I'm home

[Smellytoes]

Just off the Spirit this morning:mad: It was probably one of the best cruises I've ever taken. Any questions, ask away:)

[whitelilly]

What made it so good..How was the food.? Where did you eat? How was your cabin? What did you do in Bermuda?

[Maryfrei]

Just off the Spirit this morning:mad: It was probably one of the best cruises I've ever taken. Any questions, ask away:)

 

 

Welcome back, I love the Spirit too!

[Smellytoes]

What made it so good..How was the food.? Where did you eat? How was your cabin? What did you do in Bermuda?

 

Well let's start with the room. We had an AB Penthouse on the corner with two bathrooms and two balconies. It wasn't overly large but it was very pretty. The butler (Erlindo) was very friendly and efficient. He took good care of us and was very good to the two 13 yo girls also staying in the room. Our room steward was the best one we've ever had. He had no complaints about cleaning up after two 13yo's.

 

Now on to the food..... We ate in Windows, The Garden Room and La Trattoria. The menu in Windows and the Garden Room is the same but the Garden seemed less staffed and more crowded. I felt we as a large group were better off in the larger Windows. We ate everything from items on the always available menu to lobster. The beef Wellington was to die for. The english strip loin last night was also very good. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the red sauce in the main dining room. The red sauce in La Trattoria was fine.

 

In Bermuda we went to Church Bay by taxi on Sunday. DO NOT DO THIS!! We got stranded and couldn't get a taxi home. Church Bay is not really open on Sunday so no taxi drivers were lined up to pick up fares like at Horseshoe Bay. Also the snorkling at Church Bay wasn't all that great. It was too rough to do any serious snorkling. But the beach was pretty. On Monday we went to Horseshoe Bay (not as crowded as it normally is) then went by ferry to Hamilton. In Hamilton there is a lot of construction going on and the shopping wasn't that great.

 

The best was on Tuesday. We went over to the ferry terminal after we purchased our ferry coins and while we were waiting in line the ferry people made everyone move over to the side as the ferry approached. It seemed strange that there was that much police security and we were suprised when all of us in the front of the line were told to put away our video cameras and not to film anything:confused: When the ferry docked it was Louis Farakhan (sp) and his entourage on the ferry. We got a "hello" from him then I had to try to explain to the girls who he was.

Then we headed over to an empty Tobacco Bay for the day for some excellent snorkling and some nice shopping in St George.

 

The shows every night were ok except for the night we saw The Cat's Pajamas. They were phenominal. The lounge in front of the casino was a fun place to hang out too.

 

What else made this trip great?? Well having the weather be perfect just about every day seemed to help alot. I know this is something no one can control but it does seem to add to a better cruise with fewer complaints.

[Smellytoes]

Back to the food. I forgot to add the burgers in the Blue Lagoon were also very good. So was Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. Cagney's was open for lunch for non-suite passengers also for $12.50. If you have a slow day and want to eat at Cagney's one night I'd go in the afternoon. They serve some of the same food for a lot less.

[Smellytoes]

One more thing, (how could I possibly forget) was Belkeys our concierge. It was because of her we never had to wait for anything. She made reservations for us at anytime, any place we wanted. She was very helpful and friendly. If I didn't call her she would call us to check where we wanted to eat and ask us about our day.

[Suesan Jean]

WELCOME HOME......!!!

 

I am SO GLAD that your cruise was WONDERFULL.....!!!

You sound SO HAPPY......!!!

How DID you get back from Church Bay.....???:confused:

Now you can just quickly unpack, throw the clothes in the laundry and drive down here for tomorrow's party......!!!;)

WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU AND JOE AGAIN.....!!!

[jimswims]

Welcome back Joanne.

 

I am so glad that you had a great cruise on the Spirit. Some of my friends were also on with you and I have not received a report yet.

 

I am on the Spirit in 14 days and I am looking forward to it!

