My father booked a cruise for all 7 of his children and their spouses. He got us all balcony cabins. Unfortunately not all of us has the same experience. More on that later.

Embarkation was quite painless. not overly crowded and no long lines to queue in for more that 30 minutes. I was a little skeptical about the ports of call and my skepticism was well founded From New Orleans we sailed to Costa Maya, Belize, Isla Roatan, and Cozumel. Costa Maya just isn't a real good port of call, period. Not much there but beaches and although they are beautiful they are over crowded and very touristy. We ended booking a private beach location a half hour south at Alma Plena which was perfect place to get away from the cruise crowds!! They only allow so many cruisers to book and there are only a few rooms that people book so it is secluded, and not crowded at all! Belize is just blah. Lots of history but no beaches unless you book a boat to take you to one of the islands off the mainland. Roatan Island is beautiful. We booked an excursion to Tabyana beach and the snorkeling was some of the best i have ever done!! Highly recommended. Cozumel seems to be a standard stop for all western caribben cruises and since Ive been there so many times it was just the same old............... We ended up doing the x-rails which was loads of fun, but unless you're willing to spend the money your options are a boat ride to cancun or boring island tours.

Staff was ok on the spirit and they tried to accommodate our issues we had with out rooms by comping us a meal at a specialty restaurant. As for the issues with balcony rooms on the ninth floor. My father booked 8 rooms however they were separated into two groups, one group on port side aft and one on starboard side aft. BEWARE OF NINTH FLOOR BALCONIES ON THE STARBOARD AFT SIDE!!!! They are right under the daycare center located on the tenth floor and are the noisiest rooms in the industry!!!. The ceiling literally vibrate and rattle all day long due to kids jumping and running in the daycare. Now I'm no ogre and I understand the need for kids to have fun too, but whoever designed this should be demoted to intern designer. We first complained when we were trying to go to bed around 10 pm and the noise was so bad. We called and complained and the staff said they would talk to the Daycare personnel and remedy. The noise did stop but not for another half hour. They said they would give us a bottle of wine for our inconvenience. Thee next night same thing. Late in the evening and tired we were once again unable to sleep because of the noise. This time we were literally offered ear plugs. Really? Earplugs? I called the next morning and complained again so they gave us a complimentary dinner at Cagney's. Then The final straw was during the day trying to relax in the room and banging, vibrations and rattling filled the room all day. I just don't get it. You pay extra for balconies and they put the daycare over cabins you pay extra for. This definitely ruined out experience with NCL and especially the ship Spirit!! We ended up getting a $300 credit for our next cruise with NCL but i am very reluctant to use it.