Mahogany Bay vs. LFK

[DanishJourney]

I'm not sure if these two places even can be compared but I would love to get some thoughts from cruises there have been both places.

 

This December I will be taking a Christmas cruise with my 16 year old son and one port is Roatan.

 

First I liked the idea with some beach time right by the ship where I didn't have to plan an excursion and just stay close to the ship with the possibility of going back to the ship for lunch and enjoy the ship without too many people on board.

 

Then I read about Little French Key and it really looks nice. But here we won't have the possibility to get back and forth on the ship during the day or even enjoy the view of the ship. But I have no doubt that the beach it self is much prettier if going to LFK.

 

Or maybe we should be going to a totally other place?

 

Any comments are welcome - I have a lot of time before our cruise and I can change my mind a thousand times 😂😂

[OCruisers]

Mahogany Bay has a very decent beach area and is easy ... but, if snorkeling is of importance to you, you'll need to go elsewhere.

[ABQrobin]

Mahogany beach is easy, but it gets crowded since its free and right at the ship. If you want a pretty beach go to the West End area, several there. If you want great snorkeling, get away from a beach, spashing people scare away the fish.

[BrotherCraig]

carnival did a great job with their port there and it is very nice. Most people do Mahogany Bay and enjoy it. It is a decent beach. LFK is very highly recommended. I am not a big fan of the beach and stuff there but most people do like it a lot. I never heard anything bad about it. We also do West Bay Beach, very beautiful, and then West End Village. You would have to go on an excursion or get a private driver for the day (Victor Bodden or others).

 

A lot to do in Mahogany Bay though and it is free. You can even zip line there, extra cost, and other things like that.

[DanishJourney]

Thanks to everyone :)

 

We will be going snorkeling in Belize so this will not be a priority when in Roatan.

 

I will look into West Bay Beach as well.

 

I forgot to mention that my son isn't normally the biggest beach goer and I'm sure that he will also enjoy the less crowded pool on the ship. But he could be in the water forever when we went to Bahamas, so I'm thinking that he will love the Caribbean water everywhere. I have tried to ask him, but he - being a teenager - clearly doesn't understand the concept of planning :D:D:D

[BrotherCraig]

Thanks to everyone :)

 

We will be going snorkeling in Belize so this will not be a priority when in Roatan.

 

I will look into West Bay Beach as well.

 

I forgot to mention that my son isn't normally the biggest beach goer and I'm sure that he will also enjoy the less crowded pool on the ship. But he could be in the water forever when we went to Bahamas, so I'm thinking that he will love the Caribbean water everywhere. I have tried to ask him, but he - being a teenager - clearly doesn't understand the concept of planning :D:D:D

 

 

Definitely don't stay on the ship in Roatan. Best island Carnival goes to in my opinion and always in the top 5 most beautiful beaches in the world. I will agree with those rankings. You can also snorkel right from the beach in West Bay Beach and the reef is right there. My wife is a terrible swimmer and got to see a lot of great marine life without having to swim at all ( Doggy paddle ). lol Belize is great for snorkeling as well so that is great.

[NoWhiners]

Can you buy wine at any of the shops at Mahogany Bay? We will spend the afternoon at Bananarama and may need to replenish our cabin wine supply when we return.

 

Thx

ML

[crewsweeper]

No. Only bottle alcohol sold not to be consumed in port is at the Dufry shop and they may automatically send that to the ship for storage until you return.

 

You can ask the folks at Bannarama where to buy in West Bay or West End. The driver might take you to Eldon's in Coxen Hole.

 

If you're on a Carnival ship at Mahogany Bay, they won't let you replenish your wine in ports. If you do buy wine and want to attempt to get it on board, your best bet is to go back on board when there's a long line, as you come through the security scanner on boarding, they may just direct you to the "liquor" table where they hold your liqour purchases until you return. It might be possible to then slip by all the folks lining up there. But that's a risk.

[NoWhiners]

No. Only bottle alcohol sold not to be consumed in port is at the Dufry shop and they may automatically send that to the ship for storage until you return.

 

You can ask the folks at Bannarama where to buy in West Bay or West End. The driver might take you to Eldon's in Coxen Hole.

If you're on a Carnival ship at Mahogany Bay, they won't let you replenish your wine in ports. If you do buy wine and want to attempt to get it on board, your best bet is to go back on board when there's a long line, as you come through the security scanner on boarding, they may just direct you to the "liquor" table where they hold your liqour purchases until you return. It might be possible to then slip by all the folks lining up there. But that's a risk.

 

 

Thanks for this info, I was thinking we could stop on our way back from bananarama. We are on Princess and I have been reading that they will let you bring bottles on in ports, either paying the corkage fee or not. I'll do more research!

 

ML

[jbobst]

Thanks to everyone :)

 

We will be going snorkeling in Belize so this will not be a priority when in Roatan.

 

I will look into West Bay Beach as well.

 

I forgot to mention that my son isn't normally the biggest beach goer and I'm sure that he will also enjoy the less crowded pool on the ship. But he could be in the water forever when we went to Bahamas, so I'm thinking that he will love the Caribbean water everywhere. I have tried to ask him, but he - being a teenager - clearly doesn't understand the concept of planning :D:D:D

 

Hi there, just wanted to give you a quick recommendation. We did our first visit to Roatan last December on Princess and also visited Belize. We did a ship sponsored snorkel excursion in Belize that was absolutely horrible. Then the next day we visited Roatan and just did the West Bay Beach area at a resort with their day pass. The beach snorkelling there was amazing and far, far better than the expensive ship excursion we did in Belize. I am sure many people have had good snorkeling experiences in Belize, so maybe our excursion was just a bad day. But Roatan snorkeling (once you got away from the sandy beach area) was very nice and far superior. I loved Roatan and can't wait to go back there this May! Belize...not so much. Then again, I've never tendered into the town there, but I did do a scuba excursion in Belize once that was nice (different sort of thing though).

Edited March 21, 2016 by jbobst

[sminfiddle]

Little French Key. You can be as active or laid-back as you want to be. The water and reef there is great.