NCL Spirit, give me your 411.

[feeloftheocean]

I don't think this is about complaining about this or that, but a legitimate question about the quality of the food, which is a major element of a cruise vacation for most people.

And whIle taste in food is subjective, I will again say that the food in the NCL buffet is bland to my taste, based on my 4 NCL cruises on different ships. If you re used to bland tasting food, maybe you won't care

[Froggitt]

Hope all these people who are stating the food is cold and bland are just overly fussy . Cheers .

Im not overly fussy.

 

In hindsight, I should have sent EVERY meal back that wasn't good enough. Im sure after the third or fourth time of returning lukewarm beef with gloopy gravy, they might put a bit more effort into bringing a hot one.

 

Our theory was that the kitchen was on the deck below and at the other end of the ship.

 

There was another comment the other day that I also agreed with......that many of the tables face kitchens and strip lights, but the "decent" tables e.g. by the windows, never seemed to fill up. Do they save them for suite guests, even though many of the suite guests were in the speciality restaurants?

[TSJE4]

Im not overly fussy.

 

In hindsight, I should have sent EVERY meal back that wasn't good enough. Im sure after the third or fourth time of returning lukewarm beef with gloopy gravy, they might put a bit more effort into bringing a hot one.

 

Our theory was that the kitchen was on the deck below and at the other end of the ship.

 

There was another comment the other day that I also agreed with......that many of the tables face kitchens and strip lights, but the "decent" tables e.g. by the windows, never seemed to fill up. Do they save them for suite guests, even though many of the suite guests were in the speciality restaurants?

 

 

Hmmm .... Looks like On our port intensive cruise the meal highlight will be lunch .

I know I will have a great time anyway as I chose this ship and line on purely its itinerary , but considering we pay for our meals with our fare I expect a certain standard as one does in any restaurant . One should not feel the need to pay extra to eat in the specialty restaurants because of the quality of the food in the complimentary ones .

If it is the position of the restaurant , then put more wait and kitchen staff to deal with this . Don,t NCL monitor these feeds . ... Since booking my cruise in August I have read more reports of

food ok or food bland and cold than excellent . Guess this Melbourne foodie will just have to find out herself in May . Trying to keep an open mind . It will not make or break my holiday but it will determine whether I ever book again .

[Froggitt]

Just keep on sending it back until it comes out hot. And ask for a table over there rather than the one youre given. And if the water or bread doesn't arrive within your expectations, ask. And if theres no waiter to ask, ask for the head waiter.

[Big Chippy]

We are on the spirit end of May and very excited about our trip . However So so hope all the reviews re slow MDR service and bland food is wrong . Food on cruises to me is one of the plus's of choosing a cruising holiday . " Eating out " breakfast lunch and dinner is part of the experience . We are previous P&O aust cruisers and The p&o menu is fresh varied and tasty and never lukewarm or cold . They even produce their own hardcover recipe book the food is that good. Also the service in MDR is outstanding with teams of two working together that have about 6 tables each and yes it's anytime dining like NCL although you can reserve a time and table in there MDR if you please including the same table every night if you wish . This is not due to the cruises being more expensive either - per night our NCL cruise is actually slightly more expensive in same category than our previous two P&o ,s . So why does NCL food in MDR often get a bad wrap . Is it because there are so many other options on board that you pay extra for they deliberately drop the standard so you will pay more for the others ??? Very excited about our cruise but so hope the cruisine will not let NCL down . Travelling with children it's not always an option to do the speciality restaurants .

 

 

Hi, I think your will be pleasantly surprised with the food on the Spirit, it is a fact that a number of recent reviews and opinions of the food have been critical but food is a very subjective subject. We found the food on the Spirit last year to be perfectly acceptable and are looking forward to sailing on her again in two weeks.

 

Your comments re the P&O Jewel and Dawn prompted me to look at their recent reviews and frankly the comments re food, particularly on the Jewel suggest the food is far worse than the Spirit. Perhaps things have changed since your last cruise.

 

Not wishing to create ill feeling, just suggesting that things will almost certainly turn out to be a lot better than you expect.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[kjbacon]

I am really intrigued by this ship. We were looking at the Canada itinerary years ago and just never did quite manage that one. Now with the new info out, the Western Carib itinerary looks interesting.

