Carnival canceled Bannister Beach Break

[mikel24m]

me and my better half had this happen last night . I was logged in to carnival and it didnt show up she went to carnival.com and searched excursions and it showed up.I would sign in at carnival and go to book excursions and plan your stuff there ,signed in ,I think they block things out depending on availability.

 

 

 

Cheers Mike

[jerryb22]

while we are very excited to book our tours, this type of confusion is what we are concerned about. we definitely dont want to arrive in any port only to find we have been misled and that our tour is either canceled or simply doesn't exist. after all, we only have a few hours in port. In my oppinion, to lose any time to canceled tours would be a huge waste of our vacation.

we have decided to book Lamanai mayan ruins...we've never found a bad thing being said about the ruins tour. I also do not want to pay for the full tour upfront, but we have found a site that only charged us a deposit and they state that they guarantee refunds if there is a problem with the ship not coming in to port.

I found them through googling caribbean shore tours...has anyone used these guys? they have tours available at each port we are visiting, and if we get some good feedback, i'm considering just using these guys for all our excursions.

[ourtimenow]

Just watching, reading, and learning.

Our cruise is 6 mo. out and we have been bookmarking everything trying to decide on excursions. Bannister Island was one for Belize because it was thru Carnival and we wanted to be "safe" with the ship time and all. But all that we are learning from these boards and some other well known sites that one can post opinions of trips, etc. Carnival's inaccuracy is not impressing me at all and I am thinking of booking independent excursions all the way thru the cruise. Will keep watching this thread for sure!

[legalwife]

CCl cancelled Bannister for me too. No email. Just saw credit on credit card. Called this a.m. and was told they sent me email. Did not receive. Sent me email later today. Says "cancelled due to island renovations and not scheduled to re-open until sometime in November". I am T/A and told CCL was glad this did not happen to client but to me personally. Fine to cancel for reasons given, but be sure person is notified and I see others on here were not as well. Will be sending e-mail to our local CCL rep for her information.

[Kim.cc]

I see that Belize Cruise Excursions is offering Sun kissed Beach Break to Bannister Island Sun Kissed Beach Break they have it with or without snorkeling

I haven't done this tour but I've used them for cave tubing and zipline and they were great

[JGriggs]

We are booked for the Bannister Island break with Eco Tours. I emailed them earlier asking if this excursion/island was closed. Hree is there response:

 

"Bannister Island is not closed, they have discontinued doing business with Carnival Cruise Lines, for an unspecified time, I am not sure why?

 

We are an indepent operator who will continue to do business with Bannister Island they are still operational and continue to improve the island experience."

 

Also, Eco Tours does not require a deposit. We will pay in full when we arrive. This may be another option for you if you still want to go to Bannister Island.

[mikel24m]

Thanks for the info JGREGG Maybe i will take a look at eco tours does anyone have a website for them

 

 

Anyone going in the next week or two please keep us posted we leave 10/10

 

Cheers Mike

[Momis2]

Got back 2 weeks ago from a CC trip and used Coral Breezes for the Beach break/manatee watch. Had a great time and will not hesitate to use them again if I ever get back to Belize. This is my 8th cruise and first time using a non -Carnival tour operator. We originally booked the Cay Caulker trip but were notified shortly before the cruise that we were the only people who had booked this excursion. Coral Breeze understandably could not afford to take just us so it was suggested that we take the manatee tour. The tours are operated by Hammerhead Watersports .A representative was right there by the tender to greet us and fit us for our fins. We brought our own masks and snorkles.Short trip out to Bannister Island to drop off those who just wanted to hang out on the beach. This also gave us a chance to change into swimsuits and rash guards. 8 of us then went out to the reef to snorkle. The Hammerhead guys were in the water with us all the time and found a lot of sea life that we would have missed. After about 45 minutes we went in search of manatees. We saw and photographed several. Then we went back to Bannister Island for a cool, fresh water shower and an icy Belikan beer. Our captain "Big Boy" and all the members of his crew were very knowledgable about all we were seeing and also were glad to talk about their country.

As far as payment, we paid the deposit with our credit card and the balance was due in U.S. dollars or travelers checks when we began our tour at the dock. For those worried about a weather cancellation, Coral Breeze will refund all $if the ship cannot come to port or the tour operator cancels or if you cancel and give them 3 days notice.

If you go,after your tour be sure to go upstairs at the Wet Lizard and have lobster or conch fritters if they are in season. I wish I was there right now!

[mikel24m]

Just booked Bannister Island through Eco Tours,Its 30PP for the beach break only when booked online .They assured me Bannister Island is open and required no Payment until the time of service We will take the chance ,ill keep everyone posted

 

 

Mike

[jerryb22]

I did book the mayan ruins with Island Marketing when i received a notification that they are accepting reservations for Bannister Island with snorkeling. I contacted them and they switched my reservation from Lamanai ruins to the beach break, no problem.

