I personally LOVE sailing with Norwegian Cruise Lines. I definitely prefer the FREESTYLE cruise. However there are a few things that I was not too pleased with on the ship SPIRIT. We sailed the end of March 2007 to the Caribbean...stops were St. Thomas, Tortola and Samana which is in the Dominican Republic. St. Thomas was lovely as well as the beach we visited in Tortola. However, Samana should NOT be visited as an island retreat. The Dominican Republic is filthy and beggars and violence are not my idea of tourist attractions. On the jeep shore excursion in Samana, our guide told us not to worry if men came to attack us with machetes because he had a gun on him so not to worry. Now that was refreshing hahahaha I think Samana could be replaced by a much nicer island. We had very rough seas and I believe the staff and crew of the Spirit handled the whole trip wonderfully. I personally love the rough seas and do not get seasick. But those who did were given patches and all went well for the duration of the voyage. One thing I was extremely disappointed in was the Spirit's SPA TREATMENT. I couldn't believe what a rip off that was. The treatment was suppose to be a 2 hour MASSAGE and seaweed wrap. Well, the seaweed wrap portion lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes with a measly 20 minute massage all for $262 and the tip was added on. Definitely not something I would recommend or ever do again. I relaxed and enjoyed the sauna, steam room, hydro pool and the gym. The food is always EXCELLENT on all my NCL cruises and the staff is always friendly, courteous and professional. I have found with all the cruises I've sailed on that their evening entertainment could use improvement as well as activities held during the day. This could be expanded and improved. But, I must say that NCL is my favorite. I find their ships much cleaner than Carnivals and their staff much more courteous and helpful than Carnival lines. I've booked another NCL and am quite excited. I hope this has helped.