Im going on the Norwegian Spirit today for an 8 day cruise. is it a nice ship?

Question

also i will pick a best answer that has pros and cons about the spirit. one more thing, what kind of food do they serve in raffles? i heard chinese?

Answer 1

I'm so glad I found this question. My family and I just got off the Norwegian Spirit after a cruise to Brmuda-Tortola-St. Thomas.

This was for the most part our 2nd cruise, 1st for my son and parents. Overall it was a very nice cruise, but there were some issues.

Raffles - is the buffet restaurant located on deck 12. Food was pretty good, only real problem I had was that they kept running out of chocolate ice cream. Other than that - no complaints - food was really good - lot of different selections.

Spirit has quite a few specialty restaurants: Cagney's Steakhouse, Shogun (really good food - very tasty) & Teppanyaki (Benihana Style) - this was only capable of accomodating 1 family and after that that was it (very hard to get), Le Bistro (which we didn't try), Trattoria (which is actually the back part of Raffles - we also didn't try) and reservations were really hard to get. Spirit only allows reservations 24hrs in advance - and there's also a cover charge. The 2 main dining rooms Gardens & Windows have the same menu but I recommend resrevations there also.

Spirit had a policy that I disagreed with, and that was the ability for 18-20 year olds to be able to purchase alcohol with their parents consent and prior registration for them to do so. This led to a great many problems on the ship with young teenagers running around acting very foolish. There was even a brawl on the last night of the cruise resulting in the arrest of a few and the hospitalization of 1 young man.

The Blue Lagoon has a great Wonton soup and Singapor Fried Rice, beware of the buffalo wings, the order is very small (4 pieces and they are tiny, tiny wings).

The casino was very nice, especially the Pai Gow Poker Pit. They had a very friendly staff.

Beware of "Free Bingo" - wasn't really free.

If you have young children, the Kids Crew is a wnderful addition to the Norwegian ships and was a great help to us while we weren't in port.

Plan your excursions carefully - some of them are overpriced and very disheartening (the Bermuda Fishing Trip was a huge bust).

They charge for soda, juice, and alcoholic beverages. You simply sign your name and it gets charged to the room - beware of getting alcoholic beverages all the time with the specialty glasses - otherwise you'll need a bag just for them (that is unless you're a collector)  :0)

Overall the trip was nice, with some minor glitches, we will still cruisse with Norwegian, but now we know a little better what to expect and how to plan accordingly.

Answer 2

I took 2 cruises on the Spirit when it was in Alaska. Of all the cruises I have taken (20) I liked the Spirit's layout of the ship the best. The 4 aft (rear) decks are all open for better viewing and they have cook outs there on deck 11, also where the buffet is. Crew is very friendly. As you go towards the casino there is a place that severs great hamburgs, chilli etc. Raffles was chinese. On deck 12 past the spa there is a large bar & dance floor with a stairway that will take you right behind the bridge & also the history of the ship. Enjoy.

Answer 3

We went on the Spirit a couple years ago to the Southern Caribbean.  The ship was just OK to me.  I have been on other ships with other cruise lines that I thought were much better.  The decor on the Spirit is very oriental, lots of oriental art and figures.  I didn't particularly care for the color scheme on the ship, lots of bright colors like yellow, light green and red.  Other cruise ships I have been on have had better decor in my opinion.

But the cabin was comfortable.  The balcony we had was OK, but kinda small.  When we took our cruise I noticed that many of the deck chairs were well worn and needed replacing.  The chair on our balcony was resin and was oxidizing and got white marks on my clothes when I sat.  

The food was OK but I do not care for the "Freestyle" cruising. The first come first serve dinner was OK when we were in port but on the "at sea" days when everyone was on ship every one wanted to go to dinner at  the same time at about 6:00 PM.  Both of the at sea days there was a line and a wait to get a table. Norwegian at one time was my favorite cruise line but I rarely go on them now because I prefer to have a table that is mine for dinner and get to know my waiter and not have a different waiter each night.

I do not remember the Raffles restaurant because I never went to any of the alternative dining places. The ship did have 4 or 5 different restaurants and one of these was Chinese/Sushi.  There is a cover/service/gratuity charge of between $5. and 20. per person each time you go to one of these alternative restaurants.  Why pay to eat when there is free food in the main dining room.

Answer 4

The Pros is they served alcohol The Cons is 100 people got the Nurovirus and were sick the entire trip.  Last time I ever take a cruise.   Have fun!