roothy123 Posted December 30, 2011 #1 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I will be on Marina in the western Caribbean in late February. I keep reading that Belize City is a port in which the ships dock way out, and have a long, long tender ride into port. I have not been there, and also have not been on Marina, so I'm wondering if anyone can give me an idea of how quickly Oceania gets you onto land if you are not on an excursion. With Regatta I knew what to expect (the tender experience was efficient), but Marina is bigger, so I'm wondering if it will take longer to get all of us ashore. Are the tender boats similar to the ones on Regatta and Insignia? Do they run more than 2 tenders? Do you go to the lounge (or wherever) to get a tender ticket if you're not going on an excursion and want to get on the first tender you can? Has anyone been to Belize on Marina? Was it a long ride (15-20 minutes)? Is Marina allowed to use its own tenders? It sounds like Carnival uses Belize tender services (and apparently was demanding a lower price for them last winter!!), but perhaps that's because they can't tender their own passengers due to the large numbers involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DOJO466 Posted December 30, 2011 #2 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I will be on Marina in the western Caribbean in late February. I keep reading that Belize City is a port in which the ships dock way out, and have a long, long tender ride into port. I have not been there, and also have not been on Marina, so I'm wondering if anyone can give me an idea of how quickly Oceania gets you onto land if you are not on an excursion. With Regatta I knew what to expect (the tender experience was efficient), but Marina is bigger, so I'm wondering if it will take longer to get all of us ashore. Are the tender boats similar to the ones on Regatta and Insignia? Do they run more than 2 tenders? Do you go to the lounge (or wherever) to get a tender ticket if you're not going on an excursion and want to get on the first tender you can? Has anyone been to Belize on Marina? Was it a long ride (15-20 minutes)? Is Marina allowed to use its own tenders? It sounds like Carnival uses Belize tender services (and apparently was demanding a lower price for them last winter!!), but perhaps that's because they can't tender their own passengers due to the large numbers involved. I just returned from the Western Carib on Marina..they do not use their tenders at this port. A high speed tender which can hold many more people is available and is very enjoyable. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the landing. When I asked my TA to see if "O" uses their own tenders Miami told them "yes of course"..they do not!! We did cae tubing in Belize...what a blast:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DOJO466 Posted December 30, 2011 #3 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I just returned from the Western Carib on Marina..they do not use their tenders at this port. A high speed tender which can hold many more people is available and is very enjoyable. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the landing. When I asked my TA to see if "O" uses their own tenders Miami told them "yes of course"..they do not!! We did cae tubing in Belize...what a blast:D Cave:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roothy123 Posted December 30, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Wow, 20 minutes on a high speed tender - that must be a really, really shallow harbor! It's funny, because there is a thread from about a year ago in the "Ports" section that tells about how Carnival was (or is?) hassling Belize tender operators to only charge $5 per head. What cheapskates! Oh well, I digress... Belize is one port that really interests me - the cave tubing sounds very fun, but Altun Hai and Lamanai ruins (I think that's Belize) also interest me. Unfortunately, we're only there from something like 11 to 6 - it sounds like a great place once you get out of the city. There are old threads talking about how it's recommended that you not go out of the gated port area. Was that the case when you visited? I'm pretty independent, and willing to take a little bit of risk, but I was just curious as to whether people ventured out into the city at all, and if so, if they felt safe. I know there's not much there, and I also know that if we take an excursion, we'll be whisked away for most or all of the day, but I was just curious.... Were you on the Mayan Mystique cruise? If so, what were your favorite ports, and what did you do? I'm not all that interested in beach, booze, and water sports. Did you find fun things to see and do on the cruise? I would love to go to Tikal, but can't afford it....would love to do things on my own, but not sure if some of these ports lend themselves to that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted December 30, 2011 #5 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Our Marina experience was in Europe, not the Caribbean. BUT in Sorrento we were going in for a private tour. So I asked Destinations WHEN we should show up to be called for an 8:30am pickup, and they told us 8am. They lied. The problem was NOT the time it took to get to shore. The problem was that they didn't call most of the private passengers until about 8:35-8:40. As a result we got to shore around 9am which severely impacted our drive around the Amalfi coast. (It didn't help that we took an extra half hour to go through Pompeii which definitely wasn't O's fault!) We didn't complain, but we would have been happier if Destinations had told us the true waiting time we would have. They did call one non-ship's tour tender early on (around 8:10) but the rest of us had to wait more than half an hour. We know the risks in a tender port but this was not handled well. Whether our experience was the norm I have no idea. I'd like to think NOT. So I would just suggest that you get there extra early in a port like Belize. (Our only experience in Belize was with a land trip so I really cannot speak to that port, I can only say what our experience was in a Marina tender port.) Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roothy123 Posted December 31, 2011 Author #6 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Mura, it sounds like you're like me, and want to get going as soon as possible! I've had good luck so far with tendering on Oceania, but perhaps it's because I'm often a "one-sie" and it's easier to get one non-excursion person on a tender than it is two or more! (My husband does not get up early and rush off the ship as I do!) This will be my first Marina cruise, but on past cruises, I've often been given a tender ticket on the first tender. Even if I've had to wait, it has never been more than half an hour or so, which is a lot better than what I hear from cruisers on bigger ships! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DOJO466 Posted December 31, 2011 #7 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Wow, 20 minutes on a high speed tender - that must be a really, really shallow harbor! It's funny, because there is a thread from about a year ago in the "Ports" section that tells about how Carnival was (or is?) hassling Belize tender operators to only charge $5 per head. What cheapskates! Oh well, I digress... Belize is one port that really interests me - the cave tubing sounds very fun, but Altun Hai and Lamanai ruins (I think that's Belize) also interest me. Unfortunately, we're only there from something like 11 to 6 - it sounds like a great place once you get out of the city. There are old threads talking about how it's recommended that you not go out of the gated port area. Was that the case when you visited? I'm pretty independent, and willing to take a little bit of risk, but I was just curious as to whether people ventured out into the city at all, and if so, if they felt safe. I know there's not much there, and I also know that if we take an excursion, we'll be whisked away for most or all of the day, but I was just curious.... Were you on the Mayan Mystique cruise? If so, what were your favorite ports, and what did you do? I'm not all that interested in beach, booze, and water sports. Did you find fun things to see and do on the cruise? I would love to go to Tikal, but can't afford it....would love to do things on my own, but not sure if some of these ports lend themselves to that...[/quote We were whisked away by our tour operators in Belize. The town itself is not very nice. I see no reason to venture out on your own without a guide. We were on a 12 day Mia/Key West/Belize/Roatan/Costa Rica/Panama/Cartagena/Grand Cayman. If you will be stopping in Roatan, it is a very pretty island. We had a taxi for $25 take us around. It was pleasant. No matter..you will have fun for sure. And by the way...there is absolutely no charge for the tender but they do hint about "perhaps a tip";) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbpaul Posted December 31, 2011 #8 Share Posted December 31, 2011 We were in Belize on the Marina about 3 weeks ago. They did not use the ship's tenders but used the larger boats boats to get us ashore. The reef/coral structures do not permit very big ships to go to the pier. It took about 20 minutes and there did not seem to be any problem getting on one when you wanted. As far as walking around Belize City, we were with our disabled son and walked all around Belize City pushing him in the wheelchair. Never had a problem, never felt threatened. Of course my wife did not wear her good jewelry or even carry a purse. We did not carry anything of value other than a camera that really is not worth that much. Lots of people from the ship were walking around as well and never heard a bad story. Belize City is a poor city. Not much luxury there. For the most part, we used the street for the wheelchair. The streets were not in great shape but better than the sidewalks. Buildings we the same quality as the sidewalk and streets. Not to say we did not enjoy it because we did. The people were helpful when we got a little lost going back to the pier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted December 31, 2011 #9 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Mura, it sounds like you're like me, and want to get going as soon as possible! I've had good luck so far with tendering on Oceania, but perhaps it's because I'm often a "one-sie" and it's easier to get one non-excursion person on a tender than it is two or more! (My husband does not get up early and rush off the ship as I do!) This will be my first Marina cruise, but on past cruises, I've often been given a tender ticket on the first tender. Even if I've had to wait, it has never been more than half an hour or so, which is a lot better than what I hear from cruisers on bigger ships! I'm not normally that intense but in this case we were a group of 8 and 2 of us got there on time, 6 did not! We still had a great day, but I didn't appreciate rushing to get to the lounge by the time they told us ONLY to sit there for 30-40 minutes! But the main thing is that we did get there. This was the first time we have had such a problem and it may well be just that Marina is twice the size of the "R" ships ... even Marina was easier to leave than NCL's GEM (2300 passengers) or the QE2 (1750 passengers) ... It could have been worse, certainly. I guess my main objection was that we ASKED them when we should show up and we really were not advised properly. If they'd said we should get there by7:45, we would have done so! Ah well, over and done with! It won't stop us from booking Marina again. We just know better now. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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