July 3rd Spirit review

[Coach D]

Seems so long ago that I got off the ship:mad:. The Spirit is a beautiful ship . This is our second time on the Spirit we cruised out of NY last year.

 

We arrived at the pier at around 10:30 traffic was heavy because of people still getting off the ship and those arriving. But very organized it took us about 10 minutes to get to the drop of point. My husband dropped us off parked the car and was back in about 10 minutes. We then got in the lattitudes line and moved right along. We were on the ship in about 30 minutes. There was 11 of us so we all met in Windows (dining room) and had a nice lunch. After lunch we all went our separate ways to our cabins. I had a balcony for three of us. PLenty of room..Only drawback is when the couch turns into a bed its hard to get out to the balcony..We just flipped the bottom up until we went to bed. I bought an over the door organizer (walmart) which was great you can stick all sorts of things in it. Next is the life boat drill you have to go they have all names written down and they check you off.

 

Now the fun begins make sure you are out at the pool area for the Bon Voyage party lots of fun. The casino opens shortly after you leave.Good size casino. All 11 of us played when the casino was open only one came home a winner she was playing black jack the rest of us played slots. Sign up for a Casino at Sea card they give you a coupon book with some good deals. I found the casino host to be great very genouras with free drinks if you were playing in a tourney ..Last years cruise host would not even give a free drink to the finalists. We had fun in the casino.

 

Food..We loved the Blue Lagoon..Great chicken wings, burgers, Chicken fingers. Service is quick and you can always take it back to your room. We ate at LeBistro. Had a problem because they wanted us to sit at two tables. I put up a stink and we ended up all sitting together. The food was great..Chocolate fondue, Neopolitian are a must for dessert (order both). Dinner at Windows or Raffles was a little slow if you want a two hour meal you will be happy the food is very good in both. We did not try any other pay restraunt but everyone said that Cagney's is great. I did not want to pay $75.00 for three of us to eat there. We ordered room service one day for lunch the food was great salads were fresh pizza was tasty etc..We ate breakfast 1 morning in the main dining room (windows) it was good but we ended up most days going to Raffles (buffett) Great food. Choc. buffett long line when they open my daughter and husband went late which was fine they got plenty.

 

Bermuda..Was Beutifull..Day 1 we got off the boat around 2 and walked around the Dockyard checked out Snorkel Park (never went back)Make sure you go into the glass blowing place..After you watch that in the same building down the end and have some free rum cake samples. Went to the Frog and onion..Had some samples..Bought some very hot barbecue sauce there. THey have a litle tram that drives around the Dockyard we took that back to the boat.

 

Day 2 Got off the boat. Bought 2 day bus passes ($20.00 each) which also includes the Ferry great deal and good way to see Bermuda, we then took the bus to Horseshoe Bay. We stayed there about 3 hours had a blast in the water. Went back to the ship for lunch after lunch we decided to head to the Swizzle Inn 6 of us went had two pitchers of Rum swizzle. THe pitchers were tiny and packed with ice. Was a little shocked when we got the bill and the pitchers were $25.00 each. The food looked very good but we did not eat. Been there done that probably would not go back.

 

Make sure if you are a lattitudes member you go to the party..Lots of free drink and appetizers, Great prizes, over in 1 hour.

 

Day3 Headed to St George by Ferry..Very nice ride. Make sure you check the schedule coming back we missed it by 10 minutes and would have had to wait 2 hours for the next ferry..we took the bus back. When we got back they were having live music and different vendors at the Dockyard.

 

Entertainment:The cruise Director was great his name is Paul and he is from England. Dancers were good, second city good, Ventriliquist best NCL show I ever saw, The magician needs to change his act on the last cruise we were on he did the Same show word for word, White hot party was fun for a while. Choc. buffett..Long lines when they open, my daughter and husband went late which was fine. Always love the last night show with the staff a lot of talent on the ship staff members perform.Went to the Margarita tasting,they give you four small samples (you can get more if you want) After the 4th you have the option of buying margarita's for $4.95 each not a bad price..Frozen strawberry was the favorite. THe band that played at the pool was very good. Bingo is expensive watch for the specials. They will be selling Krackits (pull tab tickets) all week, the last night at the show they have a special I got a beach bag, t-shirt, krackets for the same price they were selling just the Krackits for all week, so wait until the last night. My husband visited the liquor store on the boat and got his yearly supply..very inexpensive..Lots of picture taking everywhere you go they are there..LOL. At night you can have prof. pictures taken around dinner time in the lobby. My sister had my nephews senior pictures done on the ship..Saved her a bundle..

