Star Trek the Cruise 2 - Voyage 1 (January 5, 2018 - January 11, 2018) - Norwegian Jade - Roatán, Honduras; Harvest Caye, Belize; & Costa Maya, Mexico
Norwegian Jade Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 50
4 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 22, 2018
Ship: Norwegian Jade
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 5030
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
Star Trek the Cruise II on NCL Norwegian Jade Norwegian Cruise Line “Norwegian Jade” Star Trek the Cruise II - Voyage I, January 5 – January 11, 2018, Roatán, Honduras; Harvest Caye, Belize; & Costa Maya, Mexico Impressions ________________________________________ SHIP As this was our first time cruising, we were in awe of how beautiful, comfortable and elegant the Norwegian Jade was. The ship was breathtaking and majestic. Once we has boarded, we were present to the beautiful atrium felt very open even with the amount of passengers that had boarded before us. For a mid-size ship that was refitted a few years ago, we were very surprised by just how tall, large and wide it was. Moving throughout the ship was not bad once you get your bearings and figure out a pattern. ITINERARY Since this was a Star Trek theme/convention charter cruise by Entertainment Cruise Production (www.startrekthecruise.com) the itinerary was slightly different while similar to a standard NCL Western Caribbean cruise with the exclusion of one port. The Star Trek cruise was a 6-days cruise beginning and ending in Miami, FL while visiting Roatán, Honduras; Harvest Caye, Belize (NCL Private Island); and Costa Maya, Mexico. For this cruise, the Norwegian Jade was the only ship to visit Harvest Caye, Belize at the time and was the only ship to dock at the port in Roatán, Honduras which allowed us to enjoy both ports without much hassle from large groups and having to be tendered back and forth between the port and the ship. At Costa Maya, Mexico we were also docked at the port but with 2 other cruise ships. We found this cool as we were able to see the other ships and how they compared in size to ours. It was also fun to have 2000+ Trekkies disembarking at each port. At Roatán, Honduras, our first port of call, we shopped around Coxen Hole before visiting Gumbalimba Park for our excursion. Gumbalimba Park was a great experience as we had learned a lot about the history of the island as well as of the animals that make this island home. After returning back to Coxen Hole, we decided to do a little bit more shopping for gifts and souvenirs before heading back to the ship and our cabin to end our day in Honduras. At Harvest Caye, Belize, our second port of call, we decided to make this a relaxing beach and water excursion day. At Harvest Caye we began the day at beach to soak up the sun and enjoy the water as soon as we disembarked before it got too late to enjoy. Our first excursion was non-guided kayaking on the island’s lagoon to take in the scenery which was nice since we’ve never been kayaking. Our last excursion was on the electric float boats that also share the same lagoon as the kayaks and stand-up paddle board excursions. We did the electric float boat to just coast and relax as we went around the lagoon taking in the scenery again as well as looking at the wildlife that was around the lagoon. For lunch, visited the Landshark Bar & Grill, the food was great and had a lot of flavor. After lunch we visited the pool which was very spacious even for having a large amount of guest in and around it. We were able to find a perfect spot near the zero force entrance of the pool were we could rest up before going into the pool. The pool water was great and it even has a swim up bar with chairs and tables in the water which was cool. After enjoying the pool, we began to do a little shopping for gifts and souvenirs before heading back to the ship and our cabin to end our day in Belize. At Costa Maya, Mexico, our third and last port of call, we decided to make this a resting day and relaxing shopping day for gifts and souvenirs since there were a lot of smaller shops at this port. One thing we notice was that if you speak Spanish well enough to hold a conversation when shopping around then the vendors tend to not both you too much and let you look around at what they have to sell. Plus, it helps in haggling when buy some gifts and souvenirs. After shopping, we decided to have lunch at Cantina Latina which was a good choice since they had a live DJ and we were able to see one of the shows being performed around the port. The food at Cantina Latina was good. After lunch, we went back aboard ship to our cabin to relax and unwind for the rest of the day while most of the guests were still at port. CREW The ship’s crew were excellent for this cruise. Because of the crew we have an impressive opinion of NCL. The crew worked hard on addressing any issues that we had whether it was with our cabin, booked excursions, ship services, mobile app, bill and food. COMMUNICATION & NOTIFICATIONS The communication and notifications between the ship’s crew and the guest was very good as most of the information was provided by the daily paper and the room’s television. If there was any issues that needed to be addressed or questions that needed to be answered any of the ship’s crew was available and able to answer and address it. STATEROOM Our cabin for this cruise was a Family Oceanview on deck 5 Mid-Forward. For the size the cabin was surprisingly very comfortable and spacious. We had enough outlets and USB ports to charge our devices. We also had enough room and storage to put our clothes away as well as store our luggage out of the way. SHORE EXCURSIONS When it comes down to excursions we did a total of 3 shore excursions between the 3 ports of call, 1 in Honduras and 2 in Belize. We would recommend the Gumbalimba Park when visiting Roatán, Honduras since it is very informative. We would recommend enjoying any of the excursions in the lagoon area of Harvest Caye, Belize as a relaxing way to look at some of the wildlife. OVERALL IMPRESSION Our final impression with NCL and the Norwegian Jade is that the ship has an excellent crew and NCL has an excellent ship and crew. NCL, as whole, has impressed us and has made us lifelong NCL cruisers.Embarkation
The embarkation experience at the Port of Miami was great and fairly easy.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Many of the dinning rooms and specialty restaurants were themed for the Star Trek cruise but they served their regular menu with name changes. We have to say that all of the main dining rooms, specialty restaurants, buffets were great. We couldn't find a bad meal as everything tasted great.
