One day in BELIZE... need SUGGESTIONS!

[Scandal]

We are going in March with Royal Caribbean and will stop in Belize for one day. We are 14 in our group (all diff. ages).

 

Some want to snorkel, others want beach times with chairs/umbrellas... I have been searching for weeks over the net for excursions that would suit just about everyone and am having a hard time. :confused:

 

I have found some excursions with Coral Breeze that seem interesting. Anyone has used them before? How reliable are they? I was looking into Bannister island or Caye Caulker. The only thing with Caye Caulker, it seems there isn't much of a beach and no chairs/umbrellas, unless I am wrong. As for Bannister, I read different things.... some say it is great while others say it is horrible! Hard to figure out. From what I read(on different boards as well), Belize is not a great stop for a day. Everything worth anything is far! So, just looking for some decent beach for the day.... and able to snorkel. When we first booked this cruise, we thought we would just take a taxi to the beach!!!!

 

If anyone has info on this, it would greatly help.

[wantocruisemore]

Please use the search feature on this board and on trip advisor before booking with any co. for tours. BTW, Coral Breeze does not have a good reputation on this board, just search and you'll see.

 

If some want to swim and some snorkel then one of the keys or islands sounds like it may be the best bet.

[overthehillcruiser]

Above poster is correct re: Coral Breeze. There are a bunch of posts on them.We had a very disappointing experience in April. Bannister would be good for all except snorkeling, and at Caulker there is not much beach, and the snorkel/beach tours to the small cayes do not have much in the way of facilities..

[Scandal]

Please use the search feature on this board and on trip advisor before booking with any co. for tours. BTW, Coral Breeze does not have a good reputation on this board, just search and you'll see.

 

If some want to swim and some snorkel then one of the keys or islands sounds like it may be the best bet.

Thanks for the info... I thought Coral Breeze had good reviews from some other boards... and I thought I saw this on trip advisor, I will look further into it. Which one is BTW?

You mentioned going to keys/islands, which one? and with what company? any suggestions on that?

thanks again, this is all new to me...

[2Okies]

Thanks for the info... I thought Coral Breeze had good reviews from some other boards... and I thought I saw this on trip advisor, I will look further into it. Which one is BTW?

You mentioned going to keys/islands, which one? and with what company? any suggestions on that?

thanks again, this is all new to me...

 

 

"BTW" just means "by the way". :) Sometimes all these abbreviations get hard to follow...

We leave for our cruise this weekend. After a lot of research on these boards, we finally decided the "safest" thing to do, since we had not been to Belize before, is to take a ship excursion. We also wanted to snorkel. After all, it would be a shame to go to one of the best barrier reefs, and miss out on that! However, since there is a long tender time from the ship to shore, then all excursions to snorkel require boat time, it was hard to find a private tour that we felt we could trust to get us back to the ship on time. So, we went with the ship excursion that is going to Sergeant Caye (this is through Carnival). They will pick us up AT the ship (saving us some time of tendering to land, then catching a boat). Its a 3 hr excursion, and we will have about 1 hr at the snorkel site. I understand their will be some beach time - but I'm not sure about the facilities.

If its your first time (as it is ours), I seem to get the idea from other members on this site, that in Belize - it might be best to go with a ship excursion, especially for snorkeling, just because of the long tendering.

I hope this helps you decide.

[2Okies]

Another thing you might do to find out about Bannister Island, is look up Cruise Critic member "Mitsugirly". She has a review of Bannister island in her signature line with pictures. She comments on here quite often, and has some really good reviews. Anyway, Bannister Island appears to have a more sandy/grassy area to snorkel than reef, and therefore there isn't a lot of sea life there. Good place to see starfish. Beach - meh. That was my impression when I saw her pictures.

[Scandal]

Another thing you might do to find out about Bannister Island, is look up Cruise Critic member "Mitsugirly". She has a review of Bannister island in her signature line with pictures. She comments on here quite often, and has some really good reviews. Anyway, Bannister Island appears to have a more sandy/grassy area to snorkel than reef, and therefore there isn't a lot of sea life there. Good place to see starfish. Beach - meh. That was my impression when I saw her pictures.

Thanks for the info... I will look it up. As for the excursions with the cruise company, we are with Royal Caribbean and what they have to offer is not all that interesting. That is why I was looking into other options. Glad I am posting here, getting other people's opinion is always good. Thanks again.

[wantocruisemore]

You're definitely at the right place. For our last trips the past 3 years I have researched here and taken the advice of others. Everything has gone great. Even did this for our med cruise. I understand coordinating with several wanting different things. I did that with family of 9 ranging from ages 14 to 78.

 

Be sure you allow for some DIY time that everyone can do their own thing. We actually did this for a port stop too. For sea days our requirement was everyone went to dinner together.

[CRocks]

IMO, Belize is one of those less developed ports I like to book excursions thru the ship in case there's a problem. We were in St. Maarten just last week and 4 of the Carnival tour busses were stuck in traffic with no chance of making it back in time. One call from Carnival to the local PD + a police escort was sent out to stop all traffic + escort the busses back to the ship. Those folks would have had a serious problem had they not booked thru the ship and St Maarten is FAR MORE developed than Belize. Strictly my opinion. Most popular excursions there are cave tubing + snorkling. Enjoy!