 cup carafe?

 

Also any internet pricing deals once on board? I know I can pre purchase 100 minutes for $75, but was hoping for a better deal.

[Yunqi]

Did they have any holiday decorations on the Spirit last week?

 

I'll be boarding this Saturday, the 5th, and hope to get the Christmas season off to a nice start with this cruise. We're looking forward to it.

[Debala715]

Did they have any holiday decorations on the Spirit last week?

 

 

 

I'll be boarding this Saturday, the 5th, and hope to get the Christmas season off to a nice start with this cruise. We're looking forward to it.

 

 

Yes, they had already started putting up the trees, so it will certainly be decorated when you board.

 

 

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[dexddd]

I see you have posted on our roll call but I hope it's just that your countdown clock is set incorrectly as it says you are getting on in 13 days but we will be embarking in 12 days on 12/12.:eek:

 

Definitely sailing on 12/12/15. Let's see if it correct now.

[PH8]

Definitely sailing on 12/12/15. Let's see if it correct now.

Yours was/is correct......its the cruise critic countdowns that are wrong..

[dexddd]

Yours was/is correct......its the cruise critic countdowns that are wrong..

 

Thanks - keep the ship in good shape for us.

[amf77]

Another comment about our recent Spirit cruise to Nassau, St. Thomas, Tortola, etc. (and I suppose as a generality, these comments could apply to any cruise)

 

We had two days at sea returning from Tortola. With a capacity of about 2000 passengers, the Spirit is not a huge ship, but big enough. That being said, in the very rough waters during those two days, the ship bounced around quite a bit. One night was extremely rough as mentioned in my previous post.

 

We didn't notice any balance problems until we got home. (we live in Florida) It took us two days to "get back to normal". Our balance was "screwed up" and our sleep was disrupted! We checked with our adult kids who were also on board in another cabin. They had the same issue. (they were on floor 9, we were on floor 10, both of our cabins were forward) We are all ok now, but the first couple of days home were concerning.

 

I am not sure why this balance situation happened. We have been on other cruises with rough seas, and this is the first time we encountered this. I used to race cars, and loved roller coasters, so I am used to being "thrown around" but never encountered this off balance feeling before. (we drink very little and didn't drink any alcohol during the rough seas....but heard tales of how you can tell who has been drinking......they are the people who are walking straight!)

 

We did not get sea sick, and did not take the Dramamine that they were dispensing at the service desk. Don't know if the Dramamine would have helped??

 

Wishing everyone calm seas!

[Yunqi]

I read the CC review of the Spirit and it mentioned a Chocolate Buffet. Do they still have that?

[NJLVW]

I know it is only the second week cruising out of PC but for those just getting back what are your thoughts? I have 4 months to go and I really appreciate all the info I can get on the ship. Thank you!

 

Norma

[CruisingCats13]

I got off the ship today and am extremely tired from all the traveling so I'll keep this short for now.

 

I found the staff on this ship to not be up to par with the staff from my prior 3 cruises (one on the Norwegian Breakaway and two on RCL). Some of the staff were very helpful and friendly but several of them just didn't seem to care all that much.

 

The food wasn't as good on this ship as it was on the Breakaway and the wait time for food in the main dining room (even though hardly anyone was in there) was ridiculous at times.

 

The ship is ok and has its own charm but it almost feels like Norwegian just doesn't care about it as much as its bigger and newer ships. If my husband hadn't won this trip back on the Breakaway, I would probably never have chosen to sail this ship or its itinerary. Unless we win another cruise, I wouldnt go out of my way to sail on this particular ship again.

 

~Diana

[luv2cruise523]

I got off the ship today and am extremely tired from all the traveling so I'll keep this short for now.

 

I found the staff on this ship to not be up to par with the staff from my prior 3 cruises (one on the Norwegian Breakaway and two on RCL). Some of the staff were very helpful and friendly but several of them just didn't seem to care all that much.

 

The food wasn't as good on this ship as it was on the Breakaway and the wait time for food in the main dining room (even though hardly anyone was in there) was ridiculous at times.

