Belize snorkel question with Royal Caribbean-

[Jetswdo]

I did post this on Belize board, but no responses, and this is specific to Royal Caribbean:

Belize is a tender port, so I prefer to do excursion from the cruise line-

We are trying to decide between two snorkel trips, the one that is Rendezvous Caye with snorkeling, and the other, Starfish Island with the snorkeling-

Do both trips go directly by tender to the islands, so we can avoid the regular tender drop off and pick up in Belize City? Does one island provide a better snorkel experience for very experienced snorkelers (us)? I looked on you tube, but all the videos were from Carnival ships, so I don't know if Royal does this differently?

[Clarea]

We've done Belize a few times, and the tender never stopped off at a different island. The tender always went to the regular tender drop off and then we went to our excursion meet point.

[SECdawg]

We did a ship sponsored snorkel trip in Belize and the boat that picked us up from the ship was the boat that took us to our reef snorkel and beach. It also brought us straight back to the ship. I do not believe it was one of the excursions you mentioned. That was in 2013 so things may have changed since then.

[goldgirl2]

We did the snorkel excursion sponsored by the ship in Belize in February 16. The excursion was a shark and snorkel thing to Caye Caulker. It was one of the best excursions I have ever been on! We did take the tender and then went on a different boat to the island. The guides were fabulous! We stopped at the island for a break and ordered lunch. Then headed out to snorkel. We saw a lot of sharks and then went and snorkeled at a reef. Then we went back to the island and had a delicious lunch and got to walk around the island and do a little shopping. The boat then took us back to the dock not the ship. We were able to do more shopping be fore catching a tender back. If I knew how to post pictures here I would. It was an absolutely perfect day!! We actually booked this excursion at @ 11:00pm the night before. So glad we did!

[goldgirl2]

I'm testing to see if I can post a picture. This is DH with our guides. Looks blurry.

Edited June 2, 2016 by goldgirl2

[heatherb1958]

I did post this on Belize board, but no responses, and this is specific to Royal Caribbean:

Belize is a tender port, so I prefer to do excursion from the cruise line-

We are trying to decide between two snorkel trips, the one that is Rendezvous Caye with snorkeling, and the other, Starfish Island with the snorkeling-

Do both trips go directly by tender to the islands, so we can avoid the regular tender drop off and pick up in Belize City? Does one island provide a better snorkel experience for very experienced snorkelers (us)? I looked on you tube, but all the videos were from Carnival ships, so I don't know if Royal does this differently?

 

I did the Starfish Island with snorkelling in December 2015 .

The local tour operator boat took us straight to the reef from the ship. All equipment was provided and rum punch and sodas were served freely after the snorkelling.

I loved Starfish Island, had about 3 hours there after the snorkelling and you could rent boogie boards for $5 Dollars for the duration of the stay.

It was good value for money for a ship's tour.

I only had one gripe. The wind was quite strong. I am a reasonably good swimmer but was thankful of the lifevest provided.

Also the tour was quite full and they fill the outside seats of the tour operator boat first, the sun is strong so if you want shade hang back from boarding the boat where they filled the inside up last.

Edited June 2, 2016 by heatherb1958

[heatherb1958]

Some pics.

[heatherb1958]

Reason for name of island

[Jetswdo]

The responses seem to be mixed regarding tender port--- We definately want to go directly from ship and back with snorkel excursion, so if you booked, BEG6, I think that is the Starfish one, RC would take us there directly as well I would think. Were there enough loungers in shady spots- that is one of my main concerns.

[heatherb1958]

The responses seem to be mixed regarding tender port--- We definately want to go directly from ship and back with snorkel excursion, so if you booked, BEG6, I think that is the Starfish one, RC would take us there directly as well I would think. Were there enough loungers in shady spots- that is one of my main concerns.

 

Hi again, yes that was the trip I did. Hubby is disabled so more often than not he stays on ship while I do a ship's tour. As I love to snorkel and spend time on a beach this trip was perfect for me. The beers at the bar on Starfish island were not expensive either :D

If you look at the aerial shot on RCI's excursion there are trees for shade, plenty of loungers. I dragged one right upto the water. For me it was a perfect day.

[heatherb1958]

More pics showing trees

[cruisinlife]

We have done Rendevous Cay before and plan on doing it again next month. We were picked up from the ship by the excursion without having to tender into Belize and brought back directly to the ship. The island is beautiful and the snorkeling good. They divide us up into 3 groups; beginner, advanced and expert. I highly recommend this excursion.

[Jetswdo]

So it seems that the most recent trips from Royal Carribean, you were able to by pass the tender spot altogether, which is my first concern. For the Starfish Island, if you are an experienced snorkeler with own equipment, were you allowed extra time to snorkel from the beach by the coral?

 

Same question for Rendezvous Caye----It seems like Starfish Island has loungers and shade- Is Rendezvous the one that just gives out straw mats?

 

What time were you back on ship?

[cruisinlife]

We do not have our own equipment and we quit snorkeling when the group was done. Sorry that I can't be more helpful on that. No loungers on Rendezvous just the straw mats that you mentioned plus our towels from the ship. Seems like we were back on the ship 1:00-1:30, in fact we grabbed a quick bite to eat and still had time to tender into Belize to do a little shopping.

[Merion_Mom]

I did the snorkeling excursion to Rendezvous Cay with Celebrity, so I assume that the excursion is the same.

 

I try to avoid ship's excursions.

 

THIS is the reason that I do.

 

CROWDED CROWDED CROWDED.

 

Remember those scenes from Finding Nemo with the school of fish? All the fish crowded together and swimming on top of each other in a swarm?

 

Yeah, it was like that. When I tried to snorkel away from the pack, the guides yelled at me to get back there.

 

You have been warned.

[Merion_Mom]

Oh, and this was the EXPERIENCED group! :eek: