Ern.dog

Highland 1234,

The ship docks at an industrial port in Nicaragua that's not very scenic. We took a tour to Leon with a local tour operator we met outside gate three, it was about half the price of tours through NCL. The tour guide was friendly and professional. Nicaragua is new to the tourism business so there isn't much development. Overall the tour was OK but the stop in Nicaragua didn't really add to the cruise experience.

My wife and I were on the Feb 5th-19th cruise on the Jewel and there was no restrictions on entering Nicaragua. However, we did stop in Nicaragua befor crossing the canal. Two points, 1) you're on the ship for the entire canal crossing so it's not likely you'd be exposed to any insects and 2) if you stay on the ship in Nicaragua you won't miss anything.

I've cruised Escape and Oasis, loved both. You didn't mention what your mom likes. I would say the solarium on the oasis ships is a better adult only area than H2O spice on the Escape. The layout of the Oasis does a better job of spreading the passengers throughout the ship, there were times on Escape that the 678 area of the Escape was very crowded. If the pool deck is important to you then choose Harmony. However, I found the ropes course,which includes zip lines,more fun than rock climbing and the zip line on Oasis.

Wine tasting is held in Cellars by Mondavi on deck 8. The tastings are listed in the freestyle daily. Unfortunately, the tasting we were going to attend was cancelled,so I don't how many tastes you get.