Belize/Roatan Excursions

[mrsgalloway1220]

Hey everyone! 
My husband I will be on the Enchantment of the Seas next month, making stops in Belize, Roatan and 2 in Mexico. I have learned recently that our ship will be tendering in Roatan and Belize (which we’ve never experienced before), so I had some questions about booking excursions in those ports/tendering. It’s my understanding that guests who booked excursions directly through RC get priority when getting off the ship: with that being said, would it be advisable to book with RC in those 2 ports so we get off the ship at a reasonable time/not be late? I generally like to book excursions with third party/private companies at each port, but I’d be afraid of getting off the ship too late. Any info/advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[mrsgalloway1220]

I should also add, if booking an excursion directly with RC is the way to go, what are some that you all have done that you would recommend?

[Ryan79]

Booking directly with Royal is the way to go if you want a guarantee that the ship won’t leave without you should the excursion be running late for whatever reason. Book outside of Royal and you are late, your BEST case is we get to laugh at you when you star in a pier runner video on YouTube. Worst case, you get to find and fund your own transportation back home or to the next port to meet the ship. Booking with Royal isn’t the cheap option, but peace of mind costs $$.

[Austin]

 Belize is a tender port so you will have to hop into a tender to get shoreside. If you have a Royal excursion, you get priority to get off the ship.

For Roatan, we really enjoyed the Jolly Roger Catamaran. Probably my favorite Cat trip in the Caribbean.

[steverk]

As mentioned before, Belize is a tender port. I would definitely go with a Royal excursion for that port.

Honduras is a fairly dangerous port.  I've been told that cruise line excursions are statistically safer than 3rd party excursions. For that reason, I'd stick with a Royal excursion there as well.

As far as specific recommendations, there's a float trip through a cave in Belize. I don't specifically remember the name of the excursion, but there's more than one way to do it.  One of them, that looked really fun, was a zip line through a cave followed by the float trip and lunch. I did the hike, float and lunch. It was great, but the zip line looks even better.

In Roatan, the President's Cruise did an excursion to Turquoise bay resort. I really enjoyed it.

 

[ChessE4]

9 minutes ago, steverk said:

As mentioned before, Belize is a tender port. I would definitely go with a Royal excursion for that port.

Honduras is a fairly dangerous port.  I've been told that cruise line excursions are statistically safer than 3rd party excursions. For that reason, I'd stick with a Royal excursion there as well.

As far as specific recommendations, there's a float trip through a cave in Belize. I don't specifically remember the name of the excursion, but there's more than one way to do it.  One of them, that looked really fun, was a zip line through a cave followed by the float trip and lunch. I did the hike, float and lunch. It was great, but the zip line looks even better.

In Roatan, the President's Cruise did an excursion to Turquoise bay resort. I really enjoyed it.

 

We did the Belize cavern excursion. Jaguar something...not that strenuous but you carry your raft and get wet. We enjoyed it. About an hour bus ride from port.

[DoomSlayer]

39 minutes ago, steverk said:

As mentioned before, Belize is a tender port. I would definitely go with a Royal excursion for that port.

Honduras is a fairly dangerous port.  I've been told that cruise line excursions are statistically safer than 3rd party excursions. For that reason, I'd stick with a Royal excursion there as well.

As far as specific recommendations, there's a float trip through a cave in Belize. I don't specifically remember the name of the excursion, but there's more than one way to do it.  One of them, that looked really fun, was a zip line through a cave followed by the float trip and lunch. I did the hike, float and lunch. It was great, but the zip line looks even better.

In Roatan, the President's Cruise did an excursion to Turquoise bay resort. I really enjoyed it.

 

I don't know that I agree with Roatan being "a fairly dangerous port".  It is on an island and somewhat shielded from the shenanigans that happen on the mainland, similar to Cozumel vs. Cancun.  I have plenty of ex-pat retired friends that have houses and live on Roatan and I have never seen or had an issue there where I felt I was in danger exploring the island.  It's probably safer than exploring some US cities.  It is a poor country, and you will see that, but the people are nice and friendly.

