Looking for Belize and Hondorus Port Info...

[StacyandTim]

Hello my CC friends! :) Well, it's official....upon returning home from last week's cruise on the Triumph to the Western Caribbean, we immediately booked another for September 2005 on the Valor (Western) out of Miami. It helped to curb the PCD we were experiencing!

 

Our ports of call are:

 

Belize

Hondorus

Grand Cayman (was there last week)

Cozumel (was there last week)

 

I'm sure some of you CC'ers have been to Belize and Hondorus. What can you tell me about those ports? What excursions have you taken? Are they tendered? Etc. etc. etc.... :)

 

Any info you could provide would be appreciated!

 

Stacy and Tim

[Sue L]

Hey Stacy and Tim,

 

Just did the Valor western Carribean 3 weeks ago and boy do I know about PCD!!! Belize is beautiful, but a third world country. We went cave tubing which I would highly reccommend it was phenomenal!!!! Definitely book something for an excursion because there is not alot to do there on your own. (we did ours through the ship). In Roaton (honduras) we did the Parrot Tree Beach (also through the ship) It was a beautiful relaxing day at a gorgeous beach with lounge chairs and tiki huts. A pay bar and nice facilities. If you want to read my full review go to the member reviews and look for SCLMKL, under the valor reviews. Any questions just ask?

 

Sue

[StacyandTim]

Was either island tendered?

 

Thanks for the info! We will definitely look into the caves and that beach that sounds awesome!

 

Stacy

[I&MsMom]

In Belize, we took the water taxi over to Caye Caulker. (Cave tubing, etc. was not an option due to the ages of our children). It's about a 45 minute boat ride. It was a great day! Not a lot doing on Caye Caulker, but we knew that before hand - great way to get away from the crowds from the cruise ships. It would have worked better if we had been able to get off the ship quicker - we missed the 9 am trip and had to wait for the 10:30, greatly reducing our time on the island. Belize is a tender port. I concur: go with a plan. There is very little to do right off the ship (a few shops, bars, etc.)

[Pianogrl]

Hi Stacy & Tim,

In Belize we also went cave tubing with X-Stream. Check out their website (have lots of great pics)

http://belizecruiseexcursions.com/CaveTubingBelize.htm

I highly recommend them...they were completely professional, very friendly, very knowledgeable about the area walking to the caves & very helpful to everyone all along the float through the caves. It's a small group so that personal touch is appreciated.

In Roatan, Honduras we hung out at Foster's West Bay Resort....so laid back & relaxing right on the beach. There is a grill right on the beach to eat & the best part: you could get a massage right on the beach in a very nice hut. Her name is Keyla (Keyla Massage & Body Therapy)...they know of her at Fosters. Her website is: http://www.roatanet.com/massage (lots of pics)

Fosters website: http://www.fostersroatan.com

We had a blast there....very relaxing....very beautiful....they met us at the pier & took us to Fosters. (people from the States run Fosters so we felt good about that.) There is also a local artist who has his studio there with some beautiful artwork....yes, I bought a piece!

Anyway...go & enjoy these 2 beautiful places. Hope this helped.

Have a great cruise!

[Pianogrl]

Sorry...forgot something: we tendered into Belize but docked at the pier in Roatan.

[avid]

Hello my CC friends! :) Well, it's official....upon returning home from last week's cruise on the Triumph to the Western Caribbean, we immediately booked another for September 2005 on the Valor (Western) out of Miami. It helped to curb the PCD we were experiencing!

 

Our ports of call are:

 

Belize

Hondorus

Grand Cayman (was there last week)

Cozumel (was there last week)

 

I'm sure some of you CC'ers have been to Belize and Hondorus. What can you tell me about those ports? What excursions have you taken? Are they tendered? Etc. etc. etc.... :)

Any info you could provide would be appreciated!

 

Stacy and Tim

 

In Belize, we took the Altun Ha /Reo Wallace river tour. Wife really wanted Talum in Mexico, but I couldnt bear 3+hours on the bus. This was a

compromise, she got some Mayan ruins and I got the bus ride cut short to only 1 way with this great river cruise (1+hour Open air boat that meanders down river to see wildlife etc...). Once on land, there is a tourist trap type shopping shack rest stop set up that serves a great chicken, rice and beans (cooked in coconut milk) a bargin for $5 and you board a bus (condemmed NJ Transit Commuter bus in our case) for the short ride to the ruins.

 

 

Roatan, I spoke about in a previous post but we mainly went for

http://www.parrot-tree.net/photo15.htm

 

check out our pix at

http://community.webshots.com/album/275463724TnYQtl

 

Grand Cayman was 7 Mile beach, a great beach day at Marriott Beach resort, by the remains of Ivan's devestation was disturbing.

 

Finally Cozumel, where we took Carnival's Xcaret excursion to near Cancun by ferry from ship pier to mainland Mexico and a short bus ride to Xcaret where you get up to 4 hours on your own (see http://www.xcaret.com/index.php ).

for more stuff than you could possibly do in that time.

