Review of Spirit on 1/8 - 1/19

[lovetheocean21]

Background - Couple in their mid 40's - well travelled

Sailed on 48 cruises (me) gf - 1st cruise

Sailed on NCL, Cunard, Princess, Home Lines, Costa, Celebrity, RCCL, Chandris, etc.

From New Jersey - My office can see the cruise ships from my window - l

Live on Hudson River across from cruise piers.

Sunday - 1-8-06 - Got to the pier around 11:30 - was on the ship in 10 minutes.

VERY SMOOTH - One of the best embarkations.

SHIP IS BEAUTIFUL.

We were lucky that the day we sailed was 50 degrees and sunny.

Had a great lunch in Windows.

Went to the Galaxy of the stars for the sailway - Best place to go to watch.

Went to Windows for Dinner - Nice dinner.

The first sea day - Monday was cold and windy but a nice day to explore the ship.

Keep in mind we are SUN WORSHIPPERS AND LOVE TO LAY AND SWIM IN THE SUN.

Going down was a little rough but you have to expect that at this time of year.

Once we got to St. Thomas the weather was 88 and sunny everyday.

Going to these ports were awesome as most of these ports you go to usually the ship leaves from San Juan to get to them so it was great to

leave from NYC to go there.

Went to Cagney's steakhouse twice - EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT

Le Bistro was great - the fondue OH MY GOD!

We loved the cruise staff - Chris was the best - He had so much fun with him.

Since the DJ was fired on the last cruise - Chris had to also DJ in the club at night so he was doing like triple duty the WHOLE CRUISE and he did nothing but laugh and smile the whole time - We do hope he make cruise director one day he deserves it - Julie the Cruise Director and John the Ass't were the best.

Usually I don't even know who the Cruise Director is...They were approachable and fun to talk to. They were even giving us free prizes. Chris was great in the CLUB as the DJ. However, a DJ was coming on board on 1/19 as this is not his job.

All the islands have great beaches except Dominica. My gf went on a tour of the rain forest while I stayed on board.

There was never a problem getting a lounge chair anyday. There is PLENTY of sun deck space - ALOT of space outdoors.

The Bier Garden outside is great with picnic tables and food.

The pool is one of the largest pools I've seen on a ship. The water in the pool was nice and warm. PERFECT.

We were in cabin 11592 - balcony - The cabin was great. The use high quality linens on the bed and was very comfortable. The shower is great.

The passengers on this cruise was a very mix crowd - alot of college kids,

alot of 20 something year olds, 30's 40's 50's up to 90 - All ages.

Obviously, coming back the last day we hit rough waves and winds but not a big deal. I was happy to wake up wednesday morning - last day and it was in the 70's and the pool was open - Our newsletter in our cabin the night before said tomorrow would only be 31 degrees but it was HOT AND SUNNY. The pool was even open. We layed out in the sun and went swimming that day until the weather changed on us around 1p.m..

This vacation over meet my expectations and the price was cheap. I would go again in a Heart beat. We plan on doing the Spirit on another 11 day cruise sometime in Nov or Dec 06 again. I will never do another 7 day cruise again and now have decide I will no longer fly to a cruise ship since NYC has many options now and you can go anywhere and by saying on airfare you can get a better cabin and the prices are cheaper in the winter out of NYC and you still have great weather.

WE LOVED THE SPIRT AND YOU WILL TO.

Dave and Marion

[LegalCruiser10]

The DJ you spoke of that got fired, any idea if this was DJ Marc and if so what happened? I really liked him when I was on the ship in December.

 

Glad to see you enjoyed your cruise, I very much enjoyed the Spirit as well.

 

Happy Sailings, Elissa

[Len3]

Did they have a "Murder" dinner on the Spirit?

[SailAways]

How nice to see that a seasoned cruiser was truly able to see the beauty of this wonderful Ship.

Your review is great - I like the quick and concise accounts of each item - not long and tedious.

We Loved The Spirit Too!!

Thanks for another visit on the Spirit!

[foilman2002]

Dave,

 

Good review. While we didn't go to Cagney's or Le Bistro, I heartily concur with the rest of your review.

 

Len- Yes they did, but we didn't get to go to it. They have a sign up the first night out, first come first served, only 96 seats. Its so popular that you have to get there early and we had fallen asleep. My question is: If it's so popular, why not do it more than once, different scripts? It's like the question I asked the art auctioneer: Do you have any Kincades? "No, when we get them we sell out of them rapidly." Not being an art auctioneer, my idea would be to get more of those that sell rapidly, rather than keep stuff that sometimes just doesn't move. In other words, go with what works, but, that's just me.

 

When I was younger my mother always got mad at the supermarket people because she would go in to get something and the shelf would be empty. When she asked about it she was told they had sold it out. This would go on sometimes for weeks. Her attitude was, if its sold out all the time, order more of it rather than leaving the shelf empty, obviously its popular.

 

But, it was a great cruise, and I would go on the Spirit again in a heartbeat.

 

Larry

[greenie]

Thanks for the complete and detailed review. We have a hard time having a bad time on a cruise, too! :)

 

Seeing as we're going to be "Spirited Away" in 2 weeks, I especially loved the timing (not to mention the tone!) of this review. Thanks again and I'm so glad you both had a great time.

