"Scary" Spirit reviews

[soccermom4]

Has anyone else looked at the most recent reviews of the Spirit posted on the main CC page?? They were positively scary. I'm hoping that some of the problems experienced will be rectified by time my family cruises in August. I considered both the Dawn and the Spirit and decided on the Spirit because of her itinerary (6 day FL/Bahamas) and the price (3rd/4th passengers free and ability to drive from DC). Don't think we could have afforded all 6 of us at full fare!

 

I'm glad I've seen more positive reviews on this board. I'll keep reading and hope to see news of improvements. In the meantime, I'd love to see someone post about the FL/Bahamas itinerary who traveled with kids. I know it's off-season, so the kids perspective is different from a really busy time...

[greenie]

Soccermom, I don't think you should worry--we were on the Spirit a few weeks ago and we loved it so much! Wish we were still on her, too ...

 

Any problems we had revolved only around our butler service. And even that could do nothing at all to spoil such a lovely EXCELLENT cruise. I liked it as much as I did the Dawn ... and I loved the Dawn.

 

You will have a great time on the Spirit!

[GOLDENBONNY]

Has anyone else looked at the most recent reviews of the Spirit posted on the main CC page?? They were positively scary. I'm hoping that some of the problems experienced will be rectified by time my family cruises in August. I considered both the Dawn and the Spirit and decided on the Spirit because of her itinerary (6 day FL/Bahamas) and the price (3rd/4th passengers free and ability to drive from DC). Don't think we could have afforded all 6 of us at full fare!

 

I'm glad I've seen more positive reviews on this board. I'll keep reading and hope to see news of improvements. In the meantime, I'd love to see someone post about the FL/Bahamas itinerary who traveled with kids. I know it's off-season, so the kids perspective is different from a really busy time...

 

I did not read a review but ,we been on Spirit in DEC.We cruised before on Costa and Princess,our friends cruised most of the lines(more than 28 times)none of us loved the cruise.first of all free style its not for us!We love to dress up and have those very special formal nights;) (my DH hate Tax,but even he did not like free style)Food in main dinning rooms ...:eek:

dont get me wrong,we are not a people who expect too much from food,but this one.....We had to go to buffet after dinner!!!!Food in buffet was much better and had a good selection(breakfast exeption).Cruising from NY winter time....never again!Ship has only one pool(and kids pool),so if you will not wake up at 7am on sea days,you will not find the seat!WE did read so many good reviews about Spirit,but it did not worked for us,maybe you will like it.My mom been on Dawn and they loved it,but again they are older people,they dont need lots of action.

 

you dont pay full fare on any line for 3rd and 4rth in your room,so chek it again.

[shoreguy]

Just read the review by wifey25. I can't find a single post here with that user name. I would as all reviews take it with a very large grain of salt:D

 

Please NCL should pay your medical bills if you fall in your cabin.

 

Anyone else report the crowd booing at the farewell show in Jan ?

[newmexicoNita]

Think you are reading too many negatives: I have read some really good reviews. We were thinking of sailing her in April but due to a couple of things we are going to sail the Sun instead. As for bad reviews, go over to Carnival or RCI right now: I can't get over the negatives that are coming out of the wall. My take on all this: those who want to complain want to have center stage, those who are satisfied just don't think of letting the world know. They assume everyone knows the trip was good. Go and enjoy. I think the biggest complaint I have seen is in comparison with the Dawn. Cruisers seem to like the Dawn better. Another negative review was written by someone who had cruised a dozen times or more: I am a beleiver that the more we do something the more we can find fault as the glamour runs out. NMNita

[maurick]

I, also, look at these reviews with a grain of salt. The biggest complaint seems to be the food. Seems to be too many fish choices on the new dinner menus. My husband will love this. I will not. But, can always find something to eat. A good chance to try womething new, I never had before. Never had a bad cruise. We sailed the Regal Empress, that was a old tub. Food was as good as Celebrity and had a blast. I think its your attitude and what you make of it on any type of vacation.

[NormanW]

Shouldn't that spook a few folks? :D

 

There was a joke about ghosts for hull art a while back too.:eek:

 

I don't think anything strange is going on with any of the ships. Haven't seen the Mystery Inc. van around with that crazy talking great Dane either. :p

 

Anonymous rating is allowed? That should be fixed if that's the case. For those that use Yahoo financial services just check out the messageboards and you'll get an idea what anonymous posting leads to. Digital elephant poo that's what.

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

[SailAways]

Has anyone else looked at the most recent reviews of the Spirit posted on the main CC page?? They were positively scary..

