NCL Review and the Spirit TA NOLA to Barcelona

[WYTinman]

Crew members ending thier contracts in Miami

 

 

The Cruise up to this point

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't do an organized tour in Miami. I just walked off the ship into downtown. It was a nice day and I enjoyed the walk. A little before noon I grabbed a taxi to little Havana for lunch and to drive by the new Miami Marlins stadium. I made it back to the ship early enough to make the Miami Sail Away party at the Tivoli Pool. Those pictures will be next.

 

I promise i will cover the next 6 days to Ponta Delgada in a more concise manner.

[WYTinman]

Jill Tasker the Cruise Director

 

 

The New Spirit Singers. This group of singers and dancers started thier contracts in New Orleans

 

 

 

Spirit Dancers

 

 

 

[Lena B]

Great review of my favorite ship! Keep it coming!

 

Russian Mom - check in on our roll call! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1626057&page=2 Will we finally get to meet? I look forward to hearing from you again!

[russianmom]

Great review of my favorite ship! Keep it coming!

 

Russian Mom - check in on our roll call! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1626057&page=2 Will we finally get to meet? I look forward to hearing from you again!

 

Hi Lena!!

We are still waiting for our adoption to move forward.... We ran into a few snags but they assure us we will travel before January.... Not sure how that fares for a Feb cruise though....:(:confused:

[ttnc4me]

Love the suite pics. And all the pics in general. wow.

[zlacruising]

Hi, what a great review. I've been on this ship about 5 times out of N. O. And will miss her. I look forward to your review. Thanks(;

[WYTinman]

Today was the start of my work week so updates will be slow in coming for the next few days.

 

Here is a little tease of what 6 sea days in a row look like.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Alot of our rollcall is still in Europe. Those that can feel free to add to this review or comment as you see fit

 

Mark

[WYTinman]

Miami to Ponta Delgada

 

 

The small but majestic NCL Spirit departed Miami sometime between Happy Hour and Dinner. From the beginning of this cruise I had one overriding goal for this vacation. That was to drink Sangria on a Mediterranean beach surround by Latin beauties. (Well an old fat guy can dream can’t he)? To my greatest pleasure Manuel the bartender at Champagne Charlie’s jumped into daydream and asked.

Mr. Tinman what succulent libation would you like tonight? (When you meet him you will see I’m not far off)

I don’t know Manny, I don’t feel like a Martini, or wine tonight. Maybe something fruity like those “boat drinks” you see on TV.

Mr. Tinman I only see FOX news and MSNBC on my TV. I never saw a “Boat Drink” I do make pretty good Sangria with lots of fruit.

SOLD, I’ll be over at that table. Here’s my room card, if they’re e good I’ll keep em coming.

Next thing I see is Geraldine a lovely Latina from Peru approaching my table with a large wine glass ¾ full of fine red Sangria and fresh fruit. Needless to say, except that we were in the Atlantic, and there was no beach. My vacation goal was fulfilled. Red Sangria and a lovely Latin beauty serving me. ( Tips go a long way for us old fat guys.) If you see a pattern here, it is intentiona,l my favorite wateringhole for the rest of the cruise was Champagne Charlie’s.

On a Transatlantic cruise there are two things to look forward to when you get back to your cabin at night. The famous NCL towel animals and the dreaded time change card. I swear, by the number of nights we moved our watches forward, our 13 day cruise was really only 12.

 

 

Sea Days do give you an opportunity to do a lot of relaxing. The Spirit cruise director staff did a fine job of scheduling enough classes and events to keep even the most hyper-active person busy. On the other hand we did not sail with a full ship. There were plenty of quite places on board where you could go and hide if you wanted to. I didn’t hang out at the pool, but every time I went by there were loungers open. Ones without the dreaded reserved seating towels. As we left Miami the weather was clear and probably in the low 80s as we crossed the temps slowly dropped but it was low 70’s most days. We had calm seas and clear skies for the whole trip to Ponta Delgada. Overall just 6 nice lazy days.

