Need help with a Belize excursion

[travellover39]

I asked this question in the port section, no replies.

 

Has anyone gone on the Barrier Reef and Beach Break with Carnival Legend?

I know the beach break is on Bannister Island. I would love to snorkel in Belize.

 

My big question is how is the snorkel portion of the excursion? Is it worth the $$?

 

Thanks in advance for any help. The more details the better.:)

[beachbum6264]

We've done this excursion a couple of times, there are pictures in my Legend 2011 review linked in my signature.

The snorkeling is good - lots of coral and fish. It was a tiny bit murky the first time we went, but there had been a storm the day before. They pick you up from the ship (head to the theater, get a number, be escorted down to the boat), a few minutes ride to the snorkel area, a little over an hour for snorkeling, then RUM PUNCH on the way to Bannister. Lots of rum punch flowing freely! We would do it again.

[travellover39]

We've done this excursion a couple of times, there are pictures in my Legend 2011 review linked in my signature.

The snorkeling is good - lots of coral and fish. It was a tiny bit murky the first time we went, but there had been a storm the day before. They pick you up from the ship (head to the theater, get a number, be escorted down to the boat), a few minutes ride to the snorkel area, a little over an hour for snorkeling, then RUM PUNCH on the way to Bannister. Lots of rum punch flowing freely! We would do it again.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. I did check out your review and I'm loving your pics and writing style. The pics of the excursions was just what I wanted to see. Thanks again for sharing your cruise with all of us.:D

[FlaGrl4Evr]

There is a really good cruise review on CC that I'm pretty sure covers this excursion. Let me see if I can locate it and I will post it on this thread for you.

 

It does sound like a lot of fun and the pictures in the review were just beautiful.

 

 

.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

OP,

 

Here is a link to the review. It is from the Liberty Westen itinerary that includes a stop in Belize. The excursion starts on post# 178

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1587202&page=9

 

 

:):)

[beachbum6264]

Thank you so much for your reply. I did check out your review and I'm loving your pics and writing style. The pics of the excursions was just what I wanted to see. Thanks again for sharing your cruise with all of us.:D

 

Thanks! I love reliving the cruise as I write - and we always have a good time, no matter where we wind up!

[travellover39]

OP,

 

Here is a link to the review. It is from the Liberty Westen itinerary that includes a stop in Belize. The excursion starts on post# 178

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1587202&page=9

 

 

:):)

 

Thanks for the link. The pics were great. The review of the excursion was excellent. I'm so really to go on this cruise but I have to wait until October:(

 

I'm happy now, at least I know what to expect and I'm sure it's worth the $$. :)

 

Cruise Critic posters always come through for us newbies. <3

[cvpends]

This is a great excursion and the reef is beautiful! BUT: Even though they claim that this is for all levels, people who have never snorkled before should not count on being taught to snorkle by the guides. If you have any beginners in your group, then you will need to teach them yourself.

 

That said, I do recommend this excursion and I think it would be a crime to be in the Belize area and not snorkle!

[travellover39]

This is a great excursion and the reef is beautiful! BUT: Even though they claim that this is for all levels, people who have never snorkled before should not count on being taught to snorkle by the guides. If you have any beginners in your group, then you will need to teach them yourself.

 

That said, I do recommend this excursion and I think it would be a crime to be in the Belize area and not snorkle!

 

I appreciate your comments. It's only 2 of us, we are not beginners. We also have our own snorkel gear. I love reading other snorkeler's experiences and see if it's for me. Not crazy about a big group hopefully we will handle it. I like the fact they pick you up at the ship. That's a big plus for us.:D

[Captain Carnival]

We've done this excursion a couple of times, there are pictures in my Legend 2011 review linked in my signature.

The snorkeling is good - lots of coral and fish. It was a tiny bit murky the first time we went, but there had been a storm the day before. They pick you up from the ship (head to the theater, get a number, be escorted down to the boat), a few minutes ride to the snorkel area, a little over an hour for snorkeling, then RUM PUNCH on the way to Bannister. Lots of rum punch flowing freely! We would do it again.

 

Was there lunch with this or food available?

[jessrn76]

We've never done the cruise ship excursion, always booked our own. Our first cruise was 4 yrs ago and we went to Belize and LOVED it.

We used a private tour guide whose name I got from a cruise review. Thanks to him, Belize was, by far, our favorite port. He will do anything you want. We chose snorkeling on the beautiful barrier reef. It was amazing. We had four in our group. He and his partner chartered a small private boat and we were on our way. He taught us so much about belize and the reef. We snorkeled in the most beautiful water. Ivar was wonderful. After snorkeling we stopped by Bannister Island and had lunch and relaxed for a bit then we went back to Belize city, on the way back we looked for manatees. He was so knowledgeable and personable! The rum punch he gave us on the boat was great too :)

 

If you have any interest, I highly recommend him. If we ever go back to Belize I'm 100% positive we will use him again. His email is pbuay@yahoo.com

[cvpends]

Was there lunch with this or food available?

 

Lunch was not provided but there is food available on the island. You can buy a few trinkets there also.

[cvpends]

I appreciate your comments. It's only 2 of us, we are not beginners. We also have our own snorkel gear. I love reading other snorkeler's experiences and see if it's for me. Not crazy about a big group hopefully we will handle it. I like the fact they pick you up at the ship. That's a big plus for us.:D

 

I didn't feel it was overly crowded, but you may have a different experience. Enjoy!!

[Captain Carnival]

Lunch was not provided but there is food available on the island. You can buy a few trinkets there also.

 

 

Thanks!

[travellover39]

I didn't feel it was overly crowded, but you may have a different experience. Enjoy!!

