Review of the SPIRIT - Cruise to AK 9/10-9/17/05

[Hikini]

This was our 3rd cruise on NCL to Alaska and it was just as good as ever. We have been on 3 different NCL ships. NCL Sky in September, 2003, NCL Star in June, 2004 and now the NCL Spirit.

 

We arrived at Pier 66 in Seattle around 10:30. This was very early, but our ride needed to be across town for another function so he had to take us early. We thought we'd have to wait quite awhile, just because we were early. There were 5 of us in our group, 3 of us are Latitudes members. There was a change in the way they accept your luggage. We went into the building in a different place and I was glad for this because we didn't have to stand outside where rain was threatening.

 

Each step along the way we were met by helpful staff who all appeared to be in a good mood. In less than 5 minutes we were heading upstairs to the check in area. I was surprised to see that there were hardly any passengers who appeared to still be disembarking, which told me that process had gone smoothly for those just leaving the ship today. This was a good sign.

 

Upstairs there were almost no passengers checking in yet. We got into the Latitudes line and were waited on right away. Turn in your documents, show your ID, let them swipe your credit card, smile pretty for the camera, receive your shiny new sign & sail card and then head over to the sitting area where we are told we'll start boarding at about 11:45. NCL provided slices of pound cake, muffins, coffee and orange juice. Let the eating begin!

 

Since we were among the first to arrive we were given a boarding ticket that said we were in group #1. Being that my parents are older, they can't stand for long periods, so we were happy to sit in chairs and wait for the boarding time to begin. Here is one tiny little gripe I could make. When they began boarding, they didn't call group #1, then group #2 and so on. They said for all who are holding boarding tickets 1-4 they could start boarding. I felt it would have been more organized if they'd have stuck to smaller groups.

 

As soon as we stepped on board the ship, the ooohs and aaaahs began. We were met with helpful NCL staff who were anxious to answer any questions or give directions to anyone who needed them.

 

We made our way to our rooms and were pleased with what we saw. While no one could call the rooms spacious, they are plenty big enough. This one had a closet with more shelving in it than we've had before and I appreciated that.

 

The bathroom on this ship took the best of both the Sky and the Star and combined them to make the best bathroom we've ever had on a ship. The toilet is not in a cubby hole but is right out in the bathroom, not causing anyone to feel cramped. The shower is large and even comes with a Grohe spray nozzle that is adjustable and removeable for better coverage.

 

The sink area in the bathroom has small shelves for your toiletry items, as well as a shelf below the sink. Plenty of room for most people. Included are bottles of lotion, shower caps and shoe shining cloths. A soap dispenser is on the wall by the sink, and in the shower there is a soap and shampoo dispenser. There is a vacuum-cleaner-hose-style blow dryer for your hair and it is powerful enough for most.

 

While the room is big enough for us and our luggage, I did miss having a refrigerator. They do keep the ice bucket full and fresh but it's not the same as having a fridge to keep a bottle of water or pop in. But we managed to survive the week without it.

 

After checking out our room and approving of it we made our way to Windows restaurant for our first meal on board. Windows is one of the two main dining rooms (no extra charge) and is at the back of the ship on deck 6. It's easy to see where it gets its name, as the back of the ship has large floor to ceiling windows, that at this time were looking over the downtown Seattle area including Safeco Field and the Seahawks Stadium.

 

We were led to a table right by one of these large windows and had a great view. The restaurant was nearly empty and even though we were in there for well over an hour, hardly anyone came in there. I guess most people headed for the buffet.

 

The restaurant is beautiful and the staff was attentive and very friendly. They wanted to know where we were from, about our families and if we'd cruised before. They were anxious to answer our questions about their homeland and families. Most of them seemed excited that they were given this opportunity to work in such a way that they could send money home to their families.

 

After a very nice meal we went to check out the rest of the ship. Knowing that the ship was headed to drydock in just two weeks after our cruise began, it made me think that there must be repairs and such that needed to be made. You wouldn't know it by looking around because the ship is in great shape and they are always cleaning something. It gleemed all the time.

 

Throughout the cruise we had several meals in Windows as well as the Garden Room which is the other main, no extra charge dining room. Both of them have the same menu, but in different settings. The Garden Room is also on deck 6 but is midship. It is much smaller than Windows, but is a nice sized restaurant as well. Both are elegant.

 

The menu choices in the main dining rooms are varied and sufficient to cover most palate preferences. I appreciate that they always offered things that those who are watching their diet could partake in. Cooking Light choices, as well as salads and vegetable dishes. Each meal there were different choices, but each day there were certain things that were always available. Caesar Salad, chicken breast, baked potatoes, etc. Each menu offered a seafood item or two, a beef, pork or chicken item, a pasta item and usually a vegatarian item as well.

