Aug. 15th Legend Family Cruise...with Photos

[Eeyoregon]

Belize: Sooooo, I'm reading along and enjoying all of your pictures and then BAMM! The tarantula segment!! DEAR LORD!! Just looking at the pictures increased my heart rate to aerobic levels and left me slightly freaked out!!!

 

We are tubing with them in a few weeks and let me tell you, I will be having a little conversation with our guide before we depart, informing him that there will be NO tarantual interaction :eek:!!! LOL!!

 

Thanks for your great review. I can not wait for my turn!!!

 

Gina

[go&see]

Thank you AryMay for such a detailed & thorough review so far! I was particularly thrilled to see the section on cave tubing since we have booked with Vitalino for our cruise on Oct. 17th (Almost single digits!!) It's so reassuring to see a recent review of a tour provider, especially since I've taken care of the planning for our group of 4 - myself, DH, DH's best friend & his GF. Stress! I also want to thank you for mentioning that you were slightly disappointed by the "zoo" at Victor's. It will help me keep my excitement in check so that I am not expecting too much, like you said you did. I do hope that little 3 piece bundle of monkeys is just as cute in person when we're there though!

Thanks again & don't worry that it's taken a while for you to get through the whole review - enjoy the nice weather while it's still here! Besides, a drawn out review just draws out the enjoyment of it :D

-Stacey.

[keystonemama]

Belize: Sooooo, I'm reading along and enjoying all of your pictures and then BAMM! The tarantula segment!! DEAR LORD!! Just looking at the pictures increased my heart rate to aerobic levels and left me slightly freaked out!!!

 

We are tubing with them in a few weeks and let me tell you, I will be having a little conversation with our guide before we depart, informing him that there will be NO tarantual interaction :eek:!!! LOL!!

 

Thanks for your great review. I can not wait for my turn!!!

 

Gina

 

 

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some friend's of mine recently did this same tubing experience on their honeymoon and he said in the cave when you look up and shine the light at the roof there are rather LARGE spiders that scurry away, but they are on the roof. Now I am trying to convince my DH to go on this excusion next summer with the boys, he saw enough large spiders in Iraq, so this is going to take some serious bribing...lol

 

Great review by the way, loved all the pic's because I am considering doing this same cruise next summer as a graduation & birthday present for our boys. Roatan looks awesome. Really informative.

 

Thank you,

[IMANITA]

Thank you AryMay for such a detailed & thorough review so far! I was particularly thrilled to see the section on cave tubing since we have booked with Vitalino for our cruise on Oct. 17th (Almost single digits!!) It's so reassuring to see a recent review of a tour provider, especially since I've taken care of the planning for our group of 4 - myself, DH, DH's best friend & his GF. Stress! I also want to thank you for mentioning that you were slightly disappointed by the "zoo" at Victor's. It will help me keep my excitement in check so that I am not expecting too much, like you said you did. I do hope that little 3 piece bundle of monkeys is just as cute in person when we're there though!

Thanks again & don't worry that it's taken a while for you to get through the whole review - enjoy the nice weather while it's still here! Besides, a drawn out review just draws out the enjoyment of it :D

-Stacey.

 

Another Thank You AryMay from me too! Love the Pics! Looking forward to receiving my D10 tomorrow. Can't figure out how to post pics in a review like you do.

 

Stacey, we are also booked with Vitalino for our cruise on the 17th on the Legend. Not sure if you are on the same ship, but we will be in Belize on Friday, the 22nd (my 50th b'day) Maybe we will be on the same tour. I am SO excited. My husband says that surely I can't possibly learn anything more about our cruise because I'm reading CC all night long. It's amazing how much I learn every day.

[diehardpaul]

From a fellow Minnesotan (northern), thanks for the excellent review. We will be on the Legend in Jan.

[AryMay]

Belize: Sooooo, I'm reading along and enjoying all of your pictures and then BAMM! The tarantula segment!! DEAR LORD!! Just looking at the pictures increased my heart rate to aerobic levels and left me slightly freaked out!!!

 

We are tubing with them in a few weeks and let me tell you, I will be having a little conversation with our guide before we depart, informing him that there will be NO tarantual interaction :eek:!!! LOL!!

 

Thanks for your great review. I can not wait for my turn!!!

 

Gina

 

So funny! I could lie to you and tell you I was brave and held the tarantula...but there was no way I was going to touch that thing! I just made the excuse that I had to take pictures! ;)

 

The girls were pretty scared but said it was so big it didn't seem so much like a spider...said it even had some "weight" and felt a bit heavy in their hands. The furry body made it seem more like a "pet" than a "bug". (Their words...not mine!) I did get a big kick out of my macho son squealing in fear!

