Spirit 7/08-7/16 Review: Background & Intro

[RoosterSharkey]

Background & Intro

 

First, you should know that this was the first cruise for my DW and me, so we can’t provide any comparisons. We went with our best friends D (Wifey) & G (Hubby), who have cruised 4-5 times before, but I’ll keep their opinions to a minimum, since they are, after all, provided secondhand.

We’re all just under 50 years old (with one exception…just over) and traveled childless (YAY!), so we can’t provide any insight in that respect.

We stayed in opposite but identical balcony staterooms (10520 for us, 10020 for D&G), so our stateroom references apply to Deck 10 Fore. Our room was port-side (left while facing the front of the ship), while D&G were starboard.

 

I hope this doesn’t break any CC Board rules, but I thought this would be most useful for CC Members if I break it down into the following categories:

 

Getting On & Getting Off

Getting Around the Ship

Dining

Excursions

Activities & Entertainment

 

……………and post a separate thread for each category. That should make it easier for fellow CC’ers to find their point of interest, and easier for us to answer any questions. I’m still on vacation through this weekend, so ask whatever you wish and I’ll answer you as soon as I possibly can!

[RoosterSharkey]

Getting On

 

We live in Middle Village, Queens, so my older son was able to take all four of us in a mini-van directly to the ship in about 25 minutes (Saturday morning traffic…Ahhhh!). We arrived at the terminal apx. 11:10, checked our luggage at the curb, and were sitting in the waiting area with our carry-ons by apx. 11:20. Everything went very smoothly, and we were walking up the gangplank by about 12:20.

We went straight to the main lobby (or atrium), went directly to the restaurant reservation table (set up specifically for the boarding process), and made all our reservations for the week (Thanks to tips from CC members!!!!). This took about 25 minutes, but only because the group in front of us was woefully unprepared (…I don’t know….what do you think….can I see the Windows menus again….UGH!!). Anyway, we were seated in Windows for lunch by about 1:00 PM, and the announcement that the staterooms were available was made at 2:00 PM precisely, as advertised. See the Dining post for further details.

 

Getting Off

 

DW and G&D went for breakfast at Windows, while I stood on Deck 13 braving the wind to get NY pictures that I missed on embarkation day because it was the first day with our new digital camera, and I filled the memory card with 10 pictures (a long story that has no relevance here…thank goodness!)

I clicked away until about 8:00, went to Raffles for a quick bite, and back to the room for the carry-offs. Actual docking took place at 8:20. We gathered our stuff, took the elevator down to Deck 8, and sat in comfort at Champaign Charlie’s at around 9:30. (We did not attempt express disembarkation.) Our color (Aqua-blue?) was called at 10:10. We went down to Deck 7, disembarked, gathered our luggage ourselves, dragged it out to the taxi stand, and we were in a mini-van taxi headed for home by 10:40. I cannot imagine how it could have gone smoother or easier, unless, of course, I had a butler to wheel and lift the bags!!

[RoosterSharkey]

Getting Around the Ship

 

Here is the single-most important thing to remember for getting around the ship. There are three banks of elevators: one fore-ship, one mid-ship (with the glass rear walls, from which you can see the Atrium), and one in the rear. All three banks have three elevators, and all nine elevator doors face the rear of the ship!! If you keep in mind that every time you step off an elevator you are facing rear, your life (for 8 days) will be much easier AND you will be the envy of all your fellow passengers!

 

Here is the second-most important thing to remember. If you want to walk from the front to the rear (or vice versa) on Decks 7, 8 or 12, you can only do so on the starboard side (right-side facing front). The exception is Deck 7 outdoors, where you can circle the entire ship on the wood promenade.

 

Aside from the deck containing your stateroom, all you really need to know is:

Deck 7 - Casino in front; bars, pubs & Blue Lagoon down the sides; Main Lobby/Atrium at mid-ship; some specialty restaurants; and then the Stardust Theater in the rear;

Deck 8 – Nothing in front except the conference rooms; photo & gift shops along with level 2 of the Atrium; other specialty restaurants; and level 2 of the Stardust Theater in the rear.

Deck 12 – The pooldeck and Raffles, with Raffles in the rear;

Deck 13 – The upper level of the pooldeck, per se.

