B
basics
Guest
Just came back from the Norwegian Sea Cruise from Houston to Cozumel, Roatan, Belieze and Cancun. Two adults traveling with two small kids.
-Arrived in Hobby Airport in Houston. Took a cab from the airport to the port. Cost $45 total for all. The ride took about 30 minutes. Hobby is much closer to the port than Bush Airport.
-Check in was very smooth. Baggage was collected at the curb. We are Latitudes Members so check in was very fast with no waiting. The wait for the others was very fast also. No lines.
-Boat was older (built around 1986). Room for familily was a good size with an obstructed view. Two lower beds that could be put together to form one. An upper bunk and crib for the two year old. Since the boat was older, the bathroom had a curtain shower. Still the room was clean and neat. The tv provided CNN and ESPN to keep in touch with the world. In addition, movies were piped in, however, the movie selection was not the most recent video releases as other boats have.
This boat was refurbished for the "freestyle cruising" open seating restaurants. Not much refurbishing, however the open seating was very convenient. There is no comparison to the new Norwegian boats like the Star for freestyle cruising!
-Cozumel was great port. Shopping, beach and snorkeling available. Skip the boat excursions as they are twice as expensive as just getting a tour off the dock. Multiple tour vendors will greet you with offers. We had been to Cozumel before and did the Chakanab beach excursion with snorkeling (can't remember the price, however half the price of the boat excursion price). Good snorkleing from shore, ok beach for kids, numerous cruise people. This time we took a cab ($13 each way total for all) to San Francisco beach, which is a little further down the coast from Chakanab. Much better beach, with beach side bars, showers and shops. Ok snorkeling from shore, excellent beach! Excellent shopping area.
-Roatan. Beach and snorkeling available. Roatan is less developed, however, again multiple tour vendors available off the dock to greet you. Since we had kids we did not do the off shore snorkeling tours which are available. Instead we decided to go to a nice beach and do off shore snorkeling. Depending on your needs, you can take a cab to the west end and stay at a nice beach and snorkel off shore for the price of a cab (least expensive way). However, much of the beaches do not have beach side bars, shops and showers. So we decided to do the expensive boat excursion to Tabayana Private Beach with NCL. This was $49 per person. The two year old was free, however the four year old was also $49. The main reason to take this excursion is because this beach has all the ammenities (lunch (included), bar, live band, chairs, volleyball, showers). You can take a cab to this beach (which would be much cheaper) however you wont have access to the ammenities. Limited shopping with the port side vendors.
-Belieze. Beach, ruins, cave tubing and snorkeling available. Again multiple tour vendors available off the dock to greet you. If you are into snorkeling or diving, an offshoure excursion to the barrier reef is a must. Typically, the tours will take you to Goffs Caye which is about an hour boat ride from the port (typical cost is around $35 per adult, kids are free). If you want lunch you have to pay a little more. Goffs caye is an undeveloped strip of beach on the reef. Since we had kids we did not do the off shore snorkeling tours which are available. Instead we decided to go to a nice beach and do off shore snorkeling. Depending on your needs, you can take a water taxi to San Pedro or Caulkers Caye and stay at a nice beach and snorkel off shore for the price of the water taxi (least expensive way, cost was $15 round trip per adult, small kids were free). The water taxis are just a short block at the swing bridge from the dock. Water taxi ride is windy and took about 45 minutes. We went to Caulkers Caye (a small sleepy tourist village). Due to a previous hurricane, the beach at caulkers caye was not very nice. I would try San Pedro. Shopping at belize was limited to port side vendors. The city itself was kinda dirty and uninviting.
-Cancun. Great port for everything, however, due to high swells, this port was cancelled. This really sucked! This port was probably the most anticipated for most of the passengers. If you really want to see Tulum, make sure to go from Cozumel. This has happend to us twice on the same cruise! Luckily we have been to cancun before. If you can get to cancun, there is lots of shopping, bars, and offshore snorkeling and ruins. The beachs are rough along the shore. The beach at the nearby Isle Mujer is much better. The cheapest way to get there is by ferry (forgot the cost). La isle Mujer is a very nice little tourist village with shops and seaside restaurants. You can rent a golf cart and roam the island for about $40 an hour. The best beach is on the northside about four to five blocks from the ferry.
The days at sea were typical for cruise ships. The great new thing that Norwegian has is Express Disembarktation. If you book your own travel and transportation, you can get off the boat much faster!
