There's got to be more than tubbing and zip lining in Belize, no?

[sharecruises]

Cheri,

Why are you singling me out for nasty comments? I have not replied to you directly at all until now or to anything you said, and I never said you were negative or any other thing. I am just trying to be helpful and kind to people who may need help with this port. In fact, I agree with you that doing a direct shore excursion to the Cayes can be a good idea IF your cruise line offers what you want. In my case, they don't, but if they did, it would probably be overpriced and not really offer me the freedom to do what I want on the islands. I think you are confusing me with other posters who have replied to you. To answer your question to me, yes I have been cruising many times, yes I have tendered, and yes I have spent a lot of time in Belize and have set ideas on what I want to do. And yes, I did recommend the cave-tubing.com thing. You're right...the title of this thread does request other options than cave-tubing, and I made a mistake. I do that occasionally, and I'm sorry. Please disregard the website.

 

I didn't realize that it would be so controversial to suggest that you could have a good time without doing a shore excursion. I thought it was a pretty mild and non-offensive suggestion.

 

Please show what I said was "nasty"??

 

I do think that you are giving out some really bad advice tho...that may affect people's experience in this port.

 

Logistically, which is what the OP asked about (along with asking for stuf OTHER than cave tubing) your advice would have people riding on tenders/ferries for an extra hour or so...not to mention walking along to the marina outside of the port area.

 

Tenders give first priority to the cruise excursion people...and the cruise excursions leave out from ship itself, they tender 25 minutes south to the cayes.....the ship tenders go 15 to 25 min north to the pier

 

It seems that some people here "like" your advice, cause it is appealing to them....the same way certain people on these boards say "oh please give a positive review about xyz ship"....well....should one make up stuff?

 

again, I am NOT that much into ship tours, but some places...central american, Jamaica, they have their advantages

For the person who NEVER takes ship excursions....maybe take a shorter 1/2 day private excursion to make sure you don't miss the ship??

Another recent Belize cruiser who has cruised a LOT said she took a ship tour in Belize and almost did not make it back in time, they held ship for them...she is planning a European cruise with NO ship excursions but felt central america warrants them on some types of excursions.

 

Here is a good post about the "logistics"

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...57&postcount=9

 

"From the ship to the port is the OPPOSITE direction than from the ship to Bannister Island. If you do the excursion through the cruiseline, you go straight from the ship to the Island (about 20-30 minutes) and then back to the ship. On our tour (which was Carnival, not NCL) they gave us the option of going straight back to the ship, or they would take us to the port if we wanted to shop. We chose to go back to the ship, but others did stay on the boat after we were dropped off at the ship, to be taken to the port area.

 

If you book independently, you'll have to tender from ship to port (20-30 min), find your tour group, then tender from port to Island (45-60 min), then back to the port (45-60 min) and then back to the ship (20-30 min). It will save you some money, but it will take a lot longer."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Using your advice one would spend much of the short time in port riding on tenders and ferries...someone could miss the ship.

Another thread on Belize said that they took a private cab, nice guy, but he had to quickly back down a street cause there were armed guys there, he said they were going to rob the cab....! OUCH ! Another poster said he was a NYC cop and felt unsafe in Belize.

 

1/2 day trips to Altun Ha may be safe...or horseback ride at smuggler's run, the guy seems nice there, it gets great reviews....but to go walking around trying to catch ferries seems pretty foolish to me. Getting to the beaches/snorkeling with out some sort of planned tour is risky. Even the tours from the pier involve backtracking/lots of tender/ferry time.

 

Weather may be nice when you leave...and it may quickly turn bad.

There can be engine trouble with the ferry...or whatever..things go wrong. Who wants to miss the ship and get stuck getting to the next port on their own??

 

Oh yes, the off topic cave trip seems safe enough...but it is off topic. I found it highly annoying in planning port time in Grand Cayman to have people push stingrays in every single thread. I wish that people would stop pushing the caves in every thread here. I do appreciate your apology about that.

 

I have asked various times and ways about Carnival's Altun Ha excursion vs Coral Breeze Altun Ha excursion....no real answer yet, but soon someone will probably suggest cave tubing yet again LOL :D

[sanjosebarbie]

Went to Belize on the Miracle last November and did the snorkel excursion through the cruise line. We were able to go into the port in the morning, headed back to the ship for our excursion - had a great time while there, locals were very friendly. Make sure you try a Belikin beer while you are there. This is only available in Belize it is not exported. Have a great trip!

 

I love Belikin! Absolutely try it while you're there. And there is good news---you can get Belikin at Beverages & More (at least, at the local ones here in San Jose). I had heard you couldn't get it outside of Belize, either, but I think is is exported in VERY small batches. Drinking it always reminds me of my time in Belize.

[catweazle]

tb,

 

"I am desperately seeking feedback on things to do in Belize. I am not thrilled aobut cave tubbing option and physically may not be up to the whole zip lining thing. What else can one do to get outside of the downtown pier area?"

 

 

you have asked a good question. Sad fact those things get invented to give something for cruisers to do.

Granted 8 hours is not a lot of time..

 

(1)South beach on water caye,(2) Caye Caulker,(3) Altun Ha, (4)Birders should always just pay the price and go to crooked tree.

[dynozone84]

im goin to belize in 2 weeks and planned on taking the water taxi to san pedro(amberegis caye). Im doing the logistics myself and it seems fine to me.......we have 9 hours there. ive read tons of reviews and everyone said the 45 min ferry ride there is beautiful and we love boats so its not like were riding in the back of some crappy taxi on a bumpy road for 45 mins. i factor in 4 hours of travel time, which is rediculous because it wont be that bad and it still gives me 5 hours to enjoy the caye. seems worth it.

 

ill have pics and a story as soon as im off the legend. maybe even from there if i can get on the internet somewhere

[wadethegringo]

You will have a great time in san pedro, The travel time there is dependant on when you arive at the water taxi. one cruise trip, we missed a departure by minutes and the next one was 2 hours later..we explored the area around the water taxi area.

[bzegirl]

There is a great place called Old Belize Adventure. For a 1 day stay in Belize, this would be the best way to go...

 

Old Belize is located 5 miles from the pier and there are always taxis available.

 

They have a man made beach with a 90 foot long water slide! A 650 ft zip line, a gift shop, an exhibit tour of Belize in the 1800's, a great restaurant that serves both local and international cuisine!

 

The staff are super efficient and friendly.

 

You can look them up at http://www.oldbelize.com