Just Returned Today--Warning on Time/Getting off for Excursion!

[cowhip]

We just returned today from going to Progreso, Cozumel and Belize on the Carnival Elation going out of Galveston, Texas. Warning...!!!! In BELIZE Carnival decided to move the clocks back one hour and then the evening you leave Belize they tell you to move the clocks forward one hour. Also---ONLY IF YOU BOOKED a CARNIVAL tour will you be allowed to be the first one off. The purser told my husband that our sons could get off to go Cave Tubing through X-treme Sports and when they went down to the first tender they were told NO. X-treme DID wait about one hour for them at the pier due to hearing about this problem. However, the rest of my family missed the other excursion.

 

Just as a reference, we had called Carnivals "Escalation Desk" and was told that the ship time would stay the same time as what it was going out of Galveston (the port time). That didn't happen which caused us to miss at least one excursion which was going to take us to Ambergris Caye.

[heyheypaula]

I have always wondered about how the tendering process worked for those who have booked through independent tour guides--especially since the ship always gives tender tickets at specific times based on the ship-sponsored excurisons. My DH and I have never been brave enough to book through an independent operator, but the price savings makes it awfully tempting! Also--concerning the time change onboard...Our most recent cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy was the first one where we were told to set our watches back an hour and the next night to set them forward an hour. Our previous cruises stayed on the ship's time. I'm sorry to hear you missed your shore excursion...That is very disappointing. Did you find something else to do?? By the way, did you enjoy Progresso...We have considered taking the Elation and have wondered about that port of call.

[iluvtravel]

What time were your tours scheduled to depart? The time changes end up being very confusing, but, as I understand it, Belize time during Daylight Savings Time would normally be one hour behind ship time, so, if they moved the clock back an hour, we would actually match Belize time. Is that what happened? That would put the Elation in port at 8:00 a.m., Belize time. We have a tour scheduled to leave at 9:30 a.m. That sounds like plenty of time, unless I have something in my figuring messed up, which is a good possibility. Also, approximately how long DID it take to get ashore after the scheduled 8:00 arrival time?

[zydecocruiser]

When I was on Elation last September, they moved the ship time back an hour before Belize and moved it forward after. Think that is what they normally do.

 

In that case, the ship time and Belize time are the same.

 

It takes a long time to tender in Belize. I would try to get on the first tender you can. I ignored the tendering process/tickets and just merged in a group headed for a tender. No problem, but your mileage may vary.

 

When I make reservations for non-ship tours, I always let them know what ship I am on. Since they actually meet the people from the ships I think they have a better clue of what time the ships arrive.

[momnfrisco]

Did your kids have to rush back to make the ship or did they have plenty of time on their return from cave tubing? That is my biggest concern. If the tour does not wait then I am going to assume that they felt we did not have time, however, if they wait and take us, they better be darn sure they can get us back on time!

[AN123]

We were in Belize on 5/24/05 off Carnival Glory. They told us over and over again to leave our clocks set on ship time (eastern time zone). I purchased a cheap Wal-Mart watch set it to ship time and took it with me into Belize so I could always tell how long I had until the last tender was going to leave.

 

We booked a private shore excursion with Coral Breeze to snorkel so we knew that we would need to get a tender ticket since it wasn't through Carnival. We were told they would start handing out tender tickets at 9am on the ship. We went and got in line at 8:30am (we were one of the first ones). Got our ticket for the first "non-Carnival excursion" tender boat and we were loaded onto the tender boat by 9:15am. The tender ride was about 20 minutes. Our tour operator was very aware of the time we had to be back in order to catch the last tender. We no problems with our tour through Coral Breeze.

 

heyheypaula - We were in Progresso on 5/26. Booked the Chichen Itza ruin tour. It was amazing to see! The 2.5 hour bus ride each way wasn't that fun but we were able to get a much needed nap in. Others at our table booked the Corona Beach break and some other ruin tour. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I don't know that I would try to do Progresso on my own -- book an excursion of some kind if you go to this port.

[cowhip]

heyheypaula:

 

I talked with Maya Travel Services out of Belize and they told me that they are having problems with Carnival being consistant with arrival times and letting people off of set times to get on excursions NOT booked through Carnival. For the other post below, 9:30 should be fine. My taxi was to leave Belize at 8:00 and I had to be on my way to Ambergris by 8:30 am. For non-booked Carnival excursions, people were not getting off until around 9:00 am and it takes 15-20 mins for them to load the ferries and travel across to Belize.

 

X-Treme Cave Tubing did get my boys back on time and they absolutely loved the excursion. They said that the maximum tour size is 20 people---compared to over 100 in busloads through Carnival. Also, they went through one additional cave through X-treme.

 

In Progreso, we booked a tour through yucatantravel.com We were picked up at the pier and driven in an air conditioned van to Merida, the "capital of white buildings" where we were told interesting stories about the Maya people, their culture, language and history of the buildings (the oldest church in North America is there!). While there, our tour guide (Daniel) took us shopping at both a touristy area (hammocks were overpriced and they were asking $60) and then a TRUE Mexican market (where we got a hammock for $20)..what alot of fun! After that, we went to the VIP restaurant for a good lunch and then on to the Drizhutan (?) Maya Ruins to see the Temple of the Dolls which is about 15 mins from the pier/cruise ship. It was hot in the afternoon at the ruins, though. If you don't like heat and a long walk, you might pass on the ruins. However, they are very interesting, and if you don't want a two hour bus ride each way to Chicken Itza, its a good compromise. The tour lasted for about 3-4 hours and started around 9:00 am. Cost was about $60.00 per person (didn't include tip for the tour guide).

[cindydea]

We just returned from Carnival Elation 5/29 out of Galveston, did the whole Progresso, Cozumel, and Belize thing.

 

I agree the tendering process was disheartening.Carnival lets people who have booked Carnival tours to go first....but, Mavin from Wet and Wild said to just be on the first tender and that they would wait. So, the morning of arrival in Belize, we went to the room to sign up for a tender. Only one person from each group had to be in line. We were fourth, had 12 people. All got on 1st tender. We were off the boat by 8:30 and met our tour guide right off the tender.

 

The tour company did send an email telling us that Belize was not on Daylight savings time..so I guess we were prepared.

 

The tour company worked with us. He met us...and since there were only 12 in our group, we got to see an extra cave and had a blast. It was a fabulous time. I highly recommend www.belizecavetubing.com

[txteachers]

By the way, did you enjoy Progresso...We have considered taking the Elation and have wondered about that port of call.

We didn't want to take the lengthy bus ride to Chichen Itza - - so we went to the Dzibilchaltun Mayan Ruins. Just a short ride (@20 min) - - we're cheap so went on our own - - found a van taxi to take us, wait for us and bring us back. Us being 6 people - $65 total!

 

We had plenty of time when we got back to walk to Corona Beach, and do some shopping!

 

We had a great time!

[terryde]

We had booked May 24 with Yhony at Cave-tubing.com and just went to the Amber Palace where the Carnival tour groups were meeting. When they said ok, first group come this way to the tenders, we went with them and were on second tender. They didn't ask to see any tickets, or anything. The funny thing is the family we were chatting with while waiting were walking away from the "Carnival tour" signs in the direction we were going - we asked them where they were going and they had also booked with Yhony. It turned out that the seven of us were a group - and there were 95 in the Carnival group.

[IBRelaxin2]

We booked with Nacho from www. ncq adventuretours .com , and we were allowed to go on the 1st tender, we went down early about 45 mins-1hour before the first tender and were allowed off. We were told in the future it would be best to get the CD's approval, but since we had a confirmation email from Nacho w/ our tour time it was ok.