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snooze like a norwegian

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Posts posted by snooze like a norwegian

    Celebrity vs Norwegian cruise

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Hi cruisers!

     

    I'm considering taking a Celebrity cruise. I have taken a number of Norwegian cruises, but I see a good deal on Celebrity. I'm interested in the Aqua level or a suite because it's our 20th anniversary and we want to do something special.

     

     

    So I have 2 questions:

    Firstly, What are differences between a Celebrity cruise and a NCL cruise? From those who have cruised on both lines.

     

     

    Secondly, from those who have cruised on the Aqua level, how is that?

    Thank you

    NCL the winner for me!

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    I have sailed NCL 4 times in the recent past. Just got off RCCL, OASIS and I noticed I kept saying NCL is better in comparison to Royal.

    I sailed on the OASIS because I took a seminar on the ship. It's the little things I noticed that will keep me on NCL

     

    Upon embarkation, I felt "dumped" into the dark promenade deck. Actually, I called it a "cluster______" Anyway, when walking on a NCL ship, nice live music is playing, a sense of wonder of a shiny atrium is beautiful

     

    I noticed the food is better on NCL. The food on Royal was kind of bland

     

    Beds on NCL much nicer, I had to ask my cabin steward on OASIS for an egg crate topper. That mattress was hard

     

    The buffet flow on NCL much better than OASIS.

     

    I had a nice time on the OASIS, I just noticed small things that make a difference for my choice in cruise line

    Oasis and Hurricane Matthew

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted · Edited by snooze like a norwegian

    Just received an email from my travel agent. It said Oasis was currently safe and sailing from St Maarten right now toward Fort Lauderdale. Said the Oasis should arrive to port on time. I'm not sailing until 10/15, and am not worried and the group out on 10/8 should be fine. Hope all is well on this current Oasis sailing though! My friends Disney cruise to set sail yesterday was cancelled.

    Maya Chan beach club mexico

    in Costa Maya

    Posted · Edited by snooze like a norwegian

    Looked up Cannons and it looks lovely. I might consider going somewhere like that or Blue Kay instead of Maya Chan as we don't drink so what's the point of paying for AI? I was a little worried about taxis, is it easy to get a taxi to and from these resorts?

    Regarding hiring a taxi at the Costa Maya cruise port: not to worry. You do need to walk out of the cruiseport. Walk down the avenue to a taxi queue. Tell the taxi driver where you want to go. I cannot speak for other resorts; however, getting a taxi from 40 cannons was easy. That resort was further down the street from the others, where many taxis were located, but one was right there. So even if you walked down the street you will find many. One more thing, sort of off topic. As you walk out of the cruiseport, many tour operators may try to get you to take their tours. Just say no thank you. Also, on the beaches, there are vendors, hawking their wares. Don't let that get to you. I just politely said "not today" and they were on their way. Hey, the way I saw it, they were just doing their job. Yet, here at home, on the beaches, we don't see that kind of thing.

    Maya Chan beach club mexico

    in Costa Maya

    Posted

    Thank you I will look it up now! Neither of us drink so I'd be totally fine with that package
    .

    You're very welcome. By the way, if you are cruising to Roatan, Belize and Cozumel, just click on my account and then click on threads started my me and you will see my tours I booked for those stops. Had a wonderful experience at all ports. For the price of one of NCL's tours I took 4 by booking my own!

    Maya Chan beach club mexico

    in Costa Maya

    Posted

    Considering Maya Chan for when we stop here- it's not until next year so I have plenty of time to decide, but of course as soon as you book the cruise you start thinking about these things!

     

    Everyone seems to rave about this place, but I have a couple of concerns-

     

    I read that the road is really bad on the trip over? My partner is very safety concious and I'm worried he would hate this if the road was very bad and dangerous seeming? He would probably just refuse to go. He's the type of guy who would never go on a 4x4 or off road tour as he thinks they are death traps.

     

    I also read that the water is a murky brown and not clear at all? I'm struggling to see how it gets such amazing reviews if the water isn't nice to swim in!

