strikes in Belize City

[Gem at Sea]

I'm probably being over-concerned, but I have good friends who are native to and live in Belize City. They say that strikes in the city are causing all kinds of communications problems and power outages sporadically. Protests yesterday Apr. 21 by students blocked a major bridge for a while. When the ATM machines were down, some tourists left town. My cruise hits Belize City June 1 and I can't wait to see the place and my friends. But what if???? Will the ship just not stop at the port, or are the strikes so common they are no real problem? :confused:

[kjunea]

I know there was some demonstrations and strikes back in January over tax increases and corruption in the government. I would hope that Carnival (who I am sailing with May 22) would skip the port if there are problems. I know that anytime problems arise in Haiti, RCCL drops Labadee from its intineraries until things are calm and safe again.

 

June

[rosej]

We stopped in Belize last Friday (Coral Princess). The waters were a bit rough, so we used tenders sent out from Belize. I went on the Belize city and Altun Ha tour. We spent quite a bit of time touring around the city. I didn't see any protests/strikes/signs etc. Saw lots of school children....going to school in the morning. Saw trash trucks out picking up the trash. Saw lots of people at the fish market. Nothing that I would consider out of the ordinary.

 

My husband went on the ATV and Mayan Cave tour. He didn't see anything along the way out of the ordinary either. Most cruise lines are very safety conscious and will skip a port (sometimes switching to another) if they anticipate any problems. Hope this helps....

[Gem at Sea]

I found some news online at the site above. This matches what my friends said. They live three miles out of town, and went into town to get another friend's wife and children. The other friend is a policeman, and he wanted his family to be safe. I am glad visitors noticed nothing. Maybe things will settle down quickly. Thanks for the encouraging comments, guys.

[quiltsnh]

We will be there on Tues... our friends who are in the Peace Corps said the elephones are up and down everyday as they are on strike.... They did not mention any oher disruptions they said it had something to do with the Prime Minister...

[Beach Hunter]

We were in Belize during the General Strike in January. It was over tax increases. We were in Ambergris Caye at the time. We saw coverage of the strike on TV but it had no effect on the tourist business on Ambergris. It looked like most of the businesses were shut down in Belize City. The only violence was a politician that was demonstrating got hit by stick. They made a big deal of that. I doubt that you would be affected by a strike on a cruise ship stop.

[andinp]

ROSEJ

well this is off the subject but how was the atv tour? I really would like to do this and any info you an provide would be appreciated. thanks, andi

[rosej]

My husband absolutely LOVED the ATV and Mayan cave tour in Belize (I went to Altun Ha). The ATV ride was one of the highlights of his trip. We booked it through the ship (Coral Princess). After a nice ATV ride to the cave, each person was issued a headlight that they wore on their forehead while they explored. Judging from the photos he brought back, the cave was quite "pretty" with stalactites and stalagmites.

 

If you have any specific questions, he would be happy to try and answer them.

[andinp]

ROSEJ

 

Thanks so much. A couple more questions:

how far away was the atv tour from th pier?

how long did he spend on the atv?

how was the terain?

was the tour very crowded?

 

thanks again- andi

[rosej]

Since there wasn't anything posted on the ATV tour, I decided to write a quick review. So please look for it, here on the Belize board. I also uploaded a bunch of photos to Webshots. Here's the link:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/roseyj

[Coral Breeze]

To get back on the subject, I will update everyone on the situation as I know it at this time.

You may have heard the words "Strike", "Protest", or "Riot" associated with the situation in Belize.

I'm sure depending on who you talk to or which news media you get information from, you will get different versions of the situation. So I will spare everyone my opinions. In the US we see protests (some more aggressive than others) all the time. The situation in Belize is no different where certain groups/parties want to be heard.

As far as the tourism market goes, there is nothing to worry about. No cruise lines have diverted any ships. All tourists are safe during their visit. Since this all started, several ships and tens of thousands of guests have arrived in Belize with no issues.

Communications are still an issue throughout the country. You may experience delays with responses from operators located in Belize. But the great experience you will have during your tour will be the same.

If you had concerns about the situation in Belize, I hope this puts your mind at ease. Everything for the cruise ships arriving in Belize are operating normally.