Ambergris Caye On Your Own

[corvette8377]

Has anyone used a company called Shore Excursions Group? They offer two shore excursion that fly to Ambergris Caye? Good or bad experience?

[Kryssa]

Has anyone used a company called Shore Excursions Group? They offer two shore excursion that fly to Ambergris Caye? Good or bad experience?

 

I know one person who did this trip during a cruise stop. They barely made it back to the ship and recommended against it.

[wadethegringo]

You can do it on your own with one of the airlines.

[paradiselivin1]

I know one person who did this trip during a cruise stop. They barely made it back to the ship and recommended against it.

 

Oops... Guess I'll be the one holding up the ship on the 8th which is when we booked this tour.

OP ~ if you're going after we return, I'll try to let you know if we made it back or got stuck in Belize. :D I think I had originally posted the question weeks ago and never got a response so just went for it.:)

[ranchingal]

Oops... Guess I'll be the one holding up the ship on the 8th which is when we booked this tour.

 

OP ~ if you're going after we return, I'll try to let you know if we made it back or got stuck in Belize. :D I think I had originally posted the question weeks ago and never got a response so just went for it.:)

 

I noticed when we were waiting for the water taxi that they listed transportation from Belize City to Cozumel and other cities. In an emergency, i suppose you could try to catch the ship in the next port?

I wouldn't plan on it, but in that situation, it may be an option.

[paradiselivin1]

I noticed when we were waiting for the water taxi that they listed transportation from Belize City to Cozumel and other cities. In an emergency, i suppose you could try to catch the ship in the next port?

I wouldn't plan on it, but in that situation, it may be an option.

 

Thanks for that information. Not surprised ~ sure that people get stranded on occasion but am not counting on it happening to us. I'm sure all major vendors try their utmost to get folks back on time as they all know that many of us are on these boards reporting everything we experience!

[rvsullivan]

Well, you would have to report that they did a good job and you missed the boat. Any small problem and your going to miss this one as was posted above. They haven't held the boat for anyone I've seen so far. ;)

[paradiselivin1]

Well, you would have to report that they did a good job and you missed the boat. Any small problem and your going to miss this one as was posted above. They haven't held the boat for anyone I've seen so far. ;)

 

Strangely enough, not expecting them to wait & am hoping to not have a problem. Going into this "eyes wide open" & hope not to have to swim out to meet them in the next port :eek:

[theampres]

Strangely enough, not expecting them to wait & am hoping to not have a problem. Going into this "eyes wide open" & hope not to have to swim out to meet them in the next port :eek:

 

than you, paradiselivin - and we're hoping (and planning!) not to miss the ship, either!! But, guess if we do, we may see you at TZA - awaiting flight to Roatan:confused: -that will be us, 4 frazzled folks!

 

what ship are you on? what time are you scheduled to arrive Belize? assume you've already booked air to San Pedro? - if so, what time is your flight? and return to TZA?

 

still a little uncertain about time there...want to get first flight possible.

 

BTW, this is definitely do-able. of course, anything can happen (on any excursion) to cause delay - just need to watch the clock!

 

bon voyage - enjoy ambergris! we plan to!!

[theampres]

than you, paradiselivin - and we're hoping (and planning!) not to miss the ship, either!! But, guess if we do, we may see you at TZA - awaiting flight to Roatan:confused: -that will be us, 4 frazzled folks!

 

what ship are you on? what time are you scheduled to arrive Belize? assume you've already booked air to San Pedro? - if so, what time is your flight? and return to TZA?

 

still a little uncertain about time there...want to get first flight possible.

 

BTW, this is definitely do-able. of course, anything can happen (on any excursion) to cause delay - just need to watch the clock!

 

bon voyage - enjoy ambergris! we plan to!!

 

we ALWAYS take passports (or copy) w/us when we leave the ship - in any port. you could be stuck for days in some places if you don't have your passport w/you. always best to be prepared for those 'just in case' situations...

[paradiselivin1]

than you, paradiselivin - and we're hoping (and planning!) not to miss the ship, either!! But, guess if we do, we may see you at TZA - awaiting flight to Roatan:confused: -that will be us, 4 frazzled folks!

 

what ship are you on?what time are you scheduled to arrive Belize? assume you've already booked air to San Pedro? - if so, what time is your flight? and return to TZA?

