Back from Bermuda on the Spirit

[SueCTlady]

We arrived at the pier around 10:30 and it was rainy and chilly. The staff at the pier were very helpful and took our luggage and put us in the right place. We got on the ship around 11:30. Check in took a few minutes since they were having some computer issues. We were sitting having lunch in Windows I think a little after 12. We explored the ship for a bit...very beautiful! Our rooms were ready by 2pm as promised and we were quite happy with our balcony room. Everything seemed so fresh and clean and the bed was very, very nice. We unpacked and freshened up and wanted to be on deck for the sail away. Seemed as soon as we started off the sun came out and the party began!! Had a frosty drink in my hand and joined the crew for some dancing by the pool. Had a blast. I'm getting very wordy so I will try to condense a little. The 2 days at sea were great. All the staff were wonderful. Always a smile and a warm greeting. The food was good....better in the pay restaurants. Which I understand why but after spending quite a bit on the cruise I felt the food which was included should be better. We ate at Cagneys..excellent, Le Trattoria..very, very good, and Shogun..also very good. We ate mostly at the buffet for breakfast and lunch. Also, the food by the pool was very good for lunch....a barbecue. I would highly recommend joining the Pub crawl. It cost $25 and you go to 5 bars and have a drink in each with one extra at the end. It was great fun! We actually did it twice during the cruise. Don't miss it! Now let me tell you a little about Bermuda. I fell in love with the Island. Beautiful aqua water..pink sand...it was heaven. We went snorkeling through the ship which was amazing. We went to Horseshoe Bay one day..took the bus. another day we took the ferry to St. Georges...was a pretty place. Buy the passes and you will use them for the busses and ferry. They were 20 something for the 3 days. Well worth it. I was very sad to leave Bermuda. I can't wait to go back again. I do have a couple of complaints. One would be the pool area on the ship. Since they only have 1 pool it got very crowded. The kids have there own pool area which looked quite nice but they seemed to want to be in the pool with the adults. But since it was over 5ft deep they hovered on the stairs making it difficult to get in and out. And my only other complaint were the chair hogs. OMG get up anytime after 8am and there is not a chair to be had. All the chairs are taken with towels on them. Not sure how to fix this problem. Otherwise we had a great time for our first cruise. Again I loved Bermuda!!!! Any questions let me know. Sue :)

[VillaHappy]

Glad you had a wonderful cruise. You were in port the same time that we were (on the Grandeur). Which port did you come into Bermuda from? We left from Baltimore.

 

Chair hogs seem to plague the entire cruise industry! There must be some way to control this...

[Rickgina]

We were also on this cruise. We also had the same embarkation experience, eating in Windows by noon. Balcony rooms are small for 2 adults and a teenager because the pullout couch gets in the way of the balcony door, but it's great for eating room service before breakfast. Food was good in restaurants, but not much variation in Raffles lunch, so we found ourselves eating the same few things all week. For the most part service was good, a few servers that were cranky, but most with a smile, especially our room steward, who addressed us by our first name. The shows were great, the Second City was funny, and even though they are not my type, the crowd seemed to like The Cat's Pajamas group.

 

A big disappointment was the Murder Mystery Dinner. We paid $20pp ($60 +gratuity) and we thought we were going to get entertained with a mystery show, but in fact we all had to read from a script between meal courses. A bit awkward at first, but we had fun tablemates and made the best of it. This being our 3rd Boston/Bermuda cruise, wife and I were looking forward to the "nightlife", since our son was young and we were in our cabin early in cruises past. All we can say is "WOW!" Kids rule the nightlife on this ship! From the crying kids at the New Year's Eve party, to the kids who ran us out of the White Hot party (where my wife and I saw a teenage girl trying to steal a Jello shot off the bar), to the drunk teenagers hassling the Blue Lagoon staff at 3AM! How are they getting served?? Another area they are slacking in is the dress code. The past 2 cruises and half of this one I "played by the rules" and wore dress pants to dinner. But on this trip when I saw shorts, t-shirts, and a BASEBALL HAT in the dining room, I gave up and wore my Docker shorts the last 3 nights! NCL has to grow a pair and refuse to seat these people. Another thing is the chair hogs. Referring to my past 2 cruises, we never got a deck chair, and the hogs were out in full force this time, too. So this time, on our 3rd sea day, I got up at 3AM and saved 2 chairs! I hate to be so cynical, but ignorance is all around you (kids at shows, dress code violators, chair hogs) as long as NCL does nothing, it's survival of the fittest!

 

Bermuda is still a beautiful place, and it was nice to be at the Dockyard. While everyone went to Snorkel Park or Horseshoe Bay, we went to Church Bay and had it almost all to ourselves. My wife and I feel something has changed since the Majesty left, even the cruise director and his staff weren't as visible. Overall a good time with great weather, but if NCL doesn't address these issues, we may never sail with them again!

