Concerns about Belize

[Laurie S.]

I've ridden the tenders at Belize six times, no problems on any of the rides.

[mikel24m]

You're right.

I came on here tonight just to make up a story about having a rough shore to ship tender in Belize.

My life is THAT pathetic.

Absolutely nothing else to do.

 

Lord forbid someone else has an experience or opinion that differs from yours.

Sleep sweet, buttercup.

 

I didnt think anything I said was even alittle bit vicious :)

[jayneyg]

hi

we cruised into Belize earlier this year, my husband, 13 year old daughter and myself. Within 2 minutes of leaving the ship we had been approached by very agressive beggers, 3 times asked if we wanted drugs. My daughter started to cry and we returned to the ship. I would not recommend going ashore unaccompanied, its a good thing you have a planned excursion. Sorry to give this news, but i wish someone had told me. Not a nice experience.

[CJ0226]

hi

we cruised into Belize earlier this year, my husband, 13 year old daughter and myself. Within 2 minutes of leaving the ship we had been approached by very agressive beggers, 3 times asked if we wanted drugs. My daughter started to cry and we returned to the ship. I would not recommend going ashore unaccompanied, its a good thing you have a planned excursion. Sorry to give this news, but i wish someone had told me. Not a nice experience.

 

Careful what you say here about Belize.....to some here its the holy land ;)

[marshhawk]

Just back from Belize-everyone who took an excursion felt safe. We on the other hand did walk to the museum. Very aggresive street venders, most wanted to sell us a riding tour in their car, they told us where we were going was too far to walk. I was actually looking at the street name painted on the side of a building, and when I asked them if that was Queens Street-they backed down and left us alone. Once we got on Queen's Street we had to be especially careful because the side walk were collapsing, the drop from the side walk to the street at times was more than a foot and a half. But no one was soliciting there.

It is not a town that I would ever think of leaving a hotel at night and walking the streets. And I had printed out three city maps of Belixe, and none of them were correct. There are no street signs, so if the building hadn't been painted we would have certainly been lost. Do the excursions and you will be fine.

[winddawn]

We chose not to disembark the ship in Belize.

[bitemyfly]

We also had a bad experience with the tender from shore to ship.

They crammed so many people on that the boat kept stalling out from weight.

At times the boat felt as if it were going to capsize forward.

Not trying to be a downer here, just speaking from my experience.

 

The tender from ship to shore was ok.

an over loaded boat is no joke ! im sure the wieght had nothing to do with stalling. However an overloaded boat without power is a real problem. wave , roll, reaction from pax... into the drink!

been boating boating my whole life and I have passed on a couple tenders ..

[nwcruiselover]

We chose not to disembark the ship in Belize.

 

Good decision.

[silvercrikhix]

In Belize, DH and I did the Altun Ha and River Wallace Carnival excursion.

We were extremely happy that we did, as Belize has wonderful things to offer cruiseship passengers.

Altun Ha was fascinating and interesting. Small vendor area, we did not look.

 

The River Wallace cruise was fun.

We saw tons of river homes, manatees, monkeys, birds, huge bamboo growths, children playing in the water, alligators, (yep, same water :eek:) and lots of huge lizards frolicking in yards.

We also met the Belize Coast Guard just checking things out.

Extremely beautiful blue water outside Belize, the river not as much.

The lunch stop had some non-aggressive vendors with authentic goods, also.

 

There is a bus tour portion which was great for learning about this country.

It was narrated. We were given a bottle of water, cashew wine sample and currency was passed for inspection.

You do see the sad conditions of this country.

 

That all being said, upon leaving the Tourism Village compound to begin the tour there were oodles of aggressive vendors pressing against the gate.

Just stay with the excursion group you join before you go through it. Easy.

Everyone we met was friendly, non-threatening and helpful.

We would not recommend going out on your own, but that's our opinion, especially after being there.

But, do not miss getting out and seeing it either!

After reading about Belize's conditions we chose to book a Carnival excursion and would do so again and hopefully soon!

 

One of our tenders was pretty crappy, slow, chuggy and smoke spitting out of it. No big deal though, it worked. The other tender was fine and dandy!

[cruzeluver]

I guess some define "aggressive" differently. I have never been grabbed, touched, threatened or swore at while walking around Belize City. To me, that would be aggressive. I have had vendors asking me to look at their wares. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I have found a polite "thank you" works quite well.

[luddite]

We love Belize and have never encountered a problem.

It's probably safer than Detroit or Washington D.C.

[JUGGER]

normally i'm not a nervous travel type. But, i have to admit to being a little nervous about our stop in belize. We've booked a carnival excursion (altun ha and belize city tour) hoping we'd feel safer.

 

We are traveling with our kids, which ups the nervous factor for me.

 

To anyone who has traveled there very recently, please let me know what you experience was (the good, the bad, and the ugly).

 

Thanks to everyone in advance.

hi-----this is from 51 cruisers------on carnival---yes--you are correct to take a tour from --carnival tour operators---there was an incident with several retired military several yrs ago--hi--jacking their tour bus------but -----i do strongly suggest no jewelry wearing---of any kind while in belize or any of the islands------irene and john

[Laurie S.]

Just like anywhere, the locals can spot the skittish tourists and they will descend on you because you look like an easy mark for a sale. I've walked out the gates three times and never had a problem. Yes, people approached us and asked if we wanted a taxi or to buy something, but all you do is shake your head, smile, and say no thank you. I found the people to be very friendly and nonthreatening, much better than in many major U.S. cities.

[soccersharon]

Thank you to everyone for your comments. I've decided that we will go :) We'll keep our eyes peeled, and our gold on the ship!

[rferr]

We did not care for Belize or Roatan and with the violence in Mexico not so sure about Cozumel either. As such we are done with Western Caribbean cruises ourselves. Grand Cayman is still nice though.

[kiraryker]

We did not care for Belize or Roatan and with the violence in Mexico not so sure about Cozumel either. As such we are done with Western Caribbean cruises ourselves. Grand Cayman is still nice though.

 

Cozumel???? I thought that was a pretty safe place?

[cruzeluver]

We did not care for Belize or Roatan and with the violence in Mexico not so sure about Cozumel either. As such we are done with Western Caribbean cruises ourselves. Grand Cayman is still nice though.

 

Cozumel is on an island hundreds and hundreds of miles away from any of the violence Mexico. By following your assertion, should I avoid Topeka, Kansas if there is violence in Newark, New Jersey?

[golfb4cruzing]

DO they let you pump your own gas in Topeka??:eek: