Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

New Spirit !!!! Beautiful!!!

bluesea777

By bluesea777,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

EllieinNJ

EllieinNJ

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, mertziek said:

The completed areas look very nice BUT a lot of areas not completed and many unhappy passengers.  Lines at guest services were taking hours!  It’s not pretty and as smooth as many say.  Suites not done so all of those passengers downgraded into left over balconies.  Yes, that’s right - put into a lower cabin but told at check in we were upgraded.  How does that work?  This explains why so few on our Roll Call got upgrades.  NCL knew in advance the ship was far from done!  Two weeks ago they shortened the cruise last minute and offered cancel at no penalty but did not tell us the ship still would not be done so we scrambled and made adjustments to stay longer in Rome.  A great time.  Knowing what we now know and knowing NCL knew the ship was far from done, they should have offered a chance to cancel even last minute at no penalty once we realized our suite is not done or available.  I blame NCL corporate totally for this fiasco.  It appears they pushed people out of balconies to make room for downgraded suite passengers.  I don’t think so!  People complaining they booked a balcony and downgraded to an ocean view.  Teppanyaki not done.  Spa not done but they offer services.  How does that work?  A lot of loose panels open throughout the ship with people dressed in construction clothing walking the hallways.  Carpets not completely tacked down and lack of proper vacuuming in our cabin and hallways.  Looks like a lot of sloppy work, too.  Dented ceiling panels in several places in our balcony room.  This is brand new and it looks like that?  Very poor craftsmanship/ work in several areas!
 

The staff is wonderful and also struggling with so many uncompleted areas.  Feel bad for them.  Food is great but Cagney’s has a sliding door over where they have the breakfast buffet set up that is open but slides back and forth and just about took me out!  A dangerous situation.

 

I see NCL’s PR department is painting an entirely different picture on social media and while we are enjoying our “upgraded” downgraded cabin, NCL cannot cover up their glaring incompetence and selling this as the perfect launch.  We are determined to make this work but knowing what I know now, we would have canceled even on embarkation day, gone home and booked another time.  This has soured us on any future NCL cruises.  They knowingly withheld vital information from us.  Unforgivable!

Wow!! Will you be getting any compensation for the "downgrades"?  I cannot imagine booking a suite and having to go to a balcony or booking a balcony and having to go to an oceanview.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cc&jp

cc&jp

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, mertziek said:

Internet is working and slow as usual onboard ships at sea.

😞Did they forget to upgrade the internet part ? They didn't forget to upgrade the price of the premium internet package (with streaming), which is $34,99 a day now... or the bandwidth is dramatically reduced if you don't pay this price...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SteveH2508

SteveH2508

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, smurfgirl06 said:

I was on with him at Christmas. Aan is now head mixologist.  

Interesting job title - not sure that is a recognised officer rank but well deserved I'm sure. We do not remember many of the barstaff we have interacted with  - he is one of those we do remember however.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bluesea777

bluesea777

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Now in Haifa Israel. 
 

@mertziek

I don’t think we have met. I don’t know if you realize that a chuck (2-3 weeks) of the dry dock schedule got wasted by the French labour strikes and bad weather. So why blame on NCL. Also the French are said to be lousy plumbers. 
 

anyway we’re enjoying the cruise ourselves - having a ball despite the issues currently going on. Just waiting for warm weather so we can use the H2O pool. 
 

a lot of ppl seem to be enjoying themselves. 
 

This is our 2nd post dry dock cruise so we were prepared. This is our 25th NCL cruise so we just go along with it. Our 6 friends (that weee on Getaway TA in 2017 are here having good time. 
 

Edited by bluesea777
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BaWBarmy

BaWBarmy

Posted
Posted (edited)
On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2020 at 10:41 AM, CazV said:

The new itineraries are great and prices are very good if you're not a solo cruiser. 

 

Just booked. Prices are great. Balcony cabin for an April Greek Isles cruise out of Athens via Istanbul. Had a couple of Cruise Next vouchers and some compo from our November Star cruise plus there is still 30% off, paid gratuities up front plus the Free at Sea (Booze and Excursions). £720 per person

 

Can't wait.

Edited by BaWBarmy
edit
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CazV

CazV

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, BaWBarmy said:

 

Just booked. Prices are great. Balcony cabin for an April Greek Isles cruise out of Athens via Istanbul. Had a couple of Cruise Next vouchers and some compo from our November Star cruise plus there is still 30% off, paid gratuities up front plus the Free at Sea (Booze and Excursions). £720 per person

 

Can't wait.

