Destination: Mexico, Honduras, and Belize
Cruise: Norwegian Escape
A 7-day cruise for some first-time cruisers! Starting with arriving the day before, I used points to book a hotel on Miami Beach (the Shelbourne by Proper) and used the Resy offer with Amex Platinum ($100/quarter) to get an almost free dinner with live music at Casa Cubana. Nice hotel, nice location and next morning was embarkation day!
All the boat things: Room was nice, had balcony and I had the room decorated for a birthday (wouldn’t do it again, was a lot for just some streamers). Signed the kids up for kid’s club right off the bat to get it out of the way and the kids did enjoy the activities there some of the time so it was okay…The pool was nice but small, could definitely have used another, but the kids enjoyed their area and the waterslides…The soccer pitch was mixed with the basketball court so when the kids wanted to play it was in the middle of 2 halfcourt games, so that wasn’t great.
Food – There was a decent selection at the buffet, and we had reservation dining a few times during the week which were good, though the French restaurant was the least of my favorites.
Entertainment – There were parties every night and the Latin night, glow party and 90s night were probably the big ones…My family enjoyed the dueling pianos, only one of the few shows they had unfortunately, and karaoke. We watched games played and whatnot, so overall it was also ok. The kids did enjoy a gaga tourney and some of the other activities in the kid’s club, so they had some of their own entertainment going on.
Excursions –
- Cave exploration in Playa del Carmen was fantastic. Good for all ages, we saw some really cool things, and each group saw different things which made it even more interesting. The lunch at the end was delicious and we just all really enjoyed that experience. The ferry to get there, however, was a bit choppy…If you get seasick DEFINITLY bring Dramamine (if you forget though, there is a pharmacy right as you get off the ferry you can purchase some at).
- Animal Sanctuary and Snorkeling in Roatan – Getting into the cages with sloths, macaws and small monkeys! Seeing the animals and getting that close was a fun experience for the whole family. Snorkeling was the next part of our trip and the water was BEAUTIFUL…We got to see some beautiful fish including a princess parrot fish!
- Harvest Cay, Belize – The pool/beach day was a nice way to switch up the activities and relax…There was a small animal area, a kids splash area and some nice shopping as well.
- Xenotes and snorkeling in Costa Maya – Different blue waters followed by waterplay was the itinerary on this excursion. We wished we had more time in the water than seeing the xenotes but a good time was had and the fruit plate they made was so good!
After getting off the ship we stayed an extra night (cheaper to fly out Monday than stay another night because of the $300 credit/6months from the Amex). We stayed at the Hotel Andaz back on Miami Beach and it was really nice (a couple of steps up from the previous hotel) and had a great dinner at New Campo Argentino Steakhouse before our flight.
This was a quick rundown, but I do have to say the kids absolutely loved it…It wasn’t the biggest, newest boat but affordable for our large group and it’s not about the boat it’s about the awesome family time had by all!
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