FIRST TIME CRUISER Looking For Any Advice

I decided to take a page from the movie "Christmas With the Kranks" and offered my sons a cruise instead of Christmas. They of course jumped on it. None of us have ever cruised before. I have done a lot of reading and I think I have a lot of it figured out but I'm still willing to take any and all advice. Help with "Manly" excursions would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm a single father and live in PA and I have three sons who will be going. We aren't all together too often so we are really looking forward to this trip. My sons are 17 (lives with me) 28 (lives in Florida) and 30 (lives 2 hours from me)

Departing from Tampa on Norwegian "Dawn"

Jan. 12, 2014 - Jan. 19, 2014 (I will turn 51 while on the cruise)

Family suite (no balcony) Deck 12

Stops in Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel

As for Cozumel I have been to Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Riviera Maya five times on land trips so I think I have that area figured out as far as excursions go.

Again I appreciate any advice or what to expect.

I decided to take a page from the movie "Christmas With the Kranks" and offered my sons a cruise instead of Christmas. They of course jumped on it. None of us have ever cruised before. I have done a lot of reading and I think I have a lot of it figured out but I'm still willing to take any and all advice. Help with "Manly" excursions would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm a single father and live in PA and I have three sons who will be going. We aren't all together too often so we are really looking forward to this trip. My sons are 17 (lives with me) 28 (lives in Florida) and 30 (lives 2 hours from me)

 

Departing from Tampa on Norwegian "Dawn"

Jan. 12, 2014 - Jan. 19, 2014 (I will turn 51 while on the cruise)

Family suite (no balcony) Deck 12

Stops in Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel

As for Cozumel I have been to Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Riviera Maya five times on land trips so I think I have that area figured out as far as excursions go.

 

Again I appreciate any advice or what to expect.

The family suites on 12 are nice and they are new in the last couple of years as they moved the lounge that was there down to the back of the ship. You can walk down the hall through the sliding door to the pool and farther down to the buffet. Up a couple floors to the bar that is covered that serves limited food.

Welcome!!!

You will really enjoy the family suite and all of it's perks! What a great way to spend some time together.

Also check out the ports of call board for other ideas on your stops.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

By manly excursions do you mean active/strenuous ones?

Belize you could do cave tubing/zip-lining

Roatan also has zip-lining

My friend rented dune buggies in Cozumel or Costa Maya ( I can't remember which) and had a blast!!!

I rented wave runners from Pez Quadro in Costa Maya- it was rough water but fun

Snorkeling w/ nurse sharks and stingrays in Belize is what we are doing in Feb

Also the discover scuba excursion in Belize got 2 thumbs up from my husband and best friend

I decided to take a page from the movie "Christmas With the Kranks" and offered my sons a cruise instead of Christmas. They of course jumped on it. None of us have ever cruised before. I have done a lot of reading and I think I have a lot of it figured out but I'm still willing to take any and all advice. Help with "Manly" excursions would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm a single father and live in PA and I have three sons who will be going. We aren't all together too often so we are really looking forward to this trip. My sons are 17 (lives with me) 28 (lives in Florida) and 30 (lives 2 hours from me)

 

Departing from Tampa on Norwegian "Dawn"

Jan. 12, 2014 - Jan. 19, 2014 (I will turn 51 while on the cruise)

Family suite (no balcony) Deck 12

Stops in Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel

As for Cozumel I have been to Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Riviera Maya five times on land trips so I think I have that area figured out as far as excursions go.

 

Again I appreciate any advice or what to expect.

Check out the "ports of call" section of Cruise Critic. Tons of useful information on excursions and things to do.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

You will love the family suite. However, make sure you get the one with the murphy bed. Otherwise, you will only have a king bed and a pullout sofa. Will be tight sleeping arrangements for 4 grown men. Either way, two of you will have to sleep together unless you have a cot brought in.

I've been to those ports many times. I highly recommend snorkeling in Belize and Roatan. I've also ziplined in Belize and rode ATV's in Costa Maya. Those are some that come to mind right away.

Have a great trip! -Donna

We did get the suite with the murphy bed as I am 6'-5" tall and my one son is 6'-2".

We were looking at the cave tubing in Belize and the ATVs in Costa Maya. They both seem to have great reviews.

I love the advice from all of you. :p

The best advice I can give new cruisers is to buy travel insurance! It's available through the cruise line, most travel agents, or insuremytrip.com. The cruise line will not refund your cruise payment once it's past final payment.

Do a search on the cruise critic forums for stories of people who did or did not have insurance.

My suggestion for Costa Maya is a day trip to Maya Chan Beach. Check out their web site. Also look at ports of call and you will see all the recommendations.

I would look at zip lining and visiting the monkeys while in Roatan. Both can be arranged on a tour with Victor Bodden

In Costa Maya I love going to Maya Chan. Very nice beach day with great food and drinks. They also offer kayaking and snorkeling for the people who want to keep moving.

