wadethegringo

I do believe that the only way to book is thru the cruise lines.

P.S. I was born in Vegas and found Belize on a cruise 8 years ago. Went home and packed up and have been here in San Pedro for the past 7 years.

I've found it hard to even find Belizian dollars, and the prices of items in tourist areas are usually in USD. The last trip we were able to secure some Belizian notes for souvenir purposes, but one of the clerks had to disappear for a while to procure them!

I have a couple of friends that have shops in the Cruise Village. They have told me the policy is if they are given U. S. for payment they must give change in U.S.. Same thing at the Belize International Airport. Outside of the port you will probably get change in BZD. At the airstrips you will probably get change in BZD.

I know that. :D

 

My question is has anyone been stop recently from swimming in the ocean due to the unruly seaweed?

I live on ambergris Caye in Belize. I also just returned from a Caribbean cruise.

Belize like all of the Caribbean has had a influx of seaweed "Sargassum". On the Resort beaches This is cleaned up continually.

As far as the "live" seaweed growing it is present in most shallow areas.

A few nice sand beaches on Ambergris Caye. The Split at Caye Caulker does not have a beach. It has a deep channel for swimming so no seaweed.

We did a ship day trip at paya bay last month. Road was not bad. Had Great time I am going back next month for a few days.

Hello, we have returned from the Monarch sailing.

We embarked in Progresso. Took bus from Merida and changed bus in Progresso for the trip to the ship. check in seemed to have the same issues in Progresso as stated in Cozumel. It took about two hours to get thru the mess.

Once onboard there was pizza available and buffet would open about an hour later. Had drinks by the pool. We did the muster drill then had some dinner. The food was not what one is used to on a cruise ship. Bacon only served 2 days of the cruise. no cooked to order eggs. Dinner had a form of stir fry cooked to order every night. Lots of nice deserts. I still managed to gain 8 lbs. Coffee, juice and soda was available, no self serve. There was one night with a tropical pool party with a fruit cheese and desert midnight buffet

We are smokers so we spent a lot of time on the smoking side of the pool area. We had the basic drink package. We had drink service most of the time from servers. They would keep our drinks full.

Definitely on the lower end of the cruise ship market. But does offer a lot of people in Mexico and Belize a chance to experience cruising without needing to obtain visas and travel expenses.

That sounds correct. It may be faster to the fun. It took us about 15 minutes total for the walk to the hut, pay the balance get our wristband for the return transportation and be on our way. Once at the park we were givin one more band for the package we purchased.

Last week we did the Mexican cooking class excursion. Was great. The first thing the chef / instructor, after taking our drink order was to ask us about any allergies. We had a great time in the class cooked and ate our own meal. private dinning room and plenty of beach time.

Went on the 4th of July 2015. Deposit was paid thru PayPal. We docked at the international pier and walked across the street to their booth. We paid the balance and they put us in a taxi. Return to the ship was in a taxi as well. Very happy with the day.

It's all the same. Just get a Cab to the airport and Book your flight at either of the two offices. Enjoy

Ongoing work at the belize city airstrip. A big mess last week. Things are back to normal for the most part. The rest of the construction will not effect flights at all.

I have sailed the Valor and the itinerary a few times. Loved the ship.

in Costa Maya go to Mahahual

never did Mahagony bay. I always go to west end village.

After visiting Belize I packed up and moved to San Pedro. But then took the same cruise out of Miami again.

We are sailing next week on a similar itinerary on a Spanish cruise line.

We sailed Pullmantur in 2011 on the Horizon. Had a great time. We are sailing again next week out of Progresso on the Monarch. They board a lot of passengers from Spain in Cozumel and a lot of Mexican passengers in Progresso. We live in Belize so it is convenient to board in Mexico. We fount the cruise certainly different than American main stream cruises. I agree the food was not the same as US lines. It seemed more Mediterranean. Lots of cheeses and cold cuts ,vegetables and breads. The low price we paid was a bonus. Will report back after we return.

This was another option being considered but I was wondering if I'm limited to the cans or if I can bring the cartons with resealable caps. My understanding of the policy is they are trying to get rid of all resealable packages coming onboard.

