Your recommendations for excursions for Belize or Costa Maya?

[mackie]

We're going on the Grand Princess March 5 out of Galveston. We were on the golden last year and loved it!

 

But I haven't heard too much about Belize. What would you suggest we do there? I have read a few people who didn't like it. Why?

 

The Golden went to Cota Maya (so is the Grand). There wasn't much to see there. Maybe it's been developed some more?

 

I'd really appreciate your opinions...good or bad, please.

 

Thanks!

Mackie

[Grammy Jan]

We are going on the Nov. 20 cruise on the Grand. We plan to go just go for a beach excursion. Nothing fancy since we have seen too many touristy sites on past cruises. sorry I do not have good advice for you. Grammy Jan ;)

[SkittleFreak]

I'm going to CM in december on the Grand. Check out the ports of call pages.

 

When I get to CM I'm skipping the cruiseline built port and taking a taxi to the beach in the village. I've read there are a bunch of bars and restarunts on the beach, $2 beer, $20 for 30min massage on the beach...and I think someone said one of the Corona commercials was filmed there. Cant wait!

[dcourt]

We were in Belize a year and a half ago and we didn't have anything planned. We ended up taking the tender to the dock and we took a small plane to another island called San Pedro. It cost for the roundtrip airline ticket was $114 for the two of us. When we arrived in San Pedro they walked us over to the beach/hotel and we were able to snorkle/scuba dive or lay around the beach. It was a wonderful day.....

[KKB]

We took the half day Mayan ruin excursion throught the ship to Chakchobben ruins--LOVED it. Excellent guide, terrific ruins; they are actually excavating there, and several temples are shown. VERY cool. Additionally, many trees, so severe heat not an issue. We were so glad we did this trip!

Kristin

[elmtree]

We were in Belize last year..We took a bus tour to an Aztec ruin or was it Inca ruins...some kind of old ruin..anyway I really liked it..the tour guide was really up on all the plant life and led us through this very old pyramid type structure...and while we were there they had people selling stuff of course, and my DH bought this really neat walking stick made out of SaraCota wood that he really liked. It was fun..but I am easily entertained!

[Pam in CA]

We were on the Nordic Empress last New Years and went to Belize. We took the ship's tour, the "Thriller Boat Ride." I don't know if Princess offers this but we had an absolute ball. It was worth every penny. It's a 1,000-HP boat that takes you at speeds of 60+mhp to an island about 50 miles offshore. Once you're there, you have hours to do whatever you like. Some people snorkled, some just lay at the beach nearby on loungers. I can't remember the name of the island but there are no cars, no paved streets, no masses of tourists, etc. You can rent a golf cart, which we did, and drive around. I think it was $5 for two hours. We ate at a restaurant right at the pier and it was the best shrimp I've ever had. Absolutely fabulous. The people were natural -- very friendly, not pushy, and delighted to see us. We'd go again in a heartbeat.

[Stevesan]

Pam - from Princess's web site. It sounds like the same "Thriller" trip. Price is $82 adult, $66 child and @4.25 hours:

 

Thriller Speed Boat Ride To Caye CaulkerIt’s the thrill of a lifetime - a high-speed cruise on an offshore racing boat that travels to serene Caye Caulker inside Belize’s Great Barrier Reef.

 

Board your offshore racing boat for an exhilarating, 35-minute high-speed cruise to Caye Caulker. On arrival, enjoy a complimentary rum punch. The next three hours are yours: relax on the white sand beach, swim, stroll the village’s sandy streets, browse for local arts and crafts, or purchase a lobster lunch. Rent a golf cart to explore the cay; additional water sports are available at extra cost. After you sojourn, board your racing boat for the run back to the tender dock or ship.

 

SPECIAL NOTES

Wear a swimsuit and bring a towel and adequate sun protection. Not recommended for passengers suffering from neck and back problems.

[AmyinGA]

In Costa Maya we really liked teh Unimog tour. You take a sand "road" for a tour along the beach and get to see some of the undeveloped parts of the areas. Once we were at the provate beach there was a fajita buffet that was great. Excellent chips and guac too. It was all you can drink water, soft drinks and beer. The beach had a volleyball net, rafts and sea kayaks to use. The guides made it a real fun day and we were the only people in sight so it was really a private beach. On the way back to the port we took paved roads and got to see where the hotels and condos were being built. If we go back to CM we would do this excursion again.

[mackie]

I knew you all would have some good ideas! Thanks!

 

Any others?

[solsticebride]

We went last year and, as you know, there wasn't much when you got off the ship. We also did the Chakkoben ruins (sorry about the spelling!) and hated it. Our guide was horrible, you could barely hear him with the large group we had, and the bugs were so bad being in the middle of the jungle that I wanted to run back to the bus! This was definitely an excursion I would have skipped. Since it took over an hour to get there, I felt like it was a waste of our vacation time! It may have just been our experience, and I am glad to hear others have enjoyed it!

 

Word of advice, be very, VERY weary about booking shore excursions on your own out of this port. Friends of ours (approx. eight people) booked a shore excursion with a man standing at the end of the pier, for deep sea fishing. It was a great price and even included lunch and an unlimited supply of beer! Sounds good? Well there was a hole in the boat, the guide didn't speak a word of English, there were only two fishing poles for the whole group, they barely made it back to the ship in time, and to top it off there was a hole in the boat and one person had to sit in the corner and bail out water the whole time!!!! (not sure on the amount of beer, but I remember it not being much:) )

 

I know this all sounds negative, and I don't mean it to be. I just would have loved to spend my day in port doing a little shopping and spending time on that beautiful beach!