Questions about tenders and tours

[halehana]

Please bear with me as I plan our first cruise! I have some questions about Belize that I haven't been able to find answers for by searching this forum and/or the web.

 

Our ship will be in port 8:00-6:00 (NCL Jewel). So that is 7:00-5:00 Belize time? If we've booked an excursion through the ship, what time should we expect to get to the pier at Belize City? And if we've booked through a local tour company, what time would we get there?

 

I'm thinking of booking the excursion to Caye Caulker (shark/ray/island), but the high price is causing me to explore other options. Is the only advantage of the ship's excursion getting on one of the first tender boats? How many tenders are there and how often do they run?

 

The second option is to take a water taxi, but I've read that you have to get past all the hawkers outside the tourism village. Is that really a problem? It will be just me and my husband, both of us are able-bodied and street-smart. I'm also wondering if we'd have enough time on the island, since we'd have to take the 1:30 water taxi back, leaving us only 2-3 hours on the caye.

 

The third option is to book the shark/ray tour through Eco Tours, which I read about on this forum. Does anyone know if they pick you up right at the cruise ship? Or do you still have to tender to the port? Is it risky taking a private tour, as far as making it back to the ship on time? I have read differing points of view on here; some say they'd never do a private tour in Belize because of the tendering and problems with buses and boats breaking down; others say no problem, that the tour companies would quickly go out of business if they caused people to miss departure.

 

Those of you who have done the shark/ray/island excursion, did you think it was worth the price? How much time did you have on Caye Caulker? Was it so crowded in the water that there were fins in your face? Or are you just floating/standing and not actually snorkeling?

 

One last question about tenders: if we don't do an excursion of any kind, can we take the tender back and forth to the port whenever we want? In other words, can we go over to Belize City for just a couple hours and then go back to the ship? Or do we have to wait until late afternoon for the tenders to start running again?

 

Sorry for so many questions! Your help is greatly appreciated!

[crewsweeper]

halehana.

 

Good questions. First, if you book an excursion through the cruise lines, your departure time is ship time. On boarding you candouble check whether that excursion is picked up at the ship or if you have to tender in. Typically, cruisers with ship excursions have priority boarding. The number of tenders being used by your ship will probably depend on the number of ships in port that day. But these run fairly regularly once they start; just loading times at both ends of a 15-20 minute tender ride are the differences in the round trip of any single tender vessel versus another.

 

Unless the excursion website/information specifically states they pick up from the ship (not likely for private excursions as there some clearance and tender union rules involved) you will be picked up at the tender pier. The Excursion vendor will give you the information on where to meet in your confirmation.

 

Past Shark Ray Alley tours have generally been worthwhile. You see more sea life than any snorkeling excursion off a beach at a small private caye. And they are typically less crowded so guides are better able to assist and give all clinets a better tour. Unless there is a delay in leaving, you'll typically have 60-90 minutes on Caye Caulker for lunch andwalking around. That's more than enough time to see things there.

 

If you decide to take the water taxi, it is an short walk out of the Tourist Village to the Belize Water taxi Terminal. Yes there are vendors hawking taxi tours, horse and buggy tours, etc. They may seem aggressive to some who haven't dealt with 3rd World country vendors in the past, but most of them will leave you alone with a polite "No Thank You". (Belizeans do speak English, BTW). But I don't consider these folks any worse and maybe actually less intrusive than othe rports in the Caribbean--Jamaica and Bahamas, I'm talking to you.

 

Water taxi times ARE Belizean times. If you are taking a water taxi, print out the schedule in advance. Take the earliest taxi you can board, )probably the 9AM Belize, but you might catch the 8 AM) and take a return taxi that leaves CC at least 2 hours before your ship's last tender departs (Usually around 4 PM--3PM Belize). I suggest the 1:30 PM return, if not the Noon. On the Caye, you can walk around and shop, grab a bit to eat (several good spots and a good bakery) and, if you have your own snorkel gear you can shore snorkel from the Spit.

[halehana]

Thank you so very much for your thoughtful and thorough reply! You have answered many of my questions. I appreciate it!

[oldschoolcruiser jaja]

Most of the times, Belize is an hour behind your ship time schedule. We were able to get the first tender to shore without problem I think that was just a sales argument by the ship to let you believe you will get to shore late if you don't book with them...:cool:

[CaribbeanBound]

If we've booked an excursion through the ship, what time should we expect to get to the pier at Belize City? And if we've booked through a local tour company, what time would we get there? I'm thinking of booking the excursion to Caye Caulker (shark/ray/island), but the high price is causing me to explore other options. Is the only advantage of the ship's excursion getting on one of the first tender boats? How many tenders are there and how often do they run?

 

Note that ship's tours will pick you up AT the ship. NCL's snorkel tour will never even go to the port itself. In this case, you'll need to take a tender into port when you get back from your ship excursion.

 

The third option is to book the shark/ray tour through Eco Tours, which I read about on this forum. Does anyone know if they pick you up right at the cruise ship? Or do you still have to tender to the port?

 

You must take a tender into the port for ALL private tours. Only ship tours pick up at the ship.

 

Is it risky taking a private tour, as far as making it back to the ship on time? I have read differing points of view on here; some say they'd never do a private tour in Belize because of the tendering and problems with buses and boats breaking down; others say no problem, that the tour companies would quickly go out of business if they caused people to miss departure.

 

If you're taking a boat tour with Eco Tours (or most other reputable operators as judged by this forum) you'll have no problem making it back to the ship. If you have to take a long bus to get to a tour (like Lamanai Jungle Tour) then yes, take the ships' tour. The big difference it the snorkel tours usually run 4 to 5 hours and get you back with 2 to 3 hours to spare, whereas the Mayan ruins tours are like 7 hours+.

 

One last question about tenders: if we don't do an excursion of any kind, can we take the tender back and forth to the port whenever we want? In other words, can we go over to Belize City for just a couple hours and then go back to the ship? Or do we have to wait until late afternoon for the tenders to start running again?

 

Tenders run all day long. Go as often as you wish, on a space-available basis. Early in the day you'll need tender tickets that you secure from the ship which dictate what time you can catch a tender.

Edited February 15, 2014 by CaribbeanBound

[bguppies]

Most of the times, Belize is an hour behind your ship time schedule. We were able to get the first tender to shore without problem I think that was just a sales argument by the ship to let you believe you will get to shore late if you don't book with them...:cool:

 

This depends on the line...

 

Carnival, for example, stays on the departure port time, the entire cruise.

(so from Florida ports, eastern time. New Orleans/Galveston, etc.. Central)

So say in March. The Carnival Legend from Miami, will already be on US daylight savings time, where Cozumel, MX won't be on daylight savings time until Sunday April 6 (they still go by the system the US used to use), and Belize never does daylight savings time.

So you need your abacus and a heavy duty calculator. (or a time zone app :D )

 

NCL changes to the time of each port they arrive at.

So when you arrive in Cozumel, ship time is Cozumel time.

When you arrive in Belize, ship time is Belizean time.

Etc...

 

So you need to see what the policy of the cruiseline you will be on and adjust accordingly.