 

My personal preference for coconut water doesn't come in cans, but I may start trying some of the canned ones to see if any of those work for me.

Wife and I drink a gallon a week of fresh coconut week. Here in San Pedro, Belize it cost us a whopping 2.50us a gal. Best thing ever for a hangover or dehydration.

booked for the 4th of july. will report back.

We did this as an excursion a few years ago. Since then our friend has bought a house in merida.

We are booked on a cruise that boards in Progreso. I have done some research and have found that Autoprogreso has busses scheduled every 10 minutes back and forth from merida and progreso.

Belize has been introducing some good rums in addition the the basics. They are available cheep.

My favorite is Caribbean Gold from Cuellos.

http://www.onebarrelrum.com/

http://www.cuellosdistillery.com/

Grumpy and Happy tours in San Pedro. You would need to fly to San Pedro and they meet you at the Airport. They have a web site with all the info.

Thanks for the information. I am hoping it will be ready to explore at the scheduled opening date. It sounds wonderful based on the shore excursions available. :)

"That was supposed to start happening in October - but construction delays have forced that date to sometime in 2016. Still, it's going to happen"

Found this here:http://ambergriscaye.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/504253/barrow-meets-with-royal-caribbean-norwegian-cruis.html#Post504253

Here is a link to the thread with my post about visiting Ambergris Caye by air. At the end is Mitsugirly's post with a link in her signature line to her post about going through the cruise ship:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2189743

 

Belize is on Eastern Time but doesn't change for daylight savings time, hence the confusion about time, especially when departing from Texas which is on Central Time. Some ships (like our Princess cruise) adjust ship time to match local time, and some do not. Therefore, it is important to know what your particular ship time is.

 

I agree with you that 11:45, though perhaps possible, might cause some unnecessary anxiety. I think 7:45, 8:45 and 9:45 would be safest, but which particular one is perfect for you will depend on ship time. Don't forget you will need 20-30 minutes to tender ashore.

 

Cruise passengers are the bread and butter of most of these businesses, and they run a tight schedule that includes being very aware of when your ship is scheduled to arrive and depart. Just do some homework by reading reviews, choose a reputable one, and you will be fine.

Central Time Zone

Belize · Time Zone

Belize is on central time but doesn't change for daylight savings time.

Just a heads up if you visit the Mayan Ruins you will have to wait one year to donate blood. I just found out when trying to donate today. I had donated for 4 years straight but know I have to wait a year. Not a big deal I have always wanted to see the ruins so it is a fair trade to me.

Not just the ruins. Before I moved here I had taken a cruise and went to Caye Caulker and had to wait.

WadetheGringo, I've read many of your posts on San Pedro and can relate. My very 1st cruise had an excursion right from the ship to the "real" shark ray alley off San Pedro and we also spent some time ashore there. I liked it so much I returned for a week's stay at the "Banana Beach" resort.

 

I admire your courage in moving there. That's obviously a much bigger step than returning for a land vacation.

The problem is I haven't been in the water here in over a month. I live on the beachfront. Just with a full time job and a bar. I have been in the water more in Roatan and Flores this year than Belize. Still would not trade for anything.

I found Belize on a cruise and two years later moved to San Pedro. I have been here since 2008. I work for the airlines here in Belize.

I have been to Roatan on a few cruises and have the opportunity to visit for work and have added a few days to relax as well. I have a cruise booked that visits Roatan in June and am trying to put together a land vacation as well.

I like to stay in West end Village for its charm. We take a water taxi over to west bay for a day for the nice beach.

Thank you!

 

I have not heard of the 12 &15 barrel rums but will certainly keep an eye out for them. Probably won't be able to do it this trip but the distillery tour sounds interesting. Might have to do that next time.

I have only see 1 , 3 and 5 barrel rums.

Here is a overview of the port. http://www.sanpedroscoop.com/2014/01/belize-city-cruise-village-carnival-shopping-bars.html

But how do you know what your are getting is legit, regardless of the savings...

The pharmacies are regulated by the government. Not as strict as the us. You can get most medications without a script. some do need scrips like pain killers and other meds.

I have been using pharmacies in Belize for over six years. And most of my friends who live here do as well. All drugs from a regulated pharmacy are of the same quality as any generic drug in the states.