Carnival excursion: Private Island Beach break

[lisamorg]

Does anyone know where this goes? Would you recommend this excursion?

 

Thanks,

Lisa

[workn2cruise]

It goes to Bannister Island, we just did this last week. It was incredibly windy and the sand is not so much sand as broken shells. We didn't get in the water, so I can't say how that was. Alot of other people went in the water though and I didn't hear any complaints. They had volleyball and a water trampoline. We would not do this excursion again.

[sugarsmacks]

It is Bannister Island. It is a beautiful beach. There are alot of shells there but still plenty of sand. There are life guards on duty and a play ground for children. They have a bar and food available and you can rent kayaks. We saw lots of crabs, starfish, and hermit crabs. I would go back in a heartbeat!!!

[rjkcubs]

Do you remember what this excursion costs? Adults? Children... Ages 5 and 1? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Cigar Dude]

$42 per person with a drink included. They pick you up from the ship, too! :) 4 hour excursion.

[UpstateCruizer]

We did this excursion last week. It was our first Carnival booked excursion. It was $43 per person and we were a group of 4 (43, 41, 22, 20 year old). I chose this excursion because I am not a swimmer and most of the excursions in Belize required a tender ride to the city then more riding to the actual excursion.

~On this excursion we were picked right up on the ship. We were given a specific time to be at the Disco on deck 5 and escorted down to the tender. Tendering had been stopped a couple of times and the boat repositioned. The tender boat was a smaller open boat and was rocking back and forth hitting the ships plank with a slam. Two men held each passenger firmly as we attempted to board the tender. We have tendered several times in the past but nothing like this ever. Even with them holding us it was difficult to get get to our seats. My dh hit his head at the bottom of the stairs on the tall metal seat area the boat driver sits in. While sitting there several passengers fell on top of us while they made their way to their seats. We were soaked from the waves before the boat left the ship. We were still optimistic that this would all be worth it so we stayed on the tender. The ride over to the island was much like an amusement park ride with lots of ups and downs and waves soaking us over and over again. As we got closer to the island the waters got calmer. We arrived at the pier and were told to be back on board at a specified time and to board tender number 3.

~As we entered the beach area there was a ship already there ahead of us but plenty of chaise loungers at the far right end of the beach. We found a shady area and sorted through several broken loungers to find 4 that were good to use. Two areas of the beach had a large amount of what looked like bees swarming so we stayed away from that area. No other bugs or insects noted anywhere else that we were. We had to keep our shoes on as the beach had more rocks and shells than sand on this particular day. Carnival shows people dancing on the excursion description but on this day that area was empty despite 3 ships being in port. There was a small group of guys using the volleyball area for a short time while we were there. The water trampoline is NOT included in the excursion but you can pay extra to use it. Not sure what that cost was since I didn't want it.

~They gave everyone one drink coupon for rum punch or plain punch. We gave ours to my son's who enjoyed them. You have to go to a specific bar to use the coupons. The server there was very generous and they offered a choice of two different rums.

~The bathrooms were decent and clean. At the left side of the beach facing the water there is a small area that was made for younger kids to explore the water and was very shallow. By the time the private exursions arrived the beach was pretty packed. Snorkling wasn't good on this day since they had bad weather recently and the water was rougher with alot of sand stirred up.

~ The food was good and they gave large portions. We ordered chicken tenders and fries which come as a platter type lunch. We should have specified no potato salad as it came on 2 of the platters. I won't eat anything like that in warm weather and away from home. We left it on the side. The other platter came with none as my son received his last and they made sure to not add it. My dh got the hot dog and fries and said both were good. Prices were reasonable as well.

~ Going back we watched the time and made our way to the line of people waiting to go back. There were several tenders and boats so it was important to know our tender number. We boarded tender 3 as instructed but we could have gotten on the covered one as well had we known sooner that they were heading back to our ship too. The ride back was much better. Waters were still rough near the ship and getting the boat tied up took several tries. Not sure if it was just our driver as others didn't have as much trouble.

 

Overall this was one of those things that had we known more about what this beach was like we'd have skipped it. IMO it's not worth the $43 they wanted for what you actually got. We also learned that we will never tender anywhere on a small boat when the waves are as bad as they were on that day. Several people shared the same feelings about their day at Bannister Island. The lines of people waiting to get back was a reflection of those same sentiments as well. Oh and one thing many passengers were not aware of is that you can not go back to the ship any earlier than your assigned return tender time. I knew that based on reading previous reviews but many others did not know this. Just something to keep in mind :)

[mom2girls]

I did this with my mother 4 years ago. We had a wonderful time. The people on the little island really treated us as though we were royalty!

[GTO-Girl]

We are taking our first cruise on the Western and we also thought about doing this excursion but I'm a little hesitant now. I have never had to tender to any port we have ever sailed to, so all of this is very new to me.

 

Also we both blister very easily and I'm afraid if we could not find adequate shade that we might get in trouble. And I'm concerned we can't leave before the appointed time.

 

Guess I'll just have to think about it a little more.......I just wanted to go to a nice beach for a little while. Can anyone tell me if that would be possible here in Belize?

 

Thanks

[dtiger]

I wasn't very impressed with this excersion. It was overpriced. Very little shade and it was very crowded when I was there.