[quiltsnh]

Welcome back I love your comments... we don't go til next year but I am interested in Tobacco Bay... I understand you took the ferry to St. George and then did you walk to the bay? How far is it? Thanx in advance

[Smellytoes]

Welcome back I love your comments... we don't go til next year but I am interested in Tobacco Bay... I understand you took the ferry to St. George and then did you walk to the bay? How far is it? Thanx in advance

 

Tobacco Bay was really nice this year. It wasn't very crowded even though two large ships were in port and it was a beautiful beach day. It was much cleaner than when we went last year and the snorkling was the best we've ever had and we've been there at least 5 times. You can walk from the ferry terminal to Tobacco bay in about 5-6 minutes at a brisk pace but we didn't:D I'm way too lazy and took a 6.00 taxi ride.

[cruisernh]

Is the snorkeling good at horshoe bay? We leave next Friday on the Spirit. How was the food in Blue Lagoon ans what was the menu like for the Italian restaurant.

[CanadianTwosome]

Just off the Spirit this morning:mad: It was probably one of the best cruises I've ever taken. Any questions, ask away:)

 

You have my deepest sympathies. :p Sounds like you had a great trip! I hope to find Cagney's open for lunch on some future sailing, YUM!!

[jimswims]

Hey Joanne,

 

Do you know if the Spirit used the Freestyle 2.0 menus. I am trying to get a sense on what the main dining room is serving things, ie Beef Wellington on Saturday.

[horsesrus]

Back to the food. I forgot to add the burgers in the Blue Lagoon were also very good. So was Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. Cagney's was open for lunch for non-suite passengers also for $12.50. If you have a slow day and want to eat at Cagney's one night I'd go in the afternoon. They serve some of the same food for a lot less.

 

Wow, so did they open the main Cagney's dining room or is Cagney's different on the Spirit then it was on the Jewel. On the Jewel there was the main Cagney's dining room then there was a smaller dining room just behind the Star Bar which is what was open for the suite guests for breakfast and lunch. It was typically pretty full the days we had lunch there, I can't imagine they would have had room to open it up to anyone else unless they had opened the other "main" dining room.

[ChiTownGirl66]

Welcome back! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I've been anxiously awaiting your return, but felt guilty wishing the week would quickly pass. :D

 

I will be in the same cabin as you for Christmas. Were there 3 or 4 of you? You described the room as not "overly large". Did you feel cramped? We will have 3 adults. I did an "Oops" when I mis-read the cabin diagrams and presumed all AB suites had 2 bedrooms. Little did I realize that the Spirit is an exception.

 

Yes, I know.... read first, book second! In my defense, last year I did quite well booking a Princess Alaskan cruise w/excursions before I even knew CC existed. I figured I could handle another one. I hope someday my mom forgives me..... :rolleyes: (And no, we have no desire to switch cabins or break up into 2.)

 

Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with the accommodations will be greatly appreciated and filed away with all of the other great info shared by CCers!

 

Thanks!

[Smellytoes]

Welcome back! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I've been anxiously awaiting your return, but felt guilty wishing the week would quickly pass. :D

 

I will be in the same cabin as you for Christmas. Were there 3 or 4 of you? You described the room as not "overly large". Did you feel cramped? We will have 3 adults. I did an "Oops" when I mis-read the cabin diagrams and presumed all AB suites had 2 bedrooms. Little did I realize that the Spirit is an exception.

 

Yes, I know.... read first, book second! In my defense, last year I did quite well booking a Princess Alaskan cruise w/excursions before I even knew CC existed. I figured I could handle another one. I hope someday my mom forgives me..... :rolleyes: (And no, we have no desire to switch cabins or break up into 2.)

 

Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with the accommodations will be greatly appreciated and filed away with all of the other great info shared by CCers!

 

Thanks!

 

We had myself, DH and 2 13yo girls in the AB. DH was technically booked in his mother's inside cabin (the girls would tease him and tell him he had a knock off platinum card, not a real one:p) DH and I slept in the bedroom which said it had a queen sized bed but it seemed bigger to me. The first night the girls slept on the pull out couch but it was too small for them so we asked for a roll away bed. The Spirit doesn't have roll away beds but our awsome cabin steward brought a mattress and put it on the floor next to the pull out couch and the girls took turns sleeping on the floor. (they both wanted the floor so they had to take turns)

 

The room seemed constantly cluttered but I had two teenaged girls with me and all their stuff. They both had LOTS of stuff. We could have done a better job of storing all this stuff. There were plenty of drawers in the console for the TV (brand new flat screen) Another thing was the snorlke gear. We found the little hall way leading to the forward balcony was a great place to store it. It did get wet in the hall way when we left the big water tight door open so I wouldn't store anything else out there.

