re: Carnival Jubilee or MSC Seascape

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I always thought Belize was like a crazy beautiful beach place but had never been.

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ambergris caye (San Pedro Town) is exactly that, stunningly beautiful beach town. Belize City is kind of a shithole but its the jumping off point for mainland excursions which you should absolutely not miss out on.

I've cruised a bunch, and I'm too scared of Carnival. So.....MSC by default?

Any who, Wife has used Magic and Moore Travel in the past. They have some good cruise guides. My wife worked with this agent, Alicia? I think?, with them. They were pretty helpful in making sure we didn't end up in a scene we didn't like. Like...

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and both look to be very large ships.

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I am a fan of the larger ships because there is way more space to spread out. I was thinking "large ship" meant "be on top of people". But, not really. More elbow room.

Again, wife did all the work. I'm just along for the ride.

I cruised out of NOLA in 2015 on the Cozumel/Roatan/Belize itinerary and Belize was by far my least favorite stop. Tender from the ship to port and the port itself was very tiny. Unless you’re booking an excursion there you can do and see it all in less than 2 hours.

It was the best Carnival ship we experienced (60+ CCL cruises). Even with the large number of passengers, the ship never felt crowded.
In addition to the Theatre, they have shows in a big atrium stage area on Deck 6 mid-ship that was viewable from several levels with stadium like seating.
As I said previously, the dining venues were excellent. During the 8 day cruise, we only ate at one repeat restaurant.
Many small dining options open throughout the day and evening and in various parts of the ship.
Java Blue (deck 6 mid) had free dining options for breakfast and lunch. Also had ready to eat salads, fruit, etc in to go containers that you could take with you and eat elsewhere which we thought was nice.
Comedy shows and bar areas were active.
The Veterans ceremony was very well done, we always attend those as they always have someone cutting onions nearby.
The ship had a very upbeat vibe and the crew members were happy, friendly and accommodating. It was a very positive place. You could tell that somebody was doing their job to develop a positive culture within the crew.
We had a forward facing balcony on Deck 17 which was very nice.

We liked MG a lot as well. Granted, we sailed at half capacity post-Covid…

I’ve been on all three Excel class ships. Celebration had the best vibe IMO.

The food was outstanding on all three ships. They let you rotate between main dining, the Italian restaurant, and the ChiBang Chinese/Mexican restaurant (don’t know how they pulled that combo off, but it works). Add in a specialty restaurant or two and you can eat in a different restaurant every night.

I did not think I was going to like Rudy’s Seagrill, but it is my favorite specialty concept Carnival has developed. Book it now.

Carnival Kitchens is a blast if you like cooking classes.

Get to shows early especially the ones in the atrium. I’ve yet to see another cruise line do comedy as well as Carnival does.

If you’re hitting Amber Cove and are a little adventurous, the Damajagua waterfalls are amazing. It’s like a naturally formed waterpark.

MG is a great ship. You’ll have a blast.