 

I gather from what I have read that this ship is not really similar to the Sun or the Star. I think I had just assumed that based on the size of the ships but looks like the old saying about assuming is right!!

 

What is the spa area like? Am I right that it is much smaller than Jewel class and there is no thassotherapy pool (even if I butchered the name)?

 

The suites look to be very different from the Dawn, Gem, etc. so would love to hear more about them or see your pictures!

[buckeye82]

I am really intrigued by this ship. We were looking at the Canada itinerary years ago and just never did quite manage that one. Now with the new info out, the Western Carib itinerary looks interesting.

 

I gather from what I have read that this ship is not really similar to the Sun or the Star. I think I had just assumed that based on the size of the ships but looks like the old saying about assuming is right!!

 

What is the spa area like? Am I right that it is much smaller than Jewel class and there is no thassotherapy pool (even if I butchered the name)?

 

The suites look to be very different from the Dawn, Gem, etc. so would love to hear more about them or see your pictures!

 

My DH and I were in an SE category Suite at the very front of the ship. I mean dead center under the bridge (10000). It was like being in another world. I can only say that it reminded me of what a captain's quarters might look like in a movie. You opened the door and everything was in dark wood. It made the cabin seem rather dark and cold. There was a hallway to the living area. Directly as you entered there was a half bath to your left. As you walked to the living area you could make a right turn into the bedroom (with normal closing door). You could also go into the bedroom through the living area and that could be closed off by a sliding door with glass panels that had curtains for privacy. Once in the bedroom there was the master bathroom that was closed off by curtains (my husband hated that). It had a huge jacuzzi tub, a long vanity with two sinks, a make up vanity area, a shower with glass doors and a toilet area with a glass door (another thing my husband was not crazy about). In the bedroom there was a closet, a big drawer/cabinet, bed, two night stands and a tv/dvr. In the living area there was a table with four chairs, a sofa, cocktail table,a nice chair, and a big hutch with more shelves and a tv/dvr. There was also a bar area for the coffee machine and glasses. In the living area there were two large windows with a door in the middle to the balcony. You open the door only to find another heavy metal door with a wheel in the middle. We had to spin the wheel around to unlatch the heavy door. Then you have to spin the wheel to latch it a little so it doesn't always swing open into you when you are on the balcony. The balcony was long but narrow with two chairs, a table and a lounger. The balcony was absolutely private. We would have had to climb on the railing to see our neighbors. It was also set back under the bridge so we got little sun. We woke up some nights to the sliding bedroom door opening and closing or the regular bedroom door slamming shut. I said it was the rough seas. My husband said it was the spirit (of the Spirit) being playful.

 

We just got off the Spirit this past Monday. I noticed some of the other suites at the front of the boat did not have the hallway we did and some were done in lighter wood colors.

 

We enjoyed the suite for it size and suite amentities, but I am moving back to the aft of the ship for my next cruise.

[Delbankin]

We cruised on Spirit at the beginning of January for the first time - Casablanca and the Canaries.

 

I'm not sure I can see why so many people describe her as their favourite NCL ship. Definitely smaller than what we are used to (Jade and larger Vista class ships from other lines) and it had some unique Asian themed interiors.

 

I found some areas too small e.g. The pub and Blue Lagoon (a walk through diner and bar next door). Also some dead ends ie towards the dining rooms.

 

The food was OK in the main dining areas (what do people expect from a galley catering for hundreds at a time!) with the main complaint being temperature - a number of people sending it back because it wasn't hot.

 

The ship is older and although showing a little wear and tear here and there is well kept. Again, people seem to have unreal expectations about cruise ships where they expect them to be as new all of the time. Similar expectations aren't had where hotels are concerned - how many people moan about faded carpets and interiors when staying in hotels?

 

We had some fairly rough seas on our trip which saw numbers around the ship reduced on some evenings. Conditions in and out of Casablanca caused the ship to move quite a bit. May have been the sea conditions during our cruise but we did find the ship pitched and rolled quite a bit.

 

The staff were in the main cheery and helpful which is what you would want on a holiday.

 

All in all we would cruise on Spirit again if the price was right.