great holiday getaway to Belikze and Cozumel

We had a wonderful experience on Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas 5 day cruise to Belize and Cozumel Mexico. We booked our trip on . It was a great experience. Our flight from Washington Dc was uneventful.We arrived mid morning then we were able to get a bite to eat before heading on to the ship. Checking and board were great, no lines at all we walked right through the process. We had the afternoon to explore the ship and enjoy the amenities.

Our first day was at sea. We enjoyed all the ship had to offer. Royal Caribbean had a friendly and inviting staff. We were greeted by name from the moment we entered our cabin. Our first day was awesome.

Our second day was in Belize. We booked a shore excursion through , which books to a third party vendor, which then subcontracts to other groups. We planned for a day of exploring Mayan Ruins while tubing through caves. We took shuttle boats from the ship to Belize. This was not well organized. But we got there fast. Our shore excursion guide was great. The caves were flooded due to unusual high amount of rain, so that got cancelled. Our guide still took us to see the Mayan ruins. We had an amazing lunch at a small local place. Then we went to see monkeys.

Our third day was in Cozumel. The shore excursion we booked was an afternoon catamaran trip with two places to go snorkeling. The cruise ship docked right at a pier. There were 7 ships in port that day so the city had 21,000 extra people in town with us. However it was not crowded and there were no problems with transportation. We explored the city in the morning and did some shopping then went back to ship to eat lunch. We headed over to the catamaran which was just a few minutes to walk over to from the ship. The captain and crew were very good. They covered much more than any other crew we had been with. Safety of everyone was their concern and  priority. The snorkeling was not too good, neither was the reef. Both were a disappointment. We were expecting an incredible time. However the catamaran crew was awesome. It was all of the tequilla and margaritas we could drink with homemade guacamole and salsa. We ate and drank as much as we could handle.

We had our 9 year and 15 year old girls with us. They both took advantage of the kids club activities. Both made immediate friends. They both enjoyed having separate time and separate friends to go hang out with and to do things with. It gave us time to enjoy things together as well. We came together as a family for every meal and some activities. Then they always had the option of going backt o kids club with friends they made on board the first day.

Our last day was at sea. Again we enjoyed the ship and all it had to offer. We had such a great time we planned another trip with Royal Caribbean. The ship had everything we wanted and needed. The crew was friendly. The food on the ship was great. We enjoyed every meal. We enjoyed all of the shows we saw. There was an ice skating show, a variety show, a comedy show, a game show, a few bingo events, lots of trivia contests, a belly flop contest, hottest man competition, and a few others. They had an art gallery auction. they offered lots of health and wellness seminars too. There were so many things to do we only could take part in a small sample.  We would recommend the cruise to others.