Nice Break from reality

Overall the cruise was good. We have a special diet (kosher) and the service and food were terrific. The variety and quality was very good and the special diet manager did a very good job accommodating us. The balcony stateroom was spacious and our steward did a great job keeping our room fresh without disturbing us.

The seas were rough the week we sailed and there were strong winds. We did feel the motion a lot on this cruise. We were not able to stop in Costa Maya as a result. However, we did stop in Cozumel at 4PM the day we were scheduled to be in Costa Maya and stayed there in port overnight.

The entertainment on this ship was not as good as other cruises we've been on. The production shows were not good at all. Marambolla- the cirque style show was impressive and the hypnotist was good. The game shows in the Spinnaker lounge were ok, not great. We chose NCL this time because the last NCL cruise we took on the Gem had terrific entertainment. We've also been on two Princess cruises. The entertainment on Princess was very well done but geared to an older crowd. So we were disappointed this time. However, we still had a great cruise!  We did not participate in bingo or deal or no deal, but we did enjoy the trivia and name that tune.

We got the ultimate beverage package as a bonus when we booked our cruise and thought it was great to have. The 5'o Clock somewhere bar is a really nice space and we enjoyed the live music there.

We were concerned about Zika and used lots of insect repellent, but I saw literally one mosquito on the entire cruise.

Roatan Bay, Honduras-  We booked a driver for the day with a private company (Rony's Tours). We went to a monkey stop to see and play with Capuchin monkeys. We also got to hold a sloth and various birds. Then we went to the Carambola botanical gardens and did a moderate hike up the mountain and saw many different types of plants. The jungle was beautiful. Would recommend booking a driver in advance for the day so you can see different things on the island.

Belize City- Tendering process was smooth, we got up early to get the tender tickets and were off the boat in one of the first groups. We went zip-lining and cave tubing through a private company (Buttsup). It was so much fun! I was scared at first but after the first run it was just fun. The guides do a very good job. Highly recommend. 

Cozumel- When we docked on Thursday at 4pm, we got off the ship and just walked around the shops for a while. The port is nice and feels pretty safe. The next morning there were many taxi drivers at the port with signs advertising various beaches. We picked one, Buccanos Grill and Beach Club and the driver took us there. It was $30 per person for round trip transportation, admission, use of facilities, lounge chairs and snorkeling gear. The beach was beautiful and snorkeling was nice. There were plenty of shady areas for when we wanted to get out of the sun. I can't comment on the food since we keep kosher and did not eat at the restaurant. There were many waiters coming around to take food and drink orders but they were not pushy. When we were ready to head back to the ship, we asked the driver to drop us off a few blocks away so we could do some shopping on the way back. There is a really nice town square a few blocks from the ship and tons of stores along the way. We enjoyed the walk and shopping.