James in SA

Yes.

If you have a hotel in Galveston for an upcoming cruise, I would recommend calling the hotel itself and confirming that your reservation will be honored BEFORE you show up there the night before your cruise.

We had our reservation at the Days Inn Galveston cancelled in the same way for our cruise next week, with very little notice and no explanation. Fortunately we live in San Antonio and can just get up early and drive down in the morning. I am sure the displaced people need the room much worse than we do, but at least an explanation would have been nice.

... Or, book Tabyana Beach Break through your cruise line and you will have transportation to the nicest area of the beach and a nice area to spend the day. $39.99 through Carnival, maybe more on other lines but may include lunch. They have a couple of nice ladies doing massages there that actually have had some training and give a good massage. Massage tables are out in the open under palm trees, and report from a family member it was a good massage and she was generous with the time. I haven't tried them myself.

Be careful of the massage hawkers on the beach. Generally they have had ZERO training and do not own a watch. For your "hour" you pay for you are likely to have someone rub their dirty hands all over you for about 15 minutes and tell you all done and then want an additional tip. Not a quality experience, trust me, I know.

I think there is also a real massage therapist with a private upstairs room at Bananarama... you might email them and ask.

Also, West Bay Lodge back on the road a ways away from the beach has a nice little spa and a great restaurant (Celeste's) that serves a great 2 lobster tail lunch for $20 something.

You can get to either of these places by a short walk down the beach from the Tabyana property that the cruise excursion takes you to.

Enjoy your trip!

FWIW, the disembarkation MDR breakfast isn't the Sea Day Brunch menu with the steak and eggs etc. It is more like what you can get at the buffet. But it is still a nice option to sit down and be served breakfast one last time before you go back to reality.

They call the ones with the extra half bath "Deluxe Ocean View".

We enjoy the quiet open deck 3 on the Conquest class ships, where you are close to the water. It is a really nice quiet place where you can read a book or just enjoy the ocean.You don't get that experience on Breeze unless yo book a cove balcony on deck2, because the deck 5 lanai is much higher up and has tall plexiglass walls around most of it.

It works fine until the time it doesn't. We drive to Galveston for cruises and have driven down the morning of the cruise a couple of times with no problems. On our last cruise on Breeze we had a totally unexpected ruptured tire failure, but fortunately were able to find a Walmart open and get a new tire the evening before our cruise. Had we decided to drive down in the morning that time, we would have had a big problem on our hands. Never again!

Besides, it is a vacation. If you can leave the day before it is relaxing and stress free, and your vacation has already begun. Have a nice dinner and stay in a hotel. Don't put yourself through that kind of stress unless you have no other option..

Of those 4 Roatan is the only one where you would need an excursion of some sort to get to a nice beach from where NCL docks. But there are some inexpensive ones that are nice. Booking through the cruise line Tabyana Beach Break is my favorite, usually only $39 through Carnival. I think it is more on other lines but may include lunch. Going off the reservation there are also low priced options.

In Belize you will be captive on NCL's new private island, so that is a beach day for free other than having to pay ship's prices for food and drink. It might be a place to book an excursion just to get off the private island though... reviews have not been that nice so far.

In Cozumel, you can take a taxi for about $4pp each way to Money Bar Beach Club. It is free admission and you just pay for whatever food and drink you order. Nice snorkeling, no charge for chairs or loungers etc., good food, and clean restrooms.

In Costa Maya it is just a short $3 ride to the Malecon which is a nice beach strip with numerous beach bars and restaurants, very reasonable and mostly just pay for food and drinks to use their area. Snorkeling not so great. There is also a nice pool area right at the port with (I think) a swim up bar.

I have gone with them 3 times, and agree they are great. Enjoyed the nice lunch they serve too.

Tabyana through the cruise line is IMO a real bargain at $39 for Carnival. (varies by cruise line.) You are right by the best snorkeling, have chairs, a guard to watch your stuff, fairly clean restrooms, pretty good food and drink. Plus the security of a cruise line excursion with convenient transportation and no worries or drama.

