Our most recent cruise was aboard the Norwegian Escape, where we ventured to the Western Caribbean on a 7 night cruise. We departed from Miami with an itinerary including stops in Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize & Honduras. Flying out of New England in February can be risky with snow so, not wanting to risk the chance of a weather-related delay we chose to fly into Miami the day before the cruise. It gave us an opportunity to spend some time relaxing poolside (a great perk since it was freezing at home) and take our time getting to the port the next morning.
Day 1: Miami – Embarkation day
Since we weren’t under time constraints of a flight we were able to pick which (free) hotel-provided port shuttle we wanted and got to the terminal nice and early, avoiding major check-in lines. We were told check-in would take longer than usual due to more in depth passport checks because of the newly discovered Covid-19 virus. We flew through the line and were actually one of the first few people aboard the ship! We took advantage of our early arrival and made show/activity reservations that couldn’t be made in advance and got the kids all registered at the kids club. Then we enjoyed a delicious lunch before spending the afternoon exploring the ship and settling in. From top to bottom and bow to stern, the Escape definitely seemed like it would have more than enough onboard activities to keep us entertained! Minigolf, ropes course, ping pong to name a few and a variety of daily activities. We made all the dinner and most show reservations before leaving home so when dinner time came we were all set to enjoy our first delicious dinner at sea followed by a show.
Day 2: Day at Sea
After a sit down breakfast with a beautiful, seemingly endless ocean view we got ready for a day of relaxation and fun. We headed to the top deck, claimed some chairs and found our spot for the day.
The Escape has the largest ropes course at sea! It’s a three-story course with 99 challenges including a zipline that glides you across the ship and two planks that allow you to walk out over the side of the (moving) boat! I had heard the course occasionally closes for weather like high winds so we decided to check the course off our list while it was open. I’m not normally one to be scared of heights, but there were parts of this course that were terrifying! Even though you know you’re strapped in, standing out over the side of a moving cruise ship with the ocean below you does not feel safe! However, it was really fun and something the whole family got to do together. FYI sneakers are required for everyone doing the course.
Next up, water fun! The Aqua Park on the Norwegian Escape is also one of the largest at sea, with four water slides, a Kid’s Aqua Park, two swimming pools and four hot tubs! The girls and I grabbed inner tubes and raced down the Aqua Racer tandem waterslide while the boys headed to Free Fall – the fastest waterslide at sea. I’m not a huge fan of closed in waterslides and didn’t feel like fighting to get all my jewelry off (esp my wedding ring) so I stuck to the smaller slides but my son LOVED this slide! The girls would have loved it also but they didn’t weigh enough to ride.
After a break for a pub lunch overlooking a game show on stage in the atrium we took some time to relax ondeck while gazing out at the sea. Meanwhile the kids had more water fun while mixing in some onboard activities. We ended the day with a great dinner accompanied by a live band and dancing. It was a great first day at sea!
Day 3: Roatán, Bay Islands Honduras
We woke up nice and early ready to depart the ship for an adventure in Roatán, located just 30 miles off the coast of Honduras. I did some research before we left home and booked an excursion to Manawakie Eco Nature Park. We learned about Roatán’s history, island culture and got to have some amazing animal Interactions with sloths and White Faced Capuchin monkeys! We each got to hold a sloth on our hip. They were just like a little toddler sitting there with a big smile and surprisingly had much coarser fur than you’d think. Next, we spent some time in a cage full of curious little monkeys who jumped all over us and tried to swipe things out of people’s pockets. My husband lost a coin and a map! I LOVE monkeys so this was a dream come true!
From the nature park we were brought to a pool and beautiful beach area where we got to spend a few hours swimming and relaxing before being transferred back to the ship.
We had a few hours to spare before our dinner reservation so we enjoyed some of the ship’s activities – including a Thriller dance class (which was quite entertaining) before heading to one of the best hibachi dinners we’ve ever been to. The chef was incredibly interactive and had us all singing and cheering him on. We’ll all remember this day for the rest of our lives!
