Western Caribbean Jan. 18th.

We just returned from the Western Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Sun to Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel.   This was our 10th cruise and I was a little concerned about going on an older, smaller ship than we are currently use to (4 of our 10 cruises have been on year old ships), but it turned out to be wonderful.   The Norwegian Sun is kept in better shape than some of the newer Norwegian ships we've been on.  It had one of the best cabin setups that I've seen, why they did away with that specific configuration on newer ships surprises me, however, the bathroom is very small, much smaller than on other ships, and one of my biggest complaints is that the hairdryer was the worst of any I have ever experienced whether on a cruise ship, in a hotel or at a resort.  So a word to the wise, bring your own hairdryer!!    Being on the smaller side, there seemed to be no pushy crowds anywhere on board and no long lines to disembark at different ports which was a plus.  No long waits for elevators, etc.  My second complaint is the fact that there was no coffee (or at least fresh coffee) to be found at 4:30 AM.   I walked that shipped from end to end and found coffee that was obviously sitting there all night, no millk, cream, etc. and basically had to wait until 5:30AM for any of the cafeterias to open.   Disappointing for me, since I get up that early every morning.   Making coffee in my room was just inconvenient since I didn't want to wake my husband at that early hour etc.   

The ports were fine and since we had not been to the these ports were looking forward to seeing them.   I'm not into shopping etc so I'm unable to report on what it was like to purchase things in these ports, so I have no recommendations in that area.

Roatan was okay.  We did the ships excursion to Tabyana Beach and it was a nice beach day.  I was a little worried about the reviews I read about the vendors etc. but they were not a problem a all, once you said "no, sorry", they left you alone.  It was nice to see "security" walking the beach so that you could leave your bag etc on your lounges while you went in the water.  Lunch was provided and it was adequate.  Hamburgs, hot dogs, chicken, rice, fruit etc.  Standard fare. 

Belize:   We chose not to do a ship excursion and went cave tubing with an local co. and it was the best experience.  The best.  Highly recommended.   We had 6 people on our "tour", the excursion from the ship had 20, needless to say ours was much more fun and informative.

Costa Maya:   Another off ship excursion and had a remarkable time going to the Chacchoben Ruins.  So interesting to learn about these incredible ruins.  Amazing.   We then went to a lagoon for a lazy afternoon of just relaxing, kayaking and laying around in hammocks.   My second favorite excursion.   Highly recommended.

Cozumel:  We did the speedboat rental from the ship excursions.   My husband loved it, I thought it was just okay.   We did about 45 minutes of boating and then stopped to snorkel, unfortunately they stopped in an area right in front of a construction area and there was styrofoam floating in the water and literally nothing to see as far as snorkeling went.   I wouldn't recommend this one at all.

All in all it was a wonderful cruise and definitely better than what we were expecting.   That being said, I would definitely consider going on an older ship again.

Jallain.