Norwegian Spirit Review
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This was our 16th cruise and our 4th on NCL. We chose this cruise for the timing and the itinerary. Embarkation was one big long outside line. Thankfully it was a pleasant day and sunny. Once we made our way into the terminal, we discovered as Bronze Latitude members, we could by-pass the line and check in was pretty much effortless.
We bought a 5 Specialty Dinner package along with a beverage package and $50 cabin credit per excursion. The food at both Cagney’s and Le Bistro is excellent, as was the service. I personally like the Freestyle Dining concept. My husband said he missed sharing larger tables in order to meet new people but I found that the seaters knew the guests well enough after a few days and would seat them next to others that may want to converse during dinner. On the other hand, they seemed to know if a couple was not interested in being social and would seat them near others who also not care to visit during a meal. We had access to the Concierge Lounge for breakfast and lunch and although the menus were limited, the food was superior to that of the buffet and dining rooms. Karin, Girlie, Mauricio and the other staff here were excellent and made us feel at home every day. We already miss their smiles and sense of humor. We enjoyed participating in trivia on several occasions. Our favorite pre dinner bar was Henry’s and Jay was a great host every evening. We attended only one show and heard good reviews from others, except for the magician on his first night.
We booked the following shore excursions:
Cabin Review
Oceanview Porthole Window
According to NCL, this was the last cabin available in the inside porthole category when we booked. I was actually looking forward to the location as I love to feel the motion of the sea and felt this would be great as it was a forward-most cabin. I now fluctuate between a 2-3 rating. The cabin was definitely the low point of the cruise. It was the smallest cabin we have every experienced. The “sofa seat” provided no clearance to get into the right side of the bed when configured for a queen size. I had to either step over the bed and seat in order to climb into bed from the side or crawl into the bed from the bottom. Either way, it was cumbersome. My side of the mattress was comfortable but my husband’s side dipped in the middle. There was a side table on the right side but not the left so I had to place books, etc behind my head below the port hole. The safe was tiny, barely big enough to hold an iPad. The sofa seat’s fabric was badly stained. It was a fairly quiet cabin as there was no one across the hall or on the left side and no noise from the deck above. It was however quite noisy when coming in or out of port or off loading. The size of the shower and bathroom were standard. We ordered several water packages during the cruise and storage was always at a minimum.