Normally I approach selecting a cruise cabin like I do selecting a bottle of wine: “I’ll take whatever’s the cheapest.” I mean, if the bottle is pretty and it tastes okay, great. If not, I only plan on handing it over at the door anyway (I don’t understand why I don’t get invited to more dinner parties).
My logic when it comes to cruise cabins is that the less I pay, the more often I can cruise. AND I don’t generally spend much time in my cabin anyway.
However, this cruise was a bit different. It was a long one, 16 days, and I’d be sharing the cabin with my husband (with gym clothes so stinky we were asked to please quarantine them down on deck 5 with the Covid positive passengers experiencing acute loss of smell) and my 9 year-old son with feet so rancid a woman sitting below him in the theater one evening elected to move to a different section (true story and my sincerest apologies to whomever ended up replacing her in that seat). But more importantly, those two would be sharing a cabin with ME. Someone who eats more on a cruise than a pregnant whale. And what goes in, must come…well, you get the picture.
Even so, we started out in our typical inside “sail away” cabin (meaning we didn’t receive most of the “free at sea” offers and didn’t get to select our cabin location). Fortunately, through a combination of price drops and the bidding process, we were upgraded to a balcony cabin and received the drink and dining package for what our original inside cabin cost (ALWAYS keep checking prices right up until you sail and call NCL or your travel agent if they drop).
First, a quick word about the location of our cabin. It’s always risky when you allow the cruise line to select your location. But this time we really lucked out! So much so that my husband traded in our retirement fund for casino chips. Sadly, our luck was short lived and now you’re stuck with this terrible blog until my son tosses my ashes over the side of a Carnival ship before spending the last of his inheritance on a discounted “drink of the day.”
Our cabin, 10172, was located on deck 10 aft, just a few floors directly below the buffet, a few floors directly above the main dining room and the main theater, and steps away from Spice H20 (the adults only aft pool area) with a bar and comfortable lounge seating with gorgeous views out the back of the ship:
There were also cabins located directly above and below us, meaning noise was minimal (although we could hear some light noice from the main theater located on decks 7 and 8 – but it ended as soon as the 9pm show was over).
The only thing I didn’t love about the location was that ours was a “connecting” cabin with a door leading directly to the cabin next door. We did hear a bit of noice (talking and the TV) from our neighbors, but that came in handy when our cable TV suddenly went out and I really wanted to hear what was happening on the news. (I’d generally avoid connecting cabins unless you’re traveling with the group next door. Although that might be all the more reason to avoid them depending on how well you get on with your in-laws. LOL.)
Before we get into the unique features of cabins on the Norwegian Spirit and the things I loved and didn’t love about ours, here’s a tour of my balcony cabin, cabin 10172 (you can find a full Norwegian Spirit ship tour on my YouTube channel too – be sure to subscribe):
There were five unique things about this cabin on the refurbished Norwegian Spirit that set it apart in my mind from most of the cabins I’ve sailed in previously (and I’ve sailed in dozens and dozens of cabins on every major cruise line). That’s not to say that I’ve never seen these features before, but they tend to be less common.
This pull-out chair is where my son slept and is somewhat unusual for a balcony cabin with three-person occupancy. A couch that converts to a bed or a pull-down bed is more common. This also speaks to the size of the cabin, which wasn’t large enough to fit a sofa. While this configuration generally worked fine for us, when the chair was pulled out, it was very difficult to get around it to the balcony as there was only a few inches of space between it and the desk. Our room steward was kind enough to fold it up during the day so we had more space and easier access to the balcony.
You’ve often heard me complain about the open shelving so common in cruise cabin bathrooms. It almost takes away my joy of cruise eating when I have to see my Tums and Pepto first thing in the morning as they taunt me: “Sure, try to ignore us now, but you’ll need us later!”
But this time I was able to bask in denial and approximately 12,000 calories a day until around 9pm when I had a brief moment of panic before remembering the handy vanity drawer where I’d find the deodorant I’d forgotten to put on that morning (sorry about that) AND sweet pink relief. Then I’d vow not to eat so much the next day. And that cycle would repeat for 16 straight days. Shrug. #cruiseproblems
I also liked the pull-out trash container next to the drawer (pictured on the right in the photo above). Both of these features kept the small bathroom looking neater and I haven’t seen them in many other cabins.
At least I think they’re meant for reading. I pointed all three of them toward my bed as I practiced for the karaoke competition. Sadly I was automatically disqualified after guest services received several complaints from our neighbors. In any case, I loved these little swivel lights next to each of our three beds. They automatically turned off when secured back in their slot. I’ve had reading lights in lots of cabins, but none like this. Well done Spirit!