The shows were presented in the Stardust Theater located completely aft on decks 7 and 8. The theater is entered from either deck 7 or 8. On deck 7 the main entrance is on the starboard side of the ship. When you walk in you are at stage level and will walk up to the seats. This presents a small problem if you want to leave early. If you exit the way you came in you walk right by the stage. A small hint for future Theater goers. Walk up to the balcony on deck 8 and exit. No harm no foul. The entrances on deck 8 enter onto the balcony. The starboard side is open seating. The port side is reserved for suite guests. These balcony seats are great. On the suite side the butlers are there every night. It’s a convenient time to remind them what time you want your morning coffee and blueberry muffins delivered. But I digress. I didn’t see all of the shows but I did see all of the entertainers at some point in the cruise.

Day 3: (Miami) Comedy Hypnotist Dr. Scott Lewis. I missed this show (Sangria) but did see his adult show later in the cruise. If you believe you will enjoy it.

Day 4: Stardust Showtime; Mandolin player Radim Zenki. This show was better than I thought it would be. He is a one man show with the ship’s orchestra accompanying. He played the Mandolin and a variety of flutes from around the world. A Very good show.

Day 5: On Broadway, a song and dance act of various Broadway shows. Great show when I saw it. After seeing other shows later in the week I will drop it to a good show.

Day 6: Stardust Showtime; Angels: Aerialists. I missed this show. This was the night of the Chef Table dinner. It was a long dinner.

Day 7: Stardust Showtime; Comedian Noodles. He did a fair to good evening show. But was not bust your gut funny. His late adult show in Galaxy of the Stars was much better.

Day 8: Showtime: Just Magic with Jorges; This is the show to miss. He does 15 minutes of High School magic. Then plays a 30 minute commercial on how great he is. Don’t bother.

Day 9: Showtime: Soul Rockin’ Nights: The absolutely best show of the cruise. I don’t know enough adjectives to describe how high energy and just plain fun this show is. Put this show on your calendar.

Day 10: (Ponta Delgada) Comedy Hypnotist Dr. Scott Lewis: I’m not a believer. Missed this one too.

Day 11: Showtime: Oh what a Night; The second best show of the cruise. It is a Frankie Valli and the Four seasons Tribute that had the audience clapping and singing to every tune. They were funny too.

Day 12: Showtime Tonight “Elements”; A unique show that includes most of the acts from the Ship. The Dancers and Aerialists were great. But the show relied too much on a very poor Magician. Sorry but this guy is really bad. Overall though this is a very good show, but it can only rank third behind the other production shows.

Day 13: International Crew Talent Show: One dance act and four singers. All from the crew, and all very good. I liked this show.

 

I know I went past Ponta Delgada but I figured I’d review all of the shows at one time.

 

More to Come

Thanks for reading

[Still Dreaming]

Great review!!

[SakeDad]

Jill Tasker the Cruise Director

 

 

The New Spirit Singers. This group of singers and dancers started thier contracts in New Orleans

 

 

 

Spirit Dancers

 

 

 

 

AWWW!!! I miss my kids so much already! I spent 5 weeks in Tampa rehearsing them and 2 weeks on the crossing (with you and others!) getting them up and running. They are one of the BEST casts I have ever worked with anywhere! Thanks for the pics and the great reviews of the production shows!!!

 

Nathan

[WYTinman]

Nathan, It was great meeting you on the cruise and your "kids" did a wonderful job even with the little injury problems they went through. I'm sure when the whole cast is up a running the shows will be even better.

 

 

 

I’m back. Hopefully I’ll finish this review sometime this weekend.

 

Everyone seems to either like or hate the food on NCL. Being this was my first cruise I can’t do any comparisons. But for a first timer reading this you won’t either so I’ll briefly describe what I saw as good points and bad in NCL dining.

My palate is reasonably simple, if it looks good and tastes good then the food is good. If it doesn’t look good, but still tastes good, I still call the food good. But if it looks good and tastes bad. That my friends is bad. Now to make this as clear as I can I didn’t have a bad meal onboard the Spirit.

