I'm home

[welove2cruise232]

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??

 

Yes, in fact, we bought TWO Cruise rewards! I have to wait until Monday to call our TA to book the Gem!!

 

The cabin was great, very large -- I posted on another thread asking about the cabin. It DID have it's pros and cons, which you'll find in my other post.

 

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

Thanks for your review.6 days to go!

 

We get the behind the scenes tour as Platinum latitudes members -- but you can also sign up for it -- look in the Freestyle Daily. I believe it was $55 per person??

 

Have a great time on the Spirit! She's a beautiful ship, and the staff and crew are fantastic!

[jimswims]

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.!

 

Hi, welcome home. I am glad to hear that you had a great cruise.

 

Can you tell me more about the Enchanted Dinner. What night is it, food, etc? We are on the Spirit on 8/7 and DW's birthday is on Tuesday, 8/11. I was looking for a nice dinner to celebrate.

[welove2cruise232]

Hi, welcome home. I am glad to hear that you had a great cruise.

 

Can you tell me more about the Enchanted Dinner. What night is it, food, etc? We are on the Spirit on 8/7 and DW's birthday is on Tuesday, 8/11. I was looking for a nice dinner to celebrate.

 

The Enchanted Dinner was on Monday night at 7 PM in the art gallery. The menu is posted here on the website. The Finnish Salmon Cream soup was to die for! Following the soup, there was a chicken appetizer -- amazing! There were pieces of garlic that I thought were almonds -- delicious! After that was the duck and endive salad -- very, very good! We both had the lobster termidor that was absolutely delicious! There were two other main courses. The dessert was amazing! The wines were just incredible. I'll have to look at the list (there were two wines offered with each course) to tell you which ones we had, but with one course we had a red that was SOOO good -- we want to see if we can find it here at home.

 

This dinner would absolutely, without question, be a GREAT way to celebrate a birthday. We were celebrating our anniversary (all week, so the staff constantly reminded us :p) so this was "one" of our anniversary dinners!

[jimswims]

The Enchanted Dinner was on Monday night at 7 PM in the art gallery. The menu is posted here on the website. The Finnish Salmon Cream soup was to die for! Following the soup, there was a chicken appetizer -- amazing! There were pieces of garlic that I thought were almonds -- delicious! After that was the duck and endive salad -- very, very good! We both had the lobster termidor that was absolutely delicious! There were two other main courses. The dessert was amazing! The wines were just incredible. I'll have to look at the list (there were two wines offered with each course) to tell you which ones we had, but with one course we had a red that was SOOO good -- we want to see if we can find it here at home.

 

This dinner would absolutely, without question, be a GREAT way to celebrate a birthday. We were celebrating our anniversary (all week, so the staff constantly reminded us :p) so this was "one" of our anniversary dinners!

 

Thank you for the info. It sounds great! I saw some pictures and it looked like a surf and turf selection, big steak with a lobster tail, was that offered? It did not look like it was on the menu that Radio posted. His live report said Tuesday night. It was Monday on your sailing?

[veggie59]

The Enchanted Dinner was on Monday night at 7 PM in the art gallery. The menu is posted here on the website. The Finnish Salmon Cream soup was to die for! Following the soup, there was a chicken appetizer -- amazing! There were pieces of garlic that I thought were almonds -- delicious! After that was the duck and endive salad -- very, very good! We both had the lobster termidor that was absolutely delicious! There were two other main courses. The dessert was amazing! The wines were just incredible. I'll have to look at the list (there were two wines offered with each course) to tell you which ones we had, but with one course we had a red that was SOOO good -- we want to see if we can find it here at home.

 

This dinner would absolutely, without question, be a GREAT way to celebrate a birthday. We were celebrating our anniversary (all week, so the staff constantly reminded us :p) so this was "one" of our anniversary dinners!

 

This sounds great for my husband as he loves food and wine.....lol. I am a vegetarian and I am not really into wines. Can someone dine solo or be part of a group? I know he wont want to go without me....but I really couldnt justify the cost of myself going. Or could someone go and be a tablemate to their spouse that goes without participating?

[ChiTownGirl66]

Smellytoes,

 

Thanks for answering my questions! It sounds like we will be fine - no gear to bring....just more changes of clothes than any of us are likely to wear despite our good intentions.... LOL

 

Thanks for the heads up about the hall near the water tight door. Maybe we'll use that as a "time out" box for whoever gets on someone's nerves. :rolleyes:

 

Looking forward to any pictures you post. Bermuda looks soooooo beautiful!

[Smellytoes]

'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.

 

Hey Ron, you are not going to believe what I did. I got to the room and went to take pictures while the room was clean and I FORGOT MY CAMERA:eek: We did get some pictures from DD's bff's camera and I will post them when we figure out how.

 

As for loving the Spirit, Sean the hotel director told me I would love the Sun too.