For a really good lunch, walk off the reservation a few blocks and go to Celeste's for an awesome 2 lobster tail lunch for $20. We did that last time and it was WONDERFUL! Celeste's used to just serve Baleadas at lunch time, but recently they began offering the dinner menu at lunch time. The Tabyana security guards don't really like guests wanking out the back entrance, though they relented and let us once. Now we just walk up the beach to Bananarama and walk up the alley to the main road. Celeste's is right there.

Also if you walk up the beach to just past Henry Morgan's there is a coffee roaster called "Cafe Buenas Dias" where you can buy great local roasted coffee for $6 a bag. it is not well marked, so just ask anyone near Henry Morgan's and they can point it out.

The bug situation is highly variable. We've been there several times, and had no problems with bugs except one time. That one time the mosquitoes were unrelenting and you REALLY needed to have some bug spray. You should definitely have some with you, but you often will not need to use it.

I see on the cavetubing.bz site that the minimum height for the caves is now down to 40". It also says they now offer RIVER tubing for families with small children.

West Bay Beach is the name of the beach itself, a beautiful white sand beach perhaps a mile long with with nice coral reefs out just beyond the white sand where people can swim. Bananarama is right in the middle of West Bay Beach, a kind of busy spot with boats and jet skis and stuff. I've gone there a couple of times but ended up walking down the beach toward Tabyana to snorkel.

West Bay Resort is a lodging establishment with a nice restaurant called Celeste's where you can now get a nice lobster lunch for $20. Also have spa services. They are set a ways back from the beach along the road coming in and do not have beach access.

Tabyana is the name of a nice day use area that is used for cruise ship excursions, called "Tabyana Beach Break" It is right next to Infinity Bay Resort, which is a hotel that I think may sell day passes. The best beach and snorkeling is right there in front of Tabyana (and Infinity Bay). Tabyana is a nice area with clean restrooms, loungers, live music, food and drink, plenty of palm tree shade, and a fresh water shower to get the salt off when you are done.

Tabyana has the white sand beaches and much better snorkeling than you'll find at Half Moon Bay. The water is usually crystal clear and calm, but if a north wind has blown in it can be cloudy and choppy. But the same applies to most beaches. Look it up on Goggle and you will find some pictures. Their food is good and lunch is sometimes included in ship excursions, but there are also lots of other options up the beach. It is a real bargain at (usually) $39 including transportation.

We are visiting next Wednesday on Breeze and are going to Tabyana, but are planning on walking off the reservation and having lobster lunch at Celeste's.

The only advantage I could see to getting a day pass to Infinity Bay Resort is access to the pool, if that was important.

In Roatan there is pretty good snorkeling off the beach most of the time at West Bay Beach. You can easily get someone to take you out in a boat from there too. On Carnival just book Tabyana Beach Break for $39 pp and you will be taken to a nice day use area at the south end of the beach and can go where you want from there. Great off the beach snorkeling right in front of Tabyana for that matter. You can snorkel on your own until your skin wrinkles like a prune if you want.

If you want a boat snorkel in Blue Channel just walk up the beach to the little water taxi dock and you will find people eager to take you out.

Belize takes a little more planning, and anything booked through the ship will disappoint. Goff's Caye is the easiest and probably least expensive option. It is guided snorkeling off the boat with a bunch of people though. It is a pretty little island and the waters over the reef are crystal clear.

BTW, at Goff's Caye during lobster season (which ends I think Feb 15th this year) they grill lobster tails for lunch. 2 tails with rice, beans, and corn for $12. Chicken kabobs are also on the grill for $8 and they are really good too.

And we have done it with Vitalano's group 3 times and had a great time. It is $50 last time I checked and includes a yummy home cooked Belizian lunch and free rum punch at Vitalano's place when you are done. Zipline can be added for $25.

They also carry your tubes up the river for you. http://cavetubing.bz

I haven't done Butts Up, but as for the name that is what they tell you when you are entering shallow water where your posterior might scrape a rock if you don't lift it up.

