Coral Breeze lost snorkler?

[freezone]

Heard a rumour Coral breeze might be shut down from losing a snorkler? Anyone know anything? Wanted to use tour in a few weeks wondering if I should make alternate plans?

[LizaMM]

Oh my gosh! Where did you hear this??

[freezone]

It's definetly too bad but they should have posted some kind of message either on this message board or their web site saying they we're temporarily unavailable. Have seen their responses in past threads so I know they are on. Maybe they we're a little busy. Anyway decided to go with Eco Tour due to unknown circumstances.

[clydehiller]

If you look at the posts from this "lady", she obviously works for the company that she is promoting

[mrleo33]

I am not a huge fan of Coral Breeze and they are not a company I would recommend based on my own personal experiences. I did a little research and from what I can tell the incident everyone is referring to here did happen but the tour company was not Coral Breeze.

Here is a news article about the incident:

http://www.belizean.com/mt-static/archives/2005/12/belize_tour_com.html

[Coral Breeze]

I would like to straighten out this story and rumors that are flying around about Coral Breeze.

 

First I would like to point out that Cruisecritic rule prohibit tour companies promoting their business on the boards. As “clydehiller” points out, it seems that “meztisolady” only posts things about tours in Belize. Of course we appreciate the comment that Coral Breeze is “cool”, but the fact of the matter is the CC Community Managers should look into this.

 

In any case, back to the rumors. The article posted by “mrleo33” refers to an incident that happened a month ago. As he points out, that was not Coral Breeze. It was actually from a ship sponsored tour off of one of Norwegian’s ships.

 

I’m not sure where the rumors are coming from regarding Coral Breeze being shut down. But to clear up any miscommunications, I will set the record straight. There was an unfortunate incident this past week where a guest died from an apparent heart attack on a snorkeling tour. This did NOT “shut down” Coral Breeze, but the appropriate authorities are investigating the incident as they should. Guests booked with Coral Breeze are being accommodated on tours with other operators who run similar tours. We expect this should only last into next week.

 

So to sum it up, Coral Breeze did not “lose” a snorkeler as this post was titled. And Coral Breeze is not shut down

[LizaMM]

Paul -

 

I am very glad to see that you straightened this out here on the boards.

 

Unfortunatly, it seems to be human nature and in all cultures we see people who hear abit of a tory and then pass it along, embelleshed, and claim it to be fact. Yup....A Rumor.

 

I would like to point out that the article that was linked above VERY CLEARLY states the name of the tour operator and also VERY CLEARLY states that it was contracted directly by the cruisline. Just goes to show you.....Just because it is a cruiseline "sponsored" tour does not mean that the cruiselines have been able to adequately verify them as "good" which means that we can do just as thorough (if not more!) a job selecting an independant tour operator when we cruise!

 

GOOD LUCK to you Paul and everyone at Coral Breeze!

[bobwat]

We just got back from our cruise today (Carnival Miracle) and had the Caye Caulker excursion (Beach in Paradise) booked with Coral Breeze (Thursday, Jan 12th). We showed up at the meeting place in front of the wet lizard about 45 minutes before the meeting time. We were the first there. Ten or 15 other cruise people showed up shortly after but no Coral Breeze. Some had booked our excursion to Caye Caulker, others had booked the cave tubing tour. About 15 minutes after the tour was supposed to start a man from the Belize Tourism Authority came by and made an announcement. He said that Coral Breeze was no longer in business and that we would have to find another tour to go on. He was very helpful in finding us something else but went on to say that Coral Breeze was not allowed to do tours anymore because they didn't have the proper tourism licenses. He also mentioned that this was discovered after they lost a snorkler several weeks prior to this. I did not receive an email, or any other notification until this time. I don't know if we will get our deposits back or not; but kind of doubt it since they didn't even bother to inform us in advance. This was really troubling to me as I have read so many good reviews and comments about Coral Breeze. We ended up getting the same excursion through "Paradise by Air", but it left 2 hours later in the day and limited our time on Caye Caulker to about 2 hours. By the way, Caye Caulker was wonderful and we didn't want to leave. We are thinking about going on vacation there sometime in the future. A Very laid back and beautiful place. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Bobwat

[bobwat]

Paul,

 

What do I have to do to get my deposit back? I read your earlier comment about the lost snorkler and can only post what the Belize Tourism guy told us. I certainly can't say that I know what happened, but I can positively state that Coral Breeze was not operational when we were there on Thursday, January 12th. I can also positively state that I had no notice of this prior to arriving in Belize. I checked email and phone messages before I left for our cruise; as well as on the ship. I also don't understand how you can say that you are still in business! Do you know what a shock it was to us when we were waiting for your company and you never showed up. My deposit is not the most important thing to me but I am really upset that your company caused us loose a half of our time in Belize, plus having to go through the stress and uncertainty of knowing what to do. Shame on you for misrepresenting the facts!

 

PS: I have never posted on this board before (until this message and the one just before this), as this was our first cruise and we used this excellent website for research, information, and opinions. I just want to make sure that no one else has to go through what we had due to your company's irresponsible actions and unethical behavior.

