Norwegian Spirit

Alaska-Hawaii cruise

September

Pros: Staff was very friendly and helpful. Room was always very clean. Plenty of options to do everyday.

Cons: By the end of the cruise the same food options were limited.

Recommended: Yes

I would recommend they have a different variety in the buffet every day, not the same thing every day. We absolutely loved our steward! He was very helpful with any questions we had and greeted us everyday with a ?? We looked forward to visiting with him everyday and miss him already!

Canaries cruise

February

Pros: Great itinerary

Cons: Spotty dining room service, food

Recommended: Yes

Nice balcony cabin.

10 Day Canary Island and Spain Cruise

March

Pros: having our itinerary changed and stopping at Gibraltar instead of Madeira

Cons: stopping at Casablanca, Morocco

Recommended: Yes

We had such a good time on this cruise. The only thing I did not like was our stop in Morocco. I felt the city was very dirty and the people were not very welcoming. It was impossible to get service at the restaurants we stopped at and I felt very uneasy with all the people starring at us. The excursion we went on was ok. The mosque we saw was beautiful and the excursion could had stopped there. Our itinerary had to change due to rough seas so instead of going to Madeira, we went to Gibraltar instead. I LOVED our time in Gibraltar! The city square was great and the excursion to see the cave and monkeys was out of this world!

Great Christmas Cruise!

December

Pros: Itinerary......Wonderful suite-it was huge, outstanding personal service, great food, good entertainment, loved free style dining

Cons: Port talks in small lounges at 5:30, need to be taped and on tv; tv selection was awful, slow internet, definitely need technology upgrade throughout the ship.

Recommended: Yes

While the ship is older, it has charm. I think updating the technology on the ship would be advantageous. Missed every port talk due to the time of the talk. Not great selection in the shops. Each day we were served wonderful canapes, cookies, chocolates, etc. However, if we didn't put them out of sight or didn't eat them, when we returned from dinner they were gone! Efficient staff. Some of the areas for eating were nor conducive to talking. Loved the French restaurant, and enjoyed Cagney's for breakfast and dinner and lunch. I would do this again based on the itinerary! Great ports of call.

Greek Isles and Sicily

October

Pros: Great itinerary as far as the ports visited.

Cons: Older ship - and missed visiting one of our destinations

Recommended: Yes

Because of operational problems on the ship we missed visiting one of our scheduled ports. We ran 9 hours behind on that particular day so we didn't stop in Malta until that night and we missed our excursion. We were compensation for what we paid for the excursion, but we still lost a whole day at that port which I feel the cruise line should have given us some kind of credit for the loss. All and all, it was a great cruise. I loved the ports that this cruise visited and the staff was very friendly and helpful. One small comment - the bartenders could have been a little more cheerful!

Great times with great people

March

Pros: Staff, excursions

Cons: No small ship maps

Recommended: Yes

The staff was fantastic. Great crowd and enjoyable itinerary.

Grand Mediterranean cruise

August

Pros: Great ports

Cons: Ship could use 1 more pool and 2 more hot tubs.

Recommended: Yes

Wake up calls are not automated and depend on staff calling. Be aware, call was late 2 mornings. Also, stay away from cabins near medical center, security took an out of control drunk to medical center and he yelled all night. Credit to staff was that they moved me to another cabin for the night so I could sleep. Bottle of wine and chocolates were sent to my cabin to atone for these inconveniences. The only port I would replace is Toulon France. A port closer to or on the French Rivera might be more interesting and fun.

Go for the itinerary not the ship

June

Pros: Port destinations

Cons: Ship getting really old

Recommended: Yes

The itinerary was the best out there for the port destinations and they were all amazing. In order to really enjoy Barcelona and Venice a additional days (2) at the front of the cruise and the end. I would highly recommend this cruise destination to everyone unless you have young children, it is a lot of walking and historical sights that kids would not be good for little ones. I just wish Norwegian used another ship, one of their newer ones for this cruise and it would have been stellar instead of great.

Extraordinary

May

Pros: ports of call

Cons: none

Recommended: Yes

wow.........just a great trip. Everything went so smoothly.

Great ship, great service. Food so-so

March

Pros: Clean, comfortable cabins, lots of activities and great service by staff and crew.

Cons: Food was average. Good selections and presentations but poor quality meats, not much flavor.

