NCL Spirit Ports of Call

On our weeklong cruise from New Orleans, we visited four different ports. Our first stop was at Costa Maya Mexico. This port was built for the cruising industry. When you get off your ship, you walk though a little village. There is a restaurant/bar with a nice large pool. There are also a lot of little shops selling all sorts of wares. We chose to go into the town of Mahahual, a short, $3 taxi ride from the port. We stopped at the Tequila Beach Club and spent the day there. We had a nice shaded table and lots of chips and fresh pica de gallo. There were some women with an area set up for massages on the beach for only $20 for half an hour. We also walked through the small town along a beach-side walkway.













Our next port of call was Santo Tomas de Castilla Guatamala. There is a nice market area right on the dock where we were able to get our passports stamped and get some local money. There was a stage in the market with local musical and dancing groups performing. We spent most of the day on a tour to the Quirigua Archeological Site. This Mayan ruin is from the 700's BC. It was discovered when the land was being cleared for a road. The area had twelve Stelae which are large carved stone pillars. There is also a temple here. The whole area is very lush and green. We passed a large banana plantation on the way into the site. There is also a Jade Museum at the site that is very interesting and has many jade pieces for sale.
The next stop was in Belize City, Belize. Ships cannot dock here because of the shallow water. We had a ten to fifteen minute ride from the ship into town. We once again chose to visit a Mayan ruin. This time, we saw Altun Ha. This area was much larger and more spread out than Quirigua. There are restored temples and some that are still buried within the earth. There were all-spice trees throughout the grounds that had been used in the preservation of the dead. When you get to the top of the ruins, you get a view of the jungle canopy all around and it is beautiful. It is amazing how dense the jungle is there.
Our final stop on the trip was in Cozumel. Here, we got a taxi and went to Chankanaab Park. There is a price for admission and then you can enjoy the whole area. There is an area with dolphins that you can interact with for an additional fee. There is a long beach area where you can snorkel, a lagoon and a jungle trail with archeological replicas and Mayan history. If you want to see an iguana, you will here. They wander throughout the grounds. We had a great lunch in the restaurant overlooking the water.

Norwegian Cruise Lines Spirit

I just recently returned from a cruise to the Western Caribbean aboard the NCL Spirit. We flew from Denver to New Orleans, LA on January 10. Once we arrived we met up with our friends at the airport and made our way to our hotel. We stayed at the Dauphine Orleans Hotel. It was excellent. We were a block from Bourbon St. but it was very quiet. The property has quite a history including being a hospital and a brothel. There are some documented hauntings there as well! We were upgraded to the Hermann Cottages across the street from the reception area. We entered through a gate into a beautiful courtyard with a fountain and lots of foliage. Our rooms were on the upper level with a boardwalk outside. Inside, the room was very spacious with exposed brick wall and beams on the ceiling. The bathroom had a jetted tub and robes for our use.
After getting settled, we went back across the street for our complimentary happy hour drink in the pool area. We then walked down to Landry's restaurant for dinner and had some great seafood, with one stop for pralines along the way. After dinner we walked a short distance past Jackson Square over to Cafe du Monde for some cafe au lait and beignets. You can't visit New Olreans without inhaling powdered sugar off these deep fried treats. We walked back to our hotel via Bourbon St.
The next morning, we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast of cereals, breads, fruit, juices, coffee and make-your-own waffles. William, our driver from Motion Transportation, picked us up and took us to the pier. When we arrived, the line for security seemed very long and I thought we were in for a long wait. In reality though, within half an hour we were through security, had our key cards in hand and were getting our obligatory boarding the ship photo.
When we stepped on board, we were offered either champagne or orange juice and welcomed aboard. We went right over to the reservation desk and made reservations for Shogun specialty restaurant for the next evening. Then we went up to Raffles Buffet on deck 12 for lunch. It was a little crowded because it was cold out and nobody wanted to sit outside, but we had a nice lunch.
After lunch, we dropped our carry on bags in our cabins and explored the ship. We toured all the facilities, then spent some time watching the Mississippi from our balcony. We received our luggage prior to the muster drill and were able to unpack.
Leaving New Orleans, the ship makes a U-turn and heads out on the Mississippi. It takes about 7 hours to get into the Gulf of Mexico from New Orleans. We had dinner in the Garden Room restaurant and watched part of the show. We also spent some time in the Champagne Bar listening to the band there who were very good. At around midnight, we went out on our balcony just as we were leaving the Mississippi. It was very still out and the sound from the bouys was very eerie.