Ah, the silly questions about Spirit

[simkoreb]

I am thinking about booking the Spirit April 5th....dreaded spring break time! In your opinion, do you think it's going to have less or the same amount of families/kids as a cruise leaving out of Florida? I am pretty tolerant, but I have been a CC member too long to hear too many horror stories. I don't know if these hold true for this ship during vacation times because of the port, and it is an older/smaller ship. (This is the only week I can travel for the next year or more!!!!)

 

How far is it from the airport to the cruise terminal?

 

I love/crave caesar salads on cruises! I know on Carnival or Princess, or both (I don't remember) I was able to get one everyday in the main dining room. Are they offered everyday on NCL? How about for room service?

 

 

Its had such good reviews lately I am excited to book something, and this is my #1 choice. I'm sure I'll have more questions if we book. I've done 4 other cruises, but none on NCL. Thanks!

[Ms belp]

We are booked on the March 29th cruise on the Spirit out of New Orleans and I must admit, I'm a little nervous about this one myself. Just the fact that it's spring break time (somewhere) and it goes to the Western Caribbean which is short enough and cheap enough for the "kids" to book. It's a 40th birthday cruise though (not me, I wish:)) so will just go and make the best of it. We have a balcony, so I can plant myself out there if need be.

 

Any info about cruising this time of year, others?:confused:

[Cubechick]

Some NCL staffers recently told us that the spring break weeks and holiday weeks pack the passengers in by exceeding the ships double occupancy limit (the Spirit has a D/O of 1996 pax). That being, filling the 3rd and 4th bunks in the cabins that have them. This can add hundreds of extra pax to the ship (withouth adding extra crew to help service them). What does this mean? Longer waits for meals in the main DR and less availability in the specialty restaurants. Also, a harder time finding the ever elusive empty deck chair on the pool deck.

[simkoreb]

No matter what I will enjoy the cruise I book....but I need to know what to expect. and like I said, I am wondering because it's out of New Orleans and an older ship, maybe it won't be as bad. I am the OCD overprepared type for vacations!

 

And thanks ahead of time! The answers to the other questions are also appreciated!

[chrisbd1]

We cruised during break in 07 and, other than the disco being full of college kids at night, didn't really notice the crowds.

[IWORK2CRUISE]

I love/crave caesar salads on cruises! I know on Carnival or Princess, or both (I don't remember) I was able to get one everyday in the main dining room. Are they offered everyday on NCL? How about for room service?

My recollection is that you can always order caesar salad.

We are booked on the March 29th cruise on the Spirit out of New Orleans and I must admit, I'm a little nervous about this one myself.

You may be escaping the real spring break crush on this date. We sailed mid-March a few years ago on the Spirit from NYC and were really inundated with the spring breakers. They took over the pool area during the day and the disco at night.

We still had our own great time!

Some NCL staffers recently told us that the spring break weeks and holiday weeks pack the passengers in by exceeding the ships double occupancy limit (the Spirit has a D/O of 1996 pax). That being, filling the 3rd and 4th bunks in the cabins that have them. This can add hundreds of extra pax to the ship (withouth adding extra crew to help service them). What does this mean? Longer waits for meals in the main DR and less availability in the specialty restaurants. Also, a harder time finding the ever elusive empty deck chair on the pool deck.

I am not sure of what the capacity guidelines are. When we did sail on the spring break cruise out of NYC there was deffinately overcrowding at the pool and one day while walking laps we returned to find that our chairs had been taken by some college boys. We are not real chair hogs but just prefer to not sit the entire time.

NCL also had additional security in the form of off duty NYC policemen stationed ouside of the casino each night. NOTE: you need to go through the casino to get to Maharini's Lounge.

Today 09:35 PM

[shipshipship]

caesar salad is an always available salad in the main dinning rooms

[Schnauzergirl]

We (a no-kids couple in our 30's) are on this cruise. According to the roll call, there are quite a few families with teens and some multi-generational families, groups of couples/friends, and a few couples of differing ages. I am assuming there will be quite a mix. I don't think we will see too many college kids as their spring breaks are more often in March.

