Norwegian Spirit Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Cruises tend to be either destination or onboard experiences in that you focus on the ports of call or the ship itself. This cruise had an exceptional itinerary with great weather, and an unbelievable staff. I am glad to see NCL is reinvesting in this and future (smaller) ships rather than the Mega/gimmick that can only dock in a few ports. We will see in March 2020 a new NCL Spirit emerge from an overhall and I am sure it will be top notch because everything else on board and at sea already is!

This ship is an older ship, good for ports of call. If you’re going for great food and service,choose another ship line.

My cruise in itself was wonderful.  The staff on board the Norwegian Spirit made me feel at home and catered to any need that I had.  The food was excellent, and I enjoyed meeting lots of new folks from around the world.  When I chose my excursions, I made sure they were in the "easy" column, as I went on the cruise by myself and am somewhat handicapped.  My two previous cruises on another line took that into consideration much more than the Norwegian cruise.  The "short walks" turned out to be very "long walks" and there seemed to be a lack of information and a lack of communication between the ship's staff and the excursions.  I spoke with other cruisers who felt the same way.

Loved doing this as a B2B from Hawaii. The longer I'm on a ship, the happier I am! Crew did a wonderful job.

Norwegian Spirit: loved the size of the ship and the recent refurbishment made it feel like a new ship. Our window cabin 5590 was perfect for 2 people. This ship is the quietest one I’ve ever been on. You could hardly hear the engine or feel vibrations. I only went to a few of the production shows and they were of a very high standard. Food onboard was typical of cruise fare but we loved the Asian noodle soups in the Garden Cafe. One small negative was no port talks. Unlike most cruise companies, the photographers weren’t doing the hard sell which was wonderful. The Elements Production show can’t be missed - incredible. Best show ever at sea. Negative- they need to get rid of the disposal plastic glasses in the bars and use good quality reusable plastic ones

It was fantastic, crew was amazing! Ports were beat to see!

The cruise was good-but not the best.  We were disappointed that the excursions were so far away from where the ship docked.  Loved Henry's Pub and their staff!  Loved Cagney's !  Monica was a fabulous concierge.

A group of 5 of us travelled on the Norweigen's Spirit and thoroughly enjoyed it! It is true that the ship is a little aged, but 4 of us had cruised on the Spirit before and knew what to expect, and the age of the ship certainly did not impact on the fantastic time that we had.

The complimentary food on the ship is great value for money. We preferred the Windows restaurant for our evening meal, rather than the Garden. We also visited Cagney's 4 times in 10 nights and it really couldn't be faulted (we had the 4UDP). The porterhouse and tomahawk steaks are huge.

As usual, drinks were great because we had the UBP included, only thing to note is that the menu has recently changed and some drinks are slightly more expensive than previous so not included in the UBP. This was fine - we either had the drinks that were included, or opted to pay the extra for the more expensive drinks... where else can you get a cherry grey goose vodka and lemonade for $2.30!

A few of us made use of the onboard spa and we were very impressed with it, the staff were friendly and polite and the prices of the treatments were reasonable and there were always different offers and deals on.

Every staff member that we came across was fun and friendly and really helped make this holiday one of the best I've ever had. Mr Happy Happy in the Shanghai bar was great! We spent more time in the onboard nightclub on this trip, more so than last time and really enjoyed it- the barmen were great and knew our drinks by day 5   We also went to the White hot party and enjoyed our night.

All in all we had a great time and made some great friends from across the world, both staff and other travellers. Although we are looking forward to our next cruise on the Epic as it is a much newer and much bigger ship, I would definitely return to the Spirit in the future.

I'm writing this review to warn other people.  Do not book on Norwegian Cruise Line.  The ship is very moldy, dirty and breaking down.  NCL'S  website and pictures are an extreme false representation.

My wife and I just returned from a week aboard the Norwegian Spirit in the Caribbean.  This was my 10th cruise and our 6th together ... and it may have been our favorite!

First, the Spirit is a charming vessel.  By today's Mega Ship standards, it's small - I think the smallest in the NCL lineup.  But it's beautiful and the mood set by the crew and staff more than made up for any limitations it may have. The Tivoli Pool area is gorgeous (albeit not able to accommodate a huge number of sun bathers or swimmers), with columns and clever design touches that give it an exotic and warm feel. 

The bars and restaurants offered a wide variety of food, drink and atmosphere.  Our favorite was Henry's Pub, a British-style bar with a friendly and helpful staff.  We were able to watch Super Bowl 50 there and the rowdy crowd kept the bartenders hopping!  During the week, other events were held there as well, including trivia and karaoke contests, all of which were entertaining and fun.  In addition, the Blue Lagoon restaurant features "comfort food", including wings, chicken sandwiches, paninis, fish 'n' chips and the most delicious tomato soup I've ever had! 

