Going on our first cruise!!! any suggestions?

Question

my wife and i are going on our first cruise. we are going on norwegian sun and going to the caribbean. we are stopping in costa maya, santo tomas de castilla, belize city, and cozumel, and wanted to know if anyone knew of some cheap stuff to do like shore excursions, or what to do on the cruise?

Answer 1

As tempting as it will be, try and stay away from the shore excursions, they're generally not worth the money.  We did them when we took our first cruise because no one in the group was very travel savvy.  Now that I've begun traveling lots for a new job, I'd research the destinations before hand and find a cab to take me somewhere.  Check out the Yahoo! travel guides for each city and find the top things to do for ideas.  You won't have trouble finding things to do on the cruise.  They'll give you a sheet each day with all the stuff going on.  Make sure you starve yourself before it starts because you'll eat and eat and eat during it.

Answer 2

You can visit the boards of Cruise Critic for complete information of how NCL exactly works.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisp...

Here you can find the reviews for Norwegian Sun:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/revi...

And don't forget to also visit the member reviews:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreview...

Here are the different Ports of Call:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisp...

For Costa Maya we stayed right on the port, we tons of fun.  There are plenty of shops, restaurant and a huge pool.

Enjoy your cruise!!

Answer 3

Hope you took not the cheapiest way cause you wont behappy the rooms are so small with bugs and stink and you cant see out get the good rooms pay the extra and dont leave stuff in rooms cause they steal from your room,very difficult cruise to say to go on its a very good way to get to relax but so much can go wrong my friend ,do not travel betweem the 13 and 21st of any month this year,dont trust anyone at all and stay near the ship when you dock,good luck and beware of all l say ,your friend ron.

Answer 4

im not sure sry. but one tip.. if uu guys think ya gonna gett sea sick TAKE GINGER PILLLS WORK SOO GOOd.

best of luck. my wishes to ya!.

Answer 5

In Cozumel, you can take a taxi ( without going through the crusieline) to Chakkanab National Park ( they charge a small daily admission) and go snorkeling. It's cheaper that way. While in Belize use the money you saved in cozumel and splurge on the cave tubing  excursion,in the rain forest. Its incredible. If the part of Costa Maya is the same as our cruise, the best thing is to take a taxi to the small fishing village and just chill on the beach. people come around to sell refreshing cold beverages. They border on pesky sometimes, but just say Gracias, no. and they respond to that respect. You are going to have the vacation of a lifetime. I'm about  a quarter of the way to my life goal of visiting every country in the Caribbean. Bon Voyage!!!

Answer 6

First, the name of your ship is Norwegian Sun.

NCL does not have formal nights, so you do not have to get dressed up if you don't want to.  If you decide to dress up for dinner, a suit and tie is sufficient on NCL.  More than that and you'll probably be over dressed.

I disagree with the suggestion to not do a shore excursion.  You should do at least one.  However, I haven't been on that itinerary so I don't know what's available.  Shore Trips www.shoretrips.com is a very reputable company, I've been very happy with every excursion of I've done with them.

Yes, if you would like you can bring soda onboard with you, however a simpler option might be to invest in a "soda card" available on the first day of sailing they get you unlimited soda and some juice for the duration of your cruise.  Price varies depending on the length of your cruise but average is around $40 for a seven day sailing....

Answer 7

First off a lot of negative things are said on these boards about NCL.  I happen to agree with all of them and remember if you have a bad time don't judge all cruising by NCL.  But some people really love NCL so think positively.

As far as the ports, Costa Maya is a cruise ship built port.  There is very little to do there as it isn't a real city.  There are a couple shops built by the cruiselines and some dancers.  I recommend that as a great day to check out the spa onboard the ship.  Most people will get off at the port and you'll have the ship to yourself.  Like having a personal waiter just to deliver drinks.

I've never been to Santo Tomas De Castilla but being in Guatemala, I would plan to do a shore excursion there.  Perhaps a Mayan ruin.  In Belize, we toured Xunantunich, one of the best preserved Mayan ruins.  LOVED IT.  I would definitely try to tour a Mayan ruins if you have a chance.  Belize had many great shore excursions though and I definitely recommend taking one.  People we went with did a cave river tubing excursion in Belize and loved it as well.  Belize City itself is kinda sketchy and if you just wander around, you'll find it dirty and poor and not enjoy yourself.  But if you take a tour you get out of the city into the rain forest and really experience central America.

As far as Cozumel, I agree with the previous post about taking a cab to the National Park and going snorkeling.  Thats what I did last time and I could have stayed a week there snorkeling at that same beach every day.  I loved it.  Cozumel is also the best place to shop for your souvenirs.

Shore excursions are rather expensive though so make sure its something you are really interested in and not just a city tour.  There are no cheap ones but certain places you would be disappointed if you just wander around by yourself.

As for the ship itself, alcohol drinks and soda cost extra.  Check out the art auction and the ships spa.  Those are always great things.  And the spa often offers special deals if you read your daily newsletter.  Don't miss a buffet and try multiple spots to eat.  I'm bad about that--I usually only end up eatting in the dining hall and the lido deck.  But they have many different places to eat.   Enjoy them all.  When you first get on, look over the ship map and shore excursions.  If you really like one you might want to book it asap before it fills up.  And spend those first hours wandering around the ship so that once it set sails you'll know exactly how to get to the casino and the pool.

Have a great time.  Happy Cruising!