 

One more little draw back was when the girls needed to shower we couldn't use our bedroom. The master bath room is actually in the bedroom. There was no door separating the bedroom from the bathroom. But the room was very pretty with the light colored wood and gold carpet. Three passengers will fit much easier than trying to sqeeze in 4.

[Smellytoes]

Wow, so did they open the main Cagney's dining room or is Cagney's different on the Spirit then it was on the Jewel. On the Jewel there was the main Cagney's dining room then there was a smaller dining room just behind the Star Bar which is what was open for the suite guests for breakfast and lunch. It was typically pretty full the days we had lunch there, I can't imagine they would have had room to open it up to anyone else unless they had opened the other "main" dining room.

 

They had the main Cagney's dining room open. It was never crowded and a nice quiet place to eat. I wish I had used it more.

[Smellytoes]

Hey Joanne,

 

Do you know if the Spirit used the Freestyle 2.0 menus. I am trying to get a sense on what the main dining room is serving things, ie Beef Wellington on Saturday.

 

They used almost the same menus from last year with a little tweeking. The beef wellington/good lobster night was on Sunday. The other lobster night which wasn't as good was on Wednesday night. Thursday night we had the stip loin with Yorkshire pudding that was very good. Friday night some of had the Lamb Provencal which looked good but I don't like lamb. They had a different type of fish on the menu every night and it was always very good.

[Smellytoes]

Is the snorkeling good at horshoe bay? We leave next Friday on the Spirit. How was the food in Blue Lagoon ans what was the menu like for the Italian restaurant.

 

The snorkling at Horseshoe bay was good over by the the rocks. The food in the Blue Lagoon was very good. The cheeseburgers were the best ones on the ship. Even better than Cagney's. We had the hot buffulo wings which where not very hot, but they had a kick. The spinach and artichoke dip was more soupy than what I'm used too. The girls lived off the mac and cheese. The Italian restaurant had chicken parm which was ok. The appetizer trolley was very good. Someone at our table ordered the polenta which I had never tried before. That was really good. I still don't know what was in it but I ate it anyway.

[njhorseman]

Someone at our table ordered the polenta which I had never tried before. That was really good. I still don't know what was in it but I ate it anyway.

 

 

In its basic form, polenta is boiled ground cornmeal. It's a "peasant food" that somehow became fashionable in recent times.

[electricron]

In its basic form, polenta is boiled ground cornmeal. It's a "peasant food" that somehow became fashionable in recent times.

 

You classified polenta correctly. It's more common dish in northern Italy historically than spaghetti is in southern Italy.

 

From Wikipedia:

Polenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. Although the word "polenta" is borrowed into English from Italian, and it is a traditional staple food throughout much of Northern Italy, the same dish (under various names) is also found in Slovenian, Savoyard, Swiss, American Southern[1], Austrian, Portuguese, Bosnian, Croatian,[2] Cuban, Hungarian,[3] Serbian,[4] Romanian,[5] Bulgarian, Georgian, Corsican, Argentine, Uruguayan, Brazilian, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Haitian, Mexican and Turkish[6] cuisines.

[electricron]

'toes, Will you be sharing any photos or videos soon?

 

I'm happy you liked the Spirit, it's is my favorite NCL ship, although the Sun is very close.

[welove2cruise232]

We're also just back and had an incredible week! Hey, Joanne, you stood me up in Cagney's...;)

 

We didn't have one dinner in the main dining room, but instead enjoyed all the pay venues. LaTrattoria was fabulous -- Enrique is the chef there (and also in Cagney's for breakfast and lunch), and he is the nicest man and a great chef! His sauces were delicious -- my DH is Italian, and he (and I) loved the marinara and bolognese sauces. The pastas were perfectly cooked. The osso buco was TO DIE FOR! I have to say LaTrattoria was better on the Spirit than on the Gem! Food in Shogun was very good, but service was a little slow (not necessarily a bad thing, however). We didn't go to teppanyaki. LeBistro was fabulous! We had dinner twice in Cagney's -- filet the first time, and DH had the 12 oz. strip and I had the prime rib the second time -- all excellent! Breakfast and lunch in Cagney's was also a very special treat for us, and, as always, so much quieter than the buffet. Blue Lagoon was good, and service was a little quicker than the Gem.

