Is There Time to do an Island Tour and Beach?

[Silc]

We will be in Roatan in September on the Carnival Legend. We will be there from 8-3. Is that enough to time to do an independent island tour, and then hit some place like Fins and Flippers or Foster's?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Silc

[CFitzRN]

We will be in Roatan in September on the Carnival Legend. We will be there from 8-3. Is that enough to time to do an independent island tour, and then hit some place like Fins and Flippers or Foster's?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Silc

 

Change that to 8 - 2:15. They sail away at 3. The ship urges everyone to be back by 2:15 but the truth is, we were, and there was a big honking line to get back on. We could have come up at 2:45 and been alright. I wish we had!

 

The answer to your question is, yes, you will have time, providing you get off the ship as soon as you possibly can. We were down at the gangway at 7:50am (5:50am local time). We were the first off, met our driver (through Victor Bodden tours) and were off. We took a great tour of the island, went ziplining, played with monkeys at Victor's house AND went snorkeling at Half Moon Bay. We got it all in, although it would have been nice to have spent more time at each place. We were back at the pier by 2:00 (12:00) local time. It IS doable, so long as everything goes well and your driver is timely, like ours was.

 

Here are some pictures of our time in Roatan. You'll have to skip the first pictures to get to Roatan though.

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...localeid=en_US

 

And my review of Roatan:

 

Roatan - absolutely positively fabulous. Met Victor Bodden right outside the gate, he introduced us to Cardy, our wonderful driver, and we were off. I cannot say enough good things about Victor or his driver, Cardy. They are consummate professionals and we were blown away. Loved, loved, LOVED Roatan. We were the first people off the ship at 8 (6 am island time) and there they were, waiting for us. Cardy took us on a tour of the island and told us all about its history. He took us ziplining at Pirates of the Caribbean ziplining - we chose "extreme ziplining" and are glad we did. Fun!! We went to Victor's home and played with his monkeys and other animals - that was a huge hit with my crew. Then he took us snorkeling at Half Moon Bay - very good snorkeling. Even my 10 year old loved the snorkeling here. He actually saw a stone fish and got very freaked out (he knows they're deadly) but after I "talked him down" he came back out. We saw tons of fish and a sea snake (cool!). Wish we could have stayed a couple of days at least! Cardy was an absolute gentleman. Very noble, calm, great driver, very patient. He told us about his family but only when we asked. Found out he has mostly grown children and one 7 year old daughter. He went to EMT school in the states (Milwaukee) some years ago. He speaks absolutely perfect English with only a hint of an accent. He is a wonderful man. I wish we had tipped him double what we did (35.00). We would have if we'd had more cash with us.

 

Have a great cruise!!

[CFitzRN]

Please let me know if that link doesn't work. I've used it for family and friends and they were able to access it. It doesn't seem to be working for me anymore though... ??

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...localeid=en_US

 

The link seems to work in the following post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=15443404&postcount=1

 

Argh - hopefully that takes care of it. Weird.

[Silc]

Christy,

 

Thanks for the response. I had actually read your review, and looked at your pictures this morning. It sure looked liked you guys had a great time in Roatan. I do appreciate your including the link and Roatan information in your response to me.

 

I know that Victor and his staff come highly recommended. And we will definitely look into using him. Our primary goal for the day is to get to Fins and Flippers to relax, and do some snorkeling as well. But it seems a shame to be there and not see some of the island. Were you able to design your own tour with his group?

 

We were on the Legend last September as well. Right now I have my fingers crossed that these are the ports that we actually go to. By the time we set sail last year, we had a completely different itinerary than the one we had when we booked the cruise. It's just the never ending thrill of booking a cruise during hurricane season!

 

Thanks again,

 

Sarah

[CFitzRN]

Yes, Victor had told me when we booked that they would design the tour however we wanted them to. When we met our driver (Cardy - great guy) he said the same thing. We actually changed our minds on one of the activities and he dealt with it seamlessly. You tell them what you want to do, and they take you to do it.

 

I know what you mean about the weather. We were sweating it before we left. Apparently anchoring in Grand Cayman can be iffy because of the unpredictability of the weather there. We had great weather the whole cruise - a fact for which I am very grateful! We did buy insurance just in case, but didn't need to use it.

[Onlycruisin13]

We were in Roatan on July 15 and had a great tour with LENA! She is wonderful and a great guide. We were taken all over the island and then we went to Half Moon Bay for some snorkeling, which was really good. Lena took us to the iguana farm and we enjoyed seeing all the animals. She lives just down the road from the farm and we dropped by to see her mother and sons, which was really cute. She took us to a nice, but crowded shop that offered special discounts for her guests and even pushed to the front of the line so we could be on our way. She knows everyone it seemed on the island. We would definitely book with Lena and Diana and Cynthia again. We were on the Carnival Glory and they have been switching days without telling passengers and Diana and Cynthia were prepared for this, so it was not a problem. I did notify them in advance in case it happened, which it did. You will have plenty of time to see the island, snorkel and do a little port shopping before you go.

[Silc]

We were in Roatan on July 15 and had a great tour with LENA! She is wonderful and a great guide. We were taken all over the island and then we went to Half Moon Bay for some snorkeling, which was really good. Lena took us to the iguana farm and we enjoyed seeing all the animals. She lives just down the road from the farm and we dropped by to see her mother and sons, which was really cute. She took us to a nice, but crowded shop that offered special discounts for her guests and even pushed to the front of the line so we could be on our way. She knows everyone it seemed on the island. We would definitely book with Lena and Diana and Cynthia again. We were on the Carnival Glory and they have been switching days without telling passengers and Diana and Cynthia were prepared for this, so it was not a problem. I did notify them in advance in case it happened, which it did. You will have plenty of time to see the island, snorkel and do a little port shopping before you go.

 

I appreciate your suggestion.

 

Silc