Lorabelle

Will be sailing with HAL for the first time next week on the Oosterdam. Are there hot cocoa packets available in the buffet area, or should I pack my own?

We are flying out late in the evening on the day we return from our cruise. Interested in a car rental that we could pick up downtown and drop at the airport.

Does anyone know of a rental agency that doesn't charge the $100 drop fee?

We toured the USS Iowa in January in between B2B cruises. It is berthed just down from the cruise ships, so an easy walk. We had such an enjoyable time! It's a self-guided tour, but there are many docents on board to answer any questions you may have. Almost all of them are veterans and they were so engaging with the information they offered about the ship, and the military in general. It was a great way to spend a few hours and then we were ready to reboard our ship. If you purchase your tickets in advance online, I believe there was a discount offered.

I can't speak for La Paz as I haven't used any tour operators there. As for Loreto, I can recommend Sea and Land tours as I have used them for scuba diving last year and am booked with them again this year. Check them out, they have day trips with snorkeling and kayaks can be added and they also have guided kayak tours... toursloreto dot com

Thank you, I will look into this!

We are beginners. My husband has kayaked once before, and I have never. We would like to do an excursion in either La Paz or Loreto. Does anyone have any input regarding which port is best for kayaking and why?

Also, if you have any good tour operator recommendations, I'd love to hear them. The ship offers excursions, but we prefer to book on our own, if possible.

Hi, we took a taxi with another couple to the Loreto Bay Resort, which was a quiet smallish resort with a lovely pool and right on the beach. Website is http://www.loretobayresort.com. Food was excellent, beach was clean and ocean calm, rented kayaks and had a wonderful day, then taxi back to port. Food was excellent too, had the fish tacos. Well worth going if you want a nice relaxing day.

Can you tell me what the resort charges for a day pass? And also the cost of the kayaks there?

All this talk of packing cubes makes me want to get some! Anything in particular I should look for when purchasing? I love anything that makes unpacking quicker, so I can get on with my vacation!

Thanks so much for the photo, that was very helpful! And thanks for the testimony! We are going to go for the aft, and we're excited to try it out.

Thanks for your response! We have never booked an aft. I'm hoping that we will be able to see a bit to the side, even with the stairwell next to us. I'm assuming these balconies are covered?

We are looking at booking an aft on Deck 11, Baja. There are two doorways showing on either side of the ship. Can someone tell me where these doors lead? Wondering about how often they would be used, and whether the space they go into will impede the view to the side if we were to get an end cabin.

Thanks for any information you can provide!

Lori

We paid on Monday with a Visa card.

Sorry, duplicate post...

We are considering this tour for March also. The timing looks to be tight so it was nice to hear that you had a good experience. You said that there were 8 in your group, did you all fit in one boat? How long were you actually at the ruins? Adding up the time it looks like it is two hours to get to the ruins and two hours to get back. I contacted Royal Caribbean as to why they don't offer this excursion anymore. They stated that it was because of lack of interest. It seems like one of the best ways to see some very remote ruins. Would love to hear of others who have taken this excursion.

 

Alwaysonvacation

Yes, we easily fit in one boat. There are 4 benches in the boat. Each bench could comfortably fit 3 people, 4 snugly. Plenty of room.

I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to time because the guides were doing that for us, but I would say that we were at the ruins about 2 1/2 hours, including the time we ate lunch etc. There are only a few structures there, and only one to climb, so it doesn't really take long to see it all. But, again, we didn't feel rushed and the people who climbed to the top of the one temple had plenty of time to do that and spend a little time at the top. We even stopped in one section of the jungle for about 5 minutes to watch the howler monkeys in the treetops.

I can't remember the distance of the loop we walked, but it was a mile or less.

It was a great experience and I'm glad we did the tour. I do agree with the other poster who said to wear good shoes. It had rained earlier in the day when we were there and the path was extremely muddy and slippery in places. Wear something with a good tread.

Lori

We did this tour privately last week through Belizecruiseexcursions.com. We were very satisfied with the tour. There were 6 of us in our group, so we saved over $150 by booking it independently. Another plus was that there were only 8 people total on our tour which was much nicer than the larger ship's groups we saw walking into the jungle as we were walking out.

We were on the Grand Princess. They began giving out tender tickets at 7:00 AM. We had heard that tendering can be a bear in Belize, so we were up and waiting at the tender ticket distribution area by 6:45 AM. We were given our numbers and around 7:30, we were on the first tender to Belize City. The tenders are very large. Most of the tender was filled with passengers on ship sponsored tours, but there were about 30 of us who were the early birds at the ticket station.

It's about an hour drive to the New Belize River. We had JR who was a wonderful tour leader. He pointed out things along the way. He shared a lot of information about his country, it's customs, and daily living. He invited us to ask him any questions we wanted.

Once we arrived at the river, we boarded a boat. The only disappointment was the speed at which we traveled the river. I knew it was going to take an hour to get there. However, I assumed that it took that long because it was a leisurely ride looking for wildlife. The ride is not leisurely. It's quite fast. Javier joined our group as the boat driver and he would also be our tour guide through the ruins. He was very good at pointing out wildlife and would slow or stop the boat when necessary so that we could see it. But, overall, the boat ride was a fast paced ride. We saw crocodiles, bats, termite nests, and many different types of birds on the river.

Javier was very knowledgable about the ruins as he led us through. He gave us plenty of time to look around, take pictures etc.

Our lunch consisted of rice and beans, chicken, cole slaw, potato salad and fried plantain. Sodas and bottled water to drink.

We had a little time to look in the gift shops at Lamanai, then it was time to board the boat for the ride back. Our trip back was even faster than the one getting there, but we did stop to observe a decent sized crocodile sunning on a tree overhanging the river.

We were returned to the ship at about 3:30. The last tender was 4:30. They are aware of the times that you need to be back and make sure to keep you on pace to do that with time to spare.

Their business relies on word of mouth and happy customers. The last thing they would want to do would be to have people miss their ship.

And the advice about bringing your passport, credit cards, cash etc is good advice. I always have that with me. One never knows what can happen, even on a ship's tour. You may get separated. I wouldn't go into a foreign country without the resources to get myself home if necessary.

Anyway, if someone is thinking of trying to book this on their own, I just wanted to share my experience. Not once was I ever concerned that we wouldn't make the ship on time. I felt like we were in good hands for the day.

Lori