Norwegian Spirit Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I was disappointed at the customer service provided during the cruise by the cruise staff. Most of the staff were new and not properly trained. Just trying to apply cash to settle your account instead of a credit card which is the most commonly used method was a chore.

When trying to get specific details about the cruise excursions, I had to speak to 3 members at the desk to find a person who was knowledgeable enough to help answer my questions. Be aware the excursion details do leave out a lot of details that are very important, so ask questions to avoid surprises.

The main dining room customer service was the same, with over 40 minutes waiting to be served all the while hearing excuses as to why my table order was taking so long. This happened consistently, and when the food arrived many times it was no longer hot. The food service in the buffet areas and the main dining rooms was terrible and even the offerings for vegetarian were not desirable or very healthy. Most food is so full of grease, gravy, cheese, creamy sauces and other unhealthy selections, that you are forced to eat salads day after day in order to avoid all the heart clogging food additives. 

There is a daily tip charge that is deducted every day per guest of $12 which is divided among all the staff. What you are not told is that at the last day of the cruise you can have the total charge of $144 deducted from your room charges, so that you can tip the people you choose, in the amount that you choose.

My sister and I had a marvelous time on Norwegian Spirit in November 2014.  Loved the more casual environment.  All aspects of the ship's crew was efficient.  Loved the entertainment - Gio and Roberto were wonderful as well as their whole crew and provided top notch entertainment - did not ever want to miss a show or other performances throughout the ship.  Our room Steward, Darius encouraged us every day to have a good time and he would take care of any of our needs - like our broken luggage!!!!  Never lacked for good food. Arrival and departure were handled efficiently.  All members of the ship's crew we dealt with were super friendly and remembered you from day to day.  I cannot say enough good things about the Norwegian Spirit experience.  Thank you

One complaint - all my clothes shrunk - must have been the air or maybe the water!!!!!!!

bed were hard not comfortable food was just ok not crazy with all the ports. very expensive . too much up and down on decks for dinning room nothing straight thru took awhile to find yourself around on the ship.are bathroom floor smelled like urn

We really loved this trip. Be prepared to see a LOT of history! We went a day early to spend time in Barcelona and stayed an extra day in Venice as well. Well worth the extra cost and made travel far less stressful. The ship is a bit older and has a few less amenities, the food was "OK", entertainment was also "OK", but the ports of call make up for any shortcomings! Lots of walking on the tours, so be sure you are in reasonable shape for that.

We have been on lots of other cruises and I would rate this one right up there at the top.

Thank you NCL for a fantastic time on our cruise from Barcelona to Venice...with many stops along the way.  The food was great.  We did not need the specialty restaurants although I am sure they were wonderful  too.  There were so many ports to visit and we took advantage of your planned land excursions in almost every port.  The (only) two days at sea were planned and executed by your staff very well. We loved the shows and attended every one. Lars was a masterful captain who took time to tell us when we were passing various land sights along the way.  Unfortunately many were in the middle of the night.  But that cannot be helped.  I have one complaint. To obtain smaller bills for our Euro on the ship NCL charges a $10.00 fee.  We did not try to change our currency into a different form just wanted to change the denominations.  Shame on you for charging such a huge fee.  Otherwise it was beyond our expectations . We will cruise with NCL again. 

The overall itinerary was well worth the cruise. The cleanliness of the Spirit was above average and our cabin steward was exceptional. He was friendly, knowledgeable and extremely conscientious in making our cabin was clean and towels were replaced as we used them. The dining experience was definitely not a positive experience.  The food was acceptable but really nothing creative. The service within the dining rooms was poor.  The servers were inattentive as we had to constantly request refills on water and coffee. They were difficult to understand and lack establishing any type of a relationship with the tables assigned to them. On one occasion I discovered a long black hair floating in my soup they apologized at the table and sent 5 chocolate dipped strawberries to the room. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with the cruise and condition of the ship and the itinerary but this cruise line does not compare with the staff of a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity . Thanks Terri for all of your help.

