NCL Spirit December 2-9 Review

[Rowan555]

This was my 9th cruise, and my first on NCL. We have previously cruised Carnival, and obviously my feelings about the Spirit are colored by our previous experiences with Carnival.

 

Embarkation - I love the NOLA terminal, and embarkation was pretty quick and painless. We arrived at 10:40, we were able to check in around 11, and we boarded by noon. I don't understand why they do the "number" system instead of just letting you get in line, but it was no big deal. We went to Windows as everyone else headed to Raffles, and we had a nice, very quiet lunch.

 

The Ship - The Spirit is a very pretty ship, and it's very well-maintained. I don't care for the layout at all, though. It's very disjointed and difficult to get from point a to point b without having to go up and down various sets of stairs and hallways. I miss the Promenade Deck as on Carnival, where most of the lounges, casino, cafe, and other meeting places are all right there along one walkway.

 

Main Dining Rooms - we ate dinner in Windows, Garden Room, and Trattoria. Our dinner in Trattoria was very good, and meals in Windows and the Garden room were acceptable to good, depending on the night. Service was very good most nights.

 

Blue Lagoon - probably one of our favorite things about the Spirit - a great place for a late night snack or quick bite to eat in between meals. The fish cakes, fish and chips, and stir fry were all good, and my kids loved the mac and cheese.

 

Raffles - this was a disappointment almost every time we ate there. Breakfast was the worst - the biscuits could be used to stone people to death, the pancakes resembled leather, and the freshly made waffles were never cooked properly. The omelets were the only saving grace at breakfast. Lunch was adequate, but not enjoyable, and dinner was acceptable to moderately good. The crepe station was another big disappointment - the crepes were premade, and the server would put it on the burner just long enough to get slightly warm, but not long enough for it to taste "real." Selection of beverages was one of the biggest disappointments for us - we're used to apple juice, fruit punch, and lemonade being available 24/7 on Carnival, and on the Spirit the only choices after breakfast were tea and water. This makes NO sense, and it was very frustrating for my kids.

 

Room Service - abominable is putting it mildly. We waited over an hour for pre-made sandwiches and ceasar salad (the lettuce had soaked so long in the dressing that it looked as though it had been cooked), and completely cold pizza with dough that wasn't completely cooked.

 

Ship staff/crew - some were great, many were just not as friendly as we've experienced on other cruises. On our previous cruises we would be greeted by each person we passed in the hallway walking to our rooms - many would greet my children, ask about our day, etc. The staff in our hallway would literally turn their heads so as not to have to say hello to us and other people passing by. Only Genesis, one of the staff on the 5th deck, was friendly to us each time we saw him.

 

Activities - daytime activities were fewer in number than on Carnival cruises, and nighttime activites were almost non-existant. This was just a BORING ship to be on. I met at least 50 people during the course of the cruise who shared my opinion and were completely disappointed in the "fun" level on this cruise. If we hadn't made friends with some great people (Michael and Justin) on the first night and spent time with them each night, I think we may have died of boredom!

 

Kid's Crew - this was a winner. Our kids loved it, had a great time, and cried when it was time to leave on the last night. They both said the kids program on the Spirit was as fun as any Carnival cruise they've been on. The kids' pool area was also a big hit, and something my children enjoyed immensely. I will say that one disappointment for us was that the kids program was not free on port days - often my kids want to go and unwind with their friends after spending time in port, and this was not possible on NCL - you have to sign up ahead of time for it, and you have to pay $5 per hour per child to use the kids' program while the ship is in port. They also only have a kids' dinner one time during the cruise, versus each night other than the first night on Carnival.

 

Staterooms - VERY small, beds were terribly uncomfortable, and the fold out cot was uncomfortable even for my 50 pound daughter. We did like the shower with the glass sliding door instead of the shower curtain - that was a nice change from previous cruises.

