Almost live from the NCL Spirit - Hawaii and Tahiti - 19 and 31 May 2022

[coopster]

11 hours ago, NCL4EVER said:

We did the wailea beach resort in Maui nice and was allowed to use all the amenities of the resort except the pool

That sucks are there any resorts that will give you a full day pass in maui?

[coopster]

9 hours ago, Rob_H said:

We ate in Le Bistro tonight.  Excellent service and food.

 

There are only four speciality restaurants on the Spirit: Le Bistro, Cagneys, Onda, and Teppenyaki. Latitudes vouchers are valid in all except Teppenyaki.

 

We had a couple of reasons to call Guest Services today and they are now answering the phones! And quickly. The TV got fixed, after I reported it for the third time on day three. Another ongoing problem we had got resolved today as well.

 

We booked a tour for Moorea, one of the few available, using the app.  For the first time ever, the price charged to our account was automatically adjusted to include the Diamond discount.  Even the Encore and Bliss can't manage that yet, they have a manual process at the end of the cruise to adjust.  Great to see after all these years we don't have to visit or call the shorex desk to get the discount applied!

Do they have a local restaurant on the ship?

[deepbluediver]

Hi Rob,

 

I've been interested in the Spirit since the refurbishments and it's 1 of the few NCL ships I've not been on yet.

 

Did you check out the new Thermal Spa? What was in there?

 

What about the Pulse fitness center? Does it have a separate men's and women's locker room for the fitness center that the Jewel-class ships have? Or did NCL take them away as in all Breakaway class ships?

 

Thanks.

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, coopster said:

Do they have a local restaurant on the ship?

 

Yes! The Local is so nice - created during the Jan 2020 drydock from old Blue Lagoon and Shanghai combined.

 

 

[NCL4EVER]

7 hours ago, coopster said:

Do they have a local restaurant on the ship?

Yes on deck 7 foward

[Phamer55]

Was wondering about the Bier Garten?  How good is it and what beers do they have there?  Also, my cabin is on deck 10 and was wondering if there was easy access to H2O from my cabin.

[Rob_H]

21 minutes ago, Phamer55 said:

Was wondering about the Bier Garten?  How good is it and what beers do they have there?  Also, my cabin is on deck 10 and was wondering if there was easy access to H2O from my cabin.

 

Yes, straight along the corridors to the aft to get to H20 from both 10 and 11.

 

I'll do a full  wander round the ship tomorrow, first sea day, and try to check the Bier Garten and other things asked by others above.

[Rob_H]

We did a nice ships tour to the Volcano National Park this morning (port is Hilo).

 

About an hour bus ride to see multiple viewpoints of sulphur vents, steam vents and the Kilauea caldera. Short walks possible in each place.

 

Only about 4.5 hours but a good introduction.

 

Weather was great, we were lucky!

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Rob_H

[Rob_H]

9 hours ago, coopster said:

Do they have a local restaurant on the ship?

 

Yes, i the Local is along a corridor on 7 forward of the Atrium. Haven't tried it yet, menu looks the same as other ships.

 

There is the Windows main dining room, Taste (haven't seen it open yet), and Silk, an Asian fusion with same menu as other ships, and which also has sushi for an upcharge.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Rob_H

[Rob_H]

The atrium 

 

   

Edited May 24, 2022 by Rob_H

[NCL4EVER]

22 hours ago, coopster said:

That sucks are there any resorts that will give you a full day pass in maui?

With the pool being the only thing out of acess at this awesome resort, it was really no problem as the beach was absolutely beautiful with easy access in and out of the water. They also had some water toys ( for rent) we thought it was worth the cost of a beach day.

[NCL4EVER]

13 hours ago, Rob_H said:

We did a nice ships tour to the Volcano National Park this morning (port is Hilo).

 

About an hour bus ride to see multiple viewpoints of sulphur vents, steam vents and the Kilauea caldera. Short walks possible in each place.

 

Only about 4.5 hours but a good introduction.

 

Weather was great, we were lucky!

