Shark Alley

[Harvsgirl]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to let you know that we were booked with Coral Breeze for Feb 14 at 10am.I had been in contact with Paul about the loss of license and stuff and he assured me they would be there for us. They weren't. There were some other people also left stranded.

 

It was easy enough to get another tour though so it didn't ruin anything. We ended up booked with eco tours also and they were great!

 

I emailed Paul from Coral Breeze on Mon Feb 20 (when we got back from our cruise) but haven't heard back from him yet. When I corresponded with Paul I felt pretty confident that they would be there. I wondered if maybe on that day they couldn't get into the tourism village for some reason. I'm not sure what happened but Paul if you are reading this, I emailed you about my refund for our deposit. Please get back to me.

 

Kim

[my4gals]

I'm concerned that it may be difficult for us to book last minute at the pier with a group of 7. I'm debating whether I should go ahead and pre-book with another tour agency and loose our deposit with Coral Breeze. Unfortunately, the deposit was quite substantial as it was for 7 people. On the other hand, Belize is the only port we have decided to book an excursion, so I’m afraid to take the risk of being stranded. We really want to snorkel the reef area. I did email Coral Breeze late last night, but have not heard back from them yet. Opinions welcome!!

[erinbunny]

If you have a group of 7, you should probably just keep your deposit with Coral Breeze, since with a group that large they should be able to go whether or not anyone else shows up. If they don't show up at all, which you'd probably be able to figure out pretty quick, I don't think that it would be that hard to find another tour to go on, even with that many people, you would probably want to act fast.

We only have two, so if other people don't show up, we are pretty much out of luck.

We are booked for 3/8 and I totally understand your apprehension about whether Coral Breeze is going to be there.

They have been slow in getting back to me when I e-mail them, though they did get back to me eventually, though not yet for the most recent time that I emailed them.

I'm really trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, since it seems thay many of their recent problems haven't been their fault. Still, it does put a damper on things to be worrying about whether I'm going to be able to go on the tour, whether I will get my money back, etc.

[crazy4themouse]

I'm booked with Coral Breeze for March 14th, and I'm just going to have faith that everything works out. The manatee/snorkel/beach excursion is exactly what I was wanting. I emailed them this morning with a question before I had even read all this here, and Paul replied to me within an hour. I'm looking forward to this, and I'll just hope for the best!

 

-gina-

[my4gals]

That's strange. Erinbunny hasn't heard back from them in days and I still haven't heard anything either.

[eangel12]

I booked with them for March 4th week of cruising and I heard back from them immediately when I booked. I then re-emailed them to express concerns because of what I have been hearing over these boards and I have STILL not heard back. I think I am going to put in a disput with the credit card and look elsewhere. I am SUPER disappointed!:(

[erinbunny]

Which day during the week of March 4th are you booked? We are booked for the 8th -maybe we're on the same tour? I considered disputing the credit card charges, but I don't think I can yet, because they haven't actually failed to show up and provide the tour - I figured I would have to wait until they didn't actually provide what they promised to do that. At this rate, I think I will wait and see whether they show up - if not, I will dispute the charge then. At this point, I don't think I could get it resolved with the credit card company by the time we're in Belize anyway. I've already paid, so I might as well give it a try. It sounds like it's not a big deal to book there at the port anyway.

I am frustrated about the lack of e-mail response, but it doesn't necessarily mean they won't show up. I will keep trying and hope they get back to us soon.

[Harvsgirl]

When the Coral Breeze rep didn't show up we booked right at the pier with eco tours. There were 6 of us and it wasn't a problem.

 

Paul still hasnt responded to any of my emails and I have emailed him twice now since Monday morning. When we were booked to go and the tour still hadn't happened yet, he always got back to me right away. Now I am wondering what is going to happen with my deposit. :confused:

[erinbunny]

Does anyone know about cancelling your reservation with Coral Breeze? Is the deposit refundable? It looks like on their website you can change or delete your reservation. I'm starting to think this may be a safer option that waiting to see if they show up. I e-mailed one last time, expressing serious concerns. If they don't respond pretty soon, I may have to try cancelling. Has anyone had experience cancelling with them?

[eangel12]

Which day during the week of March 4th are you booked? We are booked for the 8th -maybe we're on the same tour? I considered disputing the credit card charges, but I don't think I can yet, because they haven't actually failed to show up and provide the tour - I figured I would have to wait until they didn't actually provide what they promised to do that. At this rate, I think I will wait and see whether they show up - if not, I will dispute the charge then. At this point, I don't think I could get it resolved with the credit card company by the time we're in Belize anyway. I've already paid, so I might as well give it a try. It sounds like it's not a big deal to book there at the port anyway.

I am frustrated about the lack of e-mail response, but it doesn't necessarily mean they won't show up. I will keep trying and hope they get back to us soon.

 

Yes, that is the day we would be in port. I am really upset and frustrated by their lack of contact and with the negative comments I have been hearing, ESPECIALLY considering on February 14th they didn't show up at all. I am going to cancel and book with Eco.

[runner1909]

Yikes, we're booked with them for March 14. I'll be watching to see what the rest of you report.

