Just back from Spirit 7-31 sailing

[DevinScott]

We just got back from the NCL Spirit 7-31 departure and absolutely loved it. I used several suggestions that I got from people on the boards and they really enhanced the trip. I'm not going to give a day-by-day review, but I will point out some of the things I learned from the boards that really helped.

 

1. We got to the port at 11:30 am and were in the Windows dining room having lunch by 12:15 pm. Some of the crew told us Windows was closed for lunch, but it was open and we were the first ones there.

2. We requested the mattress pads for the beds and they made the trip very comfortable.

3. We ate mostly at the Windows restaurant and only had to wait once for about 15-20 minutes for a table. The buffet has really good food, but it wasn't quite hot enough as discussed in other postings.

4. We rented a car in Skagway as people suggested and drove to Emerald Lake. The rental was with Sourdough Car Rental and the car was an absolute wreck, but we had a great time.

5. We had 2 shore days of misty rain and 2 shore days of sunshine. The misty days were beautiful and just as much fun as the sunny days (but then again, I'm from Seattle)

6. We loved seeing the Glaciers and having the chocolate buffet at the pool at the same time. The buffet was wonderful - we took too much (way too much) and part of our group overdid it on the chocolate martinis.

7. If you get a chance, ask for Kati from Romania in the Windows restaurant. She is an absolute joy.

 

We had an amazing trip and I would say out of 5 cruises on 4 different cruise lines, I thought this one was the best!

[susanv64]

Devin,

 

So glad to hear you enjoyed the Spirit. I reserved our cruise to Alaska on the Spirit for Sept. 05 about 10 minutes ago. It's a long time to wait, but reading great comments like yours will give me so much to look forward to.

 

We cruised to Mexico on Celebrity Mercury in March and now believe this on one of the most fun and stress free ways to travel. We loved it!!!

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Sue

[kkorman]

Do you think the trip to Emerald Lake is worth it? Thanks for the review when being home such a short period of a time.

[planegirl]

How do you request the mattress pads on this ship? We booked room 9678. Has anyone been in this room? Can anyone reccomend a hotel /motel with pool in Miami close to the port that is quaint and reasonable?

[Lib0007]

Hi Devin:

 

Thanks for your comments on the Spirit. I get so excited when I keep reading so many positive reviews - not only about this ship, but about NCL in general. Glad you had a great trip.

[Laura4cruise]

Thank you for posting, DevinScott! I'm glad you had such a nice cruise. It must be wonderful to be able to take cruises from your hometown--I'm landlocked!

 

I sailed on the Spirit in June and we had a great time too. We also only had to wait for dinner one night and it was about 10-15 minutes. Our favorite part of the trip was sailing up Tracy Arm to the glacier. The buffet just made it that much better. :p

[ruthslaughter]

Has anyone been in room #11576 on the "Spirit". We are sailing on 9/4/04.

Do the rooms smell smoky?

ruthslaught@yahoo.com

[cruise pup]

So glad you had a good time. Any chance once you're settled you'll share more with us? 5 weeks to go for my cruise. When I booked the cruise and got such a bargain I really didn't know what I was in for but apparently there's the potential for it to be my favorite cruise.

[Laura4cruise]

ruthslaughter, I haven't been in 11576, but I did want to say that the only room I thought smelled smoky was the Smoking Room (for obvious reasons) on Deck 12. No other room on the ship smelled of smoke.

[woodz]

Looked at different on-line agencies this past week and the only rooms available for our 9/18 cruise are suites. The price has doubled for our balcony room since we booked so it looks like we are going out with a full ship and a bargain to boot. YEA, I love it when that happens.

[DevinScott]

Do you think the trip to Emerald Lake is worth it? Thanks for the review when being home such a short period of a time.

We loved the trip and thought it was very much worth it. We stopped and took pictures all along the way. It was a nice leisurely trip off of the ship and Emerald Lake is beautiful. It changes colors depending on how you are looking at it. We had plenty of time to drive up and back. You are going into Canada, so be sure to take your documents with you.

