Norwegian Spirit Bars and Entertainment

The Norwegian Spirit is a smaller ship but it packs a lot of fun public spaces into the small size. There are plenty of spaces to grab a drink, listen to music, exercise or catch a show.

Bars

You won’t find yourself thirsty on any cruise; especially when you have the Free at Sea Unlimited Open Bar drink package. There are two tiers of the drink package — Unlimited Open Bar and Premium Plus. Unlimited Open Bar offers soda, basic beer, wine, and liquor and has no limits on the number of drinks per day. Premium Plus is an extra $29/day per person and adds in top shelf alcohol, beer and wine as well as bottled water and coffee beverages (drip coffee is free for everyone). There are also options for just soda and just premium coffee.

There are bars all over the ship. I’ll start from the top deck and move down the ship with the various bars and lounges. Most of the bars served the exact same drinks so it doesn’t really matter which one you visit.

Biergarten

On Deck 13 forward is the Biergarten; an outdoor bar that allows smoking. For this reason I didn’t spend much time up there, but it is covered to protect from sun and rain.

Spinnaker

The Spinnaker space is a large lounge with great 180 degree views out the front of the ship.

There is a lot of seating including two nooks that extend over the sides of the ship.

Unfortunately they used Spinnaker for bingo, game shows, and other loud events that could have been held in the theater. I would have rather they used it as just a lounge rather than event venue.

Just above Spinnaker on Deck 13 is a multifunction room set up for games.

Waves

Waves is the pool side bar on Deck 12. There a number of tables available and servers are out and about taking and delivering drink orders.

The Great Outdoors & Spice H2O

The Great Outdoors is located on Deck 12 Aft; behind the buffet and at the top of the Spice H20 area. SpiceH20 also has its own bar on Deck 10 aft. More about Spice H2O below.

Magnum’s

Magnums is the “Champagne & Wine Bar” located on Deck 8 midship above the atrium. It is a bit more formal than other bars but still a casual spot to grab a drink and sit or play some cards.

Henry’s Pub

One of the only parts of the ship to be maintained during the renovation, Henry’s is located on Deck 7 midship and has a distinct, local dive bar feel to it.

Also on Deck 7 is The Local which has a bar of its own.

The Social

Located on Deck 7 forward, past the casino, is The Social bar. It has a mid-century feel to it and serves as the lobby to The Social venue. I found the space to be under utilized, perhaps because it has no windows people don’t really want to hang out in the area.

Venues

There are a few spaces in addition to the lounges above to catch entertainment.

Stardust Theater

The main venue on the Norwegian Spirit is the Stardust Theater, located on Deck 7 and 8 aft. It holds about 900 people and is the home of the various evening shows.

During my sailing, there were two nights of comedians, a magician, an acrobat duo, a solo singer, and the stage production shows: World Beat (various songs and dances from around the world), Blazing Boots (Country singing and dancing), and Elements (cirque style show with singing, dancing, magic and acrobatics).

Photos and videos are not allowed of the shows, so the photos above are from before and after the various productions.

Overall I found the shows to entertaining with mid level production value similar to second tier shows in Vegas. It isn’t Cirque Du Soleil or David Copperfield, but still entertaining with some great singing and dancing and sets.

Atrium

The Norwegian Spirit maintains a traditional atrium that rises from Deck 7 to Deck 12 with a stained glass ceiling and large video display.

Each evening there is live music. Throughout the day there are activities available to families and adults.

Along either side of Deck 8 are shops to avoid. There is also an art gallery and gift shop on Deck 8 forward.

The Social

The Social is located all the way forward on Deck 7. It is a smaller venue that turns into a dance club at night. Mostly I saw it used for karaoke every evening.

Casino

As I understand it, Norwegian originally planned to have Spirit sail in Asia after renovations. Therefore, they devoted a large amount of space (and money) to creating a first class casino.

Located on Deck 7 forward, it offers high ceilings and a second level for gamblers that wish to smoke (the rest of the casino is smoke free). The casino offers table games, slots, and other games of chance.

Pools and Fitness

There are two pools on Spirit — the main pool located midship on Deck 12 and Spice H20 located Decks 10-12 aft.

The main (family) pool deck has a pool with four hot tubs. Surrounding the pools is a large number of chairs. I never saw this area full, but we were on an Alaska cruise. Still, we had sunny weather and people definitely did make use of this area.

At the back of the ship is Spice H20, and adults only area with two bars, tiered seating, and a pool and two hot tubs. It offers great views over the back of the ship. However causing in Alaska meant that the winds hitting Spice H20 were strong and even when the temperatures were high it was not a warm place to lounge around. I would have liked to have made more use of Spice H20 but I just never found it the right space during my Alaska sailing. The most crowded I saw it was on embarkation day before we set sail.

The fitness center and spa are both located on Deck 12 between the pool and Spinnaker. There is also a bike/spin room and an aerobics room for various classes.