Norwegian Spirit 8 Night Asia Cruise

[WesternBroncoCruiser]

My cousin is currently stationed in Japan and wants us to join him on the Norwegian Spirit for an 8 Night Asian cruise out of Tokyo in May of next year.  My concern is that his only previous experience was on the Bliss out of Alaska and that not only will this cruise not be exactly what we want , but him also.   Has anyone been on Spirit since the refurbish in 2017?   We it just a soft good refresh.   I remember that Norwegian did a huge facelift on Joy before bringing it to North America, swapping out venues that were specifically designed for the Asian market and refitting them with things that were supposed to appeal to North Americans.  

 

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[WesternBroncoCruiser]

Anyone  have some input???

[bluesea777]

The Spirit undergoes an extensive dry dock from Jan 3 to Feb 10 2020.

 

 

[rxlowry]

The Spirit is our favorite ship of NCL's right now.  What features are important for you on a ship?  If it is a port intensive cruise, keep that in mind as well.  I heard from the crew in July they are adding restaurants and Starbucks but this wasn't definite.  The Spirit has a great observation style lounge, Galaxy of the Stars.  I think the crew was great as well.

[bluesea777]

Yes, I agree! Spirit is a great ship for port intensive cruises. She is small enough for passengers to get off and back on very easily in ports. The crew is fantastic.

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by bluesea777

[WesternBroncoCruiser]

I was reading that the ship is marketed heavily towards the Asian market.   Any idea of what percentage of guests will be English speakers, and any idea how the languages difference are handled when there is a good percentage of non-English speakers on board.   I am not zenophobic, but I just want to understand how to the cruise might be different than a cruise a cruise where most guests are English speaking.   I heard the food might be differnt too - a combination of Western influenced and Asian.

[KeithJenner]

6 hours ago, WesternBroncoCruiser said:

I was reading that the ship is marketed heavily towards the Asian market.   Any idea of what percentage of guests will be English speakers, and any idea how the languages difference are handled when there is a good percentage of non-English speakers on board.   I am not zenophobic, but I just want to understand how to the cruise might be different than a cruise a cruise where most guests are English speaking.   I heard the food might be differnt too - a combination of Western influenced and Asian.

Where did you read that?

 

My understanding is that it is just an NCL ship which is sailing in Asia, so it will likely have some people from that area who join it, but also many people who fly in from elsewhere, much as every other ship does.

 

It is impossible to tell what the split will be. For example, we recently got off of the Spirit sailing out of the U.K. (and fairly well marketed in the U.K.) and we were outnumbered hugely by both Australians and Americans. I’ve been on other U.K. sailings which had a good number of British cruisers onboard.

 

What you say about the food sounds unlikely to me. I would expect standard NCL menus, as is found on there ships everywhere.

 

NCL tried marketing the Joy towards the Asian market and that ship is now sailing from the US as it didn’t work out. I’d be surprised if they do the same with the Spirit.

[bluesea777]

May I add to Keithjenner’s post ... Spirit does have an Asian restaurant, a sushi bar and teppanyaki tables (currently one, but will be increased to 3 during dry dock).

 

 

[rxlowry]

The Spirit was originally a ship from an Asian company.  It still has some of the theming from those days.  I think there will still be a large amount of English speaking cruisers.  I'm sure announcements will be in English.  Menus are fleet wide so I doubt much will change there.  Drinks of the day will still be Bahama Mama and so on.   

[WesternBroncoCruiser]

This is a quote from the Norwegian website about the Spirit Refurb

Revitalized Norwegian Spirit to Serve China Market Seasonally Beginning Summer 2020

Norwegian Cruise Line remains committed to serving the Chinese cruise market and will deploy the 2,000 passenger Norwegian Spirit seasonally to the region beginning in summer 2020.  Prior to her arrival, Norwegian Spirit will undergo a previously scheduled bow-to-stern revitalization as the final ship to undergo enhancements under the Norwegian Edge^® fleet refurbishment program.  In February 2020 her journey from Europe to Asia will feature several exclusive sailings with new calls for Norwegian Cruise Line including South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles and Maldives.