Carnival ships not stopping at Belize News release

[peachpitts]

I think the situation has been resolved, because the shore excursions have now opened up on the CC website. I already booked my shore excursion for Goff's Caye snorkeling with CC for our trip in Jan 2012. I heard from several people that this was the best option in Belize. You get picked up directly from the ship and never have to go to the tenders to Belize. I think is sounds fantastic.:)

[sunlover2]

I think the situation has been resolved, because the shore excursions have now opened up on the CC website. I already booked my shore excursion for Goff's Caye snorkeling with CC for our trip in Jan 2012. I heard from several people that this was the best option in Belize. You get picked up directly from the ship and never have to go to the tenders to Belize. I think is sounds fantastic.:)

 

This is our first Carnival cruise, Dream. We also are excited about Belize!! Were the excursions for Belize closed off for awhile? I'm surprised you can book an excursion that far in advance, 7 months early? Wow, I better start looking now for our May cruise.

[cchalkley]

To be honest, carnical should stay away from Belize. It may have some nice beaches but belize city where you go in is the nastiest place i have ever been. We were told mot to venture far by locals for fear of kidnapping. The country is in turmoil.

[Kryssa]

To be honest, carnical should stay away from Belize. It may have some nice beaches but belize city where you go in is the nastiest place i have ever been. We were told mot to venture far by locals for fear of kidnapping. The country is in turmoil.

 

Wow, this is one of the most unintelligent posts I have EVER read in the forum. Do some research! Most people don't go to Belize city for the city itself. The beauty of Belize is inland with the nature, culture, and ruins. I am so happy I don't travel with you!

[BecciBoo]

And under the sea!!!;) Can't wait to get back there. We just got back and the weather did not co-operate, had to cancel our excursion to Goff's Caye...boohoo. Maybe next time. But Belize has MUCH to do!

[cchalkley]

Wow, this is one of the most unintelligent posts I have EVER read in the forum. Do some research! Most people don't go to Belize city for the city itself. The beauty of Belize is inland with the nature, culture, and ruins. I am so happy I don't travel with you!

 

When carnival says to you as you leave the ship, dont go anywhere that is not a carnival excursion, you risk being kidnapped by military seperatist; I dont want to go back. They compared it to egypt at the in september. The alternate stop being jamaica....sign me up. I will being western carribean again in sept and only hope they choose a different port. They have beautiful beaches in belize but you have to go through hell to get to them. I dont know that i met anyone that enjoyed belize on the legend. One guy said he had to find a drug store while on excursion, said it was the scariest thing he had ever done.

 

I am glad others have enjoyed it....drop me off at rhoatan and come back in a few weeks to get me.

[Pssunshinegal]

When carnival says to you as you leave the ship, dont go anywhere that is not a carnival excursion, you risk being kidnapped by military seperatist; I dont want to go back. They compared it to egypt at the in september.

 

OMG this is the funniest thing I have ever read. First, I cannot believe that someone would believe Carnival when it says, don't do anything except Carnival excursions, and secondly that anyone would believe that Belize could possibly be like Egypt. Who is Belize going to separate from? Who are these separatists. Kidnapped? Now this is funny. Belize has problems, but mainly their biggest problem is bad press by the cruise companies. Belize lovers don't particularly care if cruise passengers find out the beautiful secrets of Belize because we want to keep them of them private. BUT, the country of Belize needs some cruise business to bring in tourists, who then find out that Belize is a jewel and come back independently and fall in love with the country.

 

Happened to me, after my 16th trip, I now own a house there. Military junta? Egypt? What a joke. Just keep spending those Carnival dollars at Diamonds International, and hopefully some day you will find out who the real joke is.

 

Janice

[crewsweeper]

OMG this is the funniest thing I have ever read. First, I cannot believe that someone would believe Carnival when it says, don't do anything except Carnival excursions, and secondly that anyone would believe that Belize could possibly be like Egypt. Who is Belize going to separate from? Who are these separatists. Kidnapped? Now this is funny. Belize has problems, but mainly their biggest problem is bad press by the cruise companies. Belize lovers don't particularly care if cruise passengers find out the beautiful secrets of Belize because we want to keep them of them private. BUT, the country of Belize needs some cruise business to bring in tourists, who then find out that Belize is a jewel and come back independently and fall in love with the country.

 

Happened to me, after my 16th trip, I now own a house there. Military junta? Egypt? What a joke. Just keep spending those Carnival dollars at Diamonds International, and hopefully some day you will find out who the real joke is.

 

Janice

Have to agree with you Janice. yes Belize is a poor ****ry and yes there are places in Belize City on the way out of town that you wouldn't want to be stuck in or have a break down in, but there are places in everyone's home town where you wouldn't want to be either. Most cruisers who complain about being scared or not liking Belize base their impression on the small group of aggressive tour/excursion hawkers right outside the Tourist Village and the sighting of police and military patrols along the road ways, yet fail to make a connection with people or see what the country is really like.