 

By the way, if you want NY pictures, on embarkation day, stay to the port-side (left facing front) of the ship and focus on the NY skyline, etc. Get your Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island pictures on the morning of your return to NY, also from port-side. This way you won’t be fighting the sun in either direction! Instead, the sun will provide your flash!

[PhilBiker]

By the way, if you want NY pictures, on embarkation day, stay to the port-side (left facing front) of the ship and focus on the NY skyline, etc. Get your Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island pictures on the morning of your return to NY, also from port-side. This way you won’t be fighting the sun in either direction! Instead, the sun will provide your flash!

Great tip! I'll have to bring my camera.

[bangzoom6877]

Excellent tips! Keep them coming! We leave in 2 days on the Spirit 8-night itinerary!!!

 

I hope you don't mind a few questions:

1. When is Caribbean night in the dining room?

2. The main dining room themes as posted by a passenger from the Majesty 7-night itinerary were: Bon Voyage dinner, Captain's Gala, Italian, Caribbean, International, Captain's Farewell, and Chef's dinner. What is the 8th dinner theme?

3. Which night was the deck party?

4. How easy is it to get a reservation at the specialty restaurants for when they open at 5:30?

 

Keep the tips coming! I love the elevator tip, that you are always facing the rear of the ship! That one will help a lot.

 

Thanks again,

Bonnie

[mypyr]

RoosterSharkey-

 

Please keep the review coming! I'm waiting for the next part!

[PosadaGirl519]

Great tip! I'll have to bring my camera.

 

As will I! This review is excellent, intelligent, easy to read and very well thought out. Please keep it coming!:D

[RoosterSharkey]

Dining

 

Breakfasts:

Windows everyday (except for me on the last morning). We prefer to be waited on for meals, and since we could get pretty much everything we wanted here, we figured, why change? Generally, service was very good and cheerfully provided. Food was quite good. Excellent fresh fruit plates, fresh eggs (except for scrambled, it seems – I was a big fan of the ham, mushroom and cheddar omelet!), nuked but pretty good bacon, very good croissants and danishes, DW loved the pancakes, all the usual cereals, good selection of juices (chilled tomato with a lemon wedge…yum!). We all usually ordered two different juices everyday (a tomato and a pineapple for me!); you never know what size glasses will arrive, but if they’re too small, ask for seconds! On the iffy side were the sausages (nuked and kind of dry - if you like bangers, go with them) and the hash browns (I suspect some kind of pre-packaged frozen deal stuck in the nuker). AND NOW…the coffee…well, you can’t win ‘em all. I didn’t find it too bad, but it wasn’t great, though I certainly drank my share. My friend G. gave up on it after day four and asked for chocolate milks instead, which always took a while to get to the table…odd. If you’re allowed to have it in your diet, ask for half & half when you first order…it helps. At dinner, ask for cappuccino; I’m sure it’s the same coffee, just frothed up with a touch of cream…not great, but better than regular.

 

Lunches:

We ate at Windows right after we boarded and made our reservations. Had an excellent lunch featuring tilapia. Ate here for lunch one other day, I believe (somewhat blurry!). On the three excursion days we just didn’t bother with lunch, and believe me, we didn’t miss it due to the huge breakfasts. The other three days we just pigged out on the poolside barbecues. I thought the burgers were just fine…they always make them well-done, just like any other fast-food operation…and I really liked the chicken. The ribs, when served (every other day?) looked great but were oddly somewhat flavorless to me. Raffles always had nice varieties of fresh fruits and salad possibilities. I remember reading a post about how tacky it was to have bottled salad dressing (in addition to “homemade”) at the salad bar, but frankly, I’m a big fan of Wishbone Thousand Island, so I was like a pig in……Wishbone Thousand Island dressing.

 

Dinners:

OK….here we go. We are certainly not picky eaters, but being lifetime NY’ers that live in Queens (home of every kind of restaurant under the sun), I think we can provide opinions that most folks can rely upon. I work in upper Midtown Manhattan, and business often calls for me to eat in some ridiculously expensive restaurants, so I’ve got some insight into “gourmet” faire as well, though I’m far from an “expert”. That being said……here goes:

 

Saturday – Le Bistro (1/2 price on embarkation day – seemed like a smart idea)

Superb service and food. Had the oysters AND the escargot; thought the former was excellent and the latter very good. Three of us had the seabass (I love it and have had it in many NY restaurants)…it was simply outstanding! D had the filet mignon and said it was very good. Enjoyed the chocolate fondue for dessert very much…it was tasty AND fun. If you’re lucky, you’ll get Anna as your waitress, and whatever you do, when your entrée arrives, DON’T PEEK, or you’ll be scolded like DW was! You’ll see what I mean. Do NOT miss eating here.

