Nowegian Cruise Line

[crazypoohbear]

Has any body sailed on NCL?
What are your thoughts.
We are looking to book 3 adults to an inside stateroom. Where is the third bed, in the ceiling, regular height?
What about the food?
Pools, etc.
Any information would be wonderful.
We have sailed on Disney and Royal Caribbean before.

[Tink1]

ME ME!

I sailed the Dawn out of NYC.

We had a suite and the kids had an inside across the hall. The third bunk in that room pulled out from under a bed, so.....the room was one BIG bed. One bed against each wall and then the other pulled in between them.

My kids swear they will never do more than 2 in that type of inside again. LOL Had one pulled down, it would have been better. Make sure you know what type of bed the third one is since there are both types.

I guess it would depend on how you all travel together. 3 teen boys did not do so well.

Food was OK. Not as good as Carnival or RCCL. No where near the caliber of Celebrity. Disney I do not sail for the food, and find the Disney food OK.

I did not care for free style dining, we made sure we had reservations every night and if in the main dining room went early and requested the same servers.

For the right price and itinerary I will sail NCL again.

Nanc

[Disney Lynn]

We've sailed with NCL 4 times (#5 next month), plus many other cruises (RCCL, HAL, CCL, Princess, Cunard, Disney). Which ship will you be sailing? NCL has a wide variety (and sizes) of ships, so the answers to your questions (especially re bed configurations) will really depend on which ship.

Since you've cruised before, I assume you're also on Cruise Critic. The members there will be able to tell you how the thrid person will sleep (on your ship).

As for food, IMHO- overall "food" is good on NCL. I (personally) rate the food on CCL, HAL and Cunard better than NCL. RCCL & Princess are about the same (quality and chocies, etc). NCL is definitely better than Disney (for food) (but of course no one sails Disney for the food LOL!).

Pools- depends on the ship, etc. Most NCL ships do not have a designated Adult Pool (like Disney). Some have indoor pools that might have restrictions, but this really varies by ship.

The major difference between NCL and other cruise lines is their Freestyle concept. As Tink mentioned above, some people don't care for Freestyle, others love it! Once again, it depends on YOU and what you (and your family) like to do on cruises. DH loves Freestyle- he can eat when and where he wants and doesn't have to dress up. And I must admit that packing for our next NCL cruise is a lot easier than on other cruises where I've had to pack the gown and DH's suit (and the dress shoes, etc). And now that we'd have to pay extra for the second bag, not having to lug the garment bag saves money as well as effort.

[crazypoohbear]

We are looking to sail on the Norwegian SPIRIT.
Sailing out of Boston on June 12th.
We will have 3 adults, me, sis, and DH.
Three "kids" ages 19,18,14. All Boys
More questions.
Can you bring your own soda on board?
Is the soda card worth it?
Is there a fridge in the cabin?
Is room service included in the food?
Is there a midnight buffet?
What are the prices for "adult" drinks on board?

Thanks again everyone, I'm sure I'll come up with more questions.

[Disney Lynn]

Interesting co-incidence! We sail on the Spirit on 3/1 and also sailed on her three years ago. We have an inside on deck 10 this time (had a great deal last time on a balcony). She's a nice, medium sized ship that was originally built for the Asian market. So there are some issues with the electricity onboard- cabins only have one 110 outlet that can't handle powerful hairdryers. (Bring a power strip if you have lots to recharge.) Fortunately you're traveling with boys and not girls LOL. (There will be a hairdryer in the cabin, but it's not very powerful. If someone needs a heavy duty hairdryer, let me know1).

Yes, you can bring your own soda (and other non-alcoholic beverages). I think the soda card is a waste of time and money unless someone really drinks a lot of soda. I assume you're going to Bermuda, and therefore will be spending your port days off the ship (so you'll prefer taking your own soda to the beaches). Your cabin will not have a frig, so take a cooler, and ask the cabin steward to keep you supplied with extra ice. You'll want the cooler for the beaches anyway!

Room service is included in the price of the cruise although you're expected to tip when it's delivered- between $2 and $5 , depending on how much he has to carry!

Midnight buffets: they don't have the traditional midnight buffet as in years past. However, the buffet area is open quite late, as is the outdoor cafe (burgers, pizza, etc). Plus there's an indoor snack bar called the Blue Lagoon that is 24 hours. It has great chicken wings, fish and chips, wonton soup, potato skins, etc. And one night, there will be a chocolate buffet- which will be mobbed!

