Better Cruise?

[NascarJDS]

Hey everyone, I am in the planning stages of my first cruise with my wife. We have it narrowed down to two. One would be on The NCl Spirit with visits to Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel and Guatemala. The other would be on The NCL Dawn visiting St Johns, Tortola, Samana, and Great Stirrup Cay. We are interested in Snorkeling, seeing wildlife, nature and rainforests as well as other intersting excursions(except Cave tubing, sounds boring to us) Out of the two cruises would one be more recommendable than the other?

[Grandpaul]

Just my opinion. I would take the Dawn cruise. I like the Dawn a little better than the Spirit. St John's is a beautiful Island with some of the most beautiful beaches around. I assume you mean St. Thomas/St. John's. But that cave tubing you said sounded boring was actually fun. And you get to see plenty of nature on the way there. Either way would be a good cruise.

[electricron]

Belize and Cozumel has the best snorkling reefs in the world.

 

Costa Maya is in a rainforest, as is Belize. There's also Mayan ruins to explore.

 

The Eastern Caribbean cruise has plenty of beaches and snorling as well. Just don't believe they are as good as you'll see with the Western Caribbean cruise.

 

Whichever cruise you choose, have a great cruise.:)

[kaykels]

costa maya is disgusting!!! And Dawn is a better ship. That's an easy one if it was ME. Take the Dawn!!!

[electricron]

costa maya is disgusting!!! And Dawn is a better ship. That's an easy one if it was ME. Take the Dawn!!!

 

Costa Maya may be disgusting, but the reef offshore is great for snorkling. The Spirit is a fine ship. Believe it or not, I've read some reviews stating that the Spirit is the better ship. So it's just your opinion which ship is better. Larger and newer doesn't necessarily mean a ship is better.

[fin]

Your interests are similar to mine, and I have been to the Spirit destinations. I think given your interests you would prefer the stops on the Spirit regardless of whether the Dawn is a nicer ship.

 

You might enjoy the excursion to Xuantanich in Belize. I have been there twice and not gone cave tubing. Let us know.

[RNPJN]

Hey everyone, I am in the planning stages of my first cruise with my wife. We have it narrowed down to two. One would be on The NCl Spirit with visits to Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel and Guatemala. The other would be on The NCL Dawn visiting St Johns, Tortola, Samana, and Great Stirrup Cay. We are interested in Snorkeling, seeing wildlife, nature and rainforests as well as other intersting excursions(except Cave tubing, sounds boring to us) Out of the two cruises would one be more recommendable than the other?

I to would take the Dawn cruise been to Belize not much there Cozumel/grand cayman are much better if you could get a 5 day on the Pearl or Jewel,Other than that go with the Dawn,Rick

[SusieS]

Take Princess, not NCL.

[Zeno]

Hey everyone, I am in the planning stages of my first cruise with my wife. We have it narrowed down to two. One would be on The NCl Spirit with visits to Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel and Guatemala. The other would be on The NCL Dawn visiting St Johns, Tortola, Samana, and Great Stirrup Cay. We are interested in Snorkeling, seeing wildlife, nature and rainforests as well as other intersting excursions(except Cave tubing, sounds boring to us) Out of the two cruises would one be more recommendable than the other?

 

Either itinerary is interesting:

Spirit itinerary:

Costa Maya - some very interesting Mayan ruins (we went to Chacchoben) and not over-developed yet

Belize - some excellent Mayan ruins (Lamanai was fascinating) and good snorkeling

Cozumel - a very popular port with some good snorkeling

Guatemala - very undeveloped and some unique excursions

Dawn itinerary:

St. John's - excellent beaches and snorkeling opportunities

Tortola - go to the Baths (unique) or on a snorkeling excursion

Samana - I have not been there and would personally consider whale watching

Great stirrup Cay - beach day

Basically - if you are at all into ruins, the Spirit itinerary would be better but either is good. Both itineraries offer snorkeling possibilities

[Zeno]

Take Princess, not NCL.

How RUDE! Wouldn't it be nice if we all went over to the Princess board and told everyone there to take another cruiseline?

[2Cruise4Ever]

How RUDE! Wouldn't it be nice if we all went over to the Princess board and told everyone there to take another cruiseline?

 

Hey, that's a great idea!!! Let's do....

[heelfan94]

Hey everyone, I am in the planning stages of my first cruise with my wife. We have it narrowed down to two. One would be on The NCl Spirit with visits to Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel and Guatemala. The other would be on The NCL Dawn visiting St Johns, Tortola, Samana, and Great Stirrup Cay. We are interested in Snorkeling, seeing wildlife, nature and rainforests as well as other intersting excursions(except Cave tubing, sounds boring to us) Out of the two cruises would one be more recommendable than the other?

We did the Dawn itinerary you're looking at, but it was on the NCL Sun. Out of five cruises it has been our very favorite. St. Johns ranks as all four family members' favorite port to date. Really, I don't see how you can go wrong. I haven't been on either ship but we love NCL and until something changes we book exclusively with them. Freestyle fits our way of life. Whatever you decide, have a great first cruise and be sure to tell us all about it. :)

[silkhair1]

We are going on the Spirit in January. We did the Dawn last February and liked it a lot. I have heard great things about the Spirit, so I think you should just go by itinery. You should not be disapointed either way.

 

About booking a Princess cruise. Been there, done that, and LOVE NCL much more. Oh well everyone likes different thngs. Freestyle works for my family and I.

 

Have a wonderful cruise and let us know what dates you are looking at!

[MrLee]

Take Princess, not NCL.