 

 

As I said earlier in this review I was in a Suite so I was able to have breakfast and lunch in Cagney’s. So I will start there. Cagney’s has a limited menu for breakfast and lunch that will remain the same throughout the cruise. So for a two-week that can make for many repeat meals. They do have some exceptional items on the breakfast menu. Both the regular and Blue Crab eggs Benedict , and the breakfast steak are very good and served hot. Transit time from the galley to your table in the other restaurants (MDRs) tend to let the meals cool. For lunch I didn’t have anything “special” or woth mentioning here, except at my last lunch the asparagus salad recommended to me. I do love asparagus and will rave about Le Bistro’s later. You must try Cagney’s. If I had tried it earlier in the cruise I would have had it daily. I only had one dinner in Cagney’s. I had the Prime Rib. The one thing I will say is it was the poorest cut of beef I had in Cagney’s The breakfast and lunch steaks were much better. This piece of Prime Rib looked like it came from the pre-packaged single serve Prime Rib you can find at your local grocery.

 

 

The majority of my dinners were taken in the Windows Main Dining Room with the other Cruise Critic members. We had a nice mix of couples and many solos on this cruise. One of our members needs mentioning here. PenguinScott had suggested a daily happy hour prior to dinner.

 

 

Lunch at Windows MDR on Embarkaton Day. Kathy (arhillbilly) Dave & Carol (Izaak Walton) and Penguinscott

Photo thanks to lmcgrail

 

 

We changed the venue many times during the cruise but it remained as our pre-dinner meeting and allowed us all to go to dinner together. The MDR staff was exceptional. On one of our first dinners we occupied 4 or 5 of the 6 person round tables. We were served by a waiter that we adopted and asked for every night. Some of you experienced Spirit cruisers may know him. He explained to us that NCL at one time had a show called “Shipendales”. He said he used to perfrom in that show and had a nickname of Mr. Naughty. His actual name is Kwasi and is an extremely entertaining. The MDR staff is also very accommodating in allowing menu additions and changes. Many of us would order appetizer items from the lunch menu for dinner. Never were we refused. In particular the fried calamari from the lunch menu was ordered for dinner often.

 

Our waiter Kwasi ( Mr. Naughty) and Boston Bill in Windows MDR.

Kwasi and lmcgrail clowning around prior to the White Hot Party.

 

 

The MDR menu’s have two sides. A side that remains the same for the entire cruise and a side that changes daily. Between the two I always found something that looked appetizing. As we were seated as a large group it did take longer for us to be served. But as a large group that didn’t seem to matter. We were often to absorbed in conversations with our table mates to notice. We were often amongst the last to leave the MDR for the late shows. These were at times 2 to 3 hour dinners. We were never asked to hurry or asked to leave when we finished.

 

We celebrated a CC member’s birthday in the MDR on Prime Rib night. I have to say here that the MDR Prime Rib was actually better than the cut I had at Cagney’s. This may have been a fluke of luck, but worth noting.

 

Happy Birthday AJ ( AjKcruiser and her daughter at Windows)

 

photo thanks again to lmcgrail

 

To sum up this short section, the MDR food was fine. The service was exceptional, The venue is beautiful, and an active cruise Critic Roll Call made the dinners wonderful.

 

More to Come. Le'Bistro and the Chefs Table.

[crew mom]

... one overriding goal for this vacation. That was to drink Sangria on a Mediterranean beach surround by Latin beauties. (Well an old fat guy can dream can’t he)? ......

 

Next thing I see is Geraldine a lovely Latina from Peru approaching my table with a large wine glass ¾ full of fine red Sangria and fresh fruit. Needless to say, except that we were in the Atlantic, and there was no beach. My vacation goal was fulfilled. Red Sangria and a lovely Latin beauty serving me. ( Tips go a long way for us old fat guys.) If you see a pattern here, it is intentiona,l my favorite wateringhole for the rest of the cruise was Champagne Charlie’s.

LOL! How funny! Geraldine is my son's Fiance! Can't wait to share your comment with her and DS! He was the Production Manager in the Stardust on your cruise.

 

I'm enjoying your review. Well written!

 

AWWW!!! I miss my kids so much already! I spent 5 weeks in Tampa rehearsing them and 2 weeks on the crossing (with you and others!) getting them up and running. They are one of the BEST casts I have ever worked with anywhere! Thanks for the pics and the great reviews of the production shows!!!

