Which ship and itinerary would you choose and why?

[drsb]

We may be booking a Thanskgiving cruise and here are our three options:

 

Norwegian Jewel Nov 22

Ports of call: Miami; Roatan; Belize City; Costa Maya; Great Stirrup Cay

 

Norwegian Pearl Nov 21

Ports of call: Miami; Samana; St. Thomas; Tortola; Great Stirrup Cay

 

Norwegian Spirit Nov 22

Ports of call: New Orleans; Costa Maya; Santo Tomas De Castilla; Belize City; Cozumel

 

 

I have not been on any of these ships. It would be Me, DH, son Bobby (20) son Stephen (23) daughter in law Alyssa (22). (Newsflash: they just got married yesterday! This trip would be their wedding gift from us). Alyssa has never been on a cruise. My sons are spoiled and have been on a few.

 

Jewel: Have not been to Roatan, have not been to Costa Maya since it reopened, loved Majahul(sp?) prior to the hurricane, kids loved cave tubing in Belize, we have been to GSC once and enjoyed it.

 

Pearl: Have not been to Samana. Have spent our two visits to St Thomas on the island of St John and love it there, also love Tortola.

 

Spirit: Have not been to NO, or Guatamala, Coz is our favorite Mexican port.

 

We want some relaxing beach days with snorkeling and good local food and the kids want lots to do on the ship during nights and sea days. Which would you choose and why?

 

thanks,

Deb

[DMH15]

Deb- I am no help because they all three sound great to me. Have been on the Jewel. Loved it. Pearl has bowling which could be fun. I'd do eenie, meenie, minie, mo.

[Quincella]

I had the same dilemma and booked the Pearl for that very sailing!

 

I LOVE the Western Caribbean but have never been on an Eastern itinerary or the Pearl. I've been on both the Spirit and the Jewel and love them both.

 

There are some great relaxing beach excursions on the Eastern side, but then you know that because you've been there. The snorkeling on the Western itinerary is also good in a few locations, and I've heard particularly so in Roatan, though I haven't been. It would be hard for me to do a Western itinerary without Cozumel, though, so I may have to pick the Spirit if you go Western. Nothing in the world better for me than a day at Paradise Beach!

 

Have a great cruise! If you decide on the Pearl, come on over to the roll call.

[terrymtex01]

I could not tell if your family was able to spend a few days pre-cruise in the port city. If you can, by all means book the Spirit and spend a couple of days in beautiful N.O.. Without a doubt one of our most favorite port cities in the US. Well, truthfully, one of our favorite cities period. We are fortuante enough that we can take a couple of trips there each year for a weekend since airfare for such a short flight is cheap. As far as food, you will be hard pressed to find as good food in such a compressed area as downtown N.O..

 

If a few days pre-cruise are out of the question in the port city, I would pick one of the Pearl itinenaries as I am guessing she is a nicer ship. We have been on the Pearl, but not the Spirit. I do know there are many CC'ers who love the Spirit though, so I am just really trying to say we loved the Pearl. On our cruise on the Pearl we had to miss Belize due to weather, so I really do want to go there some day. Overall I would pick the itinenary that included Samana, St. Thomas (we always always go to St. John), and Tortola (we love going to the Baths at V.G.).

 

I am very sure no matter which one you choose it will be a great family vacation you will all love and share the memories of for the rest of your lives. Please come back and tell us all about it when you do get back. 8-)

 

PS. Congrats on the new D.I.L..

[newmexicoNita]

We may be booking a Thanskgiving cruise and here are our three options:

 

Norwegian Jewel Nov 22

Ports of call: Miami; Roatan; Belize City; Costa Maya; Great Stirrup Cay

 

Norwegian Pearl Nov 21

Ports of call: Miami; Samana; St. Thomas; Tortola; Great Stirrup Cay

 

Norwegian Spirit Nov 22

Ports of call: New Orleans; Costa Maya; Santo Tomas De Castilla; Belize City; Cozumel

 

 

I have not been on any of these ships. It would be Me, DH, son Bobby (20) son Stephen (23) daughter in law Alyssa (22). (Newsflash: they just got married yesterday! This trip would be their wedding gift from us). Alyssa has never been on a cruise. My sons are spoiled and have been on a few.

 

Jewel: Have not been to Roatan, have not been to Costa Maya since it reopened, loved Majahul(sp?) prior to the hurricane, kids loved cave tubing in Belize, we have been to GSC once and enjoyed it.

 

Pearl: Have not been to Samana. Have spent our two visits to St Thomas on the island of St John and love it there, also love Tortola.

 

Spirit: Have not been to NO, or Guatamala, Coz is our favorite Mexican port.

