Sun, sea and slightly lower standards

Item: Norwegian Spirit
Rating: 4.2
Author: sredditt

Norwegian Spirit Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

sredditt

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 47

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

11 Night Mediterranean & Greece (Rome Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 01, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Spirit

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Picked this cruise as itinerary had new places to discover as well as some to revisit. Loved this ship previously so seemed like a win win. Doesn't always turn out that way however.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Vast amounts of check in staff available, bit like a chaotic cattle yard however. After travelling for hours they offer you a fruit 'flavoured' drink that I would advise all to steer well clear of. Absolutely appalling and if we hadn't cruised before with NCL this would have set our thoughts racing to what other horrible things were going to come. If your going to offer weary passengers refreshment then at least make it palatable. Also passports were taken off us at check in. Still can't understand why as a UK citizen I believed Brexit had not yet happened. Also ship card said welcome said "welcome first time Norwegian". We weren't NCL virgins so this showed a lack of respect for customer loyalty.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Dining rooms were as expected, buffet restaurant overwhelmingly busy at times. Menu choice was varied but repetitive at times. I draw your attention to the hot puddings. If it isn't a rice pudding, cobbler or crumble then you aren't going to get it on this cruise. To say this ship had a well qualified chef he didn't show his skills in this aspect. Perhaps I will forward him a book of hot pudding recipes. Two things however open the buffet restaurant meals however stood out. We had what I presumed to be deep fried potato skins with sour cream and also a hot mushroom meal that I can't recall the name of. These were absolutely outstanding and we returned for extra servings on a number of occasions.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Didn't use these however interesting to see the state of the pools when they had been drained at night, coated in sun tan lotion and fake tan. Lovely to see.o

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Only attended cruise staff's talent show. Which was fantastic with some truly talented performers, keen to show you their culture and skills.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Security staff as usual were aloof and sometimes miserable. You can smile and still do that job. A warm friendly welcome wasn't always forthcoming on our return to the ship. Now I will name members of the crew individuallly as their service was outstanding. Jerome - drinks waiter. If his smiles could have powered that ship we would have completed the cruise in two days. Clearly wasted in this role and needs to get behind the bar. Milos - drinks waiter. Could prempt our every thought and was discreetly on hand and willling to please. Exuded warmth and friendliness. Janette - waitress and occasional 'washy washy'. Completely charming towards everyone she meets. Her people skills are exceptional and again a more customer interaction role would suit this young lady.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

We previously sailed on the Spirit and even then it was showing signs of wear and tear. So to return a couple of years later and see its further decline was disheartening. Carpets are grubby, believe me I took the stairs from deck 4 to 12+ a number of times a day so I got to know them well.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Got what we expected. No surprises there. 'Compact and Bijou' as they say. We were on deck four and one Canadian passenger commented as they disembarked " oh, I didn't realise they put people down here the poor things". For a brief moment I felt like someone in stowage. Add to that the never ending redecoration of adjacent cabins and smell of fumes from paint etc and you get the idea.