Recommended: Yes

Recommend the ship but don't book it if food is essential to your experience. Buffet was adequate but main dining room was somewhat disappointing. Poor to average cuts of meat, minimal flavor. Ribs were tough. Sauces uninspiring. Scheduled activities were varied and interesting. Stirrup Cay was an excellent overall day.

Cruise experience

November

Pros: Port of call

Cons: Guest Services and most of the ship mates had different explanations for the same question.

Recommended: Yes

Ship staff needs more training to provide good customer service. Food in the Windows dinning room was cold, and the table staff lacked good customer service. All the Specialty Dining restaurants were limited in serving the passengers, in most cases many tables were empty yet those in charge would not seat passengers who wished to eat. At the Italian restaurant there were only four tables in use for over two hours yet other passengers were turned away. The Cagney steak house was the worst and the those in charge were very rude and lacked good customer skills. The Garden Room and the Raffles Court were the best for dining.

NCL Free Style Cruising

July

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

The staff are very friendly and helpful. The food is very good at all times. Most important it is not a crowded ship! No first and second dining sitting! You may come to dinner at anytime in the main Windows dining restaurant. The daily shows were excellent. Highly recommended for cruise lovers.

Good Value and interesting ports

April

Pros: Excellent ports not usually available, great value, pleasant and helpful staff.

Cons: Minor food issues, one tour complaint with scheduling.

Recommended: Yes

There were some minor food issues, for the most part, good selection. One tour could have been much better with different time allotments for the activities.

Mediterranean Cruise

June

Pros: History, Archaeology, Food, Entertainment

Cons: Rushed, No meaningful overnight ports,

Recommended: Yes

The Norwegian Spirit was a very well-kept ship. Each area seemed clean and well cared-for, and each member of the crew that we encountered catered to our every need and helped us in every way possible. There were plenty of options for dining, and we were pleased by the “Freestyle” approach. Each port had its own treasures and attractions, and we were pleasantly surprised in each location. While it is the nature of cruising to have only a short amount of time in each location, we felt as if Rome or Istanbul could have warranted an overnight stay like the two-day experience of St. Petersburg we had on a Baltic Cruise. We saw all we could see in the short time we had on shore, but I can only imagine how much more we could have seen in a less-rushed pace. We took several tours through NCL, but the best example of NCL accommodation occurred when a broken alarm caused us to miss the departure of our tour to Pisa and Florence. Ivan, the Shore Excursion Director, was kind, calm, and incredibly helpful. Even though he could not get us to Florence, he placed us on the absolute best tour possible, and we actually believe that we enjoyed it more than if we would have attended our original tour. The trip to Pisa and Luca easily became one of our favorite tours, and we enjoyed the wine tasting and meal that accompanied our excursion. All of NCL's Shore Excursion guides were positive and incredibly knowledgeable about our tour. We particularly enjoyed all the free time that we received on the excursions, but we even more preferred the tours that included meals. On our own, we were less likely to experience realistic local food, so it was a nice change of pace to sit down with our tour group and eat local delicacies. In Rome, we had a private tour with Armando Solipaca. He was incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and accommodating. He managed to fit as much of Rome as possible into the short amount of time we were there, and we were able to see everything that was open that we wanted to see. In Athens, we also had a private tour through Shore Excursions Group. We rode a taxi around Athens and saw quite a few sites. Our guide explained each building we passed and spent a lot of time with us on the Acropolis explaining the long and complicated history of the Parthenon and the surrounding temples. We had a lot of free time in the Plaka and stopped to see the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch on our own. Istanbul’s Shore Excursion Group tour was one of the best tours we have taken. Istanbul is a remarkable city by itself, but our tour guide truly made it an even better experience. He was kind and patient with our questions at the end of the tour, and provided a perfect balance of talking and explaining and giving us choices to see Istanbul on our own. The only thing I would change is that I would choose to explore Venice on my own instead of a tour and group gondola ride. While all the other ports’ excursions added to the experience of the location, I felt as if the group tour of Venice made it a little underwhelming. I was a little disappointed by the group gondola ride—and that my husband and I weren't able to sit together on something that was supposed to be a romantic experience. Our tour guide was nice, but she rushed us through Venice because our ferry ran a little behind. We didn't have an “on board” time, so she could have taken her time and extended the end time of the tour, but she instead chose to cut it short in favor of keeping the end time. I could have had a better experience on my own, which is what we did after our tour ended. Overall, it was an amazing trip with so many possibilities—one would have to travel this itinerary several times to see everything! We are pleased with our experiences and we will treasure the memories we created for the rest of our lives.