Belize City and Honduras any input please....

[parttimr]

New cruisers here our first was this past January on the Valor Western Caribean and now looking to do it again in Jan 2014 on the Liberty. Some friends have been to Honduras but would like to know others input for these two ports as far as good, bad, and ugly, lol. Any input is much appreciated so we can get it booked.

[travlngrl1996]

There is a port of call section on this forum that could answer your questions. With that being said, the only time we attempted Belize, we couldn't go due to the high winds (I am praying we make it this time.) In Honduras, we did a city tour, nothing adventurous, just a last minute decision. Best of luck and happy planning.

[Colorado Kat]

I love Honduras. I assume Roatan? Beautiful island. Great snorkeling.

 

Look at the Port of Call area.

[AtSeaWithChris]

We went in June and it was really hit. In Roatan we used Victor Bodden tours for a driver and a car for the day. The only wrinkle was Laura (our guide) had trouble with her van and she (on her own) hired a friend to drive us on his old taxi that got us where we wanted to go just the air took minutes to cool and the door didnt work without learning the trick. It was an adventure. We booked that on our own from his website. He has a good reputation and knows how to run a business.

Roatan was beautiful but very poor. We saw the iguanas, monkeys and birds, the West End beach and ate locally. We did try the conch and iguana. Both are pretty good. Do stop at a local store to get coffee and vanilla. They sell the vanilla for $1.25 and the roadside vendors sell same bottle for $10.

 

Belize was pretty but poor as well. We did the AlTun Ha and River Wallace tour through Carnival and it was very good if you haven't done something like it. Very comfortable bus and nice boat and the people were very nice and knowledgable.

 

You get to see a lot of the countryside. The vendors at the Mayan ruins will bargain with you. Offer what you are willing to pay.

 

It is a trip Laura and I will never forget.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OCruisers]

Have a wonderful time in both! :)

 

As others have mentioned, you will really get so much information on what others have enjoyed and recommend for Belize and Roatan by checking the Ports of Call section under each of these ports stops.

 

LuLu

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[parttimr]

Thanks for getting back so quickly. I did find the ports of call and am now reviewing them also. Sounds like Victor Bodden tours is a popular event there. We did dolphins and stingrays on our first cruise and kinda want to see the real countryside this trip thus different ports. We were worried about missing the ship if we didn't book thru CC but it seems following other eperienced folks lead we would enjoy the vacation much more. Will keep lurching and thanks again.

Oh forgot to ask I thought you couldn't bring stuff back like coffee and vanilla etc but would like to try the local cofffees. any input there on what can and can't be brought back. We did manage to bring rum cakes back with no problems though.

[DaDivaMom]

Viktor hires locals and they are mostly awesome. We prefer Anthony. Our favorite spot is Half Moon Bay, near the West End. We had Anthony take us to a local cafe as well and had Iguana stew and Pig's feet...YUM! Local stores will have much better prices like another poster said than road side stands. This portion was about Roatan.

 

In Belize we've done all kinds of things, Cave tubing, cenote diving and yes I've even walked around the city alone. It's not that scary! There are beaches available on the barrier islands.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Both are great ports, been to both twice.

 

Belize:

In Belize its a fun port, but one port you'll want to make sure you take a Carnival excursion. The first time we were there we did Land Rover & Cave Expedition and it was by far one of the best excursions I've been on. Really good for the cost and value. You get to see a lot of what Belize is about during the trip to and from which was an added treat.

 

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509027

 

Roatan: Another great port, the first time we sailed there we docked at the old dock. We got a great island tour and went to a beach on the West side. Highly recommend this, taxi drivers will stay with you the entire time and treat you well. The second time, Carnivals new port "Mohogany Bay" was opened. While Mohogany Bay is beautiful it doesn't show the real Roatan as it very Carnivalized. That second trip we again took a taxi and went to the beach on the West Side and had an outstanding time.

 

Have a great cruise in whichever you ultimately decide. Be warned after your first cruise you'll have a new addiction, start preparing yourself now.

 

Happy sailing!