 

Have fun on your cruise...hopefully you will be sharing a review and photos??

[AryMay]

Another Thank You AryMay from me too! Love the Pics! Looking forward to receiving my D10 tomorrow. Can't figure out how to post pics in a review like you do.

 

I use Picasa to organize my photos on my computer and then upload them to an online Picasa web album (free!) From that point I right-click on each individual photo and click on "properties" from the menu. I copy this address. Back on the CC reply page I click on the photo icon (the one with the little mountain) and paste the address into the box. It was confusing at first, but pretty easy once you get the hang of it. You can use other online photo sites as well...webshots, snapfish, etc. Have fun with the new camera!!

 

Stacey, we are also booked with Vitalino for our cruise on the 17th on the Legend. Not sure if you are on the same ship, but we will be in Belize on Friday, the 22nd (my 50th b'day) Maybe we will be on the same tour. I am SO excited. My husband says that surely I can't possibly learn anything more about our cruise because I'm reading CC all night long. It's amazing how much I learn every day.

 

My family used to make fun of me for all of my "research" on CC, but they always thank me for finding such great tours & tips!

 

I won't tell you about the time I planned our trip to Disneyworld and made them take a short cut through some bathrooms to get in line first for Splash Mountain...they still tease me about it. (But it worked!!!!) How did folks ever plan vacations before the internet?!

[AryMay]

From a fellow Minnesotan (northern), thanks for the excellent review. We will be on the Legend in Jan.

 

Oooohhh I'm jealous of you getting to cruise in January! The prices are better and it would be so nice to go some place warm! I am a teacher so it is pretty hard for me to get away anytime except summer...but maybe someday...:)

 

Thanks for taking time to read the review and have a great cruise!

[LBumb]

thanks for taking the time to post your review, i enjoyed it

[AryMay]

Thank you AryMay for such a detailed & thorough review so far! I was particularly thrilled to see the section on cave tubing since we have booked with Vitalino for our cruise on Oct. 17th (Almost single digits!!) It's so reassuring to see a recent review of a tour provider, especially since I've taken care of the planning for our group of 4 - myself, DH, DH's best friend & his GF. Stress! I also want to thank you for mentioning that you were slightly disappointed by the "zoo" at Victor's. It will help me keep my excitement in check so that I am not expecting too much, like you said you did. I do hope that little 3 piece bundle of monkeys is just as cute in person when we're there though!

Thanks again & don't worry that it's taken a while for you to get through the whole review - enjoy the nice weather while it's still here! Besides, a drawn out review just draws out the enjoyment of it :D

-Stacey.

 

Thanks for sticking with the review even though it is taking FOREVER to finish!

 

After reading reviews it is easy to get your expectations set very high...but just remember that everyone does not like the same things. My kids say that I miss some of the fun and excitement by knowing "too much" ahead of time...and they are probably right. However I am the kind of person that likes to know what is going on and what to expect.

 

We have friends that went on a Carnival cruise and when I mentioned that we had eaten breakfast in the main dining room they said..."you mean it is open for breakfast?" I would rather be "over prepared" than get home and find out I had missed something!!

[catzcrazy]

You are RIGHT! I did a search and Parrot Tree Plantation is the place where we stopped. I still don't know anymore about the place...except it was lovely!

 

Here is an aerial view that I found online of the lagoon.

 

 

In my search I also found another place that Francisco took us too...Keyhole Bay. It is still under construction and I think it was the place that Francisco said his friend was involved with. Francisco offered to stop and let us go through one of the condos, but we declined.

 

 

AWESOME pool!!!

[catzcrazy]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some friend's of mine recently did this same tubing experience on their honeymoon and he said in the cave when you look up and shine the light at the roof there are rather LARGE spiders that scurry away, but they are on the roof. Now I am trying to convince my DH to go on this excusion next summer with the boys, he saw enough large spiders in Iraq, so this is going to take some serious bribing...lol

 

Great review by the way, loved all the pic's because I am considering doing this same cruise next summer as a graduation & birthday present for our boys. Roatan looks awesome. Really informative.

 

Thank you,

DH and I did this tour in 2008 and loved it. I did not see any spiders but say lots of bats on the cave ceiling...it is a great way to spend the day.

[catzcrazy]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS REVIEW. I am enjoying it very much. My DH and I will be on the Legend for the 12/5/2010 sailing and I am more than ready. We have been to all of the ports except Roatan and I am so excited about going there. Your review brought back a lot of memories for me - we loved the Cave Tubing when we did it - never go to the Caymans without going to feed the stingrays - will not shop in the Caymans as they are on the British pound system and that is usually way to high for me to even consider.

