This was our 4th cruise (2nd on NCL). We traveled this time to the Western Caribbean including Costa Maya, Mexico, Belize City, Belize, Roatan, Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico. We traveled roundtrip from New Orleans on the NCL Spirit. The Spirit is the smallest vessel in the NCL fleet. A smaller ship has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages is that it is easier to get around and not as crowed, the disadvantage is that there is less to do. But my wife and I like the "intmacy" of 2,000 people compared to the big ships that carry upwards to 7,000 passengers.

Even though the Spirit is an older ship, it is very well maintained. I give the ship a A for cleanliness. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. They clearly understand the passengers welfare is how they make their living and go out of their way to keep passengers happy.

While we had a nice trip overall, there are some items that should be brought to the surface. First, if you are a gambler, even a casual one, the casino is a smoking casino and if you are bothered by second-hand smoke, you do not want to even enter into the casino on this ship. While there is a small non-smoking area, it opens to the smoking portion (which is most of the casino) and everything you are wearing smells of smoke. If you are sensitive to smoke, stay away. Read more