A choppy cruise

Item: Norwegian Spirit
Rating: 3
Author: AngelaR2

Norwegian Spirit Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

AngelaR2

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 15

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 13, 2011

Ship: Norwegian Spirit

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 13 years ago

Review summary

The pool was beautiful, larger than other ships I've cruised on, and stayed open later than other ships that drained and closed their pools early. The buffet spread was unimpressive, never changed much, and didn't offer any special seafood or cruise-type fare. There were several restaurants on board, but you had to pay a cover for them and additional prices for certain foods, so I never tried any of them. Room service charged a fee after midnight, and $5 for pizza delivery. There was also an extra charge for milkshakes. The worst thing that happened was the horrible tender service in Cozumel. Tenders were few and far between, and hundreds of people were stranded for 30-90 minutes in the hot sun while crew members cut the line and passengers apparently got on the wrong tenders and had to be delivered to different NCL ships. It was ridiculous, and we were robbed of 3 hours of our vacation time. Should have stayed on the ship. The ship was pretty nice, but overall, I felt like I was being squeezed for every nickel the whole time, and while it was nice not to be forced to hear loud announcements in our staterooms, overall communication wasn't great. Also tons of typos on every written piece provided by the ship... annoying. Karaoke selection was blah. Good diversity of bars and drink offerings.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Food was good, but not great. Restaurant variety would have been great if you didn't have to pay cover charges between $10 and $25 per person per meal. I never actually tried them. Dining rooms were good but boring atmosphere.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Very friendly staff. Everyone was knowledgeable and helpful, but nobody stood out as above & beyond the expected. Our room steward greeted me by first name in the hallways, so that was nice.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Very clean, pretty, but slightly outdated decor. Workers kept touching up the paint while we were on board, so there were frequent paint and varnish fumes while we were trying to eat. Didn't look like this painting had to be done right away.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

I was happy with my stateroom. All of the people in our party said, "Well, it's a room," but had no complaints. Plenty of space to store our stuff.

Ports of call

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5

Great shopping and restaurants, but wasn't worth the trouble because of the horrible tender service. I would say don't get off your ship if you're not docked at a pier. It was the Cozumel tender service and the NCL staff who coordinated this horribly.

Thumbs Up 0

Belize City, Belize

3 out of 5

Nice people, rundown city. Did a tram tour that had friendly guides but not the greatest stories to tell. Lots of vendor harassment outside the port. We had wonderful tender service by the Belizean company.

Thumbs Up 0

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

3 out of 5

Went to Maya Key private island. Swimming was ok. Water temperature was good, and there was an animal sanctuary that was wonderful. Not enough warning about the sand fleas and flies. Everyone who went here was eaten alive with welts and bloody sting centers.

Thumbs Up 0

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

5 out of 5

Nice port, glad I visited, but didn't do excursions or go very far.

Thumbs Up 0

Pros: Beautiful pool

Cons: Poor organization at times

Recommends Norwegian Spirit? No.

Be the first to comment

Other reviews of this sailing

ok-average cruise

Had a great vacation