 

I'll look forward to your photos. I'm hoping to see some better solo pricing crop up for October time. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mertziek

mertziek

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Now in Haifa Israel. 
 

@mertziek

I don’t think we have met. I don’t know if you realize that a chuck (2-3 weeks) of the dry dock schedule got wasted by the French labour strikes and bad weather. So why blame on NCL. Also the French are said to be lousy anyway.

I blame NCL for their poor communication to passengers regarding unfinished booked cabins.  I blame NCL for sending out a ship with blocks of cabins not completed for occupancy and affecting embarking passengers who did not get a heads up about cabins being downgraded.  Yes, that’s right - passenger cabin assignments were downgraded but the passengers did not find out until through the check in process.  Don’t think anyone can justify that.  It’s not NCL’s first time to have poor communication with passengers but we continue to receive those emails nearly daily about their great 30% off sale which is not really a sale after NCL upped their prices but I digress.  The workmanship that I saw in our balcony looked sloppily done so I blame the contractors for that, not NCL, but I think seeing how things were done I would look for another contractor if I were NCL.  

Edited by mertziek
Link to comment
Share on other sites
rocktog

rocktog

Posted
Posted

Thank you so much for the photos! We sailed in her sept/oct and now are considering booking a new Med cruise. 
 

is spice h2o adults only? Or can kids/teens go there as well. Trying to figure out cabins. 
 

ship looks beautiful. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SteveH2508

SteveH2508

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, mertziek said:

I blame NCL for their poor communication to passengers regarding unfinished booked cabins.  I blame NCL for sending out a ship with blocks of cabins not completed for occupancy and affecting embarking passengers who did not get a heads up about cabins being downgraded.  Yes, that’s right - passenger cabin assignments were downgraded.  It’s not NCL’s first time to have poor communication with passengers.  The workmanship that I saw in our balcony looked sloppily done so I blame the contractors for that, not NCL, but I think seeing how things were done I would look for another contractor if I were NCL.  

NCL had major issues with a French shipyard who built the Epic - you would have thought that they might have learned a lesson from that. I guess the French yard was cheaper than the competition.

 

I hope they get things sorted in the next month - we board her in March in Cape Town.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CruisinMaterial

CruisinMaterial

Posted
Posted

OP: Thank you for the photos.

 

I sailed on her a few times when she was the Oriental Lady. Now she's just another NCL ship. What made her so special is gone. She had lots of quirks when she was converted to the American market, however, those made her unique. The pictures I've seen of the Bliss Lounge are not flattering. Maharinis was a much better hang out. Good work on the casino though and making it smoke-free. The rest of the ship has been touched up to remove any feel of the Asian decor. The worst part is the atrium... what the heck NCL? You stuck a huge screen to make money playing Deal or No Deal and other game shows there and took out the beautiful staircase for the crappy one I've seen? Wow... all for a buck! SMH... RIP Oriental Lady!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bluesea777

bluesea777

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Now, the glasses of wine. They don’t use small carafes anymore. The wine glasses now have a corkscrew symbol etched on them so when you are served a glass of wine the server bring the bottle of wine to show you and pour it into glass up to the level of the corkscrew. When you want a refill they bring the bottle and refill your glass. We questioned the wine waiter about the small carafes. He said people were questioning if they had the wine they asked for and some complained that it wasn’t the wine they asked for. 
 

We like the new method better as we get the chance to see the wine bottle. This method also applies in Garden Cafe and specialty restaurants. 

 

1DCACCBD-9235-4A83-9268-EB4244A08E23.jpeg

4C9FFDD1-73B7-4751-A46F-CC496341CFA1.jpeg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
brymcd

brymcd

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Now, the glasses of wine. They don’t use small carafes anymore. The wine glasses now have a corkscrew symbol etched on them so when you are served a glass of wine the server bring the bottle of wine to show you and pour it into glass up to the level of the corkscrew. When you want a refill they bring the bottle and refill your glass. We questioned the wine waiter about the small carafes. He said people were questioning if they had the wine they asked for and some complained that it wasn’t the wine they asked for. 
 

We like the new method better as we get the chance to see the wine bottle. This method also applies in Garden Cafe and specialty restaurants. 

 

Been like that since we were last on the Spirit in August last year I believe - never saw the carafes at all or the cork screws TBH, but the bottles were always brought out and opened in front of us. This didn't go so well for the couple next to us who ordered very expensive champagne, which when opened hit the roof and they ended up wearing a fair amount of it.

 

We were drinking by the glass on the UDP so did not have bottles included although as we drank at least one anyway, they should just have left it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...