Belize - questions

[beshears]

I have cruised to many ports/islands, but never Belize, or Belize City.

 

If you liked Belize, tell me a little about it? We are not into snorkling, but like the beach, culture/town, etc.

 

If you liked the ship you cruised on, which one was it, and why?

[GypRasc]

We were on the Carnival Dream. It was an ok ship but nothing to brag about. I've been on much prettier ships.

 

We did the cave tubing by Viv and had a great time. Cannot say anything about the town as we did spend our time tubing. It was a fantastic experience & everyone in our group of 16 raved about it.

 

Here are a few pics for you to see what I'm talking about.

[askimdog]

Did the Brewery tour then wandered town for rest of the day, far from ship. GREAT people, VERY friendly. had local meal at Neries. Culture was fun, colonial type architecture neat. Area is depressed, but culture vibrant and locals open to chat. Bought the normal stuff: Barrel 1 rum, Cashew Wine, Marie Sharps Hot Sauce and ate a gibnut washed down with a cold Belikin

[beshears]

Thank you for getting back with me. This is one that we will have to "think" about before cruising.

[kwbound]

Did the Brewery tour then wandered town for rest of the day, far from ship. GREAT people, VERY friendly. had local meal at Neries. Culture was fun, colonial type architecture neat. Area is depressed, but culture vibrant and locals open to chat. Bought the normal stuff: Barrel 1 rum, Cashew Wine, Marie Sharps Hot Sauce and ate a gibnut washed down with a cold Belikin

 

Was the brewery tour something you booked beforehand, or were you able to book it at the pier?

 

Thanks.

[SpinnerCOyyy]

Just returned from Cruise on Norwegian Star that included visit to Belize. Experienced cruisers and newbies in our group with ages 16-74. Freestyle cruising suited the younger in our group, but not the adults. The Star is aging and the food is below average. The crew however, works very hard to enhance your visit on their ship. We booked with VIV tours for the cave tubing excursion. We did not use the ship to book any of our excursions for this cruise.

 

Couple of things about my first impressions of Belize. We tendered to the cruise terminal. The terminal area has standard shops (diamonds, alcohol, t-shirts etc.) Once we left the terminal area, we followed our excursion guide to the waiting van. We sat on the wall next to the ocean while we signed our waivers. Payment for the excursion of $40.00 each for 13 of us was in cash. This felt a little sketchy. Additionally, the vendors outside the cruise terminal are very aggressive in their sales tactics.

 

Roads were fair. It had rained the entire day the day before so everything looked a little water logged. The city seemed to still be recovering from the last damaging hurricane which was two years prior. The road we took to the cave tubing park had three "military" checkpoints. Truth is, I don't know exactly who the checkpoints were managed by, except that they all had automatic guns. Check through was never a problem, and truthfully our group is used to it as we visit Mexico often.

 

We drove through "Little Hattie" which looked ravaged. There were still many huge piles of rubble or scrap near Little Hattie. We returned and drove through was we were told was the heart of Belize. Very narrow streets and a great deal of lingering people. Again, seemed like the city had no money at all. We exited the van about 30 yards from the cruise terminal gate. It was the longest 30 yards on our trip. Lining the wall, and along the sidewalk were vendors and peddlers trying to get us to purchase whatever they were standing there with. Shouting above each other, insisting this was the last chance to get anything. We ended up slowly, and in single file entering the gate squeezing between the vendors. It was chaotic and a little unnerving. I would not have felt comfortable shopping within the city. There were so many looking like they could really use some help. We saw more than two dozen obviously homeless lying on the sidewalks. While our group doesn't experience culture shock often, we did on Belize. For comparison, Cozumel obviously caters to cruisers, and have apparently prospered from the money cruisers have brought in. Belize has not benefited from cruise money injection into the economy.

[thescot123]

Would recommend a tour operator called Coral Breezes. If you are not into snorkeling, then take the boat trip to Caye Caulker. This is a beautiful island about 20 miles from Caye Caulker where you can relax and eat.

 

You could take a water taxi but the timing maybe more riskier than using a reputable tour operator.

 

I prefer to do this as I don't want to hassles of exploring Belize City.

 

http://www.cayecaulkerbelize.net/

[girlscruise2011]

Just returned from Cruise on Norwegian Star that included visit to Belize. Experienced cruisers and newbies in our group with ages 16-74. Freestyle cruising suited the younger in our group, but not the adults. The Star is aging and the food is below average. The crew however, works very hard to enhance your visit on their ship. We booked with VIV tours for the cave tubing excursion. We did not use the ship to book any of our excursions for this cruise.

 

Couple of things about my first impressions of Belize. We tendered to the cruise terminal. The terminal area has standard shops (diamonds, alcohol, t-shirts etc.) Once we left the terminal area, we followed our excursion guide to the waiting van. We sat on the wall next to the ocean while we signed our waivers. Payment for the excursion of $40.00 each for 13 of us was in cash. This felt a little sketchy. Additionally, the vendors outside the cruise terminal are very aggressive in their sales tactics.

