Who has been to Belize?

[Loves_Dogs]

We loved Belize. Originally booked a Biking in Belize tour that we were really looking forward to. Unfortunately we were were contacted by the excursion desk and told this tour had been canceled as we were the only two people to book :eek: it. Last minute we decided to do the Zoo & City Tour which we thoroughly enjoyed. Our tour guide was so interesting and knowledgeable. She shared a lot of the history and customs which really made the tour fascinating.

The zoo was enjoyable too.

 

Hope to make it back to Belize and finally get to do the Biking in Belize excursion.

[cherbear4000]

I will echo what others have said. I have been to Belize 3 times now. I absolutely love it. You must book an excursion though. It is not a port where you can just wander around and expect to have a good time. I have done the cave tubing, sargeant's caye snorkeling, and ziplining. This is a port where I feel more comfortable booking through Carnival instead of an independent. A lot of the sites are far from the ship.

[Cousin Eddie]

In 2010 I took an excursion that included caving, rappelling, zip lines, and exploring a cave system in the rain forest. I saw jaguar, crocodiles and loved the excursion. It was an hour and a half into the mainland by bus, and our guide "Elvis" gave an amazing presentation about his country enroute. I loved that excursion and the beautiful country that lies beyond the city and the port. Those in my group that stayed in the port area hated it and swore off Belize. I would love to go back.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Cousin Eddie

[a3593]

I loved it. Not an overly commercial place with tons of diamond stores and bars. The second largest barrier reef in the world, lots of eco-tourism, amazing Mayan ruins. You have to get away from the port area and do an excursion. See my Dream review for pictures.

[kyrisong1]

We went Cave tubing and had a great time!!!

We also did some shopping in the port area and there were great prices on liquor and I got some beautiful silver and some kind of blue shell necklace and earrings. I loved the necklace but wanted matching earrings, he sat right there and made me earrings out of a bracelet with me watching, was pretty cool!!

Also if your a walker or hiker, or have anyone that uses a cane, they have some really nice canes/walking sticks carved from whole pieces of wood with amazing designs on them.

Just because the country is poor doesn't mean the people are bad, the people we did business with were greatful for the business and very, very nice.

Have fun, hope you enjoy and spend your time with an open mind.

Some of the poorest countries have given us our most wonderful memories.

Carole

[pinkmaija]

We loved Roatan, went snorkeling, loved it. Would love to go back to Belize. :)

[wrigley80]

We have been to Belize twice. The first time was in 2004 when cruise ships were just beginning to stop there. Then we stopped again in December 2011. The changes were amazing. The first time we went I was very uncomfortable and I was ready to get back on the ship immediately. This past year we had a fun time. We took an island tour with Belize Tours Unlimited and then we spent about 2 hours eating and drinking at the Wet Lizard. If you stop in Belize you have to make a stop at the Wet Lizard :)

[40yearcruiser]

We were in Belize on the Dream in May. It was our second time there and we did the same tour both times (had someone with us the second time who had not taken that tour before). We went to the Mayan site of Lamanai. Carnival did not offer a tour to this site and we booked it with Island Marketing. To get there you take a speedboat on the New River. That in itself was fun and a chance to see the beautiful countryside. The tour also included lunch of local cuisine. Belize is well worth visiting, but as others have said you should take a tour and get away from the port.

[askimdog]

We were in Belize in January, we did the brewery tour, then returned to Tourism Village wand wandered out the gate. Marvelous time, super friendly folks. Great architecture in town, visited a school, local place for lunch ( ate gibnut), sat with some locals for a few beers, walked deep into town and stopped in shops.

 

Sure, looks a little rough in places, but I was there to soak in culture and new places, not scuba or sit on a sandy beach.

[crusinfamof4]

We were there last August, the tender over, not too bad as we had an excurison, the tender back was awful, that being said, we didn't care too much for it. We did the Mayan Ruins & River Wallace tour. It was such a let down to me. I am a big fan of the movie Apocalypto and was expecting to see ruins like that. We didn't. But we saw one ruin and that was that. My DH said the next time, we will stay on board.

 

pic 1-our bus to our excursion, the emergency door kept flying open, thought it was going to hit my window and shatter. It was scary, we were pulled off the side of the road for an hour or so, all the other buses left us.

 

pic 2-the biggest ruin, we were able to climb

 

pic 3-view from the top of the ruin-not a bad climb up, but coming down was nerve wrecking!

 

pic 4-after the ruins, they took us to the Black Orchard for "lunch". My DH and I sat there, we could not eat there, but our boys, they wanted to eat there.

 

pics 5-7 The River Wallace-the boat was packed tight and there was no cover, my legs felt like they were on fire. I found an extra life vest and was able to cover my legs. We saw about 1000 iguana and a few monkeys.

 

pic 8-the crowded tender back where we had to stand the whole time-we asked to wait for the next one, someone else could go on this one, they did not allow it.

