Our cruise was 6 nt Canada/NE from NYC with stops in Halifax, Bar Harbor, Boston and Martha's Vineyard. My background is I am a travel agent w/a large internet agency. This was my 5th cruise, first w/NCL. I have been on RCI 3 times and Carnival once. I knew what to expect and feel my review will be honest opinion for first timers or experienced cruisers.
We went as a party of 10, 4 cabins. Our room was me, my wife and my 10 y/o daughter. My father-in-law rented a limo from NE PA about a 2 hour drive. The limo was probably the most disappointing part of this trip but not pertinent to this review. We arrived at the terminal around 12-1230. We went quickly through the check in and was on the ship within 20 minutes. From the start the crew seamed friendly. We went to Raffles Court for lunch. One thing, take your time as the staff pushes you to Raffles but Windows is open for lunch. As per previous reviews, you cannot get to your stateroom until 2pm but we did find a door that was not blocked off and went in around 145pm. We wanted to get to my in-laws stateroom as we were surprising them with the Anniversary package. The staterooms were standard fare a little tight and the bathroom division is nice but uses more room. The sliding balcony door was better than Carnival swinging door but the Balcony was a tight squeeze. Not sure who our cabin steward was but room was always clean but only 1 towel animal which they knew we had a 10 y/o. One other thing was the sofa bed blocked the balcony so if my daughter was sleeping, you couldn't get out to use it. Also I read a review that the person complained the sofa bed couldn't hold 2 people...ITS not supposed to ALL balcony cabins are rated 3 pax MAX. Carnival still had the biggest room.
The ship was probably my favorite as far as decor goes. It was relatively clean and maintenance people were constantly working. Not sure what the other reviewers were looking at. The layout was fine except for Raffles. The Spirit is the same size as the CCL Victory but w/ only about 2000 pax, it felt much bigger. I took walks daily finding something new to look at and take pictures of.