Expedition cruise - Belize City to Belize City (Dumont d´Urville Nov 2023)

[3ric]

I did not but will mention that mosquitos were everywhere and bit us through clothing. definitely pack a bunch of spray to go and to spray under clothing. Not all spray can be use under clothing.

[Becky2010]

10 minutes ago, 3ric said:

I did not but will mention that mosquitos were everywhere and bit us through clothing. definitely pack a bunch of spray to go and to spray under clothing. Not all spray can be use under clothing.

Ack ok! Thanks for the advice!

[Lonedaddy]

On 11/25/2023 at 5:44 PM, Becky2010 said:

Thanks so much for all of this! I have been reading that snorkeling at the Blue hole is not too spectacular, and we’ve actually been snorkeling in other parts of Belize that were, so I would believe that half moon Caye is better! I don’t have ankle shoes but I have hiking shoes that I hope will be fine! I’m glad to hear you’re having a wonderful trip and hope you enjoy the remainder!

I live in Belize most of the year and the snorkeling and diving is much better at half moon  caye.  The nearby  aquarium dive site is phenomenal.  Blue hole wouldn’t be much interest for  snorkeling unless you plan on free diving.  There is also a bird sanctuary and a tower that puts you at nesting level of the boobies and the frigate birds.  

[Becky2010]

3 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

I live in Belize most of the year and the snorkeling and diving is much better at half moon  caye.  The nearby  aquarium dive site is phenomenal.  Blue hole wouldn’t be much interest for  snorkeling unless you plan on free diving.  There is also a bird sanctuary and a tower that puts you at nesting level of the boobies and the frigate birds.  

Thanks so much! 

[Charmar78]

Hi @Becky2010, curious to know what you thought about your Belize cruise and how it compares versus your previous experience with Silversea (although in a different destination)? We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and thought the country/culture/nature was amazing but not sure cruising holidays are for me. I think I would prefer to stick land trips (while I am young and still can) 🙂

 

 

 

[Becky2010]

3 hours ago, Charmar78 said:

Hi @Becky2010, curious to know what you thought about your Belize cruise and how it compares versus your previous experience with Silversea (although in a different destination)? We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and thought the country/culture/nature was amazing but not sure cruising holidays are for me. I think I would prefer to stick land trips (while I am young and still can) 🙂

 

 

 

Hi! I think we are also done with cruising for a while. I'm not a fan of all of the group activities. We also had a great time on the Belize trip, though we had worse weather than you! We really only were able to snorkel once, and some of that was the weather, but some was just confusion with what was being offered, and that was really disappointing. But we enjoyed the learning more about that part of the world, and we thought the ship was lovely. We were especially impressed with all the expedition leaders on our trip. They were really an interesting group, and they added so much to the experience.

 

I'm in my mid 50's and my husband is in his mid 60's, and I think we will also stick to trips where we move about independently. I also think we were extremely spoiled by having our first cruise be in the Galapagos. There really is nothing else like it. We would cruise again as long as it was to a place that really couldn't be/wouldn't be accessed easily on our own. But not in a rush!

[Lookingtocruise42]

On 11/27/2023 at 7:54 PM, Charmar78 said:

Our cruise is coming to a close and I wanted to share some impressions (this was my 1rst Ponant cruise). For those of you departing on the same cruise in the coming weeks: lucky you!!

I won't spoil it with pictures and too much details to keep the surprise, this itinerary is very unique and will please any traveller loving wildife, culture and gastronomy. Truly a once in a lifetime experience that I highly recommend.

The boat is amazing, no surprise as we had seen pictures but what truly was unexpected was the level of service and passion showed by all the crew.

I am looking forward to the next one already... it will be hard to get any better, my expectations are ridiculously high now 🙂

Did you save any of your day planners? What do the days look like for the time not on the expeditions?

[3ric]

Hi, i did save them and i would say it was a pretty busy trip. On average, every morning had an exoeditions/cultural visit, then back on the boat for lunch, and a sea/beach/snorkel activity from 2-5pm, tea time at 5, and dinner with a show of some sort if you wanted. for those staying on the boat there usually was a trivia or other in the pm and some yoga/gym in the am. i will try to take a picture. 

[3ric]