Great ship, outstanding staff & very clean, and interesting ports.
Food was only average or less, especially dinning room food. Recommend you improve it or turn it into another buffet / modified to be a combination of buffet and dinning room (service).
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Less than 20 minuets to check in and walk on the ship for my wife & me, and our Son, Daughter in law and three very young children. Quickest, orderly, courteous, and efficient. The woman processing our family, even leaned way over the counter to take pic's of the three very young grandchildren.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
New coffee machine is best yet. Better than all the NCL ships and better than two other cruise lines.
- Food in main dinning room left us to not return after two visits
+ One under-cooked rib and pasta, with only a couple of very small shreds of rib
+ One was shrimp and ribs, shrimp was breaded, and cold / ribs were too tough to cut
Raffles (buffet) food was only OK, average and very repetitive
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Fitness center was clean and well maintained. Pools were clean.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
After two shows we did not return
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
Grand kids spent some time in the "Child Care" center. Good place for them to unwind. Staff there was exceptional.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All the staff we encountered were uplifting, courteous and well groomed with clean uniforms. It makes a big difference in the cruise when staff are friendly and helpful. Grooming is important, as it says a whole lot about the person and service they are providing.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
This was the most impressive part of the whole ship - ALL was very clean and well maintained, in the areas where passengers are allowed. (FYI i was a ship inspector for part of my 30 years in the US Navy). I told many on the ship of how significant the cleanliness was, esp for an older ship. The Spirit is a good one.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin was the right size for my wife and myself. We do not spend much time in the cabin, except to sleep. Clean, well maintained and well laid out.
The SHOWER was the best design of ALL ships I have been on. It had a sliding class door, which kept the water in. Unlike all other ships, with the shower curtain, which always lets water into the main bathroom floor. Also as little larger. Very willing to sacrifice room space for a little larger shower, as it is difficult to shower in a "phone booth."
Bed was a little too hard, but sleep-able.
Ship tip
Walk the whole ship, soon after boarding. It has many places that are good to hang out while at sea. Also, learn how to get to get off the ship at the ports.
Well laid out. Review and confirm travel time from the port to the Rome airport. We were told by NCL that it would take over two hours. Also we were told that we COULD NOT get off the ship before 8 AM.
Nevertheless, many of the local people we talked with said it was less than one hour from port to airport - we made it in 50 minutes.
We were through the inspections and on the pier at 7 AM!
Outstanding scenery and houses on the side of the mountain, down to the beach. took many pictures which equaled the scenes in the movies showing Oia.
***Be prepared for the shuttle boats, as the ship was anchored off. Exasperating later to learn of having to deal with a shuttle boat while managing our three grandchildren. However, prior to the trip, when i called NCL, I was flatly told NO anchorages??? Don't understand why NCL rep did not know this???
Amalfi coast, Valletta were all so scenic we wanted to come back. Pompeii was interesting, and liked seeing the dug up city which was buried by mountain ash, 2,000 years ago.
Much easier than what was suggested. The luggage was in place, and located by the color coded banner on the wall - thanks for making that part easy. NO back up on in the Terminal, as there was in other ship's terminals. :)
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