 

One of my favorite things on our past cruises have been the chilled soups. Usually a fruit soup of some kind. This cruise had less of those items, which was a disappointment, but when there was chilled soup on the menu, I ordered them! I love those chilled fruit soups. Honestly, they are more like a dessert than a soup, but who cares!

 

And speaking of desserts, this cruise did not disappoint in any way! Creme Brulee, cakes of all kinds, peach cobbler, rhubarb slump, cheesecake, and the list goes on and on. Always about 5 different desserts to choose from, along with ice creams and sherbets of several flavors.

 

One evening my Dad didn't want to have any dessert as he was full enough. When the waiter came around taking orders, my Dad told him he wanted nothing. When the waiter served our desserts a few minutes later he came to my Dad last and said, "You wanted nothing sir?" My Dad said yes, then the waiter asked him again and again my Dad said yes. Then the waiter set down a plate in front of Dad that had the word, "Nothing" written in chocolate in beautiful hand writing.

 

We ate in the Blue Lagoon which is a small cafe on deck 7, midship, that offers the same items every day. Open 24 hours. The hamburgers are very good but I'll save my highest praise for the chili. Mind you, it is very spicy which is why I liked it so much!

 

We had heard (on these boards) so many complaints about the buffet. I was prepared for it to be mediocre at best, so I was pleasantly surprised and left scratching my head as to why there would be so much complaining about it. It IS just a standard buffet so you must start out with that in mind. One of the complaints I had heard is that the food wasn't warm enough. We didn't find that to be true at all. No complaints here whatsoever.

 

We usually ate our breakfasts in the buffet, which was crowded at breakfast time. It was a bit difficult to find a table for 4 or 5 during the peak breakfast hours but we managed. All breakfast items that you can imagine were available. Hot cereal, cold cereal, breads, muffins and bagels, fresh fruit each and every day, sausages, hash browns, corned beef hash, pancakes, waffles, omelets, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, cold cuts, and the list goes on. No reason to go hungry here!

 

We did have breakfast in Windows 2 times and I completely enjoyed that too. A little hint here....don't wait until disembarking day to eat in Windows as the menu isn't the same as the other days. But on the other days, omelets were available with your choice of cheese, ham and mushrooms or all of the above. Eggs Benedict was available and it was delicious! All items available on the buffet were also on the menu in Windows. The best part is that you don't have to hunt down a table for everyone.

 

During the lunch and dinner hours there is a salad bar and a dessert bar at the buffet. Anyone who is careful about what they eat could find healthy choices at any time, as well as fine tasting sugar free desserts. They also had sugar free syrup for your pancakes if you choose.

 

During off-peak dining hours there were always small sandwiches available with about 5 or 6 different varieties on different types of bread. Along with other snack-type items including chips and salsa.

 

Also, in the buffet area every day for several hours a few different types of ice cream are available. They scoop it for you, but you can have more if you wish to return. The line for ice cream was never long at all.

 

This cruise I chose not to participate in the soda program as I felt it was more money than it was worth, for me. So instead of drinking diet Coke with my meals I asked for Iced Tea, which is no extra charge. I'm not really an Iced Tea drinker, but I sure enjoyed it on this ship. It was always served with a slice of lemon, and packets of sugar, Sweet & Low, Equal or Splenda.

 

Twice during the week there are Olde English style fish and chips available in Henry's Pub between 12 and 2pm. This was a problem for me. Having been on the Star, where the Blue Lagoon has the fish and chips available 24/7, it was difficult to have to plan to go to the Pub during those hours. The Pub is a small, cramped place for dining and it was crowded in there during the fish and chip hours, so I found this to be a drawback. But the fish and chips were really tasty and even though it was not as convenient as on the Star, I would do it again if sailing on the Spirit again.

 

I didn't go to The Cafe at all but my Mom did and said the cappucinos there were good and there were some scrumptious desserts for sale.

 

In the afternoons, usually around departure time, there is a barbecue on the pool deck if weather permits. I didn't partake in any of it but walked past there several times and everything looked and smelled wonderful. Hamburgers with all the fixings available, hotdogs, chicken, ribs, salmon, sausages, etc. I can't imagine anyone not being satisfied with the food - it was plentiful and delicious at every turn!

 

OK, let's try to stop talking about food for awhile!:D

 

The ship itself is truly beautiful. The Asian decor is tasteful and not over done. I do hope that nothing changes during the drydock improvements. The carpeting throughout the hallways are bright and warm, with a color scheme so you can keep track of where you are. Red in front (forward) Blue in the middle (midship) and Green in the back (aft.) The carpets were always clean and freshly shampooed. There was always a fresh, clean smell about the ship. In each stairwell was a statue or statuette, or art piece of some kind.

