Monday, March 12, 2012

Royal Caribbean vs. Norwegian

Ok, so here's my comparison between Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas out of Baltimore and Norwegian Star out of Tampa.

Ease - RC without a doubt. Leaving out of Baltimore can't be beat for ease for us. The port in Tampa was very easy to use though once there.
Price - equivalent
Cabin - Norwegian mostly because of the excellent bathroom with a shower better than mine at home
Entertainment - up until last night I was going to say RC but Norwegian had an awesome aerialist show with no spoken words just music and acting so now I'm going to say it's a tie.
Theater - RC for better, bigger and more comfortable seating but Norwegian for having enough seats for everyone no matter how late you arrive.
Service - RC by leaps and bounds. Not that the Norwegian staff weren't nice but things just weren't quite as nice.
Food - RC for sure - both the buffet things and the regular restaurants. The Norwegian restaurant Versailles (the main free dining room) while pretty was incredibly noisy by staff and they had the disgusting habit of scrapping plates of left-over food together onto one plate till it was pilled high enough for them to deem it ready to take away. Gross.
Cleanliness - tie as both had sanitizers everywhere and encouraged people to use them.
Room Service - RC for their early morning breakfast delivery that you could order in advance.
Excursions - tie as both had plenty of options and all were very organized.
Spa - Norwegian for their private spa with indoor pool, relaxation rooms and speciality hot tubs and saunas. It did cost extra but we enjoyed the exclusivity.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

I want a cruise ship shower!

Although it could be a bit bigger this cruise ship shower is excellent technology. It has awesome water pressure with three levels to choose from. It is instantly hot at exactly the same temperature every day. You can make it warmer or colder instantly as well. My shower at home needs several minutes to get warm and you can't leave it set for that temperature for the next day and the water pressure is a trickling stream in comparison. Sigh.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Cozumel, Mexico

Tulum #1We took a 45 minute ferry ride to Playa del Carmen and then got on a bus for an hour to get to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. The tour was nice but I guess I had heard enough about the Mayans at this point. I would have loved to explore the ruins more but it was incredibly crowded and pretty hot. It was beautiful though and we got to swim in gorgeous although very strong wavy water. We had delicious fish tacos for lunch - hunger being the best condiment. I had Van get off the bus at the last minute to buy me a wooden red devil carving - very unique item I hadn't seen at any other store - and I only had $15 to spend so he got the guy down from $25. Then we had to do the bus and ferry back so it was a long day. We then walked through the shops at Cozumel a bit and got some food and drinks.