Sailing on the Norwegian Sun was a truly extraordinary experience! There's really no comparison to other cruise lines like Carnival or Royal Caribbean. Norwegian is insanely superior: it's the difference between kinda-having-fun-on-a-boat and being treated like royalty 24/7. The boat itself is small and intimate (which means a larger staff-to-guest-ratio), it's beautiful, there's great entertainment (check out the wonderful "Sun Singers Unplugged" show; incredible singing in an intimate atmosphere), and the food is plentiful and tasty (the specialty restaurants are fantastic; the buffet's a bit hit-or-miss, but what buffet isn't?). Above all, the service is EXCEPTIONAL. Example: our shower head was less than satisfactory (picture yourself being stabbed with water), so we told our steward. Before we knew it, we had a brand new shower head installed (which provided one of the best showers we've ever had; we went from stab to fab in less than two hours!). The room staff is sneakily brilliant at knowing when you're away from the stateroom so they can clean up, fill your ice bucket, and create amusing towel sculptures. And the bar service is probably the best we've received ANYWHERE. Not only did our bartenders remember our names and greet us with friendly smiles, they created ridiculously tasty libations. And they didn't skimp or take short cuts. They muddled fresh fruits (and even herbs like basil and rosemary) to create sumptuous craft cocktails (just stop what you're doing, board the ship, and taste the Sparkling Garden. Seriously. It's kinda life-changing). Consider yourself very lucky to have a drink made by Brent, Dmitrije, Jonas, Emmanuel, Jeffery, Abner or Kyle. We took the seven-day Western Caribbean cruise, and it's been a little difficult readjusting to reality after being treated with such overwhelming kindness and inspired efficiency for seven days. All in all, it's the best cruise we've ever been on, and we can't wait to board the Sun again:) (And PS, be sure to pack white clothing for their amazing white party on the pool deck!)
Our room was very well maintained and clean. Lot's of storage, great shower, and loved the balcony.
Our first time there. We decided to wing it. Bad mistake. Once you walk into the city you will be hassled, harassed, and haggled. We lasted only two blocks then decided to return. We weren't afraid for our safety, but after having said "No Thank You" at least 50 times within a two block walk, we could not enjoy ourselves. If you do decide to brave the city, be aware and keep your money safe from pickpockets. Had and overall sketchy vibe.
When we got back to the boat and talked with fellow travelers who have been there before, they only reccommend that you do an excursion, so you can bypass the bad part of the city and the street locals. We will try this next year. So sad because we really like to explore and see things for ourselves. Belize City, please step up your game, and clean up the streets so you can become a great tourist destination.
Take the Native Choice Mayan Ruin Excursion. Worth every penny. You will not find this in the cruise ship excursions. They are a private company and don't work with the cruise ship company's. Check out their website.
http://www.thenativechoice.com
Shopping everywhere. Once you are funneled past all the shops, the city is very pleasant to walk around. Lot's of places to eat and shop. Best advice I can give you. Walk a little past the main tourist shopping port and find a scooter to rent. Haggle a little and you can easily get $5-$10 off the price. We paid $25 and shared a scooter for the entire day. Drive around the island and explore. Just be careful driving. A lot of people were drinking and driving while riding their scooters and the traffic takes a little while to get use to. As alway's when traveling. Keep your money safe, and watch your back.
Beautiful Island, great area's to see, and of course very poor area's as well. We like to wing it when we travel, so we found a cab driver and he took us around the West End of the island for $60. We stopped at the Mayan Eden Nature Park, saw Parrots, Monkey's, Plant's, Flower and Butterflies. Had our own tour guide named Hector. Cost was only $10.
After that we drove around more, our cab driver Fernando was very knowlegeable and took us to many great place for photo's. Had a wonderful time. Remember to tip! We tipped our cab driver $20, so the whole cost including the Nature park was $100 for both of us.