traveling with a 2 year old...

[SuiteRose]

Hello, we'll be sailing on NCL's Pearl in January and visiting Belize. Our group will include my two year old nephew. His parents and the rest of the group (9 of us total) will probably book an excursion of some type. My question is since he probably will be too young to do what the rest of them decide to do, would it be practical for me to take him to the fenced in port area for a few hours and then tender back to our ship? Or should I just stay on board with him. NCL has a train tour of town and I was wondering if maybe that would be okay for him... Thanks for any suggestions!

[crewsweeper]

There's not a lot for children that young. The train tour or an excursion to the zoo might work. The zoo is outside Belize City and is more of a game preserve, but they do have animals for children to see. If you want a city tour, a horse carriage ride might be a bit of fun for him but might be too long as well. Not a lot on the pier area either. It gets crowded with tenders dropping pax off and pax milling about. Staying on the ship in child care may be your best all around option.

[SuiteRose]

He will be almost 3 by then. He loves animals so I think either the horse and carriage ride or the zoo would be great. I have read nightmare stories about the pier area and beyond and didn't want to subject him to any danger. He'd be just as happy to spend the day by the pool and eating ice cream while his parents enjoy Belize. But if it was safe, it would be nice for him to see a little of the country, not that he'd probably remember it, but we'd have pictures to show him when he gets older Thanks for your reply!

[crewsweeper]

He will be almost 3 by then. He loves animals so I think either the horse and carriage ride or the zoo would be great. I have read nightmare stories about the pier area and beyond and didn't want to subject him to any danger. He'd be just as happy to spend the day by the pool and eating ice cream while his parents enjoy Belize. But if it was safe, it would be nice for him to see a little of the country, not that he'd probably remember it, but we'd have pictures to show him when he gets older Thanks for your reply!

The nightmare stories are an exaggeration of some folks biases. There are aggrressive vendors and hawkers directly outside the Tourism Village gates. They are jsut trying to get your business, not harm you. But if you're on a tour that meets you inside you'll have no issues. If you go outside to get a carriage, they'll hound you but just walk past and ignore them and get one of the carriages further away. Just look til you see one that attracts you and then go talk to the driver.

[amistad]

I would suggest Bannister Island Beach Break or staying onboard and enjoying an almost empty ship. I have done both with my now 3 year old Grandson. I wish there was more to offer for families with small children in Belize, but to be honest I did not want to ride the tender to the port and then ride a crowded bus for another hour just to take him to the zoo. We did however take him to the Audoban Zoo in New Orleans after we got off of our cruise and it was great.

[SuiteRose]

I would suggest Bannister Island Beach Break or staying onboard and enjoying an almost empty ship. I have done both with my now 3 year old Grandson. I wish there was more to offer for families with small children in Belize, but to be honest I did not want to ride the tender to the port and then ride a crowded bus for another hour just to take him to the zoo. We did however take him to the Audoban Zoo in New Orleans after we got off of our cruise and it was great.

 

Thank you... I am leaning toward just having a nice day on the ship. He will love just being able to get in the pool and eat lots of ice cream while his parents are enjoying Belize... Although I might look into the BAnnister Island Beach Break if they think I should take him off the ship.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Thank you... I am leaning toward just having a nice day on the ship. He will love just being able to get in the pool and eat lots of ice cream while his parents are enjoying Belize... Although I might look into the BAnnister Island Beach Break if they think I should take him off the ship.

 

You will need tender form ship to shore (20minon very old and bumpy boat)than from shore to Bannister its like 40 min ride.you cannot go back to ship if its raining or baby just tired ,they pick you up after 4-5 hours( We could not go to Zoo because min age was 3 to book ship excursion .so we just went to port and took horse carriege ride(waste of time and money)So I would recomend to stay on ship or if weather is good and seas calm just go to port go around shops and come back to ship.

[SuiteRose]

You will need tender form ship to shore (20minon very old and bumpy boat)than from shore to Bannister its like 40 min ride.you cannot go back to ship if its raining or baby just tired ,they pick you up after 4-5 hours( We could not go to Zoo because min age was 3 to book ship excursion .so we just went to port and took horse carriege ride(waste of time and money)So I would recomend to stay on ship or if weather is good and seas calm just go to port go around shops and come back to ship.

 

Thank you, that sounds like very good advice!

[amistad]

Thank you, that sounds like very good advice!

The Bannister Island Beach Break that we did picked us up at the ship, we never had to ride the tender to Belize and then catch another tender to the beach, and my Grandson did enjoy the day there. The beach really isn't that nice, but the water was shallow so he played all day. The other time that I stayed on the ship with him he also enjoyed the day, we had the pool almost to ourselves.

[GOLDENBONNY]

The Bannister Island Beach Break that we did picked us up at the ship, we never had to ride the tender to Belize and then catch another tender to the beach, and my Grandson did enjoy the day there. The beach really isn't that nice, but the water was shallow so he played all day. The other time that I stayed on the ship with him he also enjoyed the day, we had the pool almost to ourselves.

 

Sorry,I have to add .last Dec was no excursion from ship ,it was canceld because of murder on Banister I dont know if cruise ships back now with this option.