My family of 6 sailed on the Spirit last January. I did not feel qualified at the time to post a review since it was our first cruise and I had nothing to compare it to.  I have recently returned from the Norwegian Pride of America's cruise of Hawaii and I am now full of opinions. First and foremost, the Spirit is a beautiful ship...as cruise ships go...full of character, ambiance and open public spaces. The Spirit has not only a classic teak promenade deck but you can "promenade" all the way around the ship. Large brass portholes adorn one passage way. There is simply a classy yet comfortable feeling about the ship. Because there were six of us in our party (four of them being teenagers) we did not dine in the specialty restaurants. The teens were thrilled with unlimited room service and the hubby and I were just happy to be able to sneak off by ourselves for meals. In comparison to the Pride of America, the balcony cabin had plenty of space for two. The Pride's cabins were about two feet smaller in all directions...and every foot counts. You could not bend over in the shower on the Pride or the curtain would attack you but, on the Spirit, the showers had slider doors and were plenty big. Since the Pride is an American flag ship, crewed by Americans, I now fully appreciate the extra ordinary work ethic of the multi-national crew on the Spirit. Our room stewards seemed always present and greeted us coming and going along with adorable towel animals every night. I saw our steward twice on the Pride and never had a single towel folding. Being our first cruise, my hubby was concerned about feeling crowded on the ship. There were plenty of nooks and crannies for private time and we never felt crowded. The pool area was the only place where lots of people gathered on a regular basis. Once again, in comparison to the Pride where some times we gave up on the elevators and hiked up the stairs, the elevators moved quickly and efficiently on the Spirit. We took two ship planned shore excursions, the ruins in Belize and the T'enamit boat trip in Guatemala, both of which I highly recommend. I had a wonderful time on our Hawaiian cruise but that trip was all about the ports of call, with no sea days, as the ship left something to be desired.  I now have very strong opinions about the Spirit...LOVED It when I was on it and love it even more now that I have experienced something else. My only complaint, and words of warning, would be the hard sell pressure of the art gallery, Park West, and the Diamonds International presentations. Avoid both. Also, although we enjoyed our room stewards, we were reminded that even though we felt very at home and safe, to store, hide or use your in room safe for valuables and cash. We watched some questionable activity of our steward from our darkened balcony before he noticed our presence and quickly left the cabin.