In Belize I would recommend Cave Tubing. There are packages that combine the cave tubing with ATV rides or zip lining as well. Plenty of companies to use. I went with VIV and was very happy. By having the suite you will be able to get on the first tender which will help with timing.

Whatever you decide, have a great cruise. :)

If you haven't done so already, join the roll call for your cruise. You will see what other CC passengers are planning for your cruise sailing. Usually this group sets up a "Meet and Greet" of your Roll Call group with the Ships Officers. This gives you a little insight into the operation of the cruise and allows you to add faces to the screen names of those in your Roll Call. Have Fun.

Be onnthe lookout for a single Mom and her three daughters about the same ages as youfyand your sons :D:D

Be sure to plan one on one activity with each son during the course of your cruise and do a family night in the upscale steakhouse..utilize the ship's photographers to capture special pics

You might also keep a video and written log about the week and present to your sons next Father's Day...

Enjoy this time...when they become married and have their own families they will remember this cruise with you as something very special

What a wonderful thing to do! You and your sons will have a blast! The only thing I can offer for excursions is what many have already said - Maya Chan in Costa Maya was an amazing day - lots of food, drink, great loungers/chairs and of course the water!

No matter what you do, you will have a great time. The Dawn is a great ship, go and enjoy!!

Bluejai

I have read lots of positive reviews on cave tubingin Belize but we were extremely bored. We were in a group of 8 linked together by legs under armpits and the guide pulled us through the water. We expected a current. Maybe it was the time of the year but the water was totally flat.

There are AI resorts in Roatan that loos like fun and good deals. I have heard mixed reviews about some of the cozumel ones. If you are considering doing and AI anywhere,,it is helpful to see what other ships are in port because if there are a lot you can count on it being overcrowded. They say they control the number, but their definition of too many is probably different than ours.

Depending on whether you like to drink or that scene, there are some pretty fun bars in Cozumel and your 17yo would have no trouble getting in.

Zip lining is fun if you have never done it. The one in Belize is fine. Not horrible, not great. Not sure about any of the others in those stops.

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I decided to take a page from the movie "Christmas With the Kranks" and offered my sons a cruise instead of Christmas. They of course jumped on it. None of us have ever cruised before. I have done a lot of reading and I think I have a lot of it figured out but I'm still willing to take any and all advice. Help with "Manly" excursions would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm a single father and live in PA and I have three sons who will be going. We aren't all together too often so we are really looking forward to this trip. My sons are 17 (lives with me) 28 (lives in Florida) and 30 (lives 2 hours from me)

 

Departing from Tampa on Norwegian "Dawn"

Jan. 12, 2014 - Jan. 19, 2014 (I will turn 51 while on the cruise)

Family suite (no balcony) Deck 12

Stops in Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel

As for Cozumel I have been to Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Riviera Maya five times on land trips so I think I have that area figured out as far as excursions go.

 

Again I appreciate any advice or what to expect.

Wow, what a great gift and a really nice way to make lasting memories with your kids! Have a great time!

Roatan is one of my favourite places in the region. Check out Victor Bodden tours; his company offers great tours at REALLY fair prices. West Beach Beach is really nice if you guys are into the beach thing and the monkey farm with all the monkeys and tropical birds was really cool [MUCH better than I expected it to be!]. Snorkeling is supposed to be fantastic in Roatan as well but I cannot tell you from experience.

Belize has many Mayan sites that are worthwhile if you have never done Mayan ruins. We went to Altun Ha and thought it was nice but there are several others as well. The cave tubing in Belize looked really cool and whilst I didn't do it I spoke to others on my sailing who loved it.

Use your concierge. We had Virginia last January and she was awesome!! We had no plans made. It was raining when we docked in Roatan so we weren't in a hurry to get off. The only thing I really wanted to see was monkeys. Virginia escorted us off the ship and got a private van for the 6 of us. The driver brought us wherever we wanted to go. They drove us around the island and pointed out the sites, then brought us to the monkey/bird sanctuary. The monkeys freaked me out a little as they jump all over you, but my husband loved it. They brought us to a beach for a short time (no sure of the name), and we ate and had some drinks there. In Costa Maya, we just hung out at the beach by Senor Frogs and the dolphin excursion....very relaxing day. Cozumel we just hopped in a cab and told her to bring us to a beach. There was no charge to get in as long as each person spent $10 (which we did with food and drinks). There were water inflatable toys and jet ski rentals. We had fun there. My husband hung out at the Hard Rock Café while me and the girls shopped for a while before getting back on board. You will have a great time no matter what you do. Just use your concierge...he/she will arrange anything you want. Check out my review (in signature) for pictures.

There is good snorkelling on the palacar reef and also snuba on Roatan. I had a great time with both.

You are getting some GREAT advice as I knew you would.

