Clueless on what to do in Belize! Help.

[dassus]

My family will be in Belize in January (Carnival Valor). I have looked through all the excursions and options and I am lost on what we should do. My daughters (8 and 6) are both experienced travelers and very good swimmers. I want to do something adventureous. But I don't want to miss out on Belize.

 

Any suggestions as to which way we should go? I am considering Bannister Island. But I am afraid that if we go there we will be missing out on a better adventure. Ziplining is out of the question. While the girls are brave, they are not that brave. And I am a little hesitant to go cave tubing with them.

 

PLEASE help us. We are running out of time!!!

[DonMar]

What about going to some of the Mayan Ruins. There are a few different sites - some tours offered through the cruise line - some not. We went to Lamani which was on an independent tour and fantastic.

[noahsark99]

I took my son cavetubing when he was 6 or 7. He absolutely loved it and wants to do it again when we're back there in March! He was not a strong swimmer and he wasn't scared at all, but my friend's son who was 5 or 6 was scared in the dark. You can leave your headlight on if you want though. You also connect the tubes together with your feet so I wasn't worried about him floating away from me. We went with cavetubing.com and they took good care of us. I don't think you will be disappointed in the cave tubing. The guide also carried the tube for my son during the walk.

 

I hope that gives you a little more info in your search for an excursion. Have a great time whatever you choose!

[Mama Cruise]

I just wrote to you about Roatan.... In Belize we did the barrier reef snorkel with beach break. It was very nice, although expensive... We did not dock in Belize, so the trip started from the ship in the tour's boat. We spent an hour snorkeling and an hour on a "private" island. The island was nice beach time but everything on the island was costly. We did have time after the excursion to take a tender in to shop a little.

[cruisingforsix]

Hi, we are sailing in feb. on spirit .This will be 3rd. trip to Belize. Lamanai is a wonderful experience. The ride on the river is really fun ,we saw crocs howler monkeys and various birds. the scenery is beautiful. My 4 kids were older 17 to 24 but said it was their favorite part of the cruise. The snorkeling is supposed to be very good in Belize but we seem to have something else planned when we are there. Also we booked with belizecruiseexcursions.com and had a great guide named I.C. ,they guarantee you are on schedule with the ship. Have a great time!

[ellbon]

I just wrote to you about Roatan.... In Belize we did the barrier reef snorkel with beach break. It was very nice, although expensive... We did not dock in Belize, so the trip started from the ship in the tour's boat. We spent an hour snorkeling and an hour on a "private" island. The island was nice beach time but everything on the island was costly. We did have time after the excursion to take a tender in to shop a little.

 

I think I booked this one. I thoguht the island drinking was included. also they do not drop on land so i have to tender in later??? I love to snorkel but i love to shop too

[Sally Forth]

My family will be in Belize in January (Carnival Valor). I have looked through all the excursions and options and I am lost on what we should do. My daughters (8 and 6) are both experienced travelers and very good swimmers. I want to do something adventureous. But I don't want to miss out on Belize.

 

Any suggestions as to which way we should go? I am considering Bannister Island. But I am afraid that if we go there we will be missing out on a better adventure. Ziplining is out of the question. While the girls are brave, they are not that brave. And I am a little hesitant to go cave tubing with them.

 

PLEASE help us. We are running out of time!!!

 

We didn't want to do the long drive to the cave tubing and didn't feel like snorkeling, so did the air boat tour of the lagoons. Hands down, best excursion ever on any cruise. Every person on our bus was just grinning afterward, and that included a mom who had a son and daughter about the same age as your kids.

 

The one on NCL was done by Bak-a-Bush and we thought it was well run and that they adhered to high safety and ecological standards. The "first mates" on the air boats were just as cute as can be and we saw tons of birds and turtles. The lagoon also has manatees, and although the guide gave us an informative talk on the manatees, we didn't see one. The air boat is very fast and can go on almost no water at all, so your kids will feel like they've lived dangerously for a while. My sons are 20 and 21 and said it was like Disney World but real.

