Tell me about your non-ship tours other than cabe tubing, please.

[Travelitis]

If you've taken any excursion through a local company rather than the ship, please tell me the good or bad about it. Would you recommend it for a family traveling with 3 kids (13, 10, & 6)?

 

We love the beach and snorkeling and are very open, but I have all the info I require about cave tubing. The $375 pricetag for Xtreme's kid's cave tubing is steep for our taste, especially since we're going so close to Christmas. I'd appreciate all the input I can get, thanks.

[newmexicoNita]

We did a private tour while in Belize, in fact we do most of our tours privately. We like the personalize attention and the lower cost. For us, this one happened to be a dissaster! I can't remember the name of the company but I do remember 2 excursions they offered: 1 was a fishing excursion, the other a river, ecological tour. We did that one and if it hadn't been for a group of really fun people who could laugh at our mistakes it would have been sad. I can't begin to remember all that went wrong, but I will say, be careful who you book with and if you see something on the web that looks good try to ask others if they have used that company first. Good luck and have a great cruise. NMnita

[cindybythebeach]

Since Belize is a tender port I would use caution booking through a private tour operator. We went to Belize in June and the seas were extremely rough that day. Royal Caribbean tendered only those with Royal Caribbean tours first. Eveyone else had to get a tender number. By the time they finished with ship's tours and called tender number 1 it was after 11. Tendering started at 8 am so theoretically we should have had plenty of time to meet our guide by 11. When we finally arrived in Belize City we found out that the tour had been cancelled. Another tour operator allowed us to call Coral Breeze and together they were able to offer us a refund of our originally scheduled discover scuba tour and they also aranged for a slightly shortened cave tubing tour. We had a good time tubing, but it wasn't what we wanted to do. We also made it back to the pier with only 10 minutes before the final tender, which made me a bit nervous.

[llund]

If you can remember the name of the tour company, I would appreciate it. I have read good and bad reviews about Coral Breeze. I am also looking at Wet-n-wild. What does anybody know about either of these companies?

[KathyHKidd]

See next post for information about a great tour guide. He was weird, but worth it.

[KathyHKidd]

We had a terrific tour guide in Belize, who is not affiliated with any company but who trains the other tour guides. (He's a native Belize citizen who is an archaelogist, so he's great at the ruins!) He was cheaper than the tours run by the cruise line, and we got to see something nobody else saw. We went to some ruins at the Guatemala border, and we were the only ones there.

 

The tour guide's name was Mark McField. The name doesn't fit him, because he looks like a Mayan! His email address is markmcf@btl.net. Also, he got us back to the ship in plenty of time for us to get aboard before it left.

 

We saw the country in air-conditioned comfort, because he drove our party of four around in a new Toyota ten-passenger van.

[bubbachief]

Kathy-- We are interested in booking a tour with Mark. Could you tell me how much he charged and what ruins did you see. We are on the NCL Sun leaving Miami 10/16-- not sure what day we are in Belize. Anyone else on the Sun interested in using Mark?

[Travelitis]

Not to be an alarmist, but have you looked at the State Dept's website and checked for travel advisories in that area? (Guatemala border) There used to be one (political upsrising), and I'm pretty sure it was an area my military dh wasn't allowed to go when we were on the Sun. He didn't get clearance to get off the ship in Belize or Roatan until a week before the cruise. Not trying to deter you from going, but I do like to be informed about the places I visit before I go.

[KathyHKidd]

Can't remember how much Mark charged. It may have been $45 per person. I know it was cheaper than the corresponding trips offered by the ship. We went to Cahal Pech (probably mispelled!), which means "place of the fleas." There were no fleas there. It was a very old ruin, and a lot prettier than the ruins at Altun Ha. (It was a real plus that there was nobody else there, because Altun Ha is swarming with tourists.) Mark will also stop at a great handicraft store if you want.

 

It's true, Travelitis, that Belize and Guatemala are not friends. However, Mark assured us that we were absolutely safe, and I never at any time felt unsafe. We were 4-6 miles from the border. We could see Guatemala over the hills and he even would have taken us there had we wanted to go, but we were more interested in getting back to the ship on time.

 

KHK

[Travelitis]

Here's the link for the State Dept's comments on Belize. I know Mark said you were safe, but I'd strongly urge anyone thinking of traveling to that area to read this first. I'm not saying don't go, but do be informed. I wouldn't consider this as an option for my family of 5, but dh probably wouldn't get the permission to travel to that area anyway.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/belize.html

 

Also, if you're headed out of Belize City, be aware of the risk of Malaria. All 5 of us will be anti-malaria meds just like we were 2 yrs. ago. My dh, being govt. property, has to, but the rest of us will do it because we want to err on the side of safety. If you choose not to take this precaution, at least arm yourself with excellent insect repellant with Deet.

http://www.cdc.gov/travel/regionalmalaria/camerica.htm

 

I don't mean to cause any worry or fear, because, even though I'm bringing up the violence and Malaria, I'm a pretty fearless traveler when my kids aren't with me. I get off the beaten path in 3rd world countries, but that's after I've read and headed the info on these websites. I know to watch my back, and I know that attitude saved me from being a victim in Mexico when I was on my own and being followed. When we went to Roatan and Belize, I was surprised by how many women didn't know to leave their diamond rings in the safe. I have a plain gold band I wear in NYC or poor countries. As Professor Moody from Harry Potter would say, "Constant vigilence!". LOL! Or, as Julia Roberts said in "Pretty Woman", and I'm taking this out of context, "I'm a safety girl!"

[Shellyle]

Hi, this message is for Kathy. I looked up Cahal Pech because my husband and I want to see some good ruins. It appears to be way, way inland and I'm wondering if you know how long it would take to get there from Placentia? If not from there, where would you stay so that you could visit that ruin? I would also like to see ruins that are not overrun with tourists and especially by a local archaelogist guide. Also, we are planning to go to Belize in November, which I suppose is a big mistake since it's the cold rainy season. If anyone knows how bad the weather gets there in November, please let me know. We could switch to January 2005.

[llund]

Travelitis...

I went to the websites...pretty scary. Of course, we have west nile virus here in California with mosquito bites! I wonder how safe it is to go to the Cayes, scuba dive or snorkel. It looks like Limon, Costa Rica is the same so we will definitely take insect repellent with deet! Thanks for the info.

[KathyHKidd]

I'm sorry, Shellye, but I don't know where Placentia is so I don't know how long it takes to get there. If it's any indication, we got off the ship and met our guide at about nine in Belize City, and he drove us there and back with a long stop at the ruins and a stop at the craft place, and we got back to the boat at about two -- which was a half hour before we had to be back.

 

Our guide had very strong opinions about everything, so if you'd like to write him and ask where you should stay, he'll be glad to tell you! He didn't think anyone should stay in Belize City because Belize City is so crummy.

 

The country is small enough that no matter where you stay, you'll be fairly near all the ruins. I would have no reservations about hiring Mark, even though you may want to let some of the comments he says roll off your back. As I said, he's strongly opinionated!

 

As for the weather, I wouldn't worry about it. I went to Belize last November and this April, and even though there was a brief rain shower in November the weather was much more pleasant in November than in April. Even if you live at the southern tip of Florida, Belize is hundreds of miles south of Miami...which means it's hundreds of miles closer to the Equator. No matter when you go, it's not going to be cold. And it can rain there any time. (It's a rainforest, after all!) Given a choice, I'd go back in November before I'd go back in April. Even if it rains on you, the rain will be warm.

 

Kathy