I want to start by saying that I cruised on the Spirit 2 years ago in the Mediterranean and loved the ship so much I wanted to cruise again in the Caribbean. I specifically chose this cruise because I was so impressed with everything about the ship. I'm not sure what has happened over the last two years but I couldn't believe I was on the same ship. The food was not up to par. The meals we were served in the Garden and Windows were warm at best. The entertainment is mediocre at best. The service has really slipped and I'm sure that is due to the average guest pre-paying gratuities. Why would they go out of their way when their tip has already been paid?

The most concerning thing for me was the sewer smell on the back of the ship. From day 1 the smell was so strong it would take your breath away. I honestly don't know how the guests with rooms on the back of the ship dealt with the smell for a week. When we docked in Tortola, the crew were washing the side of the ship and it stunk so bad another guest stopped me and asked if I thought they were recycling urine to use for cleaning. One morning the water coming out of my sink was dark brown. When I asked the room steward why that was happening, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights and took off to tell someone. I'm not sure if waste somehow backed up in the water system but we brushed our teeth with bottled water for the rest of the cruise.

I stayed on the 5th floor of the ship. My stateroom had dirty socks in a drawer from the last cruise. The bed had a seam in the middle of the mattress pad and all the pillows were flat and lumpy. I had a daily devotional missing from my room the last night of the cruise. I can only hope the room steward wanted to read it and hopefully it will better his life in some way. Read more