NCL did not deliver quality for the price.  We were led to believe we would have a full day in Venice we didn't get it we didn't stop in Mykonos Greece at all The food service and entertainment on board was marginal we will choose a different cruise line next line

We chose this line over others because promised two days in Venice. The first day like most passengers, we arrived late and were expecting to see Venice the next day, but they sailed at 1:15 AM when we were sleeping not giving us the chance to do so. (Actually we did woke up in panic with the incredible noise in our cabin, it seems that all that area it is affected by the equipment that the ship uses to turn around and it happened every time we got to or leave all the ports). They say it was a confusion, they advertised a second day because the ship left an hour after midnight. We and many other passengers feel is a scam to compete with other lines. A ferry takes few hours to cross to Greece, but we were two days at sea to get there. The cruise should had begin there, no point to fly to Venice.

After that, we were supposed to go to Mykonos, but they are to cheap to pay for port like other lines, and couldn't use the tenders because it was windy, so for our safety" we didn't go. They told us that to compensate we were going to be a day earlier at Naples but quickly change their main and we went like a snail, two days at sea again until got there. Of course they didn't wanted to pay another night at port.

At Rome, since it was only until 4:30 PM it was chaos leaving in the morning, they couldn't control the transportation for the excursions.The excursions were ridicules expensive, very short time on ports. Many were cancelled on last minute and people were push into something else sometime in a languish they didn't understood.

They push the five restaurants were you have to pay extra. The two included on the price, and the buffet, had most days very limited variety of food and very poor deserts. We are not pick eaters, it was just very basic and the menu's didn't change much.

Not much to do on the ship all those days at sea.

They charge you the bottled water at the cabin almost $5.00 and would not let you bring alcohol bottles from outside into the ship, they would confiscate and give it to you the last day, even the one's purchased on the free Duty on the ship. We payed the same bottle beer four different prices with different waiters.

When we complained and asked for a compensation for the missed ports we were told that since we didn't book with them but with Cheap- there was not going to be any compensation, to take it to . Well are you going to compensate us?

Good ports of call and did have time to use public transportation to get into Athens, Lucca and Rome. Took cruise ship tour to Aix au Provence, then went off on own and not with the guide. This worked out well, but could have used a couple of more hours in the town and eliminated a 30 minute toilet stop on the way in to town. The drive from Toulon to Aux au Provence takes only one hour but public transport is not really an option.  Food in main dining rooms was not creative and showed no imagination in presentation. We have cruised in Europe with other cruise lines and the food on all was far superior. Rate food on level of Applebee's or mid level restaurants. We did pick this cruise because of itinerary and all ports met expectations. Did have to miss Mykonos due to high winds and unable to tender in, ship docked in town or all other ports.

Excellent service onboard, superb dining rooms, buffet so-so, floor shows good not great, lots of selling (I forgot to bring cufflinks and the cheapest available were $300!).Turkey was a nightmare with horribly aggressive street vendors who would have been arrested elsewhere. Amazing scenery with archeological marvels. Tour guide radios need upgrading; other than static and an occasional word in broken English, we heard nothing.

Nonetheless, I would recommend this cruise to everyone but children and the elderly.

John C.

Great ports, liked the free style dining, dining room meals were very good, buffet food was mixed. Sone ports had vety long walks to the terminal exit and the disembarking in Venice was a disater. All luggage wad placed in one area, poor access, and mass confusion and congestion by passengers. 

the cost for freestyle was outrageous !

poor selection of buffet menu for 12 days, limited entertainment and very slow internet connection for the price paid .

Overall a very positive experience.

Only negatives were our stateroom was under main dining room and crew members made loud noises over our heads in middle of night. Complaint to woman who professed to be the manager were ignored and I was told "too bad we have to get our work done" . Further complaints to Customer Service got the attention of the overall restaurant manager who resolved the problem. The disembarkation was a nightmare the way the luggage retrieval from the dock was handled. Also, crew members placed a priority on getting their assigned chores completed rather than on the comfort of the passengers.

Except for the few aforementioned negatives the cruise was very pleasant and I consider above average.