Roatan docks at the pier, so no need to worry about priority tenders.  The port terminal is small, but nice and the vendors do not seem to overwhelm you and beg you to come in their shops as much as in Cozumel or Costa Maya.  I would recommend the RC excursions, especially if this is your first time there.  Horseback riding, Ziplining, and ATVs were some of the favorite ones my wife and I have done.

[steverk]

29 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

I don't know that I agree with Roatan being "a fairly dangerous port".  It is on an island and somewhat shielded from the shenanigans that happen on the mainland, similar to Cozumel vs. Cancun.  I have plenty of ex-pat retired friends that have houses and live on Roatan and I have never seen or had an issue there where I felt I was in danger exploring the island.  It's probably safer than exploring some US cities. 

Here's my source for saying Roatan is a fairly dangerous port. https://www.aronfeld.com/the-most-dangerous-cruise-ship-ports-in-the-world/

Tldr: the US State Department lists Roatan as a high risk port.

[DoomSlayer]

1 hour ago, steverk said:

Here's my source for saying Roatan is a fairly dangerous port. https://www.aronfeld.com/the-most-dangerous-cruise-ship-ports-in-the-world/

Tldr: the US State Department lists Roatan as a high risk port.

They list Cozumel (Quintana Roo, Mexico) in that same page.  I would categorize Roatan as being similar in safety to Cozumel or most other parts of the western and southern Caribbean destinations.  I feel safer there than I do in many parts of Baltimore, Philidelphia, or New Yok City.

[Starrynight0154]

Looked at statistics for Honduras, including the mainland. There was 36 murders per 100,000 people in 2022. Slightly safer, or similar than many large cities in the U.S. I worry about safety everyday where I work, violent crime can happen anywhere unfortunately.

 

[Woody14]

On 11/4/2023 at 4:12 PM, steverk said:

Here's my source for saying Roatan is a fairly dangerous port. https://www.aronfeld.com/the-most-dangerous-cruise-ship-ports-in-the-world/

Tldr: the US State Department lists Roatan as a high risk port.

We did a private excursion in Roatan, had a great time, our driver/guide told us that Roatan has very little crime especially compared to Honduras and from what he gathered most US cities.  If you commit a crime in Roatan you serve your time in the Honduras mainland prisons since they don't have a long term facility in Roatan, and to get back on the island you have to prove you have a residence and a job.

[OCSC Mike]

22 minutes ago, Woody14 said:

We did a private excursion in Roatan, had a great time, our driver/guide told us that Roatan has very little crime especially compared to Honduras and from what he gathered most US cities.  If you commit a crime in Roatan you serve your time in the Honduras mainland prisons since they don't have a long term facility in Roatan, and to get back on the island you have to prove you have a residence and a job.

I'm in the middle of planning a private tour for June. We were supposed to go on one in 2019 but Harmony couldn't dock due to high winds.

Any recommendations? We're not interested in zip lines or snorkeling, just want to see as much of the island as we can (and wife needs to hold sloths of course, lol).

Our tour company (RonysTours) has plenty of recommendations but figured I'd ask. If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free!

[Woody14]

I used Real Deal Roatan - https://www.realdealroatantours.com/ they were great.

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, Woody14 said:

I used Real Deal Roatan - https://www.realdealroatantours.com/ they were great.

Thanks but I was looking for specific places you visited and enjoyed. I have a tour company already. They all seem to offer similar long lists of options.

[Woody14]

On 11/7/2023 at 8:05 AM, OCSC Mike said:

Thanks but I was looking for specific places you visited and enjoyed. I have a tour company already. They all seem to offer similar long lists of options.

my apology I miss read.   We did a monkey sloth visit, a bit of a tour which took us through west bay and then went snorkeling.   The snorkeling part was amazing.  we did 3 stops and had a great time, swam with turtles and saw some amazing stuff.   It was one of the best snorkeling we have done anywhere.