Kiss The Cook

Thank you for sharing, I'm glad you had a great experience!

We honestly didn't do too much exploring on the ship during the day, so I can't speak on things to do on the ship, but there were a few things on the dailies that sounds like they could've been fun. Each port was beautiful, but not planning excursions on Costa maya and Belieze was a great decision for us, personally. The Honduras port does have a pool within their port and cozumel has a lot of restaurants and shopping if that's your thing. When we booked our trip, we got 2 complimentary specialty dining reservations, so we didn't pay for the meal, so I'm not sure if dessert is extra, I'm sorry!

Hello! We booked through VRBO in Tampa before and after the trip because it was the cheapest options we found under $100/ night.

Thank you for your input. It's true that my DH wasn't feeling 100% and his taste could've been affected, but there were still a few instances where we had meals that weren't hot, and I didn't get sick until the end of the cruise, so my taste was fine until the final last couple nights. I understand they have to accommodate a lot of different palates and tastes, it just would've been nice to have an option to ask for extra seasoning or something of the sort. We aren't big drinkers or party people normally, so hopefully if we book another cruise we will be able to participate in more activities. So can I ask, what was it about the other cruise lines you didn't like that NCL is your first pick? As far as the ship size goes, we chose it because it was smaller to get our feet wet and to see if we liked cruising, so for the next one we would definitely look for something bigger.