Adult drink prices: I'll post here after my cruise. We haven't cruised NCL since November, and I think I read that the drink prices had increased. There is a "Drink of the Day" which is usually around $5 (more if you get it in the souvenir glass LOL).

You asked about pools- the Spirit has a great kid's pool in the back of the ship, but your boys might find this over-run with little kids. There is also a regular pool (with hot tubs) and the indoor "Aquapool" which is a jet-pool for exercising. (You may have to be 16 to use this?)

I'll try to find out about the third bed- I assume it will be a bunk, but in the balcony room, the third bed was the sofa that folded out each night for a bed (and wasn't very comfortable, my DD tells me!).

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

If you go to their website, it will show you the different restaurants and what is included and what is extra. The room service is included but as already posted (and typical on all ships) tipping is appreciated. They do have that one restaurant on the Lido deck (I think) that says it's open 23 hours per day. So Joe won't go hungry!
Do they serve Pepsi or Coke products on NCL?

[TheDuckRocks]

We were seved Coke products on the Jewel and they charged $1.75 a can plus the automatic 15% tip.

[crazypoohbear]

I tried cruise critic, it has helped with some questions but I wish there was a place to go that had pictures of everything like intercot does!!! guess I'm spoiled
Right now we have 10 people going.
4 teen boys
5 adults
1 teen girl
I'm really curious about the bed setup in the inside cabins.
I also want to know what they do for activities onboard, besides gambling.
If anyone knows about the shows that would be great

[coloradowendyl]

hey Crazyforpoohbear!

Check your email....am sending some stuff your way that will help you out!

Wendy

[Disney Lynn]

Crazypoohbear- have you selected cabins yet? If so, what are the numbers? We'll try to get pixs of them (or similar cabins) on our last day (once people vacate the cabins).

There is a teen program with activites (up to 18 only). There is a show each evening (usually two production numbers) (others would be a comedian or a magician, plus singing, etc). There are extra activities some evenings- like the newlywed game, etc. There will be karaoke in one of the lounges (probably late every evening) and of course lots of bingo (which I don't recommend- very expensive!).

[crazypoohbear]

Disney Lynn
We are in cabin #5515 & 5515, inside cabins toward the front of the ship on the port side (I think)
Do you know if they have laundry rooms and if they do what deck they are on?

If you could get pictures that would be great!!
Thank you so much.
I wish other cruise lines did what they do on intercot, pictures of every room, detailed floor plans, including laundry, crew cabins, pictures of the shows, the food buffets, how the cabins are configured with the 3 and/or 4 bed showing.

You must be getting excited as it is getting close to your time to depart.

[Disney Lynn]

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/NCLSprit08/index.htm

Have you looked at this person's postings about their recent Spirit cruise? The info will differ from your cruise (in that the ports are different LOL!), but you'll be able to get a feel for the daily activities, etc.

The Spirit doesn't have public laundry facilites, but they do offer laundry service (see the link above for prices, etc).

You posted cabin 5515 twice- but I assume you have cabins next to each other? And I hope you have more than two cabins for 10 people! We'll try to get pixs if those cabins are vacated before we leave. But we'll definitely have pixs of our inside cabin (on deck 10, but should have a similar configuration).

Yes- we're getting excited! We love to cruise (as well as visit WDW!).

[crazypoohbear]

Yep, I guess I'm a true blonde!!!
We are side by side 5515 5517. That's my family. My friend and her family are up one deck on 4. I'm not sure of their cabin number right now. Thanks for the link. It's awesome.
I'm sure my DH Henry will be spending time in "his pub".
Have a great trip and I look forward to seeing your pictures.
If you get a chance on the ship, let me know about the comedy routine. My kids love comedy shows.

[Cinderelley]

Okay, I have to know if they serve school bread. Can one of you guys ask for me? If so, I'll be switching from Royal Caribbean.

[Disney Lynn]

We had a great week! I wasn't able to get pixs of your cabins (they were still occupied when we had to leave). However, I did get pixs of the cabin next to yours- 5511, which I'll soon post online and let you know where to look for them (DH does all that!). Our inside on deck 10 will also be included with those pixs. We had the two twins seperated; 5511 had the twins pushed together- but since the beds had been stripped, you can clearly see the trundle underneath.