 

Bobwat

[Coral Breeze]

bobwat,

I have emailed you directly to discuss.

[ToddWelch]

Hi Paul....we are booked on your tour for next week (Jan.26th). I have read all the posts and had also call the travel belize 1-800 number on the weekend when I heard the rumors flying around. They confirmed that you were not operating tours currently and had no paperwork indicating that you would be re-starting in the near future. I assume that I should be finding another tour to go on....I don't want to get off the ship and waste time like others have or get stuck on a tour we don't want to do. Any comments....

 

Thanks

Todd

[cruisegirl29]

Hi Paul,

 

What is all this? Were were on the Snorkel, Manatee Watch & Bannister Island Beach Break last Wed Jan 11th & I must say it was AWESOME! Now as I'm reading this are you really out of business now? here is my review:

 

Wed, Jan 11th 9:30am-We met Coral Breeze Tour Guides, checked in & gave them our cash for our tour. 9:50am Met back at the Wet Lizard as were instructed to do. They had 3 tours going & it took about 15 min. for them to organize each one. When they were done about 20 of us board a small boat & left on our way to Manatee Watch. Some people did see 2 Manatees but I didn't get on top of the boat to see it. After approx. 30 min. we were on our way to Bannister Island. Myself, mom-in-law & my two girls departed to the Island while the rest of our family stayed aboard to head out to snorkel. While they were gone we headed for the resturant to get some lunch that was included. (burgers, bbq chicken, chicken fingers, hot dogs) Typical beach food. It was average in flavor. We also had 3 drink tickets. Soda, Fruit punch & rum punch. The Island was wonderful. When we arrived all the cruiseship tours were leaving so the island was very quiet. Only a couple of independent tours came & it still was nice & not overloaded with people. About an hour later the rest of the snorkel gang came back. They all said that the snorkeling was great. The guides carefully watched them. One on the boat, & two in the water. Helped point out a nurseshark, and other fish. Everyone really enjoyed it-first time snorkelers probably would be a bit nervous as you were in very deep water & jumped in from the boat. All of enjoyed another 2 hours or so on the beach. Playing in the water, soaking up some sun & they also had plenty of chairs that were in the shade under the palm trees. We board back on our boat around 3:30 & went to the belize port by 4pm. It was a perfect day & THANK YOU CORAL BREEZE! You deserve to be treated better!!! Our guides, Jodi, Justin & Popeye were truely wonderful!

 

So Paul what's is true? Did you really close the day after we were there?????

 

Sue

[himandme]

Just signed up for the snorkel Caye Caulker tour for our February cruise. I don't want to leap to judgement but am a bit worried by some of the

comments. Want to have a good experience. Can someone from Coral Breeze please clarify the situation.???

[shannonh]

Any updates on Coral Breeze? We are schedule with them in February and I'm a little concerned.

[bchbms]

We just reserved with Coral Breeze yesterday and received an email confirmation last night. Then I read all of this....

 

I am concerned as well. Hope someone will answer.

[cruisegirl29]

Hi All,

 

I see that your all worried about Coral Breeze. Don't worry. I'm sure there was some misunderstanding that's just getting out of control. We used Coral Breeze last week Wed Jan 11th & had an awesome time. I would use them again! It was a perfect day!

 

So don't worry!

Sue

[jetskier]

Hi All,

 

I see that your all worried about Coral Breeze. Don't worry. I'm sure there was some misunderstanding that's just getting out of control. We used Coral Breeze last week Wed Jan 11th & had an awesome time. I would use them again! It was a perfect day!

So don't worry!Sue

 

Sue,

How can you say dont worry? This gentleman was not able to go on his tour and to hear from a Tourism official as to the reason why not. He has every right to be upset. Also Coral Breeze is no longer listed with the Belize Tourism Board. http://www.travelbelize.org

 

Dave

[Coral Breeze]

I'm sorry for taking so long to respond but I want to update everyone on the situation with Coral Breeze. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, there was an unforunate situation on a tour on 1/10. This sparked an investigation as is should have. While this investigation is ongoing, we can not operate tours in our regular manner. We have been facilitating our guests to other operators who do similar tour to ensure our guests can receive the tour they signed up for. It has not all gone smoothly as there was little or no time to plan for this. We are communicating via email to our guests of any changes to their tour prior to their ship departing. For those who were left "hanging" when you arrived last week I do apologize. This was not part of the plan but we were not allowed to enter the village where we meet our guests and since the ships had already sailed, we had no way to communicate this.

Some of the operators we are using are hiring our regular guides to handle the additional guests. So you will see the same level of service as with a Coral Breeze Tour.

I ask that if you have any specific questions that you email me directly. I'm getting a lot of emails and I'm trying to answer them as quickly as possible.

Your patients is appreciated as we work through resolving these issues.

[snorkelgran]

I'm going on my first cruise with Carnival to Belize in February and I'm really look forward to it as I'm snorkel crazy and lots of people have told me Belize has great reef... so, I was considering pre-booking a tour but this thread has got me thinking....

