Belize tender

[bharkins12]

Asking for thoughts and advice. I am considering booking an excursion through another company instead of Carnival - a cave tubing tour. The excursion leaves one hour after the Dream anchors at Belize. My concern is that since I don't have FTTF, is there a chance that I won't get off the ship within the hour? I would think that the guests with FTTF and those that have booked through Carnival would tender first. I guess I should just consider the extra cost if I book through Carnival as insurance. Any one else had experience with time frames in Belize? Thanks!

[saraandnick]

My family did a private excursion in Belize on a carnival cruise and we had no issues getting off and meeting our guide. Just have your whole group ready to get the tender slips as early as possible. We have repeatedly found it not to be a problem to make our excursions without FTTF or other way to get off in the first group or so. No need to book through the ship. We really enjoyed our excursion. Have fun!

 

 

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[lizardhowson]

Don't worry, the excursion will wait for you. And no matter when you arrive at the meeting point, someone will show up after you arrive.

 

I always do private, non-Carnival excursions and this is just how it is.

[OCruisers]

Independent operators understand the situation and will wait a reasonable amount of time.

Where do you had to go once off the tender to meet up with your tour operator?

[teknoge3k]

Don't worry, the excursion will wait for you. And no matter when you arrive at the meeting point, someone will show up after you arrive.

 

I always do private, non-Carnival excursions and this is just how it is.

 

I second this.

[cruisinqt]

I agree with the posts above. These local tour operators know that there are tenders and long lines waiting to get onto the tenders. And Carnival lets Carnival tours and FTTF cruisers onto the tenders before anyone else. The locals factor that into their time frame. I've done several local tours there including the cave tubing and had no problem meeting up with them. In fact, I was usually off much earlier than other cruisers and ended up waiting on them. I wouldn't worry much about it if I were you.

[Razor_Poke]

I agree. However as someone who had FTTF last year on the same ship and in the same port, it didn't do us much good because they did wait on the other party. So, we didn't get on the road for about 45 minutes anyway.

 

I'm generally pro FTTF although I don't care for the price hikes but other than getting us on the tender a little early, it really didn't do us much good in the long run. We did our cave tubing, ate lunch and made it back for some shopping. So did the non-FTTF party.[emoji52]

[bharkins12]

Thanks so much! I was booking through Shore Excursioneer and we'll meet right at the cruise terminal. I've done one other excursion with them but it was at Key West so no anxiety associated with it.

[sailor05]

Keep in mind that Belize is also 1 hour behind the Dream's time. So you may actually have more time than you think. Check and see if they are telling you local times. I ran into this on our cruise last month.

[Doggielover68]

It won't be a problem. Not all of the Carnival excursions leave right away.

 

 

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[phils127]

We did belize cave tube and zip line. we booked through carnival (only book when there is a tender involved). The seas were rough and it took a long time to get off the ship. we were 2 hours late leaving the boat via tender and were almost 3 hours late getting back. the operator didn't shorten the trip because we were late and the boat had to wait for us since we were a carnival excursion (through the boat). Also note the cave tubing and such is an hour or so drive each way.

 

enjoy and have fun

[cruisinqt]

More than likely the tour operator didn't shorten the tour because it was a Carnival tour and he knew Carnival always waits for their tours. And also because Carnival probably didn't want to shorten it because they might have to give refunds. But if you're booked with a local, they ALWAYS adjust their schedules according to the ships timetable and make sure to get you back with plenty of time to spare, even if it means changing their itinerary. We always book with locals and have personally seen this done first hand several times. If you get back late and miss the boat it can do irreparable damage to their reputation and future business so they make getting back on time a priority, so don't worry too much, you'll be okay. :)

[bharkins12]

We did belize cave tube and zip line. we booked through carnival (only book when there is a tender involved). The seas were rough and it took a long time to get off the ship. we were 2 hours late leaving the boat via tender and were almost 3 hours late getting back. the operator didn't shorten the trip because we were late and the boat had to wait for us since we were a carnival excursion (through the boat). Also note the cave tubing and such is an hour or so drive each way.

