Norwegian Spirit Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We flew into Venice a little early in order to have a little more time to explore that historic city.  We had planned an extra day to be there.  Unfortunately one of our flights was cancelled and so we got into London (for the connection) a day later.  Anyhow, it turned out ok as we did have all of one afternoon to explore Venice and all of the next day.

Compared to our other cruises and particularly with Norwegian Cruse Lines, the Norwegian Spirit is on the level of the other ships we have been on.  No problems with any of the accommodations.  The ship is a bit smaller than some of the others we have been on but all features and facilities were what we have come to expect from our cruising experiences.

Interestingly the majority of the electrical outlets on the ship were of the European style.  Not North American style.  We had the proper adapters with us to mate the two styles so the outlet differences did not create a problem.

We have learned to carry extension cords and a small multi-outlet power strip.  Even with the correct power outlets for our use in the cabins, there never seems to be enough outlets.  Between my laptop, camera battery chargers, e-readers my wife's curling iron and whatever else we might need we do need the extra outlets.

I won't take the time to review all of the shore excursions we enjoyed on that trip.  We visited spots in Italy, Greece, Turkey, France and finally ended at Barcelona.  For some reason the excursion to Rome and the Vatican was a bit on the chaotic side.  I don't know if it was a one time problem or not.  Though the tour guide was friendly and attempted to be helpful and informative but there were several problems experienced with the tour.  The end result was that there were sufficient complaints which resulted in all participants of the tour getting back a very large portion of our payment price for the tour.  The tour was not a wash, by any means.  We still enjoyed it in spite of the problems.

One sea day they set up a German food theme spread on the aft deck.  It is the extra fun things like that which do add to the enjoyment of cruises. 

Spirit is a smaller ship but the refurbished ship was nice. Staff was great. Not a ton of options for excursions so we booked all but 1 outside NCL and feel we had a better bang for our buck saw more for less money with a small tour group.

 We had a great time. However, there are some things that were not so amazing because the ship is the oldest and smallest of the NCL fleet. For example, there was a lot more smoking than one would want, there were not a lot of different areas at night for varying types of entertainment, the engine was loud and shaky and palpable from the Windows Dining Room, and overall there were just not that many different spaces. On the flip side, because it was an older ship, while it did not have the new amenities like water slides or a ropes course (like the Breakaway and other newer ships, it did have a very nice promenade, and a fantastic lounge called Galaxy of the Stars. This is a great place to catch a game show or even just lounge during the day while looking out on the ocean!

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Our first time cruising to Alaska and we loved it so much we booked a group cruise for 2024!!

Great cruise, awesome ports of call, great food. For a smaller cruise ship it was still one of my favorites!

Was a beautiful and fun cruise! Loved every minute of it. The ports were incredible and the staff on the ship were so nice and friendly!

Our bucket list dream cruise did not disappoint! The itinerary was amazing and despite missing our #1 most desired port ( Venice) we had an amazing time. We loved the ship, the staff and the service!

Overall, we made the best of our vacation but it was not the cruise for us. We were surprised to find everything on the ship in English with the majority of guests being from the U.K., then America, then Asia. But with a long overseas trip, almost everyone was over the age of 65. The service was poor, the food was poor, the cruise director Dave was terrible, and the activity schedule was poorly planned.

The cruise is not clean and full of people. A lot of people got sick in the end.

Our Very 1st cruise and can honestly say we were so delighted we have already booked a further NCL cruise for later in the Year,from the time we arrived at port to the time we left the ship ( in tears ) we were treated like royalty. Food choice,restaurants and bars were fully staffed and service was impeccable. The Balcony cabin (9020) was kept to a very clean standard by our room steward (Joel ) and the public areas are so clean and a credit to NCL . I would highly Recommend this cruise although Sadly the NCL is going on the European Cruises from Barcelona 

This cruise was amazing. Going to the Holy Land was definitely an experience of a lifetime. Venice--Always amazing. We go frequently and love it every time Haifa -- We went to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea area, so we didn't stay in Haifa proper. Kotor - Splendid little town. Highly recommend just walking around, shopping, and getting some coffee. Rhodes -- The highlight of our trip, honestly! This place is awesome! Great food, great people, and we look forward to getting back here again. The NCL Spirit was a nice ship, very clean. We only have one issue with the staff (the smoking thing discussed in the review), however, we know that this was NOT the staff's fault. Unfortunately, NCL policy would not allow for us to change rooms, which in turn made the first part of our trip miserable. In total, this is a great ship and an awesome itinerary! Highly recommend to ALL.

