Spirit Review: VERY long and detailed

[logcabin]

OK.. Here is my VERY long and detailed review on the NCL Spirit and our sailing on July 22nd. Please be advised that these are just my experienced opinions.

 

Background: Just my wife and I. Middle aged with 5 cruises under our belts. Cruises lines include CCL, RCCL and NCL. We are both retired theatre professionals. My wife is now a teacher and I am in sales.

 

Embarkation: We left home in NJ at 9am. Arrived at the pier at 10:15. Dropped off wife and luggage downstairs, drove up and parked the car. $180 for the 8 days and paid with Travelers Checks. I walked down and met my wife out front where I dropped her off. We found a porter and gave him our 4 bags. We then went inside, checked in and up to the VIP/Latitudes area. We were settled up there by 11:15 or so. We met Don, Bonnie and a few other CC’ers while waiting up there. Then, by noon’ish they came a got us. Since we had already checked in, after going through security we were able to go straight to the VIP area where we met the Concierge. Then, on to the ship. We were on board by 12:15 or so and went straight to Windows for lunch since the cabins were not available until 2pm. We ate lunch and proceeded to our Suite.

 

The Ship: The ship is stunning. Absolutely spotless and they were constantly cleaning and doing maintenance. Woodwork throughout and the Asian flair is just beautiful. There was very little sign of ware on the ship and for being almost 10 years old, it is in great shape. The flow of the ship is easy and we quickly learned our way around. Note the “teak promenade deck”, something you don’t find too often anymore. Although a bit smaller then the Dawn, I think I preferred this ship to the Dawn. It had a “classier” feel to it due to all the woodwork and teak. Although the Dawn has a smoother “ride” then the Spirit, it is still a great ship.

 

Cabin: We originally booked an Aft AC suite. However, about a month from our sail date I up-sold to an Aft Owners Suite 9208. The suite is beautiful. Upon entering there is a dinning area to the right complete with a table and 4 chairs. There, you will also find a door that leads to a second “guest” bathroom. As you walk in, there is a bar to the right. The Owners Suite comes with 3 bottles of alcohol (of your choice) and all the bottled water, Pellegrino, juice, mixers, sodas, etc that you request. These are constantly replenished by the butler throughout the week. As you walk further in you enter the living room. It has a love seat, 2 chairs and a coffee table to the right. On the left is a wall unit that features a large TV and lots of storage. On the left is a doorway that leads into the master bedroom. There, you will find a king size bed. The bed was a little firm for us, but we requested a foam top and received it promptly. There is also a huge closet with lots of storage and a TV. The master bathroom is no less then magnificent. It is huge. On the left is a door that leads to the toilet. Here would be one criticism.. The door to the toilet is glass. That means that when using the toilet you can be seen by anyone in the suite. I would suggest to NCL that they perhaps consider replacing these glass doors with solid doors. We mostly ended up using the guest bathroom throughout. As much as my wife and I love each other, we prefer not to watch each other use the toilet . Next to the toilet was another door leading to a HUGE shower. This shower could easily hold 2 people with room to spare. It also had a porthole window that overlooked the ocean. Next to that was a vanity area which my wife loved. On the right hand wall is a huge double sink with lots of storage and all sorts of special toiletries. Then, on the far wall is a 2 person Jacuzzi with 2 large windows overlooking the ocean. One window opened so you could get fresh air and hear the ocean below. It has been said in past reviews of the Owners Suite that there is a bad vibration when the ship is at full speed. I can indeed confirm this. Whenever the Spirit was at full speed the vibration was very noticeable and many things throughout the suite rattled and made noise. If you are a light sleeper, this will more then likely bother you and keep you awake. However, my wife can sleep through a bomb, so it never bothered her. I sleep with ear-plugs anyway, so the vibration never bothered me either. Having sailed in Aft suites on the Dawn in the past, I can say that the “ride” in the aft suites on the Spirit is not as smooth as the Dawn’s. We did hit rough seas for a few days and was often difficult to stand and walk around the suite without bouncing off of the walls. However, it’s a ship and it moves.. We never found this bothersome and actually enjoyed it. In fact, the rocking was very soothing at night when we went to bed. All in all, the Owners Suite was beautiful and I am really glad we received an up-sell. Would I pay full brochure price for this suite? Absolutely not. However, if you can get it for a great price in an up-sell, jump at the opportunity. A 360 tour of the very Owners Suite that we stayed in (as well as other parts of the ship) can be found here: http://www.nlgsolutions.com/c/media.asp?hid=17176&i=&vessel=439&lineid=34&d=&d2=&mpg=t&p=/tours/thumbs/norwegian_34/439/34_439_Owners_Suite_Bedroom_cab.jpg&pg=2&dsc= The only recommendation I would have here for NCL would be to up-grade the TV’s in the suite. Both were old and out of date. The one in the Master Bedroom was very small and dark, often hard to see the picture. Also, there was a bracket on the wall by the Jacuzzi for a TV. It would have been nice to have one there. Since they are charging a premium for these suites, up-graded TV’s would be nice, as well as an additional one in the bathroom.

 

Room Stewards and Butler: Our room stewards were Gladys and Uzel. They were very good and accommodating. They kept our suite spotless and left us very unusual and creative towel animals. Always greeted us in the hall with a smile and asked how our day was. My wife and Gladys discovered that each other enjoys reading. My wife was finishing up a book on the cruise, as was Gladys. On the next to the last night, Gladys left her book on our bed for my wife to take. My wife, in return, gave Gladys her book that she just finished. It was very nice. We were very happy with their terrific service. Our Butler was Randy. I cannot say enough about how wonderful Randy was and his above and beyond service. Always checking in to see if we needed anything, promptly delivering and serving us breakfast each morning in the suite, bringing by treats each evening for us, delivering fresh baked cookies each night, keeping our fridge stocked without having to ask. It was very nice to start each morning with a ring of our door bell and as we opened the door, there was Randy with his genuine smile, his nice greeting and his wonderful service. He sure did pamper us and was truly one of the highlights of our suite.

 

Restaurants, food and service: First, I know how subjective food can be. I can also tell you that I did indeed hear comments from other passengers about the food and service. So, here are my thoughts and opinions on this. First and foremost let me state that the food on the NCL Spirit is very good. Gourmet? No, for the most part. But, very good and editable. I also found the food to be of the same quality I found on CCL and RCCL. We ate in most of the restaurants and will rate them below: Windows = B Service was fine and food enjoyable. We ate lunch here on three occasions and were invited to dine with the Chief Officer here one evening. We had Duck on that evening and found it VERY enjoyable and nicely presented. Garden = B+ Service by Anita was very good. We ate here on the first formal night and had Lobster. The lobster was cooked perfectly with a very tasty lemon butter sauce on it (we requested and received seconds). Ate here one other evening as well and enjoyed our diner. Shongun = B Service was OK here. We did enjoy our meal, however and my wife really enjoyed trying to eat with chopsticks (made for a long night). Cagney’s = C Service here was probably the least attentive. My wife had the Fillet Mignon, which was tender and juicy and cooked perfectly. I had the Surf and Turf for $5 more. The Lobster was good. However, the Fillet Mignon was a different and much smaller cut then my wife’s and was nowhere near as good. My feeling here is if you’re paying $5 more for this meal over the others, you should get the same cut Fillet. They were very busy this evening and we were sat in a corner nook. I believe this may have contributed to the inattentiveness of the servers this evening. This was the only meal I was disappointed in. Especially since Cagney’s is our favorite restaurant on the Dawn. Le Bistro = A+ By far the best restaurant, service and meal we had on the cruise. Our server both times was Anna and she was just wonderful and attentive. Both evenings I had the Surf and Turf and frankly, was the best Lobster and Fillet Mignon I had on the ship. Desert included Chocolate Fondue and Cheese Cake (cut up and dipped in the fondue). Le Bistro is a must if you sail the Spirit. On Deck BBQ = B standard BBQ fair. In the past I have read reviews that the burgers were not editable. Not true. In fact, we enjoyed the burgers very much and would take them up to the Bier Garden for Curly Fries and to sit and people watch. Buffet = B standard buffet fair. I’ve heard lots of complaints about the buffet food. I personally found no problem with it. It’s buffet food, not gourmet. It was tasty and editable. Our breakfasts were served each morning in our suite. We would order our food the night before on the Suite Breakfast Menu. However, we requested items not on the menu and received them without question. This included waffles, Eggs Benedict, etc.