[StacyandTim]

WOW! Thank you all for your replies! I really appreciate all the links and will start looking into them to decide what we'd like to do.

 

Thanks again!

 

Stacy

[Stacey from CT]

We were on the Valor last week and enjoyed Roatan more than Belize.

 

In Belize, we booked a private tour with a local guy named Nacho. He and his wife were really nice and helpful, but.....stuff is kind of spread out in Belize! And after the hassle of a long wait to tender, we wound up driving most of the day (from port to Altun Ha to Baboon Sanctuary, back to port - each leg took the better part of an hour). The landscape just wasn't very pretty or interesting. Altun Ha was fine. The Baboon Sanctuary was cool but we were only there for maybe 20 minutes? and saw about 5 monkeys in the trees. One came close and ate taro leaves out of my hand - that was neat.

 

In Roatan, we went to Sante Wellness Center, a day spa to seems to especially cater to cruisers. An American couple runs it; they have a gorgeous home on an absolutely breathtaking piece of land (part of or next to Parrot Tree Plantation). We got massages and mud wraps (reasonably priced - I believe about $100 per person for a two hour treatment) and hung in the hammocks on the verandah, listening to the surf. It was heavenly.

Their website is http://www.santewellnesscenter.com

Btw, Roatan itself was more like what we'd expected Belize to be - lush and green and tropical. We didn't see the begging kids, etc., but we were the first off the ship and the Sante drivers were right there to pick us up.

 

I'd be happy to answer any questions.

[cruzn buckeye]

We will be on this same itin in September and I have questions.

 

Does the Mariott or other hotels let cruise passengers have access to their beach and chairs? Is there a charge? I tried looking at the poc board for this and couldn't find it.

 

Parrot Tree - is this better than Tabayana Beach?

 

Fosters - Is there a problem with sand fleas....I have read that the sand at Tabayana is treated and Fosters is not...is this true?

 

Thanks for any info!

[dispatch64]

Hi Stacy we were at the Sante Wellness spa with you last week and agree it is a great value and agreat way to spend the day in total relaxation.Stacy and Tim you should check it out, in Belize my wife and I went on the airboat and city tour thru the ship it was a lot of fun and saw a lot of wildlife,our sons went on a bike ride thru the jungle and then to the Altun Ha ruins and abus ride back this was thru the ship also and the thought it was great and got some great pictures. Hope you have a great cruise you'll love the Valor.

 

John

[avid]

we went to parrot tree primarily because we wanted to see the condos and marina in addition to beach. We were told by on of the realtors that the sand is treated and raked daily. The beach is around a man made lagoon that has an inlet off the caribbean sea (which is really to rough to swim in) so the sand and water were inviting and relaxing. Plenty of chairs, lounges tables and hammocks. Also a bar. We were told Tabanya was more frentic, (parrot was really laid back) with loud music etc. We had a great time see pix at

http://community.webshots.com/photo/275463724/281458074awlbFe

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/275463724/281458207mWeVrT

[cruzn buckeye]

I just looked at your link to Fosters and have another question. They won't do transfers unless you have 8 people? There will only be two of us. The taxi cost seems to be pretty steep. How did you get there?

[starznmoon]

Hi Stacy & Tim,

In Belize we also went cave tubing with X-Stream. Check out their website (have lots of great pics)

http://belizecruiseexcursions.com/CaveTubingBelize.htm

I highly recommend them...they were completely professional, very friendly, very knowledgeable about the area walking to the caves & very helpful to everyone all along the float through the caves. It's a small group so that personal touch is appreciated.

 

We couldn't agree with this more!!! X-stream was great!!!!

 

Not having gone to Roatan yet I can't help you there but Belize although 3rd world was our favorite stop because of X-stream and the caves!

[Marcys]

We really want to do the canopy tour in Roatan. Did any of you do or know anyone who did Tabyana Beach Break? We've been told that if we book that tour, we could then purchase the canopy tour once at the beach.

[Ivanova]

We will be on this same itin in September and I have questions.

 

Does the Mariott or other hotels let cruise passengers have access to their beach and chairs? Is there a charge? I tried looking at the poc board for this and couldn't find it.

 

Parrot Tree - is this better than Tabayana Beach?

 

Fosters - Is there a problem with sand fleas....I have read that the sand at Tabayana is treated and Fosters is not...is this true?

 

Thanks for any info!

Belize doesn't have beaches....

[OCruisers]

Belize: This excursion by Carnival looked interesting ... good snorkeling, then party .... so I ask about it on the Ports Board under Belize and "bburt60" had taken the excursion ... very positive reply:

 

(or just click here) Barrier Reef Snorkel & Rendezvous Key Beach Break

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[LarryF]

We were in Belize 3 years ago and went cave tubing on Reggies Cave tubing tour. It's the best excursion we've been on in 12 cruises! They were great. Much smaller group than ship's, and hour more time on the river than the ship's and an excellent lunch included. Website is http://www.regtour.com.