Bannister Island thru Carnival or Coral Breezes

[newfietraveldiva]

I'm still exploring options for our day in Belize and Bannister Island looks like a possibility. My one concern is that I want to ensure I have an hour or so to do some shopping before going back to the ship. Wondering if anyone has experience doing this tour with either Carnival or Coral Breezes and what the time frame was for the tour? Any other info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[shari95330]

We went to Bannister with Carnival Glory a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time! The island was beautiful. BUT...................... We had absolutely NO TIME left when we got back to go to Belize City to shop. the Tender to Bannister picks you up at the ship and takes you back to the ship. Last call for tender was half hour after we got back to the ship from Bannister. We would have never made it......So....Plan accordingly! I was VERY BUMMED that we did not get to see Belize City...Even though people tell me it was not much, I would have liked to be able to say I saw it....Maybe next time. Bannister Island was BEAUTIFUL!:D

[newfietraveldiva]

We went to Bannister with Carnival Glory a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time! The island was beautiful. BUT...................... We had absolutely NO TIME left when we got back to go to Belize City to shop. the Tender to Bannister picks you up at the ship and takes you back to the ship. Last call for tender was half hour after we got back to the ship from Bannister. We would have never made it......So....Plan accordingly! I was VERY BUMMED that we did not get to see Belize City...Even though people tell me it was not much, I would have liked to be able to say I saw it....Maybe next time. Bannister Island was BEAUTIFUL!:D

 

 

Thanks for the info. This will be our second time in Belize - last time we did a short tour of Belize City and went cave tubing. I did contact Coral Breeze and they told me we would return about 3:00 which should leave an hour for shopping as the Valor sets sail at 5:00. You do have to tender ashore to meet up with them. Do you recall the times of the tour on the Glory - when you left and returned?

[sugarsmacks]

We went with Coral Breeze. You can't go wrong with them. We had 1-1/2 hours to shop at the end of the tour. You can also shop a little before depending on your tour time. If you have your own private tour you can tell the guide when you want to be back. It also depends on if you are snorkeling.

[Paumavista]

We took a private tour to Bannister island (including some snorkling) with Ivar. Since he was our personal tour guide we could choose our own schedule. (we have little kids so I really liked the flexibility!)

 

Ivar would arrange the day any way we wanted to include as much or as little as we chose. If you want to talk with him....email me and I'll give you his email...then he'll call you and you can discuss what you'd like to do and for how long. He was very knowledgeable.

 

Judy

Panamoka1958@yahoo.com

[cruiser from georgia]

We booked through Carnival, second time we've done it. We didn't have time to shop afterwards, again it was 30 minutes to sail when we arrived. We COULD HAVE had time to shop before the Bannister trip though. There were a lot of people with us that had gone over in the morning earlier. We were there on the Glory from 8-5. Our trip was from 11-3:30 I think?!

 

You'll love Bannister though, beautiful little island! The water and shells alone are reason to go!! It was our 2nd time and we'd go back for sure! My hubby did a little snorkel trip from there, an hour for $20 with the locals. He enjoyed it.

[sbharr]

I was wondering if there any recent opinions on this - the Carnival excursion to Bannister Island looks about $7 per person cheaper than Coral Breezes - surprising, no?

 

any thoughts on which one to go with?

 

TIA:)

[UpstateCruizer]

I was wondering if there any recent opinions on this - the Carnival excursion to Bannister Island looks about $7 per person cheaper than Coral Breezes - surprising, no?

 

any thoughts on which one to go with?

 

TIA:)

 

I would go with Carnival because they actually tender you directly from the ship to the island and back again. If you opt for an independent tour you will have to tender into Belize then off to the island. Also when I was researching our options at Belize I could not find any tour operators that would just go to Bannister Island without some other activity tied in such as snorkeling. If you just want to go to the island Carnival is the way to go.