 

In one of the cruise reviews, the poster said over 100 people were on the boat out to the reef. They got off the boat/tender quickly and were able to avoid some of the snorkelers. Their friends got stuck getting off almost last and had some issues with getting kicked. This has happened to me before and it's not fun. She also said the area is large were you can snorkel so that will help.

 

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate all comments and details.:)

[travellover39]

We've never done the cruise ship excursion, always booked our own. Our first cruise was 4 yrs ago and we went to Belize and LOVED it.

We used a private tour guide whose name I got from a cruise review. Thanks to him, Belize was, by far, our favorite port. He will do anything you want. We chose snorkeling on the beautiful barrier reef. It was amazing. We had four in our group. He and his partner chartered a small private boat and we were on our way. He taught us so much about belize and the reef. We snorkeled in the most beautiful water. Ivar was wonderful. After snorkeling we stopped by Bannister Island and had lunch and relaxed for a bit then we went back to Belize city, on the way back we looked for manatees. He was so knowledgeable and personable! The rum punch he gave us on the boat was great too :)

 

If you have any interest, I highly recommend him. If we ever go back to Belize I'm 100% positive we will use him again. His email is pbuay@yahoo.com

 

Thanks for the tip. This is our first time in Belize and to tell you the truth we are leaning towards taking the carnival excursion because of the convenience of getting picked up right at the ship. It's a half day excursion and we will still have time to check out the TV and maybe get some conch fitters:D

[sissyfromcab]

My DH and stepdad took this tour last month from the Dream. They said they had a good time and really liked being picked up from the ship, but felt like it was geared more towards beginners. Both of them wanted to explore a bit away from the group, but got yelled to go back to the group. Also, they felt like a large portion of the time was taken up by waiting and the beach - out of 3 1/2 hours, they only spent about an hour on the reef. My DH said he wished they had just taken the tender in to get a private tour, so they could be in a smaller group and do more exploring on the reef.

[cvpends]

My DH and stepdad took this tour last month from the Dream. They said they had a good time and really liked being picked up from the ship, but felt like it was geared more towards beginners. Both of them wanted to explore a bit away from the group, but got yelled to go back to the group. Also, they felt like a large portion of the time was taken up by waiting and the beach - out of 3 1/2 hours, they only spent about an hour on the reef. My DH said he wished they had just taken the tender in to get a private tour, so they could be in a smaller group and do more exploring on the reef.

 

In retrospect, I do remember them telling us to stay with the group. It was pretty guided, but it was my first snorkling experience so it was overwhelming for me. My husband had to stay by my side to keep me out of trouble. Apparently, I kept swimming off in random directions and he had to keep retrieving me. I guess he doesn't want to loose me -- that's a good thing, right?:p

 

Later in the cruise, we went snorkling on our own in Cozumel. That was nice -- no one to tell us what to do and no one telling us to stay with the group. By then, I knew what I was doing and it was super fun!

[travellover39]

My DH and stepdad took this tour last month from the Dream. They said they had a good time and really liked being picked up from the ship, but felt like it was geared more towards beginners. Both of them wanted to explore a bit away from the group, but got yelled to go back to the group. Also, they felt like a large portion of the time was taken up by waiting and the beach - out of 3 1/2 hours, they only spent about an hour on the reef. My DH said he wished they had just taken the tender in to get a private tour, so they could be in a smaller group and do more exploring on the reef.

 

I'll take the hour:) Snorkeling on the 2nd largest reef will be awesome.:D I'm glad they are cautious in a way, you never know.

 

From what I understand from different reviews on private tours, you do much more waiting. You have to take the tender into port, than wait for people to arrive and than take another boat to the reef. It's time consuming any way you look at it. If the boat breaks down, you have no backup plan to get back to the ship. If you take the ship tour, and this happens, they will wait for you.

 

Anyone know how many guides they use?

 

Thanks everyone for the help, I really appreciate the different views. It helps with our decision making.:)

 

Thank you sissyfromcab!!

[travellover39]

In retrospect, I do remember them telling us to stay with the group. It was pretty guided, but it was my first snorkling experience so it was overwhelming for me. My husband had to stay by my side to keep me out of trouble. Apparently, I kept swimming off in random directions and he had to keep retrieving me. I guess he doesn't want to loose me -- that's a good thing, right?:p

 

Later in the cruise, we went snorkling on our own in Cozumel. That was nice -- no one to tell us what to do and no one telling us to stay with the group. By then, I knew what I was doing and it was super fun!

 

I also tend to wander, my husband is always waving me over towards him. lol

 

We will be snokeling on our own on Roaton and Grand Cayman so I'm ok with a guided snorkel excursion in Belize.

 

Thanks:)

[zqvol]

I asked this question in the port section, no replies.

 

Has anyone gone on the Barrier Reef and Beach Break with Carnival Legend?

I know the beach break is on Bannister Island. I would love to snorkel in Belize.

 

My big question is how is the snorkel portion of the excursion? Is it worth the $$?

 

Thanks in advance for any help. The more details the better.:)

 

 

We have done it. The snorkel portion can be great or it can be a real bear, depending on the weather. The last time we were there it was very choppy with a lot of stirred up sand. We dive so the chop was no big deal but it bothered a lot of our group, and the sand affected visibility.

[travellover39]

We have done it. The snorkel portion can be great or it can be a real bear, depending on the weather. The last time we were there it was very choppy with a lot of stirred up sand. We dive so the chop was no big deal but it bothered a lot of our group, and the sand affected visibility.

 

Thanks zqvol, I appreciate your reply. I don't enjoy snorkeling in choppy water.

I can see why the group was bothered.

 

Does Carnival ever cancel water excursions if the water conditions are choppy? I would think they should. Unhappy people not a good thing.:(

[Sylphy]

Does Carnival ever cancel water excursions if the water conditions are choppy?

 

Yes.