It is sad to sit here and write about how HORRIBLE our vacation was, but in doing so I hope to save someone else from the terrible time we had on the Carnival Spirit. We took an 8 day cruise with our children, and our grandchildren and out of the 4 cruises we have taken this was the most expensive and the worst of them all. Our ship was well enough, as ships go. The rooms were decent in size but smelled. They were musty and looked old. Two of our bathrooms flooded by a pipe breaking in the wall and then we had to live with the moldy smell that we realized must have been there all along as this must happen often. Our cabin Stewart never even introduced himself until the 3rd night and we did not see him again until the last night when he came to collect the beach towels that they offer you to use. We were not impressed at all with the room service as on two mornings it took an hour just to get my morning coffee, which by that time I was ready to leave my room. The room service food was barely good enough to be served in the school lunch room and that is saying a lot. The midnight buffet was pretty sure.. but smelled so gross that I can't imagine anyone ate this stuff. The dining service was so slow, and you never got what you wanted until after 2 times asking for the right thing, which was usually cold or just gross. The entertainment was a joke, with sound problems and dancers simulating sex on a floor and on a bed during an event that is called a "family show", The cruise director was an idiot and plain rude! We had VIP tickets to get off first so w could look for our lost luggage and this jerk actually announced to the other people waiting..,. to sit back and let the beautiful people off first.. again saying it and then adding yes the rich and the beautiful must go first,,, have a seat everyone else!! We were so embarrassed and sick about this man's mans attempt at humor! My daughter in law had two bags missing for two days then one showed up, we were told it was delivered to the wrong room, but the other pc. of luggage never did show up, and the Purser could care less! She had to complain daily and they really just blew her off telling her to file an insurance claim when she got home. What a nightmare that was. THEY LOST OUR LUGGAGE AND COULD CARE LESS!AS FOR FAMILIES: Our poor grandkids were stuck doing NOTHING! This is their 3rd cruise so they knew just what they wanted to do, until they got there and realized the kids camp was a joke. The 12 year old would have been lumped with 17 year olds, which was too much of a range for a little girl to be with 17 year old boys... and all they had for them to do was sit into a disco during the day and hang out. The one time on the 3rd ay that we walked her down there to check it out, we encountered two set of teens making out on a couch.... this is the 3rd day for goodness sake! It was amazing that there was no supervision at all! The poor 9 year old... well.... no that was really sad... they had activities planned all across the ship but the child is responsible for getting there each time. So they end one thing, then leave without rounding up kids, and our grand son got lost the first day and cried to the purser who sat him in the BAR Lounge and called our room, which we were not in, and we happened to walk by and saw him there un-attended by people drinking and smoking. They explained that although an adult plans the activity they do not actually watch the kids and they can leave at any time even if you do not want them to have free time they tell them to take off when they are in-between things to do. So then we had the 7 year old... oh my... this tiny little room was full of kid coughing and wheezing and our grandson got bit the first day and it drew blood. but no-one even attempted to call us. They were not even apologetic. The room was dirty and a germ cesspool... so none of these kids had activities and it was all very poor. Nothing like the RCI Vision of the seas kids club... which was top notch and the only ship these kids would ever consider again. The DO NOT HAVE A KIDS POOL, the pools are all 4 feet deep so if a smaller kid wants to swim, he will have to brave the heavy waves and hold onto he side. Oh and this slide... my goodness. they first of all do not put in enough water, which leaves burn marks as you go down, but it does not even go into a pool, it goes into a wall and you have to climb out. My grandson fell down the slippery steps of the pool and had to go to the infirmary and spend two days in his cabin healing. There is no supervision on the other side (the end) of the slide or cruise workers is very, very un-safe. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT FAMILIES OR KIDS, IT IS A TOTAL PARTY SHIP!THE PORTS: Of course Acapulco was nice, and we found a tour guide to stay with us for the entire day and rive us anywhere we wanted for $10.00 per person. He drove a brand new Suburban with a/c and spoke wonderful English. Just keep walking away from the ship as the offers get cheaper and cheaper. We even went to Wal-Mart to replace some items from the lost luggage, and then to a great place to eat called Zapittos?, and even stopped to get haircuts at an $5. per person salon. Now IXTAPA was a little different, we actually (like fools) paid the $50 per person for the Island Getaway snorkel tour. First of all you have to pay $10. more when you get there for the snorkel gear, and the bus ride was not air conditioned... well it was if you sat up front but the air did not work in the middle to the back. Then the place they take you to after the bus, and a small stinky fish boat ride away, is this beach that has FILTHY water. All the oils from the boats and grease fill up the shore and you are expected to snorkel in that. They do not net off the shore or an area for you to go into and my son got stung by a jellyfish then thrown into rocks with sea archents that left huge quills in his legs. My granddaughter got bit my something.. not sure what but it left a hole in her thigh and the worst of it was there was no a clean bathroom, just a little shack of what used to have toilets that had a few inches of human waste on the floor right where you walk in... so amazingly gross that my daughter in law threw up and could not stop crying over the condition of what she stepped in. last of all MANZINILLO, what a dirty gross and smelly port this was. Even the crew said they never get off there because the crime and filth is so bad. You pay $3.50 to take a shuttle bus (with no a/c) about two blocks and they drop you where the shopping district is all local stores, no one wants to deal and everything is over-priced. So all in all STAY AWAY FROM CARNIVAL!!!!