Hello all, as this was my first cruise as an adult, I thought I would share my thoughts/log of our trip to help future travelers 😊 For reference, my husband and I are 36 and 43 and we cruised on the NCL Jade in room stateroom 9646 with a balcony. Day 1: Disembarkation Day/ At Sea 3/17/24 We [Me and my DH] flew into Tampa on 3/15 due to cheaper flights [with Breeze Airlines], so on Sunday morning we got an Uber and got to the Tampa port at about 9:45ish. As we got out of our Uber, there were workers there who took our luggage and loaded it onto carts to take onto the ship [this was very convenient] so we tipped them and made our way to the port for check-in [with our rolling carry-on and 2 backpacks with our essentials in them]. We were going to go up and get checked in to wait, but we hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, so we decided to walk a little bit down the street to find some food. Since we were in the area so early, a lot of the restaurants didn’t open until 11:00 am, so we ended up going to Publix and they have a few grab-and-go options, as well as a little eating area and microwaves if needed. Once we were done eating, we walked back to the cruise port and went upstairs to check-in. The ship wasn’t ready until about 11:20 am, so they started letting us walk through at about 11:30. A few people [my DH included] had problems with the ship [apparently] not checking out the previous guests from our room, so he was pulled aside for a couple of minutes, but besides that it was pretty smooth. When you get onto the ship you are on deck 7, and then you are told to find your muster station and if you watch the safety video beforehand, you are done after that and free to explore. Since everyone was boarding, there were A LOT of people walking around the ship, and with it being a smaller ship and not being allowed to go into the rooms yet, it got a little crowded. So, we went to the buffet to grab some lunch, and then we found a quiet corner in the Bliss lounge to relax in for a while. Then there was a ‘ship tour’ with the very flamboyant guide, Ricardo, which took you around to the different main areas of the ship, which was nice, but it was more of just a ‘time filler’ while we waited for our room to be ready. At 3:00 pm I met up with Kelly from the online Facebook group to register for the poker run at the Great Outdoors, which was really fun! Then they announced our rooms were ready at about 3:05 pm, which was very nice. My DH wasn’t feeling well, so I took him to the room and then went to grab our carry-on and backpacks from Bliss Lounge so he could relax. I then returned to the room to unpack a little and I got a knock at our door that our bags were ready probably around 4:00ish. So, then it was time to relax for a bit on the balcony and watch the ship pull out of the port. By this time, DH was feeling better, so we decided to explore the ship a little and grab some food at Grand Pacific. When we were greeted by the hostess, she asked if we wanted to dine alone or share a table, so we opted to share a table, which was lovely. We met a nice older couple [Jim and Alba] who had wonderful stories and were very pleasant to share our table with. The server wasn’t very attentive, but I think they were just very busy because everyone wanted to eat and it was the first night on the ship. The food was decent, I got grilled Tilapia with quinoa, arugula salad, and lemon olive oil dressing. I/we found a lot of the food to be bland and wish they used more seasoning throughout the ship. After dinner, we then headed over to karaoke [which is one of my passions] and met another nice couple while listening to the other singers [Adam and Joy] and we had a fun time. We then met a guy [Patrick] at Bliss Lounge who took us to Spinnakers after karaoke and introduced us to a very nice group of 21-year-olds [Christina, Grady, Fiona, Derek, Ana, and one other guy], who turned out to be a lot of fun! After dancing for a bit like we were young again, we decided to turn in for the night 😊 Day 2: At Sea 3/18/24 Since we ‘partied like it was 1999’ the night before, it was a slower start to our day. We eventually made it down to The Grand Pacific for lunch and met one of our favorite waiters Kevin [Costner] De Leon from the Philippines. His service was excellent, and he was so funny! My DH was feeling a little under the weather again, so he laid down and I relaxed on the balcony in the room for a while and read my book. At 2:00 pm our poker run started, so we wandered around to the different bars and drew cards [neither one of us ended up winning] and then we went to the casino to try our hand at some slots, but again neither of us won anything there, either. We had dinner reservations at Moderno Churrascaria, the Brazilian steakhouse, which was decent. The salad bar was very nice with a lot of options, the meat selection was ok, and the grilled pineapple was my favorite. The only negative thing was that I felt like they kept skipping our table to bring the meat to. After we finished eating, we decided to head over to the ‘Newlywed Not so Newlywed’ show located in Spinnaker Lounge, which was pretty entertaining and drew a pretty good crowd. After the show, we wandered back to karaoke to belt out some tunes, and then after karaoke, we ended up finding our way back to Spinnakers for the ending of their ‘Awesome 80s Party’ and danced the night away with our newfound friends. Day 3: Costa Maya, Mexico 3/19/24 For this port day, we did not have anything planned, so we just strolled around the port going into different shops. I picked up some souvenirs for myself and my family members, and the skincare place tried to sell me the ‘miracle eye cream’ but I decided to not spend the $150 because I [personally] didn’t feel it would really make a difference. So, we walked around the port to the backside to the smaller more private pool with the swim-up bar, which was very nice. We sat down on a couple of chairs and to use the chairs you just had to buy food and/or drinks. So, we ended up getting 2 drinks and nachos, and I think it was about $45ish. They also had a newly installed surf simulator, and we were having fun watching all the people try it out and learn how to do it. My DH then decided he would like to try it. One of the couples we had met said he could use the remaining 7 minutes of their time because if not we wouldn’t have had time before we had to be back on the ship. So, he went on it and had a blast, and I have a ton of photos and videos of him looking like he’s having the time of his life. Afterward, he had a hard time catching his breath. At this point, I wanted to have the fishies eat the dead skin off my feet, so we walked over to