 

Overall, we found the food to be very good and enjoyable on the Spirit. It must have been since I gained 10 pounds. We always found something appealing on each menu. It was beautifully presented (in the restaurants) and service for the most part was good to excellent. Here’s a tip for all those who prefer set dinner times and set servers.. Make a reservation in one of the restaurants for the same time each evening. If you find a server you really like, request them. They will do their best to accommodate you. Another tip. We NEVER had to wait to be seated at any restaurant nor did we have any trouble making reservations anyplace. The reason here is because we prefer to eat later in the evening. A late afternoon snack would hold us over until dinner. Most evenings we would see the first show (7:30pm) and then go for a drink, then dinner at 8:30 – 9:00. This is past the “rush hour” of dinning and much easier to be seated quicker. We never experienced the lines, waits or hassles that we heard about in past reviews.

 

Bars and Lounges: We are not big “bar” people. However, we do enjoy a nice peaceful nightcap or a pre-dinner drink. Our hope was that Champagne Charlie’s would be the spot for us. Half the time it was. We would sit and have a late night drink and listen to the musicians play in the lobby. However, early evening was another story. Often they would have this “booth” set-up in Champagne Charlie’s to make these videos where they put your head on cartoon bodies. They would play loud pop or disco music while doing this. Champagne Charlie’s is not the spot for this type of thing and really should be done in the teen disco area. It was unfortunate as this would be a perfect place for a pre-dinner drink overlooking the lobby and listening to piano music. We did not visit any other bar or lounge during our cruise. Instead, we took advantage of the bar in our suite.

 

Pool area and Spa: The pool area on the Spirit is very pretty and unique. The pool is no smaller then any other pool found on any other ship this size. They also had 4 hot tubs around the main pool area and 1 aft by the kiddie pool. The chair hogs were out in full force, as usual. However, this did not deter us. This is mostly due to the fact that I do not consider leaving ship towels on a lounge chair as “saving” that chair. Personal items such as books, shoes, cloths, etc. yes. But not towels. So, if I saw a lounge chair with a ships towel on it, I would watch the chair for 5 minutes or so, then remove the towel and sit. I never had a problem or confrontation. Often, I think people just leave these chairs and forget that the towels were left there. This results in many chairs being empty because people think they are being “saved”. So, a tip is that if you see a lounge chair with just a ships towel on it, go ahead and take it. If someone really wants it saved they’ll put a personal item there instead. I would suggest that NCL invest in another 100 lounge chairs for the top deck of the ship, however.

 

As far as the hot tubs go, I wish NCL would have at least 2 hot tubs designated as “adult only”. Most times it is virtually impossible to find a hot tub that isn’t filled with splashing children, especially later in the evening. 2 tubs should most certainly be set aside for adults only, and this rule enforced.

 

The Spa… On the first day we took advantage of a special and both had a full body “Hot Stone” massage. It was wonderful and very relaxing. A great way to start the cruise. However, my wife in her relaxed and weakened state was handed the sales pitch to buy lotions and oils afterwards and fell for it. $168 later… I made her go back and return the items for a full credit to our account. Tip here… I always make it a point to tell the masseuse before the massage that I have no intentions on buying anything, so please refrain from making a sales pitch after the massage. This always works. I did not tour the rest of the Spa area, so cannot comment on that.

