Question regarding the Pier stores.

[serene56]

I am thinking of staying on the ship on our Belize day but also thinking of taking the tender ride to visit the pier-

 

Do you know if there are stores on that pier? anything near by?

[runner15km]

How does one with 40,000+ plus posts not know the answer. Just curious.

[serene56]

How does one with 40,000+ plus posts not know the answer. Just curious.

 

 

Beleize is a relativly new port for me. Only been one time and did a tour right from the ship which bought us back right in the nick of time.

I couldnt even tell you what the pier looked like back then. and this was several years ago- ( i think Carnival has rebuilt it since then)

 

15 cruises and only been to Belize once.

[askimdog]

I have not been in Belize before either. But will be next month on the Legend. Researching the port area and town, everything looks walkable, shops in the Tourisn Village, Market shops outside the gate and plenty interesting stores down neighboring streets. I youtubed people taking tours of the city from their cruises. Seems like an interesting city much different from so many ports. My wife, young daughter and I look forward to wandering and catching a local meal.

 

I have friends who lived in Belize City for years and they loved the local folks. The coolest thing about getting to Port is checking out the local places and not just the tourism shops and excursions.

[Lidolounger]

The Tourism Village has many shops. There are the very basic T-shirt shops, but also some nice shops that sell handmade woodcrafted items. It's definitely worth a few hours checking them out. All of the wood products we purchased have held up well and are well made.

[runner15km]

Beleize is a relativly new port for me. Only been one time and did a tour right from the ship which bought us back right in the nick of time.

I couldnt even tell you what the pier looked like back then. and this was several years ago- ( i think Carnival has rebuilt it since then)

 

15 cruises and only been to Belize once.

 

Thanks, In the past you have been a wealth of info, just surprised about Belize.

We have purchased hand crafted wood cravings at the pier. The artists are set up under tents behind the main buildings near the tour bus departure point.

 

We also did a city/country tour for around $30 and we booked right at the pier. The driver was very informative and the tour was well worth the money.

[wadethegringo]

I went shopping in The City on Thursday. I live in San Pedro with my Girlfriend. I visit the city weekly. She has not in 6 months. One stop that I have not been to in a while was Mirab. department store. Just a short walk from the ship. We passed the Tourist Village on our way and had many offers for tours. It has become more controlled and was not as aggressive as in the past. My GF was like a kid in a candy store.

[serene56]

We have purchased hand crafted wood cravings at the pier. The artists are set up under tents behind the main buildings near the tour bus departure point.

 

 

 

How pushy are these vendors? I have 3 people with me that will be 80+

[Blind Squirrel]

We were there a couple of weeks ago. Once you leave the Tourist Village there will be a lot of people trying to sell you tours. We ended up using a guy named Charles Noel. We had a van to ourselves ( 2 of us ). He took us arond the city fisrt stopping to get me an ice cold Belkin. After a tour of the city he took us to a resturant named Bird Isle. Great resturant, we sat on deck over the water and had a wonderful meal of chicken, rice, and beans. On the way back to the Tourist Village we went by a bunch of shops downtown. My wife mentioned she would like to buy a pair of sandles and he said no problem there was a good shop up ahead. A few minutes later we pulled up to a shop with LOTS of shoes. The wife looked around a bit and found a pair she liked for $15. She went to the counter to pay and they said that was $15 Belize dollars. She was thinking oh crap until they told her that was only $7.50 US. She then about broke her next looking back at the wall for another pair:D. I would highly recommend Charles Noel for any shore tours in Belize. His email is : charlesinbze07@yahoo.com

[mitsugirly]

Belize is one of those places you have to tender to. When you arrive, it's just like most other ports, it's all built up with tourist shops selling arts & crafts, tees and so on. It's nice/cute and safe inside.

 

Here's a few pictures I took:

 

 

 

 

When we first got there, this is the area that we went outside to and it didn't have many people there (other than those to point you in the direction you need to go in order to catch your ride)

 

 

We took a cave tubing tour. We were told that the best deals were outside the gates and you would pay double or more inside in the tourist area. When we pulled up, it was UNREAL. There were so many people there up in your face trying to get you to buy everything and trying to coax you to the shops. We had a 3 year old with us and although we didn't feel like we would be harmed, we didn't feel comfortable with her being with us to stay out there either. There were security guards (or port officials), not sure what they are called, standing at the doorway to check your ID's/ship pass to let you in and I remember the one standing at the doorway we were trying to get to extend her hand as if saying "come on hurry". Once inside, we felt relaxed and relieved.

 

I have to say though, I'm not sure if we were dropped off at the port at the same place we left because it definitely did not look the same. :confused:

[arkansasrebel]

How pushy are these vendors? I have 3 people with me that will be 80+

 

We were at the Tourist Village a couple of weeks ago. The vendors outside the gates are pretty aggressive and would follow you a little ways down the street talking to you. I wasn't uncomfortable, but another couple with us were. Inside the Tourist Village, they weren't pushy, until you get near the areas where they were selling excursion trips. Really pushy isn't the right word... annoying is!!!

[Colorado Kat]

They do get pushy. My 17 year old daughter and I wandered outside. Even had someone offer to buy her, but we did not get into serious negotiations about pricing.

 

My favorite vendor had a gorgeous carved wooden door. I glanced at it, and he told me $300. When I expressed interest, he added, "Plus $3000"

[serene56]

They do get pushy. My 17 year old daughter and I wandered outside. Even had someone offer to buy her, but we did not get into serious negotiations about pricing.

 

My favorite vendor had a gorgeous carved wooden door. I glanced at it, and he told me $300. When I expressed interest, he added, "Plus $3000"

 

 

too funny. I wonder if they wanted to buy my honey would I get into some serious negotiations....LOL

[itf]

Interesting - on my recent Equinox sailing, that doesn't look like the port area we tendered to. All that was there was some shifty luggage / bag shops selling designer fakes, and 'no prescription required' pharmacies with 'no photography' warnings. Maybe there's multiple port areas - the one I was at so closely resembled hell that I took the first tender back - thankfully we'd been on an excursion so had seen more of the place, but the port area was dreadful.

[serene56]

WHen did you go there?

 

 

MAYBE celebrity has a different pier?

 

But this one was built in the past 2 years.

a hurricane destroyed the last one

[itf]

WHen did you go there?

 

 

MAYBE celebrity has a different pier?

 

But this one was built in the past 2 years.

a hurricane destroyed the last one

 

This was within the last two weeks - only came back on the 24th.

[nukester]

dont buy from diamonds international

[serene56]

interesting-= so different cruise lines use other piers

[serene56]

dont buy from diamonds international

 

 

 

why is that? That stuff is supposed to be backed by the cruiselines.

[Oviedo32765]

why is that? That stuff is supposed to be backed by the cruiselines.

 

Read these reviews and decide for yourself: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g150809-d317512-r121954265-Diamonds_International-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html#REVIEWS

[seaofblue]

Lots of shops at the pier--Wet Lizard is a fun place to have a snack or drink--also went outside the gate--there were several people out there offering tours--we just smiled and said no thanks-we just want to shop--no pressure--there is a little market area--we found the people there to be very sweet, polite--they are just trying to make a living--felt very safe

[nukester]

cruise ship gets 10% cut on al sales and the manufacuter the rest......Thanks for trip advisor on di ..they are wothless corp.. Bait and steal is more like it

[nessz79]

Lots of shops at the pier--Wet Lizard is a fun place to have a snack or drink--also went outside the gate--there were several people out there offering tours--we just smiled and said no thanks-we just want to shop--no pressure--there is a little market area--we found the people there to be very sweet, polite--they are just trying to make a living--felt very safe

 

Is Wet Lizard the only restaurant in the tourism village/port area? We don't want to go outside the gates as we have no excursion planned that day, but we'd like to get off the ship for a couple hours.

[Sargent_Schultz]

interesting-= so different cruise lines use other piers

 

within the same compound.

 

The pharmacist doesn't want pictures of her on the Internet because apparently she can get in trouble.

 

I don't know that the village was ever destroyed, but it has been greatly expanded over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sargent_Schultz]

{ the store directory listing is only for the "Reef" area - there are more shops and places in the others.}