We had an oceanview cabin on Deck 5 and found it to be comfortable, though not spacious. Since there were three of us this cruise, we had an upper berth and two lowers. Storage was minimal. Spirit was a refurbished ship who used to sail the Asian market and the decor throughout was typically Asian - bold, bright colors and gold everywhere. Because she was recently refurbished, everything was in fine shape.

NCL has Freestyle dining which means that there are no assigned dining times nor assigned dining rooms. There are three specialty restaurants on this ship, all at extra cost, and themed differently- Italian, a steakhouse and Asian which includes a sushi bar. All require reservations. There are two main dining rooms, the smaller Garden room and the larger Windows restaurant  room with floor to ceiling windows and beautiful views. For this cruise, NCL is experimenting with the use of beepers similar to land-based restaurants to give diners when there is a longer wait to be seated. With Freestyle, you just show up and tell the hostess how many are in your party and then you're seated accordingly. Dinner is anywhere from 5:30 to 9:30 in the evening at the main restaurants. We chose the main dining rooms each evening for dinner and never had to wait more than a few minutes to be seated.

The pool deck is very nicely decorated and has more than adequate lounge chairs. There is also a buffet on this deck and several bars. At the aft end of the ship, there is a separate children's pool area with water slides, fountains and shallow water. It is very busy for the 5 night cruise. There are lounge chairs here for parents to relax in while the kids splash in the water. This deck also houses the spa.

Our first day was at sea and although it started out as a beautiful day, it turned cloudy and then rainy by early afternoon. This gave us ample time to browse the shops and nap. This is formal night, so we get dressed up and head to dinner early.

On the next day we anchor in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. There are several other ships in port on this day, too and the tender pier is busy. Our early shore excursion takes us to the turtle farm, Hell (yes, that's what it really is called), 7 mile beach and then swimming with the stingrays. We spent some time browsing the shops in Georgetown before returning to the tender pier. By this time, the winds had kicked up significantly and the tender docks are nearly washed over with the high surf. Some folks got drenched just waiting to board a tender! The water is choppy returning to the ship and by the time night falls and we are back at sea, the sea is pretty rough. Walking out on the deck is difficult since the wind is so strong and the ship rocks and rolls and we head to Honduras.

On the following day we dock at Roatan, Honduras. Roatan is one of the barrier islands of Honduras and not a typical cruise ship stop. NCL is the only line that visits here regularly and the residents look forward to that stop all week long. There is a band playing and authentic dancers dancing when we dock. We again have an early shore excursion and depart by small bus to visit the iguana farm and tour the island and coast. Roatan is poor and the downtown area near the cruise ship pier is crowded with town folk hawking their wares. They live in small one story houses with no air conditioning and dirt floors. The iguana farm is unique and interesting. The iguanas run free here and are apparently always hungry. Banana leaves are their favorite and sightseers can hold a leaf out and several iguanas will come running to munch on it. The coast is beautiful from here. Our second stop is at a beach on private property where we are allowed to lounge around, sample the cuisine and swim in the beautiful cove for about 90 minutes. Unlike the previous days, the weather is perfect for this and the water is really warm. A beautiful setting!

Another day at sea follows and turns out to be a perfect cruise day - warm, sunny and a mild ocean breeze. We went to the comedy show in the evening after dinner and really enjoyed it. Tried the slots at the casino and basically relaxed and ate through the day.

We returned to Miami and then Ohio on Friday. We had 12 inches of snow the following day! Thank goodness for a spring break cruise!

Would I recommend this cruise? Absolutely! The ship is beautiful and not too large with only 983 cabins. She was packed to capacity since it was spring break, but not overcrowded anywhere. I was traveling with my children, ages 16 and 20, and we enjoyed the Freestyle dining. We ate dinner together, just the three of us, each evening and really had a chance to reconnect. The wait staff was always excellent and the food always above par with lots of menu options. The itinerary offered a unique stop (Honduras) and lots of options at the more popular Grand Cayman. My only fault with this ship were the mattresses; they were quite thin and uncomfortable, but we asked for egg crates and after we got them, slept better on subsequent nights. I didn't have a chance to sit down at any of the many bars and have a cocktail and we didn't venture into the specialty restaurants, but overheard others raving about the steakhouse and Asian themed restaurant.