 

still a little uncertain about time there...want to get first flight possible.

 

BTW, this is definitely do-able. of course, anything can happen (on any excursion) to cause delay - just need to watch the clock!

 

bon voyage - enjoy ambergris! we plan to!!

 

We're on the Carnival Legend and will be in port on December 5th from 8AM to 5PM (ship time). We are meeting the excursion at 8:45 am local time & don't know the flight schedule as they control all of that. If you use them as well should be the same set-up.

Enjoy your trip as well. At least I'm not sitting on the sidelines wondering if I could have made it or not ~ this is really what we'd like to do in that port. Sure hope we have good weather :D

Already made a copy of our passport but thanks for the "heads-up".

[gvladybug]

I've done this once several years ago on a RCCL cruise. We had airplane reservations which we used to allow us to be one of the first off. Then we took a cab to the regional airport and a short flight over to Ambergris Caye. We walked to the beach and found a little restaurant/bar just opening. Grabbed a drink and asked the bartender if he knew anyone who took people out snorkeling. We ended up having a fabulous time snorkeling at Shark Ray Alley and then the marine reserve (can't remember the name); caught a quick lunch (he dropped us off right in front of a restaurant) and then made it back to the airport and back to Belize City with enough time. We could have taken a later flight back even.

 

We had a fabulous time!!

 

But with all that said; my husband won't do it again. We are going in December and he doesn't want the stress of worrying what if. So we are going to do a cave tubing trip instead.

 

It is a lot of fun and if you do go in eyes wide open then you will totally enjoy it. One little hiccup and you could miss the boat literally.

 

D

[paradiselivin1]

Glad to hear it was a good excursion ~makes me glad we made the choice. Cave tubing will have to wait for our second time, too! Enjoy your cruise.

[corvette8377]

Oops... Guess I'll be the one holding up the ship on the 8th which is when we booked this tour.

 

OP ~ if you're going after we return, I'll try to let you know if we made it back or got stuck in Belize. :D I think I had originally posted the question weeks ago and never got a response so just went for it.:)

 

Thank you for the information and suggestions. I have also booked this tour for February. I think the tour operator will be certain to get you back to the ship on time or else get lots of bad reviews on cruise critic. Would appreciate hearing from you when you return from Belize. We are hoping to rent a golf cart on Ambergris Caye and check out a few resorts. Would like to go back and spend a week in Belize.

[wadethegringo]

Thank you for the information and suggestions. I have also booked this tour for February. I think the tour operator will be certain to get you back to the ship on time or else get lots of bad reviews on cruise critic. Would appreciate hearing from you when you return from Belize. We are hoping to rent a golf cart on Ambergris Caye and check out a few resorts. Would like to go back and spend a week in Belize.

 

Yesterday I had some friends from the ship fly over to San Pedro for the day. All went smooth. $10us taxi to the airstrip. It should have been closer to $7.50us. then a 930 am local time, flight to San Pedro.

I had a golf cart waiting for them. we toured the town and hit some bars...2pm flight back to the ship.

[paradiselivin1]

Thank you for the information and suggestions. I have also booked this tour for February. I think the tour operator will be certain to get you back to the ship on time or else get lots of bad reviews on cruise critic. Would appreciate hearing from you when you return from Belize. We are hoping to rent a golf cart on Ambergris Caye and check out a few resorts. Would like to go back and spend a week in Belize.

Doesn't sound like we booked the same tour as ours is the one that takes you to Shark Ray Alley to snorkle. Guess that makes us a bit more exposed to problems than you. Will make a note to come back and let you know how it went.

We'd planned on going to Belize next Spring with friends but that fell apart. I'm sure we'll be back ~ don't know when..

[mazda]

We have done two flights/trips like this with another vendor, on two different cruises. Both worked out fine, great snorkeling one time, terrible visibility the second time due to weather. But in either case -- no worries about missing the ship. Both times there was one other flight after ours that still would have gotten us back in time.

[evandbob]

You can do what I did. On my first cruise I did shark ray alley as a ship sponsored tour. Liked it so much, I returned a few years later for a week long land based vacation. Either way, I didn't worry about missing the ship!

[corvette8377]

Doesn't sound like we booked the same tour as ours is the one that takes you to Shark Ray Alley to snorkle. Guess that makes us a bit more exposed to problems than you. Will make a note to come back and let you know how it went.

