My family and I (4 in total) sailed on the Spirit on 7/29/07 to Florida and the Bahamas. This is the second time I have sailed the Spirit. Took an 8 day cruise last year to St. Thomas, Tortola and Bermuda. I had an idea of what to expect and was not disappointed.

EMBARKATION: We took a car service in from NJ and arrived at the pier around 11:30. Waited in the Latitudes waiting area until about 12:00 and were on the ship by 12:15. Very easy process. We went up to Raffles to get some lunch. Since we were among the first to get on the ship, there were no lines. Lunch was good. Although we couldn't get into the rooms until 2:00, we did sneak in and drop off our carry ons (SHH!) We then headed to the Bier Garten and purchased a soda card for our teens. I think $50 is a bit steep but we got them anyway.

SHIP: The Spirit is a beautiful ship. There Asian decor is spectacular and gives a bit of elegance to the ship. The pool area does tend to get crowded, but we had no problem getting a chair one deck up on the sun deck. I prefer this anyway, since it is so crowded down by the pool. Pool is a nice size, nothing great but it does the job when you need to get cooled off. Read more