Which itinerary do you prefer?

[erin21497]

Debating between 2 itineraries for late March (spring break)... which would you choose and why?

 

Costa Maya, Harvest Caye, Roatan, Cozumel  (either on Breakaway or Joy)

-or-

Great Stirrup Cay,  St. Thomas, Tortola, Puerto Plata (either on Escape or Encore)

 

Thanks for any feedback!
 

[pdmlynek]

You may want to write something about what you prefer, so that experienced cruisers will be able to provide guidance.  Beaches? Mayan ruins? Local culture? Independent excursion?  Guided excursions?

[erin21497]

9 minutes ago, pdmlynek said:

You may want to write something about what you prefer, so that experienced cruisers will be able to provide guidance.  Beaches? Mayan ruins? Local culture? Independent excursion?  Guided excursions?

Looking for a good mix of activities... beaches, sightseeing, and adventurous options like ziplining or rafting.  Will be traveling with 3-4 families and teenagers.  Mostly curious if any of these ports are "can't miss" (Great Stirrup Cay, for example) or if one is often skipped due to winds, etc.  The only one I've been to is St. Thomas.    

[SimplyAlbert]

My family prefers the western route and we love the Breakaway!  

[ggTexasGal]

46 minutes ago, erin21497 said:

Looking for a good mix of activities... beaches, sightseeing, and adventurous options like ziplining or rafting.  Will be traveling with 3-4 families and teenagers.  Mostly curious if any of these ports are "can't miss" (Great Stirrup Cay, for example) or if one is often skipped due to winds, etc.  The only one I've been to is St. Thomas.    

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/  -- has a wealth of information if you want to read experiences from passengers of assorted cruise lines.  Scroll through the assorted ports!

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, erin21497 said:

Debating between 2 itineraries for late March (spring break)... which would you choose and why?

 

Costa Maya, Harvest Caye, Roatan, Cozumel  (either on Breakaway or Joy)

-or-

Great Stirrup Cay,  St. Thomas, Tortola, Puerto Plata (either on Escape or Encore)

 

Thanks for any feedback!
 

 

I'm not an experienced cruiser, so I'll just tell you what we did, and why, rather than ask you a bunch of questions.

 

We're going on the Costa Maya/Harvest Caye/Roatan/Cozumel trip on the Breakaway in late March so I'd suggest that one....we consider ports of call, ship, and price.

 

We chose the one I mentioned as my husband really wants to see the areas of Mayan history that seem to abound on this itinerary. I want to cruise out of New Orleans so I can see the French Quarter. I suppose the Mayan ruins will be cool to see, but that's not why I'm on the boat. There are two sea days which I'm extremely fond of...I sure hope a Trans-Atlantic is in my future. 🙂

 

The Breakaway is the sister ship to the Getaway so we know we'll love the ship - even booked the same stateroom (14140) as we're staying in on the Getaway in just a few weeks. Our first cruise together in April was in the Getaway in 14130, so we're not exactly changing it up much.

 

As for price, this one was a lower priced cruise for the Haven room we love, so was a no-brainer for us (except that we are relying on NCL air). 

 

I know nothing about the second cruise so can't be of any help there.

[hallux]

1 hour ago, erin21497 said:

Costa Maya, Harvest Caye, Roatan, Cozumel  (either on Breakaway or Joy

I did this one on the Joy this year, but we missed Costa Maya.  I liked it, just be sure to book an excursion in Roatan or you can't go anywhere except the shopping area at the end of the pier.  Loved the ship, there's a nice inexpensive tour in Cozumel (an NCL excursion), Harvest Cay was nice.

 

1 hour ago, erin21497 said:

Great Stirrup Cay,  St. Thomas, Tortola, Puerto Plata (either on Escape or Encore)

I'm looking at this one for next year, on the Escape.  I haven't been to any of those ports yet but I hear good things about them.

[hallux]

2 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

We chose the one I mentioned as my husband really wants to see the areas of Mayan history that seem to abound on this itinerary.

Having been to Teotihuacan I was kind of looking forward to Chichen Itza, then I read the description - 6+ hour excursion and only 60-90 minutes actually at the ruins.  It's not close to the port, AT ALL.  I decided I didn't want that at the price they wanted me to pay and moved on with other plans.

[cruiseny4life]

5 minutes ago, hallux said:

Having been to Teotihuacan I was kind of looking forward to Chichen Itza, then I read the description - 6+ hour excursion and only 60-90 minutes actually at the ruins.  It's not close to the port, AT ALL.  I decided I didn't want that at the price they wanted me to pay and moved on with other plans.

 

He was really, really disappointed with this. I'm the one that actually reads the descriptions and the info in small print! I saw how long the bus trip was and just said "no." I don't say that often - we're going to Tulum instead.  

 

Thank you for pointing this out though! You are so very right and I'd be really, really grateful to you for pointing this out if I hadn't known! 

 

I'm using this in the future, as I really want to stay at Hotel Xcaret for a week or two - while it's a good 3 - 4 hour drive from Chichen Itza, we can just get a hotel for a night there, explore the ruins, and head back to play at Hotel Xcaret.

