Which cruise?
 

We went on our first cruise in September on the Carnival Legend to the Caribbean and had the time of our lives. My husband will be 40 next February and we have decided to cruise again. We have narrowed the possibilites down to the following:
Dawn Princess: San Francisco,Catalina Island,Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan,Cabo San Lucas,San Diego.
Norwegian Dawn:NY,Ochios Rios,Grand Cayman,Roatan,Belize City,Cozumel,Great Stirrup Cay.
Norwegian Spirit:NY,St Thomas,Antigua,Barbados,St Maarten,Tortola.
I would be grateful for any input anyone has both on the ships and destinations.

I like the big Princess ships. If you like big ships, you will like Dawn.

Don't know about the others, but do know that I just went on a West.Carib. to G. Caymon/ Ocho Rios and I think those two ports are not great. G. Cayman has way too much damage from Huricane Ivan still to be fixed and the reef got stripped. I loved Cozumel though. What do you want to do? Snorkel?

If it was I, I would go for the Dawn Princess itinerary. If you get a balcony on that ship, get it on the Caribe level. They are bigger and they are 1/2 covered.

I have been on the Dawn Princess twice, (Caribbean 1998 and Alaska 2003). I feel that the food and entertainment quality had slipped over the years. Other than that, the service and condition of the ship were great. She is a lovely ship.

The Dawn is a nice ship, a bit older but in good repair as of December of '03.

Comparing Princess to Carnival, I would say that the food & service are a big step up. However, if you like live music/nightlife, you may find Princess to be a bit sleepy.

NCL seems to have more detractors than other lines--not sure if I would sail them.

Note this if you cruise out of San Fran in February, you're not going to have bathing suit weather for the first/last days of the cruise. Not sure if that's important to you.

You might open your options to some other ships going to the Caribbean. Southern Carib. in particular is nice (though you go have to get to Puerto Rico...)

Cheers!

If I read your post correctly you are looking at NCL cruises not Princess. My husband and I sailed on the Norwegian Dawn a few years ago doing Ocho Rios, Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Had a great trip, but didn't get to do much in Cayman - the weather was too rough. We are seriously looking at doing a Norwegian Sun itinerary out of (I think) Houston that goes to Cayman, Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel. As for the third one, We have cruised to some of the places and spent an entire week on St. Martin. Antigua and Barbados are wonderful (as is St. Maarten, although I prefer the French side) and although I'm not a shoper I still liked St. Thomas when we stopped there. Can't speak to the Mexican itinerary. NCL does a great job with their freestyle dining and the entertainment we got was wonderful. You'll have a great time!

I spent 2 weeks on the Dawn Princess last summer and had a marvelous time. Service and food were excellent.

There was an engine issue last fall where the ship couldn't make some ports on time but it was resolved in November. People were compensated properly for the inconvenience. I think it was an issue of timing and trying to find the best time to take the ship out of service and get it fixed.

All of the recent reports on the Dawn have been excellent.

Actually without even considering the ship, which I think is fine- IMHO and you may not agree- but I have been to the other ports- the Princess Dawn has the most intriguing ports. Plus you have SF and San Diego both. Wow!

Hello,

Princess is a higher quality level, generally speaking, from Norwegian, but Princess' prices are quite similar, so it should be more a case of matching personal preferences than to price considerations. As far as itineraries, the Norwegian Dawn to Roatan and Belize City, is less "touristy" than the other itineraries. Most of the Mexican ports are quite "touristy" because of the frequent visits of the cruise ships. Definitely get out of the main tourism areas in Mexico and you will see more authentic culture. There are excellent companies that can do individualized shore excursions in all of these ports that allow you to get away from the main tourist areas.

Best Regards,
Julia