 

The ship is ok and has its own charm but it almost feels like Norwegian just doesn't care about it as much as its bigger and newer ships. If my husband hadn't won this trip back on the Breakaway, I would probably never have chosen to sail this ship or its itinerary. Unless we win another cruise, I wouldnt go out of my way to sail on this particular ship again.

 

~Diana

 

Agree!

[dexddd]

Agree!

 

Did you find wait and service times any different between Windows MDR and the other one? Last time we were on Spirit we had slow service for B, L, D in Windows but it was always quicker in the other one. Not sure why as they both serve from same galley as it appeared.

[readruntravel]

Did you find wait and service times any different between Windows MDR and the other one? Last time we were on Spirit we had slow service for B, L, D in Windows but it was always quicker in the other one. Not sure why as they both serve from same galley as it appeared.

 

I was on the Nov 21 sailing on the Spirit. For some reason, I always found wait times to be better in Windows than the other MDR. Can't think of the name for now. I wanted to sit in the other MDR one night just to check it out, but it always had a wait when there was no wait in Windows. Since the menus are the same, I ended up just sticking with Windows for 4 of my 7 nights. (2 nights I had dinner at Shogun and 1 at Le Bistro.) I think I also did 2 lunches and 2 breakfasts in Windows and always found service to be prompt, but then I wasn't really in a hurry ever.

[Debala715]

I was on the Nov 21 sailing on the Spirit. For some reason, I always found wait times to be better in Windows than the other MDR. Can't think of the name for now. I wanted to sit in the other MDR one night just to check it out, but it always had a wait when there was no wait in Windows. Since the menus are the same, I ended up just sticking with Windows for 4 of my 7 nights. (2 nights I had dinner at Shogun and 1 at Le Bistro.) I think I also did 2 lunches and 2 breakfasts in Windows and always found service to be prompt, but then I wasn't really in a hurry ever.

 

 

Same with us, the wait time for Gardens MDR was over 45 minutes, while we were seated right away in Windows.

 

 

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[PH8]

Same with us, the wait time for Gardens MDR was over 45 minutes, while we were seated right away in Windows.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

On Spirit now and finding quite the opposire.

[dexddd]

On Spirit now and finding quite the opposire.

 

We will have to see how it is next week. From our perspective, Windows is more appealing due to the high ceilings and if you get seats by the windows that is great. The other one seemed like going to a regular land based restaurant with low ceilings, dark, tight seating.

[Tyskie]

We will have to see how it is next week. From our perspective, Windows is more appealing due to the high ceilings and if you get seats by the windows that is great. The other one seemed like going to a regular land based restaurant with low ceilings, dark, tight seating.

 

Will be interested in your "take" of the Spirit. Enjoy your cruise!

[PH8]

Waiting to disembark...loved it...will do a review later.

[dexddd]

Will be interested in your "take" of the Spirit. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Leaving soon. Initial thoughts - the ship is in very good condition for its age. Florentina is the Concierge. Her two boys and husband were here today with her - not sure if they were just on for the day or staying. They are very well behaved young boys.

 

Bars are busy - food at buffet looked pretty good. Lunch at Cagneys was a bit slow - and bar service at Cagneys was super slow - bar didn't open until 12:30, restaurant opened as soon as you got on but didn't start serving until noon. Drinks finally came at 12:50 after ordering at 12:15. Embarkation began at 11:20.

 

They are using Term 1 this year which is about 1 year old - very orderly, clean, nice terminal.

[Tyskie]

Leaving soon. Initial thoughts - the ship is in very good condition for its age. Florentina is the Concierge. Her two boys and husband were here today with her - not sure if they were just on for the day or staying. They are very well behaved young boys.

 

 

 

Bars are busy - food at buffet looked pretty good. Lunch at Cagneys was a bit slow - and bar service at Cagneys was super slow - bar didn't open until 12:30, restaurant opened as soon as you got on but didn't start serving until noon. Drinks finally came at 12:50 after ordering at 12:15. Embarkation began at 11:20.

 

 

 

They are using Term 1 this year which is about 1 year old - very orderly, clean, nice terminal.

 

 

Bon voyage!