Not happy with the spirit 7/2 7/8

[smeyer418]

Sid, I usually agree with you and do as far as his giving details, but the minute nit picking enters the review is when I take exception and start getting defensive: he had to ask for an top sheet: so, this is a reason to pick a ship apart, the narrow halls: inconvenient and I too would not be ectastic, but the ship, as pointed out was built in Asia, there were no activities for older teens or you could only get water in the buffet after 4pm? that may be, but it would only be for about an hour. Except for the food opinion which is very subjective, the majority of the complaints border lined on being groundless. Oh, the room service menu, everyone knows NCL is the worst, but RCI isn't much better....NMnita

 

Nita-- I understand but she did give the specifics somethings may be small but they are things that bothered her and I think we all understand that its her opinion. I thought you can get on RCI anything from the dining rooms when they are open in room service. Princess has the same limited room service menu for what that is worth. and we do agree more often than not. I hate when I agree with Sunshine 229 :)(just kidding before someone goes apoplectic on me)

[newmexicoNita]

Nita-- I understand but she did give the specifics somethings may be small but they are things that bothered her and I think we all understand that its her opinion. I thought you can get on RCI anything from the dining rooms when they are open in room service. Princess has the same limited room service menu for what that is worth. and we do agree more often than not. I hate when I agree with Sunshine 229 :)(just kidding before someone goes apoplectic on me)

You may be able to get anything now on RCI, but when we cruised them (twice about 5 years ago) this wasn't the case: I think we cruised them 5 years ago and 6 years ago. And I do wish NCL would get on the ball when it comes to room service, even though we don't use it very often....NMnita

[smeyer418]

5-6 years is a long time this is from last year.. Did they even have freestyle on NCL 5-6 years ago?

[newmexicoNita]

5-6 years is a long time this is from last year.. Did they even have freestyle on NCL 5-6 years ago?

of course I did and I lie a lot also. LOL No, you are right, that is why I made the comment I did; I don't really know when the room service change took affect. Now that I think about it, freestyle did start more than 5 years ago, beleive it or not: It started in early 2001 and where does the time go? This is scary: I sometimes think about what I was doing 20 years ago and what I will or will not be doing 20 years from now::: LOL again,

 

Nita

[dongordon]

I like to look at the reviews good or bad and then I pick those items that I am concerned about and follow up with questions to other cruisers regarding these problems to find out if "things" have improved.

 

For example:

 

I was very concerned about the poor attitude and service of a butler named Rey that I might have on my upcoming cruise. Many cruisers on the Spirit commented about him.

So far, so good....we have not heard about him in quite a while which leads me to believe he is no longer there.

 

Another item was the poor quality of the food that was a major topic several months ago. Again, more good news, the reviews on the food is very positive and I can confirm that, since I went on the one-night Spirit cruise and I found it to be very good. Truthfully, since it was a one-night cruise, I was expecting worse!

 

Another item which is a minor inconvenience, that I disregarded is the lack of trays at the buffet, since I rarely eat at the buffet.

 

I believe we need to take a review as it is and try to best utilize or discard those areas that are either "suspect" or unimportant to us. However, let's not create a forum where negative thoughts cause us to "attack" the reviewer, since this will eventually lead to "censorship" with people reluctant to provide their honest opinion.

 

Don

[smeyer418]

Sunshine there are times that people have a bug down their pants before they have been on a cruise. They complain they can't get a price drop, they complain that they won't like the room, they complain because they can't bring booze aboard. whine, whine whine... I can spot them. I have told people to readjust their attitude or they will be in for a bad time, and I will do it again. As I said if you don't want to hear our opinions don't post.

[Zeno]

Let me start by saying that I have cruised most of the popular lines. This was my first cruise with NCL and it was my last. The only good thing I could say is that getting on and off the ship was very easy. I will just list my complaints (major and minor)

 

1-Food was terrible except in the paying restaurants (3 on ship)and my family and I are not fussy eaters. You couldn't even find a whole piece of fruit on the ship only wilted fruit salad. After 4pm only water was available to drink in main buffet. Room service menu was horrible compared to other lines. Only cruise I went on where no weight was gained. One night in the Garden Room I asked for a double order of steamed veggies. I was told I had to eat my single portion first then they would bring me another. Please keep in mind the portion was 1pc broccoli -3pc carrots -1pc cauli. I had had it the night before also and waited 20 minutes for my 2nd portion. By the way the portions in free Rest. are very very minute. All I could say is bulk up before you go.

 

2-Rooms are not made up till 2 in the afternoon. And one night we waited until 10:30 to have our room ready for bedtime. And forget little touches like towel animals or chocolate on pillows. Dailys came around 11:30 at night 4 out of 6 nights.

