On June 11, we sailed on the NCL Spirit out of Seattle to Alaska. This was the seventh cruise for my wife and I and our first on NCL. My mother joined us. She had been on NCL for a few of her many cruises all over the world, but she had never cruised to Alaska. This was also the first stay in a balcony cabin for my wife and I due to a good deal ($750/person for a balcony guarantee) we picked up about 7 weeks before sailing from an internet provider. Our cabin was assigned within a week of the purchase -- cabin 11632 -- deck 11, port side. My mother was on deck 5 with a window cabin.

We stayed over the night before at the Red Lion Seattle South for $49. They provide free 24 hour airport shuttle, and they shuttled all 3 of us to the port for $25. We had e-tickets, so the first thing we had to do at the port was find the luggage tags. We brought along return address labels to save time.

I can't add much to what others have said about the Spirit. It is, perhaps, the best ship we have been on for the following reasons: a theater with comfortable seats and no posts to block sight lines, a small movie theater with a large screen and comfortable seating, The waffles, complete athletic facilities including two individual swim tanks and 4 golf driving cages with clubs provided, a room for viewing the bridge, color-coded elevators (I only got lost one time), a beautiful atrium without being overdone, an exceptionally pleasant staff, a wide variety of dining venues, THE WAFFLES. Read more