Roatan and Cozumel are 'standard cruise stops'. Our interest was in Belize City and Costa Maya. Walking the town of Belize City allows for a great experience of the friendly locals - "good morning" was said and heard every few steps. The Museum there is quite interesting, and not well known to the cruise or excursion staff - $5 was a good entry price to get an interesting visit to this former jail built by the Brits with ballast bricks in the mid 1800s. Listening to kids in schools (required education) was another pleasure. St. John's Cathedral was also worth a visit. If you are looking for the graveyard, many of the graves have suffered from salt air and sun and the grass is long (sandals may not be a good idea). Local ladies in the cathedral were very helpful. We wish that Government House in Belize City had been used as a cultural centre (as planned) - the town could do with another good presentation of its rich history and this would have been a good place for it.

The Deluxe Ruins excursion in Costa Maya was the highlight of our cruise. Jesus Rivera, our guide, was very knowledgeable and had 22 years experience. His side-trip to Mr Miguel's farm was most interesting - local natural bee hives, plants and fruits. It changes one's perspective on what a farm can look like - not necessarily ploughed fields or cows grazing in grasslands! We highly recommend this part of Mexico for UNESCO recognition. It would encourage more cultural landscape highlights on future excursions. Thanks Jesus! - your guidance were really well presented.

The ship, Norwegian Sun, did not give a historical/cultural view of the landscapes we were visiting in Honduras, Belize and Mexico; 3-4 presentations would have been helpful, even if they would have detracted from the hard sell from Diamonds International aficionados. This was a missed opportunity for the ship's guest services to add to its professional approach to those like us. Read more