Great Ports of Call with Excellent Service

Norwegian Spirit Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 56

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Spirit

12 Night Grand Mediterranean (Venice To Barcelona)

Sail date: September 06, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Spirit

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 5053

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

We chose this cruise mainly for the ports-of-call, and were not disappointed.  The ship is definitely dated, but was very clean. Probably the smallest cabin we have ever had.  We literally had to get off the bed at the end when getting up to use the bathroom - there was not enough room to walk around the sides without running into either a chair or the desk.  The service was excellent, but we felt that the ship nickled and dimed for everything.  First ship I have ever seen that charged for room service.  (They advertise free room service with a $7.95 convenience fee + service charge.)  Not a big deal, as we never use this, but thought it worth noting.  The drink prices were higher than any other ship we have sailed on as well.  The food was fine.  Some nights were great, others were just ok.  We didn't have any bad meals.  Food at the buffet was fine, but nothing special.  The salad bar was lacking for sure and the selection of fruit wasn't great.  We enjoyed most of the entertainment and really liked many of the areas to sit and have a drink, read, etc...  There are never enough chaises near the pool, but at least we could find one on another deck.

Did feel that there might be a plumbing issue on the ship.  Our totally did not always flush on cue, and there was sometimes a 'sewage smell' when walking around.

Again, great ports, service was very good, food was good.  I would say our experience was slightly better than what we were expecting, so that is a win!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
VERY small. There is a large chair in there, which is nice to have, but you can't even walk around the bed. How in the world could you put 4 people in that room? Location was good - not to far from the stairwell/elevator and one floor down from the main restaurants. Toilet didn't flush well. Cabin steward - Gede - was excellent - one of our best yet!

Ports of call

Piraeus (Athens), Greece

3 out of 5
Tour of Athens. Really nothing in the port town.

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

5 out of 5
Tour ancient city of Ephesus. Very interesting

Istanbul, Turkey

5 out of 5
Did a full day tour which was amazing.

Mykonos, Greece

5 out of 5
Great little island! Waited awhile for a taxi or bus to the beach and they never showed. Rent a scooter and drive yourself. I think it was $25 for the day. So worth it!

Naples, Italy

5 out of 5
Didn't really see Naples - did a tour to Pompeii, Sorrento

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

3 out of 5
Not much to see in the port. Pretty far from Rome, so the tours are quick and give just a brief Rome overview, but worth it if you have never been before.

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

5 out of 5
Again, pretty far from Florence, which gives you little time to see things. Port is far from anything so you have to pay tp take a shuttle into town or to the train station. We went to Pisa and really enjoyed it.

Toulon, France

5 out of 5
Cute little port town. Had a nice street market the day we were there.

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 56

8 Comments

jabco    9 years ago

Balcony always the way to go it's like getting an extra room

Mandy412    9 years ago

Grandinmk, I just booked a cruise for 3 people and your review helped us.  We've never cruised before so your comment was helpful and we booked a balcony since we knew what to ask about space.

jabco    9 years ago

We take this trip next July 2016 with out 3 teenage daughters. ANYTHG need to know. We got the unlimited drink pack. Thinking of adding a few meal upgrades Please share ideas

abesman    9 years ago

Thanks for the info, what room were you in? would you recommend trying to upgrade upon arrival? Thank you for your post.

grandinmk    9 years ago

WoW!  I have never posted a review for anything before, and now I see why.  I guess this forum is more for people to critique the review than to pass along information regarding the cruise and/or ship.

There were only two of us in the cabin, which was fine as we don't spend much time in there anyhow, so it was merely a comment/review of the cabin.  The cabin also had one bunk and a trundle, so my comment was geared for someone who might book a similar cabin and want it for four people.  

The cruise was fine, ports were great, service very good, old ship but as I said it exceeded our expectations.

noname111    9 years ago

Thank you for posting a review.

Agree with glomarrone that there is a lesson to be learned - check size of cabin and know what your absolute minimum cabin size is before you book.

glomarrone    9 years ago

It sounds like this cruise did not meet your expectations in many ways.  For me, the itinerary is the most important part of my cruise, and for this at least your were very satisfied.

 Usually the deck plans will tell you the average dimensions of a stateroom.  Since size of the cabin was an important issue for you, check this out before booking your next cruise.  I was once in a cabin where the bed was up against a wall and I had to get off the bed as you did.  Luckily it was a free cruise so I couldn't complain but it was very annoying so I understand how you felt.  Getting passengers'sp hotos of staterooms posted on this site should really help for future bookings.

 

 

 

CrusinTim    9 years ago

"How in the world could you put 4 people in that room?". A better question would be WHY would you book an inside cabin for 4 people then complain about it being too small??? You've been on 7+ cruises so you should be experienced enough to know better. Don't blame the cruise line, blame yourself!!

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