BrianS_MEI Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 On the most recent podcast, Matt mentioned he was stopping in Belize on his upcoming Navigator of the Seas cruise. I thought I would offer some insight if anybody else was stopping there in the near future. Here are some of my thoughts on my stop there on Liberty of the Seas A couple of things: 1. It is a tender port. I booked our excursion thought a 3rd party company ( I was purposefully trying out a 3rd party company). It was quite confusing getting off the ship (where to line up, RCCL vs non-RCCL booked excursion etc.) We had an early excursion, so we wanted to be off the ship as early as possible. BUT...they take off all RCCL booked people first. So...keep that in mind if you book through a 3rd party. It took at least an hour before we got off the ship, and we were one of the first lined up in the Non-RCCL booked line. As a result, we were late to our excursion, but I asked and they just kept running vans to the excursion through most of the morning. It really did not appear like the starting time was that important. When then had a van full, they left for the excursion. There was a mid-morning cut off, but that was only to ensure they got you back to the ship on time. IF I were to go back to Belize, I would definitely book through RCCL. 2. We did the Cave Tubing excursion and really enjoyed it. I would have liked to do the zip line combined with the cave tube, but my wife is terrified of heights, so that was not an option. We did a short hike where the guide showed us some various things in the "jungle"...nothing earth shattering at all...the hike was probably 30-45 mins...not a hard walk at all...just a few stops while he talked and such. Then we got to the end, got in our tubes and floated though the caves for quite a while...Like I said...we did enjoy it, as did the others in the group. Lunch after was just OK...nothing great. One last thing...the caves are located about 45 mins to an hour away by van, so there is a bit of riding to get there.... If anybody has any questions, feel free to ask! Don and Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 Good point Brian. In researching private tours in Villefranche (Nice), I ran across similar comments about being late for private tour for the same reason. Decided to wait & see if RCI contracts for tours in that tender port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks for posting this Brian. I had read all about the horror stories that Belize City has with the tender process. We're going to stick with our guns of booking a 3rd party excursion and show up early and hope for the best. I will be sure to fire a note to our excursion person to let them know about the delays and what to do if we are late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianS_MEI Posted January 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 I am betting you will be OK Matt. Like I said, with the company we used, it seemed like standard practice that nobody was at their excursion meeting point on time...once a van was full they took off. Now...if you were going to be too late that the excursion would make you miss the ship, they will not take you. I do know I was a bit stressed because we did not get to our meeting point until at least an hour after the "scheduled time"...but it was no big deal to the folks running the excursion. If you are in line early to get off the ship, I don't foresee you having an issue. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 I am betting you will be OK Matt. Like I said, with the company we used, it seemed like standard practice that nobody was at their excursion meeting point on time...once a van was full they took off. Now...if you were going to be too late that the excursion would make you miss the ship, they will not take you. I do know I was a bit stressed because we did not get to our meeting point until at least an hour after the "scheduled time"...but it was no big deal to the folks running the excursion. If you are in line early to get off the ship, I don't foresee you having an issue. What time did you get in line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianS_MEI Posted January 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 What time did you get in line? I believe we were in line about 30-45 mins prior to the announced debark time. But it was also a bit confusing because there was no "official" place to wait. We waited at the top of the stairs (front of the line), but others in our group asked RCCL employees and they were sent to the casino...if they had stayed in the casino, they would have been VERY late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 FWIW I got in line 1 hour early and we were second group in line and had no issues. Once you get to like 40 minutes or so before the first tender, the line starts to snake out quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithnRita Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Our first trip to Belize was in our younger 'snorkeling' days in Oct of 2002. We were on our first RCI cruise ship, Rhapsody of the Seas out of Galveston. We took a snorkel excursion right off the ship to Shark Ray Alley near the island of Ambergris Caye. It was one of our all time favorite excursions. We swam and snorkeled with 6 foot long nurse sharks, as well as Rays and many species of fish. Afterwards we went to the town of San Pedro on the island for lunch. The only vehicles seen there were golf carts. It's a beautiful island! http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/parksharkrayalley.html Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jce2 Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 On 3/12/2014 at 7:08 AM, KeithnRita said: Our first trip to Belize was in our younger 'snorkeling' days in Oct of 2002. We were on our first RCI cruise ship, Rhapsody of the Seas out of Galveston. We took a snorkel excursion right off the ship to Shark Ray Alley near the island of Ambergris Caye. It was one of our all time favorite excursions. We swam and snorkeled with 6 foot long nurse sharks, as well as Rays and many species of fish. Afterwards we went to the town of San Pedro on the island for lunch. The only vehicles seen there were golf carts. It's a beautiful island! http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/parksharkrayalley.html This is an old post so don't even know if the OP is still around. was wondering what was meant by "right off the ship"? Do you mean you didn't have to tender to Belize City first? Or that you booked thru RC? I am considering The "Sharks, Rays, Barrier Reef Snorkle & Beach Break" currently listed in the planner. Has anyone done this? Does it go to "Shark Ray Alley" off of Caulker and Ambergris Cayes? Anyone know what local company is actually running this for RC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsTryThisPlace Posted February 1, 2018 Report Share Posted February 1, 2018 18 hours ago, jce2 said: This is an old post so don't even know if the OP is still around. was wondering what was meant by "right off the ship"? Do you mean you didn't have to tender to Belize City first? Or that you booked thru RC? I am considering The "Sharks, Rays, Barrier Reef Snorkle & Beach Break" currently listed in the planner. Has anyone done this? Does it go to "Shark Ray Alley" off of Caulker and Ambergris Cayes? Anyone know what local company is actually running this for RC? When I was in Belize, I did the cave tubing. The way it worked (at least with NCL) was if booked on with the cruise they get you into groups so that your tender takes your where you need to go. In some cases where its something like snorkelling (sometimes) they will take you right from the boat. Other times you tender in and leave from tender point. Belize is a bit of a tender but understandable as they respect their reef. If you are with a 3rd party you will need to tender no matter what. For a port like Belize, I would stick to RCL unless it's tubing as they actually prefer the gaps so it isn't overpacked at the excursion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jce2 Posted February 1, 2018 Report Share Posted February 1, 2018 4 hours ago, LetsTryThisTech said: When I was in Belize, I did the cave tubing. The way it worked (at least with NCL) was if booked on with the cruise they get you into groups so that your tender takes your where you need to go. In some cases where its something like snorkelling (sometimes) they will take you right from the boat. Other times you tender in and leave from tender point. Belize is a bit of a tender but understandable as they respect their reef. If you are with a 3rd party you will need to tender no matter what. For a port like Belize, I would stick to RCL unless it's tubing as they actually prefer the gaps so it isn't overpacked at the excursion. I fully intend (as of now) to do the RC excursion in Beize, just trying to find more information about it. The title suggests Sharks and Rays but doesn't specifically say it goes to the alley. I am kind of guessing that one two different cruise lines have an excursion with the exact same name it is probably the same excursion. Carnival does this excursion and their description has more details so hoping it is right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsTryThisPlace Posted February 1, 2018 Report Share Posted February 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, jce2 said: I fully intend (as of now) to do the RC excursion in Beize, just trying to find more information about it. The title suggests Sharks and Rays but doesn't specifically say it goes to the alley. I am kind of guessing that one two different cruise lines have an excursion with the exact same name it is probably the same excursion. Carnival does this excursion and their description has more details so hoping it is right That is one complaint I have with RC is they are terrible at descriptions of anything on their website. Its as if the web team only gets the bullets and they don't have a way for other staff to properly update it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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