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.