Deciding On A Cruise Line and Destination
Deciding what ship to take was very difficult. There were exactly three cruise lines with departures on December 27 in both the Caribbean and down the West Mexican Coast. NCL, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Prices were comparatively the same. After lots of should we do this.. should we do that...picked NCL, Norwegian Caribbean Line. NCL had a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Norwegian Star leaving December 27 from Los Angeles, and calling on the ports of Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta.
There were two main reasons for picking NCL and Mexico: Airfare was less expensive from Chicago-Los Angeles then Chicago-Miami/Ft. Lauderdale; and NCL has free-style dining, a big plus for this intergenerational cruise. When a family consisting of grandparents, parents, teens and small children travel together, we found this to be important. This gives everyone a chance to
- Eat whatever time you want. No need to decide whether an early or late seating will suit you;
- Eat with whomever you want. Adults and children could eat together or not;
- Eat in one of the many restaurants (the majority have supplements and need reservations);
- Eat as many times a day as your stomach can expand. Early breakfast, normal breakfast, snack between breakfast, lunch buffets inside, barbecues by the pool, afternoon snacks, dinners, midnight buffets...and if you are still hungry...order from room service...FREE!
The three Mexican destinations sounded good to everyone with no really "must see" sights in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta. This would save everyone money. The teens and kids would be happy ruining their skin on a beach somewhere or walking through town stocking up on souvenirs. Most beaches are usually walking distance to town for "tschoke" shopping and vendors roam up and down the beaches. We could also arrange taxis if there was someplace exciting to go. Usually less than the cost of cruise ship excursions.
If you decide to cruise, there are two big considerations that jack up cruise costs:
- The very costly gas surcharges and port taxes. An ad for a $450 for one-week cruise doesn't have these charges included in that amount; and
- NCL adds a gratuity for each person for every day. No choice on that either. The gratuity is less for children and I don't begrudge the staff gratuity. Just know before you go. The NCL charge was $10 U.S. per day per person, and $5 U.S. per day per child.
Cruise ship and destination decided on, there was still more to think about...
