I'm a big fan of NCL entertainment with fond memories of the musical, "Grease," that was performed on the old Sea in 1995, and the Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers. Two major production shows this week lived up to those standards, particularly the new show called "Elements." A Russian acrobatic couple presented their own show another night, adding an appearance by their precious little son Ivan dressed as a lion.
A personal favorite of ours was the nightly music of Arvin and Emily in Champagne Charlie's. What a talented man and wife!
The NCL Spirit called on Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel. Belize was the only new port for us, and we decided to try cave tubing. The ride to get to the cave takes almost an hour, and frankly, if you‘ve gone tubing anywhere else (like on the Guadaloupe in central Texas), this one is pretty lame except for the beauty of floating in the dark cave. You go with a group and must be led by a qualified guide through the cave. Everyone wears little headlamps like miners.
In Roatan, we hit Tabyana Beach, a favorite for snorkeling, but many on the ship just went to Mahogany Bay Beach right at the Mahogany Bay pier where the Spirit docked. You can buy a roundtrip chairlift pass for all day at $12 person, or just walk there and back, and enjoy a day at the beach. Some ships dock downtown instead, however, and that's a 10-15 minute taxi ride away.
Final assessment: it was a wonderful, convenient, 65th birthday cruise for Ben...and one that dispelled my long-held opinion of the Spirit. Now, would we ever sail during spring break again? Not unless our yet unborn grandchildren were driving the date!
The Spirit is a well maintained vessel, but she is due for renovation. That will take place in September when she enters dry dock before repositioning to Barcelona. Good sailing to you, Spirit!
Showing posts with label NCL Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCL Spirit. Show all posts
Sunday, March 27, 2011
NCL Spirit, Part 2
Today on the Spirit I've been on a mission, talking to families and individuals sharing this cruise experience. Another surprise. I met a nice family of five on their first cruise, with childen ranging from 2 to 13. Mom and dad booked a balcony with an inside cabin across the hall for the kiddos. The parents, too, had read some negative reviews about the Spirit on both Cruise Critic and the NCL website, but booked anyway with somewhat low expectations.
Mom said they have absolutely no complaints! Their son was seasick the first night, so their cabin steward offered to check on him while the family ate and would call the restaurant if there was a problem. Likewise, the maitre d‘ of the restaurant, Cherry, sent crackers and an apple to his cabin and called him by name when seeing him a couple of days later with his folks. Bad service? Not.
Frankly, I must say that the entire staff and crew have been some of the friendliest we've ever encountered on any ship, down to the security personnel checking us on and off the ship--usually the most somber of them all. Every crew member I‘ve passed has smiled and greeted me--and trust me, I‘ve been keeping track. Okay, so the over-zealous, “wake-y, wake-y“ buffet greeters sometimes got old, but they definitely generated laughter and applause when making an appearance at the end of the final big production show.
I paid in advance for a $30 birthday celebration package for Ben. Our cabin steward with assistance from two other stewards really decoorated the room beautifully, positioning my gift just as I requested. Yes, a purchased service, but these guys and gals delivered flawlessly.
I also spoke to two other couples--one on their first cruise and the other having sailed the Caribbean Princess a little over a year ago. The first was very impressed with service, especially from their cabin steward. The other gave the edge to Princess, but still thought this cruise was fine for an escape from wintry Toronto, just not up to their Caribbean Princess experience--a much newer ship, of course. And I did emphasize that this is a spring cruise (translate, tons of chldren and college kids), which alters the character of any ship.
One more thing about cabin configurations. Ocean view cabins have the same split bathroom feature, but inside cabins do not. However, the family sailing said their three kids had plenty of space in their inside cabin.
We‘ll give the food mostly very good marks with a few exceptions. Cagney‘s is simply excellent. We thought the food in the Italian restaurant was better on the Epic than the Spirit. Shogun‘s was okay, although admittedly we‘re not big on Asian food. We ate in the Windows main dining room and found the redfish and lobster combo to be dry and the salad too warm. By contrast, my flounder and the rest of both our selections were delicious in the other main dining room, The Garden. Our service was also much better there, too. The buffet offered standard selections, but I‘ll give a specific thumbs-up for the coffee (which often tastes terrible to me), oatmeal (just the right texture), salad bar, and smoked salmon. Teppanyaki was booked solid very quickly, and we never made it there. As always, we love the convenience of NCL‘s in-cabin coffee makers.
Tomorow we‘ll dock in New Orleans, where I will upload this blog. I'll post comments about excursions and entertainment after we are back in the office.
Mom said they have absolutely no complaints! Their son was seasick the first night, so their cabin steward offered to check on him while the family ate and would call the restaurant if there was a problem. Likewise, the maitre d‘ of the restaurant, Cherry, sent crackers and an apple to his cabin and called him by name when seeing him a couple of days later with his folks. Bad service? Not.
Frankly, I must say that the entire staff and crew have been some of the friendliest we've ever encountered on any ship, down to the security personnel checking us on and off the ship--usually the most somber of them all. Every crew member I‘ve passed has smiled and greeted me--and trust me, I‘ve been keeping track. Okay, so the over-zealous, “wake-y, wake-y“ buffet greeters sometimes got old, but they definitely generated laughter and applause when making an appearance at the end of the final big production show.
I paid in advance for a $30 birthday celebration package for Ben. Our cabin steward with assistance from two other stewards really decoorated the room beautifully, positioning my gift just as I requested. Yes, a purchased service, but these guys and gals delivered flawlessly.
