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]

[jstudio]

On 11/29/2023 at 3:58 PM, Becky2010 said:

The cdc recommends taking malaria medication if traveling to the Bay Islands in Honduras - which this itinerary takes you to. Wondering if anyone who has gone or is going is planning on doing that? 

I'm very late to the party, but considering the Belize/Honduras expedition for Dec 2024. Becky - did you end up taking malaria meds?

[3ric]

I did not. There is the doc office on board, although it probably would not be the worse idea. But you should definitely take A LOT of mosquito spray. the stuff you put on under your clothes. They were all over almost every single excursion. the staff had spray but it is much better to have it with you. 

[jstudio]

Thanks for your prompt response! We haven't signed up yet and I think the mosquitoes (with or without malaria) will be a deal breaker for my husband. 

[Becky2010]

6 hours ago, jstudio said:

Thanks for your prompt response! We haven't signed up yet and I think the mosquitoes (with or without malaria) will be a deal breaker for my husband. 

We ended up not taking the malaria meds and I was pretty nervous about getting tons of bites. I am the person who is usually covered in bites while no one else even got one! Maybe it’s the time of year we went, but I don’t think I ended up with one bite the whole trip. I covered up pretty well on the hikes, but really never noticed any mosquitos the whole time!

[3ric]

8 hours ago, jstudio said:

Thanks for your prompt response! We haven't signed up yet and I think the mosquitoes (with or without malaria) will be a deal breaker for my husband. 

just to clarify the mosquitos were present when we went into jungle like environnment. so short hikes or when we visited  a couple of the villages. no mosquitos while on the beach, dining on the boat, etc.. 

[Becky2010]

28 minutes ago, 3ric said:

just to clarify the mosquitos were present when we went into jungle like environnment. so short hikes or when we visited  a couple of the villages. no mosquitos while on the beach, dining on the boat, etc.. 

Right - and when we went on hikes I was covered from head to toe. I had a buff that was treated with repellant and I pulled it over my head and just left my face out. 🙂 Long pants, long sleeve shirt, sometimes I tucked my hands inside my sleeves because I was paranoid lol. Meanwhile the rest of the folks were in shorts and tanks, and no one on our trip seemed to complain of bites. We went at the beginning of December!

[jstudio]

You look adorable - and protected. We're thinking about the end of December so conditions should be similar. We're adventurous travelers and have been most of Central America (including Belize, but not Honduras) and the itinerary seemed right up our alley...but the malaria med rec is giving us second thoughts. Would not want to miss the cultural excursions. 

[Becky2010]

15 minutes ago, jstudio said:

You look adorable - and protected. We're thinking about the end of December so conditions should be similar. We're adventurous travelers and have been most of Central America (including Belize, but not Honduras) and the itinerary seemed right up our alley...but the malaria med rec is giving us second thoughts. Would not want to miss the cultural excursions. 

We also booked our trip very last minute. I think like 6 weeks out. No one else we met on the cruise was taking malaria meds. I don’t think that should deter you? You’re only in each of these places for such a short period of time and there are lots of protections you can take. And also — a good friend got West Niles in Los Angeles, so living is somewhat of a crap shoot anyway! Good luck making your decision and holler if you have any more questions!

[3ric]

i second becky, i wouldnt worry about this. i am a very anxious (medically) traveler and i didnt bother. i get bit first anywhwere and i dont belive i got one bit. i was wearing similar outfit as becky :-). highly suggest leaving any sense of fashion behind and think practiacl. the people in short and tanks regretted not having a long sleeve linen shirt and long pants to tuck in shoes. dont let this deter you from the trip, it was great!  and i went over thanksgiving so i probably had more mosquitoes