 

enjoy and have fun

 

I guess this is my exact concern - that we'll be delayed getting off the ship, the excursion will leave without us, and I'll loose my deposit :o

[bharkins12]

I guess this is my exact concern - that we'll be delayed getting off the ship, the excursion will leave without us, and I'll loose my deposit :o

 

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice. In the end, I guess I'm just too much of a worrier :D to risk it! I'll book through Carnival and pay a little extra although it kills my soul to do it lol

[coevan]

More than likely the tour operator didn't shorten the tour because it was a Carnival tour and he knew Carnival always waits for their tours. And also because Carnival probably didn't want to shorten it because they might have to give refunds. But if you're booked with a local, they ALWAYS adjust their schedules according to the ships timetable and make sure to get you back with plenty of time to spare, even if it means changing their itinerary. We always book with locals and have personally seen this done first hand several times. If you get back late and miss the boat it can do irreparable damage to their reputation and future business so they make getting back on time a priority, so don't worry too much, you'll be okay. :)

.

 

 

Once you walk off the ship Carnival has nothing to do with the tours. The tour operators are independent contractors, some contract with Carnival and some contract with RCL. They also take out hotel guests. They know local time, ship time, when and if the ship is going to be late. This is their life, a negative review can be very damaging.

[Doggielover68]

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice. In the end, I guess I'm just too much of a worrier :D to risk it! I'll book through Carnival and pay a little extra although it kills my soul to do it lol

 

 

Belize is just one of those ports where booking directly through the cruise line makes sense. With it being tender port located so far off shore, there's more risk involved with getting back in time/getting to land on time.

 

 

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[coevan]

They are all the same tour operators, no risk whatsoever. They have cell phones and everything. Tour operators have contracts with the cruise lines.

[bUU]

... no risk whatsoever. ...

A bold claim... Too bold to be believed without documentary proof.

 

 

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[coevan]

My son was a tour operator in St.Thomas for 3 years, see the St.Thomas thread. It's Carnival's scare tactic to make you sail with them. The tour operators no the local time, ships time, when you are arriving, when you are departing, if you are arriving late. My, who is a Captain had the direct phone line to every ship. The tour companies live and die by reviews. The company my son worked for had three separate tours, they never even came close to missing a ship. not a bold claim, if you do research and use a reputable tour operator, you will be fine. The only "pier runners" are drunks who can't tell time.

[bUU]

"No risk whatsoever" way too bold to be believed without documentary proof.

[coevan]

where would there be a document?

[bUU]

My guess is that there couldn't be any... That the claim was too bold by too much. That it grossly overstated the case for private excursions and grossly understated the case for cruise line excursions, probably due to over zealousness. But that's just a guess.

[Doggielover68]

My son was a tour operator in St.Thomas for 3 years, see the St.Thomas thread. It's Carnival's scare tactic to make you sail with them. The tour operators no the local time, ships time, when you are arriving, when you are departing, if you are arriving late. My, who is a Captain had the direct phone line to every ship. The tour companies live and die by reviews. The company my son worked for had three separate tours, they never even came close to missing a ship. not a bold claim, if you do research and use a reputable tour operator, you will be fine. The only "pier runners" are drunks who can't tell time.

 

 

Not every port is like St. Thomas. Sure, some vendors are the same ones the cruise lines use but not all of them are the same. Also, St. Thomas has plentiful taxis in all of the tourist areas. The Belize attractions are not near the port. Several of the tours don't even go to the mainland. What are you going to do if you take a private excursion to a private island with a bad company that doesn't maintain their boats? In the event of a breakdown, good luck getting back to the ship on time.

 

 

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[bUU]

We do St Thomas ourselves (no excursion whatsoever) for that matter. Doing ports of call ourselves is just not the way we generally go but heck it's St Thomas. It has a freaking zip code.

 

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