[Smellytoes]

Smellytoes,

 

Thanks for answering my questions! It sounds like we will be fine - no gear to bring....just more changes of clothes than any of us are likely to wear despite our good intentions.... LOL

 

Thanks for the heads up about the hall near the water tight door. Maybe we'll use that as a "time out" box for whoever gets on someone's nerves. :rolleyes:

 

Looking forward to any pictures you post. Bermuda looks soooooo beautiful!

 

The two balconies were another wonderful thing about this room. If you need a breather you can always get away. (and we were always able to use both balconies. It never got too windy on the forward balcony)

[Smellytoes]

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

 

Oh Peggy, I'm so sorry but I did it again. I woke up looked at the clock and said " oh %$#@ I missed breakfast at Cagney's AGAIN!!!"

 

But seriously, I wish I was able to spend more time with you. That week just flew by.

[jp2001]

How much is the Enchanted Dinner? Is it offered to Suite Guest only or us, steerage, can purchase it too? Do you know if they have this dinner on other ships or just on the Spirit.

 

I love the Spirit so much, I'll probably book the Canada-New England Cruise on her for next year.

[3rdtimecruising]

Hi Smellytoes,

 

Loved your review so far. Just wanted to ask if the beds were upgraded in the drydock last fall? We sailed the Spirit in 06 and are delighted she is now only 20 minutes away from us. We sail on 9/4 and are really looking forward to trying Cagney's for lunch and the enchanted dinner too. We are absolutely hooked on freestyle cruising and do not find the service any different. We did take two RCCL cruises in the past few years, but really have decided that NCL is our first choice.

 

Ann and Bernie

[Smellytoes]

How much is the Enchanted Dinner? Is it offered to Suite Guest only or us, steerage, can purchase it too? Do you know if they have this dinner on other ships or just on the Spirit.

 

I love the Spirit so much, I'll probably book the Canada-New England Cruise on her for next year.

 

The Enchanted Dinner was offered to everyone. I don't know if it is offered on other ships. I did look wonderful for a special occasion, but we had kids with us and they wouldn't eat it even if I was willing to pay for it.

[Smellytoes]

One more thing I don't think I've ever seen posted here on CC, but when I went out on my balcony late at night I could swear I could here the dolphins over at Dolphin Quest making quite a bit of noise. It sounded like they were crying.

[welove2cruise232]

How much is the Enchanted Dinner? Is it offered to Suite Guest only or us, steerage, can purchase it too? Do you know if they have this dinner on other ships or just on the Spirit.

 

I love the Spirit so much, I'll probably book the Canada-New England Cruise on her for next year.

 

The Enchanted Dinner is $65 PP, and is open to anyone on board. This is currently only offered on the Spirit, mostly, I believe, because they have the beautiful art gallery in which to hold the dinner.

 

Hi Smellytoes,

 

Loved your review so far. Just wanted to ask if the beds were upgraded in the drydock last fall? We sailed the Spirit in 06 and are delighted she is now only 20 minutes away from us. We sail on 9/4 and are really looking forward to trying Cagney's for lunch and the enchanted dinner too. We are absolutely hooked on freestyle cruising and do not find the service any different. We did take two RCCL cruises in the past few years, but really have decided that NCL is our first choice.

 

Ann and Bernie

 

The beds were all upgraded to the 2.0 Bliss beds -- in fact, I was passing a cabin midship on deck 10, and the crew was replacing the carpet and beds. I told Sean I had luggage tags on the bed, and was bringing it home with me!! The pillows and bedding are heavenly!

 

The Enchanted Dinner was offered to everyone. I don't know if it is offered on other ships. I did look wonderful for a special occasion, but we had kids with us and they wouldn't eat it even if I was willing to pay for it.

 

Exactly. The other things only offered on the Spirit at this time is the seafood extravaganza in the Shanghai Bar and Henry's Pub. Choices are 1/2 dozen oysters on a half shell for $5.95 and 1 dozen for $10.95; jumbo shrimp cocktail -- 4 pcs. $7.95, 6 pcs. $10.95, 8 pcs. $13.95 and a dozen for $17.95; and 1 lb. of Alaskan King Crab Legs for $15.95. Also, lunch (for $12.95, I believe) in Cagney's.

 

Joanne, you are so right -- the week just flew by! We were so tempted about mid-week to see if we could stay on for another week!;) But we've got too many things going on for the next several weeks, so we had to come home...:(

[welove2cruise232]

This sounds great for my husband as he loves food and wine.....lol. I am a vegetarian and I am not really into wines. Can someone dine solo or be part of a group? I know he wont want to go without me....but I really couldnt justify the cost of myself going. Or could someone go and be a tablemate to their spouse that goes without participating?

