Stingray/Shark alley - private vs ship (NCL)

[hlb76]

Good Morning.. we are cruising in less than 3 weeks and finally decided we better decide on what to do. :o I really think we want to try snorkeling with the sharks/rays. I found a company Coral Breeze ( I think) that does a private tour for about $80 a person. The cruise ship tour is $140. We 99% of the time do private tours and never had an issue.

 

Quick pro and con - sure I'm missing lots but here is what comes to mind right away

 

Pro's of NCL tours

- no tendering - straight to the tour and back to the ship

- guaranteed not to miss the ship

 

Con's of NCL

- price (almost double the private)

 

Pro's of Private

- normally better attention and more one on one

-price

 

Con's of private

- having to tender to Belize to start tour

- missing tour if tenderings is pain

 

I'm so stuck.. I do need to be budget minded and private is MUCH cheaper. But the though of not dealing with the extra tender is soooo very nice yet I'm not sure its priceless.

 

What would you do??

[hlb76]

Anyone

[IslandBound79]

Anyone

 

 

We booked with Coral Breeze as well but sail out of Nola on March 20th. Carnival offers prioritized tendering (FTTF) so that was less of a concern. For us (as Canadians) The tour price mattered. I'm sure the ship tour would've been fantastic and being picked up directly from the ship is a great perk, but in the end I couldn't pass on Coral Breeze's price. Plus the fact that they allow observers to go out on the boat and see the sharks and stingrays without snorkelling!!! We're traveling with a large group of people and that was a great option for our group. [emoji4]

[hlb76]

We booked with Coral Breeze as well but sail out of Nola on March 20th. Carnival offers prioritized tendering (FTTF) so that was less of a concern. For us (as Canadians) The tour price mattered. I'm sure the ship tour would've been fantastic and being picked up directly from the ship is a great perk, but in the end I couldn't pass on Coral Breeze's price. Plus the fact that they allow observers to go out on the boat and see the sharks and stingrays without snorkelling!!! We're traveling with a large group of people and that was a great option for our group. [emoji4]

 

 

Love having FTTF we get each time we can. I am not aware of anything like that on NCL. The difference in price is a huge factor for us too.

[pambud96]

FYI In December on Carnival, they no longer pick you up at the ship, you have to tender in on all tours. You do get priority tender but lots were not happy. rWe were going to do Goff Caye with the ship until we were told we would still have to tender. Most all private tours guarantee they will get you back on time.

[IslandBound79]

That's great to know Pambud96! The only reason I was considering paying more for the Carnival tour was the fact that they picked up directly from the ship. Now that this isn't the case I'm super glad we were able to save a few $$$

[HouNew2Cruise]

I just got back from NCL Jade today. My friend and I just tendered to the port, and walked outside the port to try and get on the Coral Breeze Shark Ray Alley tour. However, they could not take two more people. They suggested I walk down the street to a guy from Splash Wave tours.

 

That Splash Wave Tour guy was just to the left outside of the gate, probably a 75 yards down the street against the port wall, with a table/umbrella combo. We told him we wanted to go to Hol chan to snorkel and Shark Ray Alley. We had our own gear, and asked him what the price would be. He quoted us 60 each. That worked for us. I think we got a better deal than they would normally give.

 

He walked us out to the pier outside of the port, which was a 5 minute walk. We paid the Splash Wave Tour lady there and tipped the guy that walked us over.

 

We had to wait about 20 minutes before departing, as we were early trying to get on an excursion without reservations. The other people showed up, and it looks like they walked with a different guy. They settled up their bills. They got them their fins there. We all (about 10 people and 2 tour operators and boat captain) got on the 25 (?) ft boat and we headed to caye caulker.

 

Normal ride to caye caulker. Stopped there for 10 minutes for bathroom breaks. Then headed to Hol chan. Snorkeled there for about 40 minutes. Saw a sea turtle, mana rays, sting ray, and various fish. It was pretty good. You had to stay near the guide and he took us a certain way. There were about 5 other boats there.

 

Then a short boat ride to shark Ray alley. We got to snorkel there too with the sharks and rays. We had about 40 minutes there too and the Sharks were abundant. I really liked that. I had been before where it was a little shallower and you just waded, that had less sharks. This time I think we only had one other boat near us.

 

Then back to caye caulker for lunch if you wanted it. You preordered it when you first arrived during the short bathroom break before the snorkeling.

 

On the way back from caye caulker, you go through the split and feed the tarpons. Just like I have done on other excursions to there.

 

Overall it was my best Belize excursion. We might have gotten a better than normal deal, as their website shows 70, but still would be a good tour. I would recommend Splash Wave Tours. Just don't judge the book by the cover, as they are not flashy. They get the job done.

 

Btw, Coral Breeze Tours had left after us from the same pier outside of the port and they came to the same place we were eating lunch. I imagine they did pretty much the exact same excursion.

 

 

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Edited March 6, 2016 by HouNew2Cruise

[hlb76]

Thanks so much for this review. We did end up booking Coral Breeze. Any suggestions or tips about the tender process? I'm assuming it's going better now as I have not been reading as many horror stories lately. Couple questions about your tour. Did you have lunch? what kind of things where on the menu and cost? After snorkeling was there a place to clean up and change? I can deal with it but I always prefer to rinse off and change once out of the ocean if we are going land based things. Did you get much time back on the island?

[HouNew2Cruise]

I just had chicken and fries for $7.50, which was fresh cut up chicken strips fried. I was going to get shrimp and fries, which I think was 9, but the waitress said it was sticks. I assumed she meant preprocessed into a stick, like a fish stick. So I did the chicken, which was supposed to be the same thing. Although that was fresh, so maybe it was just fried she meant.

 

Coke $1.50, local beer $2.50. The menu shows prices in Belize currency, but you just divide by 2 for US. They do give you change in Belize currency, so bring smaller bills.

 

They did have fresh water shower outside. They had one person bathrooms inside, so you can change there after you dried off.

 

Island time, I think we were going to be there for 90 minutes. We probably stayed for 50, as we were all ready to head back.

 

 

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Edited March 6, 2016 by HouNew2Cruise