[wil e coyote]

We have done both of these itineraries. Both were great the first time, but very different. The Western itinerary is awesome if you are really into history and want to see Mayan ruins. The Eastern itinerary is more of what I would consider a classic Caribbean cruise, but that is not to put it down at all. We really liked the DR and Tortola, especially.

Now that we have done both, we would choose the Eastern itinerary to do again, but we are glad we did both.

So, short answer - you probably can't go wrong. After all, it's a cruise! 😀

[LisaDee]

2 hours ago, hallux said:

Having been to Teotihuacan I was kind of looking forward to Chichen Itza, then I read the description - 6+ hour excursion and only 60-90 minutes actually at the ruins.  It's not close to the port, AT ALL.  I decided I didn't want that at the price they wanted me to pay and moved on with other plans.

 

Check out tours to the Chacchoben ruins from Costa Maya.  We used Native Choice, highly recommend them.

[hallux]

2 minutes ago, LisaDee said:

 

Check out tours to the Chacchoben ruins from Costa Maya.  We used Native Choice, highly recommend them.

Thanks, but I think it'll be a while before I get back there (I want to see DIFFERENT places first), and it wouldn't have mattered on my cruise anyway as we missed the port.

[MichiganBound]

With teenagers along, I think I would go with the more westerly itinerary.  Roatan has lots of activities.

[The Shrike]

22 minutes ago, MichiganBound said:

With teenagers along, I think I would go with the more westerly itinerary.  Roatan has lots of activities.

Seconded.

[wil e coyote]

2 hours ago, LisaDee said:

 

Check out tours to the Chacchoben ruins from Costa Maya.  We used Native Choice, highly recommend them.

We also went to Chacchoben with Native Choice and loved it. Highly recommend!

[cruiseny4life]

@LisaDeeand @wil e coyote - now you've made me look to see if this is something I want to do. I thought we had our excursions all planned out until y'all just had to recommend the same thing. Thanks for giving me choice beyond NCL!

[wil e coyote]

Just now, cruiseny4life said:

@LisaDeeand @wil e coyote - now you've made me look to see if this is something I want to do. I thought we had our excursions all planned out until y'all just had to recommend the same thing. Thanks for giving me choice beyond NCL!

You can also do essentially the same excursion with NCL - but the Native Choice excursion was cheaper (by quite a bit) and we were in a bus of 15 instead of 60. I never like being in the big coaches, even without COVID. The guide arranged for a couple of local stops that the big buses didn't do, so we thought it was much better all around!

[PTC DAWG]

Whichever one I’m on. 🙂

[complawyer]

we've been to most of these. i loved the ruins at tulum in cozumel.  i have, however, no desire to stop at any of the private islands, and no overwhelming desire to see puerta plata. 

 

sorry to sound like a diva. but unless you want to either go diving, snorkeling of lay on the beach, the other ports are rather ho hum. (imho) 

 

based on your choices, i would pick the ship rather than the itinerary. never been on the breakaway, but have been on the sister ship getaway. loved it, it's my favorite

[2boyzmom]

We have done both. Our last cruise to Costa Maya and Cozumel for spring break we had major sargassum issues. been to Costa Maya twice and both times not impressed. Tortola is amazing and I love St Thomas so I'd definitely go for eastern Caribbean 

Edited August 4, 2022 by 2boyzmom

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, wil e coyote said:

You can also do essentially the same excursion with NCL - but the Native Choice excursion was cheaper (by quite a bit) and we were in a bus of 15 instead of 60. I never like being in the big coaches, even without COVID. The guide arranged for a couple of local stops that the big buses didn't do, so we thought it was much better all around!

I wanted the easy out for excursions...just do whatever NCL recommended and be done with it. But.....I like the idea of 15 people, stopping in random places, and having a guide who is more available to bother with my questions. 🙂 Definitely going to look a bit more at this!

[nferr]

I've done both many times. I prefer Eastern Caribbean for the Islands.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

20 hours ago, hallux said:

I did this one on the Joy this year, but we missed Costa Maya.  I liked it, just be sure to book an excursion in Roatan or you can't go anywhere except the shopping area at the end of the pier.

Not true.  If you exit the back side of the shopping area there is a shuttle that will take you to the beach.  It stops at five or six designated stops and you just get off wherever you want.  We always get a cheap massage on the beach, have a few drinks and people watch.  The beach is very rough sand and the water is not as clear as Cozumel, but if splashing about in the surf makes you happy, it’s a good place.

[hallux]

1 hour ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Not true.  If you exit the back side of the shopping area there is a shuttle that will take you to the beach

Maybe it's a COVID-era restriction?  When I was there it seemed that you needed a tour ticket from a ship to exit the port area to the right of the shops (up the red dock, there was someone standing there looking at tour tickets) and the escalators up the center area of the shopping area were roped off.

Edited August 5, 2022 by hallux

[wil e coyote]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

Maybe it's a COVID-era restriction?  When I was there it seemed that you needed a tour ticket from a ship to exit the port area to the right of the shops (up the red dock, there was someone standing there looking at tour tickets) and the escalators up the center area of the shopping area were roped off.

I think it is that the exit is not well-marked. We were there in June, and decided to do our own thing - we had to really look to find the exit from the port. Or maybe things had already opened up somewhat by June...