 

Ports -

Roatan - we docked an hour later than we were supposed to, which gave us a whopping THREE HOURS of sunlight in port. We arranged ahead of time for a driver and spent $80 including tip to have her take us around Roatan. She took us to some scenic spots to take photos, then we went to the iguana farm, which was the highlight of our day. By the time we left the farm, it was 4:30. She took us to the beach long enough to walk around for 10 minutes, then it was time to head back to the ship in order to get back before dark. We basically spent $100 to go to the iguana farm. If we could do it again we'd just find a taxi to take us there and back, I'm sure we would have saved money. We had hoped to spend an hour or so at the beach, but this wasn't possible since we got into port at 2 PM.

 

Guatemala - we found a tour operator (the first booth on the right) in the terminal and booked the waterfalls tour. For $35 pp and $17.50 each for the kids they drove us around the city and then took us to the waterfalls where we were able to enjoy the area at our leisure. It was beautiful, and my kids really enjoyed it. I would recommend this to anyone - it was a nice, relaxing day.

 

Belize - we did the ATV tour through cavetubing dot com. We didn't realize it would be an hour bus ride to and from the ATV site, but we had a great time anyway. It was really fun and exciting for us and for the kids. My 6 year old got a really bad steam burn on her calf from the ATV, so if you do an excursion like this with your kids, have them try to put their feet up on the front of the ATV rather than letting their legs hang straight down. Even better, have them wear jeans. She was in a lot of pain for the duration of the hour long ride back to town, but we were able to purchase some prescription burn cream back at the port area. Her leg still looks pretty bad. I would recommend this tour, and also the cavetubing portion which we did not do. My kids didn't want to do it, but I think we'll do it if we're ever in Belize again. The others all really seemed to enjoy it.

 

Cozumel - we've been here so many times that we just shopped a bit then relaxed on the ship and let the kids play in the pool. We had hoped to do Chankanaab, but we were all exhausted from the other 3 port days.

 

Debarkation - we did express debarkation, and it was a bit chaotic. People began lining up in the lobby VERY early even though they were asked not to, so by 7:15 there was already a long line. We were allowed to get off the ship at 8:15 AM. There were no announcements until about 7:30 or so - but if you plan to do express debarkation, plan on getting to the lobby around 7 AM so you won't have to wait in a long line. The gangway is on Deck 7 and you exit through the door by the Stardust Lounge (not through the lobby door you enter the ship through at embarkation).

 

I've probably missed some important things, but I'm tired and still in the middle of unpacking. In a nutshell, we had a great time because we can have fun anywhere. We found the Spirit to be lacking in the FUN and excitement of Carnival cruises, and we found the food to be very poor in comparison to Carnival. It was good to visit three new ports, which is the reason we booked this cruise. We will not be cruising on the Spirit again. I spoke to SO many people who said they were only on NCL because Carnival doesn't have a 7 day itinerary out of NOLA. I will again be writing to Carnival to beg for a second ship in New Orleans, and I will pass along the comments I heard during the cruise. I wish I had brought a clipboard with me, I probably could have gotten 2000 signatures on a petition for Carnival to give NOLA a 7 day ship!

[HoopTroop]

It is fun to get all different points of view. I was on one Carnival ship out of NOLA, and I always enjoy a cruise so no major complaints, but I was bored and found limited activities. So, I decided after a few years to pull out the Capers and make sure I gave it a fair shake. I still found limited activites vs. any of my NCL trips. It is funny how people can be so opposite in what activities they like and find available.

 

We are on the Spirit in a few weeks, thank you for the heads up on the ATV as we are taking that tour. I knew the bus ride was about an hour as we did cave tubing last year and it is not an overly scenic ride.

 

Thank you again.

 

HoopTroop

[kcwingwalker]

We are just back from the Spirit too and had a wonderful trip! Will be posting my thoughts soon.

 

Reality is starting to hit me................I had to make lunch and start laundry. I'm not ready for the "real world"!

[silkhair1]

Reality is starting to hit me................I had to make lunch and start laundry. I'm not ready for the "real world"!

 

 

Too Funny!!!!!

[Seago2]

Thank you for the review!