 

3-I had room 10106 & 10102 Balcony rooms, smallest staterooms I have every had, I had to ask for a top sheet on beds, I didn't like having a quilt touch my body that others had just rolled out of.

 

4-I travel with my mom who is in a wheelchair as I have the last 4 years and have had no problem. The halls on the Spirit were so much more narrow than that of other ships that it was impossible to roam the ship with her.

 

5-Loving the ship shopping sprees I looked forward to the shops. Big let down. very few mostly over priced items. No specials on the spa's except for when you board their island. Last day of cruise they put out silver jewelry,a few nice pieces but hurry I was told only one piece of each and only for the last day. And hurry and buy that frame for your cruise pictures because 2 days before the end of the cruise they were out and also ran out of little bags for me to put my photos in. Swear to God.

 

6-If your going with teens (17-20) nothing for them to do. Nothing compared to Royal Car. and Carnival.

 

7-Good luck with your exscursions you get on them late because you pull into port rather late compared to other lines and you leave early. We were in disney only 4 hours. 500 dollars for lunch and 2 rides. Beware of the Disney exscursion.

 

8-We had quite a bid of bad weather on our way back and why I dont know but the rugs in the areas by the buffet and elevators were soaking wet.

 

Please understand I love to cruise and have cruise Disney Princess Royal and Carnival and have never had a complaint on any line. I was just so disappointed in this line, even getting cabin service was impossible. I also think that Royal Car. being my favorite Carnival is the way to go when you have teens, and I appreciated their little personal touches even more after the NCL cruise.

(edited cause I type too fast)

As negative reviews go - neither the the best nor the worst in terms of usefulness. I found some complaints trivial but some observations potentially quite useful for others considering this ship.

1. You say the food was "bad" - could you be more specific (was it spoiled, cold, too hot, too spicey, too bland?) and where did you eat - the dining rooms or the buffet. How did they compare? I have seen a few negative comments about the Spirit buffet but not that many about the dining rooms - so I am curious. I agree it would be nice if the room service menu was expanded but I don't use it often enough to consider it a problem for me.

2. Was you cabin clean enough or just not cleaned when you wanted it to be?

3. As someone else pointed out, NCL uses duvets not quilts. The duvet cover is changed before each embarkation and at least once during the week. If your cabin steward provided you with a top sheet as requested (I know some people prefer to have one) - I am not sure what the problem is.

4. I can see how that would be a problem and it was good of you to point this out - so others in wheel chairs will not be surprised.

5. Not being much of a shopper, this would not bother me but I can see how it might bother a shopper.

6. It probably would have been better, if you had researched the activities available for teens ahead of time. Not all cruiselines have the same focus on on-board activities. I am not surprised NCL does not compare to RCCL and Carnival in this aspect. RCCL and Carnival tend to have a lot of sea days (and hence more need for on-board amusements) but NCL tends to be port-intensive. It is quite helpful to point this out - so others with teens will not expect the same variety of activities that Carnival and RCL have.

7. This must be unique to this itinerary - on the NCL cruises I have been on we were usually in port quite early (8AM - 1st or 2nd ship) and never left before 5PM.

It was useful to point out that such a short Disney excursion is not worth it.

 

Getting what 'cabin service' was impossible? Room service? Cleaning? Just not sure what you mean?

[Don Haynes]

1. I have always been able to find fruit in the buffet area. Did you check for fruit there? I bet you didn't.

2. As long as they did clean your room everyday, why are you so upset they didn't get there until 2 PM? Did you use the door card saying you were out? They do have a full time job, there are more rooms than yours.

3. I love the duvet, why didn't you? Did you ask a second time for a top sheet?

4. Yes, the halls are tight, but you were able to use the halls.

5. As long as the shops sell candy and peanuts, I'm happy.

6. The Spirit has a nice teen disco, a large video game gallery, board games in the game room, a swimming pool, gym, and television sets. What more could a teenager want?

7. Did you really expect to see the large Disney complex in 4 hours? To properly do Disney World, you'll need four or five days, not hours. There is a beach nearby, it would have been a better shore excursion. It's not NCL's fault you chose poorly.

 

I found the food on the Spirit as good as on any cruise ship. Obviously, we all have different tastes. Believe it or not, there are other cruise ships with smaller rooms than the Spirit. Maybe the Spirit didn't meet your expectations, you would probably be better off booking RCL and their huge mega ships instead.

[Aldeya]

1. 3. I love the duvet, why didn't you?

 

Maybe the Spirit didn't meet your expectations, you would probably be better off booking RCL and their huge mega ships instead.

 

Someone was asking why there are more positive reviewes than negative on the boards.

 

THAT's WHY.