 

We get that you prefer to sail Princess and please do. However, how is this helpful to the OP who is asking about comparisons between 2 NCL cruises? :rolleyes:

[Planer's Edge]

Take Princess, not NCL.

 

How incredibly rude. This does not answer the question at hand.

 

PE

[Warmer Climes]

I haven't done the Dawn's excursion but I have enjoyed Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize very much and would go to any of them again (in fact, I have booked some of them for our Feb. cruise). In Costa Maya we went with Ivan to the Mayan ruins- incredible. In Cozumel we always snorkel and it is always great. In Belize we did the cave tubing with Yhonni and it was fabulous.

 

Love NCL- leaving on the Majesty Sunday! Have a wonderful vacation!

 

Barb

[Got2Cruise]

Hey everyone, I am in the planning stages of my first cruise with my wife. We have it narrowed down to two. One would be on The NCl Spirit with visits to Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel and Guatemala. The other would be on The NCL Dawn visiting St Johns, Tortola, Samana, and Great Stirrup Cay. We are interested in Snorkeling, seeing wildlife, nature and rainforests as well as other intersting excursions(except Cave tubing, sounds boring to us) Out of the two cruises would one be more recommendable than the other?

 

For your interests, I think the Spirit's itinerary would be better. You can see more nature and wildlife. The Dawn is a glitzier ship, but I don't think that matters to you, does it?

[jkrislc]

I've done the Western Caribbean a couple of times, which is why we're doing the Eastern Caribbean next time. That said, both Cozumel and Belize offer some great sites and excursions, so I wouldn't hesitate taking the Spirit for your first cruise. Just make sure that the ship offers everything that you want it to.

 

I agree with many other posters regarding Costa Maya; it was our least favorite port. However, you can leave the port area and go down to the fishing village for something different or stay on the ship and enjoy the facilities there.

[daisydu]

Hey everyone, I am in the planning stages of my first cruise with my wife. We have it narrowed down to two. One would be on The NCl Spirit with visits to Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel and Guatemala. The other would be on The NCL Dawn visiting St Johns, Tortola, Samana, and Great Stirrup Cay. We are interested in Snorkeling, seeing wildlife, nature and rainforests as well as other intersting excursions(except Cave tubing, sounds boring to us) Out of the two cruises would one be more recommendable than the other?

 

Did this same itinerary on the Sun this March. Loved it - most especially the stop in Guatamala. We snorkeled in Belize, did the Chaccoben Mayan Ruins in Costa Maya, fishing in Cozumel and Las Escobas waterfall in Guatamala. It was all great. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed by either iternarary (sprit vs dawn) but I just loved Guatamala.

[ctdahlquist]

Wow, both of these would be appealing to me. I'm actually doing the Spirit itinerary you outlined this January. I've sailed the Spirit before and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'm sort of on a Central American kick lately having traveled by plane to Costa Rica last March.

 

I've been to Tortola (on NCL) and Samana (on MSC) recently and loved them both. Be warned, however, that these are not the types of ports that you will be satisfied to just get off the ship for free and expect to have all your entertainmet and shopping right there at the dock. You'll need to do some shore excursion to really get the full value of being at these beautiful locations. Tortola is quite, beautiful, and relatively middle-class while Samana is rugged, wild, and much, much poorer.

 

I've also been to Belize (on Carnival), and my impression of the Spirit itinerary is much the same as the Dawn itinerary -- you'll need to do some research and spend some cash to do something worthy of these less developed locations (except for Cozumel, of course.)

 

To summarize, both these itineraries are similar, in that you visit some less developed ports. The Spirit option is much heavier on ancient ruins and jungle experiences, while the Dawn affords a low-key Caribbean and beach experience.

[NascarJDS]

Thanks everyone for all the great replies, this is going to be a tough one to decide, but I guess I can do one this time and one another time. :)

[kirdo]

. In Costa Maya we went with Ivan to the Mayan ruins- incredible. In Cozumel we always snorkel and it is always great. In Belize we did the cave tubing with Yhonni and it was fabulous.

 

Love NCL- leaving on the Majesty Sunday! Have a wonderful vacation!

 

Barb

 

Barb. Were you on the 10/15 Sun Western?? We went to the ruins with David in Costa Maya.....fantastic tour...small group..

regaled us with his growing up on the site, at the time his father's farm. Good price too! Will do it again!:D

[Don Haynes]

Thanks everyone for all the great replies, this is going to be a tough one to decide, but I guess I can do one this time and one another time. :)

 

 

That is the correct attiude. Before long if you catch the cruising bug, you will have difficulty deciding between a Hawaiian, Alaskan, and a Bermuda cruise.

 

As you have already found out there are Eastern and Westerm Caribbean cruises from Miami.

[PoopDeckPappy]

The Spirit is a fine ship. Believe it or not, I've read some reviews stating that the Spirit is the better ship.

Electricron, I'm of that opinion. I've sailed the Dawn twice and Spirit once. While they are both excellent ships I like the Spirit a bit better. Though I'd sail either one in a heartbeat.

 

To the OP, I like to snorkel and Cozumel is the best I've ever been to hands down. I don't snorkel unless I"m in Cozumel b/c I feel other places just don't compare and I'd say I've done 6 other places that claim to have the "best snorkeling." I've been to Costa Maya but never snorkeled there (but will next time based on what I've heard).

 

For what it's worth, I've been to St. John 3x and the past 2x my DW & I didn't even leave the ship. I've heard it's got great beaches but the locals are way too much of a pita for us so we just enjoy a nice quiet day on board when our ship stops there.