This was our second cruise & our first with NCL. Before we even left our home I read many of the reviews on our ship & ships destinations. Wow, there's a lot of complainers! Most seemed petty and few seemed like legit complaints but anyway, here's our take on NCL's Spirit and its 6 day cruise to Cape Canaveral, Nassau & Stirrup cay. We drove to the pier and parked there. No traffic too! Be prepared to spend $150.00 in parking charges if you choose this method. If you can get a family member or friend to drop you off & pick you up, this is already a small savings. Before we actually parked the car we dropped off our luggage to one of the many baggage handlers. (We had the tags already for the luggage so this was very quick). Then we parked & took the walk from the lot to the terminal (not a bad walk). One in the terminal we were immediately directed were to stand in line. There's a lot of people and it looks like mass confusion but its really not. We did stand for 20 mins though but, you have to expect this I feel. Almost 2000 passengers got to cause some kind of line! It was painless though. We proceeded to customs and waited on another line but it did move. Once passed customs, we went right on board. Of course they take a picture of you before you board (to purchase inside later as a memento) and this will be only the first of several pictures they take. HEy, if its a good shot, buy it, its not too expensive. Once on board, you can't go directly to your room yet, unless your boarding at the very last min. Go to the Raffles Buffet and eat lunch..thats were almost everyone will be. There's some lines but not too bad. The food is pretty decent too. Finding an empty table is probably the hardest quest. It will be that way throughout the cruise if you always go at peek hours, but we always found one and it didn't take too long. Let me add that the entire crew is unbelievably helpful..24 hours! Couldn't ask for any better. We had a balcony cabin on the 9th level aft(rear). This was pretty much in the center of all the activities going upstairs or down. We pre-booked all our excursions. In Florida, we went to the Kennedy Space Center. We had never been there during our Orlando area visits in the past so we thought we would take advantage. Its a 25 min bus ride from Port Canaveral. Very organized and smooth from getting off the ship, to the bus and to the Space Center. Aside from a torrential downpour. the tour was very informative. The only drawback is the time allowance. This Port is the longest stop too. Once we arrived at the space center, we went on a 3 hour tour bus of the place, then went to the 40 min. Imax movie (fantastic) and the we had about an hour left to see the rest. We thought it was a good stop, just wished it didn't pour! By the way, how anyone does the Disney, Sea World or Universal excursion is beyond me. Disney needs days to get any satisfaction of the place, Seaworld & Universal need full days at least to see it all, especially at the admission prices. Less than a half a day at these places is a waste of excursion money in my opinion. The Bahamas is a waste of time. Way too short of a stop. 9:30 to 2:30 is not very much time to enjoy much. Its a tease. We did the "Sea & See" excursion. Big mistake...don't do it. Old broken down boat tour of rich peoples homes way back on the shore, then a sub-like glass bottom boat that was a waste (never left the harbor and watched the same group of fish for an hour maybe). Then back on shore to a terrible bus tour of a traffic packed Nassau city streets. Then we had to get back...quickly. SHould of just went shopping at the various markets right close by to the ship. The highlight is their private island, Stirrup Cay. This by far was what we enjoyed the most, although its still to short of a stop. You arrive there in the early evening and explore the shore activities and water too if desired. Drinks, food and entertainment the first night there. I recommend getting up early and going to the Island asap the next morning. Your only there till 12:30 PM so make the best of it. We did the snorkel excursion which put us on the island first thing before everyone else. Probably less expensive if you own your own snorkel stuff but, still, not bad. Great snorkeling, especially beyond the bid rock off shore. We took the hike to the Lighthouse also. Very hot walk, take water (2 miles). But very cool walk with tons of lizards and if you follow some of the trails past the lighthouse, you can come upon some private little beaches. The onboard entertainment was okay. The buffet was good. I recommend the Asian restaurant. The free style food service is great but its not all free. Be prepared to pay a service charge for some of the specialty restaurants. Make reservations for those. Make them after 8:30 and you get 50% off the service charge! The pool (salt water) gets very crowded but its a party atmosphere. Towels are free. Great BBQ's by the pool too. You have to pay for alcoholic drinks of course but you also have to pay for soda. If your a huge soda hound, and I mean huge, its $51.00 for a soda card for the week. If your a casual soda person, just charge it too your room, it will probably cost less. Unsweetened Ice Tea & water is free. As well as coffee, milk, orange juice & apple juice at breakfast time. All in all, this was a very nice ship. Disembarking was a pleasure! We were out in our car in about 30 mins after our color was called. Found our luggage in no time. You can express disembark if you choose but either way, it was super simple. We would cruise again in a heart beat but, we think a more destination trip is better, which means you probably have to fly to a port closer to your destinations. So many choices!