     

    Back in Janurary 2016, in Costa Maya, we booked a $23 each non alcoholic beach day at 40 Cannons resort. Took a taxi, $3.00 per person to the resort (fairly close by) where we were met by our server Miguel. He set us up with chairs an umbrella and with this pass you got all the bottled water or soft drinks you wanted.. also nachos snacks. 40 Cannons is a cute hotel/bar on the beach. There is a cool boardwalk in the area, that you can take a walk by other hotels, restaurants, shops. At 40 Cannons, there were massage tables $40/hour and it was very peaceful. At the end of our stay, Miguel gave us a voucher for $2 cab ride back to the pier. Walked outside the resort, got a cab back to the ship in plenty of time.

    excursions western caribbean

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    I sailed on the Star this past Janurary 2016 and wanted to share with you the tours that I booked. Really, I got 4 tours for the price of just one through the cruise ship. I booked all these tours except Cozumel over the internet. We just wanted beach days on the different ports of call, so if you like that this is worth a read!

     

    Roatan Day I booked a tour with Steve Hamiliton tours. It was approx $80 for the both of us ($40 each) and I booked it through the internet. I wanted a beach day, but got so much more with Steve! To meet Steve, you need to go outside the cruise pier area. You walk through a crazy selling area and go outside the gates. Steve will be there with a sign, as with other tour guys. Steve gave us some options for more than just a beach day. He was not a hard sell or anything like that. It would be an extra $25 per hour to do other stuff.

     

    Steve took us to Banarama beach resort. It was nice. He had a man set us up with chairs, an umbrella and our wristbands. Then Steve waited for us for 2 hours. He was right there when we were ready to go and he took us on a small tour of the island and then my better half wanted to go ziplining! Steve knew where to go. (at the pier, they have a zip line Monkey La La Zip 2 rides for $45) This place Steve brought us to had like 15 to 20 lines through the jungle for $45! Well worth it... At the zip line place, there was a little bar and restaurant. The Honduran beer and authentic Honduran food there was awesome! I highly recommend eating there. $15 for an excellent dinner. Steve took us back to the pier with more than enough time to board the ship. He was a gracious and courteous host and tour guide. Steve was a really nice guy!

     

    Belize Day I booked the Coral Breeze Tours Snorkle observer tour. $42 each. What that means is that we went to Caye Caulker, an island off Belize City. We took a tender to Belize City. We went out Gate One of the pier building and met Ivar from Coral Breeze Tours where he was right there waiting for us! He was a funny, warm, very nice guy who took us on a short walk to our dock to meet our boat. It is a 40 minute boat ride to Caye Caulker. The observer tour is the boat drops everyone off at Caye Caulker for a restroom break and those not snorkling can stay on Caye Caulker. I'm blind as a bat, so snorkling without prescription mask would be a total waste of money. Caye Caulker is a cool place with dirt roads and no cars! You rent golf carts $12.50 an hour, to get around. We did that and it was fun! Had fresh lobster on the beach and met up with the others later for the boat ride back! Coral Breeze tours got us right back to the tender in plenty of time! Last boat to ship was at 4:30pm, we were brought back promptly to catch the tender at 3:30pm

     

    Costa Maya We booked a $23 each non alcoholic beach day at 40 Cannons resort. Took a taxi, $3.00 per person to the resort (fairly close by) where we were met by our server Miguel. He set us up with chairs an umbrella and with this pass you got all the bottled water or soft drinks you wanted.. also nachos snacks. 40 Cannons is a cute hotel/bar on the beach. There is a cool boardwalk in the area, that you can take a walk by other hotels, restaurants, shops. At 40 Cannons, there were massage tables $40/hour and it was very peaceful. At the end of our stay, Miguel gave us a voucher for $2 cab ride back to the pier. Walked outside the resort, got a cab back to the ship in plenty of time.

     

    Cozumel Took a $26 one way cab ride to Plancar. It's a nice laid back beach with a restaurant / bar. Paid $5 a person for chairs and umbrella. It was expected you have a drink and some food there. And we did... drinks were great and food was very good Took a $26 cab ride back to the ship in plenty of time and looked around the shops there.