The itinerary was one of the best I’ve ever experienced. If you ever have the opportunity to see these places I highly recommend it.

Very busy itinerary but great cruise. Loved Blue Lagoon, enjoyed library and game room. Galaxy lounge great to hang out with drink and relax

Oh wow. I don't know what more I can say. We had the trip of a lifetime. We made great lifelong friends on the ship. The staff truly went above and beyond. The smaller ship is exactly what we wanted. Personalized service at every corner. It was too short!!! We could have stayed on for months. Great way to celebrate our honeymoon and my birthday.

Courteous, professional and helpful staff made passengers feel safe and welcome. Sailing was smooth even on a couple of windy days. Clean and well-equipped cabin -- even for a simple stateroom. Announcements (on TV channel, the daily news bulletin FreeSyleDaily, during the shows, and over the PA system) were prompt, accurate and crisp. Restaurants were good. It would be good to improve the variety of vegetarian menu items (beyond simply pasta). Buffet was of acceptable quality although it was quite busy at times. Many of the daily evening shows were of good quality and entertaining. The two shore excursions we took were superb -- prompt, well-organized, and featuring good guides -- albeit a bit pricey. Overall, it was a great experience for both of us. Photos by Alamelu, iReport

This was my first cruise ever & I really had a great time! My Mom picked this cruise to celebrate her 50th birthday. After reading reviews about the Norwegian Spirit, I was a bit skeptical. I noticed though that most of the complaints are from those who have cruised on other lines. As a first time cruiser, I have nothing to compare this experience too. Overall, I really enjoyed my time on the Spirit. I would recommend any first timers to give the Norwegian Spirit a chance! I cruised with 8 other family members & it was so much fun to experience this together. The beautiful weather made the cruise even better.

My wife and I are an active couple in our mid-70’s that have had the good fortune of being able to travel quite extensively. That said, we are relatively new to cruising and have chosen Norwegian Cruise Lines as our primary large ship vendor. One trip that we have always wanted to go on was to visit the inner passage of Alaska. We booked on the Norwegian Spirit for an 11-day cruise embarking from Seattle September 21 and returning on October 2, 2022. To our surprise the ship was half full carrying only ~1,000 passenger’s verses 2,000+ that it can hold. We’re not certain whether people were still wary of COVID or there wasn’t sufficient crew to support a higher number of passengers. We book stateroom 10562, midships with a balcony on the port side of the ship. I must say that this stateroom was very comfortable, relatively spacious and had a much better bathroom then we previously had on the Epic. We can’t say enough positives about the service, personnel, entertainment and specialty dinning. The meals and service at Cagney’s and Le Bistro were exceptional, however the quality and variety of food available at the Garden Café was at best marginal and certainly did not compare to previous travel on other NCL trips. Weather prevented us from sailing to see the Hubbard Glacier and also docking in Skagway. Weather is not be controlled by NCL but these weather-related changes caused cancelation of the White Pass Summit Train & City Tour (Skagway) and the Craft Brewery & Distillery Tasting Tour (Victoria, BC). All and all we truly enjoyed our cruise, BUT here comes our major problem! Hundreds of dollars of our money were lost by NCL - a case of now you see it and now you don't. On October 2, at the end of our Alaska cruise on the Spirit I had a credit of hundreds of dollars due to cancelled excursions. I was told that these monies would go back on the credit card on file within 30 days of debarkation. I am now approaching 90 days after taking all of the steps I was directed to by NCL including filing a claim and being assigned a case number. The automatic email I received was that it might take up to 30 days to get a response, that was 45 days ago. Guest Relations informed me that my monies were returned to the World Points Rewards a Bank of America program. I have no Bank of America credit card and therefore do not participate in this program. I have requested that they (NCL) provide with me with the last 4 digits of the credit card they posted the monies to and the date that the monies were credited and have received no response from them. NCL Guest Relations and their Resolution Department have become a black hole. I doubt whether my wife and I will ever travel with NCL again! Any suggestions as to what next steps I can take would be greatly appreciated??????

Loved the ship and staff, but not much entertainment. Fortunately I like to read. Take lots of layers, Alaska can be cold and hot!

Overall experience is great. Entertainment is almost different every night.

Enjoyable cruise with an excellent itinerary. Food quality could have been better, ship is a little dated but still had a great time. Staff were excellent, good entertainment, not as good a ship as NCL Epic.