These insides have two twins (moveable), one trundle and one upper berth that folds up during the day (DH used it for storage LOL). If your cabin doesn't have a ladder, just ask for one. The trundle (which looked like a full size mattress, not a youth sized) would go between the twins at night- making the cabin almost wall-to-wall bed (so you'd have to climb out at the bottom).

Sam Griesbaum (spelling?) was the comedian on our cruise; we'd seen him last November, so some of the routines were familiar. But he really is hysterical! One night, he was the "main show" (approx 7 & 9:30 PM); another night he did one adults-only show (slightly risque, but not filthy). We went to all the shows, except one of the magician's. (Just too busy!) Definitely see the last night's show- with "Fountains" (we were in the front row right in front of the cruise director- you'll understand when you see it!).

We also took pixs of the bar menu; I hope they come out! I stayed with wine (I'd recently heard on GMA that one margaretta has 750 calories!); house wine by the glass was about $5 and was decent. More info to come!

If you're on cruisecritic, I'm JerseyGem, so you might see my posts there. In general, insides are fine- your main problem will be storage! DH & I were fine (lots of space). If we'd had DD with us, storage would have been tight (she takes lots of clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc!).

[Disney Lynn]

Drink prices on the Bar menu! (cut & paste from a posting on cruisecritic). More wines are available in the restaurants. 15% tip will be added.

The drink of the day was $7.95 (served in NCL cup) (maybe $2 cheaper in regular glass)
The Martini of the day was $9.75 in an 8oz glass

WHITE WINE

Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio Benefizium Porer $39 or glass $8
Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc $54 or $10.75
Ferrari-carano Fume' Blanc $42 or $8.50
Alderbrook Chardonnay $32 or $6.50

RED WINE

St. Francis Merlot $34 or glass $6.75
King Estate Pinot Noir $42 or $8.50
Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve $64 or $12.75

BLUSH/ROSE WINE

Beringer White Zinfandel $22 or glass $5
E. guigal Cotes-du-Rhone Rose' $40 or $8

HOUSE WINE SELECTIONS

White, Red & Blush $5.25

CHAMPAGNE/SPARKLING WINE

Mumm Cordon Rouge $54 or glass $10.75
Aneri Prosecco di Valdobbiadene $38 or $7.50

BEER

Coors Lite, miller genuine draft, miller lite, molson $3.95

Bud (16oz) Bud Lite, Amstel Lite, Bass, Becks, Corona, Corona lite, Dos XX, Guinness, Harp, Heineken, Michelob Ultra (16oz) Sam Adams, Sol Lager $4.50

Fosters $6.50

SOFT DRINKS: fountain $1.25 Cans $1.75

Coke, Diet Coke, Ginger Ale, Bitter lemon, Orange Soda, Root beer, Sprite

Nordic Mist Tonic Water $4.50

[crazypoohbear]

Thanks for all the information, this is wonderful!!!
I'll keep an eye open for the pictures, can't wait.
I'm glad you had a good time, I'm completely looking forward to our trip in June.
Glad to hear the house white is good, that's all I drink is Chardonnay and DH only drinks Bud.
I am mommadisney on cruise critic, so I will look for your posts there.
Thank you again for all the work you did to get this information, I really appreciate it.

[CPT Trips]

Jersey Gem's DH here with a link to pictures of the Spirit . . . http://picasaweb.google.com/randy080...tCruiseCritic# . . .
Note that I titled the album "Spitit..." must have been a Freudian Slip, I was thinking I had no pictures of "Fountains" to include. Please, no spoilers on that . . . just want to say it was part of the crew show on our cruise and one of the highlights.

The unmade cabin is next to the one(s) you booked. We assume identical, but
You can see the trundle bed under one of the bedsand also the bed hanging on the wall (also visible in our cabin).

May I suggest that DH skip the Bud once in a while and at least try some of the imports in Henry's or the Biergarten? Skip the Boddingtons and Guiness (they don't do well any way but draught), but give some of the others a go. There are a lot more selections in the Pub than show on the menu.

[crazypoohbear]

Thank you so much for the pics. they are great!
I think I saw a couple of drinks that looked pretty good also!
Do you know if the pool with the slides is just for little kids or can big teens use it as well?
Thanks for the heads up about the drinking, I had read that and the two 18/19 year olds did ask if I would let them drink. I told them sure.. as long as the wine had been blessed by a priest! LOL

[CPT Trips]

Tell the young men that I think they are out of luck. IIRC slides are for littler kids and no priest on board as part of crew.