I also spoke to two other couples--one on their first cruise and the other having sailed the Caribbean Princess a little over a year ago. The first was very impressed with service, especially from their cabin steward. The other gave the edge to Princess, but still thought this cruise was fine for an escape from wintry Toronto, just not up to their Caribbean Princess experience--a much newer ship, of course. And I did emphasize that this is a spring cruise (translate, tons of chldren and college kids), which alters the character of any ship.
One more thing about cabin configurations. Ocean view cabins have the same split bathroom feature, but inside cabins do not. However, the family sailing said their three kids had plenty of space in their inside cabin.
We‘ll give the food mostly very good marks with a few exceptions. Cagney‘s is simply excellent. We thought the food in the Italian restaurant was better on the Epic than the Spirit. Shogun‘s was okay, although admittedly we‘re not big on Asian food. We ate in the Windows main dining room and found the redfish and lobster combo to be dry and the salad too warm. By contrast, my flounder and the rest of both our selections were delicious in the other main dining room, The Garden. Our service was also much better there, too. The buffet offered standard selections, but I‘ll give a specific thumbs-up for the coffee (which often tastes terrible to me), oatmeal (just the right texture), salad bar, and smoked salmon. Teppanyaki was booked solid very quickly, and we never made it there. As always, we love the convenience of NCL‘s in-cabin coffee makers.
Tomorow we‘ll dock in New Orleans, where I will upload this blog. I'll post comments about excursions and entertainment after we are back in the office.
Friday, March 25, 2011
0nboard the Norwegian Spirit
We‘re sitting on the pool deck of the Norwegian Spirit while docked in Cozumel and in the final days of our celebration cruise for Ben‘s 65th birthday. (When did we get this old?) We‘re also taking advantage of NCL‘s generosity to us for being top NCL sales producers for Cruises Inc. last year. Thank you, NCL!
So, you ask, can she write an unbiased review of this ship? Actually, I think I can. Have we been treated especially well? Absolutely. But we've often dined and utilized facilities and services like other passengers, too, and those will be the thrust of my review.
Truthfully, among all NCL ships, the 14-year-old Spirit has received the most mixed opinions from my clients. (Well, the NCL America products did, too, in the initial stages, but the Pride of America gets very good feedback these days.). As a result, my expectations of the ship itself were not very high. Although we could have selected from numerous other ships and itineraries for taking advantage of this award, a quick analysis of our 2011 travel schedule and our first grandchild due in August convinced us to book now and with the convenience of a New Orleans departure.
Ben and I have both been very pleasantly surprised.
The Spirit originally sailed as the SuperStar Leo under the flag of NCL‘s parent copmpany, so she was constructed with the Asian market in mind. That meant a much more larger casino--and it‘s huge! There was originally even a separate room off the main casino that served as a high roller‘s club. It was transformed into a dedicated art gallery--a fact that makes this ship a favorite assignment for the onboard art auctioneer.
The decor also reflects the Spirit‘s Asian heritage. The atrium area is quite lovely with two water fountains flanking a baby grand resting on a glass covered pool of water. The pool deck takes you over to Italy, however, wth Roman Forum-style columns and statues. The kids‘ area in the back of the ship is amazing, with clever water slides and play equipment and a tiered sitting area for parental observation--and a convenient bar to keep the grownups happy while observing!
I had expected our balcony cabin to be much smaller than it is. Another suprise. We found plenty of storage space (if you know how to wink it right), and loved the bathrooms with separate areas for the shower and toilet, each with a sliding glass door for privacy, and with the sink in the middle. Think Epic without the cabin entrance door in between!
Watch for part two of my review next.
So, you ask, can she write an unbiased review of this ship? Actually, I think I can. Have we been treated especially well? Absolutely. But we've often dined and utilized facilities and services like other passengers, too, and those will be the thrust of my review.
Truthfully, among all NCL ships, the 14-year-old Spirit has received the most mixed opinions from my clients. (Well, the NCL America products did, too, in the initial stages, but the Pride of America gets very good feedback these days.). As a result, my expectations of the ship itself were not very high. Although we could have selected from numerous other ships and itineraries for taking advantage of this award, a quick analysis of our 2011 travel schedule and our first grandchild due in August convinced us to book now and with the convenience of a New Orleans departure.
Ben and I have both been very pleasantly surprised.
The Spirit originally sailed as the SuperStar Leo under the flag of NCL‘s parent copmpany, so she was constructed with the Asian market in mind. That meant a much more larger casino--and it‘s huge! There was originally even a separate room off the main casino that served as a high roller‘s club. It was transformed into a dedicated art gallery--a fact that makes this ship a favorite assignment for the onboard art auctioneer.
The decor also reflects the Spirit‘s Asian heritage. The atrium area is quite lovely with two water fountains flanking a baby grand resting on a glass covered pool of water. The pool deck takes you over to Italy, however, wth Roman Forum-style columns and statues. The kids‘ area in the back of the ship is amazing, with clever water slides and play equipment and a tiered sitting area for parental observation--and a convenient bar to keep the grownups happy while observing!
I had expected our balcony cabin to be much smaller than it is. Another suprise. We found plenty of storage space (if you know how to wink it right), and loved the bathrooms with separate areas for the shower and toilet, each with a sliding glass door for privacy, and with the sink in the middle. Think Epic without the cabin entrance door in between!
Watch for part two of my review next.
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