Cruise Pics! (Warning... LOTS of Pics)

Ok so I'm sure I told some of you I was going on a cruise last week. We went with my Husband's parent's, kind of a family vacation except they weren't stuck to us all the time, we just had dinner together every night and they paid for everything.

We sailed with Norwegian Cruise Line on their ship the Spirit. We started out in New Orleans, one day at sea, ported in Costa Maya, Mexico, on to Belize City, Belize, Roatan, Honduras, Cozumel, Mexico, another day at sea, and back to New Orleans. It was AWESOME!

For every single day we had gourmet food whenever we wanted, as much as we wanted, it was sinful. I won't go into details on each day description.

I figured y'all would want pics! So... Pics!

The Ship:


Day 1. New Orleans. Took a Limo from our Hotel to the port. My first chance to ride in a limo. Got to laugh at DH who decided to partake of the free liquor in the limo, which was apparently awful. Got the VIP treatment going on board and had lunch while our bags were delivered to our stateroom.

Day 2. At Sea. I woke up at Sunrise, which was gorgeous. I went to the Spa and otherwise did absolutely nothing. Husband played Bingo. He won a raffle and was awarded "Bingo King" and got this "awesome" suit, which if he wore it he could play bingo for free the whole trip. Had Portraits made on the ship, but haven't had those scanned in yet.




Day 3. Costa Maya, Mexico. We had a Tour of the Kohunlich Mayan Ruins. This involved a 2 hour bus ride to the ruins, a couple hours walking around the ruins, and the bus ride back. Rigel, why didn't you tell me that it is approx. 1Million Degrees in Mexico? On a side note, I got bit by a mysterious red jungle bug, but so far I have not died so we decided it is probably not dangerous.





Day 4. Belize City, Belize. We had a snorkel and private beach tour. Went over to Belize City early in the morning so we could check out the tourist area and get souvenirs. Then took the snorkeling boat out to snorkel and then to the private beach and back to the ship. Oh and there was unlimited rum punch on the snorkel boat (after the snorkeling was done!)








Day 5. Roatan, Honduras. No Tour this day. We just went to port and played tourist. I had to make sure and drink something out of a coconut, since I was in the Caribbean. Did some shopping and sun soaking and general touristing.







Day 6. Cozumel, Mexico. DH and I split up this day. Mother-in-Law and I went to swim with the Dolphins and DH went to go do something involving dune buggies, sink-holes, and mud. First I went shopping in a great open air mall they have right on the port and got some awesome earrings and a new top. Then Dolphins! He got really muddy...

I got to Feed, Kiss, Hug and Be Kissed by a Dolphin named Nautica. We also got to stay in the water with them while they did several jumps and flips together which was pretty awesome.








Day 7. At Sea. Packed up, played bingo, in general just relaxed our last day of the cruise. What a trip!


Hope you guys enjoyed my snapshot of my week in paradise!

I did see several shows on board. I saw a Broadway style performance which included shorts/single songs from several recent Broadway musicals, an acrobatic show, an excellent stand-up comedian, and a magic show. There was also a disco and an 80's dance one night.

As for food there are several different places you can eat that the food is included in your fare. There were two main "Dining Rooms" (sit down, fine dining type), a Buffet, and a "24-Hour Diner" style place you could go to and get whatever you wanted, as much as you wanted all included in your price to get on board. Then there were I think 10 or so "Specialty" Restaurants where they charged a flat "A-La-Carte" fee and you could do the same there. For example, one of them was a sushi bar. You might pay $15 to go to the sushi bar, but you could eat all the sushi you wanted to order for that flat rate.

Alcohol and Sodas are not included but water, tea, juice and coffee were. At the beginning of the cruise we were able to buy a sticker they put on our room key for unlimited sodas for about $50, and anytime we wanted a soda we just presented that and we could have soda, otherwise it would have been about $2 apiece with no free refills.

Once you get on the ship, you have an option as to whether or not you want to pay for anything else. At least with the cruise line we were on, tips were already calculated in to everything, even charged daily to your room for the room staff. There are things for an up charge, or you can stick to things that are included and still have a perfectly good time! For the most part the entertainment on board was all included, but as I mentioned the specialty restaurants were extra (the main dining rooms were great too though, we ate there about half the time). Our main expense was our shore excursions, and alcohol.

I know that you CAN cruise on a budget, but we did not.My father in law is a doctor, they were paying for our trip and they told us to not worry about it and have a good time. Our Balcony Stateroom was $750 per person for the week, and our total room bill (including alcoholic beverages, my trip to the spa, gift shop, portraits, shore excursions, etc.) was $2000. So... Around $3500 for our trip, plus whatever my husband lost in the on-board casino. Just to give an idea of what sort of cost to expect for what we did.