 

You can get a taxi at the airport for $28 per couple (flat rate) to the port. According to the website I looked at for the port and very well-informed NCL rep I talked to, it should be about a 25 min ride.

 

Hope you decide to join us. We have a great roll call going! :)

[cello8619]

We are booked on the March 29th cruise on the Spirit out of New Orleans and I must admit, I'm a little nervous about this one myself. Just the fact that it's spring break time (somewhere) and it goes to the Western Caribbean which is short enough and cheap enough for the "kids" to book. It's a 40th birthday cruise though (not me, I wish:)) so will just go and make the best of it. We have a balcony, so I can plant myself out there if need be.

 

Any info about cruising this time of year, others?:confused:

 

I will be boarding on March 1st so I get to deal with all the Spring Breakers, (well mostly making sure they are all paid up, and hunting down the ones that don't want to pay haha) Ms Belp, stop by the onboard credit desk and you will likely find me there (my name is Mike) Have a great cruise and see you onboard.

[JerseyGem]

I will be boarding on March 1st so I get to deal with all the Spring Breakers, (well mostly making sure they are all paid up, and hunting down the ones that don't want to pay haha) Ms Belp, stop by the onboard credit desk and you will likely find me there (my name is Mike) Have a great cruise and see you onboard.

 

DH & I will also be boarding on 3/1- for our vacation (not to work- but lucky you to work on a cruise ship rather than in a little cubicle). We have an active roll call with a meet & greet on 3/2, from 10 to 11 AM, in Henry's pub (which may not hold all of us if everyone does come LOL).

 

We're hoping that there won't be too many large (& wild) spring break groups. Or even other large groups (since NCL has been known to close off certain areas-like lounges- for the exclusive use of large groups, leaving the rest of us feeling like second-class passengers).

 

Is the on-board credit desk associated with the current Future Cruise Deposit program? We're seriously considering buying one of the Future Cruise certificates; I assume you'll be advertising them frequently?

 

For those of you concerned about Spring Break crowds, here's an interesting site for college breaks. http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm

 

If you are cruising during a week with many (potential) spring breakers. I suggest considering upgrading to a balcony or at least a cabin on an upper deck- most college kids will be paying as little as possible (and loading 4 to a cabin). The cabin stewards (always busy) will be extra busy on some decks!

[GORDONCHICK]

We have an active roll call with a meet & greet on 3/2, from 10 to 11 AM, in Henry's pub (which may not hold all of us if everyone does come LOL).

 

If your group is too large for Henry's, they will most likely move your meeting, so make sure at least one person has all the cabin contact info when you board the ship. You will be responsible for notifying all the CCers about the move (and you probably won't find out about it until the evening you board - depending on if/when you notified your NCL contact with the updated number).

 

Also, many of the Spirit cabins are set up to actually hold 5 people instead of 4, so there is the potential for lots of little ones. We only needed a cabin for three, but there were two more beds we didn't use - and we were in an inside cabin.

 

If you're looking for empty deck chairs, try the aft decks. Even the area around Buchaneer's Wet & Wild had plenty of chairs, was sheltered by the wind, and very little noise, even with little ones in their pool area.

[duncansdad]

A taxi to downtown N.O. is about a 20 minute drive, and has a set fee of $30. for 2. Thre is a shuttle bus available @ $15.pp, but do not know if they can alter their route to include the ship's terminal.

 

Hope this helps.

[simkoreb]

Thanks for all your help. I have a few more questions, but I'll do some research to see if I can find the answers. I really need this vacation! I'll join the roll call if I book!!

[Ms belp]

DH & I will also be boarding on 3/1- for our vacation (not to work- but lucky you to work on a cruise ship rather than in a little cubicle). We have an active roll call with a meet & greet on 3/2, from 10 to 11 AM, in Henry's pub (which may not hold all of us if everyone does come LOL).

