My husband Richard and I cruised on the Carnival "Spirit" November 24-December 2, 2002. We visited the ports of Colón, Panama and Belize. We were also supposed to see Puerto Limón, Costa Rica, but there was some sort of a swell that made it impossible to dock safely.
The Ship
We really liked the layout of the "Spirit". It was very easy to figure out and there were no areas where one has to go down a deck, then up again to get past a dining room. The "Spirit" does not have an overall decor. Some areas, such as the Empire Restaurant and Deco Lounge, are formal and elegant. The pool area uses gaudy primary colors. The Shanghai Bar, no surprise, features Asian decor and the Pharaoh's Palace showroom is flamboyantly ancient Egyptian. Somehow it works. We tried a cabin with a balcony for the first time. Heretofore we've always gone with the cheapest inside cabin. To us the balcony wasn't worth it. We don't use room service and are out and about in other areas of the ship too much to make it worthwhile spending the extra money. The cabin was very nice and had plenty of storage space.