– The Cruise –

A Day-by-Day Breakdown

Day 1: Embarkation

My husband, Brad, and I arrived at port (Tampa) around 11:30 a.m. There was already a TON of traffic in the area due to two other cruises leaving that day. The Norwegian Star went out from the 2nd terminal, which was past two other cruise line terminals.

When we first entered the building we had to go through security. This was not like TSA security, no strip searches, but our bags did have to go through an x-ray scanner and we each walked through a metal detector. However, our water bottles could have fluid in them . . . and they did not open these bottles to determine what type of drinkable fluid they had. We were told that this cruise line has a higher retiree population so this may have been the reason for lack of concern of booze smuggling. If you had alcohol – at this point or at any point throughout the cruise – you had to check it with the cruise line and could pick it up at the end of the trip. I seem to remember you could bring your own wine on board for a per bottle corking fee.

From security, if you didn’t have any alcohol, you went to the line to get your boarding pass. We were pleasantly surprised with how quickly the check-in process went and how helpful the staff was at every point, especially at the main counter. We had no idea what was going on, but the people organizing the lines (they had multiple lines to expedite the process) explained what documents you needed to have out and pointed people towards open agents. Once at the counter, the agents were happy to answer questions and explain the process, and were incredibly, but not annoyingly, cheerful and happy.

After the check-in counter you receive a group number (similar to boarding a plane), and waited in an area for your group to be called. You then ascended an escalator to an area where you and your traveling companions got your picture taken (this was a theme throughout the cruise). We only waited in line to get on the ship for about 20 minutes, including the picture taking. After the picture you are routed through a series of skyways and ramps and are greeted by music and the cheery staff welcoming you as you board. Once on board we were able to get into our cabins by 12:30 and had luggage delivered to our rooms by 2:00.

As an aside, Brad had taken Dramamine an hour prior to boarding and was feeling sick before we ever got on board. He evidently had a negative reaction to this and spent the first day and a half in our cabin . . . so experiment with this drug before you go on your trip so it doesn’t ruin a part of it like it did for him! On that note, here is a tip: bring your own over the counter meds. The ship could only give out Tylenol or Dramamine without you seeing the ship’s doctor, which cost $105. My husband just needed some Imodium, but was not able to get it. Luckily I went to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet and a generous fellow passenger was able to provide some!

While I’m on that topic, I would HIGHLY recommend someone in your traveling party joining Cruise Critic and signing up for the group that is sailing on the same ship on the same dates. I was able to search each port that we were going into and the hot spots and non-touristy things to do. In addition, attending the Meet and Greet on the first day introduced us to other cruises, got me (Brad was sick in the cabin) some free refreshments, I got to meet many of the main staffers, and we were given the opportunity to tour the bridge and meet the captain – both of these were VERY cool experiences (side note – they have a huge hand on a spring on the bridge so they can waive “hello” to other ships)!

After touring around the ship a bit, we got settled in our room, unpacked, etc., and it was time for our emergency evacuation practice. They are extremely strict about this, so don’t even try to get out of it or lock yourself in your room – you will just be holding it up for everyone else. It wasn’t a big deal at all, we just all assembled on a deck by some life boats, that was it. There was some good humor though . . . they were playing the soundtrack from Titanic.

We had dinner at Versailles the first night, one of the many restaurants outside of the cafeteria. This brings me to the main reason we chose Norwegian cruise line – Free Style Cruising. It’s fantastic!

Since I was basically on my own because Brad was in bed right after dinner, I did some exploring. That evening I went to one of the ships lounges, watched that night’s entertainment, had a few drinks, then headed back to our cabin. Otherwise I just kind of wandered around and explored the ship, which is actually really cool to do – it’s freaking huge, a floating city (bigger than my hometown of Fort Ripley, MN, population 69)!

Day 2: at Sea

It was unusually cold this day (Tampa was 30*F when we left!), so no sunbathing as I had hoped. To pass the time I signed the Pub Hop and had a great time, which I learned about from the daily newsletters we each received in our cabins. The cost was $25 and included 5 drinks, one at each location, and was a MUCH cheaper way to drink (drinks were from $7+ plus tip) and there was a crazy group of people involved and some very fun leaders (staff “Bloody Mary” and “DJ Orlando”) that provided games at each stop which was an excellent source of entertainment for the participants and the observers alike. Brad did not join in because he was still not feeling well, but was not prohibited from walking along with us – especially since it was quite obvious that he was not drinking from my drinks. The drinks were strong, but also VERY sugary — the last one was a beer, which I appreciated but some did not.

This being my first cruise, and my husband being sick for part of this day, I was a bit lost and didn’t really know what to do. I went to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet, which was a great way to meet people and some staff members. I got a workout in at the gym — running on a treadmill on a ship with 7′ swells takes a special level of concentration and balance!! Additionally, you could sign up for classes that were offer at an additional charge; the gym was not very big, but the 4 times I went I never had to wait for any equipment . . . exercise was not a priority for a majority of the cruisers! Luckily, after getting the meds from a fellow cruiser, my husband was feeling better and we were able to enjoy the ship together that night.

