Tender to Beliza

[1emerald1]

Hello, I think I read a post that said the tender ride to Belize is fairly long.  Can someone who has been there tell me if this is true, and if so how long is the tender ride?  Thanks.

[Paula_MacFan]

It's been a few years since we've been there, but the tender ride didn't seem more than 10 minutes in my memory.  We've been there a couple times, and took excursions that picked us up directly from the ship.  Then we met at the pier for the tender ride back to the ship at the end of the day.  I don't recall it being an extraordinary amount of time to ride the tender.  

[AF-1]

I was there in Feb;  the tender is about 45 minutes.  The day we were there is was a bumpy tender ride both ways

Edited October 25, 2019 by AF-1

[sfaaa]

Be advised, tender operator will hound you for tip.

[1emerald1]

6 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

I was there in Feb;  the tender is about 45 minutes.  The day we were there is was a bumpy tender ride both ways

45 min???  I'll probably stay on the ship then, don't think my vertigo could handle that.  Thanks for the reply.

[Paula_MacFan]

Something must have changed since we were there last time, because I would definitely remember a 45 minute tender ride.  We could see the ship clearly from the dock, and I have no memory of it taking anywhere near 45 minutes. 

 

I just did a quick Google search, and got answers from local resorts stating cruise ship tenders take 15-20 minutes. 

Edited October 25, 2019 by Paula_MacFan

[AF-1]

1emerald1;  that is what my wife did.  She had ship day.  I went in just to put my foot on land; then headed back to ship.  We were going snorkling; but our excursion was cancelled due to high seas;  my wife gets seasick easy and the captain came on intercom telling people the seas were rough so tendering would be rough.  

Edited October 25, 2019 by AF-1

[Paula_MacFan]

3 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

1emerald1;  that is what my wife did.  She had ship day.  I went in just to put my foot on land; then headed back to ship.  We were going snorkling; but our excursion was cancelled due to high seas;  my wife gets seasick easy and the captain came on intercom telling people the seas were rough so tendering would be rough.  

Maybe your 45 minutes was attributed to the rough seas then, and would not be a typical tendering duration.  I would think any port could have extended tender durations in rough conditions. 

[1emerald1]

Okay, thanks everyone for your input.  I'll probably cancel the excursion I pre-booked and just play it by ear when I get there.  Even 15 to 20 min. seems long when you get sea sick on small boats.  But thanks Paula for the research.

[AF-1]

11 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Maybe your 45 minutes was attributed to the rough seas then, and would not be a typical tendering duration.  I would think any port could have extended tender durations in rough conditions. 

No all the ships that go to Belize have to tender.  There were three other ships in port that day; so a total of four.  Belize is known for snorkling and scuba diving;  there is a  coral reef that prevents the ships from docking too close to the port; thus you have to anchor pretty far from the port; thus the long tender rides.  It has nothing to do with high seas; if seas were calm you still have a long tender ride

Edited October 25, 2019 by AF-1

[Paula_MacFan]

25 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

No all the ships that go to Belize have to tender.  There were three other ships in port that day; so a total of four.  Belize is known for snorkling and scuba diving;  there is a  coral reef that prevents the ships from docking too close to the port; thus you have to anchor pretty far from the port; thus the long tender rides.  It has nothing to do with high seas; if seas were calm you still have a long tender ride

You may have missed my initial post stating I have been to Belize more than once on cruises, and have experienced the tender process.  I don't need an explanation.  Our tender experience was not 45 minutes.  

[skynight]

1 hour ago, sfaaa said:

Be advised, tender operator will hound you for tip.

I have never seen this. 

[ashhill]

36 minutes ago, skynight said:

I have never seen this. 

We saw this last June when we were disembarking the tender but just ignored it. 

The "tender " was a local one and it was a rust bucket. We did not feel safe in it and thought that they were going to fast for the conditions at the time. Try and get one of Princesses own tenders back

[jasbo49]

It probably depends on how many ships are in port and what kind of "parking spot you get.

 

When we were there 5 years ago it was actually worked into the comic's routine. Something that seemed to take forever was described as being "Longer than a tender to Belize." We probably spent 30 minutes in the boat each way.

 

Jim

[Laurie S.]

It's a 10 minute ride and never have been hounded for a tip.

[shanecindy21403]

We were just there in June and the tender ride was only 10 minutes. It was surprisingly fast. I was expecting it to be longer because years ago we were there and the ride was about 20 minutes each way.

[Reina del Mar]

We were there in July 2019. Tenders were local boats, trip about 20 mins each way .

Tips were suggested ( and from what I saw)  mostly ignored by majority of passengers!

[AF-1]

15 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

You may have missed my initial post stating I have been to Belize more than once on cruises, and have experienced the tender process.  I don't need an explanation.  Our tender experience was not 45 minutes.  

Awesome; you had a great day.  Have fun out there

[Colo Cruiser]

On Princess I have only seen the local fast boats that hold 150 plus used. It is about a 20 minute ride.

[1emerald1]

Thanks to everyone for your input.

[BarbinMich]

On 10/25/2019 at 3:09 PM, 1emerald1 said:

Okay, thanks everyone for your input.  I'll probably cancel the excursion I pre-booked and just play it by ear when I get there.  Even 15 to 20 min. seems long when you get sea sick on small boats.  But thanks Paula for the research.

The tenders in use at Belize are much larger than the ones on the ship.  I don't recall it being particularly rough when we used them in Jan. 2017.

[Yehootu]

About 20 minutes and one of the tender boat helpers did recommend a tour that said would give him a commission if we mentioned his name. The tour was , "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" sights of Belize. Was a great tour and the tour operator had a flouresent t-shirt with his name on it. After seeing some of the bad we did tip on the way back.

[Skai]

The ride itself is approx. a 20 minute trip, however,  the tenders often utilized are contracted out to local providers.  They use larger cap. pax vessels to ferry people to/from shore. 

 

That may mean for a longer wait for departure once aboard the tender until it's full.  This can add another 10-20 minutes to the actual time it takes to travel to/from the ship.  

[BarbinMich]

The tender ride is worth it IMHO, however long it is.  We've stopped there twice.  The first time I went birding with other CCers or on an excursion (can't remember which).  Belize is known as a birder's "hot spot."  The second time I did a ship excursion to Altun Ha, an ancient site which has mostly been uncovered.  There are 3 large pyramidal structures around a central grassy square; the 4th one has yet to be exposed.  Very interesting.  OTOH, many pax like to go tubing in the river that empties into the ocean near there.

 

I believe, the main reason they don't let large ships closer to shore is the existence of coral beds the country wants to protect.

[PMGS247]

On 10/25/2019 at 4:06 PM, skynight said:

I have never seen this. 

 

I have for sure.  They didn't get in your face about tipping, nor did they react negatively if someone didn't tip them, but everyone was reminded about how much they encouraged tipping a lot.

 

I would say our ride was probably ~15 minutes.  20 on a stretch.  One of the longer ones for sure, as compared to Princess Cays or Grand Cayman but 45 minutes is excessive.  Must have been some other factor at play.  I would not say the 15 minute ride was worth the hassle.  I'd actually recommend keeping your excursion if you want to see Belize, or just make a day of it on the ship.  The immediate area when you're tendered to doesn't have a ton to offer. Typical cruise port shops & restaurants.  Nothing to write home about; you can do all that at just about every other cruise port without having the lengthy tender.  Not a good place to try to self tour.

Edited October 28, 2019 by PMGS247