Enchantment of the Seas-August2-7th--PART TWO

[KatieRT]

Belize:

 

We did the excusion on August 5, 2004. I really enjoyed the day. It was 7.5 hours long. It was called Shark and Stingray Alley , with lunch!

 

We boarded a boat directly from the ship. It was very crowded and try not to get in the boat at the front, as you are underneath the top of the boat..and it gets hot! Our tour guides were wonderful. I spoke with the girl the ride to the snorkel area and most of the way back from San Pedro( 1 hr at least). I learned alot about Belize and just common things...Like Subway Sandwich Shops are only for the very rich....10.00 dollars (US) for a 6 in sub. Lobster is very cheap( go figure). Cell phones are just becoming popular and are very expensive. She wanted me to send her some from the US so she could sell some and make a profit..HA HA!!

 

On the way, the guide gave a basic snorkel lession to people and handed out the equipment which was in great shape! Fresh bottled water was available all day on the boat at no cost!

 

We went SHARK RAY ALLEY. Our guides threw out "fish bait" and the fish came quickly. Sting Rays, all kinds of fish...and yes, Sharks!!!!! After about half the people got in the water and still survived, I got it! It was amazing..tons and tons of fish..up close and personal!!! After swimming with the marine life for a few minutes...the 3 guides got in the water and we were told we were going on a "group" snorkel to the reef. The reef was quite some distance. It was quite a swim to the reef! The minumum age for this excursion is 12. I understand why, now. My 9.5 yr old son( very tall) did this and nobody questioned his age. I was confident he could handle it, if my 12 yr daughter (WHIMP) could! Of course, I was right! The kids did great on the swim to the reef...my self and my husband...well we were POOPED!!! We swam so far, we could hardley see our boat in the distance.

 

The coral is very shallow and you must keep your legs up and face down to be a respectful snorkeler. To protect the coral and yourself. This was my son's and daughters 2nd snorkel trip( there first was 2 days earlier). They obviously were NOT experienced snorkelers and did fine...actually, did GREAT!

 

The swim back to the boat was easier, since you were going with the waves back the boat!

 

We then took a 10 minute ride to San Pedro Island. This is where Temptation Island was filmed. It was a reality TV show shown on FOX. We were told we havd 2.5 hours to explore the island and eat lunch. There also was a fresh-water pool we could use at the resort next the eatery where we were fed.

 

Lunch was okay, some kind of chicken, plain tortillas, potato salad( good), and rice and beans. Punch to drink. There was a "cash" bar also. We ate lunch and rinsed off in the fresh water pool! ALOT of Chlorine in the pool..KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED!!!!

 

We walked to town ( about 15 minutes). We walked down the beach to the road that took you to town. Looked safer than walking the streets of this town. We had no problems walking the beach. The town was hot and had many tourist shops.

 

WARNING: TRY AND PAY with close to exact US dollars, because they will only give you BELIZIAN money in change. We got some ice cream, and I gave them a 10.00 bill and recived my change in Belizian money. So, I just went in the local shop and bought some more things to take home with my Belizian money. The kids kept some of the change for souveniors!

 

The beach that we saw at the Island was full of sea weed and we didn't not get in past our ankles because of that. We had alot of seaweed in Cozumel also, so, I don't know if that is because the storms were heading that way...or what.

 

Our guides said the island we were at, was very expensive to stay in the resorts. They also said" We are sorry to say this..but Belize City, is not a very safe place".

 

After 2.5 hours on the island we left for the ship...on our trip back..we came upon 2 dolphins playing. Our captain stopped the boat, and the dolphins played around our boat for 15 minutes. It was AWESOME! Our captain says this happends often, and sometimes if they happen to run into a POD of dolphins, they even get in the water and try and play with them. I don't know if they let their passengers in the water or just the guides... but wow, just getting that close was an AWESOME experience!

 

on our way back, the caption also stopped a lobster fisherman to show us all the lobsters that he catches. The guide said most of RED LOBSTER's lobsters come from this region!!!

 

It was a great day and I would definately do it again!

 

Our tablemates went into the city instead of doing an excursion, said they was nothing much there and were back on the boat by 1200pm!

 

It was a long but very enjoyable day!

 

Evening: Comedian Don Friesher was a hoot! He was very funny and relatively clean. My kids loved him. We bought his CD they were selling after the show.

 

Quest was the game of the night---I cannot give away details...but it was so much fun! You have to participate to fully understand how much fun it is. Leave your kids in the cabin or at Adventure Ocean, because it gets a little crazy.....(example: my husband pants were off for awhile..and my bra played an important role in this game). But FUN!!!!

 

 

SEA DAY-

 

We slept in this morning finally and got to the pool area by 1000am. NO CHAIRS IN THE SUN!!!! We found some in the shade and moved them to the sun area. We took 2 chairs for 5 people. We just bascially relaxed and chilled all day. The kids played ping pong, rock climbed and played shuffleboard during the day. I think everybody was ready for a day of nothing to do...but NOBODY was ready to start packing up. The kids wanted to stay another week! no month, i think they said!!!

 

We went the photo gallery and bought 4 8x10's pictures for 80.00! If you bought 4, you got a complementary frame and 8x10 pic of the ship. Sucker that I am,...can't pass up a bargin!

 

We went back to the room around 500 to start packing so, our luggage could be sat out before midnight that night! It was depressing packing the bags!

 

The last night show was singing and dancing. We went just to watch the Cruise in Review video. We left during the second half of the show. T-shirts were 2 for 20 in the gift shop. We bought some Tshirts, some pretty rocks, keychains, huggies( for coke/beer cans), and some crystal dolphins.

 

Dinner was nice and we were sad to leave our table mates. We exchanged numbers, emails, ect.

 

DISEMBARKTION: We were out of room by 800am( the latest time allowed per the video). We ate breakfast in the dining room( BAD IDEA), the food was not as good as the Windjammer. We were off the ship by 1000pm. Our tags were PINK and were the 5 or 6 color called. Customs went great and we got our VAN out of the longterm parking( 60.00 for the cruise) and was headed back to the Lago Mar Resort!!!!

 

My kids are now addicted cruisers!!! They think we should go at least 2 times a year...I am not sure which BANK i plan to rob in order to finance that...but hey it sounds really good!

 

Ironically, we are planning a possible move into another house in the next few months..and my 9.5 son said maybe inbetween the old house and before the new house is ready, if we don't have anywhere to stay besides Grandma's...we should just go on another cruise during that time before the house gets done! I LOVE THE WAY THAT BOY THINKS!!!

[hardingk]

Thanks for the great review! We leave 2 weeks from today for FLL!!! Just a quick question, was the Beatles tribute band still on the ship were there a lot of trivia contests do you remeber?

[KatieRT]

The Beatle show is gone.

 

There are several trivia games, I did not attend any, however,our tablemate attended Name the Tune, Sports Trivia, and some others. I think there were in the Schooner Bar.

 

Have a great time!

[hardingk]

Great thanks! Is there anything that you feel is a must do or don't miss out on??