[Rainberry]

Have to agree with you Janice. yes Belize is a poor ****ry and yes there are places in Belize City on the way out of town that you wouldn't want to be stuck in or have a break down in, but there are places in everyone's home town where you wouldn't want to be either. Most cruisers who complain about being scared or not liking Belize base their impression on the small group of aggressive tour/excursion hawkers right outside the Tourist Village and the sighting of police and military patrols along the road ways, yet fail to make a connection with people or see what the country is really like.

 

I agree with with both of your as well. Belize is such a beautiful country and we had an absolutely amazing time there when we on the Legend. I actually thing out of all the places we've been, it is in my top 3 for sure.

 

Sure, it's no DisneyWorld, heck you don't even see ANY American influence at all (except Coca Cola and Sprite) which I personally found awesome. But if you do your research and plan to explore the safe areas, it's amazing.

 

I can't wait to go back!

[Snorkel2Much]

When carnival says to you as you leave the ship, dont go anywhere that is not a carnival excursion, you risk being kidnapped by military seperatist; I dont want to go back. They compared it to egypt at the in september. The alternate stop being jamaica....sign me up. I will being western carribean again in sept and only hope they choose a different port. They have beautiful beaches in belize but you have to go through hell to get to them. I dont know that i met anyone that enjoyed belize on the legend. One guy said he had to find a drug store while on excursion, said it was the scariest thing he had ever done.

 

I am glad others have enjoyed it....drop me off at rhoatan and come back in a few weeks to get me.

It's pretty amazing that you'd feel safe enough on Roatan to be left there for a few weeks, yet are deathly afraid of Belize, unless you're referring to that Potemkin village called Mahogany Bay.

[wadethegringo]

To be honest, carnical should stay away from Belize. It may have some nice beaches but belize city where you go in is the nastiest place i have ever been. We were told mot to venture far by locals for fear of kidnapping. The country is in turmoil.

 

I found Belize about five years ago while on the Valor. When I returned home I went and packed my bags to move here. I have been here 3.5 years. I do not or would not live in Belize city. I do go shopping there almost weekly. I have yet to hear of any tourists kidnapped. And the only turmoil is after to many Rum and cokes or Belikins and the bar tells me its time to go home.

[b_bay_girl]

has this been going on for a while? I am new to cruising and Belize was the spot I most wanted to go to. I am so discouraged now. I am to cruise in March on the Valor, do these sort of things happen from time to time and then work themselves out or is this a new thing?

 

This was the same situation in January 2011, exactly a year ago - google it and you will find all kinds of info. However, my daughter went to Belize last March on the Glory so not sure at what point they started going there again, and why it is an issue again now a year later???? It's very interesting. I am scheduled to go there in four weeks but will be happy to go to Costa Maya. I am a bit leery about going to a port where the locals operators seem to be in a long-term dispute with the ship you just got off.

[crewsweeper]

This was the same situation in January 2011, exactly a year ago - google it and you will find all kinds of info. However, my daughter went to Belize last March on the Glory so not sure at what point they started going there again, and why it is an issue again now a year later???? It's very interesting. I am scheduled to go there in four weeks but will be happy to go to Costa Maya. I am a bit leery about going to a port where the locals operators seem to be in a long-term dispute with the ship you just got off.

Someone dredged this up in relation to Carnival Glory (I think) resceduling ports to Costa Maya as Belize City had 7 other ships in port that day. That's a nightmare for tendering. But the tendering issue with tender operators was resolved long ago. Myths on labor issues tend to persist on these boards as people fail to read full threads or OPs don't provide follow up.

[b_bay_girl]

I got the email this morning that the Gloryis not stopping either for our Feb 5 departure. The heading says change for Jan 22/ Feb 5/ Feb 19/ Mar 4 and 18 for anyone going on those dates. I assume those dates are just for the Glory.

[dziorns]

Got our e-mail this morning. Sailing on Glory March 4th. Very dissapointed! We love Belize for great snorkling. Talked to Carnival and they said they have cancelled ALL stops in Belize for the near future! Belize was the main reason we scheduled this cruise. It's just not fair! :(

[Snorkel2Much]

I'm sailing on the Legend in late March 2012 and received a similar email this morning. The email states that Belize had recently booked additional ships on our expected arrival day. The email reads in part: "Consequently, their tender capacity is not able to effectively handle the increased volume of guests without causing long delays and limiting your time ashore. Therefore.....we have replaced our call to Belize with a visit (to) Costa Maya".

This trip to Belize I was hoping to fly to San Pedro, or at least get to Caye Caulker.