 

This trip we plan to visit the stingrays in Grand Cayman, snorkle in Cozumel (and shop), snorkle in Belize (went with the ships trip as the company will pick us up by boat at the ship), and have booked Victor's company for Roatan. In Roatan we hope to do some shopping, see Victor's zoo, must go to the Cameo Factory, hit a grocery store - must get vanilla in Cozumel and in Roatan. I want to have a local lunch and I love the idea of eating where you did. Do you remember the name? When I say shopping I mean that I would like to find some local artesan work to bring home. Please continue with your review. It has been very insightful!!

 

Question: Is the adult area on the Legend enforced or were there kids hanging our there as well? I hope it is enforced as I think it is about time that there was a place to sit and relax without all the activities of the main pool area.

 

Thanks again.

[AryMay]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS REVIEW. I am enjoying it very much. My DH and I will be on the Legend for the 12/5/2010 sailing and I am more than ready. We have been to all of the ports except Roatan and I am so excited about going there. Your review brought back a lot of memories for me - we loved the Cave Tubing when we did it - never go to the Caymans without going to feed the stingrays - will not shop in the Caymans as they are on the British pound system and that is usually way to high for me to even consider.

 

This trip we plan to visit the stingrays in Grand Cayman, snorkle in Cozumel (and shop), snorkle in Belize (went with the ships trip as the company will pick us up by boat at the ship), and have booked Victor's company for Roatan. In Roatan we hope to do some shopping, see Victor's zoo, must go to the Cameo Factory, hit a grocery store - must get vanilla in Cozumel and in Roatan. I want to have a local lunch and I love the idea of eating where you did. Do you remember the name? When I say shopping I mean that I would like to find some local artesan work to bring home. Please continue with your review. It has been very insightful!!

 

Question: Is the adult area on the Legend enforced or were there kids hanging our there as well? I hope it is enforced as I think it is about time that there was a place to sit and relax without all the activities of the main pool area.

 

Thanks again.

 

I don't remember the name of the place we ate in Roatan. It was just a VERY small stand on the side of the road in West End. You could literally stop in the middle of the road, roll down the window and be able to tell them your order...that is how close it was! I think there were maybe 4 stools where you could sit down and eat. Perhaps if you describe the place to Victor...or ask him to ask Francisco where to get the "cheap" baleadas he could figure it out. The place we ate on the beach was just down the road a short distance from where we got the food.

 

Here is a close up of a sign from one of the pictures I posted earlier (this is not the place we stopped at)...I'll bet you can find baleadas at lots of stands.

 

 

I did not spend a great deal of time at the adult pool...but from what I saw there were no kids. I was amazed that we were able to find 8 chairs in a row both sea days...without getting there early! It was much more peaceful there than at the main pool. Don't forget to check about the boxed lunches!

 

I still regret that they didn't have chairs on the outer promenade deck under the lifeboats. I can not tolerate much sun and that is such a quiet, shaded place. (Spent hours on the same deck on the Freedom last summer!) I think I mentioned that Jen (the CD) said they were not allowed to have the chairs since that is where the muster stations were located.

[Sgrgirl20]

Thanks so much for the review - it was awesome! I'm heading on the Legend Oct 31st with my parents and am sooo excited - especially after seeing all your pictures!

[IMANITA]

My family used to make fun of me for all of my "research" on CC, but they always thank me for finding such great tours & tips!

 

I won't tell you about the time I planned our trip to Disneyworld and made them take a short cut through some bathrooms to get in line first for Splash Mountain...they still tease me about it. (But it worked!!!!) How did folks ever plan vacations before the internet?!

 

You're the Best AryMay! Thanks for the explanation on how to post the pics that is very helpful.

 

That's funny about the Disney shortcut, I'll have to look that up for next time.

[Eeyoregon]

we will be in Belize on Friday, the 22nd (my 50th b'day) Maybe we will be on the same tour.

 

Happy almost birthday to you!! My birthday is one week after your's and I turn 40. Can't wait to celebrate my birthday in Belize. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Gina

[IMANITA]

Happy almost birthday to you!! My birthday is one week after your's and I turn 40. Can't wait to celebrate my birthday in Belize. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Gina

 

Thanks so much Gina. Happy almost birthday back atcha! I think everyone i talk to is tired of me mentioning "the Cruise" every other word. I can't help it that it's all I can think about.

[Eeyoregon]

I think everyone i talk to is tired of me mentioning "the Cruise" every other word. I can't help it that it's all I can think about.

 

I booked this cruise almost 600 days out so I have been waiting a looooong time!!

 

There are 16 of us in my department at work and 3 of us are going on the cruise and we are having trouble staying focused!!! I think about it all day and have started dreaming at night!

