devigad

We did the Monkey river tour with Ralph which we booked through Shore excursioneer. We hurried back to catch the return ferry since they made such a big deal out of people possibly not getting a ride back on the last ferry. I regret that rush now knowing it was unnecessary. The monkey river tour was incredible and Ralph is a fantastic guide. I would recommend his tour very much if you want to see wildlife in Belize. His ability to spot things was amazing and we were the only 2 people on the tour. We hung out in the jungle watching a troop of howler monkeys, had manatees and dolphins come right to our boat and learned a great deal about all the rest of the flora and fauna of the jungle.

Yes, lukewheller, that is what they told me too. They have a lot of good reviews so I'm sure you'll have a great trip with them. Have fun!!

Here is the reply from Shore Excursioneer:

hank you for being patient while working on your query. Please note we just got information from our local partner and they said, the time on the wristband is a recommended time to return, however, you can stay longer by your own responsibility, as you might know, must be back aboard the cruise ship with at least 1 hour prior to the departure time and will need to consider the time of travel from the mainland. We can make the arrangements if you need to stay longer, just put a note on the step # 4 while doing your order and request to stay longer on the mainland. I do not believe you are able to take two excursions on Harvest Caye, you must decide which one did you prefer the most. However, can stay a little bit longer on the mainland to look around or shop.

Now my challenge is deciding which excursion to do!

I emailed Shore Excursioneer and shared my reticence to pay a deposit on a tour which I may not have time enough to do. I was inquiring about the Laughing Bird Caye snorkeling tour or the Monkey River eco tour. They said they will try and find a way to verify that we can still return to the ship past the 3 hour limit and get back to me. I'll report back when they do.

Hello Birdnutty, Splash Dive doesn't have this set up with NCL yet and I just got a very sad reply from Cayquest that their company is no longer doing tours due to the death of it's owners in a tragic accident recently.

Thank you also Kabbpres. Is it possible to book the return ferry for the latest return if you take the earliest ferry over? I was also looking at the shore excursioneer tours and had been told by the company that they can do the tours during the allotted time but I would love to have independent confirmation of that.

Thanks lukewheller,

I've contacted a couple of companies. So far Splash Dive has said they are not set up yet to do that. Don't know about the other ones. I was hoping to snorkel in Laughing Bird Caye Natl Park.

We are traveling on Dec. 7 and will be on the NCL Jade in Harvest Caye. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how often the water taxis return from Placencia. One of the tour companies I contacted about snorkeling in Laughing Bird Caye National Park said the information from the ship is misleading and there is enough time to do the longer private tours. The part I can't figure out is if the ship are the ones running the water taxi service how they decide what your return time is?

Any info from someone who has been there or has done one of the private tours would be very much appreciated! I'm getting rather annoyed with the lack of information and restrictions for guests in Harvest Caye.