I don't think you would go wrong with either of them.

There are nice restrooms in the cruise terminal before you board the bus, and nice ones when you arrive at the caves staging area which is a Belize park. I haven't timed the bus ride, but I don't think it was over an hour. If everyone uses restrooms when available they should be fine.

The height restriction is a fairly recent Belize law with the intent of safety. It seems like it was 48" when first enacted and has been relaxed to 42".

Just noticed Galveston is fogged in and no ship at the pier. Not again!

Sent from my XT1058 using Forums mobile app

They would be fine, I've used them. They just don't want flip flops that might fall off and float away. It isn't really what I would call a hike... more of a leisurely walk in the woods with the guide pointing out plants and animals and other things of interest along the way.

I've not taken any kids myself, but the ones I've seen on several trips seemed to be having a good time. It all depends on the kids though. Everyone needs to be at least 42" tall for the cave tubing BTW.

It might depend on what you like to do in port. We have been to Grand Cayman many times, most in the hurricane season too, and never had to miss the port because of weather. They have gorgeous clear water and miles of white sand beaches that cost you only a taxi fare. Plus some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean can be done without even purchasing an excursion. Or with a moderate priced excursion you can go out to the stingrays and snorkel the reef off a boat.

The island is safe and civilized, and has a very British feel to it. Shopping, if that is your thing is so so and kind of expensive. It used to be my favorite port until I discovered Roatan... We love to snorkel so the water and the reefs in a port are a big consideration for us.

One time it was very windy due to a nearby tropical storm and all the water activities had to be cancelled. But the captain was able to anchor on the protected side of the island so tenders could take us to an alternate dock away from town. There was nothing there, but there were taxis and buses offering private tours inexpensively for anything that could still be done in the rough weather. We had fun that day even though it wasn't what we had planned.

Breeze is a great ship! We went in October and liked it so much we booked another trip on board and are leaving in a week and a half.

We had a cove balcony on Breeze on our last cruise, and as adults without kids loved it.

I don't recall any openings in the metal hull below the railing where a toddler could possibly get through. But if your a 2 year old is a climber it might be a temptation to climb up on the rail to see over, since the view is completely blocked below the rail by the steel hull. On the higher deck balconies there is a plexiglass panel below the rail, so they can at least see and may be less tempted to climb.

Personally, with a child at that inquisitive and quite mobile age we would feel safer in one of the spacious ocean view rooms. You would same a little money, have a larger room, and be freed from some worry.

And the spa is really nice, but with a 2 year old I doubt you would have time to really enjoy it on this cruise.

The show "Flick" in the main theater is really good and one not to miss.

Keep in mind in most ports you are not ALLOWED to take food off the ship, especially fruit like bananas. In Cozumel, Mexican authorities are sometimes checking bags for such items on the dock and you can be fined for having them. The boxed cheerios etc probably would be fine.

Sea day brunch is excellent, with a great steak and eggs option for a heary breakfast, plus great options for kids.

I've been on Magic a couple of times when it was home-ported in Galveston, and to be honest it is one ship that I was bored with by the second time. It is a nice ship, but somehow seemed more bland and and lacking personality.

I'd do Oasis in a heartbeat if the opportunity came up.

Goff''s if one is interested in some good snorkeling over a coral reef, which you didn't mention. It is a pretty island but small, and the facilities are a bit primitive and limited. Just a small hut for food and drink, a few scattered picnic tables, and primitive restrooms. No loungers. It is actually a Belize park.

Snorkeling (optional) is off the boat, and you basically drift over the coral back to the island in time for lunch. There is a nice sandy beach area where you can swim / soak on your own if you want.

On the plus side during lobster season which this year runs til February 15th, they will be grilling lobster tails for lunch along with delicious chicken kabobs. Beers are $2 and Floyd will be serving up free rum punch.

I haven't done Starfish, but from what I have heard there is no reef there, just sandy bottom, thus the starfish. Not sure about the facilities or food and drink... maybe someone else can give you the rundown.