I’ll discuss the poor selection of TV channels and movies later, but for now, let’s just say that my son watched the movie “Soul” approximately 4,000 times in 16 days. So many times that I actually wanted to die so my “soul” wouldn’t have to see it again! Thank goodness for the swivel TV mount that at least allowed him to point it away from my bed.
You’ll hear more about these tiny drawers later, and when you do, you can refer back to this photo for scale. Basically this small hairdryer takes up an entire drawer. And it took me a full day to find it hiding there. However, I loved that the hairdryer wasn’t permanently attached to the wall as many cruise cabin hair dryers are and that it was two-pronged, so it didn’t occupy our only three-pronged outlet (meaning we could keep our items charging while we used it). And even though you had to hold the button down to keep it on, it had good power and dried my thick hair quickly.
You might be wondering why a balcony I labeled “narrow” would fall under my “love” list. Well, because we HAD a balcony. While I’m perfectly happy sailing in any cabin category, it’s always a treat when our upgrade strategies work out and we score some private outdoor space to enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean, watch our ship pulling into and out of port, and eavesdrop on some juicy conversations from next door (oh come on, you know you’ve done it too!). However, I will note that this was the narrowest balcony cabin I’ve ever sailed in. Luckily Mr. Cruise and my son didn’t spend very much time out there, so I had it mostly to myself.
While we didn’t end up using this as much as I thought we would, it kept my midnight snacks (desserts) chilled and I’m glad we had it.
Due to an overall lack of storage, these two little knobs and the hooks on the back of the bathroom door held roughly 2,000 times their weight in clothing each day. At the end of our sailing I left them a coupon for a free spa treatment.
With days that were both scorching and freezing on this unique itinerary, we were really able to test out the temperature control in our cabin. And it worked great!
Honestly the bedding was so comfortable I fear I may have slept through all 16 days of our cruise in an inside cabin without natural light to wake me. And my husband and son would have let me too: “Let her sleep, no one to nag us!” Bet they would have debarked with 2nd degree burns and frostbite without me reminding them to wear sunscreen and gloves though: “Serves you right!”
While the chocolate covered strawberries (a Platinum benefit) certainly contributed to my positive first impression of the desk, we also enjoyed it for storing our electronics, books, and paperwork. I can’t say how it functions as an actual work space though (you’ll note that this review is coming weeks after our cruise, so I didn’t do any actual work on it).
Prior to her refurbishment, staterooms on the Spirit only had one 3-prong outlet and no USB ports. My son would have accused her of being born in the 1800’s like he does me. But now she’s all modernized (me, not so much) and balcony cabins feature one 3-prong outlet, two 2-prong outlets, and 5 USB ports (one next to each bed and two above the desk).
While you can’t see it well in this photo and I only posted it so you could play “where’s Prof. Cruise,” this cabin bathroom featured a glass shower door that closed securely and didn’t allow water to spill out all over the floor.
The overall size of this cabin was small, consistent with my experience on most NCL ships, but with the balcony feeling extra tiny. Fine for two people on a typical 7 night cruise, but tight for higher occupancy or a longer sailing. You’ll make do like we did though, so don’t sweat it.
Mind you, ours was an especially long cruise, 16 days, and we were sailing to Hawaii AND Alaska, so we needed warm and cool weather clothes. For note, this is the first cruise I’ve ever packed both snorkeling gear and heated gloves! Still, the storage space wasn’t great for three people. There was one small closet for hanging items, some shelves, and four drawers (pictured on the left) so small a child’s size pair of underwear suffered a claustrophobia induced panic attack. There was also a small drawer in the desk and two bedside tables with a tiny amount of shelf storage.
Thankfully we are generally light packers and we made use of our two free bags of laundry as Platinum guests (because our cruise was so long, we received two free bags instead of the typical single bag), so it worked out fine. Otherwise it would have been challenging.
EXTRA CREDIT PRO TIP: Store your luggage and any other bulk items (coats, etc) under the bed.
We usually don’t make much use of the TV on a cruise, but with 7 sea days and a child with us, we watched it more than usual. And the channel selection was minimal. Plus there weren’t any on demand movies like on most other lines now. There were a few movie channels that played the same 4 or 5 movies on a loop, but that was it.
With some unique features and more things to love than hate, I think you’ll enjoy the beautifully refurbished balcony cabins on the Norwegian Spirit if you’re lucky enough to be booked in one! And with that…
Class Dismissed.
Homework (10 points): Check back for my complete ship review of the refurbished Norwegian Spirit. But in the meantime, here’s a full tour:
You can also read about the unfortunate end to this cruise HERE (spoiler alert, my son and I got Covid). And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow Prof. Cruise on your favorite social media sites:
Twitter (@cruiseprof)
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