[DevinScott]

How do you request the mattress pads on this ship? We booked room 9678. Has anyone been in this room? Can anyone reccomend a hotel /motel with pool in Miami close to the port that is quaint and reasonable?

You just need to ask your cabin steward when you arrive in your room.

[DevinScott]

So glad you had a good time. Any chance once you're settled you'll share more with us? 5 weeks to go for my cruise. When I booked the cruise and got such a bargain I really didn't know what I was in for but apparently there's the potential for it to be my favorite cruise.

Is there anything in particular that you would like to know?

[cruise pup]

Is there anything in particular that you would like to know?

 

I have been trying to find out if anyone went on the cannery tour in Prince Rupert but no one seems to have. I did see a comment on the Alaska board from a Prince Rupert resident that it was worth doing.

 

Anyway, thanks for asking.

[DevinScott]

I have been trying to find out if anyone went on the cannery tour in Prince Rupert but no one seems to have. I did see a comment on the Alaska board from a Prince Rupert resident that it was worth doing.

 

Anyway, thanks for asking.

I didn't actually get off the ship in Prince Rupert. We had a spa day. We did walk up to the salman hatchery in Ketchikan, however, and really enjoyed that. They give you a map of each town the night before in your stateroom. The map showed the way to the hatchery and it passes over a stream with salmon swimming to the hatchery. We took the hatchery tour (about $8.00) and enjoyed it. They have 2 eagles that were rescued and you can take close up pictures. They also explain the salmon spawning process. It was very educational. We took lots of pictures.

[brunolvr]

We just got back from the NCL Spirit 7-31 departure and absolutely loved it. I used several suggestions that I got from people on the boards and they really enhanced the trip. I'm not going to give a day-by-day review, but I will point out some of the things I learned from the boards that really helped.

 

1. We got to the port at 11:30 am and were in the Windows dining room having lunch by 12:15 pm. Some of the crew told us Windows was closed for lunch, but it was open and we were the first ones there.

2. We requested the mattress pads for the beds and they made the trip very comfortable.

3. We ate mostly at the Windows restaurant and only had to wait once for about 15-20 minutes for a table. The buffet has really good food, but it wasn't quite hot enough as discussed in other postings.

4. We rented a car in Skagway as people suggested and drove to Emerald Lake. The rental was with Sourdough Car Rental and the car was an absolute wreck, but we had a great time.

5. We had 2 shore days of misty rain and 2 shore days of sunshine. The misty days were beautiful and just as much fun as the sunny days (but then again, I'm from Seattle)

6. We loved seeing the Glaciers and having the chocolate buffet at the pool at the same time. The buffet was wonderful - we took too much (way too much) and part of our group overdid it on the chocolate martinis.

7. If you get a chance, ask for Kati from Romania in the Windows restaurant. She is an absolute joy.

 

We had an amazing trip and I would say out of 5 cruises on 4 different cruise lines, I thought this one was the best!

Thanks for the great review. Just wondering how much ice there was in Tracy Arm Fjord and how close were you able to get to Sawyer Glacier. Are you posting any pictures? Would love to see them! Oh, and was the "bear" still on the island by Sawyer Glacier?

[DevinScott]

Someone yelled "Bear" and the front of the ship went crazy until someone realized it was a rock or something - what was that thing? I don't know how to tell you how close we got, but it seemed close to me. We just saw brown spots and knew they were seals. Where do I post pictures?

[brunolvr]

Someone yelled "Bear" and the front of the ship went crazy until someone realized it was a rock or something - what was that thing? I don't know how to tell you how close we got, but it seemed close to me. We just saw brown spots and knew they were seals. Where do I post pictures?

