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Norwegian Cruise Line

MS Norwegian Wind

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Cathy Q.
# previous cruises: 5
Date of Trip: February 24, 2001
Itinerary: Caribbean - Western

Embarkation – Easiest I’ve ever had. NCL was great. They had plenty of people available to register and to help you along the process. They even gave orange juice and water as you entered the area – refreshing after the long flight. Baggage – Earliest timing to the cabin that I’ve ever encountered. Most if not all the passengers had their luggage prior to dinner. Debarkation – sad, but process ran smoothly. I WANT TO GO BACK!! Sitting in my office staring at the snow piles is not the same as sitting on my cabin’s balcony and watching a school of dolphins. Hope this review was helpful.

Overall Impression of Ship: Great. Based on reading the message boards and previous reviews, I was expecting a pretty lousy looking ship. It was clean and well maintained. The ship was smaller than others I have been on and did have the unusual layout since its stretching, but I found no problems in finding my way around, nor was it incredibly inconvenient. Deck space was an issue for the 2 days at sea, but they brought out extra chairs if you needed. There were plenty of quiet and shaded areas on 7 and 8 aft and 7-10 forward (no lounge chairs forward, but places to sit). I took advantage of both the fun deck area and the quiet areas.

Freestyle Dining – Outstanding. Only a few minor service problems, not any more than you’d get occasionally at a nice restaurant. We ate in small groups, large groups and by ourselves if we didn’t want to spend a lot of time at dinner. The new Trattoria (Italian Restaurant) is wonderful. All the appetizers are to die for and food was spectacular. Cannoli’s were a bit soft, but still fabulous. The other 2 main dining rooms were just as nice and the meals were wonderful – no complaints. The mexican buffet after Coz was fun on deck. I never stayed up late enough for the midnight buffet, but did set my alarm to sample the chocolate one – WOW! We enjoyed dining freestyle because of the flexibility. On our last night, we sat with a bunch of snobby blow-hards – if we had to be stuck with them for the whole trip like the “old” days of traditional dining, we would not have enjoyed the experience.

Cabin – Great!! This was my first balcony room – P1 suite. I’m glad we took the upgrade although the size of the other rooms appeared adequate also. I do understand that NCL cabin sizes are generally smaller than others, but we had more than enough room for storage and lounging. The balcony was great – kept the door open most of the time and enjoyed the breeze and the sounds while moving. We didn’t get any towel animals, but others had. I really didn’t mind, but heard others complaining. If you base your cruise or any vacation experience on whether you had a towel animal on your bed or not – I think you’ve got your priorities mixed up and probably don’t enjoy many things that aren’t “perfect”.

Comedian and Smokin' Joes Cafe where the only shows I saw. Both were great

1st Port – Grand Cayman. – I was disappointed. It reminded me of any FL resort town (beautiful, but nothing special IMHO). Since all ships are anchored offshore, the passengers have to be tendered in. I personally prefer the ability to easily come and go from the boat. At the piers, there are many groups available to take you on non-cruise sponsored tours. I met a few people who took a chance and had a great time touring the island and snorkeling with the stingrays. Since this was our first port, we opted to see the town (ok), museum (small but interesting) and head to 7-mile beach. We went to the same place that the ship sent on an excursion – Beach Club Colony or Colony Beach Club – already, the memories are fading. It was PACKED with cruise ship passengers from all lines in port. I still enjoyed it because I was on vacation and the water and beach were nice, but my cruise mate didn’t because it was just too crowded. If you want to go to the beach in Grand Cayman, ask the cab driver to recommend another place on 7-mile beach away from the crowds.

2nd Port – Roatan Honduras – The island is absolutely beautiful. Incredible beaches, clear water, beautiful hills with incredible views. I spoke with people who went diving, they were very impressed and many said it’s the best experience they ever had diving. We went to Tabayana on the cruise offered excursion. One of the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen. We had a wonderful time walking the beach and snorkeling from shore. The resort has snorkel equipment for rent if you choose not to buy the snorkel excursion from the ship. The food was decent and there were plenty of chairs for all. Even though there were a lot of people on this trip, you could be as secluded as you wanted with plenty of sunny beach and shady area for all. I highly recommend if you want to relax.

3rd Port – Belize City – Stayed on ship and enjoyed the quiet and pool bar. I didn’t even ask anyone about their excursions – sorry. 4th Port – Cozumel – As much fun as I had hoped it would be. I took the ship excursion to Isla de la Pasion – an island off the north end of Coz. It reminded me of Gilligan’s Island. There are no hotels or other tourists on the island. The island had a thatched roof dining area where the barbecue and guacamole was served in abundance and it was delicious! All food and drinks are included in the price. The bar was a thatched hut next to the beach. They make a drink called a pasion island and I highly recommend it – don’t know exactly what’s in it, but it’s good and powerful. Floating mats were provided and I enjoyed a few pasion island drinks and Coronas while floating in the water. Our guide Roy was a blast. He played volleyball with us and was very friendly and helpful. After volleyball, I enjoyed a short nap on the hammocks. The bathroom facilities are incredibly clean and they sweep up all the sand and re-clean every time they are vacant. I highly recommend this tour. Coz Continued – after the trip ended, there was still plenty of time (I think we were in port either 10-12 hours) to shop and sample more local drinks and guacamole. We started at Pancho’s Backyard and worked our way back (alternating shopping and margaritas) to the ship. Pancho’s definitely had the best guacamole and all the places we stopped had wonderful margaritas. I found Coz to be relatively clean and safe and a GREAT time.

Few 20's mostly 30's-50's, some 60+'s