We just returned from the 8 day Western Caribbean Cruise on the Legend. We booked an extended balcony room on the Panorama deck. (deck 8). This was the top deck of cabins. We assumed that this was the best position on the ship. However above is the Lido deck and pool area. The sounds of the band, people dragging chairs across the deck and the midnight deck/ line dance party can all be heard in your cabin loud and clear, from 6 am when the breakfast service starts until at least midnight. So my only real criticism is this inherent defect in the ship. There is apparently no sound insulation between the Lido deck and the cabins below. I was not the only person to recognize this. So if booking this ship, get a cabin on deck 7 or below and this problem takes care of itself. Now let's get to the good stuff. We chose this itinerary due to the ports of call. These are not like the ports one is used to in the Caribbean. If you want 2000 jewelry stores, duty free liquor, and 5 star resorts do not take this cruise. If you want nature, adventure, and intellectual stimulation take this cruise.
Belize: I arranged a tour online before the cruise. We took a local water taxi to Caye Caulker. Belize is surrounded by coral island. Some small, some not so small. The resorts and activities are on these islands. So from Belize City one must go by boat to snorkel. These boats are not your average tender. The are long and narrow with 2- 200 HP outboards. They go REAL fast to get to these islands. They are an excursion in themselves. Once on Caye Caulker we found the tour company shack. My wife and I went with another couple snorkeling off this island. This island is a lot like Gilligan's Island, primitive. Our tour guide was Ramsey. He took us to snorkel over the coral reef. The water was crystal clear. The fish were abundant. After two stop on the reef, we went to Shark/Ray Alley. Here we snorkeled with 8-10' nurse sharks (docile) and huge stingrays. Ramsey picked the sharks up and we pet them. The same with the sting rays. He claims to have named them and talks to them while there. I did not hear them answer. In my opinion this was superior to Stingray City, Grand Cayman due to the fact that we were the only ones there. Unlike Stingray City where there are dozens of boats and hundreds of people. We then took the water taxi back to Belize City, making several stops along the way. One of them being at Caye Chapel, an island entirely covered by a beautiful Golf resort. The ultimate golf experience for golf nuts. They fly you in from Belize City to golf here. From Belize City we took the tender back to the ship, anchored 5 miles off shore to protect the coral reef. Virtually no shopping here.
Costa Rica: Here we took the Sloth Sanctuary/Canoe tour offered by the ship. This tour was brand new. I highly recommend this fascinating tour. We went by air conditioned bus through the city of Limon to the rain forest to the sanctuary. It is in a beautiful, lust jungle setting. We viewed a short video that has been featured on Animal Planet. It explains their work there. Then we met Buttercup, A 3 toed sloth. She is a permanent fixture there at the sanctuary. We were able to pet her and take photos with her. We also saw the baby sloths and Millie a mature 2 toed sloth, who also lives at the sanctuary. After and delicious tropical fruit platter and ice cold lemonade, we boarded a small canoe for a peaceful ride through the jungle. Our guide pointed out iguanas, birds and other wildlife in the rain forest. Wild bananas, bamboo and coconut palms were everywhere. The tour ended with a leisurely walk through the rainforest. There we saw blue land crabs, fluorescent fungi, cutter ants. and sloths. The sloths were high up in the canopy. On the way back to the ship we saw the Dole banana plantation. Further on the bus driver spotted some howler monkeys up in the trees by the roadside. We got off the bus for a look at them. They truly live up to their name. They raise a terrible ruckus. A great way to end our tour. Back at the dock there is a flea market where beautiful, unique, exotic wood handicrafts can be purchased for reasonable prices. No diamonds just handicrafts. Also the coffee they are famous for is here. We bought beautiful hand made rosewood boxes. Costa Rica also grows exotic hardwoods as a renewable crop.