When we were just leaving Sawyer Glacier, the captain came on the intercom and announced for those who had not seen a bear yet, that they could see one on the port side on the island. Well, this bear was waving at us as he (or she) stood next to a man who had a rope around the "bear" - it was just someone in a bear costume - I think they must have gotten off the excursion boat since we saw it docked on the other side of the island. I got a picture of it if you'd like to see - http://community.webshots.com/user/brunolvr

Look at 7/6/04, Day 4, Part 2, Sawyer Glacier, page 3, 1st picture and click normal size. Community webshots is a good place to post pictures - a lot of Cruise Critic members seem to post there. Give it a try, if I can do it, anyone can!

[cruise pup]

I didn't actually get off the ship in Prince Rupert. We had a spa day. We did walk up to the salman hatchery in Ketchikan, however, and really enjoyed that. They give you a map of each town the night before in your stateroom. The map showed the way to the hatchery and it passes over a stream with salmon swimming to the hatchery. We took the hatchery tour (about $8.00) and enjoyed it. They have 2 eagles that were rescued and you can take close up pictures. They also explain the salmon spawning process. It was very educational. We took lots of pictures.

 

I plan on going to the hatchery. During my last visit to Ketchikan I walked from Creek Street to the fish ladder and watched the salmon jumping the falls. But I didn't go any further up Park Avenue. Did you know that the Totem Heritage Center is nearby? It has the best collection of old totems which have been salvaged. So that's where I'll be headed. I might do the lumberjack show time if time permits. At first it sounded hoaky but this is really a lost "art" now that the timber industry is all done by machinery.

[Muffin210]

I was on the same sailing (7/31 -- I posted a review separately) and took the Juneau excursion by catamaran to Tracy Arm Fjord/Sawyer glacier. I'd highly recommend this tour -- you get a lot closer to the glaciers than if you stay on the ship, and it's really something else to be in such a small boat totally surrounded by all the icebergs and harbor seals. We saw both the North and South glaciers calving -- huge chunks of ice (the naturalist on board said one of them was about the size of a four-story building). The boat is warm and there are plenty of indoor seats and wrap-around windows, so you never even have to step outside to get a good view. It doesn't leave Juneau until about 1 PM so you still have time to do other things in the port before you leave for the glaciers (you end up reboarding the Spirit out in the Tracy Arm later in the afternoon).

[brunolvr]

I was on the same sailing (7/31 -- I posted a review separately) and took the Juneau excursion by catamaran to Tracy Arm Fjord/Sawyer glacier. I'd highly recommend this tour -- you get a lot closer to the glaciers than if you stay on the ship, and it's really something else to be in such a small boat totally surrounded by all the icebergs and harbor seals. We saw both the North and South glaciers calving -- huge chunks of ice (the naturalist on board said one of them was about the size of a four-story building). The boat is warm and there are plenty of indoor seats and wrap-around windows, so you never even have to step outside to get a good view. It doesn't leave Juneau until about 1 PM so you still have time to do other things in the port before you leave for the glaciers (you end up reboarding the Spirit out in the Tracy Arm later in the afternoon).

Have you posted any pictures?

[DevinScott]

I started posting some pictures at http://community.webshots.com/user/devinscottI am on the freebie plan, so I think I can only upload 5 pictures a day.

Devin

[Muffin210]

We bought a new digital SLR camera with a telephoto lens especially for this trip...took tons of photos -- even caught the North Sawyer glacier calving -- zoomed in on a humpback and her calf out of Prince Rupert -- nice photos of bald eagles and harbor seals -- not to mention all the amazing mountains and waterfalls and rainforest....and then promptly deleted them ALL by accident when we got home!!!

 

Oh well...I guess photos are never as good as the memories anyway! We'll just have to go back someday!

[shoreguy]

I started posting some pictures at http://community.webshots.com/user/devinscottI am on the freebie plan, so I think I can only upload 5 pictures a day.

Devin

 

You can upload anytime up to 250 pictures total . You can only download 5 per day. Now get you pictures online :D

[zimmerjulie]

muffin,

 

there are ways to recover deleted pictures, as long as you haven't taken new ones over them.

This happened to my mom, and with some "recover" software, she got them all back.