 

Sunday – Windows (Captain’s Night – lobster tails, need I say more?)

Order your appetizers liberally! (The NE clam chowder was oddly prepared and somewhat iffy). We all ordered two entrees as well. DW, D & G had the lobster AND the pasta dish; I had the lobster AND the Beef Wellington. Have I had a better lobster tail? Of course. This was slightly overcooked, but had an excellent sweet flavor and was not smothered in any sauces or butter, which I prefer. The Beef Wellington was surprisingly excellent…very sweet and very tender…a real plus!

 

Monday – Cagney’s (No particular reason for the choice of day)

We had very rough seas all day Monday, and poor G went down for the count! I felt really bad for him (he’s a 5-time cruise veteran, while this was my first!), but certainly didn’t mind dining with a pretty lady on my left and my right!:-)

Do NOT miss this restaurant! True, the shrimp cocktail comes with only 3 shrimp. If that’s not acceptable to you, order 2 or 3 right off the bat; it’s not a problem. It is not your typical totally naked shrimp with a sauce in the middle, but I thought it was outstanding! I also ordered the crab cakes (a small but excellent dish) AND the NE clam chowder (WAY different than the one at Windows…quite good!). For entrees, DW had the salmon (she doesn’t “do” beef) and was somewhat disappointed (I guess my Webber-grilled salmon has spoiled her!:-), D had the filet (“very good”), and I (of course) had the porterhouse for a whopping $5.00 extra, with a little garlic mashed and creamed spinach on the side. It was an excellent piece of meat that was perfectly prepared at medium. No joke – I put it right up there with Ben Benson’s and it makes Ruth Chris’ an afterthought. My opinion, of course. This meal was so good, I don’t even remember what we had for dessert…oh yeah…an excellent cheesecake with the cherry-sauce on the side.

 

Tuesday – Windows (After an exhausting day in St. Thomas)

Half ordered monkfish, served with a sauce they loved…half ordered Coq Au Bin…not the best I’ve had by any means, but very good…not dry, as I had feared.

 

Wednesday – Windows (After a tough day at The Baths in Virgin Gorda)

This was the Carribean night. It’s an unusual menu, so step out on the edge and live a little. I will tell you that I had the jerk chicken, which was a little overcooked, but tasty just the same.

 

Thursday – Teppanyaki (Could only get 5:30, so we booked an at-sea day)

This was the only real disappointment of the cruise. I suspect the chef was a rookie…the only tricks he tried were the “flip-an-egg-into-the-hat” (successful) and the “flip-the-egg-into-the-air-and-catch-it-splitting -on-the-spatula” (blew it all three times). We’ve eaten in this type of venue many times, so it wasn’t the lack of razzle-dazzle that was a let-down; it was the food itself! My filet was OK, but G (a big-time Italian seafood eater) said his mixed seafood platter was terrible, and the ladies were quite disappointed with their shrimp & scallops. Everything, including the rice and the veggies (which were oddly prepared and served AFTER the the meat and fish), was prepared with BIG wads of butter. Never seen this before, and hope to never see it again!! It actually earned the nickname "Teppanyucki". When I think we could eaten in Le Bistro again for $30 for 4 people (1/2 price on Thursdays) instead of $41 for this, I get gas!:D

 

Friday – Windows

I had the lamb chops…not too good…I like them braized, and these were kind of, well, mushy and therefore retained much of the fat. The others had the wahoo (that’s a fish, folks) and said it was very tasty (if you haven’t had it before, it has a texture more like chicken than your average fish filet…give it a try!). We also ordered the lasagna, which was prepared with pine-nuts. We’ve had it before (Queens is THE land of Italian restaurants!) and this compared favorably. It’s not your “normal” lasagna, but give a whirl. Two of the four servings had unacceptably scorched pasta, so we sent them back and got two replacements in about 5 minutes….no problem since we each had another entrée to occupy our time.