 

Cruise Director, staff and entertainment: Julie was our cruise director. Although there was really nothing wrong with her and she is a very nice person, she just doesn’t have “it”. There seemed to be no chemistry between Julie and the Asst. Cruise Director, who at times seemed to be just tolerating her. The activities planned seem to work and be fine, although we did not participate in any of them. The CD staff were very energetic and enthusiastic.

 

Entertainment of the ship was very good. The main shows were very entertaining. The NCL Productions and the NCL Dancers were actually some of the best production shows we have seen at sea. Our background is in theatre (retired theatre professionals) and I strongly feel that the production shows were very well put together. The radio show and the Americana show being the best. The Broadway musicals show I feel had some poor choices in it (direction) but was still performed very well. The radio show was by far the best. The only criticism I would have here is that the musical track was played much too loud during the show. This resulted in the music often drowning out the lead vocals. (The music in most cruise ship shows is pre-recorded as well as the chorus vocals. The ships band usually plays “along” with the pre-recorded music. However, the lead vocals are live). The track volume was just too loud.

 

The “headline” entertainment was very good as well. However, I do feel that the “headliners” should remain in the theatre. Often, their late night “adult” shows were presented in the Galaxy of Stars lounge. This lounge is way too small for this and resulted in overcrowding, poor sightlines and many people (like ourselves) giving up and leaving because there was just no room. The theatre, which was empty and available at these times, would have been a much better place for these late night shows.

 

Ports and Excursions: We have never been to the Caribbean before, so we were looking forward to these stops. Again, this is just our opinion..

St Thomas.. This was a disappointment for us as a port. First, we docked at the secondary pier, not the main pier where the other cruise ships were. This pier was a bit out of the way. We took the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel excursion. The excursion itself was wonderful. A fun sail over to a beach and park across the bay (about an hour sail). This was a lot of fun and the owner of the catamaran pointed out a lot of points of interest. We then anchored about 100 yards off the beach and snorkeled for a hour or so, then headed back. There was cheese and crackers served with drinks on the way back. The snorkeling was terrific and the excursion well organized and fun. However, the bus trip over was a different story. This was our opportunity to see St Thomas and frankly, from what we saw it was not very pretty. The number of abandoned buildings and homes, abandoned cars and trucks and boats all over was depressing. Trash lying around, etc. It just didn’t seem to be a very “clean” island. We never made it to the “tourist area” by the main pier or the shops over there. So, all we saw of St Thomas was the depressed areas, which was not attractive.

 

Tortola.. On the other hand was beautiful. A less populated island and very pretty. Here, we took the Dolphin Swim Excursion. The excursion was held at Dolphin Discovery about a 20 minute ride from the pier. We have swum with dolphins in the past in Bermuda at Dolphin Quest. Dolphin Discovery was a huge disappointment. VERY commercial, VERY touristy and their main goal here was to sell you photos and a DVD of your swim. You were herded into a shelter to watch a short film, then herded over to put on life vests and water shoes, then herded into the water. They lined everyone up and quickly, one at a time, kiss the dolphin (look this way for a photo), dance with the dolphin (look this way for a photo), hang on and ride the dolphin (look this way for a photo), etc. You get the picture. You were in and out of the water in about 20 minutes. The rest of the time was forcing you to watch the video they just made, look at the photos and pushing you to purchase them. Needless to say, we didn’t buy anything and were very disappointed. TIP: If you want a tremendous and wonderful dolphin experience, go to Dolphin Quest at Kings Warf in Bermuda. It is more expensive, but it is a much better and longer experience. It is more of a learning experience here and you spend much more quality time with the dolphins. It is not touristy and although they too sell photos and a video, it is just briefly offered and that’s it. It is a MUCH better experience. I would avoid Dolphin Discovery.

 

Bermuda.. By far the nicest port on this itinerary. We have cruised to Bermuda before. But, last time never made it over to St George. So, this time we took the ferry at Kings Warf over to St George on our own and spent several hours over there sightseeing, shopping, etc.