 

Viv

[jh1213]

If you want to do cave tubing but are hesitant for safety reasons (like I was) I second the recommendation for cavetubing.com. The bus ride seemed to go fast. The guide speaking on the bus was entertaining and interesting. And just seeing a different country was interesting. The bus was air conditioned and comfortable.

 

The walk up was absolutely beautiful and our guides carried the women's tubes even when we protested. Hi Keith and Charlie aka Che, if you're reading this! Charlie stayed with the 5 of us and I felt safe at all times. We locked together by puting our feet under the arms of the person in front of us. I would not go with the tours where you free float alone.

[leonardjan]

Hi,

 

I took my young kids cave tubing in Belize thru cavetubing.com. I would definitely recommend them over the ship tour. At cavetubing.com they will help to carry the tube for the little ones and pull the family through the water. Be prepared to be a little cold when you are wet in the caves (are your kids complainers?). Also - the walk is not easy to get to the cavetubing, but cavetubing itself is no problem!

[dassus]

Hi,

 

I took my young kids cave tubing in Belize thru cavetubing.com. I would definitely recommend them over the ship tour. At cavetubing.com they will help to carry the tube for the little ones and pull the family through the water. Be prepared to be a little cold when you are wet in the caves (are your kids complainers?). Also - the walk is not easy to get to the cavetubing, but cavetubing itself is no problem!

 

I am thinking that cave tubbing will give something different to try, and will give us a view of Belize. I'm leaning towards that option.

 

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I would love to hear any other tips taht everyone might have. I love getting all of this great info!!

[GORDONCHICK]

I had been leaning toward cave tubing, but when I questioned people about the water temps in January, I thought it was a little too cold for me. We had been to Belize a few years ago and hired a wonderful guide, so we contacted him through email and he will be at the pier waiting for us next week. He's taking us to the ruins and into the jungle to find the screaming monkeys. We did this before with other people, but now have friends going with us. His name is Maurice. He loves his country and is very proud to show it off to you. He has different tours available, and is incredibly reasonable!!!!! His email address is adventurebzetours@yahoo.com and tell him Carmen sent you if you contact him!

[smc0320]

I had been leaning toward cave tubing, but when I questioned people about the water temps in January, I thought it was a little too cold for me.

 

Since you mentioned water temps...does anyone know how to find out average water temps for the beaches during a particular time of year. When we were in Cozumel a few weeks ago, that weather was HOT but I thought the water was a bit chilly....my boyfriend didn;t, he swam the whole time. But we are thinking of doing the Legend in Dec 09 that goes to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman and I want to swim...but I want warm water.

[chicpope]

My son and I went with cavetubing.com when we were in Belize and we just loved it! Yhony (the owner) was so helpful and a lot of fun. My son is autistic and Yhony made arrangements so we could ride the atvs by ourselves instead of with the group. These guys are great!

 

We didn't do the cave tubing but the atv's were wonderful. We did 2 cruises (back to back) so we went back to Belize on the second cruise and happened to see Yhony at the cruise ship terminal. He had a friend of his drive us around and show us the sights of the city.

 

These guys are great and I can't wait until we can go back again.

 

Cindy

 

Carnival Conquest 2005

Carnival Legend 11/30/2008

Holland American Veendam 12/7/2008

[cruisepro19]

Hi there,

 

On our first cruise way back when, we sailed with Norwegian cruise lines and did the cave tubing excursion through the cruise ship. My brother and I were in our early teens at the time and had a blast! This was one of my favorite excurisions to this date and have been on many cruises myself and worked on a ship for awhile. You may want to ask one of the shore excursion staff on their recommendation for your children. They have the best insight. Have a great time!

[smc0320]

Is it just easy enough totwalk around yourself and see things....go to the beach for a bit and then head back to the ship? I'm just not up to committing to an excursion that lasts 3+ hours...although the cavetubing sounds fun. I want to see the place, but I want to relax on the beach too. Should I take a city tour and then just hot the pool at the ship?

[cruisingforsix]

We were in Belize last July with our 4 adult children . We did Lamanai that day and loved it. There were some people who took the cavetubing trip, when we asked them how it was they said it was okay not great. So it sometimes is apersonal preference of what you like . Don't think you would be disappointed in Lamanai .

