Newbie's Trip Report on NCL Star Western Caribbean March 24 - March 31

[suzannebander]

Day 5, Roatan, Maya Key Private Beach Resort

 

Our first view of Roatan from our balcony was absolutely gorgeous! This looks like a postcard, but I took it myself :p

 

 

The island was mountainous, not over-commercialized, and had crystal blue waters with a beautiful coral reef.

 

I had opted for the NCL excursion to Maya Key. It is located on a small island which was a VERY short boat ride from the ship. Here is the view from the dock on the island looking back toward the Star:

 

 

Maya Key hosts a very limited number of visitors, so it was the most peaceful day of the entire cruise.

 

 

In addition to the beach with loungers, they are a animal rescue refuge, with tropical birds, monkeys, jaguar, marine animals, and more. They also have snorkel equipment available for rent, a gift shop and a buffet and bar.

 

 

 

The buffet that came with the excursion:

 

[suzannebander]

Day 5, Roatan, Maya Key Private Beach Resort, Continued

 

The coral reef was at the end of the pier. You could climb down the ladder at the end of the pier, where the water was standing depth.

 

 

Water was clear. Coral was awesome. Sea life was exciting. You probably can't tell any of this from the picture below, as I am also a newbie with the underwater camera and with snorkeling as well. :o

 

 

My DD got to hold a howler monkey and a baby crocodile for pictures. We watched them feed the sea lions. My only regret is that for some reason people started going back earlier than necessary and it made me feel like I needed to follow suit. If I get the chance again, I will wait until the latest possible moment, because after all you could practically swim back to the ship. :D

 

2nd Best day of the trip, giving Belize a run for its money.

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review. Beautiful photos.

[Seago2]

Thanks for your review so far! People either love or hate Belize- I love it, too.

 

Thanks for the pics-

[suzannebander]

Day 5, Evening Fun and Show

 

Back at the ship pool deck, the cruise staff broke out circus games for the kids, both large and small. There were spinning plates, Chinese yo-yo's, and other items. Soon parents were joining their children and fun was had by all.

 

After dressing for dinner, we attended the show that featured the married couple from the Russian Ballet, who performed a acrobatic/dance show. (Think dance + trapeze + wrapping themselves in scarves and spinning round). They were charming and talented. The show wasn't very long, which was perfect for our short attention spans ;)

 

It was SO nice just to pop down for the show. I really think this is a key selling point for cruising. No big deal to get to/from, in/out to shows, restaurants, pool, etc., so you don't waste all your vacation doing these activity. You can do more, and the stress is so much less. No traffic...yeah!

[suzannebander]

Day 6, Cozumel, Paradise Beach isn't Paradise

 

Arrived at Cozumel the next morning. It was nice, but as you might expect the most commercialized of the ports (think you can see Starbucks from the pier). For some of you, though, this might be your preference.

 

Well, everything had gone so perfectly the entire cruise, I guess I was overdue for a foul note. I had decided to opt for a non-NCL excursion to Paradise Beach Resort, which had the inflatables out in the water as well as a large pool and free wifi. First of all, to be fair, if you managed to go on a less crowded day, the price was ok, and the facilities meticulously clean.

 

But it was a crowded day. The cab was $14 and $14 back for the two of us. We shared the cab van with another group of 4. I think it took about 15 minutes, and the roads were good. As we entered, we per told that it was $2 per person for a lounger and $12 per person for use of the inflatables, pools, etc. We paid for both and received 2 different-colored arm bands. The pool was empty as we went through. We got 2 loungers on the beach.

 

DD went and got a hair wrap for $20. Then she went out to the inflatables and slid a couple of time. The water had sea grass and wasn't clear, but that may not always be the case. I ordered a margarita, which was $8 for a very small plastic cup and turned over on the crooked table and I wasn't offered a refund. But I stilled maintained a good attitude.

 

 

DD got chicken fingers and fries for about $10. Good and huge portion. While all the above was going on, I got my money's worth out of the free wifi ;)

 

DD got tired of the inflatables, so we went to the pool only to find that all the loungers were gone and the pool was full and people sitting all along the edges. When I asked for help to find a set of some kind, I was advised that there were gone. When I pointed out that I was told that I had paid for 2 loungers, they said that the $2 pp wasn't for that. All during this time, they continued to take money from more people entering. We hung around a little longer, then left with having spent only a couple of hours there.

 

On to have to have some fun...

[canehdn]

What an unfortunate experience at Paradise Beach. Nothing worse than paying for a service or product you don't receive. Sounds like so many people there, you couldn't really enjoy your day. Thanks for sharing your review and pictures with us.

 

Cdn in KS

[Tideone]

I am really enjoying reading your review... we were on the same cruise and your review is helping me relive the fun times we had.

[modfanmike]

I was at paradise beach on the same day from the Pearl. When we arrived they told us that there were no more chairs as there were over 1400 people at the beach. I managed to find a chair for my mom near the pool so that she could lie down. We did not order food as we were told it would take almost an hour. We stayed for about 4 hours.

[newtocruisingcdn]

What a refreshing point of view. I am really enjoying your review. I had never considered a sailing out of New Orleans before, but it sounds like a great way to check another destination off of my bucket list. :D

[suzannebander]

I was at paradise beach on the same day from the Pearl. When we arrived they told us that there were no more chairs as there were over 1400 people at the beach. I managed to find a chair for my mom near the pool so that she could lie down. We did not order food as we were told it would take almost an hour. We stayed for about 4 hours.

 

Wow! sounds like it got even worse as the day went on. We actually got there early, so the growing crowd took me by surprise. As I told DD during the trip, "you can control your attitude toward life, and therefore how much you enjoy life", so she sampled the pool and inflatables, and she had been looking forward to the hair wrap and I enjoyed the wifi.

 

What made me lose my patience is that their response to my questioning made it clear that they were aware that they had misled us and didn't really care. I let them know that I would be posting my review (I thought that was only fair), and they didn't care about that either.

 

Having said all that, I took my own advice to my daughter and we had a great day after we left :D

[suzannebander]

Day 6, Cozumel, the rest of the day

The traffic is pretty heavy in Cozumel:

 

 

There were LOTS of spots along the route renting scooters to tourists. They must be really unsafe in the traffic before our daily from the night before warned us NOT to ride them :eek:

 

We did a little shopping for souvenirs, then walked back up the pier to the ship. I call this photo "Wall to Wall Ships":

 

 

We were across from the NCL Pearl and there is another ship at the top of the photo. At this port and the one before it we were welcomed back to the ship with a cup of lemonade, a wet washcloth, and an opportunity to exchange our oh-so-precious towels (I'll discuss in more detail later).