[crewsweeper]

Got our e-mail this morning. Sailing on Glory March 4th. Very dissapointed! We love Belize for great snorkling. Talked to Carnival and they said they have cancelled ALL stops in Belize for the near future! Belize was the main reason we scheduled this cruise. It's just not fair! :(

 

I'm sailing on the Legend in late March 2012 and received a similar email this morning. The email states that Belize had recently booked additional ships on our expected arrival day. The email reads in part: "Consequently, their tender capacity is not able to effectively handle the increased volume of guests without causing long delays and limiting your time ashore. Therefore.....we have replaced our call to Belize with a visit (to) Costa Maya".

 

This trip to Belize I was hoping to fly to San Pedro, or at least get to Caye Caulker.

I can see the Glory on March 4th as it looks like 5-6 ships in port. Don't understand the Legend as none of its March dates in Belize City show more than a total of 3 ships in port.

 

But Costa Maya is great. You'll most likely be the only ship in so book Nohoch Kaye or Maya Chan now.

[Scubagirl713]

I am on the Legend on 18 Mar 2012 sailing and haven't recieved any emails to this effect yet. Looks like it is time to call my PVP.:confused:

[Pssunshinegal]

Funny, is this the same Carnival that told people that they should not feel safe using non-Carnival excursions and that Belize is a war zone. Guess they need to shake people up a bit, the Kool-Aid must be getting weaker and people are using independents too much. For people wanting specifically to go to Belize, Carnival might not be the cruise line to choose. Five to seven ships can tender with no problems, but three can't if Carnival is one of the three.

[b_bay_girl]

Got our e-mail this morning. Sailing on Glory March 4th. Very dissapointed! We love Belize for great snorkling. Talked to Carnival and they said they have cancelled ALL stops in Belize for the near future! Belize was the main reason we scheduled this cruise. It's just not fair! :(

 

I feel your pain. We went on a cruise two years ago and the port I really really wanted to go to was cancelled - Turks and Caicos - due to propeller / throttle problems with the ship - and we went to another port - Freeport (never again!). At that time, we were offered to reshedule cruise or continue with an OB credit - $25 or $50 - relatively small ; anyways our Belize is canceled for Feb 5 and no mention of any options for rescheduling. I have never been to Belize - it would have been nice to go. Now it is to Costa Maya where we were re-routed to on Disney six years ago with no notice (until we boarded) so no time to research port or anything to do there. This time I got sufficient notice to figure out what to do.

[Snorkel2Much]

I can see the Glory on March 4th as it looks like 5-6 ships in port. Don't understand the Legend as none of its March dates in Belize City show more than a total of 3 ships in port.

 

But Costa Maya is great. You'll most likely be the only ship in so book Nohoch Kaye or Maya Chan now.

I booked Maya Chan right about the time you posted this. :D;)

[Snorkel2Much]

Funny, is this the same Carnival that told people that they should not feel safe using non-Carnival excursions and that Belize is a war zone. Guess they need to shake people up a bit, the Kool-Aid must be getting weaker and people are using independents too much. For people wanting specifically to go to Belize, Carnival might not be the cruise line to choose. Five to seven ships can tender with no problems, but three can't if Carnival is one of the three.

The funny thing is, I rarely book excursions through the cruiseline, but Belize has some of the very few ships tours I would consider using (Xunantunich and direct boat to Goffs, skipping the tender).

 

There is ZERO chance of me ever paying for a Carnival run ships excursion in Costa Maya, so if that was Carnivals strategy, it failed with me at least.

[Pssunshinegal]

The funny thing is, I rarely book excursions through the cruiseline, but Belize has some of the very few ships tours I would consider using (Xunantunich and direct boat to Goffs, skipping the tender).

 

There is ZERO chance of me ever paying for a Carnival run ships excursion in Costa Maya, so if that was Carnivals strategy, it failed with me at least.

 

My post was really tongue in cheek. I just hate to see Belize get the bad rep from the cruise lines for things that are not true. There is plenty wrong with Belize and Belize is also not a country for all visitors. But the label it gets and the financial damage done to Belize by untruth hurts the people who don't deserve it. Me, I am going to be putting my toes in the sand there in two weeks and that will not be canceled by tenders, or excursions. Only an act of G*d will be canceling my trip.

 

Janice

[Snorkel2Much]

My post was really tongue in cheek. I just hate to see Belize get the bad rep from the cruise lines for things that are not true. There is plenty wrong with Belize and Belize is also not a country for all visitors. But the label it gets and the financial damage done to Belize by untruth hurts the people who don't deserve it. Me, I am going to be putting my toes in the sand there in two weeks and that will not be canceled by tenders, or excursions. Only an act of G*d will be canceling my trip.

 

Janice

Totally agree with you about Belize, have a great trip.

[dziorns]

Been to Belize 3 times and always have a great time! The people are so friendly and eager to please. Beautiful spot to snorkle. Really disappointed we are not stopping this time.