Belize Port being canceled for security reasons?

[Starrluna]

Has anyone heard this? I was just informed by TA that the curise lines are canceling this port for security reasons. :confused: High crime? Please let me know if have heard this...the DH and I are going in Novemeber. Really wanted to go to this port. Hearing how everyone loved this port.

 

Thanks..

 

Starrluna

[spikera]

You can check out the US Department of State web site.. I see no big warnings though about Belize other than being careful..

[granitegal]

I am glad I read this... I was about to reserve my tour.... I think I will wait and see how things go. I am anxious to see if anyone else has heard this. I knew there were some warnings about it....

[granitegal]

This is what I found on the US state dept - I clicked on Us embassy in Belize-

 

Travel Announcements

 

Information for Americans Residing in Belize as well as Future Tourists - June 26, 2006

 

Residents, tourists and American Embassy personnel have been victims of armed youths on bicycles in what is considered the safer zones of Belize City -- Kings Park, Princess Margaret and Universal Medical Center neighborhoods. The robberies have taken place as early as 6:30 a.m. and as late as 10:00 p.m.

In recent weeks, two youths armed with a gun have stopped bicyclists, joggers, and walkers at various times of the day by blocking their paths and demanding cash, valuables and cell phones. In addition to the robbery, the youths strike and taunt the victims. No serious injuries have been sustained.

The U.S. Embassy, Belize City, recommends that you travel in groups, avoid deserted stretches of road in the neighborhoods mentioned, do not walk or jog after dark and do not carry any valuables on your person. Any incident should be reported to the Belize Police Department immediately by dialing 911 or 227-2222.

Additional information regarding travel in Belize may be found at www.travel.state.gov. The Embassy e-mail address is: embbelize@state.gov.

 

 

 

Hope this helps. Just be careful.

[zydecocruiser]

These are isolated incidents.

 

As for some of reports...

 

"ALLEGED CAYO BANDITS DETAINED BY POLICE IN FLORES Up to nine members of the alleged gang responsible for a number of armed attacks on tourists and locals in the Mountain Pine Ridge and elsewhere in Cayo, Belize, have been detained by police in Flores, Guatemala. Reportedly, the owner of a Cayo hotel that was victimized by the gang has identified at least two of the suspects. Photos of the rest are being circulated to see if additional identifications can be made. The group was reportedly arrested because they possessed firearms, a minor infraction in Guatemala. Tourism groups in Belize had offered a 100,000 quetzales reward for the capture of the gang, which is believed to have robbed at least 80 tourists over the past year. The bandits also shot and wounded two people, a Belizean and an American tourist, and sexually assaulted at least one tourist. If it turns out this is the gang responsible for the attacks, their capture should prove to be good news for Cayo tourism, which has suffered due to publicity about the incidents. (July 13, 2006)"

[wrinklesandme]

I've got to defend Belize here. If you are afraid to visit this port because of two armed bandits, then heaven forbid you go to Washington, D.C. right now as there have been several robberies of tourists on the National Mall!

 

Like any place that you travel to, you should always be aware of your surroundings and not do anything crazy.

 

I love Belize. Can't wait to go back in August. I felt safe walking the main street. I did not and would not go down an alley way. Heck, I won't do that here in D.C. either!

 

As with any place, be cautious and enjoy the sites.

[cruzn buckeye]

There have been plenty of people defending Belize.

I think the what the OP really wants to know ( I could be wrong) is if they really are going to cancel this port. She did say that she was looking forward to going here.( She was told this by a TA.) I am looking forward to cave tubing with Yhony and am also curious about this.

 

Any TAs out there that might have heard anything about this?

[Starrluna]

Thank you for your responses. I was looking to see if any other cruise lines were doing this. Hopefully, the "security issues" the cruise line was concerned about are resolved before we leave in November. My husband and I picked this itinerary because of that port. I know that we have just as many "shady areas" in our country. But to be in another county and you are not familiar with that place... It can be very scary...I was just asking if anyone else had heard that from their cruise line.

[judyzoo]

Starrluna,

 

Which cruise line are you on that was thinking of cancelling Belize? Have they actually cancelled, or is it just a possibility?

[excalwop]

I've got to defend Belize here. If you are afraid to visit this port because of two armed bandits, then heaven forbid you go to Washington, D.C. right now as there have been several robberies of tourists on the National Mall!

 

Like any place that you travel to, you should always be aware of your surroundings and not do anything crazy.

 

I love Belize. Can't wait to go back in August. I felt safe walking the main street. I did not and would not go down an alley way. Heck, I won't do that here in D.C. either!

 

As with any place, be cautious and enjoy the sites.

 

Very good commet

I live 15 miles from the white house and will be in Belize in Nov. odds are I'll feel safer in Belize than in D.C. And every night on the news you hear a min. of 4 acts of crime from assault to murder . Hell I was robbed within site of the F.B.I. Bldg.

Paul

[excalwop]

I've got to defend Belize here. If you are afraid to visit this port because of two armed bandits, then heaven forbid you go to Washington, D.C. right now as there have been several robberies of tourists on the National Mall!

 

Like any place that you travel to, you should always be aware of your surroundings and not do anything crazy.

 

I love Belize. Can't wait to go back in August. I felt safe walking the main street. I did not and would not go down an alley way. Heck, I won't do that here in D.C. either!