[susann57]

I just was on the Spirit the last week of June. First let me say that my husband and I had a great time and an overall wonderful vacation experience. This was our 13th cruise and 3rd on NCL. Our favorite cruise was on the Raddison Navigator but that is something that was a treat and not something we usually can afford. We have also sailed on Holland, Celebrity, RCL, and Carnival. That being said, we love the freestyle aspect of NCL (something that Raddison has - you eat where, where, and with whom you want to). NCL is very affordable. The ports are terrific (on all three cruises). But honestly, there are some negatives as there are on any vacation experience and I think some people like to know them up front. Here are some things I did see:

Cabin: We had a balcony which was smaller than average and the walls were thin. We heard our "honeymooning" neighbors all hours of the day and night. Rather than be annoyed about it, we decided to laugh at it. After all, what can you do and why let something like that ruin your vacation.

Cabin service: The room was clean but it was slow. No big deal. If he hadn't turned down the bed when we came back at night, we did it ourselves. The room WAS clean for the most part.

Food: We enjoyed the speciality restaurants that we went to. The food was excellent in the ones that we ate in. Cagney's was awesome. We had to wait to eat in main Dining room twice when we went around 7:00 for about 45 minutes. They gave us a pager. The selection wasn't always the greatest and the steak you can order when you don't like anything else was NOT good (cold, thin, and small). We did not send it back either time. My husband did not eat it the second time he ordered it. They offered to get him something else but he declined. But overall, I think that the food was fine for the price we were paying and at times it was very good. Salads were my favorite, the soups my least favorite. Buffet was very similiar to all buffets but I do agree about the fruit - it was the one thing that I noticed myself on the ship. But there were many good things to choose from. The stir fry was great, as well as the sandwich station and the pasta station. On different days they would also set up an alternate station, mexican, crepe, whatever. The outside grill was good.

The crowd: I was born and raised in NY and lived there for 25 years. My husband also lived in NY for 20 years. However, for the past 23 years I have not. I can honestly say it is a different experience getting on a ship in NY as opposed to Florida, Norfolk, or Baltimore. This is a LOUD crowd. Loud in the restaurants, loud on the balcony, loud in the hallways, just loud. The mother and daughter on the other side of us got into screaming arguments several times on the balcony. Again, you realize it goes with the territory and go with it. And it does make for excellent "people watching" for your entire cruise.

Chair hogging: Okay, this was worst chair hogging I have ever seen. Families saving over 20 chairs and several tables all day long where people would wander to and from with 75% going unused at any one time. We gave up on the 2nd day and headed for the promenade deck but that became challenging as the cruise went on as that provided quiet space. Wish NCL would do something about this.

All of that being said, I would definitely cruise on NCL again and I would say the main reason is Freestyle cruising. After 13 cruises, we don't want to dress up for a formal night anymore, we don't want to eat with strangers, and we want to eat when we are hungry. We don't want our pictures taken and it was great not being hassled about it when we said no thank you. The fact that we didn't have to run straight to the dining room to make sure that we had a table for two was wonderful. We thought that the service in all of the restaurants were fine. I loved not having to deal with envelopes and having the tips put on my onboard account. We cruise because we love being at sea, love the open ocean. We like seeing more than one place on a vacation. We like that there is plenty to do if we want to do it and that there are quiet places to relax and read a book if that is what we want to do. NCL fit the bill for all the these things. Each cruise line offers something different and I can not honestly say that I would never say that I would never cruise on any of them ever again. It would be a mistake to write off a whole cruise line based on a single cruise. We have had vastly different experiences on different ships in the same line. The original poster should consider that that before writing off NCL for good. Obviously though, freestyle cruising wasn't a plus for her. It was for us.

[Maryfrei]

Thanks Susann57, interesting review and observations.

[sweetpea-2]

And yet ANOTHER example of why you should NEVER take these boards and especially these reviews too seriously - Same cruise, same ship, 2 totally different experiences.

 

Like the old adage - opinions are like _ _ _ _ _ _ _ s, EVERYBODY has one.

 

;) your correct in the analogy.....we had a great cruise and was happy with most things but the ones next to us COMPLAINED about everything from the food to our room stewards WBTW where the same ones we had, so go figure !!! I am on vacation to have a good time and make the most of it and complaining does not a good vacation MAKE :p

[logcabin]

Just my 2 cents about "chair hogging". I hear about this all the time, and not just on NCL. I'll tell you what I do and will continue to do. If I want a chair by the pool area and can't find one, I'll sit by the bar (or other close by local). If I see a chair(s) go unused for a period of time, I go over, remove the towel and take the chair(s). I've been doing this for years and have NEVER had anyone come up to me complaining that I took their chair. As far as I am concerned, a towel dosen't mean a chair is saved. If there are "personal items" on the chair, Ok then. But if there are just towels, off they go and I grab the chair... Only fair IMHO.

