Norweigian Spirit Cruise Review 2/24-3/4

[aceparty]

If there is any major outbreaks this web site below will tell you about it:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/default.htm

[Butch2099]

I had the bug that went around last week on the boat and it was more of a violent 24 virus... puking..diarhea..stomach pains. :eek: I had not drank from a refilled water bottle, but I did have sushi Thursday and eat a bite of a burger on Cayo Lev. DR. , so not sure which did it.

I had eaten Sushi Tuesday as well, and was fine that night. Not sure what caused it, but it sure sucked ! My son is also sick now , but with a cold... most likely from the change of weather.. Not to effect my opinion of cruising.. still love it!

 

I didn't mean to imply you re-used a bottle of water. If anyone else does everyone gets a taste....

[Moocat]

I didn't mean to imply you re-used a bottle of water. If anyone else does everyone gets a taste....

 

I didn't think you did, just wanted to get out there it wasn't my ignorance of doing that... ;)

[somewhere in the sun]

I have not even started my cruise yet, but I am already thinking about disembarkation. I know we port at 8am and disembarkation starts at 10 am. We have a 12:40 flight to catch at JFK (it was bumped forward by the airline recently). NCL says not to make flights before noon on disembarkation day. We are Canadians flying JFK to Buffalo (in case that affects our situation).

 

For people recently off the 8 day Spirit voyage, what time were you able to disembark (earliest)?

Did any of you have an early flight to catch?

How tight was time?

 

Please help put our minds at rest.

 

Its going to be close. With express disembark you can probably be off by 9:30, i dont think I would count on earlier. If you didnt book the NCL transfer then you will have to catch a cab and head to JFK which may take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour depending on the traffic and how busy the airport is. If you booked the NCL transfer they are the first off the ship when they start calling luggage tags and thats probably about 15 minutes after express disembark. We had tan colored tags which were the 4th or 5th called and we got our luggage and to our car on pier 92 (boat docked at 90) by 10:30. Of course if the ship is a little late, happened to us on a 7 nighter on the Dawn, then who knows what will happen. Luckily we had no flight to catch... good luck and hope this helps

[udjohan]

We did the express disembark Sunday. We were at our car and loaded up ready to drive away at 9:03 am.

[Keefy]

Express Disembark is NOT alklowed for Canadians. They seize your passport when you check in and then have all Non US assemble in the theter where you are given it back on the last morning- they then escort you in groups on shore. Cattle class!

However we got off at 9-15, taxi to Newark and on an Air Canada flight at 11.20 and back into Toronto by 12.45.

 

There was a significant outbreak of Salmonella from folks eating at the Sushi Bar.

 

Avoid Samana on your own- its very scary and you are harrassed by locals 10feet from the little pier. We spent no more than 10 minutes in the Dominican Republic.

The Shipwreck Bar right opposite the exit from Havensight Mall in St Thomas is lovely!!

 

A TAxi to Coral World is $9, great drivers and they give you a $4 coupon for Coral World (which is not as good as advertised) but gets you in for $14.

 

A tour of Tortola on a taxi 3 hours is $20 and was extremely good value.

 

The bedsd are extremely hard, the entertainment crumby and the New York Terminal Filthy dirty and unfriendly.

 

Have a great cruise!!

 

Oh theres no draft beer in the pubs either.

[VT3]

My two boys and I had a great time on our cruise. This was our first so nothing to compare it to. Going out of NYC was obviously cold and bumpy but we all did fine. None of us got sick from the food or motion.

I do agree that entertainment was not that impressive - with the exception of 'fountains'

Food was good and the boys really enjoyed room service - they loved the pizza. Only specialty we went to was Shogun and it was awesome.

We all met a lot of great people on the ship and the staff was wonderful. Elizabeth in Bier Garten was my favorite - she will remember you from your first order and call you by your name though out the cruise.

 

St. Thomas: We did the Magen's Bay Beach Getaway. The bus to the beach gave us a nice tour and nice views of the island. The beach was beautiful but too crowded for our us. After our return from the beach we walked through the malls, picked up some gifts and sent out our post-cards.

 

Tortola: We did the Virgin Gorda Highlights. Again, bus tour was great to look around on our route. We then hiked down to the beach which we really enjoyed. The Virgin Gorda is a must see. We loved climbing round the boulders and the beach was great. After our return, I went to the locals shopping booths and purchased more gifts.

 

Samana: This was our favorite stop. We did the Off-Road Safari Adventure and would by far recommend this to anyone. This excursion gives you a chance to see how the people live and brings you into a beautiful un-touched island. Sophi, our guide on the bus, was a doll. She was very informative and answered a lot of our questions. You are never left alone so you will always be safe. Hold on tight to your things and your kids when you get on and off the dock - the swarm of locals all over you is very overwhelming.

 

Things I will do different on my next cruise; Sail out of someplace already warm: Do more off-road type excursions to see more of the islands and avoid such big crowds: Bring a friend: Pack less.

 

I chose a few of my 700 photos to share with everyone.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/lsjsons/NCLSpirit224073407

 

Enjoy,

Lorrie, Keith & Jordan :D

[JERSYGRL111]

How long was it til the weather warmed up? I'm leaving on saturday on my very first cruise!!! Can't wait...