 

Its an unfortunate fact that there are accidents in the tourism industry the world over and I agree they should be investigated as full as possible, but what I don't understand is why Discovery Divers (see http://www.belizean.com/mt-static/ar..._tour_com.html) appear to still be operating after their incident, yet Coral Breeze seem to have had their operations suspended... was one case different to the other?

 

I'm not sure an answer will help me decide where to snorkel after all this, but I'm just curious...!

 

Melli

[cruisegirl29]

Hi,

 

Now that's interesting. What happened on Jan 10th? We took the tour on Jan 11th. I didn't snorkel but most of my group I was with did. They said that they watched very closely while everyone was in the water. One or two of the guides were in the water while another watch from the boat. Maybe since something went wrong the day before they were more careful?

 

Would really like to know what happened on the 10th? Losing snorkler? Like leaving them behind or drowned? I emailed Paul/coral breeze a few days ago but like he said "he's trying to respond to the emails", I'm sure he's getting a ton! Just wondering.....

 

Sue

[LizaMM]

Hi,

 

Now that's interesting. What happened on Jan 10th? We took the tour on Jan 11th. I didn't snorke* but most of my group I was with did. They said that they watched very c*ose*y whi*e everyone was in the water. One or two of the guides were in the water whi*e another watch from the boat. Maybe since something went wrong the day before they were more carefu*?

 

Wou*d rea**y *ike to know what happened on the 10th? *osing snork*er? *ike *eaving them behind or drowned? I emai*ed Pau*/coral breeze a few days ago but *ike he said "he's trying to respond to the emai*s", I'm sure he's getting a ton! Just wondering.....

 

Sue

 

If you re-read Pau*s post he says that they have been accomodating a** their booked tours by using other operators. He a*so says that many of these other operators have hired Cora* Breeze emp*oyees in order to keep up with the extra business. This may be how your tour went through.

 

I think that the attention everyone received on your excursion was the norm. One of the reasons booking a private opertor for an excursion is because of the *eve* of service that can be provided due to the sma**er group etc.

 

As far as the "*ost" wording...I was wondering the same thing when I first stumb*ed upon this thread. I don't remember where - if it is on this thread or another - but I be*ieve it refers to a person who died of natura* causes. I am unc*ear as to why they are unab*e to operate on their own except that as Pau* stated an investigation is going on and during such time they must not operate. Persona**y I suspect that something e*se must be invo*ved - it may be a simp*e paperwork issue or something much more.

 

As Snorke*Gran said...I too find it odd that the company of which the other story was about - where the incident with the Pax was natura* but incorrect *icensing was found - is sti** operating, if in fact it is.

 

Too many questions to figure out! AND we are dea*ing with a different country than our own so we don't know how they investigate or what their ru*es are. Be*ize seems to be pretty strict with tour operators....

 

ANYWAY.....I had been contemp*ating an excursion with Cora* Breeze and wound up deciding we wanted to do the ships excursion to Goff's Caye. but I have to say that if I were booked I wou*d probab*y change to a different excursion for the time being.

 

I do wish Pau* and a** the fo*ks at Cora* Breezes we**! P*ease try to keep us informed as best you can as many of us here at Cruise Critic appreciate above a** honesty and information! I know that if I am ab*e to see your invo*vement in keeping the info re*iab*e then I wou*d definet*y be inc*ined to book with you on my next trip!!

[cruisegirl29]

Ok,

 

I went up & re-read the posting. Now I understand. I'm sure it will be cleared up & hope they continue with their tours. If they had another tour operator do ours or if it was there people-they were fantastic & would highly recommend them. It was a highlight of our cruise.

 

Happy sailing!

Sue

[zydecocruiser]

Hi,

 

Now that's interesting. What happened on Jan 10th? We took the tour on Jan 11th. I didn't snorkel but most of my group I was with did. They said that they watched very closely while everyone was in the water. One or two of the guides were in the water while another watch from the boat. Maybe since something went wrong the day before they were more careful?

 

Would really like to know what happened on the 10th? Losing snorkler? Like leaving them behind or drowned? I emailed Paul/coral breeze a few days ago but like he said "he's trying to respond to the emails", I'm sure he's getting a ton! Just wondering.....

 

Sue

 

 

Nothing that newsworthy. Heart attack.

 

http://www.sanpedrosun.net/old/06-023.html

[cruisegirl29]

I agree-thanks for the update!

 

Sue

[snorkelgran]

Thanks for the link zydecocruiser! Presumably that story relates to the Coral Breeze and it would appear that the death was not their fault but due to natural causes. I guess Paul won't be able to give us any details until the investigation is completed but thoughts go out to the friends and family of this unlucky guy.

 

It still begs my original question though - why have Coral Breeze had to suspend normal operations when Discovery Divers did not when they had their incident last year? Does this mean that every time a passenger is taken ill or dies on a tour through natural causes the tour operator will be shut down?

 

Melli