We choose this cruise because of the itinerary. What could be better than the British Isles in the summer time! While I have travelled on Norwegian many times I have been somewhat disillusioned with my recent cruises. Sa s a result my recent cruises have been with Viking river and ocean and RCL. Both lines was an upgrade to my recent Norwegian experiences, nonetheless I purchased this cruise and have to say I was extremely pleased. While the Spirit is the oldest ship in the fleet the upgrades made over the years made this ship a favorite. The crew was attentive and caring about the passengers. We had two complementary meals and I have to say the Windows dinning room was just as good. The daily menu met both my wife and my food preferences very well. The daily buffet was very serviceable and as good as other cruise lines. As I said the ship is the oldest (built in 1998) in the fleet and it does show, the most inconvenient part is there was only one 120 volt electrical outlet per cabin. This made charging our electronic devises very problematic, especially as the cabinet attendants had instructions to unplug any unattended outlets.

The entertainment was outstanding. A lot of this was because while the ship is small the stage was large and allowed for audience participation and a dramatic (forgot the name) show on the second from the last day on the trip. They had the usual singers and dancers both ship company and fly ins. One group sang Motown and at passenger requests they had an additional performance prior to leaving the ship. Other Norwegian ships have a broadway type of presentation this was more Cirque du Soleil and was very impressive. In fact, even the meet the crew was entertaining as the crew singers sang as the crew came on stage. As I said we choose this trip because of the itinerary and it did not disappoint. The only port we did not do a ship tour was the last stop. Weymouth England, and it proved to be one of the more interesting stops. Because it was Saturday, and the sun was shinning the locals were out along with our ships passengers. It was a typical England port and reminded me of any tourist seaside port here in the US. With quant shops to pubs with food and beverages. Our first port Gangemouth was a tender port and weather came up during the day and it resulted in delays getting back onboard. Some passengers were upset that it took several hours to get back on board, but as the captain explained they had to relocate the anchorage for safety sake and they could only load on one side of the ship. Everyone got on board safely so I would call it a good day. We also were able to see the Open golf course in Portrush Bushmills Northern Ireland. Pretty cool!!! British Isle weather sucks but we were very lucky only one hour of rain and mostly high 60 temperatures. It is a shame that Norwegian only does this trip a couple of times a year, but if it meets your timetable I would strongly recommend both the itinerary and Norwegian Spirit. Oh did I mention it is going in for a 5 week refurb in March so it should be better than ever.