Cruise Line: Norwegian
Sailing Date: February 15th, 2003

It was early February that my wife and I decided we could take a break from the cold and snow. So we look into a cruise for President’s day weekend. We did most of our research about the ships (itineraries and pricing) over the internet.

Arrival Day: This worked out very smoothly for us. Our flight from Newark, NJ got in a couple of hours late because of weather, so we arrived at the boat around 2:30 PM. We took a cab from the Miami airport to the dock – it costs a flat fee of $18 each way which turns out cheaper than booking the shuttle bus with NCL for two people – plus it’s more convenient. When we went to check in, we had no wait line (unexpected because of some of the other reviewers). I was a little surprised that we did not get a complementary cabin upgrade since we had sailed with NCL before. We were told that the Ship was completely full, but I tend to doubt that because when I checked two days before the ship sailed, there seemed to be rooms available to reserve for almost any cabin type. However, the check in personnel was very friendly and efficient. In the future I may check into the travel insurance if we were to travel during the winter because we did meet another couple who were flying in from the mid-west who got in a day late and had to make their own arrangements to meet the ship in Grand Cayman.

Cabin: We booked an inside cabin on level 10. We did this for a couple of reasons: (1) to save a little money and (2) it was one of the few cabins that we saw that was located in the very center of the ship [this reduces the feeling of the boat rocking]. Since this was the first time we had booked an inside cabin I was a bit anxious, however it turned out better than I expected. This is because the room was about the same square footage as an outside cabin but had a better layout and in addition it had more storage space to place clothes than the other times we had sailed. The downfall is that once you turn the lights off, the room gets very dark, so in the morning you have no time what it is unless someone turns on the light. I suggest NCL add clocks in the future. The housekeeping staff was very good.

It was fancier in terms of the theater and other public areas. Still, the ship was in good condition though I wish we had an additional stairway or elevator in the middle of the boat. I guess because of the recent outbreaks of various viruses on other ships, NCL seemed to be concerned with health. However, I did not feel it necessary to devote one of the limited TV channels to demonstrate how to wash one’s hands for two or more days.

Food: Again good but not great, but I can say the service for the most part was very good. Unlike some of the others who went on the boat, we went to only the free restaurants: The two main restaurants (Four Seasons and the Seven Seasons) were both nice and the menus changed daily, though the service was a little slow. We missed lobster night because we stayed late on Cozumel and for some reason they stopped serving early that night (coincidence?). The Pacific Heights restaurant which features their “Cooking Healthy” (or something like it) was excellent. The buffets were ok, nothing special. The lines were a bit slow because the servers had to fill up the plates rather than getting it yourself. This may be due to health reasons to reduce the likelihood of transmitting of diseases.

Entertainment: Fair to good. I liked the comedian and illusionist they had, plus my wife enjoyed the impressionist. But the Jean Ann Ryan dance shows were not all that great. All three shows seemed to have similar dance routines with just different costumes. The other cruises we were on had better shows. Also (as other reviewers have mentioned) the ship keeps the main theater way to cold for some reason.

Casino: Seemed acceptable to me. We are not real gamblers, but they looked like they had all the regular games needed (though I wish they had a $2 blackjack table). Of note: they did have a couple of 1-cent slot machines (who would have expected!)

Ports of Call: The main reason we choose this cruise - excellent selection. We did only one of the ship excursions and I don’t see much advantage to them because they are more expensive than doing it oneself. However if you are on a ship excursion, you get to get off the boat earlier when a tender is needed (which happened 3 out of the 4 ports) – this is a significant time saver – saving 60 to 90 minutes.

Grand Cayman: We wanted to snorkel Sing Ray city, so as we got off the boat we saw a local tour operator offering a 2 stop tour for $30. Though it wasn’t an outfit that was mentioned in one of the other reviews we still decided to try it. After waiting about 45 minutes before the bus would leave, we walked around the town to pick up some snacks and get a feel for the place. We then went on a short bus ride to the boat – which had about 25 tourists from the various cruise ships (I think there were 4 ships at Grand Cayman that day). The boat then went out for about 30 minutes to Sing Ray City – a great experience! You stand in water about 4 feet deep while the Sing Rays swim around you and sometime even brush up against you. After this went rode another 20 or 30 minutes to another spot where we went swimming and could see some coral. Not as exciting but still enjoyable.

Roatan: Different. This was the only place where the ship could dock (surprising since this is a very poor island). Instead of a ship tour we decided to relax a bit and try the Salt and Pepper thing. Once you get off the boat there is a guy holding a sign for the Salt and Pepper restaurant where about a dozen or so us went to a van to take us out the to restaurant. The ride was about 30 minutes or so and you get a look at the island and get to see (a little) how the people live. As one of the NCL staff said “Roatan is a third world country – enjoy it for what it is” (maybe the Roatan tourist bureau could copyright this slogan). Anyway we ended up and the restaurant and had an enjoyable meal. We then walk up and down the dirt road and looked into a couple of shops. There is a beach there, but it’s rather small. We then got the ride back to the boat where we noticed a couple of people swimming right next to the boat – there was some coral and the water looked clean.

Belize: Here we took the ship’s Cave Tubing tour, which I liked very much. After a 75 minute bus ride (20 minutes being a very bumpy ride over a dirt road once you're in the park). You then pick up your inner tube and walk about 20 minutes though the jungle. We then floated (sometimes paddling) with the inner tubes though various caves. My wife would have liked if we had more floating time outside the caves, but I guess it doesn’t work that way. We then had lunch and took the bus back. Since we had some time, we walked around the immediate area and shopped a little.

Cozumel: Lot’s of cruise boats in the area – I counted 9 of them. Once we caught the tender to the dock, we took a cab ride to Chakanaab Park. All I can say is that I wish some NJ beaches were set up this way. After a $10 admittance fee, you get access to a very nice beach with lots of chairs and umbrellas (it did rain a little that day). For an additional $6 you can rent some snorkel equipment. There is some nature area to walk through plus some shops that seemed significantly cheaper than those in town (however most of the beach shops don’t accept credit cards). We then went back into town and found a local restaurant (that the cab driver recommended) that’s about a 10 minutes walk from the boat area (wish I could remember the name because it was very good).

Departure Day: This worked out fairly well. Instead of assigning each room their departure order, each room could decide when they wanted to leave. For some reason we did not clear customs on time, and no one could leave the ship until 30 minutes later than expected, but this caused us no hassles. In addition, we could wait in the cabin while they announced our group to leave. We got a cab near the boats to a short ride to the airport. In fact we got there so early, we were able to switch our flight to an earlier one. As for our bill, we had no discrepancies, but then again, we did not have that many items on the bill.

Summary: I can say this was a very satisfying experience for my wife and me. We choose this cruise because of it’s unique itinerary. The ship was well organized and staffed and I can recommend this cruise to others.