Finally Booked on the Vista-Mahogony Bay and Belize recommendations

[tweak89]

We finally booked a cruise on the Vista (which is leaving Galveston next year to make way for the Jubilee).  We've been to Cozumel more times than we can count so we just wander about for local food and drinks there.  The rest of this itinerary is new to us with Mahogany Bay and Belize. This is late February/Early March if that makes a difference.  We finally got the Cheers offer and we've wanted to book the Vista since it arrived, so we're excited to combine the two!

 

Looking for excursion recommendations (Official Carnival or Third Party).   We enjoy ruins, snorkeling/adventure and food!  We don't really care for shopping or beach clubs.  

[gopackgo21]

Belize: Coral Breeze Tours for snorkeling. You get solid snorkeling, a stop at the shark and ray alley, and a 90 minute stop on Caye Caulker to grab lunch and explore the tiny island. 
 

Mahogany Bay: Daniel Johnson’s Monkey and Sloth! We’ve done the snorkeling package with them before too! Paid like $50 pp for monkeys and sloths, small snorkel on beautiful waters, and then a private driver took us to opposite side for some fish tacos. 

[Joe817]

Mahogany Bay is a perfect beach day. Take the ski lift(or what ever they call it() and get a beautiful panoramic view of the whole area. Get a heaping plateful of the nachos at Playa Tortuga bar. It's enough for 2 people and then some. Wash it down with some great Honduran beer. 

 

While in Belize, take the Carnival excursion to the Mayan ruins at Altun Ha. It's a great Mayan ruins tour.  When you get back, you'll have plenty of time to stop at the Thirsty Lizard in the port area. You can't miss it. It's on your right as you exit the tour bus. I fell in love with Belize and the people. In fact, I bought 2 rounds of beer for the tour guides when they walked past. 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by Joe817

[elklemi]

I would second Coral Breeze tour to Caye Caulker and if you do not snorkel you can stay on the island and cost is less than if you snorkel.

[MeganGC1983]

9 hours ago, gopackgo21 said:

Belize: Coral Breeze Tours for snorkeling. You get solid snorkeling, a stop at the shark and ray alley, and a 90 minute stop on Caye Caulker to grab lunch and explore the tiny island. 
 

Mahogany Bay: Daniel Johnson’s Monkey and Sloth! We’ve done the snorkeling package with them before too! Paid like $50 pp for monkeys and sloths, small snorkel on beautiful waters, and then a private driver took us to opposite side for some fish tacos. 

I agree with DJ’s monkey, sloths and snorkeling. Some of the best snorkeling we’ve done outside of the southern Caribbean. 

[urbanhawk]

If you like Mayan ruins, you may consider checking out the ones in Belize that are named, starting with Xun........if you do, I'd recommend going on a Carnival excursion-it's a bit expensive, but worth every penny. .it's an all day trip, but Carnival will get you back to the dock, so you don't miss the ship!

[Jelly_Toast]

I see you're getting a few recommendations for ruins, so I'll just add to it and say that the Lamanai ruins was one of the best excursions we have ever done on any cruise.  It's been a few years so I don't know if they allow people to climb up anymore but it was an amazing experience. Pricey, but worth it.

[Host Carolyn]

Unfortunately we don't have boards for western Caribbean,  eastern Caribbean etc but you should also check individual boards for Honduras and Belize under Caribbean ports of Call 

[ABQrobin]

Belize...Cave tubing or Mayan ruins... best port to do either.  Lamanai is freakin amazing!  All the tour guides are full of great information and teach you all about the jungle, different plants, Mayan history.  Just can't go wrong with cave tubing or ruins in Belize.

 

Mahogany Bay Roatan... gosh, the island of Roatan has a ton of great excursions, places to go.  The reefs are right close to shore so if you want to snorkel, this the place.  If you like white sand beaches it is the place to go.  If you want to see monkeys and sloths, it is the place to go.  And if you just want to stay in port there is a free beach next to the ship, you can pay for kayaking or ziplining right there at port...  

