This was the best vacation I’ve ever had. 43% capacity, no kids, and a free upgrade to a balcony suite, flowing drinks, and happy people. Staff wore KN95 masks 100% of the time. I don’t think this cruise could ever be replicated even if we tried. We knew it was a special one.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
It took about 1.5 hours to get on the boat but the process of Covid testing was very smooth
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Gluten free diner. Had a great GF experience with all restaurants with the exception of Teppanyaki. I couldn’t have half of the items (sauces, appetizers, soy sauce) and instead of simply using a gluten free soy sauce, they decided to make my food separately and not bring it out until others were almost done with the meal. Embarrassing and hangry that evening.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Bingo was a hoot! Ropes course and pool were a lot of fun. No lines anywhere!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Burn the Floor and Six were excellent but my favorite was Syd Normans Rumors show. LOVED IT!
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Excellent service, but unfortunately the tip money we brought for all services was missing from our room on day 4. Our fault for leaving it out on the cpap machine but it was also not left out with a note for them or anything.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Squeaky clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We paid for an inside cabin and got a surprise (free) upgrade to a balcony suite. It was WONDERFUL! I don’t think we will ever go back to an inside cabin again. The only downside is there were no outlets by the bedside so we had to get an extension cord from guest services for a cpap machine.
Ship tip
We don’t ever get seasick, but it took about 6 hours to get in and out of the Mississippi River and that was not pleasant. Made us super dizzy with the twists and turns and got very little sleep as we approached NOLA at the end.
Mystical Chaktuun Cenotes and Mayan Spiritual Cleanse. It was a rocky 30 minute speed ferry over to Playa de Carmen. Many people throwing up on the ferry. The excursion was excellent but also a bit scary in the steam cleanse. We were in a dark enclosed brick hut in the middle of nowhere in a steam bath over hot rocks that were around 130 degrees. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Then we swam through the cenotes that were also a bat habitat. Everyone had to swim to get through the caves. There was no option to sit out. We loved the excursion but it should have been a High Activity Level instead of Moderate. Did not enjoy the hour at the shops at the end. After 8 hours we were ready to get back to the boat.
Turquoise Bay with Snorkeling and Horseback Riding. I cannot say enough good things about this excursion. I’m so glad we did this! I felt like we were on Finding Nemo as we snorkeled the 2nd largest coral reef in the world. The guided horseback riding was so beautiful! Favorite day of the cruise!!
Monkey River Ecotour. The tour was oversold and not enough room for everyone to have a seat on the boat. Some people were sitting in the back and sides which was sketchy. Beautiful scenery but a bit weird that there was a concrete path in the rainforest. We stopped at the village to use the bathroom which we had to pay $1 to use. Some people didn’t like that. Just a so so tour. We live in Florida and I felt like the Monkey River was not much different than home. My husband is a master arborist and was very sad to see all of the invasive species taking over the rainforest.
Nice beach experience but we had to leave at 7:15am. Which was really 6:15am because we had to set our clocks forward that night. I wouldn’t do this again simply because the panhandlers coming to my beach chair and selling trinkets every 3 minutes did not allow for much relaxation.
It was a terrible thing to read in the national news the night before that there was a covid outbreak on the ship. We received zero information about this from Norwegian. It took about 1.5 hours to get off the boat. Too long and scary not knowing what was going on. Glad we were all given take home covid tests.
Thanks for taking the time to share your review. The pandemic has certainly changed a lot of the protocols for cruising, but at least the cruise industry had been able to restart.
@MadySong09 No kids under 12 as all passengers have to be fully vaccinated 2 weeks prior. We just made it in time. Kids can come on board within a week or so if they got the first dose as soon as it was approved in the US nearly 5 weeks ago now.
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