 

As with any place, be cautious and enjoy the sites.

 

Very good commet

I live 15 miles from the white house and will be in Belize in Nov. odds are I'll feel safer in Belize than in D.C. And every night on the news you hear a min. of 4 acts of crime from assault to murder . Hell I was robbed within site of the F.B.I. Bldg.

Paul

[zydecocruiser]

There's both a serial rapist/murderer AND a serial murderer running around Phoenix. Guess I better move to Belize ?;)

 

I plan on enjoying another visit to Belize in a couple of months. :)

[judyzoo]

The original post was about whether cruise lines were cancelling this port; it wasn't making any point about whether or not Belize is safe, but just what the cruise lines are doing about it.

[Starrluna]

Starrluna,

 

Which cruise line are you on that was thinking of cancelling Belize? Have they actually cancelled, or is it just a possibility?

 

 

RCL Enchantment of Seas Nov 6 sail. We had just changed over from NCL Dream which had the same ports. We booked RCL Thursday night. The next day I was looking at excursions and saw a change on RCL website.

So I called my TA and asked what was going on. She called RCL directly and they stated they made the change due to "security issues". They are going to the private island instead. One of the reasons I posted this thread was to find out if anyone else was doing it or if RCL just wanted everyone to go to their private island. They also said that favorite line the all give out..."the ports can change at anytime for any reason".

[zydecocruiser]

Looks like they didn't quite update all of the site...

 

Ship Name: Enchantment Of The Seas

Departure Port: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Ports of Call: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

One guess would be the "security" issue might be the price of fuel and how much more it takes to go to Belize instead of Coco ?

[medic123]

Seems kind of odd that they canceled Enchantment for security reasons but the Legend is still scheduled to go to Belize the same week.:confused: I guess they are more concerned about the passengers safety on Enchantment.:rolleyes:

[wrinklesandme]

Enchantment had also cancelled Belize for the end of August cruises. It is still scheduled to dock in Belize during the first two 5-day cruises in Aug. Then it looks like it goes back again in the Fall.

 

We can only speculate as to why they are doing this.

[Starrluna]

zydecocruiser (quote) Looks like they didn't quite update all of the site...

 

Ship Name: Enchantment Of The Seas

Departure Port: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Ports of Call: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

One guess would be the "security" issue might be the price of fuel and how much more it takes to go to Belize instead of Coco ? (quote)

 

 

zydecocruiser....I think you might be onto something here...

 

 

Starrluna

[medic123]

I would think it would be cheaper to go to Belize about 200 miles from Coz than to go into the Bahamas. I'm not sure how far it will be out of the way to go to Coco Cay, but I would think the fuel cost would be about the same. On 2nd thought do they anchor in Belize or do the drift and use fuel to keep from drifting to far? If they are not able to anchor due to the reef that maybe the reason. They anchor in Coco Cay. I guess we will never know for sure.

[just4kixx]

When I just checked on RCCLs site, My cruise on The Enchantment 12/04/06 is still scheduled to stop in Belize as is the 11/20/06 sailing... go figure!

 

A~

[zydecocruiser]

I would think it would be cheaper to go to Belize about 200 miles from Coz than to go into the Bahamas. I'm not sure how far it will be out of the way to go to Coco Cay, but I would think the fuel cost would be about the same. On 2nd thought do they anchor in Belize or do the drift and use fuel to keep from drifting to far? If they are not able to anchor due to the reef that maybe the reason. They anchor in Coco Cay. I guess we will never know for sure.

 

Not sure. Just thought since it left from FLL, it would already be headed in the general direction of ??? Though ships might only get 15 feet to the gallon or so, so it might make some sense. Maybe for tax reasons they need another ship or stop there to justify the tax write off for improvements? Just speculating, of course, but some official communication/explanation from RCL wouldn't hurt, would it. ;)

[granitegal]

I just checked the Princess website and looks like we are still going in December. Maybe they were just being cautious? I agree, that even though we have shady things here, you are still in another country. I bet they were doing that on a "just in case" basis. I guess that is something only time will tell. I did decide to book an excursion through the cruiseline for this port though....Better safe than sorry.

[luckyking]

I am glad that you posted this because there has been some confusion over on the Princess board. Some folks saw that, according to the Grand Cayman port website, the Grand Princess was due in there on Wednesdays, once she starts up her Caribbean sailings in November. Princeess has us going to Belize that day. My thought was that they be dropping Belize for GC. I have a note into the GC Port Authority to see what information they might have.

[gigivic]

All ships have to anchor and tender into Belize. It's a loooong way out too.

We booked Enchantment for the Belize port. As they say, been there done that. The downtown looked pretty rough with the brick wall with barbed wire across the top. We did the river tour through the ship thankfully because we were 30 minutes late getting back due to engine trouble. The ship had already pulled anchor and they had sent the captain of security to escort us. We don't plan on going back. I could see security warnings being issued. Infact the tour guide cautioned us to stay inside the wall.

[starketcher]

RCCL owns the port in Belize, so I would not think it would be port fees & they get their storefront rent (but they get that w/ or w/o customers).

 

I cant imagine that security is the reason, esp when Jamaica is still being ported!

 

They do drift in the harbor, so it could be a fuel consumption issue.