 

There were no vegetarian options on this menu -- the main entrees were Grilled Pepper Filet of Beef, Lobster Termidor (we both had this -- delicious!), or Broiled Fillet of Halibut. The appetizers were Finnish Salmon Cream soup (YUMMO!!!), Grilled Chicken Supreme in Garlic Chablis Sauce (there were pieces of what I thought were slivered almonds -- but turned out to be garlic -- sprinkled on the plate -- delicious!) and Marinated Duck Liver on Fresh Garden Greens with Balsamic Dressing (really tasty, though a little too much duck liver for me -- I needed to save room for the main course!).

 

Your DH could go alone, and possibly be seated with other people. You could also check with Bernhard (F & B Director) to see if you could order something to your liking from the main dining room, and he could enjoy the special dinner -- it's worth asking!

 

The wines were excellent, especially the Casa Lapostolle "Cuvee Alexander" from Chile, and the Hangtime, Bourgogne, Burgundy, from France -- wow, I could not believe how good these two wines, especially, were! We're going to see if we can find them here.

[welove2cruise232]

Hey Ron, you are not going to believe what I did. I got to the room and went to take pictures while the room was clean and I FORGOT MY CAMERA:eek: We did get some pictures from DD's bff's camera and I will post them when we figure out how.

 

As for loving the Spirit, Sean the hotel director told me I would love the Sun too.

 

I remember you saying you forgot your camera, and I told you I'd take some photos and send them to you, but of course I promptly forgot to take them...:rolleyes:

[veggie59]

welove2cruise232

Thanks for the added info!!!

[Smellytoes]

 

Joanne, you are so right -- the week just flew by! We were so tempted about mid-week to see if we could stay on for another week!;) But we've got too many things going on for the next several weeks, so we had to come home...:(

 

Peggy, Sean came to me early in the week and asked if I wanted to stay on another week. I couldn't do it but someday when I don't have any kids:rolleyes: I would love to be able to do something like that.

[Smellytoes]

Hi Smellytoes,

 

Loved your review so far. Just wanted to ask if the beds were upgraded in the drydock last fall? We sailed the Spirit in 06 and are delighted she is now only 20 minutes away from us. We sail on 9/4 and are really looking forward to trying Cagney's for lunch and the enchanted dinner too. We are absolutely hooked on freestyle cruising and do not find the service any different. We did take two RCCL cruises in the past few years, but really have decided that NCL is our first choice.

 

Ann and Bernie

 

I know the bed in the AB was glorious. I've never slept better in my life. It's funny you mention that NCL is your first choice. We were at Horseshoe Bay one day and struck up a conversation with a lady on Explorer. She paid quite a bit more money for a 5 day cruise because she had heard that RCCL was much better than NCL. She had been on 3 previous NCL cruises and was a little upset because she felt the food and service were much better on NCL. She said she would have saved money and had a longer, better cruise on NCL.

[Baitman19]

Hi Joanne,

 

Glad you had a great time on the Spirit. But then how can't you have a great time any NCL ship.

 

Was the Enchanted Dinner a trial on the Spirit? We're sailing the Dawn on 9/13 and it sounds really nice.

 

Welcome home & happy cruising,

Monty

[chisto]

Jo, can you email me chisto@comcast.net?

Thanks.

[buddyjo143]

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.

 

Oh, Yorkshire pudding is my DH's favorite. Thanks for posting that.

 

We have read that the dining room dress code has gotten more casual. Are men wearing shorts or khakis in the dining room? I'd like to go but DH dresses for work and refuses to get dressed up on our cruise.

 

thanks

[collegecruiser346]

What is the enchanted dinner? I'm sailing on the Aug 28th sailing, and it sounds interesting...Thanks!

[jimswims]

Oh, Yorkshire pudding is my DH's favorite. Thanks for posting that.

 

We have read that the dining room dress code has gotten more casual. Are men wearing shorts or khakis in the dining room? I'd like to go but DH dresses for work and refuses to get dressed up on our cruise.

 

thanks

 

Hi buddyjo143,

 

I just read this and this is from last week's Spirit cruise. I have the copy of the Freestyle Daily in my hand.

 

"What to Wear: You'll always find a place for your stlye, no matter what you want to wear. Resort casual (including jeans) is welcome in all our restaurants, except Windows, our designated "dress-up" Restaurant. The only restaurants that you can wear shorts in after 5:00 pm are Raffles Court and Blue Lagoon."

 

Given this, I would make sure that I had a pair of pants for dinner :D!

[buddyjo143]

Hi buddyjo143,

 

I just read this and this is from last week's Spirit cruise. I have the copy of the Freestyle Daily in my hand.

 

"What to Wear: You'll always find a place for your stlye, no matter what you want to wear. Resort casual (including jeans) is welcome in all our restaurants, except Windows, our designated "dress-up" Restaurant. The only restaurants that you can wear shorts in after 5:00 pm are Raffles Court and Blue Lagoon."

 

Given this, I would make sure that I had a pair of pants for dinner :D!

 

Thank you very much. See you on board. Counting the days, finally...