Island Marketing no longer offering Bannister Beach Break

[trish4bruce]

I went to book the Bannister Beach Break with Island Marketing (Belize Cruise Excursions) and the website says Bannister Caye is closed until further notice.

[txyellowrose]

I have a tour booked through Island Marketing for Bannister Island and snorkeling on November 10th. I wonder if they just plan to take us to a different place and not even tell us ahead of time.:confused:

[mdbowl300]

Seeing on the CC boards all the other tours dropping Bannister Island I found it hard to beleive Island Marketing still had it. I emailed (yesterday 10/25) Island Marketing and they told me the tour still does Bannister Island.

 

Glad I did not book. Think I was being played.

 

Looks like the tour is going to Goff's Caye. Not sure I am interested. From my understanding it does not even have chairs. Bring your towels.

[txyellowrose]

I can get by without a chair, but one person in our group has mobility issues and not sure we can get her up once she sits on the sand. Hard enough for her getting out of a chair. I will send them an email and see what they say.

 

What is going on with Bannister Island? Have all companies stopped the tours there? Was originally booked with Coral Breeze Tours and switched to Island Marketing.

[mdbowl300]

I was convinced that Island Marketing was not doing Bannister Island. I sent them email saying so.

 

They responded that they had to close down the Bannister Island tour due to Hurricane Richard putting half of it under water. Says it will be a long time, if ever, reopening.

[crewsweeper]

I was convinced that Island Marketing was not doing Bannister Island. I sent them email saying so.

 

They responded that they had to close down the Bannister Island tour due to Hurricane Richard putting half of it under water. Says it will be a long time, if ever, reopening.

Well that makes some sense given that there's nothing but the palapa there and it's not all that large and they bring everything in on tour days. Must have had some large waves though. And if it washed waay the sand there;s nothing to build it back up. Sad, since it was a popular stop for beachcombers and therea ren't that many beaches for cruisers.:(

[trish4bruce]

Not sure what we will do in Belize now. My husband is not into cave tubing, zipline or ruins so I was really trying for a beach to visit. Goff's Kaye I think is a little to primitive for us, may look at Caye Caulker.

[cruznluvr]

We were in Belize last week on the Legend & our Bannister Island tour with Eco tours was cancelled. We were told that there is a dispute going on between Carnival & the independent tour companies over access to Bannister. Our guide also told us that renovations are being done there (possibly funded by Carnival) & that is why it is currently closed to tour groups. We ended up going to Goff's Caye instead & had a fabulous time. The island is smaller; but there are picnic tables, bathrooms, a guy grilling lobster & jerk chicken and beautiful views. The water was choppy; but crystal clear when we were there.

[Cruzinbabe06]

I'm booked thru Eco Tours also. How long did it take to get to Goff Cayes? I'm assuming it was the same price.

How long did you guys stay on the island?

Thanks in advance

[mdbowl300]

We were in Belize last week on the Legend & our Bannister Island tour with Eco tours was cancelled. We were told that there is a dispute going on between Carnival & the independent tour companies over access to Bannister. Our guide also told us that renovations are being done there (possibly funded by Carnival) & that is why it is currently closed to tour groups. We ended up going to Goff's Caye instead & had a fabulous time. The island is smaller; but there are picnic tables, bathrooms, a guy grilling lobster & jerk chicken and beautiful views. The water was choppy; but crystal clear when we were there.

 

I kind of got the impression that something was going on with Bannister, even before Richard came through, so I was not totally convinced the email telling me Richard was the reason they were no longer going was accurate.

 

Got to love CC boards.

[mdbowl300]

We were in Belize last week on the Legend & our Bannister Island tour with Eco tours was cancelled. We were told that there is a dispute going on between Carnival & the independent tour companies over access to Bannister. Our guide also told us that renovations are being done there (possibly funded by Carnival) & that is why it is currently closed to tour groups. We ended up going to Goff's Caye instead & had a fabulous time. The island is smaller; but there are picnic tables, bathrooms, a guy grilling lobster & jerk chicken and beautiful views. The water was choppy; but crystal clear when we were there.

 

 

BTW, thanks great post

[Moongazer]

I have a tour booked with Coral Breezes to visit Bannister, snorkel and do Manatee tour week of November 28. I wrote to the tour operator to see if the tour was cancelled and this is the response I got:

 

Bannister took a hard hit from Hurricane Richard, but it's definitely not destroyed. It'll probably take a couple of weeks to clean things up.

I'm anxious to hear what is happening for tourists right now that were booked on this tour. Also concerned that even if they start cleaning it up it won't be up to standards in 4 weeks. I'm wondering if we should choose another excursion so would love to hear from anyone that has a tour booked on this island as to what their tour operator is reporting.

[cruznluvr]

I'm booked thru Eco Tours also. How long did it take to get to Goff Cayes? I'm assuming it was the same price.

 

How long did you guys stay on the island?

 

Thanks in advance

It took about 25 min. to get to Goff's Caye; but I think it was worth it. Since we had our 4 y/o with us, we opted not to go snorkelling and spent the whole 3 hours on the island. It was 30 pp for adults, 15 for kids. Some of the others on our tour snorkelled & I believe they paid a little more. I highly recommend the lobster tail meal with two lobster tails, bread, corn & beans for $10. Delicious!!

BTW, a guy from belizecruiseexcursions.com was there the same day as us & put a photo of my daughter & I sitting on the island on their website. Yes, the water was truly that shade of blue!

[tuscandream]

I need help, I booked the Goff's Caye beach and snorkeling thru island marketing I never received the confirmation email however they charged my card. I don't know how to get in touch with them. I have sent several emails and tried that live chat thing and no response. I checked my spam folder and there is nothing in there. I booked several other excursions with them for this up coming cruise and got confirmations with no problem. What should I do? Any suggestions.:eek:

[berge11]

Is it finally a hurricane or Carnival cruise?? I hope they will open again for direct bookings soon. This seems to happen everywhere..Carnival tries to play their exclusivity card to make more $$

[stavman]

Were leaving on the Dream in 8 days. When I logged on to my online banking account this morning, I noticed that Carnival had issued me a refund in the amount of $80.00. I checked my e-mail and didn't see where Carnival had e-mailed me to notify that our excursion had been canceled so I called.

 

Sure enough, no more Bannister Island beach break. While I didn't ask why the excursion had been canceled, the lady at Carnival informed me that the tour operator had been the one to cancel on them. I told her that it would be nice for Carnival to notify excursion customers when this happens but she got very defense and told me that it was their policy to notify customers via e-mail when things like this happen. Guess I'll keep waiting for my e-mail. :rolleyes: