"LIVE" from Norwegian SPIRIT / June 5, 2009

[docnjo00]

Does the Spirit have laundry Facilities or is there a service for this. What are the charges? I am trying to figure out how much or little to pack. This is my first time on any cruise. Are they all about the same? Sorry to ask a stupid question.

[beej]

Radio, what a wonderful trip. Alas, we live vicariously for just this one more day. Please sail again soon, because i am ready to be there in "Spirit" if nothing else. OOPS, that doesn't sound right.:eek:

 

Would love to see that new set MDR menu if the Spirit is doing it. Thanks again for the wonderful ride

 

Weary, looks like the casino is in good stead and ready and waiting:D

 

Ms Toad

[Gram Cape Cod]

Does the Spirit have laundry Facilities or is there a service for this. What are the charges? I am trying to figure out how much or little to pack. This is my first time on any cruise. Are they all about the same? Sorry to ask a stupid question.

There are no laundry facilities on the ship. They offer a service listed in the Monday Freestyle Daily "Any amount of clothes* that you can fit into an NCL laundry bag will be washed and folded for only $24.95. Leave the laundry bag and completed slip on your bed before noon on Monday or Tuesday and it'll be returned to you on Thursday evening during turn down. This is a special promotion and is only valid until Wednesday noon. *Conditions apply; ask your Room Steward for further details". Don't know what the *conditions are. Radio thanks for your wonderful postings, makes me want to be back on the ship, we got off when you got on. You must be up real early to have such great pictures without crowds in them. Your camera also takes beautiful pictures. Thanks again!

[Alzarine]

I agree with Gram from Cape Cod. Your pictures are beautiful ! I'd be interested in knowing what kind of camera you are using. What is the make and pixel size ?

 

I'm sure though your pictures are a result of a talented photographer as well as excellent reviewer.:D

 

Dh and I sailed on the Spirit last week and your commentary has filled that empty feeling of the cruise being all over. Thanks Radio !

[edeco]

Glad to see how much you are enjoying the cruise! It goes so fast once you are there.

 

We sail on Friday 6/19 in a cabin 11538. Is this near your's? Thanks for the balcony pic.

 

Take care.:o

[tuffy88]

Radio, Thanks a lot for your running live posts in real time. Have followed all of your "live posts". Pictures of the Spirit were great. We were on the Spirit in March, 2005 to the Southern Carribean. Makes me look forward even more to our cruise on the Pearl in October,2009.

 

Charles

[Radio]

Glad to see how much you are enjoying the cruise! It goes so fast once you are there.

 

We sail on Friday 6/19 in a cabin 11538. Is this near your's? Thanks for the balcony pic.

 

Take care.:o

 

 

Yes, it is very close. . . Only a few cabins away. ;)

 

 

Radio

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Radio]

Hello everyone. . .

I use a few different cameras (Sony DSC H10, and SONY DSC H120 / 170)

All of the Camera (3) have different assorted lenses.

 

 

 

For all of those who will be sailing to Bermuda this summer . . . make sure that you exchange all of your Bermuda cash for US Cash while in Bermuda.

 

The ship does not offer an exchange for US Bills. . . (The ATM’s all give out Bermudian Bills) I exchanged my currency at the Visitor Information Center.

 

I had a great breakfast today with Margaret and Clare (Friendly Cruise Critic Members), and we discussed how great the service has been so far on this ship. There really has been nothing but great things to say, about the On Board Management.

 

 

 

We would all love to stay on board for just one more week. . .

 

I have a behind the scenes Ship tour at noon, but here are a few pics from this morning.

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

Cagney’s Steak House (at Breakfast) (Deck 7 MID)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cagney’s Steak House (Deck 7 MID)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Centrum (Credit / Reception Area)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You decide what color tags you will have. . .Very Nice !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunny Day with Calm Seas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful weather on our last day at sea !

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[margord]

Looks like you have smooth sailing.

 

Marilee

[Radio]

Radio, correct me if I am wrong, but I think he is refering the the "feel" of the ship, not the motion. Meaning it is a ship and not just a floating hotel/resort. Many ships built now are not built with the attention to detail they once were. They are built as floating hotels and all of the "ship charm" has been taken out. And I would have to agree the Spirit does feel like a ship (having sailed on her a couple years ago).

