No its not outdoors at all, fully enclosed although doors at one end of it leads out to the open deck area where there is barbecue type food available around the pool.
Its my favourite Thomson ship.

Thanks for the information. We would want to use the Lido on formal nights as we're not into the whole "dressing-up" thing.
We've only been on two other cruises. The first was on the Island Star which was completely informal and suited us perfectly. The other was on Fred Olsen's Boudicca which was spoiled for us by having two "formals" and two fancy-dress nights on a 7-night cruise. There wasn't any compulsion to wear formal wear but there were only a handful of people who didn't and we felt very out-of-place. The self-service restaurant on the Boudicca has the same entrance as the others so you were forced to mingle amongst those who dressed up.
From your experience would say that almost all the passengers go "formal" on the Thomson Spirit or is there a reasonable number who prefer ""informal".

On a weeks cruise on the Spirit there is one formal night, which is where you meet the captain etc and the people who attend that night do tend to dress up - however on that night you can quite easily use the Lido self service, you wont feel awkward at all, in fact its a good night to eat in there as its quite quiet then.

We use the Compass Rose restaurant some nights and as long as you arent in shorts and just dressed smartly you will be fine, in fact, apart from the Captains night not many men even wear a suit in the restaurant, just smart casualwear. You can pick and choose where you eat, self service or restaurant, on any different night, depending what you feel like doing on the night. There is always a menu up for both places.
What I like about the Compass Rose is you can go in anytime during their opening hours and its not fixed table dining, the waiter will guide you to a table, whichever is free. The food and waiter service is exceptional (as well as the waiters' entertainment you get between courses some nights)

The Lido is pretty good for food as well, you will always find something you like to eat.

We were on the Spirit for the 4th or 5th time in June and everything was as good as ever, its a lovely happy little ship - the staff and crew always speak and are genuinely pleasant.
If you havent cruised with Thomson before I an sure you will be more than pleased and the entertainment showteam and cruise director etc are usually first class.

I know what you mean, we cruised on P&Os Ventura and felt really out of place when we didnt dress on formal night, even though we used the self service restaurant.

Its Thomson for us everytime, no horror stories about expensive drinks or excessive gratuities daily.
Any other questions - just ask

Just returned from a cruise on the Spirit, I don't do formal either. Most evenings I used the Compass Rose Restaurant but occasionally used the lido if the CR was busy or if there was a special on in the Lido ie the curry night.
On the formal evening I booked into the Sirocco restaurant where you pay a supplement but it is well worth it is the food is a class above and the service excellent, again the dress is smart casual.

Thanks very much. This sounds like the kind of cruise we are looking for.