 

We want some relaxing beach days with snorkeling and good local food and the kids want lots to do on the ship during nights and sea days. Which would you choose and why?

 

thanks,

Deb

 

wow, I think my first choice would be the Jewel, mainly cause I am partial to the ship and I love Roatan. This is a great itinerary for snorkelers.

 

Next I would do the Spirit, it is a great itinerary as well. We did it just after Thanksgiving last year

 

The only reason I put the Pearl at the bottom, I happen to not like Samana, have done St thomas too many times and I find the people not very friendly and I am not in love with GSC. We do love Tortola. I think any of the three would be fine, but I still lean toward the western Caribbean especially if the kids like water activities.

 

Nita

[karent12]

We may be booking a Thanskgiving cruise and here are our three options:

 

Norwegian Jewel Nov 22

Ports of call: Miami; Roatan; Belize City; Costa Maya; Great Stirrup Cay

 

Norwegian Pearl Nov 21

Ports of call: Miami; Samana; St. Thomas; Tortola; Great Stirrup Cay

 

Norwegian Spirit Nov 22

Ports of call: New Orleans; Costa Maya; Santo Tomas De Castilla; Belize City; Cozumel

 

 

I have not been on any of these ships. It would be Me, DH, son Bobby (20) son Stephen (23) daughter in law Alyssa (22). (Newsflash: they just got married yesterday! This trip would be their wedding gift from us). Alyssa has never been on a cruise. My sons are spoiled and have been on a few.

 

Jewel: Have not been to Roatan, have not been to Costa Maya since it reopened, loved Majahul(sp?) prior to the hurricane, kids loved cave tubing in Belize, we have been to GSC once and enjoyed it.

 

Pearl: Have not been to Samana. Have spent our two visits to St Thomas on the island of St John and love it there, also love Tortola.

 

Spirit: Have not been to NO, or Guatamala, Coz is our favorite Mexican port.

 

We want some relaxing beach days with snorkeling and good local food and the kids want lots to do on the ship during nights and sea days. Which would you choose and why?

 

thanks,

Deb

 

Since you picked Coz as your favorite port, and if you do not mind going back, I would choose

Norwegian Spirit Nov 22

Ports of call: New Orleans; Costa Maya; Santo Tomas De Castilla; Belize City; Cozumel

 

If you you don't mind new ports, I would choose

Norwegian Pearl Nov 21

Ports of call: Miami; Samana; St. Thomas; Tortola; Great Stirrup Cay

You will find St. Thomas much like Cozumel.

 

Roatan; Belize City are nothing like Cozumel

[GORDONCHICK]

If you are primarily wanting beachy excursions, the Pearl would be a great choice. However, the snorkling would be better on the other two. I view the Eastern itineraries as more layed back and beachy but Western is more adventurous. It has the cave tubing and ziplines, and the snorkling and diving in Belize and Roatan are supposed to be among the best.

[Toyz711]

the spirit is more an adventure cruise then a beach cruise. the ship docks at a frieght dock in santo tomas, i think they may have a boat trip to a beach as an excursions, but no beach nearby to just walk or taxi to. for good beaches, in belize, it's a boat ride away.

belize is great for anyone who wants adventure..we did the trip to lamanai (maya ruins) and a great boat ride, others do cave-tubing.

if you are more interested in sun and beach or snorkeling from shore..do the pearl's route.

[drsb]

Hmmm. I was leaning towards the Pearl, but now I think I may reconsider...Maybe I need a dart board. :)

[weltek]

The Spirit or Jewel would be my choices due to itineraries. The ships are great, too. The Spirit is a little unique in the fleet, but I really enjoyed the size and beautiful Asian decor. The Jewel was truly built for Freestyle and has some good ammenities such as the cappucino machine in the buffet and cleaner layout.

 

I loved Roatan. It's a small island with wonderful people. Great to get to know the whole place.

 

Santo Thomas gives you only two decent choices: Go on the river tour with the stop at the children's school (which everyone says is amazing) or stay around port. None of the other activities is worthwhile, from our experience and what we heard from others. There's nothing within walking distance of the port (and it's unsafe) other than the vendor building set up inside the port. Cruising kind of brings you to the least appealing part of Guatemala, unfortunately.

 

And, finally, I love New Orleans, so I'd always choose leaving from there if I could! :-)

 

Tortolla is nice, very rustic. Again, you can see the whole place practically in your stay.

 

St. Thomas is decent for shopping and snorkeling. Not as bad as many make it out to be. Great place for buying cheap liquor. The stores will box your purchase up and deliver to the ship, so you don't have to lug it around.

 

Belize has the best of all worlds. There's great history (I recommend the Lamanai ruins visit) and great shopping, partying and beaching.

 

Oh, and I've never been to Samana, but many here have been largely unimpressed.