 

 

Yes, the ship has a very "nautical feel" to her.

 

Her Asian decor adds to the wonderful feeling as well.

 

Radio

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[cruzship21]

Radio -

I just want to thank you for taking us along on your cruise again. I always enjoy when

you post live. You do the best postings. I wanted to thank you more this time as I am

out on short term disability with my back and you have kept me busy and my mind off of

the awful pain I am in. I work for Wall Street and am use to busy stressful days and being

home is driving me crazy. I've been on 99 cruises so I love my cruises. Next cruise is the

Carnival Destiny in August and 10 days on the QM2 November 30th. I'm just praying I

will be okay in August to go. Today is a cold rainy day on the East Coast so you are VERY

lucky to have a warm sunny day. I loved the picture of the Dawn coming into Bermuda as you left. Enjoy your last day it went to fast.

 

Thanks again for making me feel better when I am home in back pain.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[nomie]

Radio,from looking at the pool pic it does not appear to be crowded. Seems like it may be possible to get a chair?? I hope this is the case anyways:) How many pools are there? Oct can't get here soon enough. Thanks again for this great live report.:D

 

Weary,casino is waiting for you:eek:

Barb,our turn is coming,just not fast enough:rolleyes:

Marilee,I think you should change your plans and come with us;)

[Ms belp]

Thank you, Radio!

 

I have missed the Spirit so much. We are thinking of trying to fit the 2010 repo into our schedule. I feel like crying when I look at your pictures of her!:o She is definitely a ship rather than a "hotel".

[98Charlie]

Radio, happy to hear you enjoy the Spirit. She's become our favorite ship. Sailed her in Nov., 2007 and Nov. 2008 and are booked on her again for this November.

 

I agree that the Asian decor helps make the Spirit feel more like a ship. We love the layout of the Spirit and have always said that the crew from officers to room stewards, waiters to maintenance personnel, exude professionalism in all ways. The staff and crew definitely live up to their ship's name. They most definitely have great spirit.

 

Dianne

[Nuncie]

We were on the Spirit last week and the chair hogs were out in full force before 10:00am.

[gettingtoyes]

Regarding the question about how crowded the pool is. Here's my take from the 5/22-29 trip (I'd be interested in others' experiences). On sunny days at sea, including the Friday afternoon, the pool area, specifically the deck chairs out in the sun around the pool, were quite crowded with 90%+ chairs taken or saved by someone tossing a towel on them. My sense is people were quite aggressive about staking out territory they could come back to later. There is the one pool ("Tivoli") surrounded by hot tubs. The pool itself was typically not crowded, though it's not that big either. There is a water recreation area in the stern (aft) for children only. It was very popular with children. The area around the children's pool is a good place to hunt for deck chairs in the sun (depending on the time of day and direction of the ship). There are two swimming tanks in fitness center.

 

dh of Gettingtoyes

[Radio]

Hello everyone. . .I just returned from the “Behind the Scenes Tour” of the Norwegian Spirit. For the tour we started out with a Backstage Tour of the Stardust Theatre.

 

We then went down for a Galley Tour, and a tour of the Provision Area. The provision Area was very informational. The Environmental Officer showed us how the waste is separated and explained how most of it is recycled.

 

We went to the Bridge Area to have Captain Harstrom explain his day to day duties as the master of the Norwegian Spirit.

 

Captain Harstrom appears to be the proudest employee of NCL that I have met. He knows so much, and is eager to explain how the ship works, and how proud he is of the Officers, and crew that work with him. I can tell you that I was proud to be with him, and listen to his stories (of his career with NCL)

 

I recommend that everyone says hello to his wonderful staff.

 

Hotel Director, Sean Wurmhoeringer

Food and Beverage Manager, Bernhard Schindlauer

Executive Housekeeper Ralph Lawson

Concierge, Bruce Van Der Boon

 

These Officers LOVE to hear from passengers . . .They want to know what is wrong, so they can offer improvement. They want to know what you like, so NCL will keep it going.

They want to know your ideas. They are hard to miss. . .they seem to be everywhere !