[VT3]

How long was it til the weather warmed up? I'm leaving on saturday on my very first cruise!!! Can't wait...

 

I'm from Vermont so even NYC was warm to me. I thought it wasn't warmer until Monday. Even then it was windy enough to be chilly. Once we woke up prior to pulling into St. Thomas on Tuesday - that's when the capri pants were put away and the bathing suit and shorts were taken out.

[Keefy]

We left on Saturday 24th, Sunday 25th was nice and pleasant about 65, 26th was Hotabout 85.

Must agree 'Fountains' was brilliant!!

Great meals in both Windows and Garden Room.

The buffet (Raffles aka The Trough) was, to me, only a place to have an early morning tea.

There seemed to be a lot of chinese people on the ship, I wonder if they were on a special tour.

[Surfgirl]

VT3, these are GORGEOUS photos. Are you a professional photographer? Now I'm getting really excited about my trip!

 

Anyone recommend something to do on Virgin Gorda? I've been to the baths and looking for an alternative. Have already done the island tour too.

[VT3]

Thanks Surfgirl - I just have a great camera - those were just a quick pick of all the great photos we got.

My next trip to Tortola I would probably pick the Landrover Jeep Tour. Again, not too big on being around all the people when visiting an island. After the Samana excursion I will now always find something that gets me into island to see the real thing. After all, don't we get enough of bumping into people while on the ship. :cool:

[judyf]

VT3, these are GREAT photos! I'm looking forward to going to the Baths.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[coka]

Are you sure it was the shushi? There were a lot of people in America sick with that cold/virus thing. Fever, cramps, diarrhea for 24 hours. One-half of the office had it, about 8-10% kids at school had it, people on my plane were talking about it and none of us were on a cruise ship.

 

Good to know people had fun on the Spirit though! I sailed her last year and she is a beautiful ship.

Coka

[BethP781]

Thank you so much, VT3!! Your pictures are gorgeous, and I even saved one of them as my desktop background. I'm really looking forward to this vacation!!!:D

 

-Beth

[Seago2]

 

Things I will do different on my next cruise; Sail out of someplace already warm: Do more off-road type excursions to see more of the islands and avoid such big crowds: Bring a friend: Pack less.

 

I chose a few of my 700 photos to share with everyone.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/lsjsons/NCLSpirit224073407

 

Enjoy,

Lorrie, Keith & Jordan :D

 

I kind of agree on sailing out of someplace warm... but I hate the airfare issue, and the hotel issue (I can't fly in the same day- too nervewracking), and I love to be able to pack whatever I want and just jam it in the car.

 

I totally agree on the friend issue- I would LOVE to cruise with about ten people.

 

Pack less? No way! :eek:

[cruiser12]

They are great! ! ! We here in the NY area received a lot of phone calls ( I work for a school district) in the past two days with exactly the same that you discribed our students have . There must be something going around. Someone may have come on board already sick. "WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE! ! ! "

 

 

 

Looking forward to our trip in just a few weeks.

[Russ Lomas]

Thanks to Keefy for the positive take on us being able to catch our 12:40 flight. If you caught a 11:30 flight and you were Canadians who were not permitted to do the "express" disembarkation, then that bodes well for us making our flight. That eases our concerns a little.

 

Thanks to Carlalena1 for the pictures. They were great. I almost feel as though I don't need to go on the cruise anymore. Hmmmmm....nope, I think I still need to go on it myself. Less than 4 days now.

[2READY2go]

This note is for Russ Lomas, Lavigne101 and others concerned about timing of disembarkation in New York to catch your flights.

As Canadians on the Spirit that just returned March 4, we too were concerned about what time to book a flight home, so we booked a flight much too late. The disembarkation did not take as long as they warn you about. We were in a cab leaving the terminal about 9:40 a.m. NCL states that disembarkation starts about two hours after docking. We docked in New York at 8 a.m. and some passengers (U.S. citizens) were called to leave before 9 a.m. Non-U.S. citizens must wait in the theatre a little longer starting at 9 a.m. to retrieve their passports.

 

HINT: To save some time, you can ask for a priority colour tag for disembarkation. Go to the reception desk two days before disembarkation and show them your airline ticket or just explain your tight schedule. We had our cabin number called with the early group of passengers. Even a few minutes saved can be vital.

[cruisedad324]

My experience with NCL was very good over all. Not excellent like my previous cruises with Carnival, but i still had an awesome vacation. I won't go into too much detail as the first couple of reviews were excellent and about the same for my family.

 

Bar staff was excellent. Cabin service was ok. Cabin stewards are stretched too thin (in my opinion). They worked very hard but our cabins were not as clean as our Carnival cruises.

 

La Trattoria Italian restaurant has phenomenal food and service. Make reservations early. So much for freestyle.

 

Not a lot of fun happens on the ship after 10pm. the one night we were out late enjoying the decades dance with an excellent band, they stopped 45 minutes early while the bar was packed and everybody was having fun. The wait staff claimed because of the show in the casino bar would draw much of the crowd they just figured they would stop. Did the band have another gig to catch, in the middle of the Atlantic? Do they get paid by the hour? I think it was so people would go to the casino.