[somerandomguy]

Hi,

 

I took my young kids cave tubing in Belize thru cavetubing.com. I would definitely recommend them over the ship tour. At cavetubing.com they will help to carry the tube for the little ones and pull the family through the water. Be prepared to be a little cold when you are wet in the caves (are your kids complainers?). Also - the walk is not easy to get to the cavetubing, but cavetubing itself is no problem!

 

I can't seem to find the website that was mentioned a few times in this thread (cavetubing.com), it keeps taking me to a weird page. Do you mean cave-tubing.com?

[new2cruse]

I can't seem to find the website that was mentioned a few times in this thread (cavetubing.com), it keeps taking me to a weird page. Do you mean cave-tubing.com?

Yes, it is cave-tubing.com

[SwingChickie]

my BF and i are considering doing the cave tubing when we cruise in march... for the folks who have done it, where did you put your "stuff"? if we need to be in bathing suits, then i'd have a sundress or shorts etc that i'd need to take off and keep somewhere...

[Madvibe]

On our first trip to Belize, we did the cave tubing excursion thru Carnival & had a blast - one of our favs after all these years... Glad we went thru CCL for the booking too, as the excursion was overbooked (both by CCL and private guides), making us 1 1/2 hour late back to the ship, which was waiting for us because a ship-booked excursion was still out... Now, we have done some private tours too, so you just have to do a little digging to see which is better...

 

Our last time we were in Belize, we went to Altun Ha, and enjoyed it very much as well... here's a pic of my wife from atop one of the temples:

[wherenext]

We are on Carnival Valor and just booked with a private company for this tour due to Carnival not going there. Anyone else here that booked this excursion privately? Know that it is a long day and we need to be one of the first off the ship so as to make it back to the ship on time. Just looking for some reassurance of others that have recently done the Lamanai Ruins with the New River Boat trip. Any information you can provide would be appreciated.

[DonMar]

We are on Carnival Valor and just booked with a private company for this tour due to Carnival not going there. Anyone else here that booked this excursion privately? Know that it is a long day and we need to be one of the first off the ship so as to make it back to the ship on time. Just looking for some reassurance of others that have recently done the Lamanai Ruins with the New River Boat trip. Any information you can provide would be appreciated.

 

 

There are many threads on this board that talk about indi tours to Lamanai. We went through Belize Cruise Excursions and had a wonderful time. We did make it back to the ship with about an hour to shop etc.

 

It is a long, yet wonderful day.

 

Some tips -

 

- See if you can start the tour as early as possible (we were the only ones on the tour so as soon as we hit the pier we were off)

- Get one of the first tenders.

- Bring water and bug spray.

- Wear good hiking/walking shoes. I wore long Tencel cargo pants that were great. I am glad I did not wear shorts (mosquitoes and did not scrape my legs while climbing the ruins)

 

Have fun!

[outshoppin]

We just got back today from our cruise on the Valor. We had a group of 10. We went cave tubing (w/ cave-tubing.com) I was a little nervous since my youngest daughter is only 9 but it ended up being like a lazy river nothing scary at all... actually wish it was a little more adventurous. Since this wasnt the rainy season the water was very low and there were no rapids. There were so many people in the caves it wasnt even that dark. Also I was expecting the water temp to be much colder and was even considering buying a wet suit for my daughter in advance but the water temp was actually very comfortable. The bus ride was fun and the guides went out of their way to be helpful. They were very observant and noticed one in our group had a scar from open heart surgery and offered to carry his tube. They carried my tube so that I could help my daughter. We were happy with the tour group and am glad we did the caves however out of our 4 ports Belize was everyones least favorite.

[wherenext]

DonMar thank you for the input...I have looked through the threads and now I am more comfortable knowing that you used the same company that we booked through. We will talk to the cruise excursion personal and show them our reservation and try and get the first tender out. I hadn't thought about long pants so they wouldn't get scraped so I thank you for that tip. Mosquitos don't like me but they love my husband so I will remember the bug repelent as well.

[GORDONCHICK]

When we were in Belize last week, a group of college kids were supposed to go cavetubing but didn't get to because the caves were flooded.