 

To speak with these employees, you may think that they are the ones who invented “Freestyle Cruising”

 

 

 

Here are some pics from this afternoon. . . .

 

 

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

 

 

Navigational Bridge from Deck 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Master Kenneth Harstrom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charting Table of the Bridge, and Captain Harstrom shared with me the “Captain’s Best Friend . . . The Coffemaker)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Port Side Norwegian Spirit from Bridge Wing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crew Pool, from the Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chief Engineer, Cadet, and Quartermaster on the Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Radio]

Here are a few more pics from a great day at sea on Norwegian Spirit. . .

Thanks for tuning in.

Radio

Very Smooth seas. . .Is this a lake or the Atlantic Ocean ? (Looking FWD from my Balcony)

Bright Sun, and smooth sailing (Looking AFT) from my cabin.

Sunny Promenade

It looks like we are sailing in pond !

View AFT of the Buccaneers Wet and Wild Pool Area

.

[scrappinannie]

Thanks so much for your photos and live postings from this Bermuda cruise. It all looks absolutely heavenly & now I've got an itch to go to Bermuda! :rolleyes: We've been contemplating an NCL cruise for awhile now. Loved you Gem LIve from thread....it really made me want to be on that ship, and now you've done it again. I want to cruise on the Spirit! lol Our next cruise is on CCL Freedom, but not until January, so I'm living very vicariously through these kinds of reviews.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to do this. Happy cruising!

[98Charlie]

On our Nov. 08 Spirit sailing one of our CC members on the roll call was called up to active duty about a month or so before the cruise. We all agreed to toast to him during our CC meeting and send him a photo.

 

About 6 ship's officers and staff members attended our CC meeting. When the captain and hotel manager saw us passing out glasses of orange juice and cups of coffee to our members to prepare for the toast they stopped us and said to wait. Within minutes they had bottle after bottle of champaign and champaig glasses delivered to the meeting and joined in with our toast to our deployed CC member.

 

It made our CC gathering so much more memorable and the officers and staff joined us in the photo session which took several minutes as everyone who had a camera wanted to captue their own photo of the event. Bruce graciously manned each of the cameras for us so that our group was all together with the officers in each photo.

 

Dianne

[bluefintuna]

Radio: enjoyed all of your pictures and commentary. We were on Spiriit May 15-22. Looks like you had excellent weather also. Love the pictures of the absolute calm ocean. It was that way for us too. We all thank you for letting us sail with you.

[justcake]

Thank you Radio for offering this daily diary. My husband and I will be sailing on August 7th for our 15th wedding anniversary and we can't wait! Your pictures and commentary have been amazing. We do have a question about scooters. We definitely want to rent one but have heard all of the horror stories so I'm I little worried. You had one; any problems?? I'm assuming that is probably the best way to see Bermuda but don't want to make that choice if it is not a good one. Can you provide some advice? Thanks again!:D

[Gram Cape Cod]

Radio,from looking at the pool pic it does not appear to be crowded. Seems like it may be possible to get a chair?? I hope this is the case anyways:) How many pools are there? Oct can't get here soon enough. Thanks again for this great live report.:D

 

Weary,casino is waiting for you:eek:

Barb,our turn is coming,just not fast enough:rolleyes:

Marilee,I think you should change your plans and come with us;)

Nomie - Look closer at the empty chairs, see the blue and white towels on them? We were on the Spirit last week and the "chair hogs" put their towels and books on them on their way to breakfast! If you don't mind sitting away from the pool there are plenty of other spots (helicopter pad area, etc.). Have a great trip and hope the beautiful weather holds out for you!

[mississauga]

Radio, how much is the "Behind the Scenes" Tour? Do you know if it is offered on all the ships.

 

Thanks for all your updates and photos.

[Gram Cape Cod]

Radio, how much is the "Behind the Scenes" Tour? Do you know if it is offered on all the ships.

 

Thanks for all your updates and photos.

If I remember correctly I think it was $55. Also, a reminder that there is a foreign transaction fee charged when you you use your credit card in Bermuda. That's where your Capitol One comes in handy with no foreign transaction fee charged. Thanks to my CC friends I applied for one and used it in Bermuda. I'll have to admit my first charge transaction I forgot and sure enough there was a fee when I checked online when I got home.