[erinbunny]

I finally got a response! -

"I'm sorry for the delay in responding. I was in Belize (as I live in the US) resolving the issues that have plagued us over the past few weeks. Everything has been resolved and your tour will go on as planned. I apologize for this concern but assure you we are all set for your arrival.

You will be receiving a final confirmation over the next few days. The instructions for the tour are included in the final confirmation, but you can see them now by going to www.coralbreezelimited.com/findus.

 

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Paul"

 

I was going cancel later today if I didn't hear anything. Though I know this reassurance doesn't guarantee anything, I really want to give them the benefit of the doubt. At least he has an explanation for why no one has been responding. Has anyone else heard a response? Ecotours has assured me they will be available at the port, so I have a backup plan.

If anyone else is booked for 3/8, please don't cancel!! Of course, it is up to you, but if others cancel, there may not be enough people to take us on our tour!

[Harvsgirl]

Paul just emailed me back and is sending out a refund cheque. There were some issues the day we were there, which is why we did not get on our tour with Coral Breeze.

 

Just wanted to let everyone know that he is doing his best at this time.

[my4gals]

I received this email from Paul this morning. I've also decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and continue to plan on this tour. Those of you who will be on this tour before March 24th, please post your experience here!

 

 

"Thank you for your email. We have resolved the issues that have caused problems over the past few weeks. We have operated since last Thursday without any issues and don't have any expectations that will change.

I apologize for this causing you concern, but we have corrected the problems and are back to operating normally with the level of service as in the past."

[SojChindo]

I also heard from Coral Breeze today in response to an email I sent about 2 weeks ago. We're booked with them on the 9th of March for the Shark Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Exploration and I'm planning on sticking with them.

 

The one thing that I found curious is that Coral Breeze isn't operating the tour we booked through their website. Our confirmation letter starts off with "Below is a summary of your reservation booked with Coral Breeze. Your tour is operated by Hammerhead Water Sports". Is this the norm? Does anyone have experience with Hammerhead Water Sports?

[FlaWaterFlirt]

Before we decided to switch gears and book with Eco Tours instead of Coral Breeze...they did email and advise me they were working under a different tour company. That this "other" tour company had hired their staff and was using their equipment etc. Hope this info helps you in some way. :(

[sarahcruise]

We went on an excursion Jan. 31st booked thru Coral Breeze. They also emailed and said not to ask for Coral Breeze but Tropical Paradise Resort at a diff. meeting place than originally planned. We had 13 people, met the guy, Ivar, who was very nice. We were booked for the Manatee Watch, Beach Break, but he said it had been cancelled and if we'd like to go on the Shark/Stingray, Caye Caulker excursion instead we could all go on a boat with just us. We did it, short walk thru town to the dock and then a 30-40 minute boat ride. Don't judge where you are going by the dock where you board the boat, the water was nasty. The island was beautiful, clear water, but the snorkeling was even better. The reef was amazing and the sharks and stingrays were all around us. All in all it was a good day, I say give them the benefit of the doubt. I think they are a good company, just going through some hard times.

[runner1909]

I, too, noticed on our confirmation for 3/14 that they were using another tour operator. We have used CB 3 times before and have been happy, so we're just going to stick with our plans. We'll see.........

[erinbunny]

We will back late on 3/11, so I will try to post soon after that how our tour went, so everyone else will have a better idea. We are really hoping everything goes well - I'm sure if the tour goes as planned it will be beautiful and lots of fun!

[my4gals]

Erinbunny- Looking forward to your review. Sure hope you have a great time on your cruise!!

[eangel12]

I just received an email from them. They told me that everything is still a go and that the tour name is now Hammerhead Water Sports. Has anyone heard of them? I am assuming it is the same people that ran Coral Breeze. I think I am going to stick with them and give them the benefit of the doubt for now. Hopefully they won't let me down!!

[sb cruiser]

I also heard from Coral Breeze today in response to an email I sent about 2 weeks ago. We're booked with them on the 9th of March for the Shark Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Exploration and I'm planning on sticking with them.

 

The one thing that I found curious is that Coral Breeze isn't operating the tour we booked through their website. Our confirmation letter starts off with "Below is a summary of your reservation booked with Coral Breeze. Your tour is operated by Hammerhead Water Sports". Is this the norm? Does anyone have experience with Hammerhead Water Sports?

 

We are booked with Coral Breeze for March 30th on the Manatee watch excursion and Paul e-mailed me today and states "everything is on". I have 2 kids and would be extremely disappointed if we lost a whole day at an island. Let me know if all goes well with Coral Breeze after your cruise. Susan

[runner1909]

I will report back after our 3/11 cruise. We're booked on the manatee excursion, too.

[Carnival Queen]

So glad to hear Coral Breeze is up and running again and that you had a wonderful time. We did the Shark/Ray Alley trip with them last year and absolutely loved it. Glad to hear all is back to normal for them . . . :)

[sb cruiser]

Hi I was hoping to hear about your excursion with Hammerhead Watersports (Coral Breeze) How did everything go and would you recommend a family of 4 doing their excursions? Thanks