Belize in November- eek!

[june_newlyweds2012]

Hello Fellow Cruisers!!!

 

I'm not quite sure how this website works, but my boss told me about it!!

We are cruise virgins (haha) and we just recently got married in June 2012. - For our honeymoon we are cruising Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel in November of 2012. oh my goodness we cannot wait!!

 

We are looking forward to meeting some new friends on the ship!

 

I have some questions! We are wondering what kind of in's and out's advice ya'll have!! My boss told me about victor bodden in roatan for a private tour and snorkeling ; but we're wondering what kind of insider info we can book thru in belize and cozumel. Carnival excursions are SO EXPENSIVE!!! any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thank you all so much!

 

p.s. we'll be cruising the carnival magic

[LWiening]

Check with the port of calls. I googled the last time we went to the places and found inexpensive excurisions through what we saw. Did Victor Boden he was great but after being there once and we are returning on the same cruise in Febuary I want to find a beach in Roatan. It was the most peaceful placce I have ever been to.

[Brenna's Mom1]

Rent a car in Roatan...just taxi to the airport, about 10 minutes. Rent a car and drive. Avoid Coxen Hole (nothing to see there) head to West Bay Beach for Snorkeling, go to Eco Park for some great zip-lining (a must if you have teenagers, do the 45 minute walk of eco park and see the monkeys) head to West End for some food and booze, and if you have time drive back and see French Harbor.

 

I land vacation in Roatan (great, great Scuba diving and on Sundays a trip to Parrot Tree and all you can eat lobster brunch (my personal best is 8).

 

Favorite spot in all of the Caribbean.

 

Oh...forgot that this is the OPs honeymoon cruise so of course they don't have teenagers. But if you have never been zip-lining this is the place to do it. I did it on my 60th birthday and the folks running the course were great and patient with me. They may have a cruise pick-up so check on the Roatan threads, if you don't want to drive.

[iceleven]

you can start here with Belize -

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109

[momtofourkids]

HI! My husband and I are going to be on the Conquest leaving Nov 25th from New Orleans but going to the same ports as you. This will be our first too. I thought we were on the same boat until I reread your post. ;)

 

You can do a quick search in the roll call forum for your dates!

[dolphinlover22]

What day are you sailing? We are on Carnival Magic on November 18th to the same ports. Like was suggested by someone else - check out the ports of call cruise boards - there is tons of info there. We are doing cave tubing in belize with cavetubing.bz and in cozumel we are going to Nachi Cocum - a beach resort - very relaxing - all inclusve food/drink. There is so much to do in each place - the options are endless. Congrats on your wedding!!! :) Hope you have a blast!!! :)

Alana

[cuyahoga11]

What day are you sailing? We are on Carnival Magic on November 18th to the same ports. Like was suggested by someone else - check out the ports of call cruise boards - there is tons of info there. We are doing cave tubing in belize with cavetubing.bz and in cozumel we are going to Nachi Cocum - a beach resort - very relaxing - all inclusve food/drink. There is so much to do in each place - the options are endless. Congrats on your wedding!!! :) Hope you have a blast!!! :)

Alana

 

You will not be sorry with Nachi. We were there this month and cannot wait to return.

[silvercrikhix]

Congrats on your wedding and honeymoon cruise!

Welcome to cruise critic.

Most people here are very helpful and will offer tons of information.

A lot of times every one likes different things though.

 

We enjoyed what we did in these three ports.

Roatan-- YES, use Victor Bodden. Personalized, private and inexpensive!

They went way out of the way for us 2X during our day very cheerful, friendly, informative and timely service.

Belize -- Ships tour to Altun Ha Mayan Ruins and Boating on River Wallace. The ruins were actually fascinating and the critters, (manatees monkeys, gators, etc...) homes and scenery on the river real neat to see.

Cozumel -- Ships tour, Passion Island by Twister Boat, awesome ride, all island inclusive beach, just fantastic! Corona Commercial filmed there -- Gorgeous!