 

My suggestion to NCL about this itinerary and ports would be this.. A lot less time in St Thomas. We arrived at 11am and stayed until 1am the next day. Why? Everything in St Thomas shuts down at 6pm. Instead, they should head over to another port or Tortola. Or, even skip St Thomas. Perhaps a day in Tortola and 2 days in Bermuda would be a much better itinerary.

 

Fellow Passengers: There was a wide range of people on this cruise. What we did notice about this cruise over our Dawn cruises was that there was a lot more large family groups on the ship. This was nice to see. Everything from Grandparents on down to toddlers. It wasn’t unusual to see a family group of 20 or 30 people. The other thing we noticed about this cruise was a lot more people dress-up in the evening. Not just on formal night, but every night. Ladies in nice dresses, men in nice slacks and shirts, a lot more then what we saw on the Dawn. Now, there were those who didn’t want to dress up, but they seemed to stay in the buffet area. We didn’t see anyone underdressed in any of the restaurants in the evening. Although the ship was full, we never felt crowded (other then the Galaxy of Stars those evenings mentioned above). Kids seem well behaved for the most part.

 

CC Get Together: We had our Roll Call gathering on Sunday at 10:30am in King Henry’s Pub. It was easy to organize with NCL and they provided coffee, juices, Danish, etc. Several of the officers attended as well, which was very nice. It was great to meet everyone face to face and talk. It was also very nice to run into fellow CC’ers throughout the cruise and talk for a bit. Well worth joining a Roll Call.

 

Dinner with the Chief Officer: We were invited to have dinner with the Chief Officer one evening. Marvin was a delight to speak with. I was able to talk with him about the Spirit, what went on during the dry-dock, special things about the ship, etc. It was a very special night and we greatly enjoyed his company.

 

All in all, it was a wonderful cruise on a wonderful ship. We were treated very well and the service was over all wonderful.

 

Well, that’s our detailed review of our July 22nd, 2006 Spirit sailing. I hope I covered everything and gave some good tips for those sailing her in the future. She is indeed a beautiful ship with a great crew. If you have any questions, I’ll try and answer them the best I can.

[shoreguy]

Welcome home and thank you for the detailed review.

[judyf]

The “headline” entertainment was very good as well. However, I do feel that the “headliners” should remain in the theatre. Often, their late night “adult” shows were presented in the Galaxy of Stars lounge. This lounge is way too small for this and resulted in overcrowding, poor sightlines and many people (like ourselves) giving up and leaving because there was just no room. The theatre, which was empty and available at these times, would have been a much better place for these late night shows.

 

Ditto, I mentioned this in my review too. It's a downside on the Spirit.

 

I enjoyed your review, thanks for taking the time to post it.

[electricron]

Ditto, I mentioned this in my review too. It's a downside on the Spirit. I enjoyed your review, thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

Whereas I agree the interior area in the Galaxy of the Stars is too small for many passengers to watch headliners, I disagree about using the Moulin Rouge, or Stardust Theatre late at night.

 

Why? Becuase the main theatre needs to be reconfigured for the next night's show, and this usually occurs late at night. During the morning or afternoons, the entertainment crew gets to use the main theatre for rehearsals. That doesn't leave much time for another show.

 

You might suggest that they aren't reconfiguring the main theatre at that time, but one shouldn't expect as many crew members to be around late at night when most passengers are asleep as one should expect when most passengers are awake. There just isn't enough crew members aboard to keep so many restaurants and lounges open 24 hours a day around the clock. There's got to be some time when facilities should be closed for cleaning and reconfiguration from one event to another. Also, crew members require sleep too.

[Jamrenjer]

Great review! We were on the Spirit last summer in Alaska. It was a beautiful ship! We also enjoyed the food and service as well. Thanks for taking the time to write your experience.

[jimswims]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We leave on the Spirit 8/19!