[CM2J2R2S]

I can't find the Bannister excursion on the Carnival excursion site to compare - are they still doing this? Am I correct in thinking this is the private island thing?

 

I'm having such trouble sorting through Caye Caulker and Bannister Island. We are a family with kids aged 8 - 20, plus one senior. We are hoping to snorkel wherever we go... any help would be appreciated.

[sugarsmacks]

yes, carnivals private island excursion is Bannister Island. Bannister island is beautiful. You can take a short boat ride out to the reef to snorkel. For those wanting to stay on the beach, you can rent kayaks or ask for a blue raft and just float around. Can't wait to go back. Love all the hermit crabs.

[nicknack]

yes, carnivals private island excursion is Bannister Island. Bannister island is beautiful. You can take a short boat ride out to the reef to snorkel.

 

Is the boat ride extra or included in the excursion itself? How much extra, if so?

[sugarsmacks]

Carnivals excursion does not include the snorkeling. There is a shack on the island that will take you out. It was 20 dollars in January when I went. If you book with coral breeze it is included.

[Bert64]

So if you book Bannister Island through Carnival, but you want to see some of Belize City, how do you do that?

 

Does Carnival have tenders going to/from Bannister throughout the day? Or do you meet up and they take you in the morning and then there is one that takes you back when it's time to go?

 

I'd really like to book through the ship, but I want to also see some of Belize City too...

[luvmy2kids]

I also have a question. Does the water have a lot of grass or rocks?

[sugarsmacks]

I believe carnival has a couple different times that you can book their private island tour. You can take a tender into Belize to shop depending on the time you choose for the excursion. I am not sure if carnivals web site has the times or you might have to call them. If you book thru coral breeze you take a tender to Belize so you would have time to shop before the tour or after. The water at bannister island does not have any rocks or grass. It is perfect for kids. The beach does have alot of shells and hermit crabs so bring water shoes.

[sbharr]

We took the Carnival tour (Private Island Beach Break) because it was $7 PP cheaper than Coral Breezes if you did not snorkel from the boat and we could go directly to the beach from the ship. This was two weeks ago. The tour was scheduled to leave at 9:15am, but left a little later - you get 4 hours on the island. I don't think there was another tour later on - this was it. We were the first ones on the island. Another tour came to the island (after snorkeling) and then left with only an hour at the beach - we were still there! Once you got on the boat to go back to the ship, you had an option to stay onboard once people got back on the ship to go into the city.

 

Hope this helps!:)

[familycruising4us]

When you say a lot of shells, are you talking big shells? Are you allowed to take any, as long as nothing is living in them?

Thanks!

[sugarsmacks]

The shells are all small. We took some home but be very careful for hermit crabs!! I picked up shells that were no more than 1/8 inch and there were crabs in them. They are so cute.

[ski ninja]

Is there snorkeling from the beach at Bannister Islands? I will be traveling with my own snorkel gear and want to go out in Belize somewhere.

[swampfox28]

Is there snorkeling from the beach at Bannister Islands? I will be traveling with my own snorkel gear and want to go out in Belize somewhere.

 

 

YES - I'm wondering about this, too. We'll have kids AND adults with us - all wanting different things (including some who want to snorkel).

 

Do we have to go somewhere else in Belize (Ambergis cave, goff cave, etc.) to get GREAT snorkeling? I kind of need something we can do where the kids can play ashore and in the water - but some of the adults can get in some serious snorkeling....!

 

THANKS!

 

-Sarah

[sugarsmacks]

There is no snorkeling from the beach. If you use coral breeze they will take you to a reef about 10 minutes away or if you go thru the cruise line you can set up snorkeling once you get to the island. You can also rent kayaks on the beach.

[Kalosl]

will we need bug spray? we have a toddler and a pregnant woman who can't use deet.

[streaks23]

We just got back from Bannister Island and didn't have any problems with bugs. Roatan (Tabyana Beach) was another story. I got bit up snorkeling, but not sitting on the beach.