Question about Carnival Belize excursion-Sharks, Rays, Barrier Reef Snorkel & Island Escape

[o-state girl]

Does anyone know if the boat that takes you to Caye Caulker picks you up and leaves directly from the ship or if you still have to tender to shore before catching the excursion boat?

I'm trying to decide if it's worth the extra money to book directly through Carnival, and not having to tender before the excursion would be a plus.

[BlerkOne]

I know the small group snorkel leaves from the ship and I pretty sure the one you are asking about does also. If you book the excursion on the ship, they will know. 

 

While I like the excursions that leave from the ship, if you wish to do shopping in the port, once the excursion is over you need to then find a tender to shore, so there's that 

[o-state girl]

I've already booked through Carnival.  I got them to partially price match to a trip through Shore Excursioneer, but even with the partial price match, the Carnival excursion is $13 more.  I've been to Belize at least 4 times previously, so shopping wasn't really on the radar for me.  Not having to bother with tendering would justify the extra $13 in my book, so I wanted to find out if I could avoid tendering.  Thanks for the reply. 

[BlerkOne]

39 minutes ago, o-state girl said:

I've already booked through Carnival.  I got them to partially price match to a trip through Shore Excursioneer, but even with the partial price match, the Carnival excursion is $13 more.  I've been to Belize at least 4 times previously, so shopping wasn't really on the radar for me.  Not having to bother with tendering would justify the extra $13 in my book, so I wanted to find out if I could avoid tendering.  Thanks for the reply. 

You're welcome.

 

For $13 (or even more), even if everything was the same, I'd go with Carnival since they would know where I was and the ship would wait if the tour ran late.

[babygrljaz]

6 hours ago, o-state girl said:

Does anyone know if the boat that takes you to Caye Caulker picks you up and leaves directly from the ship or if you still have to tender to shore before catching the excursion boat?

I'm trying to decide if it's worth the extra money to book directly through Carnival, and not having to tender before the excursion would be a plus.

We did this excursion in Sept. You do tender to Belize then go from there on another boat for snorkeling & sharks/rays. It was Awesome btw.....enjoy 😃

[evandbob]

On my very 1st Carnival cruise back in 2003, a small group of us left the ship, hopped on a speedboat, and went to the original Shark Ray Alley in the Hol Chan preserve off San Pedro, passing Caulker Caye along the way.

 

I've since done Caulker Caye leaving from the ship but also tendering another time. In comparision, Caulker Caye is a nice tour, but pales in comparision to Hol Chan Preserve.

 

I'll guess that tendering will occur when there aren't enough Carnival cruisers to fill the tour to capacity and other lines cruisers get blended in.

 

 

[Nog Vlog]

On the Dream over the new year, when gathering with all the other Carnival-sponsored tours in the Encore Lounge in preparation for tendering, only two excursions were designated to tender in smaller boats directly to their destination: Goff's Caye and Hol Chan Marine.  All others, including the one you stated specifically, were normal tenders to Belize City and from there additional boats or buses would further transport each tour.

[Doggielover68]

6 hours ago, Nog Vlog said:

On the Dream over the new year, when gathering with all the other Carnival-sponsored tours in the Encore Lounge in preparation for tendering, only two excursions were designated to tender in smaller boats directly to their destination: Goff's Caye and Hol Chan Marine.  All others, including the one you stated specifically, were normal tenders to Belize City and from there additional boats or buses would further transport each tour.

Rendezvous Caye also departs directly from the ship...and Starfish Island if that is still offered.

 

As for Sharks/Rays/Reef/island escape, it's a very cool excursion. I'd recommend eating a hearty breakfast or bring money to purchase lunch on Caye Caulker. It's a long excursion with no food provided. 

[laurierocs]

I'm on the Dream on Feb. 6th and carnival is only offering 9 excursions, most of which are cave tubing and ruins. I wanted to do that tour but they aren't even offering it! 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

On 1/19/2022 at 9:54 PM, o-state girl said:

Does anyone know if the boat that takes you to Caye Caulker picks you up and leaves directly from the ship or if you still have to tender to shore before catching the excursion boat?

I'm trying to decide if it's worth the extra money to book directly through Carnival, and not having to tender before the excursion would be a plus.

We did a snorkel tour directly from the ship but I’m pretty sure the carnival excursion we did with sharks and rays was a tender into the port and then a boat ride from there.  Glad we did the carnival excursion cause we were late getting back but a tender was there waiting for us. 

[BlerkOne]

On 1/19/2022 at 10:54 PM, o-state girl said:

Does anyone know if the boat that takes you to Caye Caulker picks you up and leaves directly from the ship or if you still have to tender to shore before catching the excursion boat?

I'm trying to decide if it's worth the extra money to book directly through Carnival, and not having to tender before the excursion would be a plus.

Consider asking John Heald on his FB page. I would include the name of the cruise ship you are on.