NCL
This is a mid-sized ship that provides a casual, lively, active vacation
The Ship. A full walk-around promenade deck outdoors is good for strolling and has lots of space, including a whole area devoted to children’s outdoor activities and pool. Inside, there are two indoor boulevards and a stunning, two-deck-high central atrium lobby with three glass-walled lifts and ample space to peruse the shops and cafés that line its inner sanctum. The lobby itself is modeled after the lobby of Hong Kong’s Hyatt Hotel, with little clutter from the usual run of desks found aboard other cruise ships.
The interior design theme revolves around art, architecture, history, and literature. The ship has a mix of both Eastern and Western design and decor details. Three stairways are each carpeted in a different color, which helps new passengers find their way around.
A 450-seat room atop the ship functions as an observation lounge during the day and a nightclub at night, with live music. From it, a spiral stairway takes you down to a navigation bridge viewing area, where you can see the captain and bridge officers at work.
There is a business and conference center – good for small groups – and writing room, and a smoking room for those who enjoy cigars and cognac. A shopping concourse is set around the second level of the lobby.
The casino complex is at the forward end of the atrium boulevard on Deck 7 (not between showlounge and restaurant as in most Western ships). This includes Maharajah’s, a brightly lit casino, with gaming tables and slot machines.
The dress code is extremely casual – no jacket and tie needed. With many dining choices, some of which cost extra, to accommodate different tastes and styles, your cruise and dining experience will largely depend on how much you are prepared to spend.
Norwegian Spirit is quite a stunning ship that features a wide choice of dining venues. Delivering a consistently good product depends, however, on the quality of the service staff. Watch out for the many extra-cost items in addition to the extra-charge dining spots.
Note that a non-changeable per person service charge is added to your account daily; 15 percent is also added for bar charges, and a whopping 18 percent for spa treatments.
Accommodation. Three whole decks of cabins have private balconies, while two-thirds of all cabins have an outside view. Both the standard outside-view and interior cabins really are very small – particularly given that all cabins have extra berths for a third/fourth person – although the bathrooms have a good-size shower enclosure. So, take only the least amount of clothing you can manage with. All cabins have a personal safe, cotton towels, and cotton duvets. In cabins with balconies, the balconies are extremely narrow, and the cabins themselves are very small – the ship was originally constructed for three- and four-day cruises.
Choose one of the six largest Executive Suites (named Hong Kong, Malaysia, Shanghai, Singapore, Thailand, and Tokyo) and you’ll have an excellent amount of private living space, with separate lounge and bedroom with a large en-suite bathroom with gorgeous mosaic tiled floors, kidney bean-shaped whirlpool tubs, dual washbasins, separate shower enclosures with floor-to-ceiling ocean-view windows, and separate toilets with glass doors. The Singapore and Hong Kong suites and the Malaysia and Thailand suites can be combined to form a double suite – useful for families with children. Butler service and a concierge come with the territory.
Twelve Zodiac Suites, each named after an astrological sign, are the second largest type of accommodation, and also have a butler and concierge. Each has a separate lounge, bedroom, bathroom, and an interconnecting door to an ocean-view cabin with private balcony – again, good for families. All cabinetry features richly lacquered woods. The bedrooms are small but have a queen-size bed; there is a decent amount of drawer space, although the closet space is limited because it contains two personal safes.
A small room service menu is available; all non-food items cost extra, and a service charge and a gratuity are added to your account.
Dining. There are eight places to eat, two at extra cost, so you need to plan where you want to eat well in advance or you may be disappointed.
Windows Restaurant: the equivalent of a main dining room, it seats 632 in two seatings, is two decks high at the aft-most section, and has huge cathedral-style windows set in three sections overlooking the ship’s stern and wake. Waiter stations are tucked neatly away in side wings, which help to keep down noise levels.
Other dining options (some cost extra) include:
The Garden Room Restaurant: this venue has 268 seats.
Raffles Terrace Café is a large self-serve buffet restaurant with indoor/outdoor seating for 400 and pseudo-Raffles Hotel-like decor, with rattan chairs, overhead fans, etc.
Moderno Churrascaria: a Brazilian steakhouse with ‘passadores’ serving skewered meats tableside. Reservations are required, and there’s a cover charge.
Taipan: a Chinese Restaurant, with traditional Hong Kong-themed decor and items such as dim sum made from fresh, not frozen, ingredients. Cover charge applicable, and reservations needed.
Shogun Asian Restaurant: a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar, for sashimi, sushi, and tempura. A section can be closed off to make the Samurai Room, with 22 seats, while a traditional Tatami Room has seats for eight. There’s also a Teppanyaki grill, with 10 seats, where the chef cooks in front of you and displays his knife-juggling skills.
Maxim’s: a small à la carte restaurant with ocean-view windows; fine cuisine in the classic French style. Cover charge applicable, reservations necessary.
Blue Lagoon Café: a small, casual café for cooked-to-order savory fast food. Adjacent is a street bar called The Bund.
In addition, The Café, in the atrium lobby, is a patisserie serving several types of coffees, teas, cakes, and pastries, at extra cost.
Entertainment. The Stardust Theater, with just under 1,000 seats, is the showlounge; it is two decks high, with a main and balcony levels. There are almost no support columns to obstruct the sight lines, and a revolving stage for review-style shows. The venue is also used as a large-screen cinema, and has excellent surround sound.
Spa/Fitness. The Roman Spa and Fitness Center is on one of the uppermost decks, just forward of the Tivoli Pool. It has a gymnasium full of high-tech muscle-toning equipment, and aerobics exercise room, hair and beauty salon, and saunas, steam rooms, and changing rooms for men and women, as well as several treatment rooms, and aqua-swim pools that provide counter-flow jets for swimming against the current. The spa facility is operated by the Hawaii-based Mandara Spa, which is owned by Steiner Leisure.
The fitness and exercise rooms, with the latest Cybex muscle-pumping equipment, are located not within the spa, but at the top of the glass-domed atrium lobby. Included is a room for exercycle classes. Sports facilities include a jogging track, golf driving range, basketball and tennis courts, and there are four levels of sunbathing decks.