Coral Breeze lost snorkler?

[cruisegirl1]

Paul –

 

Check your e mail please. Cave tubbing tour was scheduled for Jan 18.

Marci

[zydecocruiser]

Not sure the suspension in operations has anything to do with the incident. Perhaps some of the paperwork wasn't up to date? Who knows?

 

I expect if there might be a chance of a lawsuit (people sue over anything), that there will be lots of silence, until it is all resolved.

[bobwat]

I was told by the Belize Tourism Official (Jan 12th) that during the investigation it was discovered that Coral Breeze did not have the proper tourism licenses/permits to operate.

 

Paul has emailed me and promised my deposit back, so I will post and let everyone know if I receive it or not. I really appreciate his prompt response but it still doesn't make up for being left "high and dry" at the Belize Pier.

 

Bobwat

[bchbms]

Has anyone been to Belize in the last week or so that had booked Coral Breeze? We are booked with them for w/o 2/13, so I'm anxious to know if they are up and running or have adequate substitutes for the trip.

 

Thanks for any info...getting nervous here!:o

[pajara2]

Paul,

 

What do I have to do to get my deposit back? I read your earlier comment about the lost snorkler and can only post what the Belize Tourism guy told us. I certainly can't say that I know what happened, but I can positively state that Coral Breeze was not operational when we were there on Thursday, January 12th. I can also positively state that I had no notice of this prior to arriving in Belize. I checked email and phone messages before I left for our cruise; as well as on the ship. I also don't understand how you can say that you are still in business! Do you know what a shock it was to us when we were waiting for your company and you never showed up. My deposit is not the most important thing to me but I am really upset that your company caused us loose a half of our time in Belize, plus having to go through the stress and uncertainty of knowing what to do. Shame on you for misrepresenting the facts!

 

 

Bobwat

 

DITTO. We arrived in Belize on January 18th only to be told the same thing by port authority also. That Coral Breeze was out of business because they no longer had their license. I too checked my mail before leaving on January 13 and had no communication from Coral Breeze. After arriving at Belize and finding out, I called the contact listed on my e-mail (don't have it in front of me so don't have her name). She informed me that Coral Breeze was not out of business only temporarily closed, that they had contracted through Paradise by Air to cover their tours and that we were to re-book with Paradise and that Coral Breeze would refund my deposit.

 

Quite frankly, at this point I had already been accosted and followed by all the people pedling everything and anything; had already seen the heavily guarded fence; and had also seen the uzi toteing guards walking about. So I most certainly WAS NOT going to book with some un-known (to me) party for an excursion that I would know nothing about. So we opted to promptly get back on the ship.

 

That's my one and only experience of Belize as I have no desire to go back.

 

SO PAUL...what do I do to get my deposit refund? Thanks in advance for your help with this.

 

Ana

[shannonh]

We are scheduled on Feb. 22 with Coral Breeze. Because of my concern about our tour, I sent Coral Breeze an email over a week ago, asking about the status of our tour. I have yet to hear anything back from them. This is making me more and more uncomfortable. Does anyone here have any up-to-date information? Are those who are booked for tours being accommodated and is it satisfactory?

[pajara2]

Tried to post this yesterday, but apparently it didn't go through.

 

I received my refund check from Paul for our 1/18 cancelled Shark/Ray/Reef tour this last Saturday.

 

Sorry to have missed the tour and blown a day in Belize...but appreciate the good follow-up customer service. Good luck to Coral Breeze...

 

Ana

[ARKCRUISE]

:) Booked online with Coral Breeze for Altun Ha ruins and Belize City tour

for Jan. 23, Had heard of some problems that Coral Breeze was having

and emailed Paul before we left on the 19th, Paul emailed me back quickly

with an explantion about the problems they were having, and that everything was a go for our tour.

Arrive in Belize City on the 23rd, Paul had arranged for Carlos with

the Taxi association to meet us and direct us to the people handling

Coral Breeze's tours, meet our tour guide Doug, and then off to Altun Ha,

Doug was a great tour guide, very informative and enjoyable trip.

Had a great day in Belize

[cruisegirl1]

I too receved my refund check.

 

Thanks to these boards I was able to re-group and decided to take the water taxi to Cay Caulker to spend a few hours there.

 

Good luck Paul

Marci

[FlaWaterFlirt]

I will be in Belize on March 29, 06 and have been planning to book the Shark Alley tour with Coral Breeze. In fact I came on tonight to make the desposit but decided to read the boards first.

Does anyone know if they have been operating since this happened in January?????????

[jetskier]

Donna,

You can contact the Belize Tourism Board to see if they have been re-licensed.

http://www.travelbelize.org/cont.html

 

Dave

[Rumourmill]

I found this thread quite by accident but was sad to hear that my fathers death is "not note-worthy". Well it sure was to me! For the record it was not a heart attack.

[willydoit]

I left a contact e-mail with Coral Breeze on Wednesday to find out if their licensing issues have been handled and have yet to hear back from them. When (and if) I do, I'll report back here.

