This was our first cruise, we went as a family of 4. Sailed from New Orleans to the Western Carribean. Although the Spirit is an older ship, we still enjoyed ourselves. The ship could still use some additional updating, the front windows are not clear/clean, you can see some water damage in the card room and some rust on the exterior of the ship. Card table drawers were missing knobs, but these are all minor things in my opinion. The bathroom shower tiles were cracked, but the rooms were very clean.
We had no troubles with regards to food, I thought it was all very good and some things were even exceptional. The staff were all friendly. My children had a blast with the staff in the teen room and couldn't wait for them to come on duty each afternoon, rarely did they return to the cabin before curfew. I really liked that the teens were taken to the shows as a group (if they wanted to go), this allowed them to make friends while on board ship, attend the shows with their new friends and without having to find their parents. It also allowed my husband and I to have some time together without worrying about our girls.
The entertainers were fantastic. We especially enjoyed Angel, who played guitar and sang in Champagne Charlies & Henry's Pub, he plays beautifully and takes requests. We also enjoyed Jose & Patty, they are a lovely, fun couple that perform well together. I think the best show in the Stardust Theater was the Russian Acrobat couple.
Room location was fine. Room is still small for 4 people. Wasn't a fan of the bed layout for 4 of us. I was expecting 2 bunks that opened off the wall and 2 twins (either connected or separate), we had 1 bunk, 1 "King" (connected twins) and a trundle bed squished between the "king" and the wall under the bunk. TOO TIGHT, no walking space to get out of the bed if you were the person in the middle. The shower floor could use some updating, replacing the cracked tiles.