Just back from 11 days on Spirit to Caribbean. Overall a good cruise. We heard many complaints from other passengers, however there will always be those who seem to be negative. Most complaints were directed at the food, slow service, not so friendly servers and poor choice of activities on board. As for our experience, it was positive with a few complaints. The embarkation and disembarkation were excellent. The ports were beautiful with few exceptions. We only took 1 ship excursion and that was to Virgin Gorda. Unfortunately, the ship was only in Tortola until 1p.m. which left a very short time to spend on the beautiful beach at Virgin Gorda. At the other ports, we found our own transportation to the beaches and local tours in Barbados and Domenica. It was much less expensive doing it on our own. As for the Spirit, it is a beautiful ship. Food on board was average. Dining room service was adequate, however we didn't meet with the friendliness and chatting w/servers as we have on former cruises. It seemed to be all business. If we didn't initiate the conversation and crack some jokes to servers, there would have been no interaction. Raffles, the buffet, was below average. Variety, it has not. Cagney's steakhouse was very good but of course, you're

paying extra. Seems to me, Cagney's food and service was what you once got in the dining rooms of cruise ships. Trattoria - NOT. They need to hire an Italian chef to show them what an Italian restaurant should be. There was no extra charge for it so I guess NCL doesn't put that as a priority. Casino was well equipped and had a friendly staff. They still do not comp drinks to players unless you spend most of your time there and spend big. They did have a couple of 2 for 1 drink nights. While on the subject of drinks...they are overpriced and barely give a half of glass of wine, the cheapest being $6.50 and add on the gratuity. The Spirit did not have the buy 5 bottles get the 6th free on wine as on other NCL ships. Another cutback, I imagine. By the way, the soda deal for 11 days was $65!!! I remember when soda was complimentary along with the apple and orange juice. Guess it was not cost effective. ;) We enjoyed the fish n'chips in Henry's Pub and the Chile and soups in Blue Lagoon. The pool is a good size and there are 2 wave pools indoors in the gym area. They are small but their purpose is to swim against the current for exercise. They were nice and warm!

The cabin steward and stewardess were excellent. Harrod and Myrna couldn't do more for us. They had a friendly smile and good morning each day and did their best to keep the cabin tip top. The towel animals each night were a treat. Unfortunately, our inside cabin (and I hope it was an exception) had a putrid odor emanating from the bathroom. We had to leave the br door ajar to try and dissipate the smell. It must have come from a mold problem. We did ask for it to be sprayed but it didn't seem to help and it was worse on some days for whatever reason. The cabin was also beneath Raffles and was noisy above. Avoid cabin #ll627. We tried to get a cabin change but the ship was sold out. As I said, all in all, it was a good cruise. Loved being able to sail out of NY. It sure was better than cooking, cleaning, & working at home. We're having bouts of depression being home from the beautiful tropical climates of the islands, especially with the Noreaster heading for NY with a foot of snow. aaargh. Looking forward to Sept. 06 and our cruise to the Mediterranean aboard Celebrity.