 

Nathan

Hey Nathan - Hope your vacation in Barclona was fun. Are you rehearsing another cast? {{Hugs}}

[WYTinman]

I had two wonerful dinners in Le'Bistro.

 

The first I ate alone. I never felt out of place in any venue on the Spirit because I was solo. In fact the staff seems to make an extra effort to make solos feel comfortable. Here is antother area that I wish I had taken more photos.

 

My first meal was a normal "I want meat" for dinner. I ordered the Onion Soup and Grilled Asparagus as appetizers and the Grilled Beef Tenderloin. The soup was gone by the time I remembered that I had my I-phone for pistures. I did remember for the Asparagus and Tenderloin.

 

 

 

Many places I've eaten in the past tend to over cook asparagus. Le'Bistro grilles everything to perfection. The kitchen is in the back of the restaurant and open to view and I was able to watch my entire meal being prepared.

 

The second dinner I had decided to go all seafood. I wanted to try the Grilled Swordfish Loin. I ordered the Scallops and Escargot as appitizers to go along with the swordfish. WOW!!! this meal was worth every penny of the price of admission. One thing I can't figure out is why NCL charges $25.00 pp for Cagney's and only $20.00 for Le'Bistro. In my opinion the better restaurant acroos the board was Le'Bistro. Maybe I shouldn't say anything here for fear NCL will correct this oversight. But if you can only do one speciality restaurant pick the cheaper, better, Le'Bistro.

 

 

[WYTinman]

The Chefs Table

 

I had read many comments here on CC about the Chefs Table and was excited when NCL decided to open it up fleet wide. Many people have posted about it and have included some wonderful pictures. I, of course forgot to take pictures of every course. Search Chefs table and you can find pictures of the courses I forgot. In particular view puddles99's review of the Sun, she has great pictures linked in her review. I will list the menu descriptions and add the photos I have.

 

This meal is a delight. 9 courses and dessert with wine parings between

 

courses. We started in Champagne Charlie's for a glass of champagne (sparkling wine) then we were escorted to a back Dining Room adjacent to Cagney's. We were greated by The hotel director, Armondo Da Silva. He introduced the the food and Beverage Director, Ivo Belev, the restaurant manager, Mihaela Mocan, and the Executive Chef Baiju Ravindran.

 

From there it was all the Chefs show. He described every course prior to serving and did a wonderful job.

 

The First course was Amuse Bouche "Molecular Gastronome"

described as Spherical Mango, Vodka, & Jalapeno Ravioli.

 

It is a spoon full of salsa marinated in the Vodka-Jalapeno with a round piece of mango that looks like an egg yolk sitting on top. It was a quick one or two bite course and tastes much better than it sounds.

 

The Second course was Tomato, Basil, Curry & Lavender Lavosh. These were assorted crisps of the above listed flavors in different colors associated with the flavor.

 

The Third Course was Ahi Tuna Tartare

with Orange Wasabi Glaze, Sesame crisp

 

My camera finally came out with this one.

 



 

The layers from top to bottom are The Sesame crisp, cavier, sour cream, tuna, and a crispy base, that was like fried onions. There was a flavor in the middle of the tune that I assume was the Wasabi. It wasn't very strong so it was hard for me to tell.

 

The above courses were served with a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand that was very good.

 

We were then served a Chardonnay from California for the next courses.

 

Course 4; Asparagus Cream Soup

with Cauliflower Flan, Crispy Beetroot & Saffron Angle Hair.

 

Sorry no picture. I've already said how much I like Asparagus so this course was gone before the camera was even thought of. The soup was served with a small mound of cauliflower flam in the middle of the bowl. On top of that were dried shreds of the beet root. I don't recall what the Saffron Angle Hair was.

 

Course 5; Short Crust Tartlet

Goat Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato Chutney, Basil Oil, Kalamata Olive Tapenade.

 

 

My best description would be a small tomato and goat cheese pizza. Pretty yummy.

 

Course 6; Granite

Grapefruit & Moscato

 

This was a frozen course best described as a light grapefruit shave ice. It was used to clear your palate prior to the next courses.