Onboard Activities
Since this was a Star Trek theme/convention charter cruise the standard NCL activities were replaced by activities produced by Entertainment Cruise Productions featuring musical guests and the most of the Star Trek actors and actresses aboard the ship.
Entertainment
Since this was a Star Trek theme/convention charter cruise the standard NCL shows were replaced by shows produced by Entertainment Cruise Productions featuring musical guests and the most of the Star Trek actors and actresses aboard the ship.
Children's Programs
This was a charter cruise that did not allow young children and young teens aboard.
Service and Staff
The NCL services and NCL staff were perfect and great. Our cabin steward, Dino, was perfect and had a vast amount of knowledge about the ship and the ports that we were visiting. He was able to offer a lot of great tips and information that helped us out during our first cruise. Our hostess, Goy, at the Atrium Bar made us feel at home and was another pleasant staff member that made our first cruise memorable.
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Our cabin was perfect for us. I found it very comfortable for its size and this is coming from a wide-build (5' 10"; 262lbs) man. Even the bathroom was comfortable. The room was very clean. I would recommend this room. We will be trying amid-ship inside cabin on deck 4 during Star Trek the Cruise 3 about the Jade in January 2019.
Ship tip
If you’re on a ship that is docked at the port it is a great idea to do your souvenir and gift shopping before doing any of your excursions, if time permits, so that you can drop them off back in your cabin aboard the ship before heading to your excursion.
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Ports of call
Miami has a lot to offer. If you want to go to the beach there are many to choose from, from South Pointe and Key Biscayne up to Ft. Lauderdale.
For shopping you have many malls and plazas to choose from as well. Some of the more known ones are Aventura Mall, Dolphin Mall, Bayside Marketplace, Shoppes at Sunset Place, Lincoln Road "Mall", Bal Harbour Shops, and Dadeland Mall just to name a few.
There is also a lot of bars, restaurants and clubs to choose from as well. We would recommend La Carreta at 8th Street (Calle Ocho) or the one in Hialeah for good cuban food.
There are many hotel to choose from as well. If you want to be close to the port then look at the hotels around Bayside Marketplaces, Brickell, Downtown Miami and Biscayne Bay. But for cheaper hotels you may have to look towards the airports. There are several hotels on or near the Dolphin Mall property, such as the Courtyard by Marriot at Dolphin Mall, and the Miami International Airport that allows you to have a straight run to the Port of Miami with ease. For even cheaper hotels you may have to look around Hollywood, Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton near I-95 or the Florida Turnpike.
If you are driving from a state that has an electronic toll system on toll roads then you would want to check the Florida Sunpass website to see if your e-toll device or sticker is compatible and will work with the Florida Sunpass system. If your state's e-toll system is not compatible or you don't have a Sunpass device or sticker and want to get one, you can buy one at most Florida service plazas and stores, such as Publix Supermarkets and CVS Pharmacies. Once you have one you would then setup an account and add funds to it. A couple of benefits is that you can just coast through the "Sunpass only" lanes without having to stop and you will also get a small discount on the toll, so instead of paying a $1.00 toll you may pay between $0.70-$0.90 for the toll just for using Sunpass. We don't know if the discount will apply to compatible e-toll devices and stickers from outside states.
Getting to the port from I-95 is fairly easy by taking it to I-395, which is the same as the 836 expressway (Dolphin Expressway), toward Miami Beach. This will lead you to the Port of Miami Tunnel that will take you under the Biscayne Bay and to the Port of Miami. If you are using local streets and want to avoid getting on the highway then you can use the Downtown Miami - Port of Miami bridge near the American Airlines Arena and Bayside Marketplace.
Disembarkation
9 Comments
DesertBear360 6 years ago
January 2019's Star Trek the Cruise 3 is on the Jade and will be departing from Miami again. The ports of call this go around are Great Stirrup Cay; Falmouth, Jamaica; and Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. This time around we booked a mid-ship inside cabin on deck 4. Last time we had a forward mid-ship Family Oceanview cabin on deck 5. It will be great to compare both cabin types.