[lbt43]

Thanks for the review, we are leaving on the spirit next month, glad to hear shes a solid ship with a solid crew and good food!@

[billy7834]

SAILING 8/19....SAILED ON DAWN 5/2005 & 5/2006-----BOTH TIMES HAD MINISUITE ON DECK 11--WERE PLEASED W/SIZE OVERALL.......HOPE BALCONY ROOMS ON SPIRIT ARENT TOO SMALL !!!!!!!!:confused: KATHY NY

[dongordon]

Hi Scott,

 

Being on the same cruise, I concurr with all of your statements. However, as we discussed, I thought Julie was very energetic and did a nice job. You are correct about the interactions with her assistant.....it just didn't seem to flow smoothly during the TV spots. That being said, she appeared really into the cruise and I saw great interactions with passengers, especially with prople she knew from the cruise.

 

You hit on some great points as far as:

-St. Thomas being shortened and the other two ports lengthened.

-TVs were old and small...why NCL did not do a complete refurbishment when it was in dry dock is surprising to me.

-Galaxy of the Stars inappropriate for popular entertainers. I respect Elictricon's opinion, but there had to be some way to reschedule shows in the Stardust Theatre. It was a major complaint on our cruise and I am sure NCL had heard this before.

-I believe restaurant service appears inattentive at times due to the fact that the dining servers are inappropriately deployed. You have to ask for more water, more coffee, more wine, more bread and butter, etc. This service in traditional cruise dining is accomplished through a server and assistant server. The Spirit appears to assign people to these responsibilities in their restaurants and perhaps because they are covering too much "territory" the job does not get done. This may seem unimportant to most people, but it can bring the dining experience from a "B" grade to an "A" grade. In my opinion, they should utilize the same format as in traditional cruise dining...the server and assistant.

 

Overall, it was a great cruise and the ship was beautiful.

 

Scott...thanks once again for organizing the CC Meeting. It was great talking to you throughout the cruise and comparing notes. Hopefully we will meet again on another cruise.

 

Don

[Maryfrei]

Sorry, double post!

[Maryfrei]

Thanks for the detailed review. Love the Spirit and love reading great things about her.

[sailorsixx]

Hi Scott & Lynn~enjoyed the review. Mine is probably back a few pages by now & I think 7 pages long! I liked St. Thomas but also think the time should have been shortened there & extended elsewhere. My kids did that Dolphin thing in Tortola,enjoyed it,bought 1 video which my son is copying. I agree about Julie, sad to say. Agree about the hot tubs, entertainment areas also. But I really didn't think the entertainment was all that good. Food was OK to very good. I heard many comments about having to pay for meals to get the best ones, to each his own. Especially enjoyed the cc meeting & seeing roll callers thoughtout the week--thanks again for setting this up. You & Lynn are lovely people. By the way, I bought the CD of Lira & Love Bros. who sang nightly in the atrium, played it on my way to work:eek: .First it ejected again & again. My son checked it out & found it was too thick for my CD player & recopied it for me. It was nice to listen to them--reliving some nice memories of this cruise but it is defective & half the songs repeat. Oh well, you live & learn. Hope we meet again sometime. :)

[crusingsquid]

It has been said in past reviews of the Owners Suite that there is a bad vibration when the ship is at full speed. I can indeed confirm this. Whenever the Spirit was at full speed the vibration was very noticeable and many things throughout the suite rattled and made noise. If you are a light sleeper, this will more then likely bother you and keep you awake.

 

Logcabin- I was waiting for this review... Thank you for the report on the vibration subject. Now it is confirmed. I don't think this would bother me as well. Again, Thanks !!!

