Choosing Western Caribbean Cruise

[MarilouR]

We are barely off the Zuiderdam and are eagerly planning our next cruise. We are looking at the Western Caribbean. Our first two cruises (both HAL) were in cooler climates - Canada/New England & Alaska, where I got the privilege of crossing off some of the things on my "life's to-do list" One thing on my husband's list is to visit the Mayan ruins. Unfortunately, I have a sun allergy, so flying to Mexico for a week isn't going to cut it. So we have decided on a cruise, as I know I will have shelter and activities to keep me busy (and great air conditioning :)), if the sun gets too much. We are looking at Mar/April 2010.

We have narrowed it down to 2 cruises:

1. HAL - Ryndam - 7 days - Return from Tampa Bay, Florida. Ports are: Key West; Belize City, Belize; Mahogany Bay (Roatan) Honduras; Costa Maya, Mexico and 2 sea days

2. Celebrity - Mercury - 10 days - Return from Charleston, South Carolina. Ports are: Key West; Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Cozumel, Mexico; and Nassau, Bahamas and 4 sea days.

I am very torn as there are things about both cruises that intrigue me. My husabnd will basically leave the decision up to me. We love HAL and have thoroughly enjoyed both cruises with them, but I also love the idea of 10 days rather than 7 and the departure port for Celebrity, in addition to the stop in Cozumel. Has anybody done either of these itineraries, or anything close?

This will be our first time in the Caribbean, so any suggestions, ideas or thoughts would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[geologygeek]

We did the Veendam ex-Tampa 8 days last November. Loved the itinerary, but prefer other HAL ships over the Veendam. We went to Tikal (from Santo Thomas) that was amazing, but we also enjoyed trips to ruins from Costa Maya. We missed out on Roatan due to civil unrest (all sorted now though) - that port is supposed to be beautiful and would (IMHO) beat Cozumel hands down!

[RuthC]

I was on the Veendam Western Caribbean in February this year. It was a very similar itinerary (we went to Guatamala instead of Honduras), on an (at the time) identical sister ship.

I found the sun to be blazingly bright, to the point that it hurt my eyes, even though I was wearing good sunglasses with an anti-glare coating. You will need to be extremely careful.
I also thought the heat was oppressive, but I truly prefer cooler climes.

I enjoyed the itinerary, as I found the history interesting. The trip to the ruins outside Costa Maya was very good, but getting to/from the bus is a hike in the brilliant sun.
I loved the ship (at the time). I had my best cruise ever on the Ryndam, so would be thrilled to return to that ship.

[geologygeek]

If traveling at Christmas is no drama I'd be looking at the 18 December sailing on the Maasdam ex Fort Lauderdale - good itinerary (and a stop in Cozumel!)

Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Santo Tomas De Castilla,; Roatan, Honduras; Georgetown, GC, Cayman Islands

The price isn't that bad too - about the same we paid for the 8 dayer ex-Tampa last year at the start of November!

[FRANKIEDNYC]

:) i'd go with the mercury for the extra days. Imho celebrity is about as clost hal as you can get in almost all categories, food may even be better

[MarilouR]

Thanks for the comments. Unfortunately, Christmas would not work as our son comes home from school for the holidays and we have a new granddaughter (our 1st grandchild) who turns 1 about that time and who we would not want to be away from at Christmas time.

Ruth, I have also been on the Veendam (it was our first cruise) and loved her, so I am sure I would enjoy the Ryndam.

[Willsot]

I prefer Eastern or Southern Caribbean over Western, especially for a first Caribbean cruise. But if the Mayan ruins are a priority I would select whichever cruise offers the most in such an excursion. Our general rule of thumb on cruising has been the longer, the better, so I would choose a 10-day over 7.

[alcpa1]

We will experiment with HAL on the Ryndam in November from Tampa. The big draw for us was no Cancun, Cozumel or Jamaica. We have been to those ports many times and it was hard giving up our loyalty status with RCI's cruise ending in Colon, Panama, or our status with a Celebrity cruise. We thought the itinerary was novel enough to switch gears and give HAL a chance. We know the ship is an older vessel but we like the smaller ships and hope it is at least comparable to Celebrity. For us it's a port cruise.
Give the itineraries another glance.

[MarilouR]

I have been looking closely at both itineraries and researching what is available in each port.

Both cruises have, Key West, Costa Maya and Belize in common. The ruins in Costa Maya and the caves in Belize seem very interesting. The difference is the addition of Cozumel and Nassau with Celebrity instead of Roatan with HAL.

Charleston also has a greater appeal than Tampa Bay for me. One of my concerns, of course, is my allergy. It has been 12 years since I have been to a hotter climate - San Diego was the last time and I had a somewhat nasty reaction. One thought is that a shorter cruise might be preferable if I do have a reaction (I break out in hives). But because it has been so long since I have been in a hotter climate, I don't know if I'll even have one. As I stated earlier, I really want to do this for my DH and I want it to be something he'll never forget. :)