     

    All in all, we had a great time at every stop. The people we met were wonderful. We tasted local cuisine. Relaxed and had fun.

     

    I hope this info helped in making plans for you time in these great countries!

    The Tours I booked For My NCL Star Cruise

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Hi all, I sailed on the Star this past Janurary 2016 and wanted to share with you the tours that I booked. Really, I got 4 tours for the price of just one through the cruise ship. I booked all these tours except Cozumel over the internet. We just wanted beach days on the different ports of call, so if you like that this is worth a read!

     

    Roatan Day I booked a tour with Steve Hamiliton tours. It was approx $80 for the both of us ($40 each) and I booked it through the internet. I wanted a beach day, but got so much more with Steve! To meet Steve, you need to go outside the cruise pier area. You walk through a crazy selling area and go outside the gates. Steve will be there with a sign, as with other tour guys. Steve gave us some options for more than just a beach day. He was not a hard sell or anything like that. It would be an extra $25 per hour to do other stuff.

     

    Steve took us to Banarama beach resort. It was nice. He had a man set us up with chairs, an umbrella and our wristbands. Then Steve waited for us for 2 hours. He was right there when we were ready to go and he took us on a small tour of the island and then my better half wanted to go ziplining! Steve knew where to go. (at the pier, they have a zip line Monkey La La Zip 2 rides for $45) This place Steve brought us to had like 15 to 20 lines through the jungle for $45! Well worth it... At the zip line place, there was a little bar and restaurant. The Honduran beer and authentic Honduran food there was awesome! I highly recommend eating there. $15 for an excellent dinner. Steve took us back to the pier with more than enough time to board the ship. He was a gracious and courteous host and tour guide. Steve was a really nice guy!

     

    Belize Day I booked the Coral Breeze Tours Snorkle observer tour. $42 each. What that means is that we went to Caye Caulker, an island off Belize City. We took a tender to Belize City. We went out Gate One of the pier building and met Ivar from Coral Breeze Tours where he was right there waiting for us! He was a funny, warm, very nice guy who took us on a short walk to our dock to meet our boat. It is a 40 minute boat ride to Caye Caulker. The observer tour is the boat drops everyone off at Caye Caulker for a restroom break and those not snorkling can stay on Caye Caulker. I'm blind as a bat, so snorkling without prescription mask would be a total waste of money. Caye Caulker is a cool place with dirt roads and no cars! You rent golf carts $12.50 an hour, to get around. We did that and it was fun! Had fresh lobster on the beach and met up with the others later for the boat ride back! Coral Breeze tours got us right back to the tender in plenty of time! Last boat to ship was at 4:30pm, we were brought back promptly to catch the tender at 3:30pm

     

    Costa Maya We booked a $23 each non alcoholic beach day at 40 Cannons resort. Took a taxi, $3.00 per person to the resort (fairly close by) where we were met by our server Miguel. He set us up with chairs an umbrella and with this pass you got all the bottled water or soft drinks you wanted.. also nachos snacks. 40 Cannons is a cute hotel/bar on the beach. There is a cool boardwalk in the area, that you can take a walk by other hotels, restaurants, shops. At 40 Cannons, there were massage tables $40/hour and it was very peaceful. At the end of our stay, Miguel gave us a voucher for $2 cab ride back to the pier. Walked outside the resort, got a cab back to the ship in plenty of time.

     

    Cozumel Took a $26 one way cab ride to Plancar. It's a nice laid back beach with a restaurant / bar. Paid $5 a person for chairs and umbrella. It was expected you have a drink and some food there. And we did... drinks were great and food was very good Took a $26 cab ride back to the ship in plenty of time and looked around the shops there.

     

    All in all, we had a great time at every stop. The people we met were wonderful. We tasted local cuisine. Relaxed and had fun.

     

    I hope this info helped in making plans for you time in these great countries!

    Sell me on NCL...

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    I like the freestyle vibe. With that, no set times for dinner, and I don't have to sit with a bunch of the same people every night. Don't get me wrong I'm a friendly person and I can talk to anyone, but I go to be with my spouse and spend quality time together.

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