 

There are going to be improvements made to the gift shop during drydock, so I won't complain about how small it was or that there were no drug or toiletry items available. There are also going to be improvements made to the photo gallery, so I won't complain about how congested that area got during certain times. Some of the things would be improved without enlarging the area, if certain passengers would realize they are not the only people on the ship!

 

I am not a gambler so didn't spend more than a couple of minutes in the casino. But my cousins husband, who is a seasoned gambler, had nothing good to say about the casino. His philosophy is that he knows he's going to lose his money eventually, but likes to 'play' for awhile and get some enjoyment from it. But he said the slots were so tight that there was no playing at all. (I thought he would learn after the first night, but apparently he had to learn this every single day.)

 

The lounges throughout the ship are neat and nice and the staff is always very helpful and friendly. We enjoyed spending time in Galaxy of the Stars which is at the front of the ship on deck 12. Certain events take place in there throughout the day but if you didn't want to be bothered by them you could sit in the glassed off area and enjoy the view and (mostly) quiet. Plenty of comfortable seats around with tables to set your drinks on, or use for writing postcards, etc.

 

We spent a lot of time in the card room (and Mahjong room). Both rooms have several tables for 4 to play games at. Decks of cards are provided, as well as a large selection of board games and others such as Yahtzee. Also, several puzzles were available and I was surprised to see how many people worked on puzzles throughout the week. But there are almost-floor to ceiling windows in there, so you have a great view as we travel along.

 

The entertainment was very good. I'm not really into Broadway shows, so I don't have much to compare to there. But I loved the comedian, Ritchie Minervini and the comedy/ventriloquist Ken Groves. I don't know about the ventriloquist, but I know Ritchie was leaving the ship after our cruise to join the crew on the Jewel. He was good for several belly laughs.

 

Most of the shows take place in the Moulin Rouge theater which is at the back of the ship on deck 7. (Balcony on deck 8 but very limited seating there.) Most of the seats in the theater have good views, however, we found during one show that sitting near the back was not good. Too much vibration, making it difficult to hear.

 

Back to food for a moment.....

 

On the last full day at sea was NCL's signature Chocoholics buffet. They opened it up about an hour ahead of time for pictures only. It was difficult to walk by those beautiful creations without reaching out to take one. Slap my hands! And then an hour later we filled our tiny plates with so many different chocolate delacacies there was no way possible to eat them all in one setting. But I didn't come on the cruise to be on a diet so of course I had a heaping plate full just like everyone else. Here's another small complaint. The chocolate buffet was in the Moulin Rouge, which left no place to take your plate to sit and have coffee. On the other NCL ships we've been on the chocolate buffet was in a main dining room. You could take your plate, a hostess would take you to a table and a waiter would bringer water and coffee. This time it seemed so unorganized to me, as people are filing out of the theater with plates full of goodies, wondering where to go. We headed up to Raffles Buffet to find a table near the coffee urns!

 

We didn't use the pools at all, but the Tivoli Pool area with the hot tubs, is beautiful. We had the good fortune of having wonderful weather throughout this cruise, so the pools were used a lot. The Buccaneer's Wet & Wild (kiddie pool) at the back on deck 10 was used quite a bit too. A very attractive area to keep the kids busy.

 

Kristie, of our roll call group, had arranged with NCL to have a Cruise Critics meet and greet on the 2nd day of the cruise. This was in the Clipper room and it was done very nicely by the staff. They provided cookies, coffee, orange juice and water in this private meeting room. The room itself was very attractive and even though there were only about 12-14 of us total, it was really nice to have this opportunity to meet each other. I appreciated NCL's willingness to let us meet each other in this fashion.

 

The long and short of my very long review here is that while I could nit pick over certain things, there really is no need to. This was a wonderful cruise, with many different things to highly praise. The staff was exceptional, as they always have been on NCL. Our room stewardess Rose was a beautiful, lovely young woman who did everything she could to make us comfortable. The cruise director, Kevin Warner was fun, and funny and I liked that he seemed to get to know many of the passengers on a personal level.

 

This was the smoothest sailing we've ever had and I don't know if the credit goes to the ship and captain or to the beautiful weather that we had. Maybe a combination of them all.

 

Would I sail on the Spirit again? You bet! I loved the Spirit. There are things unique about each ship and I've loved each one of them. Will I sail with NCL again? 100 percent positively yes! They have done nothing except treat us with the utmost of respect. (Oh how I wish some of the passengers would learn what this word 'respect' means!)

 

Thanks for staying awake to read all of this, and if you have any questions at all, I'd be happy to try and answer them.