 

[bikerjohn1]

 Lamanai  is a blast.  However it is a very long tour so make sure you have plenty of time to spare.  We also did cave tubing there once, it was fun also.  Can't help much with Roatan, I am a diver so I always dive there.  You can do a discover scuba with a lot of the dive shops, this will allow you to dive without having to be certified.  There is a wall right off shore, so it's a pretty easy dive.

[crazy4themouse]

Mahogany Bay is so beautiful -- our favorite port! You can stay right there and have an incredible day. But Roatan itself is just gorgeous, and begs exploring. We tend to do something different every time, because there's just so much to see and do. The monkey and sloth hangout is absolutely one of the best port days we've had!! 

 

Are you by any chance on the 2/25 sailing? 

[angela12345]

We've done the Extreme Zipline offered by Carnival at Mahogany Bay.  You get outfitted for your ziplining right there in the port, then RIDE up the mountain to start the zipline.  The zipline ends right there on the free Carnival private beach at the port & shops.  Super convenient and easy both ways. 

 

We've only ever ziplined one other time (Belize), but the Mahogany Bay zipline was better in all metrics ... higher, faster, longer zips, longer overall, easier (not lots of hiking up/climbing other than the steps for the platforms), and more convenient as everything is right there at the port.  We would 100% do the Mahogany Bay zipline again.

Note: the Carnival website has the excursion activity level as difficult, however we did not find it difficult at all (50's) and neither did my father (early 70's).  According to the reviews, do not buy the pictures to be emailed, lots of folks reporting they never received.  We took pics and videos ourselves, especially once the first person zipped into the bar/building at the end of the last zip.  Just hang out there and take pics/videos as the rest of your party zips in (zoomed in or zoom lens recommended).  ALSO: we bought snorkel equipment at Costco, walked back to the ship once we were done zipping, ate free lunch on the ship, got our equipment and snorkeled at that same free beach.  There's a pier at the end of the beach that you can walk way out with a platform at the end and ladders to get in/out of water.  We did not purchase the Mahogany Bay chairlift pass.  It really is not a very long walk to the beach from the ship, plus it's shaded for much of it with pretty resort landscaping (see pics/map... https://www.mahoganybaycc.com/port-information.aspx)

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/mahogany-bay/extreme-zip-line--beach-adventure-518090

[tweak89]

Thanks all for the suggestions so far!

[tweak89]

2 hours ago, crazy4themouse said:

Mahogany Bay is so beautiful -- our favorite port! You can stay right there and have an incredible day. But Roatan itself is just gorgeous, and begs exploring. We tend to do something different every time, because there's just so much to see and do. The monkey and sloth hangout is absolutely one of the best port days we've had!! 

 

Are you by any chance on the 2/25 sailing? 

 

Actually, it's the February 4th sailing.  I put the wrong date in the original post.

[talkorpi]

Good grief.  I have been trying to respond to this thread for two days but I couldn't log in!

 

Anyways, I have been to both of these ports twice.  Our first cruise in 2013 as well as most recent cruise in May of 2022.  On our first cruise like newbies we did an excursion in each port and on our last cruise we only did an "excursion" in Roatan.

 

Honestly, out of the few ports we have been to, Roatan is one of our favorites due to our last trip!  We purchased the "Relax on the Beach" package from Carnival directly for our cruise this year.  This basically is just an amenities package for the free beach attached to the port.  However, Mahogany Beach is very nice, and, since we were planning on purchasing most of the amenities in the package anyways, it actually came out cheaper to purchase the package than individual rentals per person.  There are a couple different options, I think you can purchase just a beach package that comes with reserved seating with a clamshell or umbrella, water float mats, and a day pass to use the chairlift.  You also have the option of adding a snorkel rental or a kayak rental, which I recommend doing since it is the same price as just the regular package.  It is sold in bundles of two which means you only need one ticket for every two people in your group.  At the price of $70 for a ticket, I think that $35/pp is a great value considering how many things you get out of this. If you don't feel like going out to explore Roatan and want to maximize your time relaxing, I would highly recommend this excursion from Carnival!  We had an amazing time at Mahogany Beach and the Kayaking was very fun as well.