 

Yes - I read it, and it seems as though a disgruntled passenger fell down, and wanted someone else to take the blame. When NCL would not assume the responsibility for their clumsiness, zap, the entire cruise and the ship became absolutely awful.

 

We have been on the Spirit. It is a beautiful ship in every way. Perhaps the menu items have changed since we cruised, but this in no way should cause such statements.

 

The ship was in great repair last September, and spotless. It has since been in drydock.

 

The only scary thing about the post is that anyone could have wasted an entire cruise being grumpy, then somehow find their way over here to post such a pitiful statement. Now, that is scary!

[Planer's Edge]

 

Just read the review by wifey25. I can't find a single post here with that user name.

 

 

Shoreguy...there are actually 2 post in February/June 2005 talking about a RCI cruise out of Bayonne in July.

 

This is not to excuse because we all know what tastes like chicken!!

 

PE<--- :eek: ...

[old faithful]

I posted this on another thread - but seeing how I think I am soo funny I wanted to post it here as well :D .... I only just started reading these boards - I find them very entertaining - they are just like people in general - some are happy no matter what - some are negative no matter what - some people get screwed - it is life - we should face it - deal with it and go on with our lives ...my $.02

 

This is another tihing i have learned - as soon as I make travel plans with my mom - she ends up watching the worst TV movie that involves our method of travel - We plan on flying - all of a sudden the movie special of the week on every channel is movies about plane crashes - get close to her first cruise - TV spots about how safe ships are peopel falling off or getting lost - Mom saw something on TV about a girl falling over - we just have to be smart and aware - with mom - when safety comes up I just shoot her a wicked grin and inquire about her will :D

 

Old Faithful

[GOLDENBONNY]

I FOUND THIS REVIEW ,THERE IS PART OF IT:

 

We also learned a valuable lesson: Don't Get Injured On An NCL Cruise!!! A woman on the cruise fell in her cabin over the metal strip between the toilet and sink. She had to pay for her medical bill of over $1,000, even though it was NCL's fault, and the ship doctor put her off the ship with no compensation from NCL. Buyer Beware!!! We (and experienced ourselves) that the medical staff was insensitive and rude. (Nothing like we experienced on the Dawn last year)

 

 

Dose any one know where is metal strip between toilet and sink?I dont think there is even space in between:confused: (maybe in suits?)I did not like Spirit,but this is too much for my opinion:cool: how is this NCL fault?Ship was very clean we did not see any dirty glasses,or stains.

[soccermom4]

I imagine I'll probably stick with the Spirit. When I was first looking into cruises I read reviews for Carnival and RCCL too. Couldn't find any ships that were ALWAYS positive. I was psyched about the size of the kids area, sailing out of New York etc. (Plus that 3rd/4th passenger FREE - except taxes) and the idea of freestyle dining on Spirit. Great thing for family with 4 kids (10, 9, 7, 5). Food for us will be gourmet if there aren't plastic toys and paper napkins involved!:)

 

I was just dismayed to hear the comments about snarly staff and dirty ship and booing crowds. Maybe there were just bad vibes on that cruise.

[NormanW]

No strip between our head and sink on the Dawn...

 

I guess there is a ghost after all and that could probably explain those missing trays!:D

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

[ccastano]

We just sailed on the 2/26 cruise with two kids, 6 and 11. I have nothing to compare it to cruise wise, it was our first.

 

I also read the 'scary' reviews, but also read great reviews before hand. I guess it depends on what you were looking for, what you are used to, and what you expected. My overall view of the trip; I was not disapointed and have no regrets. I also have no "wows!" to report. I think maybe I'm not a cruiser. I'm an explorer, and by the end of the week had covered the ship stem to stern and was getting a little bored. I'm not into bingo, or cheesy night club entertainment, so I didn't do alot of that. I do like to eat good food, and I thought the dining room Windows was just fine, the only specialty restaurants I tried was Cagneys and La Trattoria (which is really just an end of Raffles blocked off). Cagney's was fine, filet was perfect, everything else so-so. Dining room was better. Raffles..well, food is good, buffet will drive you nuts if you don't like getting stepped on, run into, and searching for a table, lol. It's a cafeteria with no organized line, plain and simple. Still..I wouldn't give horrible marks on that, it is what it is. La Trattoria food was good also. Can't say about any of the other restaurants, the chocolate buffet was incredible and fun.

