Aj101710

Hello, I saw a thread about taking a ferry to San Pedro then flying back to port. We are thinking of going on a cruise December 2017 and we would be import from 8 am-5 pm. I'm just wondering once you arrive at San Pedro is it possible to see the sharks and rays by ourselves, maybe renting a boat or hiring a small boat to take is out, or should we go through a company?

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds

Its been a while since we toured on Roatan but the $25pp rate is only if there are several people in the van. It will depend on how big your party is but when we have had a private driver for only two of us it has been $40pp for the whole day. We haven't used Rony or Bodden but all the rates have been about the same from what I have seen.

 

Taxis on Roatan are expensive, compared to elsewhere, and we have found it better to have our own driver, who will wait for us, rather than trying to arrange a return taxi. It also gives you the flexibility to visit multiple places, or somewhere else, if your original destination doesn't work out due to location, weather etc.

Thanks for replying. I was thinking maybe using Rony's Tour company, and doing the freestyle tour. Have you ever had to wait for you why you got food at a restaurant? If it's a sitdown restaurant do you invite them for lunch or do you have them wait out side and meet up with them when you're finished? It would be our first time doing it this kind of tour and I don't want to look rude. thanks again!

we just booked with Rony Tour's for our trip in October! :) I enjoyed reading all the reviews on TA for his company. Which is why we decided to go with him and that he does a freestyle tour which is what we wanted. We are going zip lining and we want to see as much of Roatan as we can with the time we have. :D He emailed me back within 24 hours and we are looking forward to spending time with his company and seeing the culture! :)

 

whatever you decide I'm sure you will have a fantastic time and just embrace the culture and enjoy yourself! :)

 

safe travels! :D

Sorry I never got back to you. Nope we hang cruised yet, next year. Freestyle tours are so nice, they are my favorite!

I hope you enjoyed your cruise in October!

we just booked with Rony Tour's for our trip in October! :) I enjoyed reading all the reviews on TA for his company. Which is why we decided to go with him and that he does a freestyle tour which is what we wanted. We are going zip lining and we want to see as much of Roatan as we can with the time we have. :D He emailed me back within 24 hours and we are looking forward to spending time with his company and seeing the culture! :)

 

whatever you decide I'm sure you will have a fantastic time and just embrace the culture and enjoy yourself! :)

 

safe travels! :D

Sorry I never got back to you. Nope we hang cruised yet, next year. Freestyle tours are so nice, they are my favorite!

I hope you enjoy your cruise in October! I'll be keeping my eye out for if you do a review 🙂

Indeed, I have been to the island many times but not by cruise ship.

 

As another possible option, with boat/snorkeling in mind. Have a look at Free Radical. The staff is spot on and the food is out of the world good and keeps coming. http://www.svfreeradical.com/

 

Perhaps a different ship would get you better timing on the island.

 

As another thought Dec is smack in the middle of rainy season, you could be up against some nasty weather, or it could be beautiful the day you arrive. Poor weather even a few days before you arrive may well affect the water visibility.

Thank you for the advice! I thought I had read that the rainy season might be happening then, but did realize that if affected snorkeling so much and that's what we pretty much decided we would do at all the other ports (except In Guatemala, still not sure). I m isn't née to rethink when we go. Thanks again for the advice! 😃

Yes, golf carts will be at the airport. You would fly in and out of Belize Municipal. That is the closest to the port. Tropic Air and Maya Air are the ones to use. I know Tropic Air leaves every hour. We take the water taxi over there to CC and fly back.

Hello, I was wondering if you had a tour company once you were there or if you did it on your own. If we go we would be on the Norwegian Pearl in December 2017 and in port from 8 AM to 5 PM. We would like to do the Sharks and Rays and snorkel at the Cora gardens.

Has anyone been to Santo Tomas recently? Most of the reviews are from 2007 & 2008. I'm trying to figure out what to do and would also like to know is it safe. I read some post saying it's very safe and others says not to leave the ship.

It looks like the only tours that are not through the ship are Going with Gus and Happy Fish. So has anyone taken these companies (or other companies) tours lately? I did read a bad tour through Gus which makes me second guess going through him. I'm leaning toward the ruins excursion with the cruise ship since I read that traffic can be bad and I do Not want to miss the ship.