Edited August 18, 2012 by crusinfamof4

[Momis2]

We did the Bannister Island snorkle and Manatee watch with Coral Breeze Tours and LOVED it!! They use Hammerhead Tours which is right where the tenders drop you at the dock.They took great care of us on the boat and in the water. We saw tons of fish , wild manatees , and had a nice break afterwards on Bannister Island where there is a fresh water shower, restroom facilities, food for purchase and a great little bar. Back at the tourist area, we stopped at the Wet Lizard and had lobster fritters(YUM) and a couple more Belikin beers. We also bought some Marie Sharps hot sauce which is to die for if you are a chili-head like we are. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Momis2

[Sargent_Schultz]

Our last time was last November and went snorkeling through Coral Breeze

 

04 - Wed, Nov 16, 2011, Belize - 8am-5pm

Page1 - Bridge, Tenders, Kicking up mud, Tendering, Ship from tender, Fort Street Tourism Village, Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion,

Page2 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Snorkeling part, Green Moray, Shark/Ray part,

Page3 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Sharks and Rays, Lunch on Caye Caulker, Tender back to ship

Page4 - Room Service (Chocolate Cake, Vegetable Sticks, Roast Beef on French), Lido, Sushi Bar, Sushi Menu, MDR Dinner. Elvis, Lido at Night,

 

 

Some more pictures from Belize

 

Belize: Belize Dec 2008 Cave Tubing

 

 

 

Belize Nov 16, 2006 Page1 Page2 Page3 Page4 Page5 Page6

 

 

Sep 7, 2006 - Belize Page2 Page3 Page4 Page5 Page6

 

 

Dec 27, 2005 - Belize Pharmacy@BelizeTouristVillage

 

 

Belize Nov 16, 2005 (Snorkel and Bannister Island)

[LOVECRUISING100%]

My DH has always wanted to visit Belize. For our next cruise, we are strongly considering a Western Caribbean cruise, because of this.

 

I've been looking at reviews here off/on for the past couple of days and Belize sure doesn't get very high marks! :(

 

Can somebody tell me more about your stop at Belize? What are the popular things to do here?

 

 

ETA: If anybody has pictures they can post I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks!!

I went last year, we went to the Mayan Ruins, had a good time.. wouldn't mind going back .. i'll try and find some pic's and post tomorrow

[satxdiver]

I have been cave tubing several times and it was fun. They take you up river and you float through two or three caves. They furnish the tubes (like large truck tubes) and head light. You end up at the point you rent the tubes and they have changing rooms to put on dry clothes before returning to the ship.

 

I also have been to Altun Ha, the Mayan ruins near Belize City as well as the river tour several times. I enjoyed them. The river tour was great in that we saw crocodiles and other animals pointed out by our boat captain. He would stop and give us time to get pictures. Great trip.

 

Last when they take you ashore in the tenders, you will be in a protected shopping area that is off limits to the natives so it is safe. They have the usual shops, food and bars. Thankfully not every shop is a jewelry store or tshirt shop like many ports. It actually is half way decent onshore. Don't go wandering around Belize City on your own though.

[atnick11]

We were in Belize on a cruise this past March. I have to say I did not like Belize. It was very dirty, trash everywhere and at times did not feel so safe. We took a ship excursion to Mayan ruins. It was about an hour and a half bus ride so we saw a lot of the country. It is sad to see how poverty stricken some of the areas were. At one point we saw a pick up truck with 6 armed men in camouflage pass our bus. Thank goodness they were police. Our tour guide said they were there for our protection..

Whereas the other ports in our cruise, (Roatan, Cozumel and Grand Cayman) were wonderful. I particularly loved Roatan, very beautiful.

[Amy Giard]

The port area itself (Tourism Village) is very secure

with lots of shops. There's a great store that sells locally made

woven goods with Mayan-influenced design. Neat rows

of little shops for inexpensive but nice souvenirs.

Of course jewelery and t-shirt stores abound.

It is kind of like a Disney-fied taste of Belize.

 

Outside the gates of the ports is a different story.

They are working hard to improve the entire

district around the Tourism Village, but it not

a like Cozumel or Grand Cayman where we feel

safe just walking about.

 

If we aren't doing an excursion, we get an early

tender and spend a couple hours shopping. Then

we head back to the ship to enjoy some quiet

time onboard.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Amy Giard

[summercruisin']

I've been to Belize twice. The first time, we went cave tubing, which was really nice. I do remember feeling sad about the level of poverty. The most recent time was this past July, and, well....I'll let the pictures "talk" for me about our day :D

 

 

 

 

 

[summercruisin']

a few more...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[geckog]

I've been to Belize twice. The first time' date=' we went cave tubing, which was really nice. I do remember feeling sad about the level of poverty. The most recent time was this past July, and, well....I'll let the pictures "talk" for me about our day :D[/quote']

 

What excursion was this?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Cave tubing is the best ..

[L_K]

Been there twice, love it.

 

First time, we did Altun Ha tour (9/10)

Second time, we did city tour and visit of the musuem (8/10)

[Sargent_Schultz]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[summercruisin']

What excursion was this?

 

It was Carnival's semi-submarine and beach break at Rendezvous Caye excursion (the same excursion does just snorkeling/beach at Rendezvous Caye - you don't have to go on the semi-sub). We were very hesitant to go on this excursion because of the negative, lukewarm, and nearly nonexistent reviews, but we decided to try it since the tender picks passengers up at the ship and heads straight to Rendezvous Caye (no going to the port area) and we really wanted an uncrowded beach day. We were so glad we chose it...ended up being a great time.

Edited August 25, 2012 by summercruisin'

[fergusonvt]

The Mayan ruins at Lamanai are fantastic. It is a long day but so worth it.

 

Sent from my LePanII using Tapatalk 2

[IslandToIsland]

It was Carnival's semi-submarine and beach break at Rendezvous Caye excursion (the same excursion does just snorkeling/beach at Rendezvous Caye - you don't have to go on the semi-sub). We were very hesitant to go on this excursion because of the negative' date=' lukewarm, and nearly nonexistent reviews, but we decided to try it since the tender picks passengers up at the ship and heads straight to Rendezvous Caye (no going to the port area) and we really wanted an uncrowded beach day. We were so glad we chose it...ended up being a great time.[/quote']

 

Did you see a lot in the sub?