Cruise line info for Central America?

[JudyM]

We've never gone on a cruise before and want to take a week to visit Costa Rica, in particular. Want to see nature and do some snorkeling. I've read reviews that warn about too much structure, mediocre food (more of a problem since we're both semi-vegetarian which often limits choices) and lengthy boarding/deboarding delays. Have any of y'all had a great time cruising Central America/Mexico? Can't afford top-of-the-line ships unless we find steep discounts.

Also looking for resources for good cruise pricing...

Thanks! (And thanks, Skinner, for a great new group!)

:hi:

[jannyk]

1. Here's my fave Discount Cruise Site

http://www.vacationstogo.com/index.cfm

It allows you to check by destination and duration. For stops in Costa Rica, check the Panama Canal and South America Cruises too. There are some great deals to be had.

Have done 3 cruises; China, Greek Isles/Turkey and Caribbean; all on smaller (<800 passenger) ships. We are not really 'cruise people' but the prices we got and the destinations were too tempting at the time. We will do one more probably and that's a long South America one. We found the pluses outweigh the minuses on the whole.

Costa Rica is fabulous, we just fly in and rent a car and then tour around at our own pace. Highly recommend it. What you will see of it on a cruise stop I'm not so sure. Can't speak to the dietary problem, but there are always plenty of choices at mealtimes.

I'll answer any questions I can regarding CR, Mexico and or cruising.

[babylonsister]

2. This site was advertising in USA Today:

www.cruise.com
I've never been on a cruise, so can't help you otherwise.
Good luck!

[wakeme2008]

3. Here is a small but I am told good line

http://www.cruisewest.com/

[wakeme2008]

4. Here is the first part of a good review

today she has only done the ship Wind Star but the ports will be posted

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=315021

[JudyM]

5. Great, detailed and articulate. Thanks for pointing this out!

And for 'waking' me with an email, Wakeme!



:pals:

[Longhorn]

6. We went on a cruise to Mexico, Grand Cayman, and Belize

in November. My uncle bought the cruise for my mother and her seven children/step-children and their spouses so we didn't make the choice. We went on the Grand Princess out of Galveston.

My husband and I have never been on a cruise before and didn't really desire to. I kept asking people, what do you do on a cruise and it seems like the answers all involved eating and gambling. Well, I've spent my entire adult life on a diet and I have no interest in gambling so I wasn't too tempted.

However, I have to say that, for the most part, we had a great time. We thought the food was fantastic and there were many vegetarian choices. However, unlike some cruisers, we ate normally and didn't camp out at the buffet. ;) One of my biggest complaints was the disembarking process at the ports. Only one port had a pier (Costa Maya.) All of the others, you had to wait for a boat to take you ashore. I recommend buying excursions through the ship -- first, you have priority getting off the boat and second, if you get back late, the ship will wait for you.

Here's our experience:

Costa Maya -- waited in line at most five minutes, walked off the ship, no line getting back on.

Belize -- waited in line about 30 minutes for our excursion to take a tender to the dock. Our excursion was more than an hour late getting back due to the late start, but no problem and no wait getting back on board.

Grand Cayman -- did not buy an excursion. Waited an hour for the lines to clear before we got in line. However, there were EIGHT ships in port that day, all trying to tender passengers to a couple of positions on the pier. We ended up waiting another 90 minutes, much of that time seated in the club area waiting for our numbers to be called. We only had about 2.5 hours on shore before we had to go back.

Cozumel -- bought an excursion and got off the boat pretty quickly. Cozumel used to have two piers but they were destroyed in one of the hurricanes last year. However, the city is quickly rebuilding.

Our conclusion is that if we wanted to see the places of destination, we would rather fly and stay there. We felt we saw very little of the ports of call and were always in a rush to get back to the ship. However, the cruise itself was fun because when you're on a ship at sea all day, you are forced to relax and enjoy the ride. The service and food were great and we had fun, even though we never gambled or went to a show or a wine-tasting or an art auction. We walked and we hung out in the hot tub and met people and read books. My uncle wanted us to be able to spend some time together at an event other than a funeral. Even though the Grand Princess has about 2500 passengers, we would run into one of my siblings almost everywhere we went and ended up spending some real quality time with each other, especially with my step-sisters and brother who live in the Indianapolis area (I live near Austin.)

We enjoyed it so much that we'll probably do it again but we'll know what to expect. We'd love to do an Alaskan cruise, a European river cruise, and a cruise to Hawaii.

Good luck and have fun on your trip! :hi:

On edit: I think Cruise Critics is a great site and I also learned a lot on www.cruisemates.com.

[wakeme2008]

7. Longhorn

My first rule is itinerary itinerary... :)

But having said that I have pretty much gotten away from the big Mega mass market ships. While the prices of the upscale ships are something to think about, for a single cruiser (now) that loves his veranda cabins, I find there is not much difference between them and veranda with 100% single sup on say Princess. I took last year Radisson Seven Seas Mariner down the Amazon, through the caribbean and ended in Ft. Lauderdale.... Sweeeeet....

But on a ship the size that HAL would have 1200 passengers, the Mariner maxes out at 700 all in outside veranda suites. Lines what lines. OK the day we stopped in San Juan everybody had to "clear" immigration and for that they called us down by deck. But that wait had to do with the number of immigration officers that showed up that morning.

As for food it was great, but in 12 days I did not gain a lb. Just because you are at a buffet for breakfast and lunch does not mean that you have to "pig" out. Most mornings I did not have eggs for breakfast. I loved picking their fresh fruit and a slice of cheese, and maybe a muffin and always a half of a grill tomato.