I just came back from the other Western Caribbean Itinerary and have done the itinerary you are doing last year. I highly recommend Victor Bodden in Roatan. Go to his website and choose what fits your family's interests. We chose the private build your own tour and that worked out great for us. I emailed back and forth with Victor, he was very friendly and always got back to you via email pretty quickly.

In Belize, I would seriously consider during a tour through the ship for this port. It is a tender port and most of the excursions in Belize are quite lengthy because you travel a good ways away from port. I did a land vacation in Belize and I would not trust a private tour company to get me back to the ship on time. I saw first hand their means of transportation. In fact, we were on the side of the road with a flat tire in a VERY old school bus. I had no worries because we were staying in Belize but had I been on a cruise ship, I would have been extremely stressed!

In Cozumel, I recommened either the ATV Jungle and Beach Tour through NCL or I think it's called the Xrails where you are in a dune buggy looking thing. Our ATV was a complete BLAST....very manly! I'm not a man but I sure as heck had an awesome time going through flooded, rocky trails. We were quite dirty when we finished. You know the more dirt, the more fun it had to be!!!

In Costa Maya, I see many people are recommended Maya Chan, I didn't do Maya Chan when we went but if I ever go back again that's where we'll be heading. I've read many reviews about Maya Chan and they all seem excellent.

Have Fun!

I decided to take a page from the movie "Christmas With the Kranks" and offered my sons a cruise instead of Christmas. They of course jumped on it. None of us have ever cruised before. I have done a lot of reading and I think I have a lot of it figured out but I'm still willing to take any and all advice. Help with "Manly" excursions would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm a single father and live in PA and I have three sons who will be going. We aren't all together too often so we are really looking forward to this trip. My sons are 17 (lives with me) 28 (lives in Florida) and 30 (lives 2 hours from me)

 

Departing from Tampa on Norwegian "Dawn"

Jan. 12, 2014 - Jan. 19, 2014 (I will turn 51 while on the cruise)

Family suite (no balcony) Deck 12

Stops in Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel

As for Cozumel I have been to Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Riviera Maya five times on land trips so I think I have that area figured out as far as excursions go.

 

Again I appreciate any advice or what to expect.

If you are planning on departing the ship at any port (some people actually NEVER get off and just stay on the ship the whole time) it's best to get to the level one level above the departing level about 30 minutes early, because once the ship docks, and those metal doors open, the elevators, stairs, and hallways outside the elevators are JAM PACKED for about 90 minutes! Next month, when I go, we don't have anything planned, so i'll wait an hour or two after the ship docks before making my way outside...If it's still opened, grab some breakfast/lunch at the buffet while the people in their horrible tropical shorts argue w/ each other for elevator space...

I'm not expecting it to be hot in the Bahamas on Christmas, might get up to 80, best thing to do is hang outside while the ship is docking to see how comfortable you are in the clothes you are currently wearing, and do a wardrobe change if needed...

Not a good idea to use the stateroom/stateroom bathroom drinking glasses, they really never get washed, bring a package of solo cups...

Your luggage may take hours to show up outside your stateroom, so pack a change of clothes in your carry on for at least 2 days, medications should also be in your carryon, as well as electronics

The buffet will be opened as you are boarding if you want to head upstairs, cocktail waiters/waitresses will be in the buffet dining room in full force trying to sell you the "drink of the day" or anything you may want to drink...My cousins boyfriend and I got blasted before the cruise even started to leave on day 1, it was a HEAT WAVE in August 2012 in NYC, we felt just fine drinking outside by the pool starting at 10:30am, then you hit the air conditioner inside the ship and things start to go downhill from there, you develop jello legs :D and the assistant waiter to your table has to hold you up and bring you alot of rolls and butter :D good times!

The first night on all of the cruises I went on, the people hit the shopping deck of the ship in full force, also the casino is a mad house on that first night when you get into legal distance gambling waters...If your shopping and see something you like on the first night, grab it! Royal did this first night exclusive merch. thing, and if you didn't get certain items that were considered exclusive first night merch, you had to wait to get to the islands before you could buy it again...

Don't make your carry on too heavy like I did, because you may be dragging it around the ship for HOURS, we have usually always boarded early, 4 to 5 hrs before the ship was scheduled to set sail, and they won't let you to your rooms until a certain time...I'm packing a light carry on, I learned my lesson...

Hope you found some of the stuff I said helpful

Be onnthe lookout for a single Mom and her three daughters about the same ages as youfyand your sons :D:D

 

Be sure to plan one on one activity with each son during the course of your cruise and do a family night in the upscale steakhouse..utilize the ship's photographers to capture special pics

 

You might also keep a video and written log about the week and present to your sons next Father's Day...

 

Enjoy this time...when they become married and have their own families they will remember this cruise with you as something very special

Oh one is married and I have two beautiful grand daughters. We are planning on making this an annual event. Next year including wifes and girlfreinds and the grand kids the following year.:D