 

Hikini:D

[WaldosPepper]

Wow, Hikini! Excellent review! I'm glad to see more and more positive reviews about the Spirit, because we're considering sailing on her in February. It certainly sounds as if you had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed this ship. Thanks very much for sharing your insights about so many facets of your experience.

[singitalto]

Great review! :D

 

We will be on the Spirit Easter week with a bunch of friends.

Where was your room, was it in a good location? We are midship on deck 10.

Did you order room service? Was the RS menu the same as the other ships?(contentental breakfast, sandwiches, pizza, salad,desserts etc.)

 

Did you try the Temmpanyaki room? The last 3 cruises we did the Tempanyaki on the Dawn , the kids LOVED it!

Getting excited!

:D

[Don Haynes]

NCL had a choice, the Sun or the Spirit, when picking one of its ships to be the second permanent ship out of New York City. It appears NCL chose well.... The Spirit is a very unique ship....being the former first new built ship for NCL parent firm Star Cruises in 1999, aka the SuperStar Leo, the pride onboard this ship shows.....

 

Having said the above, in no way am I downgrading the Sun.... I am at the moment deciding whether to do the Sun or the Dream for a cruise out of Houston in December. I am sure the Sun will be a wonderful ship too, being a couple of years younger. Its as if NCL would have done as well picking either ship.... but the pride onboard the Spirit shows.....

[emcemt]

Just curious if any staff or officers showed up at you CC meeting. When we had ours on the Dawn last year we had numerous staff show up and it just adds to the meeting.

[SailAways]

Thanks Hikini for such a nice review of "our" ship.

Glad that you echoed my feelings on many of the marvelous aspects of this great ship.

For "singitalto": I was on deck 10 - forward, and it was wonderful. Had

Roberto and Jennifer as steward/ess and they did a fantastic job. Nice

smooth sailing all of the way on this deck.

Thanks again Hikini - nice to have met you. We are hoping to see

you again on another cruise one of these days.

We will certainly try to get back to Alaska - what an awesome part of these beautiful United States.

Glorious all of the way!!

Just sorry that the Spirit won't be in Seattle any longer.

 

SailAways :)

[Hikini]

Great review! :D

 

We will be on the Spirit Easter week with a bunch of friends.

Where was your room, was it in a good location? We are midship on deck 10.

Did you order room service? Was the RS menu the same as the other ships?(contentental breakfast, sandwiches, pizza, salad,desserts etc.)

 

Did you try the Temmpanyaki room? The last 3 cruises we did the Tempanyaki on the Dawn , the kids LOVED it!

Getting excited!

:D

 

Our rooms were on deck 6 forward. Perfectly smooth.

 

We didn't order room service but I did look at the menu and it looked to be the same as we had on the Star last June. The items as you mentioned above.

 

We didn't try the Teppanyaki Room or any of the specialty restaurants. I always feel that the food is great in the no-extra-pay restaurants, so can't justify spending more. But I have nothing against those who DO want to try them! I was tempted by Maxim's on the Spirit because the menu there had some wonderful sounding items.

 

Have fun!

Hikini:D

[Hikini]

Just curious if any staff or officers showed up at you CC meeting. When we had ours on the Dawn last year we had numerous staff show up and it just adds to the meeting.

 

Sorry - forgot to answer your question. There were no staff members at our CC meeting. I hadn't really thought about it while we were there together. We had so much to visit about on our own.

 

Hikini:D

[Armchairtravelwoman]

<The chocolate buffet was in the Moulin Rouge, which left no place to take your plate to sit and have coffee.>

 

Hi Hikini, Now that I've finished my own review I want to tell you how much I liked yours! I agree the chocolate buffet arrangement was kind of strange. After viewing it in the Moulin Rouge we went to Maharajah's Casino. After a while we noticed people walking around with plates of chocolates and discovered they had moved a bunch of it into that big empty room behind the casino and were passing it out in there. And of course people are trying to eat it and play slots and there was no room for a plate of food. There were discarded plates of chocolate everywhere! I thought it would have been much better in Windows where there would be plenty of room to sit and eat.

 

By the way, I loved those chilled soups too! Not something I would normally have, but the combinations sounded so unusual I couldn't resist and they were delicious!

[dr. dover]

I enjoyed the buffet with the reservation of the portions being too large. I would have preferred smaller pieces, could have gotten a better variety that way. We were told we could take our plates to windows by one attendant but another tried to turn us away. We went in anyway and the restaurant staff quickly provided water, napkins and silverware as needed.

[Hikini]

I hope for future cruisers sake that they remedy this. It really wasn't the greatest thing to have people wondering all over the ship with plates full of chocolate, etc.

 

I agree with you dr. dover - that smaller portions would be good for a larger variety. And they give you such tiny little plates....hmmm, maybe for a very good reason!:p