I think $25pp will get you one of the island english speaking tour guide drivers for all day, any place you wish to go. Email a bit with Rony or Bodden tours.

 

The $25 you have been seeing is round trip but if you are going to Gio's as well perhaps the above would suit better.

 

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Thank you! Everything I've read made it seem like it wasn't round trip. I just found Rony's tours and like what I see. Our main thing we want to do is snorkel by boat, but since I haven't found one that is out for my than an hour I figured going from the shore (West Bay, starfish alley sounds kind of interesting) will have to do and just hope we still see fish, and that the reef is a safe distance away. I would like to see some of the island on the way to seeing the monkeys.

If we are supposed to be in port 11-7pm what time would you recommend being back to the ship? I was thinking 5:30- 6pm at the very latest. I heard Coxen Hole is a 25 min drive. So I thinking 12-3pm snorkeling, 3-4pm monkeys, 4-5:30 is food then ack to the ship? Does this sound do-able? Sorry for the questions, I only ask because you seem to have been there before and it will be our first time to the Western Caribbean.

Good Morning Crewsweeper,

 

You are correct, the water taxi only run between West End and West Bay within the lagoon-ish the reef creates. It would be far to dangerous for the little boats to go round the other side of the island. By the by ~ they do not run after dark or in bad weather. :0)

 

If anyone does decide to attempt a Coxen Hole/West Bay shuttle you can bet it will cost more than $3. :0)

Thank you for responding 🙂 I thought it was too goo to be true lol I just hate the thought of pay $25 pp for a taxi to go to the beach than another $25 to get back to go to Gio's for lunch.

What ship are you on? And where are you docking?

 

 

As I recall the water taxis only go from West Bay to West End and return. To get to either you'll need to take a taxi or arrange a resort day pass with transportation, like form Bananarama or Beachers, et'al.

 

Guest or c-legs, do either of you know if there a water taxi service from Coxen Hole to West Bay?

Thank you for responding. I haven't booked anything yet since I can't ask for time off next year until January, so I'm just trying to plan and gather as much info as possible. If we go I am looking at going on the Norwegian Pearl.

I would like to use the water taxi if we go on a cruise in December 2017 to go to West Bay to snorkel. It seems more economical to use the water taxi instead of the $15 pp or whatever it is. We would be in port 11-7.

According to http://www.roatanisland.net/ there is a water taxi, The fare is 60 Lempiras ($3 USD) is this true? Has anyone used it before? I have tried googling it, and looking on here so I'm not sure if it is still in service. I saw on their page it was I service in 2014. The only ferry info I could find was about a ferry that goes from Roatan to the main island of Honduras.

Any info would be greatly appreciated! 😃

1. You have to be back by the "onboard time" It varies from port to port and cruise line to cruise line what that time is. How much earlier you want to make it is up to your comfort zone. Most people plan on 30 minutes to an hour beforehand.

 

2. Credit cards, room keys, and even cash can get wet. My husband uses the little pocket in his swim trunks. I use a time-honored female place of concealment. :rolleyes:

 

3. DW = dear (darling, dumb, ditzy, devoted, you get the idea) wife; DH = same thing husband.

Thanks for responding back to me! It's greatly appreciated! I was thinking in between 1-2 hours to be back at all ports unless posted otherwise. And with the whole DW/H I thought so but since this is the only place where I've seen people do that so wanted to make sure. Thanks again!😃

Hello I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can help me with. We are looking into cruising with Norwegian for the first time in December 2017.

1. We have cruised before, but I forgot how early we need to be back to the ship so we will not miss the ship.

2. How do you keep your credit cards/money and room keys safe and orderly while on the beach with no lockers and no one else in your group.

3. What does the abbreviations DW, DH mean?

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this and or comment back

Yes you should have plenty of time for both Diving and wet Wendy's. NCL ships dock downtown so you can walk everywhere, including Wet Wendy's. I am not sure where H2o dive boat departs but you might ask them for pickup downtown on the waterfront, otherwise probably a taxi to the boat. here is the link to WW menu. http://www.wetwendys.com/drinks/ Hope you enjoy our beautiful Island

Thank you so much for your reply! I really appreciate it! 😃

Also since the site won't let me edit my original post my other questions are- does anybody know what the prices of what Wendy's are and also what do we need a taxi to get there/to the main town to go shopping? Thank you to anyone who will help me. 🙂

I'm thinking about going on a cruise in December 2017 one of the stops is Cozumel. We will be sailing on the Norwegian Pearl, it's in port from 8am to 5 PM. I have never sailed on region so I'm not sure what time we have to be back on the ship. I would like to know if you think this would be a doable excursion for the day. First we would like very to do a two tank Discover SCUBA through Cozumel H2O then go to wet Wendy's for margaritas then possibly a little shopping.