 

We decided to get the pink tags and have them take our luggage on the last night. Last year we did the carry your own off, never again we waited in lines for over two hours..This year we choose the last time you can get off the boat..It was great we hung out on the top deck and watched the the goings on..NCL loading and unloading the boat, planes flying by. We left the boat at 10:00 and walked right off.

 

Check out June 26th cruise review..He did a great review and you can get a little more info about the spa..Don't want to repeat myself.

 

NCL does a great job. I would board tomorow if I could. They care very much about customer satisfaction. I had two incidents that ended with very positive results.

 

Obviously I am not a good review writer hope I was clear on everything..Any questions I will respond. For all of you that are waiting to board lucky you..Have fun.

[veggie59]

Thanks for your review. Looks like we will be sailing the Spirit in September. I have been reading as many reviews I can since May....lol. Glad you had a great time. :)

[welove2cruise232]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post your review -- we are looking forward to sailing on the Spirit in a couple of days!:D

[Smellytoes]

Thank you for your very honest review. I'm leaving tomorrow and your review of the entertainment was very helpful.

 

(p.s. you're a very nice review writer:))

[LOWTYD]

Thanks for taking time to post your review. You did a great job at writing your review! :) Glad you had a good time. I loved the Spirit.

Do they let you blow glass at the glass blowers or is that just to watch? We did it in Corming NY and made ornaments. Pretty cool but not as easy as it looks!

[brokenarrowhd]

Yes your review was very clear,thanks!

Happy to read you had a good time!

[StratGuy]

Good review!! You caught some things I missed in my 6/26 review. The pool band is excellent and gave every song an island flair. We also went to the Bermuda Rum cake bakery and had the free samples - very good. We did very little gambling - I managed to make $50 last almost two hours on the roulette wheel, but that was it.

 

Swizzle Inn's signature drink is expensive - there are at least six ingredients in it, but I guess we also pay a premium for the Swizzle Inn swizzle drinking experience. I don't mind!! I assume you went to the newer place on South Road? Haven't been, but really like having a pitcher of swizzles on the veranda at the original inn near St George.

 

6/26 Spirit Review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1022553

[Denlin]

Thanks for sharing your review! I'm going to keep many of your great tips in mind for our cruise :D

[veggie59]

I finally booked our cruise to Bermuda!!! Now.....all hurricanes.....stay away! I am going to purchase some Bonine? just in case .:)

 

Oh......I noticed my countdown clock is gone. I went to add one for my Bermuda cruise and noticed the one I had is gone. Anyone know where it went? Hmmm........I cant figure out how to add one now either. :confused:

[veggie59]

Wanted to edit my last post....but it wouldnt. I figured out the countdown clock....now I have one for Bermuda sailing. :)

[Coach D]

Thanks all for the nice comments. No I did not see anyone but employees doing glass blowing. You could ask maybe they do let people create there own.

 

One day at the pool one of the guests and his guitar player performed. My husband said they announced him as Otis Redding..WOW..he was great did three songs. His room was down the hall and I had been passing him all week.

 

We went to the St. George Swizzle Inn. We sat inside which was not a good choice. I probably would go back again and sit outside..

 

If you get to St George try to be in the square at noon. They put on a nice show with audience participation.

[Coach D]

I also ran the meet and greet. Join your roll calls and go . Nice way to meet people you will be living with for a week. They put out pastry's, coffee, water, juice. Officers from different dept. come they are awesome they answer questions and give helpful hints. Meet and greets are short and sweet make the effort to go you won't be sorry:p.