Our family cruised on the Carnival Spirit Jan. of 2011. We had a wonderful time! For your convenience as you read this review, I have divided this up into basic subjects.
Overall Feeling: The Spirit is very "gaudy" if you know what I mean.
(Angels painted on ceilings and walls) The overall ship gives you a medieval gaudy type of feeling. At first, it can seems kind of strange, but will take some getting used to. Some members of my family hated it, while others enjoyed. It all depends on you personal preference.
We stayed in cabin 1251 and 1253. (Deck 1 of ship) These are ocean view staterooms with two twin beds. The beds were very comfortable. I slept wonderfully. It was extremely quiet in these particular rooms! People say that rooms on the bottom of the ship are loud because of the engine, but this is not true. Carnival does an amazing job blocking all the sound. It's cool how you can have a dance club blasting music and energy and a dead silent room right below it. We loved having the ocean view. It enhances the experience - just the fact that your in your "hotel room" with the ocean right out the window! We loved just sitting on the windowsill watching the ocean. The bathroom was nice and clean. It worked very well for us. The room had tons of storage space! I don't think you will ever have to worry about not having enough.