 

We're hoping that there won't be too many large (& wild) spring break groups. Or even other large groups (since NCL has been known to close off certain areas-like lounges- for the exclusive use of large groups, leaving the rest of us feeling like second-class passengers).

 

Is the on-board credit desk associated with the current Future Cruise Deposit program? We're seriously considering buying one of the Future Cruise certificates; I assume you'll be advertising them frequently?

 

For those of you concerned about Spring Break crowds, here's an interesting site for college breaks. http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm

 

If you are cruising during a week with many (potential) spring breakers. I suggest considering upgrading to a balcony or at least a cabin on an upper deck- most college kids will be paying as little as possible (and loading 4 to a cabin). The cabin stewards (always busy) will be extra busy on some decks!

 

This was great, thanks. I looked up our cruise date and it looks like the only nearby spring breakers will be Louisiana State University.

[MobileMystic]

Thanks for the Link! Sure glad we booked the 23-29 of March (691,000 Springbreakers) instead of a week before (2,130,258).

 

Wow!

[paulgduck]

We did the spring break cruise last year on Spirit (Mar 22) and are doing the same cruise again this year. Depending on how you look at it, the good thing is that the Spirit balconies only hold 3 people, so for most families the balcony won't work (or like us, you book two adjoining balconies), so the average number of people on the cruise is less than say on a cruise ship where the balcony holds 4.

 

Last year, we had no problems with kids or teenagers. The ship never seemed to be full. Even getting dinner reservations was no problem, and we had a group of 16. Now that its come out of dry dock, I hear the Spirit is even better (and now its back to Costa Maya instead of Roatan - yahoo). Gotta love those $20 massages on the beach in Majahul.

[BonnieVA]

... my family will be on that cruise! We have 4 boys, lol, & we are in 2 cabins. There are a fair # of teens in the families on our roll call board.

 

But I can't say how many OTHER kids there will be.

[cello8619]

DH & I will also be boarding on 3/1- for our vacation (not to work- but lucky you to work on a cruise ship rather than in a little cubicle). We have an active roll call with a meet & greet on 3/2, from 10 to 11 AM, in Henry's pub (which may not hold all of us if everyone does come LOL).

 

We're hoping that there won't be too many large (& wild) spring break groups. Or even other large groups (since NCL has been known to close off certain areas-like lounges- for the exclusive use of large groups, leaving the rest of us feeling like second-class passengers).

 

Is the on-board credit desk associated with the current Future Cruise Deposit program? We're seriously considering buying one of the Future Cruise certificates; I assume you'll be advertising them frequently?

 

For those of you concerned about Spring Break crowds, here's an interesting site for college breaks. http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm

 

If you are cruising during a week with many (potential) spring breakers. I suggest considering upgrading to a balcony or at least a cabin on an upper deck- most college kids will be paying as little as possible (and loading 4 to a cabin). The cabin stewards (always busy) will be extra busy on some decks!

 

hi JerseyGem, the onboard credit desk is the finance desk. In a way we are associated to the future cruise desk, since we are the ones that will post the charges into your onboard account as well as give you the OBC that is assosiated with the future cruise deal. Don't worry there will be a ton of flyers about the deal and it is really easy to sign up for. Also I was acutually on the Dawn the first week of March (as a Spring Breaker) and it is the very start of Spring Break so the ship should not be one huge college campus. Anyway, if I am not out there at the desk just ask any of the receptionists to see Mike the Assistant Financial accountant (my desk is right behind reception, and I can come out and meet you. Also I would not worry about the room, the group services cordinator will arrange a new room if your meet and greet is too big.

 

See you soon

 

Mike

[freddy penguin]

My two teenagers will be spending another Spring Break with NCL on the Spirit 3/29. We sailed on the Sun last year during Spring Break and my kids had a great time because there were plenty of other teenagers on board. We tended to eat during the first show of the night so we never had any problems getting into the dining room and experienced no difficulties finding a seat at the second show of the night. I kept to the upper deck for a lounge chair and had no problems finding a seat. The only disappointment was I repeatedly failed to get a reservation in the Japanese speciality restaurant.