[shoreguy]

Just my 2 cents about "chair hogging". I hear about this all the time, and not just on NCL. I'll tell you what I do and will continue to do. If I want a chair by the pool area and can't find one, I'll sit by the bar (or other close by local). If I see a chair(s) go unused for a period of time, I go over, remove the towel and take the chair(s). I've been doing this for years and have NEVER had anyone come up to me complaining that I took their chair. As far as I am concerned, a towel dosen't mean a chair is saved. If there are "personal items" on the chair, Ok then. But if there are just towels, off they go and I grab the chair... Only fair IMHO.

 

I do exactly the same thing and it is the offical policy

[suzy671]

I have to agree with the bed, the beds on the Dawn were horrible.

[sweetpea-2]

I have to agree with the bed, the beds on the Dawn were horrible.

 

;) that was the only "real" dislike I had and even mentioned it on our roll call, so now I am the bed lady,lol....in hopes they start changing them before next Feb :)

[suzy671]

me too, thinking about going on the Dawn again. The beds on Carnival are so much better that I even ordered one and love it.

[sweetpea-2]

me too, thinking about going on the Dawn again. The beds on Carnival are so much better that I even ordered one and love it.

 

are they the tempurpedic or the sleep number ????

[suzy671]

Sweatpea-2 - no, they were a little expensive but what a comfort - they're called Carnival Comfort Bed, they also have the duvet, pillows which we ordered.

[PhilBiker]

Well, I for one appreciate the negative reviews. I've only ever cruised once, loved it, and I'm sailing on the Spirit in August. I'm eating up as many opinions and reviews as I can get, and adjusting my expectations based on them. I tend to agree with Don Haynes' opinion of the OP's "review", and feel that I can tell the difference between a well thought out detailed review and nonsense. (and there's plenty of both, both positive and negative, on CC! :))

 

I mean complaining because you only had 4 hours at Disney? Did you even glance at the itinerary for the cruise? What could you possibly have expected??

[suzy671]

PhilBiker - I feel everyone is "entitled" to their opinion, whether it be a good or bad experience. Everyone see's things differently, that's what makes this world a great place to live.

[sweetpea-2]

Sweatpea-2 - no, they were a little expensive but what a comfort - they're called Carnival Comfort Bed, they also have the duvet, pillows which we ordered.

I know when we went on the CCL Paradise the beds were horrible also....comfort beds are just a high quality spring based mattress then ? We're thinking about a sleep number bed, with the aloe in the comfort top.....still in the thinking stages as we're not quite finished with the master bedroom remodel....

[newmexicoNita]

Thanks Capawana for your answers to my questions..I feel alittle sick after reading about the food and unfriendly service though..

 

had we gotten a bargain, or had this cruise been a present, I would say, what the heck, but we are in a suite and I paid alot (too much I'm sure)...I do have insurance though and if I become too sick, perhaps I will have to miss the cruise.

 

I begged and convinced my DH to go, based on the service we will receive(butler/concierge) and the food, but we have only been on Celebrity, Oceania(when it was Renaissance) and Radisson Seven Seas, so I was scared to begin with about the possible lower quality food...

 

I am the type of person who would rather hear both the good and the bad, so that I am not in for any nasty surprises , so I thank you for posting!

after sailing Radisson Seven SEas and Oceania you may be a little disappointed with the food on NCL. I haven't sailed the same lines (have Celebrity) but have many clients who have. Of course it won't be the same, NCL is considered a mass marketed line with prices that reflect this. We normally have a balcony cabin, not a suite but again, I have heard many say the service and benefits they received in the NCL ships were better than other mass marketed lines. Again, I am repeating only what I have heard. Everyone has an opinion about their cruising experience, you are reading these boards which should help and are gettin a good mixture of positives and negatives. One person's bad experience shouldn't lead to you feeling, before you ever cruise you have made a mistake. Hope you are worrying about nothing. Be sure and let us know how things go, I am sure you will. NMNita

[maurick]

We were on the Spirit last April 2nd first time and 4 times on the Dawn in 2 and a half years. Loved the Spirit. No problem with the food for us. Always fouind something to eat. Only ate in the Main Dining rooms. I hope we can go on again soon. Love it! Love it!

[mypyr]

NMNita-

 

Thanks for your response. I realize that perhaps I overreacted to the negative post because I am a bit worried about the difference in our previous cruises and NCL. I am sure that the butler and concierge service will be comparable to the other lines, so it is just the quality of the food which is of some concern. We ae not picky eaters, but like our food to be tasty and cooked the way we like it(i.e. very rare steak, etc.)

 

My cruise docs finally arrived today and we are very excited. At this point we can only hope for the best and hope that we will be among the positive reviewers! I will be SURE to post a detailed review after our trip!

 

Cindy