Spirit - Last cruise before dry dock in Med. Is this is bad choice?

[buzymom3]

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary and are looking at Spirit in mid-December.  We are taking our 4 adult kids also, so 3 cabins.  We have never cruised with NCL and I am reading the reviews of Spirit and am a little concerned about the condition of the ship.  But then I read that NCL has cancelled Spirits cruises in January for an extended dry dock so it looks like this is the last cruise for her for a while.  Dates are December 15 to 22nd ... the itinerary looks fun.

 

What are your thoughts?  I've read of instances of last cruises before dry dock where the work is started and it is a mess with carpets being taken up, etc.

Our other options was MSC Gloriosa, but it's just so big...and those reviews are even worse.  We have cruised RCCL extensively, and Princess in Alaska. 

This cruise is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and we need to celebrate.  We've been thru more than most (I'm a 5 time cancer survivor) and really want to do this right.

Thank you so much for any help.

[vwlmember]

1 hour ago, buzymom3 said:

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary and are looking at Spirit in mid-December.  We are taking our 4 adult kids also, so 3 cabins.  We have never cruised with NCL and I am reading the reviews of Spirit and am a little concerned about the condition of the ship.  But then I read that NCL has cancelled Spirits cruises in January for an extended dry dock so it looks like this is the last cruise for her for a while.  Dates are December 15 to 22nd ... the itinerary looks fun.

 

What are your thoughts?  I've read of instances of last cruises before dry dock where the work is started and it is a mess with carpets being taken up, etc.

Our other options was MSC Gloriosa, but it's just so big...and those reviews are even worse.  We have cruised RCCL extensively, and Princess in Alaska. 

This cruise is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and we need to celebrate.  We've been thru more than most (I'm a 5 time cancer survivor) and really want to do this right.

Thank you so much for any help.

Cruises before a dry dock can be a gamble. Our transatlantic on the Getaway this past April was right before she went into dry dock. Our cruise was shortened by two days with only one week's notice and they did start working on the ship a few days before the cruise ended (the promenade on deck 8 was closed to foot traffic while they repainted railings). Although this type of situation is not always the case, I personally would never book a cruise just prior to dry dock ever again on any line.

Edited July 1, 2019 by vwlmember

[bluesea777]

Your cruise (Dec 15-22) isn't the last cruise before dry-dock. There is one more cruise - a holiday one - Dec 22 - Jan 3.

 

 

[mugtech]

Ask anyone who was on the last cruise before the Sun dry dock if they will ever book the last cruise before a dry dock again.  It got ugly.

[buzymom3]

Just realized that there is another cruise after this one...a Christmas one.  So we should be fine right?  Thank you @bluesea777

[Wedgie23]

7 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Ask anyone who was on the last cruise before the Sun dry dock if they will ever book the last cruise before a dry dock again.  It got ugly.

Was that the one where they were full on breaking the ship apart- had workers with hazmat or breathing apparatuses sanding away parts of the ship feet away from decks of people? People got covered in dust and started wheezing? I'd only seen it in pictures but it looked like just about the entire outside became unusable for the trip due to it being fenced off or I'm guessing just the fumes alone. 

 

Did the passengers ever get their refunds? I really can't believe any line would have done something like that and certainly not Norwegian. I don't even think 'refund' would be enough for a situation entirely of the lines own making that has the ship unusable or dangerous to it's passengers. 

 

Other than a gap of sailing dates for a ship is there any way to know for sure when it is going into dry dock? Sorry if this is a derailment from the OPs question.  

[ighten]

Did Epic on its last cruise before Dry Dock - only issues were main theatre closed down part way through so everyone got free cirque (Which is either good thing or a bad thing depending on your views of that show).. Other than that everything was great and the performers actually were having a last blast of fun before a break which made some of the smaller shows and acts even better fun.

[bluesea777]

2 hours ago, buzymom3 said:

Just realized that there is another cruise after this one...a Christmas one.  So we should be fine right?  Thank you @bluesea777

 

Yes, you should be fine. We have made a rule not to go on the last pre-drydock cruises, or the first post-drydock cruises.

 

When we were looking for our Xmas/New-Year cruises the Spirit one came up as we were interested, until they cancelled the Jan 2020 cruises and turned it into the last pre-drydock cruise. We found and booked the Jade one.

 

We were on the Spirit last year and had a great time - loved the ship! We are going back on her next month! Lovely ship albeit being the smallest and oldest ship of the NCL fleet. Hopefully the long dry dock will see her into the new era. She needs one, especially the cabins and bathrooms.

 

ENJOY!!

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by bluesea777

[tomk3212]

@vwlmemberI was on the same cruise & I echo your comments!  Did you submit a claim for the $300 per pax they offered for hotel and/or flight changes?  We did back in May & other than an acknowledgement from NCL haven't heard a peep since.

 

The Spirit is...well different from any other ship in NCL's fleet.  NCL picked her up from her prior parent company in a swap for another ship; her original name was "Super Star Leo" and was built for an Oriental market back in 1998, I think.  We sailed on her several times from 2004-2006 before she went to Europe & liked her a lot.  Our son and daughter-in-law went on her in Europe this past year & also liked the experience.

 

Here's a Wiki article that can give you her history:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Spirit

 

If she's going in for an extensive refit I wonder if NCL is planning on lengthening her like they did to the NCL Majesty?

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

[casofilia]

As an aside; is anyone able to tell me which specialty dining rooms are the offered ones for the Platinum Latitude perks on the Spirit please?

Thanks

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, casofilia said:

As an aside; is anyone able to tell me which specialty dining rooms are the offered ones for the Platinum Latitude perks on the Spirit please?

Thanks

There are no extras added, so it’s Cagneys or Le Bistro for one and the other is just La Trattoria.

[casofilia]

Thanks Keith

Mike

[vwlmember]

9 hours ago, tomk3212 said:

@vwlmemberI was on the same cruise & I echo your comments!  Did you submit a claim for the $300 per pax they offered for hotel and/or flight changes?  We did back in May & other than an acknowledgement from NCL haven't heard a peep since.

 

The Spirit is...well different from any other ship in NCL's fleet.  NCL picked her up from her prior parent company in a swap for another ship; her original name was "Super Star Leo" and was built for an Oriental market back in 1998, I think.  We sailed on her several times from 2004-2006 before she went to Europe & liked her a lot.  Our son and daughter-in-law went on her in Europe this past year & also liked the experience.

 

Here's a Wiki article that can give you her history:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Spirit

 

If she's going in for an extensive refit I wonder if NCL is planning on lengthening her like they did to the NCL Majesty?

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

I did not have to file a claim as my airfare was arranged through NCL.  I do feel bad for all of you who are still having to deal with this situation more than two months after sailing.  We will not be cruising with NCL again.  That was just too much ignorance for me to ever trust them again.

[tomk3212]

@vwlmember  You're lucky!  Someone in another thread ("Letter from NCL"  is the title) posted a letter they got from Vivian Ewalt, who is NCL's Sr. Customer Service VP.  It speaks VOLUMES re: NCL ineptness at handling customer service complaints.