 

Course 7; Pan Seared Sea Bass

Plantin Crusted, Mango, Papaya & Avacado Salsa, Lobster Valute

 

 

We had another wine change after the Sea Bass. Now they presented a Cabernet Sauvignon from California

 

Course 8; Milk Fed Veal Chop

Anna Potatoes, Sauteed Spinach, Truffle Veal Jus

 

 

 

 

Course 9; Cheese

 

 

Dessert is next

[WYTinman]

LOL! How funny! Geraldine is my son's Fiance! Can't wait to share your comment with her and DS! He was the Production Manager in the Stardust on your cruise.

 

I'm enjoying your review. Well written!

 

Thank you for the compliment crew mom.

 

I hope we are talking about the same girl. For a great part of the cruise I confused her name with Gabrielle (?) from the CD's staff. Geraldine would always chastise me if I walked by Charlie's and didn't at least wave.

 

Is your son Sean? again forgive me if I spelled it wrong. I met Sean briefly on the cruise. The entire production staff put in alot of time perfecting the shows. Their hard work was evident.

[WYTinman]

Dessert was two different courses in its self.

 

The men were served "Dome" a Yogurt Mousee with Lychee Raspberry Creme, Hazel Sablee, and Lime Vanilla Reduction.

 

 

The women were served a Chocolate Log. Spiced Rum Infused Banana with a Cocoa Mousse.

 

 

Needless to say most of the men only got small tastes on the Chocolate Log. I have been told on good authority that it was heavenly. (My taste was very small)

 

Introductions of the Chefs Staff.

 

Chef Baiju Ravindran Explaining a Course before Serving

 

Sorry about the "Red Eye" I'm still learning my I-phone.

 

This dinner costs $75.00 pp. Limited to 12 people. You do get an execptional meal and alot of wine. They give you a copy of the menu signed by the Chef and other Sr. Staff that were present. Also they take group and individual photographs that they present after dinner. For me it was worth the price and I will sign up again on my next cruise.

 

Next Ponta Delgada

 

Thanks for reading

[WYTinman]

In the early morning of Day 10 we were treated to a long forgotton site. LAND HO!

 

Ponta Delgada is the largest city on the Azores island of Sao Miguel.

 

LAND HO!! Azores to the left of the sunrise

 

 

 

 

 

Just our luck Voyager of the Sea beat us into Port

[WYTinman]

lmcgrail from our CC rollcall had arrainged a private tour for us in Ponta Delgada We did a full day tour of the center part of the island with stops in the town of Furnas, Funas Lake, a tea factory, and liquor factory. We also stopped for lunch near Furnas. I will tell this story with pictures. Here I did take many.You'll see why as I start posting.

 

Coming into port

 

Downtown from the ship

 

Entrance to the Port

Colorful store fronts

 

[WYTinman]

Typical European streets

 

Our first stop overlooking the south coast

 

 

 

The Cruise Critics

 

[WYTinman]

Our second stop was a unique little chapel. A wedding was taking place inside so I didn't go up for pictures.

 

 

 

 

The view from the chapel

 

The road to Furnas

 

[WYTinman]

Furnas Lake

Village of Furnas

The lookout

 

[WYTinman]

Many of the resturants in the village of Furnas offer a traditional Stew that is cooked overnight in the ground near the hot springs (Calderas) of Furnas lake.

 

 

 

 

 

Buried cooking pots

 

Calderas

[WYTinman]

The village of Furnas is also dotted with Calderas

 

 

 

 

 

 

A naturally carbonated cold water spring right next to the caldera field

[www3traveler]

Are the Hot Springs similar to what is in Yellowstone? This looks like a great tour. Are you going again next April? Was this one of the private tours or an NCL tour? Looks like something I would like to do.

[WYTinman]

We stopped for lunch at a small place in Furnas. Most of these photos are from lmcgrail Thanks again.

 

Traditional Stew 5 different meats, and various veggies. This was taken after we had already dug in. This serving size is for 4 people. We had 6 and this is what is left after the first serving and wine was included.

 

 

Boston Bill and Charleen (Gypsywoman24) testing the wine and proofing photos

 

The infamous Wytinman, Dusty, and Charleen solving the worlds problems.

 

AJ and her daughter

 

Dave, Carol, AJ and her daughter.

 

The staff