[acjjj]

SueCTlady, I have been considering this cruise for next summer so I have a few questions.

1.How was the weather? Is July too hot?

2.Were you with kids, wondering about kids programs?

3.Did you find Bermuda to be quite expensive or were there things to do for travellers that had to mind their budget?

Thanks!

[justcake]

We were also on this cruise. We also had the same embarkation experience, eating in Windows by noon. Balcony rooms are small for 2 adults and a teenager because the pullout couch gets in the way of the balcony door, but it's great for eating room service before breakfast. Food was good in restaurants, but not much variation in Raffles lunch, so we found ourselves eating the same few things all week. For the most part service was good, a few servers that were cranky, but most with a smile, especially our room steward, who addressed us by our first name. The shows were great, the Second City was funny, and even though they are not my type, the crowd seemed to like The Cat's Pajamas group.

 

A big disappointment was the Murder Mystery Dinner. We paid $20pp ($60 +gratuity) and we thought we were going to get entertained with a mystery show, but in fact we all had to read from a script between meal courses. A bit awkward at first, but we had fun tablemates and made the best of it. This being our 3rd Boston/Bermuda cruise, wife and I were looking forward to the "nightlife", since our son was young and we were in our cabin early in cruises past. All we can say is "WOW!" Kids rule the nightlife on this ship! From the crying kids at the New Year's Eve party, to the kids who ran us out of the White Hot party (where my wife and I saw a teenage girl trying to steal a Jello shot off the bar), to the drunk teenagers hassling the Blue Lagoon staff at 3AM! How are they getting served?? Another area they are slacking in is the dress code. The past 2 cruises and half of this one I "played by the rules" and wore dress pants to dinner. But on this trip when I saw shorts, t-shirts, and a BASEBALL HAT in the dining room, I gave up and wore my Docker shorts the last 3 nights! NCL has to grow a pair and refuse to seat these people. Another thing is the chair hogs. Referring to my past 2 cruises, we never got a deck chair, and the hogs were out in full force this time, too. So this time, on our 3rd sea day, I got up at 3AM and saved 2 chairs! I hate to be so cynical, but ignorance is all around you (kids at shows, dress code violators, chair hogs) as long as NCL does nothing, it's survival of the fittest!

 

Bermuda is still a beautiful place, and it was nice to be at the Dockyard. While everyone went to Snorkel Park or Horseshoe Bay, we went to Church Bay and had it almost all to ourselves. My wife and I feel something has changed since the Majesty left, even the cruise director and his staff weren't as visible. Overall a good time with great weather, but if NCL doesn't address these issues, we may never sail with them again!

 

Thanks for the review. Just wondering about the Murder Mystery. I've never had to pay for it before. There is a charge?? It's too bad you didn't have a good time but I'm glad you wrote about it because it was something that I was going to do on our cruise.

[maps]

We had 7 kids in our group ranging from 7-11. My kids have really enjoyed the kid's club on other ships and we could not drag them away. This time however, the kept asking us not to go.

It could be they just wanted to spend time with each other but when I saw the tiny room they stuck the 10-12 yr olds in I have to say I was unimpressed. They had dozens of kids packed in one small room with no windows for hours.

Our kids only wanted to go when they were having free play which meant they opened the doors and they were allowed on the play structure.

[Rickgina]

Thanks for the review. Just wondering about the Murder Mystery. I've never had to pay for it before. There is a charge?? It's too bad you didn't have a good time but I'm glad you wrote about it because it was something that I was going to do on our cruise.

 

Yes, it was $20pp, and I believe that is because the menu selections are from the specialty restaraunts, which in my case was a moot point because it was a night when lobster was on the Garden Room menu, which I chose to order.

 

To be more specific, you first arrive at the Stardust Theater and greeted with champagne, where they pair you up into groups of 8 (your tablemates). They then play a short movie explaining the "murder". Then scripts are handed to everyone, a table leader is chosen, and everyone stands one at a time while your "character" is described. You are then ushered to the Garden Room, where each "character" reads from the script to exlpain their alibi. Everyone asks each other questions to dig into the alibis, and by dessert, you choose a "murderer". The idea is good, but our group only had 6 people, which means I and another tablemate had to play 2 characters. VERY CONFUSING!! I did not enjoy my meal, and barely remember what it was. Again, we had great tablemates and had good conversation, but it WAS TOO MUCH WORK!!

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for the review! Bermuda is a beautiful place. :)

[SueCTlady]

It was very hot and very, very humid. We went to the beach and we were in the water alot to keep cool. The water is fabulous!!! The only thing we did in Bermuda is have lunch in a waterside restaurant. We had burgers and ice tea so it was about 35 bucks. We did a snorkeling excursion through ncl and it was great! Cost about 70 per person. My kids are all older so I can't help you with the kids program.