 

I didn't like Nassau, I don't love New York and disembarkation kind of sucked. This is my personal opinion. Miami, now that I loved. Laid back, every person doing whatever you want kind of place, and the beach was great. My dislike about Nassau is I'm not a haggler, and don't really like to feel like fresh meat when I get off the ship, which I did. If we had known better we'd have gone to the beach there too, but all the info made it sound like a quiant little historical caribbean village with great shopping. Umm..no. It was a probably less poor than some if you stayed in the right places caribbean village with some history, and lots of shopping, all the same thing jewelry, designer clothing, and trinkets. None of which I am interested in in the least. Is this horrible? No..not a horror story at all..just not what I'm into, and now that I've been there I've educated myself on what the place is all about and I know if it's for me or not.

 

Port Canaveral was fine, we went to Universal. Again, educated ourselves on what it was all about and whether or not it was something we would do again. Nothing negative. No horrible stories. Nothing spectacular either.

 

Great Stirrup Cay, was beautiful crystal blue water, very tame and safe snorkeling for kids. And a "Where's Waldo" type picture of my husband on the beach, lol. I'd say it's kind of like a canned pictureesque caribbean island. It's really just a rock that they developed a beach on a little cove and put lots of beach chairs and umbrellas. The only negative here is the snorkel equipment is very shabby, bring your own even Wal-mart would be better. We did have fun here.

 

What I left with from the trip is: was it much less than expected? Sort of. I am not a snob, but I do now realize that I am not really a tourist in the sense of the large number of people who love cruises. It was great to have gone to so many places in such a short time. Do I hold that against NCL? Not in the least.

 

Kids...now that's the best part. My kids had a blast. They loved most of what we did, loved the dining room, loved the pool, loved the arcade, I felt very safe with them in Kids Crew, which my 6 year old DD absolutely loved. My son who's 11 loved the arcade and they thought it was so cool they had their own hot tub by bucanneer's wet and wild.

 

So I'm not disapointed, for my family it was a good vacation. My overall impression of cruising is it's a typical institutionalized type of vacation, lots of extra's to spend money on, lot's of hype for what I'd call normal activities, and lots and lots of other people sharing it with you at the same time who all want to be first in line, first on the beach (oh you should have seen the herd running for beach chairs!) and first to get the food they want and table they want at the cafeteria. I have no clue if this this true of other cruise lines.

 

What did bother me is the people dumping their kids off in the arcade and leaving them to their own devices. No child I saw was doing anything out of the ordinary or bothered me in any way, but I was mortified that they didn't even know where their parents were, one kid went to ask his mom to go somewhere with my son and came back and said 'she's not in the cabin..she must be in a bar somewhere..'

 

 

 

I think NCL has nothing to be given bad reviews over, the ship was pretty, the room was fine, the staff was great, we were never hungry and nothing bad happened at all.

 

Caprice

[ccastano]

Forgot to add...the people were more snarly than the staff, no one booed at all, the shows I did see everyone had a blast that I could tell, and nothing was dirty. I saw people cleaning 24/7.

[Diesel Dog]

Soccermom:

 

Go with an open mind and enjoy yourself. Don't think too much about any vacation prior to leaving, and when you arrive, be glad your able to get away.

 

Most people can't even afford to leave their own city on vacation.

 

You will have a great time. Cruises are fun, period.

[SailAways]

 

What I left with from the trip is: was it much less than expected? Sort of. I am not a snob, but I do now realize that I am not really a tourist in the sense of the large number of people who love cruises. It was great to have gone to so many places in such a short time. Do I hold that against NCL? Not in the least.

My overall impression of cruising is it's a typical institutionalized type of vacation

I think NCL has nothing to be given bad reviews over, the ship was pretty, the room was fine, the staff was great, we were never hungry and nothing bad happened at all. Caprice

 

Thanks for your honesty - at least you aren't blasting the cruise line as some do when they find that they truly aren't as happy with the experience as they had expected.

Not all of us are meant to be cruisers - and obviously, you are much happier doing other types of vacations.

It is so nice that you mentioned that your children had a blast. That is great; they will have wonderful memories of this for a very long time.

Good Luck, and Thanks again for being so very fair in your assessment.

 

Happy Vacations To You!

[gigizhere]

i am also cruising on Spirit 6-11.....first cruise....glad to hear your comments! ;o)

[ccastano]

Thanks for the nice comments :) I know when I was doing my planning I read all the bad / good reviews, and it was funny because it all seemed like everyone's own personal viewpoints, they were talking about the exact same things it just was if the person hated / loved it. I think people forget that just because you didn't like something doesn't mean it's the fault of the company / location, etc. Now..had I heard the ship was falling apart, everyone constantly getting sick from food, etc, lol...then I would have worried!

 

Hope you all have a great cruise ;)