[chrisv348]

I was also on the 1/8 Spirit sailing and found this to be a very fair and true account of the trip. One additional item worth mentioning is that there are (5) generously sized hot tubs on this ship, allowing everyone ample time in the hot tubs.

 

I also wanted to reiterate that the entertainment staff went above and beyond to keep passengers happy. I was very pleased with the efforts put forth by the cruise entertainment staff and quite enlightened by Adrian from Romania. He was a very funny guy! I also thought that John, Chris and Adrian complimented each other very well. A special thanks to John who scrambled from the gym during his scheduled time off to host a session of Pub Trivia after the scheduled host failed to show.

 

I am a seasoned cruiser and found this to be one of my most enjoyable trips.

 

Chris

[KroozNut]

I know that this is a Spirit thread, but I keep reading about the "Windows" restaurant, in a variety of different threads; usually referenced as a great place to catch a good lunch on embarkation day (while the masses head for the buffet line). This sounds like a great idea, and I was wondering if any of you former Star cruisers know if the Star has a "Windows" restaurant as well. DW and I are sailing the Star to Alaska in May, and would appreciate any info anybody might have on this..

 

Thanks, and happy cruising!

 

Krooznut

[Don Haynes]

Yes, the Spirit is a wonderful beautiful ship. While she isn't the newest or largest ship sailing out of New York, she is unique and is as good a ship as any.

 

Thanks for the wonderful review. And yes, she probably has one of the largest swimming pools of any cruise ship.

 

NCL had a choice choosing which ship to be the second ship out of New York, they could have picked the Sun instead. I'm sure you would agree NCL chose well....

[Hikini]

I know that this is a Spirit thread, but I keep reading about the "Windows" restaurant, in a variety of different threads; usually referenced as a great place to catch a good lunch on embarkation day (while the masses head for the buffet line). This sounds like a great idea, and I was wondering if any of you former Star cruisers know if the Star has a "Windows" restaurant as well. DW and I are sailing the Star to Alaska in May, and would appreciate any info anybody might have on this..

 

Thanks, and happy cruising!

 

Krooznut

 

Yes, the Windows equivalent on the Star is Versailles. It too has windows all across the back of the ship on the 6th floor, but they are they great big wide windows that are in "Windows" on the Spirit. But it's the same thing - go there for lunch on the first day and miss the throngs at the buffet.

 

Have fun!

Hikini:D

[Lotteryfan]

Dave,

 

 

When I was younger my mother always got mad at the supermarket people because she would go in to get something and the shelf would be empty. When she asked about it she was told they had sold it out. This would go on sometimes for weeks. Her attitude was, if its sold out all the time, order more of it rather than leaving the shelf empty, obviously its popular.

 

Larry

 

As a supermarket manager I wanted to respond to this as I have been in this situation many times. I am just as fustrated as the customer. Most of the time being out of stock is not the fault of the people within the store itself. You have to understand that the specials are created weeks in advance by upper management who assume that the warehouse will have adequate stock. On many times the warehouse does not anticipate the increase sales and sell out early, or are even unaware what items are on sale so that they can order more.

Rather then go into an entire story since this is a cruise message board, I just want to say that being out of stock on a sale item is the reason why "rain checks" were invented. Thank you. We now return you back to your regularly scheduled message board....

[greenie]

As a supermarket manager I wanted to respond to this as I have been in this situation many times. I am just as fustrated as the customer. Most of the time being out of stock is not the fault of the people within the store itself. You have to understand that the specials are created weeks in advance by upper management who assume that the warehouse will have adequate stock. On many times the warehouse does not anticipate the increase sales and sell out early, or are even unaware what items are on sale so that they can order more.

Rather then go into an entire story since this is a cruise message board, I just want to say that being out of stock on a sale item is the reason why "rain checks" were invented. Thank you. We now return you back to your regularly scheduled message board....

 

Lotteryfan, I don't blame you for wanting to set the out-of-stock record straight! How frustrating that must be--and then on top of it, the customers are PO'd. I guess good ole upper management does stupid senseless things in every field of endeavor! :(

[Maryfrei]

Thanks for the wonderful review of the Spirit. We only spent one night on board, but it was love at first sight! Can't wait to do it again.

[maurick]

How many main dining rooms on this ship. Is there a Blue Lagoon like the Dawn and do they have the same menu? Thank you.

[2boyzmom]

Another post complained of the new NCL menus in the main dining rooms and awful they were? Any info on this?

[greenie]

How many main dining rooms on this ship. Is there a Blue Lagoon like the Dawn and do they have the same menu? Thank you.

 

There are 2 main dining rooms--Windows and the Garden Room (I think that's the name). And yes, there's a Blue Lagoon (same as on Dawn).

 

I think the only differences food venue-wise are that Dawn has a third main dining room and Salsa (Mexican restaurant).

[KroozNut]

Hikini,

 

Thanks so much for the Versailles information on the Star! We will definitely be hitting the Versailles instead of the buffet line on embarkation day! I don't like crowds and lines.. : )

 

Happy Cruising..

 

Krooznut