i have just read the two very recent reviews of this cruise on this site and was amused by the diametrically opposite views held by the individuals involved. I fall somewhere in between the very negative and the very positive views expressed. First, I agree with both that embarkation was easy, but my kids were scared by two huge guys dressed up as ? who sprayed disinfectant on our hands and all over my sweater as we were boarding. We evaded the embarkation photographers with ease and went up to a very crowded cafeteria style restaurant on the 12th deck for lunch until our cabins were ready. The cabins were clean and neat except for dried soap on the soap holder in the shower and a minor stain on the small loveseat. There were very few hangers and I was so glad I had taken along ten extra wire hangers. There was a nice small coffee maker with tea and coffee packets and a wall hair dryer in the bathroom. The only 110 outlet in the room is rated to 500 watt max and does not take hair dryers. If you want to use your own hairdryer you would need a plug that fitted in the 220 three prong round outlet and a transformer. I then stood in a long line at the reception desk in order to get a card that would allow me to get into the other of the two cabins we had booked. They were opposite each other in the hallway. The kids slept in the inner cabin and my husband and I had the balcony cabin. Reception told me that one adult is supposed to sleep with each child, but when I said I was not going on a cruise to sleep with my thirteen year-old, they relented and gave me a room card to enter the second cabin, and that was the last I heard of that. Reception also confirmed that both teenagers' cards were blocked so that they could not charge purchases on them. We had requested this when embarking while still on the pier. Later, when we discovered that one of the kids had been allowed to charge items on her card, the credit personnel told us that her card had not been blocked and could not be blocked unless we filled out and signed a form to that effect.

So, if you have kids and want to block their cards, watch out on the Spirit, and request that form from reception as soon as you embark. They never told us about the form and said that the people who link your credit card to the key card on the pier do not have the authority to block credit. Not good. I thought the food was plentiful and generally quite good. It did lack flavor at times and the Raffles restaurant has a train station atmosphere that is not very relaxing. We had good meals in Windows, Garden, Sushi Bar, and Cagney's. I felt queasy the first two days so did not try all the restaurants. The cabin steward was very nice . I thought the crew seemed a bit subdued and some of the Slavic staff are cold in manner, but quite polite. The thing I disliked most was the constant noise everywhere. The music at the pool was so loud it hurt my ears to swim there. The library would have been nice except that it is next to where they play Bingo all day long, or else loud music, so it is not all peaceful. I liked best reading in the cabin or sitting out on the balcony. I signed up for a photoshop course and was very disappointed when it was first postponed and then cancelled. The excursions were quite good. In Roatan we went in the glass bottom kayaks. I would not recommend that. It is too rushed, but the Gumbalimba park is nice but very small. Belize was great. We went cave tubing and had a great guide who told us a ton of stuff about the country. In the Cozumel stop we went to the ruins at Tulum. Worth it, but the guides spent too much time trying to sell us things, and the Tulum site is ridiculously crowded. The last day at sea was marked by mad scrambling in the grand centrum for cheap jewelry on sale, bingo, art auctions, and various other money making ventures. Disembarkation was handled well. Overall, I think I would prefer to spend money on a different type of vacation, but it was not a bad experience and quite interesting at times.