[what to go here and there]

rotan stunning , west beach please take me with you,, i am a beach person and it as nice as the beaches in Cuba.. beautiful.. Victor Boden tours great, driver was the best we have had, saw a lot of the island, went zip lining, beach, tour of island, ate with the locals and did buy at the stores and had a few briklin beers.

 

Belize -- went to the ruins, tour of the city

 

bring bug spray with you ... enjoy the ports

[parttimr]

Again folks thanks for all the feedback. Have been reading on the port area and think I have a clue now. Took my wife almost 33 yrs to get me on a cruise (needed to see land. lol) and now that we've done our first cruise and in a balcony room no less we are addicted.

[waldocruiser1]

We went in 2003 and loved the iguanna farm, it was cheap! But a lot of fun! Would do it again if we get back there.

[sailincajunns]

Again folks thanks for all the feedback. Have been reading on the port area and think I have a clue now. Took my wife almost 33 yrs to get me on a cruise (needed to see land. lol) and now that we've done our first cruise and in a balcony room no less we are addicted.

We used Victor Bodden tours as well. First time we ever did a 'private' tour. We asked for "Tex" based on tons of reviews. Expected he would probably be OK, but that he'd never be as good as the reviews made him out to be. WRONGO! He was simply amazing. If we ever have the good fortune to make it back, I hope Tex is still 'in the saddle'. What a joy of a human being. Have a GREAT time. We have found the secret is to 'take the weather with you' (as Jimmy B. would say)

[MoeDeckedOut]

We loved Roatan - we went though Bananarama in the West Bay area. It included the transportation there, we may have even gotten a free drink and snorkel stuff and a beach chair.

The snorkeling was awesome, just right from the beach. The kids loved it & so did we. It was a beautiful island and we plan to take a week long vacation there in the future because of this stop. It was our favorite.

[jamclarkbar]

We just returned from our cruise on the Carnival Liberty. First off...loved the ship and everywhere we went. We booked a private tour through Victor Bodden. It was inexpensive..$25 a piece and we had him for over three hours. I liked that he asked us what interested us and then made sure that we saw and did everything we wanted. We toured the whole island and stopped at the butterfly farm. Now there weren't hardly any butterflies but that was okay...the rest of the place was great. We interacted with the monkeys...Ho Ho and Louie. I held a baby monkey and we were given a tour of the rest of the animals. Wonderful! You cannot beat this tour, if you wanted to go to the beach or the zipline, he would have taken us there.

Now when it comes to Belize, you cannot beat cavetubing.bz with Vitalino Reyes. This was my second experience with cavetubing.bz and both times were extraordinary. For $50, they pick you up at the ship, take you on about a 30-45 min drive. They give you info about their country and are very pleasant. You then are given a helmet and a tube and start on a walk through the jungle. Its not strenuous. We stopped often and they talked about plant life and the jungle. Wonderful. We arrived at the river where they helped you in and then guided you through the caverns. It was remarkable. We arrived back and then were fed a meal by Vitalino's family. The food was great and so was the rum punch which there was an abundance of if you chose to partake. This second trip we added the zipline to it for an additional $25. So for $75, we got zipline, cavetubing, and a meal. Very reasonable. I might add had we booked through the ship, the cavetubing would have been $98 and that wouldn't have included the meal and punch. Its also a shorter version of what Vitalino gives you. A must!!! :D

[parttimr]

@ jamclarkbar soundds like a wonderful trip and right down our alley as far as things to do other than the beach. Liberty is also the ship were looking at being on. Was on the Valor this past January

[JimAOk1945]

We took ship sponsored excursions to see Mayan Ruins in both locations. It was worth it to have peace of mind just knowing the ship would wait for us. As it turned out, in both locations our excursions were very late in getting back.

 

Looking at pictures may help you decide what to do. My wife made slideshows from the pictures she took on our cruises and posted them on her website.

If you are interested in seeing them you can click on the links below. Each slideshow will play as soon as the page opens, but you can also go through the pictures by clicking on the thumbnails one at a time.

 

Happy cruising. It's a great way to travel!