Day 3: Roatan, Honduras

In this post I am not going to go into detail on the specifics of each country as this is a review of the cruise experience versus the ports; see my future posts on the specifics of the countries we visit for the things “to do” at each port. That being said, this was by far our favorite day — this island is beautiful and you have an amazing view of it from the dock that the ship is at. It appears Norwegian has priority at the dock so we didn’t need a tender, we were tied up to the only dock on land.

Here we booked a SNUBA excursion through the ship prior to sailing and absolutely loved it. A friend of ours brought along his GoPro and took video of our dive. Check out his video embedded below – his name is Geno Mallo, a very amazing editor.

Video Credit:  Geno Mallo

NOTE: Transportation to and from the SNUBA location was provided by the ship.

That night was Valentine’s Day and we had planned to have Valentine’s Day dinner at La Bistro (one of the additional charge restaurants on the ship) but they upped the price per person to $50 each (versus $30). You can sign up for these special reservations as soon as you board the ship. We decided to make a reservation for a different – regularly priced night – and went to Aqua (one of the included restaurants) and had a great meal. We splurged on buying a bottle of wine, I think we paid $24 for the wine and we were allowed to bring it back to our room and then back to dinner later in the week.

Day 4: Belize

At this port we did have to tender to the main land. This was not difficult at all, we went to the typical disembarking areas and got on a boat versus getting off the ship at a dock. Very well organized and the staff were fantastic at every step.

We did the Lamania ruins tour, which we again booked online before the trip. I had been told that if you wait to book on the ship you could miss out on the more desirable excursions. If you book this excursion I would highly suggest wearing tennis shoes or hiking boots and being in descent enough shape to handle walking on an incline. There were people there in wedges or flip flops and were uncomfortable walking on unpaved paths. The trail is not very difficult, but it is a longer walk with tree roots and rocks throughout – I actually had to catch a guy that was stumbling backwards on me as we were going up a mild incline. Here we were able to climb the ruins, which you are unable to do at many of these ruins in South or Central America.

Our only complaint about this excursion was that we had minimal time at the ruins — we heard our guide yelling that we were moving out as we were at the top of the temple . . . had to scramble down without much time to enjoy the view! We got back to Belize City with enough time to catch one of the last tenders to the boat, no shopping time.

This is the day we saw the Second City perform at the main stage in the evening — they were good and their improve was the best!

Day 5: Costa Maya

This was our second favorite day because it was all about relaxing! When you get off the ship you can stay and hang out in the tourist village, there is a pool and a band and multiple shops and bars. This was built about 5 years ago after a hurricane wiped out the town. We chose to walk out of the village, past the gates and into town to the first cab stand we saw. We got a ride for $3 per person into Mahahual — about 5 minutes away.  The first picuture is of my view for a good portion of this day – palm trees!  The second picture is of the amazine ceviche we had, and the third is of our seats and the view.

Getting back on the ship – at this and every port – required us going through security scans again and checking any alcohol you bought. It always went very quickly and smoothly without any major hang-ups.

That evening we went and saw the Angels show on the main stage — a man and woman that did acrobatics on the ground and in the air; a scaled down cirque de solie. It was phenomenal, I suggest catching this one!

Day 6: Cozumel

We chose to have breakfast each morning on the sun deck. This was outside of the crazy loud and juvenile cafeteria! The food was fantastic – all the traditional stuff, but with some unique things mixed in here and there.

We did not book an excursion this day and just did our own thing.  Including, as you can see in the picture below, starting the morning with a high-in-vitamin-C beverage:

The picture below is of the “secret spot” we were clued into by the staff.  Treat them well and they may give you the coordinates as well!

This is the evening that we had our Anniversary dinner – we ate at La Bistro, which was an additional charge that was TOTALLY worth it. We tried the escargot and it was delicious — but it was literally floating in butter and covered in cheese, so hard not to be good! I had duck and my husband had a seafood dish in a pastry — lots of lobster in it, he said it was very good.  The picture below is of Brad and the plate of escargot in front of us:

Day 7: At sea, final day

We went and saw the crew talent show — ended with “Fountains”, which was hilarious! Later that night we went to Elements, which is a must see (similar to cirque du soliel in theme). It ties in the acrobatics of the Angels performers, with the dancers, magician, and everything else from the week at sea — fantastic! There was a bit of a cheesy ending — think Dirty Dancing end scene with the whole crew . . . but that was short and it was a nice way to give applause for your crew!

Day 8: Disembarkation

We chose to carry our own stuff off versus pick it up in the warehouse and were very glad we did this — we were given priority to get off the boat first, went right through customs without a problem, and were able to grab a cab stand on the sidewalk where you come out. We took Super Shuttle to the airport — there were four of us in our group so it cost us $7 per person, and they dropped us all at our respective terminals.

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