 

We went to the Enchanted Dinner -- OH MY GOD! The food and wines were out of this world! WELL worth the cover charge! There were only 20 or so people dining there -- we had the best waiters on the ship, and the Executive Chef, Peter, stopped by our table several times to make sure we were enjoying our meal. Several of the senior staff were on hand, chatting with everyone. If you do no other pay venues on the ship, you MUST try this dinner!

 

Okay, so enough about food. We had PERFECT weather in BDA, but the dockyard was very crowded because there was a Princess ship in port when we arrived on Sunday (didn't expect that one) and EOS on Monday and Tuesday. We waited in line for so long to get bus/ferry passes we missed the ferry to St. George's on Sunday. We ended up going back to the ship and spending the day on the pool deck (which was practically empty!. On Monday we got up EARLY and caught the first bus to Horseshoe Bay -- there was NO ONE THERE when we arrived at around 9:20! It was beautiful (first time there after MANY cruises to BDA!) and if you walk in front of the rocks on the right side of the main beach the fish are incredible! Of course I forgot my waterproof camera...:rolleyes: We left the beach around noon, and went to the Frog & Onion for lunch -- I love this place, and the beer is great. We split a sandwich and onion rings -- there was plenty for both of us -- and had a couple of beers. There was a festival in the dockyard on Monday night, and a deck party on board, but I heard most of the after dark festivities were rained out. I didn't even know it was raining...;) On Tuesday we caught the ferry to St. George's, did some shopping and wandering, then headed back to the dockyard on the 2:00 (I think that was the time).

 

Sean (HD) and Bernhard (F&B) are two very nice gentlemen, always visible around the ship, and wonderful to talk to. We spent quite a bit of time with them during the cruise, and Sean and Bernhard even made us an Austrian Peasant Lunch at Cagney's on Thursday -- it was great! We were so happy to see Belkys again, and she took excellent care of us all week! We also ran in to quite a few crew members that we'd met before on the Spirit three years ago or on other ships.

 

Some new things on the Spirit, other than being able to pay for lunch in Cagney's -- in the Blue Lagoon, Shanghai Bar and Henry's Pub you can order (for a fee) shrimp cocktail (huge shrimp!), oysters on a half shell, and crab legs. Prices ranged from $5.95 to $15.95 for the crab legs. Very nice to have in the afternoon if you don't want a full lunch and don't want to lose your bar stool!:D

 

The entertainment on board was good -- we were so happy to see Amadeus (big hugs all around!!), and Modal Magic was also on board. The Cat's Pajamas are NOT TO BE MISSED! We missed their show in the theater, but they performed for a short time in Champagne Charlie's -- the place was packed! Carl Most (piano player/singer) was hit or miss -- there were some songs he just should NOT have been singing, but when he sang the ones he should have, he was pretty decent. Didn't catch anyone else. We didn't go to the production shows (we're just not show people), would have liked to go to the crew show but I completely spaced out and we missed it.

 

We did the behind the scenes tour -- it's amazing what they can do on this ship with the limited amount of space they have, compared to the Gem!

 

The casino was very good to us on Sunday night, so we spent our winnings in BDA and never went back...:p

 

Bruce van der Boon (group services coordinator) did a great job with our meet and greet (and the behind the scenes tour) and is a very sweet guy!

 

David Ward was the cruise consultant on board -- we've known him for several years, and it was great to see him.

 

Any questions, ask away, and if I think of more I'll be back.!

[Cubechick]

Welcome back Peggy! Did you get your Cruise Rewards certificate?? ;):D

 

So glad you had wonderful weather!

 

How was the room you were in? Was it as huge as it appears on the deck plans??

[cruisernh]

How do you get the behind the scenes tour it sounds like it fills fast.

Thanks for your review.6 days to go!