ALSO just got back...Spirit 12/3/07

[Toyz711]

review will be ready some time tomorrow, until then a few questions people asked before we left:

lobster: yes, there was lobster. only it was on friday night, not the 1st sea day...and it was GREAT!! grilled, tender and a whole, good size, lobster tail.

casino: slots were TIGHT! casino staff not as friendly as the rest of the ship's crew. they do put out a small buffet at 11pm, the chicken fingers were very good. usually some cookies or banana bread..one time some mini-eggrolls.

ship: loved it. DH wants to go back next year...1st time he has ever wanted to repeat any trip. loved the lay-out, very easy to get around. loved the decor. the crew was very friendly. the only gripe i had was the other passengers, never cruised or travel with so many frowns. wouldn't talk on the elevators, even my next door cabin would, barely, smile at us.

 

ports: had a great time, learn a lot..saw a great deal of history. next trip we plan to do some fishing.

ship excruisons: for the most part had good ones, one bus looked like it wasn't going to make it...but it did. the tour guides were very good, knew their stuff.

tendering: we did the ship's excursions in belize..it was a breeze. met in the showroom, waited about 20 mins. tendering was done on the 3rd deck. you just walked straight out to the platform and on the boat.

 

bathrooms: the best ones are a little known secret...on the port side of the casino, under the park west offices. but there are ones between the blue lagoon and the casino, outside the showroom, outside the galaxy of the stars. most were kept very clean, except for the mad rush when the shows got over.

 

shows: second city was OK, not great. the NCL productions were better then i thought they would be. crew talent night was very good. the ship's bands were excellent. didn't make it to any of the parties, too tired!!

 

cabin: our was great. lots of room, drawers, closet space. bed had a pillow-top mattress cover, we didn't need a egg crate. that part of deck 9 (cabin 9636) doesn't have any inside rooms across the hall. we didn't have that extra hallway traffic.

 

room stewards: excellent!!! we only saw them twice, the last time this morning as we were leaving. (he said "thank you"). our rooms were spotless. morning cleaning was done soon after we left the room, turn down was down before 9pm. got 5 towel animals and had fun with each one. i can, honestly, say it doesn't make any difference in our cruise, if we meet them or not. the job was done well and we never had a problem.

 

bed bugs: none!!! but i did get bite while in the jungle (guatemala) looking at mayan ruins. even now, 4 days later..my feet was swollen around the bites. hint: take bug spray for any jungle excursions!!

 

food: only ate of the main dining rooms twice, both times the gardens. each time service was excellent, dining times under 1 hour...but not rushed. we ate at the buffet, but because we wanted to. we were so busy and running so much...the buffet was perfect for this trip. had good food, loved the dessert crepe station at dinner, my favorite dessert of the whole trip. omelet station at breakfast was great, they have 2 grills...just watch the lines, one moves faster then the other. hand dipped ice cream every night. if you get a chance try the orange sherbet or strawberry sherbet..very rich. the ice tea was awful...but i had my pepsi that i brought...so no problem. at any time, even between meals..you could find small sandwichs in the buffet area.

 

bringing sodas/water: no problems. i had my in a suitcase that i checked. it was the 1st one to get to the cabin.

embarking: our GPS got us to the terminal in ease, people are in the street to direct you to through the parking garage. pay 1st, go to 2nd level..porters were there to take luggage, parked on level 5. took elevator down to check-in. when we got there, there was no one in the latitude lines. 20 mins from parking the car, we were on the ship. but don't go too early, my review will discuss it... but this morning we got off the ship at 10:30 and they still have 3 colors to call. if you go too early, it's hurry up and wait. we got there around 11:30 and had no problems getting right on the ship.

save your questions, the detailed review will be up tomorrow on this site.

got to get some rest, it was a 5 to 6 hour drive for us today.

[caribsun]

Thanks for the prologue, glad to hear your cruise went well.:)

[silkhair1]

I am happy you liked your cruise as there has already been a bad one for your cruise. I am so looking forward to mine coming up!!!!! What address did you put in for the cruise terminal? We are driving there by GPS too.

[Toyz711]

1100 Port of New Orleans Place

 

got us there in 4 or 5 turns...40 miles of driving that morning. could not be easier...except if you live closer (HA!):D

[aprilwaters]

Did you get copies of menus and stuff? I've have been counting the days until your return to get all the info.:D

[teacher2cruiser]

I'm looking forward to more details.

[Toyz711]

glad i got a new scanner a few months ago...it's going to be busy. i have every price list i could find. did get some of the menus, but they were the same as the ones listed. i just don't think the ship/crew could have been better. same of the casino staff was really nice, some of the dealer were not. (heard several loud "discussions" at the crap table).

am going to give a very detailed review of each day...excursions/food/activies...

[Limesprite]

Thanks for your intro to your much awaited review. We are going in Feb and am looking for all the info we can get. Thanks for taking the time to fill us all in.

 

:)

[Toyz711]

here's the link to the rest of the story, if you misssed it

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=673214

some photos were added to the webshots site linked in my signature, more will be added today. the photos of the menus didn't come out, but they were exactly the same as listed here before..no changes other then what days they were. if you search webshots for NCL menus for any of the ships, you will see the menus they use. the one with beef wellington and lobster was served on friday, the one with pork loin was tueday, the one with coq au vin was served on wednesday or thursday, i say in the review..but can't remember right now. they didn't have copies of the meals for me to take home.

all the specialities were exact to what has/is posted on CC. since the menus doesn't change per day, what you see listed on webshots is what you will get.

i will be posting the dailies, with restaurants listings, activities, spa prices, etc.