 

 

 

Roads were fair. It had rained the entire day the day before so everything looked a little water logged. The city seemed to still be recovering from the last damaging hurricane which was two years prior. The road we took to the cave tubing park had three "military" checkpoints. Truth is, I don't know exactly who the checkpoints were managed by, except that they all had automatic guns. Check through was never a problem, and truthfully our group is used to it as we visit Mexico often.

 

We drove through "Little Hattie" which looked ravaged. There were still many huge piles of rubble or scrap near Little Hattie. We returned and drove through was we were told was the heart of Belize. Very narrow streets and a great deal of lingering people. Again, seemed like the city had no money at all. We exited the van about 30 yards from the cruise terminal gate. It was the longest 30 yards on our trip. Lining the wall, and along the sidewalk were vendors and peddlers trying to get us to purchase whatever they were standing there with. Shouting above each other, insisting this was the last chance to get anything. We ended up slowly, and in single file entering the gate squeezing between the vendors. It was chaotic and a little unnerving. I would not have felt comfortable shopping within the city. There were so many looking like they could really use some help. We saw more than two dozen obviously homeless lying on the sidewalks. While our group doesn't experience culture shock often, we did on Belize. For comparison, Cozumel obviously caters to cruisers, and have apparently prospered from the money cruisers have brought in. Belize has not benefited from cruise money injection into the economy.

 

 

I was just in Belize a few weeks ago on the Carnival Liberty. We did an ATV excursion through Cavingtubing.com. I thought I was the only one who thought this about Belize. I was not impressed at all. Thought it was a very poor country and honestly, with the time it took to tender and the time to get to the excursions (at least 1 hr for most excursions), IF I was to return to Belize, I would just stay on the ship :(

[cruisin'tex]

I have cruised to many ports/islands, but never Belize, or Belize City.

 

If you liked Belize, tell me a little about it? We are not into snorkling, but like the beach, culture/town, etc.

 

If you liked the ship you cruised on, which one was it, and why?

 

Cave tubing was great here!

[ElmFeather31314]

My husband and I had an "UNBELIZEABLE" time in Belize. It was actually the favorite port for BOTH of us. We booked a shore excursion through Carnival to do a Jungle Horseback Safari at the Bacab Eco Park. It was like $95 a person but included transportation to and from the park on a bus, a free lunch which was delicious minus the items with coconut because I'm allergic and so I didn't try them, bathrooms, changing rooms, showers, bar/kitchen (if you're still hungry after your lunch), a little gift shop, and a pool with a water slide and hammock area to relax in after your amazing horseback tour. Seriously, we had such an amazing time and I think we will be rushing to do the exact same tour if we go to Belize again. The people were very nice and yes the country is poor but the people are friendly and we had no problems at all!

[CENTEX CRUISER]

We were on RCI Mariner of the Seas last March, first time to Belize.We did the ship tour to Bannister Island. It was very nice with a nice boat ride each way. We are going back this April, and doing Shark Ray Alley/ Caye Caulkner with Coral Breeze/Hammerhead. They are excellent. My daughter has used them.

 

 

 

 

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[JimAOk1945]

Last year we did the Lamanai and River excursion on our Christmas cruise on Mariner of the Seas. We booked directly through the RC cruiseline. With the travel time and excursion time combined it was a long day but well worth it.

 

It was a good thing I booked it through the cruise line. Our bus got stuck in traffic on the way back and we were about 45 minutes late getting back to the ship.

 

Very glad we hadn't booked with a private company. I'm not sure the ship would have waited for us.

 

If you're interested in seeing pictures, my wife posted a few on her website. The slideshow includes the river cruise first, then pics of the ruins.

 

Here is the link http://nancysoasis.com/belize/belize.html

 

Happy Sailing.

[Kajunswty]

My husband and I had an "UNBELIZEABLE" time in Belize. It was actually the favorite port for BOTH of us. We booked a shore excursion through Carnival to do a Jungle Horseback Safari at the Bacab Eco Park. It was like $95 a person but included transportation to and from the park on a bus, a free lunch which was delicious minus the items with coconut because I'm allergic and so I didn't try them, bathrooms, changing rooms, showers, bar/kitchen (if you're still hungry after your lunch), a little gift shop, and a pool with a water slide and hammock area to relax in after your amazing horseback tour. Seriously, we had such an amazing time and I think we will be rushing to do the exact same tour if we go to Belize again. The people were very nice and yes the country is poor but the people are friendly and we had no problems at all!

 

the reviews on CCL are good for this excursion but i wonder if Bacab Eco-Adventure Park is available to do without the horseback ride?

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Check all the recent threads..DO NOT use Coral Breeze....