 

Saturday – La Trottoria

Somewhat pedestrian Italian faire. Not much else to say about it, except we were served by our favorite waiters…they had served us breakfast in Windows just that morning, and the Jr. waiter did a break-dancing act in the crew show that afternoon. Great kid, and boy, was he beaming when we paid him his due compliments!

 

So that’s it for dining. Just keep the following in mind, and you should really enjoy yourselves:

Start each meal with smiles, pleasantries, pleases and thank-you’s for your waitstaff. (We always do this, no matter where we eat, and we eat out together 2-3times per week) We said thank you every time they placed our napkins on our laps, evry time they refilled our water glasses, etc. I can’t say for sure whether this was the reason we had excellent and friendly service at EVERY meal we had, but I’m pretty sure it helped!

Order EVERY appetizer you think you MIGHT like. The portions are small, and what have you got to lose?

 

If you can’t decide between two entrees, order them both!! We did it several times and were darn glad we did.

 

By the way, make reservations for EVERY night of your cruise as soon as you board. Even when we planned on dining in Windows, we made reservations for 7:30. Most of the time we arrived around 7:00 – 7:15 and we were escorted right in past the non-reserved diners who were waiting outside the restaurant. Very important!!

[RoosterSharkey]

My neck of the Queens woods has been without electricity for most of two days! I'll try to catch up and answer questions ASAP!! I hope I can get to the 7/22 cruisers before tomorrow morning!!

[McVegas]

Great job on the write up...looking forward to my 10 day cruise (11/30/06).

[PhilBiker]

Wow, I'm getting hungry already just reading that. :)

[RoosterSharkey]

1. When is Caribbean night in the dining room?

2. The main dining room themes as posted by a passenger from the Majesty 7-night itinerary were: Bon Voyage dinner, Captain's Gala, Italian, Caribbean, International, Captain's Farewell, and Chef's dinner. What is the 8th dinner theme?

3. Which night was the deck party?

4. How easy is it to get a reservation at the specialty restaurants for when they open at 5:30?

 

To bangzoom:

 

1. Carribean night was Wednesday.

2. Not sure about "themes" other than Sunday was the Captain's Gala, Wednesday (see above).

3. Good question...I think it was Tuesday night, but it may have bee Wednesday...they had something going on two nights, but it never interferes with any "big" shows, so I wouldn't worry about it.

4. Make ALL your reservations as soon as you board the ship...even for the nights when you plan on Windows or the Garden Room.

[naxos]

By the way you can order cappuccino for breakfast as well as dinner!

 

Also for those still concerned about the corkage fee- We were on the same cruise and brought aboard 4 bottles of wine- they were in a "shop on board" box from a previous cruise and we carried then on. No NCL staff member took the bottles to the wine storage room as they did on our previous NCL cruise on the Wind- we just took the box and wine to our stateroom. Our plan was to pay the corkage fee and drink the wine with dinner- which we did. The waiter, each time, apologized for the corkage fee and kept our leftovers to be delivered to our table the next evening.

 

Another poster complained that alcoholic drinks were being pushed by the waitstaff- but for us each night someone asked if we wanted anything from the bar- we politely sad no and that was that!

 

Re food- one night we were served lobster bisque in the Winsows dining room and we sent it back- it really was not very good- otherwise the food was ok as I posted before- not gourmet fare but nourishing and some things were surprisingly good.

[sweetpea-2]

I've enjoyed reading your review and excellent job and glad you had a great cruise

[pengu1n]

 

Order EVERY appetizer you think you MIGHT like. The portions are small, and what have you got to lose?

 

What have I got to lose?:eek: About 20 pounds!!!!!!

[mypyr]

Great, Great, Great review!! I can't wait for the next part! As always, I have a few questions:

 

1. Did anyone you know eat at Shogun?

What did they think of it?

 

From what your wrote I think maybe we will do Le Bistro twice and Cagney's twice.

 

Which nights in Windows were your favorites? Of course we will do Lobster night, but was there another night that was outstanding as well?

 

Do you think there would be a problem bringing my 8 yr old DD? She is well-behaved but can be a little squirmy at times..