Have fun!
-Arrived in Hobby Airport in Houston. Took a cab from the airport to the port. Cost $45 total for all. The ride took about 30 minutes. Hobby is much closer to the port than Bush Airport.
-Check in was very smooth. Baggage was collected at the curb. We are Latitudes Members so check in was very fast with no waiting. The wait for the others was very fast also. No lines.
-Boat was older (built around 1986). Room for familily was a good size with an obstructed view. Two lower beds that could be put together to form one. An upper bunk and crib for the two year old. Since the boat was older, the bathroom had a curtain shower. Still the room was clean and neat. The tv provided CNN and ESPN to keep in touch with the world. In addition, movies were piped in, however, the movie selection was not the most recent video releases as other boats have.
This boat was refurbished for the "freestyle cruising" open seating restaurants. Not much refurbishing, however the open seating was very convenient. There is no comparison to the new Norwegian boats like the Star for freestyle cruising!
-Cozumel was great port. Shopping, beach and snorkeling available. Skip the boat excursions as they are twice as expensive as just getting a tour off the dock. Multiple tour vendors will greet you with offers. We had been to Cozumel before and did the Chakanab beach excursion with snorkeling (can't remember the price, however half the price of the boat excursion price). Good snorkleing from shore, ok beach for kids, numerous cruise people. This time we took a cab ($13 each way total for all) to San Francisco beach, which is a little further down the coast from Chakanab. Much better beach, with beach side bars, showers and shops. Ok snorkeling from shore, excellent beach! Excellent shopping area.
-Roatan. Beach and snorkeling available. Roatan is less developed, however, again multiple tour vendors available off the dock to greet you. Since we had kids we did not do the off shore snorkeling tours which are available. Instead we decided to go to a nice beach and do off shore snorkeling. Depending on your needs, you can take a cab to the west end and stay at a nice beach and snorkel off shore for the price of a cab (least expensive way). However, much of the beaches do not have beach side bars, shops and showers. So we decided to do the expensive boat excursion to Tabayana Private Beach with NCL. This was $49 per person. The two year old was free, however the four year old was also $49. The main reason to take this excursion is because this beach has all the ammenities (lunch (included), bar, live band, chairs, volleyball, showers). You can take a cab to this beach (which would be much cheaper) however you wont have access to the ammenities. Limited shopping with the port side vendors.
-Belieze. Beach, ruins, cave tubing and snorkeling available. Again multiple tour vendors available off the dock to greet you. If you are into snorkeling or diving, an offshoure excursion to the barrier reef is a must. Typically, the tours will take you to Goffs Caye which is about an hour boat ride from the port (typical cost is around $35 per adult, kids are free). If you want lunch you have to pay a little more. Goffs caye is an undeveloped strip of beach on the reef. Since we had kids we did not do the off shore snorkeling tours which are available. Instead we decided to go to a nice beach and do off shore snorkeling. Depending on your needs, you can take a water taxi to San Pedro or Caulkers Caye and stay at a nice beach and snorkel off shore for the price of the water taxi (least expensive way, cost was $15 round trip per adult, small kids were free). The water taxis are just a short block at the swing bridge from the dock. Water taxi ride is windy and took about 45 minutes. We went to Caulkers Caye (a small sleepy tourist village). Due to a previous hurricane, the beach at caulkers caye was not very nice. I would try San Pedro. Shopping at belize was limited to port side vendors. The city itself was kinda dirty and uninviting.
-Cancun. Great port for everything, however, due to high swells, this port was cancelled. This really sucked! This port was probably the most anticipated for most of the passengers. If you really want to see Tulum, make sure to go from Cozumel. This has happend to us twice on the same cruise! Luckily we have been to cancun before. If you can get to cancun, there is lots of shopping, bars, and offshore snorkeling and ruins. The beachs are rough along the shore. The beach at the nearby Isle Mujer is much better. The cheapest way to get there is by ferry (forgot the cost). La isle Mujer is a very nice little tourist village with shops and seaside restaurants. You can rent a golf cart and roam the island for about $40 an hour. The best beach is on the northside about four to five blocks from the ferry.
The days at sea were typical for cruise ships. The great new thing that Norwegian has is Express Disembarktation. If you book your own travel and transportation, you can get off the boat much faster!
Have fun!
