Not happy with the spirit 7/2 7/8

[newmexicoNita]

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

Cindy, just keep us posted and let us know how everything turns out. I have known cruisers from both these boards a personally who have worried themselves sick about a particular line after sailing the luxury lines that have come back raving; on the other hand ships like NCL are not for everybody. As long as you go with an open mind (I know, sometimes this is easier said than done) you will be able to come back with a unbiased review and we may all learn something. Have a good time. NMNita

[awatt]

mypyr- We have sailed on Radisson recently and NCL a number of times. They are quite different, and I think a direct comparison would be infair and inaccurate.

 

What I can tell you is theservice on NCL,especially in a suite,has always been great. Food on NCL was very good too, maybe slightly below Radisson, but not worth a second thought IMHO. The menus on Radisson are a little fancier for lack of a better word.

 

The amjpor difference we noted was the pax demographic- NCL is more mixed,and more families. Also, Radissom was a much quieter cruise with fewer pax and mich less entertainment options. Ther is alot of activity on an NCL ship which we like! But with that comes more people.

 

Emjoy your cruise, no reason why you shouldn't, just expect it will be different from Radisson. If you're sailing on 7/16 I'll see you there.

[Mekamax]

It is always good to hear both sides - good and bad. I have been on a ship (NCL SEA before management change) in 1999 that I lost weight and the food was BAD. Even the pizza was unedible and I like Totinos frozen $1 pizza... So I know food can be bad on a cruise - it seems to do more with a particular ship than a whole cruise line though. The food on the NCL Sun in December was very good to OK. The crew was very friendly but on another ship they may not be. My room was always taken care of but I have been on a Carnival cruise or 2 that I just had a bad cabin steward. After 19 cruises I really think it is the particular ship not the total cruise line that can be a bad representation of the whole company. Make your thoughts known to the cruise line. I notice things do chnage when enough repetitive complaints are heard about a particular ship. I hope you give NCL another try on a different ship. We really enjoyed the NCL Sun cruise in Decmeber and are going on the older Dream out of Houston in October... I'm sorry about the bad things and only hope the good things will outway the bad - no matter what don't give up on cruising in general!!! :) :) Thanks for the honest review. Debbie

[MJEasley]

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.

 

I can't agree with this quote. My daughter and I were on Spirit 5/28/06 and we attended a couple of things where the crowd was asked so who is from NY and no one clapped. When asked who was from NJ there was about 6 people that clapped. Just because the ships are out of NY doesn't mean the population was from NY. Actually everyone we talked to that week were not from NY or NJ. When we cruised out of Ft. Lauderdale the ship was just as loud the Spirit out of NY.

 

PS I thought the food was not up to par at all and not even equal to eating at Denny's while the service at Denny's is better. I will never get over being served tiny little shrimp as a shrimp cocktail in a gorgeous restaurant as Window's and the watermelon seeds left in the fresh fruit salad at the buffet and the watered down oj and cranberry juices and cold food that should be hot. They only time we got hot food was in the blue lagoon and the escargot all the other food was cold.

[newmexicoNita]

I can't agree with this quote. My daughter and I were on Spirit 5/28/06 and we attended a couple of things where the crowd was asked so who is from NY and no one clapped. When asked who was from NJ there was about 6 people that clapped. Just because the ships are out of NY doesn't mean the population was from NY. Actually everyone we talked to that week were not from NY or NJ. When we cruised out of Ft. Lauderdale the ship was just as loud the Spirit out of NY.

 

PS I thought the food was not up to par at all and not even equal to eating at Denny's while the service at Denny's is better. I will never get over being served tiny little shrimp as a shrimp cocktail in a gorgeous restaurant as Window's and the watermelon seeds left in the fresh fruit salad at the buffet and the watered down oj and cranberry juices and cold food that should be hot. They only time we got hot food was in the blue lagoon and the escargot all the other food was cold.

You have mentioned several times how unhappy you were with the food; I guess we all enjoy different things. As for the watermelon, I haven't eaten it much on cruise ships so haven't paid much attention the seed versus no seed thing though I don't think I have seen this complaint except from you. I am sure others didn't like seeds either even though they haven't written about this. The shrimp cocktail, as others pointed out when you first referred to the tiny shrimp: that particular cocktail is baby shrimp cocktail; baby shrips are usually pretty small, but taste just as good as the giant ones. For everyone there is a cruise ship and line, NCL isn't the one for you. NMNita

[Hikini]

For what it's worth, myself and 4 of my family members cruised on the Spirit last fall and LOVED it! Prior to our cruise we'd ready several negative reviews about the Spirirt and even though I knew that nothing was going to ruin my cruise, I did have some of those thoughts in my head early on during our vacation. It didn't take long before I was scratching my head wondering what in the heck those people had been complaining about. We had a wonderful time with a great, friendly crew, good to excellent food and a beautiful ship.

 

Have fun!

 

Hikini:D

[hods93]

 

PS I thought the food was not up to par at all and not even equal to eating at Denny's while the service at Denny's is better. I will never get over being served tiny little shrimp as a shrimp cocktail in a gorgeous restaurant as Window's and the watermelon seeds left in the fresh fruit salad at the buffet and the watered down oj and cranberry juices and cold food that should be hot. They only time we got hot food was in the blue lagoon and the escargot all the other food was cold.

 

MJEasley, I couldnt agree with you more. But, food is so subjective I hate commenting on it. On our recent Spirit cruise I did not like the food one bit but my FIL was with us and he thought it was great - go figure? I just kept my mouth shut. Spirit gets a thumbs up from me on friendly service, beauty of ship and cleanliness (even though my DS got sick). Looking back at the experience as a whole it was great.