Hello,

I'm looking into possibly doing a cruise to Cozumel December of 2017. My bf and I would like the do a discover scuba class. I was wondering if anyone's use Dressel Divers or Scubatony? Right now I'm thinking we use Cozumel H20 just because on their website it actually tells you places you'd be going to scuba, for example El Cielo, and Colombia Shallow. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

It was alright. My boyfriend and I did this when we were 25 yrs old and it was just okay. They have animals you can walk around and look at, and some you could even feed. We were originally scheduled to do the swim with sharks, but when we got there and saw what they meant by swimming with sharks we asked to change to a different tour. The swimming with sharks was in a small I closure, with small looking sharks and the instructors stayed in the pool with you The whole time. We decided to do the helmet dive instead. That was pretty interesting since they go find different species for you to hold/touch. They take so many pictures of you while doing the activity, which you can chaos to purchase later if you want. They put them on a usb for us. I think it was kind of expensive from what I can remember. It was more than $40.

I would choose something else to do if we could go back, but we did however enjoy the beach that was right next to Coral world. It was free, no one hasselled us, we swam with jelly fish (non poisonous).

On our way getting back did take a little longer than I was expecting for public transportation to come pick us up. We made it back with plenty of time to spare ( I'm just paranoid of not making the ship)

Thanks for the info, and replies!

I've been looking around on here and Tripadvisor and I can't find anything recent.

Has anyone used this tour company recently? My bf and I are wanting to do their jet ski tour this coming September.

Thanksin advance for any info!

I find air prices are lowest around 60-45 days out....

 

Excursion prices don't change...book whenever you want. They cost the same in advance as on the ship. Many things require NO excursion at all, so learn something about your ports! You can save a bundle with DIY things!

I would like to try more DIY excursions, I'm just alittle nervous about doing that in the ports we aware going to. I definitely need to read more about the ports and things to do. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks everyone for responding. We will start looking to book everything soon!

Hello Alexandrea,

 

I think you're always better off booking your airfare as soon as possible. The fares really start to climb the sooner it gets to your trip.

 

We have always booked our excursions directly with the cruise line and have always really enjoyed the tours. If you choose to book an independent tour make sure they have good reviews on http://www.Tripadvisor.com. It's also a good idea to join the Roll Call for your cruise here on Cruise Critic, often times others will be interested in a specific tour and you can join in.

 

Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan for replying. We are not opposed to taking a cruise ship excursion, we booked an excursion with carnival on our last cruise, but it got cancelled due to a tropical storm. We joined a really great roll call for our last cruise, but this one is slow to get going it seems.

Good to know about the airfare. Also you are right about Tripadvisor, I really like them. Thanks again for the info.

Hi everyone!

My boyfriend and I are going on a RC cruise March 26th - April 2nd. We are going to Belize City, Roatan, Coasta Maya, and Cozumel. I have 2 questions.

1. When is the best time to book airfare? I have watched the price go from $800 to over $1,000 total in just a few months. (we live in Seattle) Do you think it's better by now in advance or wait till last minute. I'm not sure says this is a peak season for traveling to the Caribbean, and we've only sell to the Caribbean in the off-season.

2. My second question is similar to the first one, but, instead of asking about airfare I was curious about shore excursions. I'm not exactly sure when to book shore excursions. I do not want to book with a private company and have them forget that we book with them if we book too early in advance, but I also don't want to get stuck having to book with the cruise ship and be in a extremely large group. (Unless it's by choice)

Thanks in advance. 😊

--Alexandrea

You will see I made a blunder on that thread through reading too fast :o which is why it sticks out in my mind!

 

I think you get some hits with just h2o.

Haha yeah, I saw....then saw myself do the same thing with what you had written. :o I got to caught up in reading and made my own mistake, so I had to go back and edit what I wrote lol. :D