 

Both of my teenagers got sick the last day at sea too. They did not eat sushi, used every hand sanitation station they went by, and always wash their hands before every meal. They had every symptom as the Norwalk virus. The difference between what they had on the ship and what was going around at work and school is they had no fever, like Norovirus (webmd term) sufferers.Thankfully they had their own room.

 

I noticed the last day at sea that Raffles terrace (the trough) was extremely quiet for breakfast. My guess is there were less than 1/5 the people that am. My wife went at lunch time and Raffles was still very quiet and there was no more self service. Employees were pouring coffee and water with gloves on (not touching food) and all of the people cleaning cabins were also wearing gloves. Most of that day it was like a ghost ship compared to the rest of the cruise. It seemed that 1 of of 3 people we spoke to had someone in their party sick. They were fine on debarkation day and lost the cool, not so sunny day at sea, so I guess we were kind of lucky. It also smelled like a nursing home walking through some of the halls from people getting sick.

[Keefy]

Just a thought as to the sickness. It was strange that all the water on the ship was cut off for four hours in Tortola.

There was no explanation other than an announcement that water throughout ther ship was cut off (at about 12 noon) and after that there was 'supervised' water dispensing at the stations in Raffles.

Could they have been flushing the system? You dont get told much.!

Theres another point, never ever did we get friendly informative announcements from the Captain, which usually happened daily on other cruises. We got a terse speed and weather from a bored sounding first officer on occasion.

Of course Mr Shopping was never quiet!

[coffeebean]

I don't know how to quote a passage from a thread, but this is for "Somewhere in the Sun"....

 

We were on the Pearl after the new menus went into effect. Le Bistro does not list the Filet Mignon and Chocolate Fondue on the menu. However... the wait staff notifies the customers that these items are in fact available. The Filet was fabulous as usual and the Chocolate Fondue was better than ever. Happy cruising!!

[ETski]

Hi Lorri, pictures are great. Makes me want to be on the cruise again. So glad that you and your sons had a nice first time cruise. It so funny we never did run into you again after the cc meeting, my sister even said that she hoped you didn't run into any problems. Its funny because on a cruise you seem to run into the same people all the time, and then never see other people again. None of us got the stomach upset that other posters have been talking about. Did notice at Raffles on the last day staff was taking percautions. Since we had my mom with us we did not do the exciting excursions that your family did. Did do the eco hike in Tortola and had some nice views from the highest point of the island. After the hike they took us to Cane Bay Gardens. I enjoyed that beach, and it was not as crowded when we arrived, since it was a little later in the day. I know other poster had come complaints, but the three of us, had a great cruise, celebrating my moms 80th birthday.

[cruiser12]

When taking our trip to Bermuda on the Majesty in 2005 we were notified of the water flushing, and the electricity would be off at least 4 hours. We went into town and headed for the water taxi that took us around the isaland.

[rinakop]

Ahoy! My DH, 11 yr. old daughter and I were on this same cruise! It was our first cruise and we treated my parents as well (it was their first cruise as well). It was overall a great time - we have travelled much over the last 25 years and there is always some little thing you can complain about but when in the vacation frame of mind - don't worry, be happy! Too blessed to be stressed! We stayed in balcony cabins, 10620 & 10616. Awesome - small but nice enough. The whole open the doors while you are sailing, listening to the ocean and relaxing on the bed-thing - what is there to complain about! teh food was good and the selection was great! Room service was used often and was also good. We went to Trunk Bay, St. John excursion through NCL (being our first and with parents didn't want added stressors) - a piece of heaven on earth! Thankful we got to see it and experience it. Tortola we took the "Beach Break" which landed us on Cane Garden Bay Beach - another fun time and nice. Samana we took the Cayo Levantado Beach Escape and so happy we did! It was fantastic - didn't want to leave. It reminded us of being in one of the many beach resorts we stayed in through out the years - b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! I loved cruising and am hooked! I want to take the Mediterrean cruise next year! Or Hawaii. I will stay with NCL - like the freestyle part of the cruising and it suited us just fine. We tried most of the specialty restaurants and were NEVER disappointed! The shows were good - our daughter didn't tap into the kid's crew but that was okay by her - had a great time anyhow - it was there and the girl said there were about 250 kids on this cruise - it looked well attended. The virus toward the end was not due to food - I managed to get the norovirus the day after our return - on Monday - and I am just now recovering. I probably caught it on the ship - I didn't the sushi or the burgers (as I have read and heard already) so that wasn;t it - front page in our paper this morning was about the nasty virus clogging up emergency rooms and guess what - I caught it. It happens - luckily it didn't affect my cruise and am self-employed so didn't miss time from work. The virus is nasty and the worst I had in years! Not the cruise ships fault - just the nature of the beast - viruses spread in daycares, schools, institutions, and, yes, even cruise ships where people are closely confined. It was worth every second and got to spend quality time with my parents, husband and daughter in the caribbean! Until next cruise....