Questions About Coral Breeze

[mark1]

How much ahead should one book? Do they add tours? I am interested in next April.

[boatbunny]

Hi Mark,

 

We used Coral Breeze for our April spring vacation cruise (RCCL Explorer). They are wonderful to work with.

 

I would suggest booking as early as possible, especially if you are planning on one of the more popular excursions like cave tubing or the snorkel/ray&shark/Caulker Caye excursion and since your trip is during the busy spring break season. They keep the tour numbers pretty small, so to insure you get a spot, I'd book as soon as possible.

 

If you check out their website, they do provide their policy on refunds of deposits. I'm pretty sure if you cancel before the cruise, you'll get your deposit back.

 

We booked about 5-6 months out for our vacation, but if I knew I was going again, I'd book right away. Also, they are gaining a lot of popularity, especially from all the positive feedback on these boards.

 

Have an awesome trip!

Michelle

(fellow NH cruiser!)

[SunFunCruiser]

We only booked a month out. We went a couple of weeks ago & our ship was sold out. You can probably email them & ask how busy it is the week you are going. Paul is very nice & responds quickly.

[taillon]

We booked about five months ahead just to make sure we would get it! It was wonderful, they are great to work with!!! I am getting ready to post a review of our trip last week.:)

[kchesneylover]

Does Coral Breeze Unlimited have a website? I wanted to book the Barrier Reef Snorkel Rendezvous Key BEach Break Excursion with them.

 

 

Thanks.

[zydecocruiser]

Does Coral Breeze Unlimited have a website? I wanted to book the Barrier Reef Snorkel Rendezvous Key BEach Break Excursion with them.

 

 

Thanks.

 

http://www.coralbreezelimited.com/

[slineberry528]

We booked out tour with Coral Breeze several months ahead of time. There were only 4 of us on the tour. The boat was small. Maybe would have held a few more.

[vicocala]

I booked only two weeks ahead, no problem, but it was just me going.

 

I wish they took full payments by CC rather than just the deposit. I don't like handing cash to strangers in a foriegn country.

[taillon]

vicocala:

I was worried about that too but really it was just fine! Actually I handed my envelope to Monique and she checked our names off her clipboard list and we walked away to do a little shopping while we waited for the other family's tender to get there and suddenly I thought "what if I just handed my money to some scam artists?? What if it wasn't really Coral Breeze??" :eek: But it was cool....they have on coral colored polo shirts on that say Coral Breeze on them and have your name right there. Just hand them the cash and they will take care of you!!

[dbarry]

Vicocala -

 

I emailed them at info@coralbreezelimited.com, and requested to pay my balance due. No problem, they responded quickly and sent me a link to fill out a payment form, now my tour with them is paid in full and the only cash I need to carry is for tips for the guides, a tip for lunch service, and souvenirs. I'm uncomfortable carrying lots of cash anywhere too. I believe that they also accept traveler's checks.

 

Hope this helps,

Darlene

[vicocala]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will do that too, Darlene. Would anyone like to suggest tips for the guide and/or resteraunt staff? Do the guides share the tip with the staff?

[vicocala]

Oh, one other question,

 

about tubing not the company per se, and I know it will vary somewhat depending on rainfall.

 

How deep is the water if you jump in from the cliff?

[vicocala]

Kinda disappointed,

 

I sent the e-mail and requested recommended tipping for guides and bbq personnel as well and just got back a general information form letter that ignored my information requests. :mad:

 

I replied to that message asking them to clarify my questions. I hope with this second attempt I get a little better service.

[SunFunCruiser]

Kinda disappointed,

 

I sent the e-mail and requested recommended tipping for guides and bbq personnel as well and just got back a general information form letter that ignored my information requests. :mad:

 

I replied to that message asking them to clarify my questions. I hope with this second attempt I get a little better service.

 

 

I asked them in person and they couldn't answer me. Maybe they just don't want to be involved or know what we tip the guides.

[taillon]

Maybe the address you used is just for general automated information?? Not sure...when I went to their website and clicked on "Contact us" and filled out the form, I got a personal response from Paul. Try that.

 

As far as tips....that is up to the individual, depending on service. I am not sure the others in our group tipped the wait staff but we left a few dollars at the cafe. As for the guide....we loved him so we gave him 10 and the driver 5, I think.

 

I have seen a large range of tips. If I would have had the cash, I would have given more.

