Norwegian Spirit Review
Excellent cruise but in part because ship was half full
Rating by category
Additional details
Polynesia was on our bucket list and the timing for this cruise worked out. We've sailed on Norwegian before and were generally pleased although those were on larger/newer ships. The itinerary was Tahiti to Sydney with stops in Moorea, Bora Bora, Samoa, and FIJI (two stops here at Lautoka and Dravuni). We were a little surprised to get an text message 2 days before sailing about the need to secure Australian visas. The online process for securing them was not too taxing (you'd better have smart phone and know how to use it) but it would have been nice to get more warning. The embarkation in Tahiti was a little chaotic. There was a considerable amount of covid paper work required because Australia and FIJI wanted proof of vaccination. Since NCL has no terminal in Tahiti, this all had to be done on the boat; awkward with 350 people all arriving at the same time. This itinerary has no time in Tahiti. We arrived at 9pm and sailed at midnight. You need arrive a day early if you want to see Tahiti. We heard from other guests that NCL offered Pre-cruise package but we never were told about that.
It's an old boat (1998) but we think they did a nice job on the 2020 refurb. Everything looks very fresh. Our window cabin on deck 8 was small but the ample storage space somewhat made up for that. As to be expected however bathroom is, overall, painful small although the shower seemed slightly bigger than I'm used to. I like the USB ports on both sides of the bed. With all the technology we've seen on other ships and 2020 refurb, I was surprised how little interactivity there was on the TV. You can't check your account or book excursions.
The food was quite good not up to what we recently experienced on Oceania but that may be comparing apples and oranges. We ate most of our meals at Taste which we found more comfortable than Windows. Food at the Garden Cafe was good with plenty of variety. While the breakfast at the Garden Cafe didn't have much variety what they did have was excellent. The omelets being some the best we've ever experienced on a cruise. Since the boat was only half full there was never a wait to get custom eggs.