We enjoy the NCL Freestyle Dining arrangement, which allows you to have dinner in a group or as a couple and whenever you want.  We used the Windows main dining room twice and the Garden room twice as well.  The Windows does require long pants for men, which is a nice touch if you feel a little more formal, while the Garden allows shorts and more casual wear.  But nowhere is it required to go Full Tux and Dress.  We did dine in the Tepenyaki Room one night, which is a Japanese Steak House experience where the chef cooks at your table.  It was delightfully entertaining and the food was, not surprisingly, excellent.  But then the food was excellent throughout the ship.  For a mere $20 I upgraded one night to the Surf And Turf filet mignon/lobster combo and it was among the best I've ever had.  Don't feel, however, that you have to pay extra for meals.  The standard fare offered on the Spirit was beautifully prepared and delicious, including a pork roast that was to die for!

While we didn't avail ourselves of the big productions in the Stardust Theater, people we talked to told us it was top notch.  Instead, we enjoyed a guitarist (Pablo, from Spain) at Champagne Charlies, which overlooks the stunningly gorgeous atrium at the center of the ship.  The view is breathtaking:  the elevators and lighting alone give the scene an amazing ambiance. 

The cruise director Gio was an engaging and fun fellow and his minions on board made sure people had a good time.  We participated in karaoke and trivia contests as well as a Quest game on the final night and had an absolute ball.  It's hard to judge why a particular cruise seems to take on a definite personality but the Spirit seemed to attract fun people who enjoyed meeting one another.  We were blessed to make many new friends on this cruise!  Perhaps it's the ship's relatively small size that makes it a more intimate experience.  Or maybe it's the crew or the cruise director.  But whatever it is, it was a delightful experience.

Our complaints were very minor.  Our room steward was adequate but not fantastic.  Our stateroom was small and lacked as many electrical outlets as we would have liked.  And the hair drier in the bathroom looked like something out of a 1960s Sci-Fi movie.  In addition, the weather for our days at sea was cold and windy ... but obviously NCL has no control over that!

If you're looking at a Caribbean cruise and aren't necessarily enamored with the idea of boarding a ship the size of a small city, you owe it to yourself to take a long look at the Spirit (there are many YouTube videos, for instance, including ones I've posted upon our return.) It's a fun, charming, beautiful ship with great food and entertainment and a classy but exciting vibe that made the seven days pass all too quickly  We miss it already and hope to sail on her again!

overall was a great trip!  this was my first NCL cruise and I would cruise with them again, we were on the spirit which was a smaller ship, but was nice, we had an issue with our bathroom the first day and a 1/2,   and it took several calls and a trip to the service desk before it was finally resolved,  but NCL sent us a tray of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine to acknowledged our inconvenience which we appreciated.  I loved the itinerary but did not care too much for having two sea days at the end I'd rather them be at the beginning it just seemed so long at sea to get back to port, my only complaint would be the buffet and the entertainment choices I feel on a 7-night trip they didn't plan it out very well, one night there wasn't much scheduled going on and then the next night there was four things going on at the same time and I found that to be disappointing, All staff we encountered were friendly and helpful except for one lady on the dining staff who was a bit rude, we did not dine in any specialty restaurants  we dined in the garden room and shogun asian fusion and they were both good, the buffet was a bit boring not many changes from day to day and it seemed to be the same thing over and over at lunch time

We enjoyed a fantastic 12 day Mediterrean cruise from Barcelona to Venice on the NCL Spirit in Sep 2015.  We had been planning to take this type of cruise for over 5 years for a significant wedding anniversary and two things caused NCL to win over the competition: - The ports of call, and 12 days vs 7 gave us a broad coverage over the entire Med region vs just a Western or Eastern focused 7 day cruise. - The fact we'd taken a "budget FL cruise" on NCL 20 months earlier and were quite satisfied in all aspects.  We are not experienced cruisers having taken only 2 cruises in 1998 and 2006 prior to these last 2 on NCL.