 

Enjoy your cruise, and- oh, yeah...welcome to your new addiction. :D

[serene56]

we used Victor too. Awesome tour. did the Monkeys- a highlight of the entire cruise

[SeaScout]

Make sure you check in on the "Roll Call" forum for your cruise. It's always good to have some friends on board to help out a couple of cruise virgins. Enjoy and Congrats.

[tomsuelaw]

Here are my thoughts on each port:

 

Belize: Book a tour...either thru the cruise line or thru a local operator. There really is nothing close to port and I would not explore Belize on my own. We have scuba dove there last time and this time we are cave tubing with Charlie Chan's Cave Tubing.

 

Cozumel: NO need to book a tour. Great port to explore on your own. Taxis are readily available at port and at most tourist type places. In addition car rental is quite reasonable here (but you must buy mexican car insurance). Last time we rented a car at port and drove around and found Coconuts on the Beach...excellent food and drinks and amazing location. This time we are planning on doing Paradise Beach Resort.

 

Roatan: Victor Bodden!!!! Excellent tour operator!

[kpatrick74]

I went to Belize last year on Royal Caribbean and would recommend that you stay with your ship's excursions in this port. Even on the tour n on a bus, I was still a little worried traveling around. Especially when you see bars on windows, armed military guarding the banks, n armed traffic checkpoints every few miles. We did the Mayan ruins n it was worth every penny.

 

We did Nachi in Cozumel n loved it too

[askimdog]

3 cruises and only on our last cruise did we book an "excursion". And this was for a personal guide for the day (20 pp) in Roatan ( Juan Carlos).

 

Normally we just wander ports and explore on our own. A few times we hire a cab to drop us off somewhere and pick us up at a later time, away from the ship and shopping areas.

 

But if you like to explore and not into ziplining,shopping, beaches, atvs, swimming with critters, jeeps etc.. maybe just explore local culture and avoid a "excursion"?

[Will in sunny FL]

If you enjoy snorkeling I'd suggest that you look up the site for Coral Breeze Tours for one of the best snorkel trips that we have been on with Heni & her crew.

This is a non ships tour where you will snorkel the famous barrier reef at two locations & then enjoy a great local lunch on laid back Caye Caulker & then take the return boat ride back to the Tourist Village for some shopping before your tender back to your ship.

We have done this trip in Belize for about the last ten years probably twice a year & it is the best !

Enjoy belize.

Bill in FL

[june_newlyweds2012]

What day are you sailing? We are on Carnival Magic on November 18th to the same ports. Like was suggested by someone else - check out the ports of call cruise boards - there is tons of info there. We are doing cave tubing in belize with cavetubing.bz and in cozumel we are going to Nachi Cocum - a beach resort - very relaxing - all inclusve food/drink. There is so much to do in each place - the options are endless. Congrats on your wedding!!! :) Hope you have a blast!!! :)

Alana

 

Hey! that's the exact one we'll be on as well!!! i cannot wait!! wow cave tubing sounds like alot of fun; and a few people did mention the nachi beach thing! Thank you everyone for the best wishes and congrats- we are so anxious to go on this cruise! Cannot wait!!!:D:D:D

[june_newlyweds2012]

If you enjoy snorkeling I'd suggest that you look up the site for Coral Breeze Tours for one of the best snorkel trips that we have been on with Heni & her crew.

This is a non ships tour where you will snorkel the famous barrier reef at two locations & then enjoy a great local lunch on laid back Caye Caulker & then take the return boat ride back to the Tourist Village for some shopping before your tender back to your ship.

We have done this trip in Belize for about the last ten years probably twice a year & it is the best !

Enjoy belize.

Bill in FL

 

wow that sounds completely amazing!!! looks like we needed alot more money for this trip then intended!!! LOL we've never snorkled, but the two cruise bucket list items we wanna do for sure, is swim with dolphins and snorkle!!!!