 

Depth of water when we were in Belize a few weeks ago was maybe around 10 ft. I know we had to pull our legs up when we hit the water, and my bottom still touched the bottom a bit. You don't have to jump in...there is a rope with knots in it, from there you back down into your tube. The guide will hold the tube in place while you back in.

 

Hope that answers it all!

 

You will love it....I wish I could go again!

[Welove2cruise2]

We will be in Belize on a Saturday -- according to their calendars, they do not have tours on the weekend. Has anyone had any luck booking a tour with them on a Saturday or Sunday?

[vicocala]

This is the reply I got back from Paul Shields, as you can see he is very concerned about our needs. He sent the other form and I paid off the excursion.

 

 

Hi Victor,

 

I received both of your emails. You responded to one of our automated emails saying it did not address your concerns. That was just a timing thing. You sent an email to us about your concerns (this one I'm responding to) and it just so happened that our system was scheduled to send you the tour reminder email. So the email was not in response to your concerns.

In any case, I will kick off an email to you that will provide you the instructions for paying your balance by credit card. You will receive that email soon.

As far as tipping goes, that is always a tough thing to answer. We strongly feel this is a personal choice. Our guides are proud to show off their country and also know they will get better tips if they provide great service. If everyone just gave the guides $1 or $5 or $10 and so on, there would be nothing to tell them if they did good or not. I know you are looking for a straight answer to this, but I will leave it up to you. You will find that your guide is of more help at the BBQ restaurant that the wait staff. Since everything is pre-ordered and prepared, they simply just bring it out to you and the is the last you see of them. Your guide will help with anything you need. On our snorkel tour, it is a different situation because we are at a true restaurant where the wait staff is attentive.

Regarding the great service you have heard about, this is not by mistake. Our crew and staff live and breath service. They know we accept nothing less than excellence or they don't work for Coral Breeze. We constantly review testimonials (good or not so good) as well as reviews from sites like Cruisecritics.com. They really can't hide from the service they give. Our guests let us know how the tour went each day. That information is used to maintain a high level of service to everyone.

 

I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to ask.

 

Thank you,

Paul Shields

Coral Breeze Limited

[taillon]

We will be in Belize on a Saturday -- according to their calendars, they do not have tours on the weekend. Has anyone had any luck booking a tour with them on a Saturday or Sunday?

 

Email Paul and ask him about it. I am sure they will still book it for you!

Tanya

[kchesneylover]

Can you please tell me how long (hours) you snorkel with Coral Breeze excursion?

 

Thank you.

[crzn4fun]

Thanks to all for the info on Coral Breeze. I went ahead and booked the shark/ray snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion with lunch for our March cruise. Since it was spring break I wanted to make sure our party of 5 was able to go! I have only booked through the cruise lines before and would never have attempted this if not for the folks here at CC!

 

Thanks again!

[missjean]

Can you please tell me how long (hours) you snorkel with Coral Breeze excursion?

 

Thank you.

 

It was most of the day. We were picked up at 10:30 am and arrived back in Belize City short of 4:00 pm. There is a timeline on the website stating what happens throughout the tour, and they stick to their times. They do make sure that you are back in plenty of time so when you book your tour, they email back some information about timing, and what the situation will be for your particular cruise.

 

We enjoyed the snorkel tour & Caye Caulker excursion, so if you have specific questions I can try and answer them.

[missjean]

Thanks to all for the info on Coral Breeze. I went ahead and booked the shark/ray snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion with lunch for our March cruise. Since it was spring break I wanted to make sure our party of 5 was able to go! I have only booked through the cruise lines before and would never have attempted this if not for the folks here at CC!

 

Thanks again!

 

You will enjoy it! I just got back from the Elation and did the very same excursion. I really enjoyed the people and as a first-time snorkeler, they were very patient and showed me some really cool stuff! The guides are genuine in their tour (not just saying what tourists want to hear) and you can tell they really love what they do! Let me know if you have specific questions and I can help...

[lawtyger]

Thanks for the info on Coral Breeze. One question I had was regarding snorkeliing at Caye Caulker. Basically, how is it. It appears from the schedule on their website that the two stops equal and hour and 1/2 of snorkeling. I'd like to do a little more. Can it be done at Caye Caulker?

 

Thanks, Chris

[Altacan]

This is the reply I got back from Paul Shields, as you can see he is very concerned about our needs. He sent the other form and I paid off the excursion.

 

Glad to hear you got a response to your questions. Can you give me an email address so I can forward some of my concerns directly to Paul .

Happy sailing!!! :D