 

Maybe on the same excursion or not as there seemed to be two tour busses following ours. Here is a pic of the volcano and a short video of the steam vent (very cool or should I say very warm, the air coming out of them that is)

[NCL4EVER]

 Along with the volcano tour in hilo  going to rainbow falls was also included. Along with a visit to the lava tubes ( dark damp very uneven ground for those with mobility issues)

[NCL4EVER]

A little out of order on on this itinerary but back in nawiliwili, if interested in a beach day there is a very nice beach just a casual 15 min walk along a sidewalk direct to the beach. Not to busy, nice sand, easy acess to the water and washrooms on site. They have beach long chairs and umbrella for rent ($57 for all day). They also have water toys for rent. There is the famous Dukes barefoot restaurant  and bar a 1 min walk from beach  the food was reasonably priced and found the drinks also average around $16 we ordered 1 Naco  plate and it filled us both.

[NCL4EVER]

Also in nawililwili they have helicopter rides available for tours, we used blue hawaiian and highly recommend them and pay the extra for the front seats way worth it. They are located at the lihue airport about a 15 min $15 cab ride ( book cab ahead as they are scarce and most very unreliable we went with city cab with a guy named denis the Minnis, very friendly and on time even gives a confirmation email of pick up time)

 

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by NCL4EVER

[NCL4EVER]

On 5/22/2022 at 12:44 PM, New2cruse2 said:

2. is the ship as well as the passengers following any covid precautions (masking, not crowding the elevators, etc)?

A very pertinent question, according to the CDC this ship, as of May 24 are reporting the ncl spirit as being at code orange ( code green ,yellow,orange and red in that order) that means there are currently more than 50 people on board that have tested covid positive. Could be passenger and or crew, And cdc has opened an investigation. On the positive side ( or not! ) most ncl ships are curently running at code orange, this info can be found directly at the cdc site.

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

[New2cruse2]

1 hour ago, NCL4EVER said:

as of May 24 are reporting the ncl spirit as being at code orange

Thanks a lot for your update. Since there were no covid & quarantine reports from any of the Spirit passengers on any forums so far, I was assuming that the voyages have been covid free. 

[Rob_H]

There was a Hotel Officer's Q&A in the Atrium this morning.

 

Yes, there are a few shortages, some items didn't get loaded in Honolulu (even though loading took hours longer than it should have).  Items specifically mentioned were frozen iced tea (so the kitchen is making their own instead) and the non-alcoholic beer.  There are probably other items.

 

We noticed early in the cruise the "Vacation Hero" cards were missing.  These cards with guest feedback are an important part of the way crew benefits and promotions are awarded, so to not have them puts this crew at a disadvantage compared to other ships.

 

Our initial queries about this were met with "no, we don't have them because of the pandemic".  Not true as other ships like the Encore and Bliss do currently have them.  After further discussions it seems they were actually loaded in Honolulu and will be distributed to everybody soon, which is good for the crew, they can start to be recognised.  So many of the crew have been very helpful.

 

Also from the Q&A, they confirmed he second main dining room, Taste, will be closed for this cruise and likely next, because of the low passenger numbers.  There's enough capacity in Windows.

 

However, nearly everybody has multiple speciality meals in their packages so it's tough to get any reservations at all at the few speciality restaurants. 

 

BTW, there is no bridge viewing room any more.  There's also no library or open access collection of books.  The cruise director did say there are a couple of hundred books somewhere on board and that anybody who needed a book could ask for one, although it wasn't clear how they'd know what's available.

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Rob_H

[NCL4EVER]

1 hour ago, New2cruse2 said:

Thanks a lot for your update. Since there were no covid & quarantine reports from any of the Spirit passengers on any forums so far, I was assuming that the voyages have been covid free. 

No problem, I had the same dilemma pre trip trying to find any covid info, most passengers seemed very tight liped or just not "in the know" about the subject, our steward told us it is very expensive if ya get tested positive on board, not sure if he ment passenger or crew  either way it would be an unpleasant part of your trip, saying that, there has been absolutely NO random testing (swab or temperature) as of mid voyage. The ship is planning free antigen covid testing on board the day before disembarking, they will provide a QR CODE AS WELL AS PAPER COPY. I am in the understanding that they will provide a PCR test only to confirm a positive test, which I think is also free but would have to confirm. I know that tahiti has a 7 day quarantine policy before you could fly and hawaii has a 5 day policy i believe. In thahiti the quarantine could be at a place of your choosing, after which you would have to get a letter of recovery from a Dr. or an online service such as quickmd that does it remotely via internet from the comfort of your accommodations, then they send you a letter via email to use to get on the airplane. This could get expensive if your traveling with a negative partner that tests positive after your 7 day quarantine then you/they would have to quarenteen an additional 7 days and would have to get another letter. People saying stay positive ( because I know there will be some) is not as good as saying stay informed or prepared. We are fully vaccinated with boster and not affraid to get covid just wanted to be completly informed in the event that we did test positive. We decided the risk was worth the trip of a lifetime. Everyone has an opinion these are just my informed ones. Stay safe

Edited May 24, 2022 by NCL4EVER

[coopster]

6 hours ago, NCL4EVER said:

With the pool being the only thing out of acess at this awesome resort, it was really no problem as the beach was absolutely beautiful with easy access in and out of the water. They also had some water toys ( for rent) we thought it was worth the cost of a beach day.

i think we figured out a solution we booked a room at a resort and it came in at $20 more than the excursion from the ship. was there areas near the ship for shopping or is there another place?

 

[New2cruse2]

1 hour ago, NCL4EVER said:

No problem, I had the same dilemma pre trip trying to find any covid info, most passengers seemed very tight liped or just not "in the know" about the subject, our steward told us it is very expensive if ya get tested positive on board, not sure if he ment passenger or crew  either way it would be an unpleasant part of your trip, saying that, there has been absolutely NO random testing (swab or temperature) as of mid voyage. The ship is planning free antigen covid testing on board the day before disembarking, they will provide a QR CODE AS WELL AS PAPER COPY. I am in the understanding that they will provide a PCR test only to confirm a positive test, which I think is also free but would have to confirm. I know that tahiti has a 7 day quarantine policy before you could fly and hawaii has a 5 day policy i believe. In thahiti the quarantine could be at a place of your choosing, after which you would have to get a letter of recovery from a Dr. or an online service such as quickmd that does it remotely via internet from the comfort of your accommodations, then they send you a letter via email to use to get on the airplane. This could get expensive if your traveling with a negative partner that tests positive after your 7 day quarantine then you/they would have to quarenteen an additional 7 days and would have to get another letter. People saying stay positive ( because I know there will be some) is not as good as saying stay informed or prepared. We are fully vaccinated with boster and not affraid to get covid just wanted to be completly informed in the event that we did test positive. We decided the risk was worth the trip of a lifetime. Everyone has an opinion these are just my informed ones. Stay safe

Can’t thank you enough for such detailed post. I’m a bit concerned about quarantine In Honolulu after the cruise in case one of us test positive, as we have to be back home by the 13th. You truly echoed my thoughts about being informed and prepared and I totally agree with your decision to take a calculated risk as it is totally worth it. 

[New2cruse2]

2 hours ago, Rob_H said:

Yes, there are a few shortages, some items didn't get loaded in Honolulu

Looks like they are still finding their bearings. I guess with just one MDR and difficulty with making reservations at specialty restaurants, Windows could get a little crowded. 

[georgiagal88]

As I mentioned before, we will be boarding NCL Spirit in Tahiti on May 31. We fly United out of Honolulu on June 12. Based on the United Airlines website we are not required to test prior to our return to the US if we are fully vaccinated. I hope I'm interpreting that correctly!??

 

Thanks for your continued updates!

[NCL4EVER]

30 minutes ago, New2cruse2 said:

restaurants, Windows could get a little crowded. 

Went there a few times so far and we have never had to wait, seated immediately.

[NCL4EVER]

2 hours ago, coopster said:

8 hours ago, NCL4EVER said:

Expand  

i think we figured out a solution we booked a room at a resort and it came in at $20 more than the excursion from the ship. was there areas near the ship for shopping or is there another place?

Genius never thought of using a day pass (hotel room) direct from hotel should work out good for you the bonus is you would have full acess plus more time there. Which hotel/resort did ya book with?