[banditoo]

3 cruises and only on our last cruise did we book an "excursion". And this was for a personal guide for the day (20 pp) in Roatan ( Juan Carlos).

 

Normally we just wander ports and explore on our own. A few times we hire a cab to drop us off somewhere and pick us up at a later time, away from the ship and shopping areas.

 

But if you like to explore and not into ziplining,shopping, beaches, atvs, swimming with critters, jeeps etc.. maybe just explore local culture and avoid a "excursion"?

Askimdog, how do you reach Juan Carlos?

[june_newlyweds2012]

Askimdog, how do you reach Juan Carlos?

 

this is what I found :) http://www.islandertours.com/

[banditoo]

this is what I found :) http://www.islandertours.com/

Thanks, I found it too.

[Colorado Kat]

For our honeymoon we are cruising Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel in November of 2012.

I have some questions! We are wondering what kind of in's and out's advice ya'll have!! My boss told me about victor bodden in roatan for a private tour and snorkeling ; but we're wondering what kind of insider info we can book thru in belize and cozumel. Carnival excursions are SO EXPENSIVE!!! any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

Well, first you need to decide if you want relaxing, or busy days in port. We tend to alternate inexpensive beach days with more active & expensive excursion days.

 

As far as Cozumel, I would do a beach day. They have all-inclusives (all booze & food included for the day), or pay-as-you-go beaches. (If pay-as-you-go, check into Paradise Beach). Roatan is beautiful. I would definitely book a private tour, and you should be able to get some beach time there as well.

 

Have a great trip!

[mngolfer]

We will be in Belize in November and we are going cave tubing with shoretrips.com. A company from Wisconsin that we have used before and have had great luck and great service. Seems that an excursion is the way to go in Belize, but the other ports are very easy on your own if you like.

[jamerly]

We'll be in Cozumel next week and are going to Nachi Cocom. This will be our 4th time in Cozumel and our second time visiting Nachi - we tried last time, but it was sold out! It's and all inclusive beach club that limits itself to 100 visitors per day. Even when it gets full, it doesn't seem crowded. When we were there 2 years ago, it was just gorgeous and we can't wait to go back. I actually just booked yesterday, and it's $55 per person, with an $11 deposit per person (the $11 is part of your $55 total, not on top of it), and you pay the difference in person.....in cash! You do have to get yourself there, but that's super easy as all the taxi drivers know it, and there are taxis at Nachi all the time. It's about $15 each way. Be aware, you HAVE to book Nachi ahead of time, just google it, there are a couple of different websites you can use.

[bsharynu]

Do you think the Altun Ha Mayan ruins will be an ok excursion for a 3 and 5 year old? My kids are pretty flexible and easy going.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Ditto to Pasion Island Cozumel, or Nachi Cocom..Victor Bodden, only way to go in Roatan, and Coral Breeze/Hammerhead in Belize. Bannister Island was fun in Belize also. Click on this slideshow for photos. Has sound also. Congrats, welcome to CC , and have fun.:)

 

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0480-91a2-50e7?lb

[WileESuperGenious]

Here are my thoughts on each port:

 

Belize: Book a tour...either thru the cruise line or thru a local operator. There really is nothing close to port and I would not explore Belize on my own. We have scuba dove there last time and this time we are cave tubing with Charlie Chan's Cave Tubing. Can you let me know how it went with this tour operator after your return? I just ran across this one today. I like the idea of him being small and no hoards of people.

 

Cozumel: NO need to book a tour. Great port to explore on your own. Taxis are readily available at port and at most tourist type places. In addition car rental is quite reasonable here (but you must buy mexican car insurance). Last time we rented a car at port and drove around and found Coconuts on the Beach...excellent food and drinks and amazing location. This time we are planning on doing Paradise Beach Resort.

 

Roatan: Victor Bodden!!!! Excellent tour operator!

 

thank you!