the shop, and I put my feet in the tank [it was the weirdest feeling! It felt like they were kissing/tickling my feet] So we walked back to the ship and DH needed a nap. So, he laid down and I explored a bit and watched us pull away from the port looking for pier runners, but didn’t see any. I wanted to see the ‘Blazin’ Boots’ show, so we decided to quickly get ready and grab a quick bite on the way to the show, so we weren’t late. We made it in time for the 7:00 pm show, and it was pretty entertaining. My DH hates musicals but was a good sport and seemed to enjoy some of it 😊 After the show, we grabbed a quick bite at O’Sheehans and then headed back over to karaoke! This was one thing that bothered me about the cruise, is karaoke drew a REALLY BIG crowd every night, however, because they had staffing issues, they were forced to cut it back to an hour for days 2 and 3, which was a little frustrating, but we still made the most of it. After karaoke ended, we ended up striking up a great conversation with Christina and Grady at the Bliss lounge and talked until 1:00 am, which is pretty late for us lol. Day 4: Harvest Caye, Belize 3/20/24 We did not have anything planned for this port day either, and it was very nice to just relax. We took our time getting up and ready and had breakfast on the ship before getting off, so we didn’t have to pay for food on the island. [Just in case you are unaware, even though Harvest Caye is NCL’s private island, your food/drink packages are not included on the island] We had breakfast at The Great Outdoors buffet which was pretty decent and we got to see our favorite server [Kevin] again 😊. We had a relaxing pool day and didn’t have to buy any drinks to use the chairs, which was nice. You could pay for a ‘daybed’ for $99 or other options at different prices, but we opted to just find some free chairs. They had a swim-up bar, and the only thing we ordered was a bottle of water for $7, again to keep our costs down. When we got hungry, we decided to head back to the ship and grab lunch and there was no shortage of golf carts to take you back and forth, which was very nice. There is no charge for transportation, just tips. Note: When we were in our room, we saw them testing the lifeboats, which was nice to see. We did a quick shower/wardrobe change and then went back to the island to explore the free butterfly sanctuary and other animals and hit a couple of shops. Then it was back to the ship to hang out for a bit and then head to the magic show, “Voila by Chase and Kaleigh” I enjoyed the show, and I think overall, it was a decent magic show. There were a couple of tricks that even had my DH impressed, which is hard to do. After the show, we headed to dinner at Cagney’s to visit our favorite waiter, Kevin, again. We had a decent meal, but [again] we felt it was lacking seasoning. We had a very nice conversation with the head Maître d’, and it was nice to learn about his home country and where he came from and we also told him about the food, and he is aware of it, but because they are cooking for so many people, he said there isn’t much he can do about it. After dinner, we went back to the room for an early night so we could prepare for our excursion in Honduras. Day 5: Roatan, Honduras 3/21/24 We were up early at 6:00 am to eat our breakfast and get our day started. We booked with ‘Real Deal Roatan’ and I would definitely recommend this company. Our tour guide picked us up at the port, and we then headed to the Mayan Jungle Canopy Zip Line Monkey & Sloth Sanctuary. This was probably my favorite part of the trip! We got to interact with a monkey, a yellow-naped Amazon bird, a beautiful red Macaw, and of course, we got to cuddle a sloth! His name was Alex, and he was SO sweet! After the animal sanctuary, it was off to Kotos Adventures Dive Center at the West end of Honduras for our scuba diving. This was another great company! Owned by 2 brothers, who are very patient and knowledgeable. We met a couple of other divers from Canada who had been diving with this shop for years, and it was nice to know they started from nothing and now have a profitable business. My DH was having ear issues, so we let them know up front and he assured us that we wouldn’t be rushed and could take our time, and go at our own pace, which is exactly what happened. My DH and I were assigned to a dive master who was only diving with us and there were about 8-10 other divers with us as well, all with different experience levels. I am a novice diver, and I always make sure they know I’m inexperienced, and it was not an issue at all. After we did our 1 tank dive, we went to the Mayak Chocolate “factory” to learn a little bit about how they harvest chocolate, and they gave us some free samples. This was literally just a store room with a counter that the girl stood behind and gave us her ‘script’ of what she was told to say, and we weren’t really impressed. My DH asked a couple of questions and she didn’t know the answers. So, this was a quick stop, we were done within 10 minutes. Our driver then took us to Roatan Rum Company for a rum “factory” tour which was essentially just a room with a counter in it and you could sample the different rums and rum cakes. I ended up tasting a few and buying a bottle of Mango rum to bring home. After the rum factory, we asked if the driver could take my DH to get some cigars. So, he took us to ‘Roatan Cigars’ and he found a nice box of cigars to bring home to give out to family and friends. My DH did some research online the day before so that he knew what to expect as far as prices go on the cigars to make sure he paid what he wanted. The driver then took us to the ‘Roatan sign’ to take photos in front of, and after this, we were hoping our driver would take us to a local spot for lunch, but when we asked about lunch he said he could take us to a ‘resort’ to purchase a day pass for $20, and then we would’ve had to purchase food on top of this, so this is the only negative point I have about the driver. We decided to have him just take us back to the ship at that point so we could eat on the boat. So, we walked through the port and browsed some shops, then we went to the room to get changed and grab some food on the ship [to keep our costs down], and then headed back to the shops to look for a couple of other items. We then headed back to the ship to get some food at O’Sheehan’s and then DH wanted to go to the Thomas Kinkade Seminar. After the seminar, we went to the duty-free shop to talk to the guy at the jewelry counter but decided to not purchase anything. After that, I started feeling a bit under the weather, so we called it an early night. Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico 3/22/24 The morning was kind of hectic for us because we didn’t realize there was a time change, so we lost an hour getting ready, which was a little frustrating, but obviously our fault. I grabbed a quick plate from the breakfast buffet and ate it in the room then we headed down to the port to board our catamaran boat for snorkeling and a ‘beach day’. We were both not feeling too hot, so we mustered through it, but there was a delay of about 20-30 minutes because there was another boat blocking the dock for our boat to get into, which was a little annoying considering we rushed to get ready because we thought we were late. Anyhow, we boarded the boat and then took a short boat ride out to a reef that was pretty dead and beaten up. The company was ‘Fury Catamarans’ and I don’t necessarily think that it was a great company, but we also weren’t feeling the best, so I might not be the best judge. The captain insisted that no one put on sunscreen until after we snorkeled because it could harm the reef, but it was pretty much dead anyway, so that was kind of stupid, in my opinion. We then finally got into the water, and they kept yelling at us to ‘stay by the buoy’ because there were a bunch of other boats in the same area with people in the water snorkeling, so it was a bit crowded. The other thing I thought was cheating is the photographer had fish food in his pocket to try to get the fish to come over to him and when someone asked him what he had in his pocket he just said ‘Nothing, just my hands’, which I found a little shady. We were only in the water for probably 30ish minutes, and then they took us to their ‘private’ island, which had about 5-6 other boats there at the same time we got there, so it was very crowded. My DH and I opted to just stay on the boat and rest our heads to try to feel better and not deal with the sand and crowds. We were there for a little over an hour and then once everyone boarded again, we met a nice couple from Kansas City who told us about the different cruise lines they had been on and enjoyed more, and we talked about scuba diving because they were also both certified. After we got back to the ship, we decided to shower and lie down for a bit. We then decided that we wanted to go into port to get a souvenir for my MIL to thank her for watching our house, so we went down to the pier, flagged down a guy with a bike and a ‘trailer’, tipped him $5 to take us to the port, shopped for 15 minutes, and went back to the ship on another bike with a ‘trailer’ for $5. We then laid back down because we still weren’t feeling good, and then got up to have some dinner at Grand Pacific. The food was ok, but not very hot. I told the waiter and he offered to get me another entrée, but at that point, I was so tired and feeling like crap, I just wanted to go back to the room. I really wanted to make it to the Elements Show at 9:00 pm, but as I was trying to get ready at 8:30 pm and barely able to keep my eyes open, my DH and I agreed to go to bed instead. Day 7: At Sea 3/23/24 We felt like crap when we got up. So being that it was the last day, we decided to take it easy. Our day was filled with naps, food, and packing. We had dinner scheduled at Cagney’s Steakhouse for our last night. The food was ok, but still lacking in our opinion. We then went back to the room to pack up the last of our things and went to bed. Day 8: Disembarkation Day 3/24/24 We got up at 6:00 am to get breakfast at Grand Pacific with our other favorite waiter Benard Jamba [whom we previously met at O’Sheehan’s], then we carried our luggage off, and once we got off the ship, we took an Uber to a local hotel that we had a resort pass purchased from in Tampa because we couldn’t get into our AirBnB until 4:00 pm, so we had a pool day and took it easy and prepared for our flight Monday at 5:40 am. Final Thoughts: Overall, the trip was nice, the weather was decent, and it was nice meeting so many new people. The things we didn’t care for were the food, the smaller ship didn’t have much to do on it, and the entertainment we felt was lacking. One other specific thing we noticed was that Bliss Lounge was a ghost town at about 11:00 pm every night, and we feel that it could be a good spot for another nightclub, considering how popular Spinnaker’s was. Also, the fact that the only sit-down restaurant during the day from 11:00 am – 5:30 pm was O’Sheehan’s was very frustrating to us. The food was ok for bar food, but if it’s going to be the only restaurant open 24/7, we wish they had more of a variety of food, and it seemed they didn’t have a deep frier on board, only an air fryer. We’ve both decided that we maybe will give another cruise a chance, but it likely won’t be with NCL. The length of the cruise was nice, especially because we weren’t feeling well and wanted to get back home, and the room with the balcony was amazing. That said, I feel that if we do end up on another cruise, our room will have to have a balcony because now we’re spoiled 😊 I do want to shout out a few of the helpful tips I got from this website and some YouTube videos. 1- I brought a few kitty cat magnets to put on our cabin door, and even though it states you’re not allowed to decorate your door, they were never removed, but someone would rearrange them when walking by, which became a fun little game 😊 2- YES, you CAN use magnets on the walls of the cabin. I asked this question a few times and had a hard time getting a consistent answer. These hooks were also nice: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B65BDL9Q?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details These hooks aren’t as strong, but decent as well: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L6LYRBW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 3- The storage space was pretty plentiful for just my DH and me. There were 3 drawers under the fridge, and I took half of the closet, and then there were shelves on the other side of the closet as well and we were able to put our souvenirs and other miscellaneous items. My DH put his suitcase on the ‘loveseat’ next to the bed and just grabbed his clothes out of it, which was handy. 4- I got a shower organizer and put it up in the shower with my magnetic hooks, which worked perfectly. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYMRNR4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Note: The shower was a little tricky to get the water to stay at a consistent temperature, I’m still not sure we ever figured that out. 5- I brought an outlet extender and a night light that we plugged in by the mirror at the foot of the bed and it worked to light up the room just enough for the trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I then ran an extension cord for my CPAP up the wall to the ceiling and put magnetic hooks up to run it next to the bed and it worked great. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN4Z47CK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 6- There were USB plugs on the bottom of each lamp on either side of the bed for our phones, which was nice. 7- I bought a little $6 alarm clock from Wal-Mart to set it to ship time which was helpful, and we ended up using it as our alarm clock to make sure we got up at the correct time. 8- I bought a few clear cosmetic bags from Dollar Tree to put all my little items in and they hung perfectly on the cabin walls on my hooks. 9- I bought folders from Dollar Tree with prongs in them and a pencil case to put my passports in, so I had all my documents in one place, and it was way less bulky than a binder. I made 4 different folders for each part of our trip. Folder 1: My parking info, rental car info, VRBO reservation info, airport maps. Folder 2: Boarding passes, passports, cruise confirmations, drink package info. Folder 3: Port schedule, excursion paperwork. Folder 4: Paperwork for our reservations in Florida before and after the cruise. 10- I bought some reusable straws that came with cases and cleaning brushes, but if you asked for straws, they provided paper ones, so the ones I bought were nice, but they weren’t necessarily essential in my opinion. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRRRK8WZ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 11- SeaBands: Get them, they work! I only had problems with seasickness one night, so I went back to the room, put on my SeaBands, and took some Dramamine and I felt much better. I was fine the rest of the trip just wearing the bands, and by day 4 or 5, I didn’t even wear the bands and I was fine. 12- They have liquid hand soap in the room, which is nice not having to use the bar of soap that is usually in hotel rooms and not having to bring my own. 13- I recommend getting a luggage scale also – it took me about 3 hours before the trip to rearrange things and get my bag to 50 pounds [obviously this only applies if you’re flying] We just had an analog one, but there are digital ones a few people recommend online. 14- I also bought the luggage tags some others recommended off Amazon, these made it super easy and ensured that our tags didn’t fall off our luggage and our luggage made it to our rooms promptly. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7NQLD7G?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 15- I recommend packing a bag for you to carry all your items off the ship with you for excursions, I took an extra oversized book bag, and then on the trip home we just loaded it full and checked it for the flight home. We were going to ship stuff back via UPS but decided against it because we would’ve had to find packing materials and because we got back to Tampa on a Sunday, a lot of the places were closed, so the price just made sense to check the bag. 16- I felt ridiculous in this hat, but it was nice and kept the sun off my neck and ears. I do have a smaller head, so it was a little big, but not huge and it was pretty easy to pack. It also has a string to put around your chin so it won’t come off in the wind. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0882XNNDR?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 17- If you’re doing any kind of water activities and want to keep the water out of your ears, this stuff worked pretty well for us https://www.amazon.com/Ear-Shield-Conditioning-Water-Repellent/dp/B00AQK3ZVU/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2O0MHLGB16PO0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-2SXs3l7ogPOPx2JHjMl4CftYA6t56UW0nOCx6h_oGfLRxuPmoTYC5Uc2Qnxh-NOv8-dpXNkPfBdXpE1m_AWEalsACCDdhpg2-ibnwl7-YfbiwHXNE7zBvtRNV4EdyL-PTauVz6L4JvqsFVtRmGrA5b-0fXPhTxz4X4GgMFSa0S84F2ZutllfLo3qzuN0WXgSmpEMZagsd9ciPb6lFibvQ8531p6tz-DXIfM4HPBkGAkB-vfqn0Bms9FpP4xcUPkLRSE_Gsu7hgpA0uLTtsTuTM3Wy9lnAKwM5huUNOVdT0.d7uHW2OlOTUfp4mD5Q8Tk-AsDWJotPg74GmSm88WRak&dib_tag=se&keywords=ear+shield+spray&qid=1712085733&sprefix=ear+shield%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-2 18- Put saran wrap over the tops of bottles under the cap to prevent leaking. 19- Put straws on necklaces to keep them from getting tangled. 20- Put shower caps over your shoes to protect clothes. 21- We put money in envelopes for each day of the cruise to make sure we didn’t go over the daily budget and carried it over to the next day if we had leftover cash. 22- Ask for a Mattress topper if you have them push the beds together. 23- If you want an off-brand GoPro, this is a good option: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2W96JH?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 24- I liked having a highlighter to mark which things I wanted to do on the freestyle dailies. 25- Having clothespins was helpful because I put things on the balcony to dry them and I was able to secure my items to keep them from blowing away. 26- You don’t need beach towels; they provide them for you. [This was a bit of a frustration because you had to go to the pool deck to get your towels instead of them setting up a station on the pier for easier access as you got off the ship.] 27- You don’t need a hair dryer. 28- You don’t need Hangers – they give you 15 – 20 and you can always ask for more if needed. 29- You don’t need to bring distilled water; you can ask them for it, and they’ll provide it for you for free, you can ask beforehand or your room steward can get it for you. 30- For my room key card: I kept mine in my pop socket wallet on my phone and then had a lanyard for my phone which was very helpful and convenient. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X3P27WX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3V666BX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 31- Things I packed that I didn’t use: lint brush, Bluetooth speaker, water shoes [I just wore flip flops], bug spray [though we did use the bracelets off Amazon] Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017G1051Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 ], wrinkle release spray [because – who cares?!], umbrella [this was mostly for our days in Florida, but I didn’t need it] Workout clothes [unless you are a die-hard gym nut, you’ll do more walking then you realize and who wants to be stuck in a gym on vacation?! We did tour the gym, but ended up never going back, lol] I think that covers everything! If anyone has any questions, I am happy to answer them 😊 Also, if anyone has any suggestions on a cruise line with better restaurants, better entertainment, and a better agenda/schedule, please share! 😊