The good: - Other than Barcelona and Venice where we elected to arrive 2 days early and leave a day late, we took NCL shore excursions in 5 of the other 7 ports.  We had good luck with all the guides and equipment.  On our first excursion to Florence there was an accident on the expressway causing our bus driver to divert onto side roads.  We got to the ship with at least 30 mins to spare but had we been on our own that would be been worrisome; note if you take NCL based excursions the ship WILL WAIT for you, probably worth the 20-30% premium you pay over outside groups. - We did our own walking tours in Toulon, France (having had a few other trips in France in years past) and Mykonos. We did our own tour by trains in Naples following guidance in the Rick Steves cruise book, it was a little confusing but we made it work saving us $70 in cab fares in a low risk venture to Herculaneum, the smaller version of Pompeii ruins. All this worked well because we had FANTASTIC weather in all ports, sunny, no rain in the daytime and really only 1 sorta rough sea morning sailing into Naples.  Be ready for a LOT of walking and climbing in Rome, Athens & Ephesus and be ready for HUGE CROWDS at all major sights surprising for so late in the season. - Food quality and service in restaurants and the cabin were great.  We ate most dinners at the Windows and Garden restaurants, which have the same menu and the upper right entrees change nightly.  We ate 3 dinners in the Shogun oriental restaurant recently added to the "no upgrade charge" regular dining, and with typically lower calorie food too.  Some breakfasts were in the Raffles buffet but at least 4 when we had time were in Windows for a quieter higher quality experience. - Because we joined cruisecritic on our 2014 FL cruise and were part of a meet and greet group, we had a special meeting of a couple dozen cruisers with the captain and officers.  That gave us the option to get a tour of the bridge with the captain, very interesting if you enjoy a view of how things work.  As NCL Latitudes members we also got an invite to a larger scale (200 people or so?) meeting with wine, food & prizes - nice touch!

- Neither bad or good but this type of cruise really has people from all over, maybe 20% US, 20% Canada and the rest from all over EU especially UK, Spain & Germany, also Far East & Australia.  Just be accepting of the language differences, we enjoyed the mix!  There were some kids and babies but generally lots of couples and probably most over age 50 but plenty of younger persons too. - The Spirit is the oldest of the NCL fleet being built in 1999 and refurbed in 2013.  Our 8th floor window (non balcony) room was fine - everything worked.  We did not notice other problems around the ship, but other than two sea days we were on the go every day in port.  If you want a mega liner with water slides or rock climbing get a different boat. - Supplement your washy wash alcohol cleanings with good hand washing. We also carried hand sanitizer on shore and an advantage using shore excursions is they have deals with merchants to use their restrooms free vs paying a euro in some places for public WCs.  Note Turkish excursions are required to have a merchant sell job, but there are ways out of that.

Not as good: - The NCL shore excursions can be expensive, by our definition anything over $200 per person is pricey, $100 is OK.  Budget a lot for these, don't be tempted to blow all your budget on a balcony or suite when what you want on a cruise like this is to see the sights. - We enjoyed the theatre entertainment especially the Beatles act & Magician, and the rest was just OK, something to do at night since we are not into drinking a lot before bed.  We did visit the Champagne Charlies piano bar a few times for some soft rock and jazz but didn't go to the dance club nor casino.   - Booze has gotten crazy expensive but a few ways to save:  Get the drink of the day if you must have a mixed drink. NCL offered wine prebuys on boarding day, starting at 4 bottles for $22 each (vs $30+ at restaurants) which they'll cork for the next day and you can actually take with you to a bar too.  We were also able to buy 2 wine bottles onboard at Barcelona from a store after we'd cleared security, apparently OK other than they told us we needed to drink it in our room.  Another trick we've learned is buy a coffee or wine in the port shop right before you board for cheap and get a WIFI paswsword to do some quick emails and photos home, much better deal than ship prices for satellite internet.  One more tip: bring an insulated mug to get larger free ice teas or morning coffee. We were disappointed that since our last cruise NCL now charges $8 extra for morning room service coffee & rolls that used to be free. - Do NOT book airfare through NCL if you want to do an arrive early leave later plan.  They charge a LOT to make that change.  If you arrive 2 days earlier and get travel insurance covering airline problems there is very little risk booking your own, which was also a lot cheaper than what NCL had offered for this EU trip.  Tip: having used Amsterdam many times for business travel we transferred through there fine on way to EU but on way home passport and security had a HUGE backup, perhaps normal in this post 9/11 world.  Give yourself at least 2 hours of connect time for a mid day flight in AMS as all flights are full & if you miss it you'll have a tough time even moving to a later flight.

This was the BEST cruise itinerary we've ever taken!  We had a fabulous time!!!  There is so much history to see in Europe, we were pleasantly overwhelmed!  The 12 day Grand Mediterrean cruise is the PERFECT itinerary to see so much.  There were many excursions to choose from and we were happy with every one we went on.

The cruise staff were so pleasant and helpful.  We are very thankful for all of the hard work they put in to make the passengers as comfortable as possible and wanting for more!

We've been on many cruises in the past and we thought that this particular cruise was a little on the quiet side compared to the others that we've been on.  That's certainly not a bad thing, however we weren't sure why.  I guess we are used to having music blaring and more upbeat vibe.  We figured it might of been the cruise itinerary.

We highly recommend this spit and cruise itinerary!