[bangzoom6877]

Scott:

Great review!! That Owner's suite sounds amazing! I agree that the shows in Galaxy of the Stars should be held in a larger place like the theatre. We only went to one show there, on the first night, and it was so crowded we had to sit in the area by the windows, which is actually outside of the glass walls surrounding the Galaxy of the Stars. We stayed a little while, then got bored because we couldn't see a thing, and then we left the lounge. I thought the CD Julie was okay, but like you said, not the greatest. I didn't interact with her so I am not sure about that, but onstage she seemed to have a nice personality. I also agree with what Don said about the service. We had the same waiter and assistant waiter in Windows each night (except in St. Thomas when the 3 of us dined alone in the Garden Room). We had excellent service from Mark and Sharmilla all week, and they really loved all the kids. Each night they came right over to me, my sister and my cousin to see what our kids wanted for dinner and to drink. They were extra attentive to our kids so we tipped them extra at the end of the cruise. The service in the Garden Room on the one night we ate there was superior. We had Gusti as a waiter and he was also great with Philip. That was on Caribbean night, and I think NCL has improved its Caribbean night menu greatly since we sailed on the Dawn in 2004!

 

Anyway, it was very nice to meet you and Lynn. You are so right about Lynn, she looks like Jane Curtain, only much prettier! By the way, you both looked very nice when we saw you sitting by Champagne Charlie's on the second formal night! Hope to meet someday on another cruise! Maybe even a longer one. :)

 

-Bonnie

[sweetpea-2]

;) enjoyed your review, thanks for posting it !!!

[Nelcruise]

Hi,

I will be going on the spirit in two weeks and I was thinking of going on the same dolphin exersion that you took. However since it was disspointing, I wondered if you could tell me more about the Dolphin Discovery:

 

Is it a cruise excursion or just something you did on your own?

How much did it cost?

(This is in Kings Wharf Bermuda?)

 

Also is the pool open on the ship 24hours?

[logcabin]

Dolphin Quest is in Kings Warf in Bermuda. Walking distance from the ship. It is more expensive. I don't remember if NCL offers it as an excursion or not. You can do it on your own, though, as we did. The experience is much more enjoyable and a lot less "commercial".

 

You actually spend far more time in the water with the dolphins. You pet them, you sit on the ledge of a sunken platform and they swim up on your lap and you put your arms under them. You can actually feel their heart beat, you feed them, etc. It's a lot less "tricks" and more of a learning and bonding experience. My did the swim and she bonded with this one dolphin, "Sommers" who, as she was getting out of the lagoon, swam over to her on his own to say good-bye.. It was really cool. It is more expensive, though. But well worth it. About 45 minutes to an hour in the water with the dolphins.

 

Dolphin Discovery seemd like thei main goal was to sell you things. You were herded around like cattle and into the water. Then the dolphin trainer (who seemed very bored by the whole thing) lined you up and the dolphin would come by and do tricks with each one. First a kiss, with the photographer shouting "look this way and smile". Then the dance, "Look this way and smile", then the fin pull, "look this way and smile", etc. Total time in the water was about 20 minutes. Then they herded you into a small room to force you to watch the video they just made of you, then out a back door into a courtyard where all the sales people were trying to sell you pictures. It was just all very commercial. We did not enjoy it at all.

 

Dolphin Quest is just a much more positive, less commercial experience. Far more enjoyable, but this is just MHO.

 

The pools on the ship were no open 24 hours. Usually like 8am to 10pm. If the seas are too rough (as was the case one day with us) the pool will not be open.

[halos]

I greatly appreciate the time and detail you put into your review.

Thank you!!

[VampyBuff]

hey Scott, I've been reading a few various posts you've had on difft. boards across CC and was just wondering when you register a CC meet on board the Spirit, what sort of information do you have to provide? Do you need names and room numbers or just a count of how many will attend?

thanks in advance for any advice you can provide! We're cruising Sept. 2nd and the countdown is on :)

Kiera

[judyf]

hey Scott, I've been reading a few various posts you've had on difft. boards across CC and was just wondering when you register a CC meet on board the Spirit, what sort of information do you have to provide? Do you need names and room numbers or just a count of how many will attend?

thanks in advance for any advice you can provide! We're cruising Sept. 2nd and the countdown is on :)

Kiera

 

Mainly you just need to call. They may set the date and time or they may ask you. First full day at sea is best around 11ish so people that were up late will not miss it. You will only need an idea of how many might attend.

 

Make sure you plan one, they are lots of fun and you meet great people.