MorganW

Santo Tomas De Castilla, Guatemala

This was our surprise favorite port. It was amazing to see the lush vegetation and mountains as we pulled into the port. We took the excursion to Quirigua Archaelogical site and our guide was so informative and passionate about Guatemalan history. We got to see some of the most well preserved monuments of the entire Mayan world. Amazing! The sendoff the people gave us at the end of the day was very special too.

Belize City, Belize

We did not go to Belize city but went to the beach which has been created for Cruise ship vacationers. The beach area was great and we took and optional snorkeling trip to the reef which was teaming with schools of colorful fish.

Cozumel, Mexico

We scheduled our kids for a dolphin encounter at Dolphinaris and it was an amazing experience for them. We were able to purchase an observer ticket and watch everything. We were very impressed with the cleanliness of the facility and how much the staff cared for the dolphins...making sure people did not wear jewelry or sun screen which could harm the dolphins. The rest of what we saw of Cozumel was commercial and filled with souvenir shops

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

This very poor area was really hard hit by Hurricane Dean and it was little depressing to see the devastation. However, the people were great and the shopping area off the pier was filled with a huge selection of Mexican style dresses. We went snorkeling and it would have been perfect if the waves were not so rough that day. I would not have eaten any of the food in the restaurants near the beach area, though. There is a chain restaurant (can't remember what) at the pier with a shallow pool and swim up bar and it would a fine place to hang out at if you didn't want to pay for an excursion there.