NOLA Escape: Planning
Booking
I originally had Escape out of New Orleans booked in the spring. That was a tough decision to make since Viva is going to be in Galveston at the same time.
After the NFL schedule came out I decided to check into cruises out of New Orleans on the Saints bye week. I found Escape that week was significantly cheaper than what I paid for the spring. I was able to change my spring Escape cruise to Viva for about the same price and book the better Escape deal the week before Thanksgiving.
Itinerary Changes
In July I received a notice that our Costa Maya port day was being changed to a sea day. That isn’t a big deal to me. I’m used to three port days on the 7-day western Caribbean cruises. Only Norwegian gives us four ports. To make it up to us they gave us an extra hour in Roatan and an additional 1 1/2 hours at Harvest Caye.
In October we got a notice that our port times would change again. We will be arriving in Roatan 30 minutes later than planned but we will also be leaving 30 minutes later to make up for it. Additionally they gave us another hour at Harvest Caye. Our Harvest Caye day was originally 8 1/2 hours. Now after the changes it’s 11 hours.
New Orleans Hotel
With this being a Saturday cruise out of New Orleans, my original plan was just to drive down within an hour of the port after work on Friday. I ended up finding a great deal at Hilton Riverside in New Orleans. I got it for $108 total on a Friday night. That’s significantly cheaper than what I could find for decent hotels out of town that night.
Since I’m staying in New Orleans the night before the cruise I decided to try to get into town earlier. I ended up working a deal to get Friday off of work so I’ll be in town early afternoon.
Ports
Belize
I have done all of the Mayan ruins you can do on a cruise that tenders into Belize City. Since Norwegian docks at Harvest Caye, they offer one I haven’t been to yet. I booked Nim Li Punit with Lunch through Norwegian for $109. I expected to pay $59 after the $50 shore excursion discount but for some reason my total came to $53.10. I later found out that additional savings is due to my loyalty level with Norwegian.
Since we’re going to be in port for 11 hours now, I should have time to get a swim in as well.
Cozumel and Roatan
I didn’t find any excursions I wanted to book for these ports I have been to many times. In Roatan I will probably take a deeper look at the port area since this is only the second time I have docked in Coxen Hole. I expect it to be crowded because Encore is scheduled to be in port at the same time as Escape.
In Cozumel I will probably just walk around downtown since the ship docks there.
Post Cruise
Post cruise I have to leave town to pick someone up but then I’m returning to stay at the Jung Hotel on Canal Street for the Saints/Falcons game. I got the hotel for $130 total on Hotwire.