Hello, I know this is an old topic, but I'm heading there on March 20th on the NCL Jade, and I was curious if anyone knew if they have massages in Belize 🙂

Ok, good to know! I'm thinking maybe we'll just get off the ship and hang out in the free pool right off the pier, get some drinks and food, and do some shopping and keep it low key 🙂

Thank you! 🙂

Thank you for your insight! I am leaning more towards actually not booking excursions until we're on the ship to see how we feel and how much we want to do, but if we do book, we will book with the ship just since it's our first cruise and I don't want to chance being left behind. I will be sure to ask and ask again to make sure we don't miss the buses 🙂 Thank you again!

I'm a newbie to cruising, so can you tell me - if the ship is unable to dock and you have an excursion purchased through the cruise line, will you be refunded? I am going there on the NCL Jade on 3/19/24. Any advice is appreciated! 🙂

ggTexasGal - Thank you so much for the information, that helps a lot 🙂 And yes, I will be sure we apply lots of sunscreen 😄

Hello, fellow cruisers! This is my first post on here, my husband and I are going on our first cruise in March on NCL to Costa Maya, Belize, Honduras, and Cozumel and I would like some advice on excursions, please. 🙂 1- For Costa Maya, we are thinking about going to Maya Chan Beach Club, but I see mixed reviews on the food. Can anyone give their input, please? 2- For Belize I think we are just going to keep it simple and go to the pool, the lagoon, and possibly kayak. We just don’t want to take the transportation for an hour and a half each way for excursions on the mainland. Is there enough to do on the island to make a whole day of it? 3- For Honduras, we are looking at going on an island tour, the sloth sanctuary, scuba diving, the chocolate factory, lunch, and a rum factory tour with Real Deal Roatan Tours. Has anyone on here used them, and were they a good company? 4- In Cozumel, we’re looking at going snorkeling or scuba diving, but I’m having a hard time finding a dive shop that is located near the NCL port Punta Langosta and I’m worried about port time with Cozumel being such a busy port. Any suggestions are appreciated 😊 I want to make the best of our vacation, but I’m also not sure what all to expect as far as ship disembarkation time at each port and timing with excursions, do you think I’m overplanning the trip for it being our first one? We want to have things planned, but I want to make sure that everything we book is refundable in case we don’t make it into one of our ports. Thank you in advance!