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Sun Beach Resort or Bannister Island thru RCCL

ritarussell

By ritarussell,
in Belize

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ritarussell

ritarussell

Posted
Posted

Hi!!

 

We are looking to book an excursion for our Navigator of the Seas cruise on December 3rd and would like a nice beach day. I get from all of the posts that it's best to book an excursion so I'm trying to decide.....has anyone been to the Sun Beach Excursion(Coral Sand Beach Resort)?? I have read a log about Bannister Island, just trying to find out the difference between the two. The prices are close.

 

We are traveling with kids 14, 10, and 6. THANKS!!!

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cathijaxs

cathijaxs

Posted
Posted

We were also wondering about the difference of these two shore excursions. We'll be on the Dec. 3rd Navigator cruise (with a group of kids ages 6 to 16). I called RCCL to ask them what the difference was between the Bannister Island beach break and the Sun Beach Resort beach break, and they couldn't give me any more information other than to say that one is at a resort. :rolleyes: I can't find any information from the Belize tourism sites that list Sun Beach Resort either.

 

Anyone out there that can tell us what Sun Beach Resort is like?

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caribcruiser64

caribcruiser64

Posted
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I haven't been to Bannister Resort but I can tell you that the Sun Beach Resort was a terrible experience. The bugs at this location were unbearable! I've never been to a place in Belize with such terrible sand flies and mosquitos. The grounds were pretty but the wait staff was slow and uncaring. There was no shelter off shore either because once in the water there were literally hundreds of jellyfish! I was stung twice as I tried to get out of the water. I decided to tough out the bugs because their bites didn't hurt as much.

Later, I met other passengers and they told me they had a great time on Bannister and most importantly NO BUGS!

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  • 2 weeks later...
frenchy33

frenchy33

Posted
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We were unsure which beach excursion to do in Belize, Bannister Island or Coral Sands beach resort – the Sun beach excursion. We were travelling with Royal Caribbean in July2007 with a party of 6 consisting of my Husband and I, our two children aged 7 and 13 along with my Cousin & her Husband. My Cousin and Husband decided to do the Sun beach excursion as they heard from one of the passengers on the ship that you could do a self driven high speed boat ride. We decided to do Bannister Island as there seemed to be more to do for the children and as I don’t like travelling far in small boats and Bannister being just 10 minutes, away it was the obvious choice.

Wow – The kids loved it and I got to say, so did we. The place is awesome. It‘s not really described that well on the ship and we didn’t know what to expect, so we didn’t take much money with us but luckily they accept credit cards on the island. It’s got a great beach, a bar, a gift shop, a little restaurant, quite modern toilets, showers, Kayaks and paddleboats. The staff were pleasant and they compliment the island. My Hubby and son hired a Kayak while My Daughter and I had a swim at the beach which is nice and shallow, and then we relaxed under one of the coconut trees in a sun lounger. I tried an island special cocktail called “Creole Gal” , it was awesome, their cocktails certainly get the thumbs up from me. Local music was played on the island and I was informed by one of the waitresses that they have live music on certain days, depending on how busy it is.

Later we were all persuaded to join in with the Volleyball which was real fun and that’s saying something coming from someone that’s not a sporty person. We stayed around 4 hours on the island but our time went so quick it felt like 2.

We met up with my Cousin & Husband later on the ship, they said the Coral Sands beach resort - the Sun beach excursion was awful. The first thing they wanted to do when they got there was swim but all they ended up doing was getting bitten all over by Mosquitoes. They explained that the place was infested with them and they had a very uncomfortable experience. They mentioned that people around the bar were slapping themselves due to the bites. They said the beach is not suitable for youngsters or poor swimmers as the beach just drops by about 3.5 feet as you walk into the sea. They said the food tasted bad and the service from the staff was slow – even to get a drink. Even the high speed boat ride was a big disappointment, they went on to say – the boats were tiny and were 2 seaters with stiff controls and with the surrounding waters at Coral Sands being choppy it makes the boats hard to control not fun really, even if you are going on a set route.

We are due to go on another cruise next summer which will include Belize as one of the stops. Bannister Island will definitely be on our list of our destinations. Hopefully they will have the live band then.

Frenchy 33 :)

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frenchy33

frenchy33

Posted
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We were unsure which beach excursion to do in Belize, Bannister Island or Coral Sands beach resort – the Sun beach excursion. We were travelling with Royal Caribbean in July2007 with a party of 6 consisting of my Husband and I, our two children aged 7 and 13 along with my Cousin & her Husband. My Cousin and Husband decided to do the Sun beach excursion as they heard from one of the passengers on the ship that you could do a self driven high speed boat ride. We decided to do Bannister Island as there seemed to be more to do for the children and as I don’t like travelling far in small boats and Bannister being just 10 minutes, away it was the obvious choice.

 

 

Wow – The kids loved it and I got to say, so did we. The place is awesome. It‘s not really described that well on the ship and we didn’t know what to expect, so we didn’t take much money with us but luckily they accept credit cards on the island. It’s got a great beach, a bar, a gift shop, a little restaurant, quite modern toilets, showers, Kayaks and paddleboats. The staff were pleasant and they compliment the island. My Hubby and son hired a Kayak while My Daughter and I had a swim at the beach which is nice and shallow, and then we relaxed under one of the coconut trees in a sun lounger. I tried an island special cocktail called “Creole Gal” , it was awesome, their cocktails certainly get the thumbs up from me. Local music was played on the island and I was informed by one of the waitresses that they have live music on certain days, depending on how busy it is.

 

Later we were all persuaded to join in with the Volleyball which was real fun and that’s saying something coming from someone that’s not a sporty person. We stayed around 4 hours on the island but our time went so quick it felt like 2.

 

We met up with my Cousin & Husband later on the ship, they said the Coral Sands beach resort - the Sun beach excursion was awful. The first thing they wanted to do when they got there was swim but all they ended up doing was getting bitten all over by Mosquitoes. They explained that the place was infested with them and they had a very uncomfortable experience. They mentioned that people around the bar were slapping themselves due to the bites. They said the beach is not suitable for youngsters or poor swimmers as the beach just drops by about 3.5 feet as you walk into the sea. They said the food tasted bad and the service from the staff was slow – even to get a drink. Even the high speed boat ride was a big disappointment, they went on to say – the boats were tiny and were 2 seaters with stiff controls and with the surrounding waters at Coral Sands being choppy it makes the boats hard to control not fun really, even if you are going on a set route.

 

We are due to go on another cruise next summer which will include Belize as one of the stops. Bannister Island will definitely be on our list of our destinations. Hopefully they will have the live band then.

 

 

Frenchy 33 :)

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Host Star

Host Star

Posted
Posted
We just returned from our cruise and did Banister Island through Coral Breeze tours and LOVED it. First we snorkeled, then we went to Banister Island which is georgous...then we did the manatee watch. It was a WONDERFUL day!

is there snorkeling on banisterisland from shore?

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Irishlinny

Irishlinny

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I'm so glad to hear good things about Bannister Island...I just booked thru Coral Breeze for the snorkeling, Manatee and Bannister beach break. We're leaving on 11/4 on Carnival Legend...I will try to remember to post a message when we return!

Thanks, folks!!!:D

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