 

Thanks for your time!!

 

Cindy

[phillyf]

Great review, enjoyed the dining part. We also lived in Middle Village for 9 years and moved to LI about 9 years ago.

 

We were close to OLH

[RoosterSharkey]

As I was posting on Friday, we got hit by yet another thunderstorm! Major lightning!.....and me, being foolish as usual, kept right on typing, and a way-too-close bolt blew-out my modem, if with the surge protector! But I'm back now and will try to finish today (back to work tomorrow:eek:)

 

For Cindy

 

:

 

1. Did anyone you know eat at Shogun?

What did they think of it?

 

From what your wrote I think maybe we will do Le Bistro twice and Cagney's twice.

 

Which nights in Windows were your favorites? Of course we will do Lobster night, but was there another night that was outstanding as well?

 

Do you think there would be a problem bringing my 8 yr old DD? She is well-behaved but can be a little squirmy at times..

 

 

Cindy

 

Yes. Folks we met who ate in Shogun said it was very good with lots of variety. If they hadn't had the Japanese table, we would have eaten there as well.

 

All the meals in Windows were good, so that's a tough question, but the Carribean night was kind of neat because it was offered maany items I'd never had before.

 

No problem at all for bring your DD. There's nothing she could possibly do they haven't seen before.;) At the last-night show the Kids Crew couselors got the loudest ovation (next to Ricky the CD), and I heard several remarks that parents were very pleased. Might as well try it out, but make sure you coordinate the operating times with your dinner reservaations!

 

Talk soon (I hope)!

[Littlewon]

We stay on port side when leaving NYC to get pics of the Statue of Liberty? I was reading on another site and they said to stay on the opposite side. I just wanted to make sure I will be on the correct side when leaving NYC.

 

thanks

[RoosterSharkey]

We stay on port side when leaving NYC to get pics of the Statue of Liberty? I was reading on another site and they said to stay on the opposite side. I just wanted to make sure I will be on the correct side when leaving NYC.

 

thanks

 

If you want to take pictures of the Statue when leaving NYC, you SHOULD be on the starboard side. My suggestion was to take them on the way back in to NYC so that the sun (if any) will be shining on the front of the Statue instead of being behind it.

[nycruiser1975]

Is it necessary to make reservation at the non speicialty resturants. DH and I have no idea when we like to eat, our stomach are funny. One day we are hungry early next we are hungry late or not at all. Sorry first timer:o

[judyf]

Is it necessary to make reservation at the non speicialty resturants

 

No, we never made ressie for the main dining rooms for the same reason you stated. Only the special ones you need to make ressie for if you really want to go, they book up fast.

[RoosterSharkey]

Is it necessary to make reservation at the non speicialty resturants. Sorry first timer:o

 

No, it is not necessary. However, you MAY want to consider it. We ate in specialty restaurants on 4 nights and in Windows on 4 nights. As soon as we boarded we made reservations for the specialties (picking at-sea days so we could be ensure getting there on time and well-rested), AND for the other 4 nights we booked Windows for 7:30. Twice we showed up around 7:00, QUIETLY apologized at the INSIDE desk for being too early, and were escorted right in (twice to a table by the huge rear windows), despite the fact that there was a line of people WITHOUT reservations that were waiting for a table! ;) Kabeeesh?:)

[mypyr]

Rooster Sharky,

Thanks so much for answering all our questions. We are anxiously awaiting "Excursions" and "Entertainment", so I hope you get to it soon.

 

Being an Italian teacher, I can't help myself for the following correction:

"Kabeesh" is really "capisc" which is dialect for "capisci" which means "do you understand?" Capisci?

 

My DH says I am a pain, and he is probably right...lol!

 

Ciao Ciao!

[RoosterSharkey]

Being an Italian teacher, I can't help myself for the following correction:

"Kabeesh" is really "capisc" which is dialect for "capisci" which means "do you understand?" Capisci?

 

Kabeesh is actually spelled capisc??? Get OUT ' here!!!:eek: :)

 

That's pretty neat to know!......though, when I think about it, if I spell it correctly in my posts, I fear the only ones who will recognize it are Italian Teachers and me (well.....now, at least!);)

 

Yes, I will make every attempt to finishoff the review by tomorrow.