 

They have assured me that their tour is definitely operating.

 

They also recommended their Facebook page which posts daily updates for their tours as well as information on the ports.

Here is the page where they are booking Bannister http://www.belizecruiseexcursions.com/BeachSnorkelingBelize.htm

And to find them on Facebook, search for

Island Marketing Ltd Cruise Excursions

 

Happy Cruising everyone!

Jerry

[Justthe2ofUScruisin]

Sure sounds like Carnival is not doing a good job on booking excursions. Originally we had booked LandRover Jeep/Cave excursion and they took it off no reasons why......now we were going to do bannister.....glad we decided NOT to do anything now...our other stops are NON carnival excursions....

And right now Belize is getting slammed with water!!!

[gatorsfam]

this was our exact same experience last week with Hammerhead... it was truly an incredible experience for our group... snorkel, bannister island, and the manitees and dolphins... Hammerhead guys were a blast, friendly... this was by far one of the easiest non-cruise line excersions we've ever done, and one of the best too. most if not all of the concerns are unwarrented IMO. Good luck to all.

[Irishlinny]

We used Coral Breeze last year for the snorkel/beach break/manatee watch. We didn't enjoy the manatee watch (was like watching paint dry:rolleyes:) and really liked Bannister, so we were trying to find something that just had snorkeling and Bannister. Found Ecotoursbelize.com and booked with them for November. I've read positive things about them, so should be ok.;)

(Hiya, Vickster! Have a great cruise in October! Will miss you on the Legend, but maybe our Freedom cruise next year!:D)

[gogetter]

The customer service agent talked to the excursions dept and said Bannister Island is closed for Renovations. I think that they should have at least sent me an email to inform me of the change. I notice that other vendors are still going to the island so the excuse sounds a bit weak. Whatever, even if it is just canceled for lack of interest, they should have told me.

 

If it is closed, last Thursday 9-23-10, operators wre inside the gates trying to sell it! they were even so rude to say if we didnt like it to stay on the ship!

[sooner_engineer]

Our Bannister excursion was also cancelled with absolutely NO notification from Carnival. I'm beginning to hate that cruise line. How hard is it to send an email letting everyone know that it was cancelled? Other cruise lines seem to handle it just fine. Ugh....I may just have to book through ecotours.

[caribsun]

This is confusing, I just went to the Carnival site and the tour is there.

 

Description: What's better than relaxing on the beach, working on your tan, or swimming off a beautiful secluded beach ! Full Details

 

The word new is flashing blue to red, maybe everything is worked out.:)

 

Anyone know how much drink prices are, and do you pay US cash or is it run by CCL and use S & S card.

[mikel24m]

just looked its not there try to find it this way.Sign in go to manage my cruise and click plan activities. What you are seeing is a general description of all the excursions carnival offers.That one is unavalable for my cruise 10/10

 

Mike

[Mom2one]

just looked its not there try to find it this way.Sign in go to manage my cruise and click plan activities. What you are seeing is a general description of all the excursions carnival offers.That one is unavalable for my cruise 10/10

 

Mike

 

I just logged in to my account and the Bannister Island Beach Break shows up as an option for my cruise 12/12.

[mikel24m]

I think they said would be open or available in November I dont know really whats going on but I cant get it through Carnival ,eco tours says its open and fully operational

[caribsun]

Just went to My Cruise Manager and Bannister Island is available for 11/11/10.:)

[PatfromPa]

I had prebooked Bannister Island beach break through Carnival and when I got onboard and happened to look through the shore excursion information I saw it was cancelled for this cruise( Legend 9/19-9/26). Needless to say I went right tothe tour desk and they said yes it is closed for maintenanceand my sail and sign card would be credited which it was. Of course now I had nothing to do for the Belize port, so much for my advance planning! So I don't know what the real deal is on this excursion.

[zqvol]

I think Bannister looks great and we'd love to do that. However, it's currently not an offering on our Carnival sailing in mid-February. If anyone knows when this will back up & running ... please post.

 

Thanks!

 

I booked it yesterday for mid December.

[PatfromPa]

I too had prebooked Bannister Island and once on board I found out it was cancelled and had the credit applied to my sail and sign. I then had no plans for Belize which I was very disappointed as this excusion looked like it was just what I wanted. I hope it works out for you.

[RMM34667]

Got the link to http://www.belizecruiseexcursions.com/BeachSnorkelingBelize.htm

 

can you guys post the links to the other local companies? I think I read eco tours and something else. I'd like to look at all their options for my 11/14 cruise.

 

Thanks!

[Irishlinny]

Got the link to http://www.belizecruiseexcursions.com/BeachSnorkelingBelize.htm

 

can you guys post the links to the other local companies? I think I read eco tours and something else. I'd like to look at all their options for my 11/14 cruise.

 

Thanks!

This is the one we're doing the week before you with Ecotours:

http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/snorkeling.html#gallows_reef