Crew are friendly, beverage waiters on the pool deck are not pushy, staterooms are clean, bathroom showers are big, shows are average but, trivia is a lot of fun.  Liked the Martini tasting but, missed the tequila tasting event.  White night was fun but, several people 'missed the memo' and weren't dressed in white.  That is typical on any cruise.  We had Oceanview 6570 because I am prone to seasickness.  It was a bit noisy at certain times of day as it is located directly under Henry's Pub so you could hear chairs being moved around.  We hit a few golf balls, shot a few hoops and my husband liked the gym okay but, there wasn't a lot of equipment.  Blue Lagoon rocked for their chicken wings and having Raffles overlooking the back of the ship is brilliant!  Watch the sun go down from the tiered tables.  It is breathtaking.  We have been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival so far and liked NCL the best so far for their freestyle attitude.  Don't forget to chat to your neighbour when sunning on the deck or eating in the Blue Lagoon or while playing Trivia at Henry's Pub and Champagne Charlie's and you may just make some new friends for life!  Cruising to us is the best way to see the world.  We pick based on the itinerary so the ship doesn't much matter to us.  It would be more important on a longer journey for sure but, this suited us just fine for a floating hotel.  This cruise is port intensive.  At this time of year, we only had to tender once in Mykonos so we were happy about that.  We got free champagne when we had to wait to be seated at Windows (the only 'formal' dining room) - Nice touch NCL!  If you want a lounger on sea days, get up early as they go FAST!!!  This appears to be the norm at any Resort or cruise.  Enjoy your cruise!!

Great crew and service, great ports of call, good food.  All in all a great value.  Ship was clean, Not a bunch of pool games so travels days was nice around the pool with some music.  Crew was good about not letting people save chairs for more than a hour if they where not there.   

I really enjoyed this cruise. Since it is small compared to the other bigger ships out there, I liked it a lot. It gave us a chance to get to know other guests and the crew. I've been on cruises with a lot more people, and the pool is always packed and it feels like your at a hotel, not a cruise. The experience is better with a smaller group of people.  The staff was incredibly nice, the captain was hilarious, and the ports of call were incredible. The only issue I had was the bathroom smelled a bit like humidity or something had gotten in there, but it wasn't overwhelming. Also, at the end, when going over my bill I saw they charged $12 a day per person for gratuities and stuff, which I wish I had known ahead of time. I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat, the staff was incredible, I can't emphasize it enough

While the Norwegian Spirit is an older vessel, it is still well-maintained.  The crew was OUTSTANDING, the food plentiful and adequate.  There was a multitude of activities, and one could keep as busy as desired.  For us it was a wonderful experience and one we would recommend.

Whoever remodeled the NCL Spirit done in 2011 did a sorry job. They did not attend to details which makes the ship look sloppy. The crew is good but the logistics are bad. We still enjoyed ourselves, like they say "no choice" but to get the best out of a bad experience. We have cruised on Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and this ranks the last. We don't know what to say to future Cruisers. Just try the best ones, like Celebrity. Thank you.

Great crew...loved 'Gio' ...our Cruise Director, and all his staff....loved Ryan, our stateroom Steward,,,,couldn't be nicer....just a good person. All crew on this ship were outstanding. Very happy with them. Stateroom kept very clean, same with ship.  We were impressed with and appreciated the commitment to keeping risk of infection low---'washy-washy' crew with hand sanitizer spray at entrances to all restaurants.

Food on the cruise, was, so-so....have had better on Carnaval....balcony stateroom was smaller too, than Carnaval...both comfortable, but cramped. Very little storage space for clothing...basically, the majority of our clothes went on hangers or the small shelves both in the closet.

Two things we were unhappy about...we arrived on Sept 3rd, boarded the ship in Venice...also listed to be in Venice on Thursday, the 4th, but confusing departure time of 0100 also listed for Thursday, when we awoke on the 4th, we were at sea....we had looked forward to walking around Venice on that day, so missed Venice.  The 2nd issue was our shore excursion to 'walk Vesuvius and Pompeii'...program listed a 9am time for start of tour; ticket said, 0830, we arrived at the meeting place at 0845, tour had left!  Very unhappy about that.  So, we missed that one...the crew did offer a replacement excursion, lessor priced, and refund for the missed tour...we were ok with that, but had really looked forward to the climb up Vesuvius as hubby's family had emigrated to the US from San Guiseppe Vesuviano/Ottaviano area which are on the back side of the volcano, and we hoped to see those towns.

We picked this cruise for the itinerary which was just great. However, the ship was in poor condition with a lot of neglect that had caught up with it. The menu choices in the regular dining areas were boring and the food preparation was very substandard. Some of the meals were almost inedible. The staff was very friendly which was a positive.