[jetskier]

I found this thread quite by accident but was sad to hear that my fathers death is "not note-worthy". Well it sure was to me! For the record it was not a heart attack.

 

If you would have checked this was not the only thread on this subject. No where has anyone said the death was "not note-worthy". I think the one callous individual posted "not news-worthy" as compared to a lost snorkler. All the reports to date have stated heart attack. I am sure everyone is saddened by the death, but life goes on and they are concerned about getting their refunds and making other arrangements for their pending vacations. Also this thread's title is inaccurate as Coral Breeze did not lose a snorkler but had one pass away.

 

Dave

[zydecocruiser]

I found this thread quite by accident but was sad to hear that my fathers death is "not note-worthy". Well it sure was to me! For the record it was not a heart attack.

 

From personal experience I know that losing a parent is note-worthy. What I meant was that whatever happened did not appear to be as scandalous as was being rumored - leaving a snorkler behind. Heart attack was based on Paul mentioning "apparent heart attack" in a post along with the newspaper account. My apology for any misunderstanding and my condolences.

 

Nothing that newsworthy. Heart attack.

 

http://www.sanpedrosun.net/old/06-023.html

 

[FlaWaterFlirt]

IF Coral Breeze is indeed out of business (or at least not operating during March 06) can anyone recommend someone else for Shark Alley Snorking. We also wanted to be able to rent a golf cart and scoot around the island ourselves for a bit.

[bchbms]

Well, we are reserved with Coral Breeze for the Enchantment cruise next week, and we're are keeping the reservation in the hopes that someone will meet us as it really does sound like a fun day and just what we want to do. On the safe side, though, we have two backup plans on how to do most of it on our own. Would be alot nicer having someone take us, but we will deal with it. I'll let you all know when we get back in two weeks.:cool:

[FlaWaterFlirt]

Well, we are reserved with Coral Breeze for the Enchantment cruise next week, and we're are keeping the reservation in the hopes that someone will meet us as it really does sound like a fun day and just what we want to do. On the safe side, though, we have two backup plans on how to do most of it on our own. Would be alot nicer having someone take us, but we will deal with it. I'll let you all know when we get back in two weeks.:cool:

 

I look forward to hearing how it goes for you. I will keep my fingers crossed. Last night I sent Coral Breeze an email requesting info on if they are still open etc. - to date no response. :(

Would you share your info on how to get over to Shark Alley on your own?

[bchbms]

We received an email last night from Coral Breeze confirming our excursion next week with info on where to meet and what to bring. So far, so good! We are taking the Manatee watch, reef snorkeling, beach break excursion. I'll check in here when we get back and let you know how it went.

[cruisegirl29]

We received an email last night from Coral Breeze confirming our excursion next week with info on where to meet and what to bring. So far, so good! We are taking the Manatee watch, reef snorkeling, beach break excursion. I'll check in here when we get back and let you know how it went.

 

HI,

 

Not sure if you've came across my photo album on the other threads but here is the link. We took this tour the day before they were unoperational & loved it!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=283259

 

The tour was awesome!

 

Happy Sailing!

Sue

[FlaWaterFlirt]

Below is the response I received today from Paul of Coral Breeze.

 

Hello Donna,

Thank you for contacting Coral Breeze Limited for your visit to Belize.

I apologize for any delay in responding. We have been experiencing internet/email connectivity along with a high volume of emails.

It is NOT true that we are out of business. About a month ago we had an incident on one of our tours where a guest passed away from a heart attack. There in an ongoing investigation and our license was suspended during the investigation. We have one of our partner operators running our tours. They have hired our staff and equipment so our tours are exactly the same.

So, you can book our tours as normal and the tours will be operated.

I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you,

Paul Shields

Coral Breeze Limited

I am reading in between the lines here and get that they are working under someone else's license..I think it will all come down to how does not require a deposit for us.

Bchbms let us know how it goes and have a great trip!

[bchbms]

I will...I an a loyal Cruise Critic person and rely on this place to guide me towards what we are doing where and love to share my experiences. But we only had to put up 20 bucks for a deposit and we have a backup plan. Believe me, we are low key, low maintenance cruisers just looking for a mid-winter break tacked onto a wedding that we are attending in Florida. Any good time and good adventure works for us!

[willydoit]

OK bchbms,,,, I'm gonna wait and see how things go for you next week. Things do sound better than I had feared, but I still have yet to hear back from Coral Breeze on my inquiry. Please fill us in when you get back, and have a great cruise!!:D

[bchbms]

OK bchbms,,,, I'm gonna wait and see how things go for you next week. Things do sound better than I had feared, but I still have yet to hear back from Coral Breeze on my inquiry. Please fill us in when you get back, and have a great cruise!!:D

 

 

Okay, Agent BchBms on patrol for the good of the cruise critic gang!! Looking forward to great day with Coral Breeze, and hope to report back with fabulous tales of sun and fun!!

[libertycall]

How can they say this man had a heart attack when his body was never found?