Day 4: Harvest Caye, Belize
The next morning, we awoke in Harvest Caye, a 75-acre oasis in Southern Belize. There was a large pool, salt-water lagoon for water sports and a beautiful 7-acre beach. A building called The Flighthouse, a 136-foot high building for zip lining and an observation deck was also on the island, but due to winds it unfortunately was closed while we were there. We took time to explore a little wildlife walking trail, an area to purchase food and drinks and a cute shopping village. Although, we spent most of the day relaxing on the beach and enjoying the warm water.
We had a great day of fun in the sun then headed back to the ship late afternoon to take part in a circus themed escape room. We didn’t win but it was fairly challenging and a fun activity. We ended the night with a delicious Brazilian dinner – my daughter especially loved the grilled pineapple! Afterward, our son headed to teen karaoke, the girls went to circus school at the kids club and my husband and I headed to a comedy show.
Day 5: Costa Maya,Mexico (became ½ day at sea & Cozumel, Mexico)
We expected to wake up just off the shores of Costa Maya. Due to an issue with taxi drivers picketing, NCL unfortunately decided to skip the port and go on to Cozumel. We had a fun excursion scheduled to see ancient ruins and have never visited Costa Maya so we were pretty bummed to miss it. Instead, we ended up with an extra half a day at sea and docked in Cozumel, located off the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula late afternoon.
We spent the morning relaxing and staying cool on the top deck before heading to lunch. The Ship docked around 2ish and we got off shortly after. We walked around the town and did a little shopping before returning to the ship for some break dance lessons and a delicious French dinner – each meal came complete with a cloche (fancy silver cover) which our one daughter found very exciting.
Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico
Since we spent the night in port, we were able to just get up and go the next day. After a quick breakfast at the buffet we made our way off the ship. We’ve been to Cozumel before so we knew exactly what we wanted to do. We rented a jeep and had a great day exploring the island. We hit two beautiful beaches, had a delicious lunch in an amazing restaurant we’ve visited before, checked out a natural blow hole and made our way back to town. I strongly recommended renting a car and going out to explore the beautiful beaches on the other side of the island. Cozumel is a fairly small island and easy to navigate once you get out of town just beware the police are a bit corrupt. We got pulled over for the bogus reason we “zigged and zagged” and the officer accused my husband of drinking (he watched us pull out of a restaurant 2min before). He then told us we could give him $100 if we didn’t want to waste time going to the police station. We ended up paying some money (fortunately our money was in separate places so he didn’t know what we really had) and that was the end of it. I know we didn’t do anything wrong and as frustrating as it was we unfortunately had no choice but to pay. This was the third time renting a car on Cozumel and this is the only issue we ever had so don’t let it scare you.
After returning our jeep we spent a little more time in town shopping for silver jewelry and a leather belt (all good things to get when in Mexico). My son chose to spend his souvenir money on a fish foot pedicure – he sat with his feet in a tank and actually let fish eat away the dry skin – so bizarre!
We ended the day with another great dinner and a really fun glow party on the top deck. Everyone wore white, got glow sticks and they had a really great DJ. Our one daughter didn’t feel well so I unfortunately headed back to the cabin early with her, but the rest of the family had a great night!
Day 7: Day at Sea
We enjoyed our last day at sea relaxing on the boat and redoing activities we enjoyed earlier in the week. After lunch our teenage son somehow convinced the buffet to give him a pigs head they had on display at the buffet so him and his sister had a great time ding dong ditching various cabins and leaving them a surprise. No harm was done and everyone found it funny, and something they’ll always remember. The evening included a pre-dinner snack of sushi and another delicious dinner before checking out a really cool dueling piano show.
Day 8: Miami – Disembarkation day
With our bags all packed we made our way up to the buffet for one last breakfast. We had an uber arranged and ample time before our flight so we weren’t in any major rush to disembark. When the time came and after one last “zero calorie blueberry muffin” we made our way down the gangway for the last time.
We had an amazing vacation full of so many memories and new inside family jokes that will last a lifetime. We were very fortunate to be one of the last few ships to go out before Covid19 really hit, stranding passengers at sea and eventually bringing the entire cruise industry to a halt.
Take vacations, go as many places as you can! You can always make money, you can’t always make memories!