 

Gina

[catzcrazy]

I don't remember the name of the place we ate in Roatan. It was just a VERY small stand on the side of the road in West End. You could literally stop in the middle of the road, roll down the window and be able to tell them your order...that is how close it was! I think there were maybe 4 stools where you could sit down and eat. Perhaps if you describe the place to Victor...or ask him to ask Francisco where to get the "cheap" baleadas he could figure it out. The place we ate on the beach was just down the road a short distance from where we got the food.

 

Here is a close up of a sign from one of the pictures I posted earlier (this is not the place we stopped at)...I'll bet you can find baleadas at lots of stands.

 

 

I did not spend a great deal of time at the adult pool...but from what I saw there were no kids. I was amazed that we were able to find 8 chairs in a row both sea days...without getting there early! It was much more peaceful there than at the main pool. Don't forget to check about the boxed lunches!

 

I still regret that they didn't have chairs on the outer promenade deck under the lifeboats. I can not tolerate much sun and that is such a quiet, shaded place. (Spent hours on the same deck on the Freedom last summer!) I think I mentioned that Jen (the CD) said they were not allowed to have the chairs since that is where the muster stations were located.

Thank you for answering my questions. Loving your review.

[catzcrazy]

Happy almost birthday to you!! My birthday is one week after your's and I turn 40. Can't wait to celebrate my birthday in Belize. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Gina

We will be in Belize on my birthday in Dec. Will be 59 and still counting.

 

Have great birthdays!

[go&see]

Another Thank You AryMay from me too! Love the Pics! Looking forward to receiving my D10 tomorrow. Can't figure out how to post pics in a review like you do.

 

Stacey, we are also booked with Vitalino for our cruise on the 17th on the Legend. Not sure if you are on the same ship, but we will be in Belize on Friday, the 22nd (my 50th b'day) Maybe we will be on the same tour. I am SO excited. My husband says that surely I can't possibly learn anything more about our cruise because I'm reading CC all night long. It's amazing how much I learn every day.

 

 

Yup, we're on the Legend as well - there's been so many reviews for the Legend lately & that's really helped build the excitement for me. This one, of course, being the best of all those reviews! :D

And yes, we're booked with Vitalino for the 22nd, too! There's 4 in our group, how many with you? We might be paired up together :) Sounds like a fun way to spend your birthday, that's for sure!

[go&see]

Thanks for sticking with the review even though it is taking FOREVER to finish!

 

After reading reviews it is easy to get your expectations set very high...but just remember that everyone does not like the same things. My kids say that I miss some of the fun and excitement by knowing "too much" ahead of time...and they are probably right. However I am the kind of person that likes to know what is going on and what to expect.

 

We have friends that went on a Carnival cruise and when I mentioned that we had eaten breakfast in the main dining room they said..."you mean it is open for breakfast?" I would rather be "over prepared" than get home and find out I had missed something!!

 

 

 

I feel the same way, I would much rather be over-prepared & know I missed something by choice then to find out about it after! Just because I'll know all the different things we could be doing doesn't mean I won't take a pass on half of it in order to simply relax. Plus, for me, the researching & preparing is 1/2 the fun of any trip! Our first cruise I didn't know about CC, I sometimes wonder how we ever survived :p:rolleyes: Thanks goodness for google on that one!

Thanks again for your great review :D

[PunkinsDad]

 

After a short distance we crossed the river…there was a rope strung to help you keep your balance as you walked across. The water was swift in places, but not deep. You can see one of the large groups from cavetubing dot com with the yellow tubes in these photos.

 

 

 

Not trying to start an argument, but www.cave-tubing.com is not the operator using the large yellow tubes. Yhonny and his group use the same black tubes that your operator apparently does (unless things have changed since April 2009). When we were there, the big yellow tubes were used by the operators of the "cruise line" booked tour.

 

It was apparent to us that the independant operators, such as www.cave-tubing.com gave their customers a much better tour experience than the "yellow tube" folks got.

Anyway.....we were so impressed by Yhonny and his folks at www.cave-tubing.com that we are booking with them again for our upcoming April 2011 cruise.

[IMANITA]

I booked this cruise almost 600 days out so I have been waiting a looooong time!!

 

There are 16 of us in my department at work and 3 of us are going on the cruise and we are having trouble staying focused!!! I think about it all day and have started dreaming at night!

 

Gina

 

OMG I couldn't even imagine having to wait that long. I would have lost my mind a long time ago. We booked back in May & I don't know how I'm going to make it another week.

 

Just received my underwater camera via UPS, so at least I'll have something new to keep me occupied for a couple of days.