 

In Roatan in 2013, we did the Gumbalimba Park excursion.  It was nice but I honestly preferred Mahogany Beach.

 

Belize is more of a mixed bag - it's pretty much all adventure-type stuff.  There is no beach in Belize that I know of and the tenders drop you off in Downtown Belize City.  On our 2013 cruise we did the Altun Ha excursion and it was fascinating as it was our first (and so far only) Mayan Ruins excursion.  I would highly recommend this excursion but as it was nearly ten years ago now I'm not sure if/how much things have changed.

 

On our 2022 cruise, we stayed on the ship in Belize.  Some people in my traveling party had a heart disorder so doing any of the adventure-like tours with high amounts of walking or strenuous activity was a no-go.  While I enjoy those types of things, if your entire party can't participate in those types of activities and you don't want to split up, then you might have a hard time finding an excursion in Belize.

 

Have a wonderful time!

Edited November 2, 2022 by talkorpi

[RenoNanaOz]

We went to Little french Key in Roatan and had a blast. Check out their Website, water, food, staff and drinks were awesome.

[d-train]

We had a cabana at Mahoghany Bay.

The chair lift was included and unlimited for all in our group.

We loved the experience and the beach very much.

It is a bit pricey for that one, but we would do it again for sure!

[SRQbeachgirl]

We had a cabana at Mahogany Bay last June and it was fantastic. Definitely worth the price--even for just the two of us--and we will book it again in a heartbeat. That end of the beach is uncrowded, close to some very decent snorkeling on the other side of the pier, and the service and amenities were great. Worth every penny!

[kctwinmommy]

We did the Carnival excursion to Caye Caulker on our cruise last April and it was without a doubt our favorite excursion. Probably in our Top 3 for all our cruises across the board. I'm sure the independent companies run similar tours, I just know what ours was like. We had so much fun, it was my 2nd time snorkeling and I'm so glad I did it. I didn't go in when we moved over to the sharks though, just because I'd had enough. But my husband and son went in and loved it. The lunch at Caye Caulker was quite good, very organized too.

 

In Mahogany Bay we did a nice catamaran snorkeling trip, which was before Belize and my first time snorkeling. We saw so much in the ocean, even swam with a turtle! It was fun. We went with the Jolly Roger company, but it was a Carnival excursion.

 

The sharks that everyone got to swim with. I stayed on the boat to take some pics.

 

 

My husband and son, with the sharks under them, although it's hard to see.

 

 

The Lazy Lizard where we had lunch. Really nicely organized on the tour we did.

 

 

Great photo op there too!

Edited November 5, 2022 by kctwinmommy

[boomhower]

Mahogany Bay is easy, Daniel Johnson's. We did the reserve tour plus island tour and have zero regrets.  Not a lot to see on the island but for the first time don't regret it.  We did it in 2019 and have tried three times to go back so we can take our daughter.   COVID cancelled all of them.  We have one scheduled in December and will only be doing the reserve tour as I want to try out the beach side of Mahogany Bay. 

 

In Belize we did the a boat tour and it was OK.  If I go back I really have no intention of getting off the ship.  I'd like to do a cave tubing excursion but don't want to sit on a bus for three hours on top of the extremely long tender ride.  Not a port I want to go back too. 

[havanadaydreaming]

On 11/2/2022 at 5:00 PM, RenoNanaOz said:

We went to Little french Key in Roatan and had a blast. Check out their Website, water, food, staff and drinks were awesome.

I second this.  Highly recommended.

[gopackgo21]

Little French Key has been accused of purposely destroying the coral reef and drugging animals (large exotic cats) for photo ops.