We arrived in New Orleans a couple days before the cruise so we could explore a little. We did the city tour which was very informative & a good overview of the highlights of the city. Our driver was a native & lived in an area that was flooded from Hurricane Katrina.
Our cruise was very nice. Because my husband & I both have limited mobility we did not go on shore in Cozumel or Roatan, Honduras. Cozumel we had been before & at Roatan we just did not feel up to it! But we did go ashore at Belize, which until the new port is finished, meant a tender to shore. I had doubts but had no problems getting into the tender & was glad we made the effort to go ashore. we did not take any excursions but did wander thru the shopping area. The pier at Costa Maya is fairly long, but they use a shuttle to take you from ship to port & return. Much appreciated. At the shopping area in Costa Maya the sellers are very pushy, so buyers be forewarned. The cruise itself was very nice with good weather.
We had a balcony cabin on 10th level & nice. Our cabin was below the buffet cafe & above the Stardust Theater, which was very convenient for me. But still a lot of walking just getting from one place to another on the ship! The shows were good every night, but for me the outstanding show was Jocka & Maria, acrobatic act.
I believe that was the category of our cabin. It was very nice, comfortable & always clean & made up.
We took the City Tour of New Orleans which was an informative look at the highlights of New Orleans.
the shopping area is filled with lots of shops but we did not get off the ship here, but had been here once before. Previously we took the 'submarine' tour of the coral reef. This was an interesting little excursion.
Another area where the port area is full of little shops selling lots of stuff to tourists, how they make their living. Our cabin was where we could see the area getting off the ship. There were several on pier playing music, greeting the ship. We stayed on our balcony listening to the music for awhile.
We did not take an excursion but did get off the ship & explored the shopping area. The sellers were nice but not overly pushy like some of the other ports. The shopping area was set up fairly nice. It was nice to see the rain forest right up behind the port.
The pier is fairly long here but they have a wagon that they run back & forth to take you from ship to port & back. that was very helpful. The sellers here are very pushy with lots of little shops. there is a sandy area with an open swimming pool open to the cruisers.