 

We'd planned on going to Belize next Spring with friends but that fell apart. I'm sure we'll be back ~ don't know when..

 

Shore Excursions Group offers a snorkel, scuba, and tour on your own to Ambergris Caye. When I originally looked at the information I was going to sign up for the Shark Ray Alley for snorkeling. When I went back into the website the snorkeling tour was sold out so we signed up for the "tour on your own". The electronic ticket the company e-mailed us said a representative from Ecological Tours will meet us on the pier and their tour office is located in terminal 3. I do feel a little confused about Belize Time versus the ship time. Would you mind sending me an e-mail about your experience? murray8377@bellsouth.net

[paradiselivin1]

Shore Excursions Group offers a snorkel, scuba, and tour on your own to Ambergris Caye. When I originally looked at the information I was going to sign up for the Shark Ray Alley for snorkeling. When I went back into the website the snorkeling tour was sold out so we signed up for the "tour on your own". The electronic ticket the company e-mailed us said a representative from Ecological Tours will meet us on the pier and their tour office is located in terminal 3. I do feel a little confused about Belize Time versus the ship time. Would you mind sending me an e-mail about your experience? murray8377@bellsouth.net

 

Made myself a note but if you don't see anything posted or if I fail to e-mail you can reach me at carolthelen@tampabay.rr.com Our ship leaves from here in the port of Tampa on EST and Belize is on CST so there is an hour difference for me. 8am ship time on the Legend is 7am Belize time.

 

The weather here has been awesome and can only hope that all of the ports on our trip have the same fabulous weather. Wishing you the same!

[theampres]

Made myself a note but if you don't see anything posted or if I fail to e-mail you can reach me at carolthelen@tampabay.rr.com Our ship leaves from here in the port of Tampa on EST and Belize is on CST so there is an hour difference for me. 8am ship time on the Legend is 7am Belize time.

 

I had asked same question to know when to book TZA-SPR flight -want to get to san pedro as early as possible. I believe that someone confirmed that NCL does change ship clock to local time in ea. port. so, yes, you are correct that when you leave Tampa at 0800H, it is 0700H in Belize, but when you get to and are in Belize, ship time adjusts to LT, so no difference - can anyone who's been recently, pls. confirm this? (I think maybe some cruiselines other than NCL do NOT adjust to LT, and that could be the source of confusion - and then there was also the DST/daylight savings time factor, prior Nov. 6 or whenever it was that we changed back...) - so looking for someone/anyone who's sailed w/NCL since Nov. 6 to pls. confirm: when in Belize, is there any time difference between ship time and local time? (really important to know for booking flight to Ambergris/SPR). Thanks for your help!!

[paradiselivin1]

Hmm...looks like you weren't getting a response so thought I'd pop this back to the top for you. Keeping my fingers crossed for our excursion next week!

[theampres]

Hmm...looks like you weren't getting a response so thought I'd pop this back to the top for you. Keeping my fingers crossed for our excursion next week!

 

esp. for weather...not looking so good for us, next wed., 12/7 - hoping that changes, though...when will you be there?

 

thanks for the 'bump' - maybe someone will reply now...? fairly certain ship (NCL) time = LT, but would appreciate confirmation from someone who knows! bon voyage to us!!

[paradiselivin1]

esp. for weather...not looking so good for us, next wed., 12/7 - hoping that changes, though...when will you be there?

 

thanks for the 'bump' - maybe someone will reply now...? fairly certain ship (NCL) time = LT, but would appreciate confirmation from someone who knows! bon voyage to us!!

 

We're there on Thursday. Keeping my fingers crossed for smooth sailing all around. Don't know your itinerary but our first stop is Grand Cayman & I keep reading that ships haven't been able to let passengers disembark because of rough seas.

[Pssunshinegal]

I wouldn't worry about the weather in Belize. You can never go by what the forecast for the country says outside of the country. I am in San Pedro right now and while it is cooler than we are used to this time of year, it is only really cool at night 78 degrees or at 7 AM. The water is always warm and our humidity is under 65% right now and everyone is wondering why it is so nice. So hopefully you will have great weather because the sea was like glass today. Hope you enjoy Ambergris Caye, it is a wonderful little town.