Main issue was a lack of transparency/clear communication.  It wasn't a good start when staff told us we wouldn't be allowed off the ship until after the safety drill, meaning we were held on the ship for 5 hours for a 3 minute "presentation" which meant we lost our day in Venice because everything was closed once we were allowed off.  We weren't informed of this situation in NCL materials or prior to boarding the ship. Had we known we could have stored our luggage, and spent the day in Venice before checking in.  Also the check-in was slow, and I was the unlucky one given a yellow sticker & told I was a VIP and should go to the VIP line, which I wasted time looking for b/c it doesn't exist.  Apparently, all the yellow sticker meant was I was randomly selected to have the time it took for check-in recorded; however, since the paper was never completely filled in before taken, I'm guessing it was trashed b/c it wasn't a good reflection. It was hard to find info. about restaurant and pool times, which typically easily found at any hotel, but maybe it wasn't provided b/c it varies. Sometimes it was difficult to tell if staff was uninformed or deceptive, but it was easy to get different answers from 2 or more people.

Some of the wait staff had a concern for excellence, but as anywhere, at least as many didn't. The food was timed perfectly on the first day and seemed to get slower every day afterwards. We realized Windows served nearly the same menu as the buffet, but sometimes it was nice not to face the crowds, though eating outside near the pool was a favorite place. There was always a fish choice and the food often seemed better than what we saw on shore. At the end, the shrimp seemed a bit old, but thankfully no resulting illness. Hand sanitizer was required when returning to the ship & always offered at buffet.

Our cabin steward was a really nice kid but without attention to detail, knocking over my eye drops daily & putting our custom pillow on the opposite side from where it was left. Balcony room was nice to get fresh air and ocean sound and clean enough, but the carpet was so worn I wouldn't walk on it with bare feet.

The entertainment was very dance oriented.  After attending the attempt to cover songs, it was hard to go back.  I understand that it's people who didn't make the cut in LA, NYC, or Vegas, but wasn't something to look forward to.

I choose this cruise for the itinerary, the major ancient capitals, and that was good, but I didn't realize that Rome (and other stops) was so far from the port.  Getting to places we wanted to see from the port often cost more time than a well located hotel.  We always felt a time pressure to get back to the boat & one day took a taxi to the ship after not making the train we wanted, to then find that the ship was waiting for others until departure time (one day even later) instead of really having to be on board 30 minutes prior. Good for the late people, bad for us to spend extra money to get back at the listed time. As some fellow cruisers pointed out, cruising is more about getting a quick sample of places.

We did 2 NCL excursions, and one prior scheduled.  We much preferred the smaller one.  The first NCL excursion in Istanbul had a good guide and we weren't forced to watch a carpet demo, though the visit to the Blue Mosque could have been timed better so we didn't have to wait from the time it reopened, but the guide for Marsielle/Aix was so lame that several people left her early & she mostly pointed out the obvious such as what you could purchase at shops as we passed by.

We did make all our ports and most as scheduled. Early in the trip the boat glided, and it was mostly smooth sailing until the last day, when it got a bit nauseating. It's been too long between cruises to really compare NCL with another.

This was the most Magnificent trip we have ever been on. We "Walked Through History"! We truly enjoyed all of our Excursions, the food, the staff and the convenience of the smaller ship. We chose a balcony room and it was well worth the view. 

everithing was so grate that I will like to live there, the food in the privet restaurants excelent the food in the complementary restaurants, very good, the breakfast so good, the service on the room, the shows so good, is people the have the big  Spirit to give us the best that have inside and make us live a excelent best happy time, the true I didin't want to live , but everithing have one star and one end, my Inglish is no good but I try to raight what I feel.....If I can put all the persons that work in that cruise infront of me,  I let them now that make my vacations the best of the best... thank you with all my Spirit.

Loved this itenirary and ship! Spirit feels much bigger than she is thanks to well laid out venues with ample space and seating. The refit is GORGEOUS! Enjoyed the lack of round trip on this Alaska rout as we got to see more and cover more miles/ports.

The Spirit is a great small ship experience with recently refurbished spaces and exceptional service. This itinerary was great with 4 Alaskan port cities and one day cruising Hubbard Glacier.

I was empress with the food .....but the service was amazing from the GM Vuk, Entertaiment, shows The Blazing Boots, Front desk ( Gerlie) to all the restaurant service and our Room Steward (Warren).

This was a great trip with interesting stops and scenic vistas. The food was excellent both in the buffet and 2 main dining rooms, Windows and Gardens. They also had a couple of other free food venues, Blue Lagoon, Henry’s Pub and Shanghai Bar.Really wish water and cappuccino were part of beverage plan. You can only drink so much alcohol.