Spirit

[renata102]

hi I am new to NCL (thinking of doing the Spirit 8 night cruise in the Spring). my questions is what did you think of the spirit? and how the heck does freestyle cruising work? what are specialty restaurants and how much more do you have to pay? And do you have a good choice and quality in the "free" restaurants?

[KeystoneCruiser]

how the heck does freestyle cruising work? what are specialty restaurants and how much more do you have to pay? And do you have a good choice and quality in the "free" restaurants?

 

I can't answer your first question since I have never been on the Spirit but I can handle the Freestyle question since that is the reason that I cruise only NCL.

 

Freestyle is all about your choice. Freestyle gives you the choice to eat WHEN you want, with WHO you want, WHERE you want, and HOW you want.

 

1.) You do not have assigned dining times. You can go the main restaurants anytime that they are open (5:30-9:30) and simply tell them how many of you there are and they will seat you, just like a shoreside restaurant. Unless you are a large group, you cannot make reservations in the main dining rooms. Sometimes this can cause you to wait a few minutes (usually less than 20) for a table if you dine during the peak hours of 6:30-8:00.

 

2.) You do have to make reservations for the Specialty Restaurants and most of them have a cover charge of $10-20 per person. (but that is only for the entree, you can have as many apetizers, salads, sides and desserts that you want.). You can make these for the entire week when you board. Not all specialty restaurants have a cover charge (LaTrattatoria for example) but all require reservations. There is an Italian one, a steakhouse, a tex-mex, and an asian one, just to name a few.

 

3.) You do not have assigned tablemates. You can dine with just your family or perhaps the friends you met that day. They have tables from 2 people to 10 people. You can also request to be seated with new people if you like. You usually do not have the same waiters each night, but you can request them!

 

4.) You can dress as you like. (within limits) All formal nights on all NCL ships are OPTIONAL in all dining venues. You do not have to dress up and can still eat anywhere. On formal night, only about 40% of the passengers will dress up and that will range from tuxes to shirt/tie. The other 60% will be in resort casual.

 

With that said, you do have to dress in at least Resort Casual every night to dine in the restaurants. Resort casual simply means no shorts, jeans or t-shirts. Polo shirts, sun dresses, kahkis, and sneakers are all perfectly acceptable! I have never worn any more than a polo shirt, kahkis and sneakers to any meal on five NCL cruises! You will not feel out of place! The best part...the chance to dress as you feel comfortable.

 

(btw: if you have to wear jeans or shorts, you can then choose to dine in the Blue Lagoon (diner) or the buffet for dinner!)

 

5.) Finally, disembarkation. You can remain in your cabin until you are called to disembark. No more being herded like cattle into public rooms waiting to be called. Enjoy the last morning in your cabin!

 

Hope this helps. Please fire away with any questions regarding Freestyle!

[renata102]

thanks that really clears alot about it. We are looking into late spring. look forward to crusing other lines (not that I have an issue with RCCL). just wanna se what's out there (and can't beat the military rates for the NCL cruise we are considering):p

[1sttimecruiserlady]

Hi there... My family and I just got back from the Spirit and the food was good in Windows and the Garden room which were free and LIbistro which was not. Libistro was 15.00 which we got half price. There are times where you can get the specialty restraunts for half price. I found the food for the most part very good. Raffels which is the food buffet on the Spirit was ok. The omelets were great for morning breakfast the coffee not so good. Coffee was better in windows. Freestyle is you can eat when you want. As long as you eat during the hours that the restraunts are open. Hope this helps.

 

 

1sttimecruiserlady

NCL Spirit July 16-22

[NJBear]

hi I am new to NCL (thinking of doing the Spirit 8 night cruise in the Spring......And do you have a good choice and quality in the "free" restaurants?

 

We were on the 6/3 cruise on the SPIRIT, we ate in Le Bistro once $15 upcharge I think and Cagneys 2x $20 upcharge.

 

We ate the rest of the meals in WINDOWS and enjoyed every single one of them, actually there is no real reason to go to the other "specialty" restaurants, we went to see how they compared to the ones on the DAWN

 

We ran into people that never ate anywhere except the free(not really, we pay for them as well in the fare ) LOL..... restaurants and raved about the choices...and the quality..I agree

[Porsche Lover]

My husband and I were on the Spirit in late May - 8 day itinerary. The ship and staff were excellent. The ports were great and we had a wonderful time. However, the food is another story. We had been on the Sun to Alaska in 2004 and the food was pretty good. We really like the concept of "free style" and decided to try another NCL cruise out of New York since we live there. Breakfast at Windows was good and the buffet was okay for breakfast. BBQs at the pool area for lunch were good. We ate at Cagney's 1 night ($20 per person) and had a great meal and a good meal at the Chinese restaurant ($11 per person). Now, on to dinner at the "included" restaurants - awful. The food at best was luke warm. Selections in both main dining rooms were the same every day and never impressive. Had fish one night and it had a "fishy" taste which means "old". If you didn't like what was offered on the dinner menu, you could always get chicken. My husband ordered it one night and not only was it luke warm, it came out as an overcooked chicken breast with nothing on it. Salad dressings were watered down. Dinner buffets were just about the same every night - again, nothing impressive and luke warm. And, forget about desserts. Nothing was worth trying. This was not a cheap or reasonably priced cruise. We paid top dollar for a balcony room. I didn't expect "gourmet" food but I also didn't expect "awful." I'm sure that many people will take exception to what I've written, however, I felt the need to write this review. For next year we've booked a 12 day cruise to Greece on Celebrity's Galaxy. Just couldn't give NCL any more of our money.

[dreamcruiservt]

what did you think of the spirit?

 

Hi Renata102,

 

We enjoyed the Spirit very much! The asian theme/decor is interesting. I think the freestyle and specialty restaurant questions have been adequately answered. If you have other specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

 

Happy Cruising!