any thoughts on Belize/Honduras via the Valor

[cruisinagainin08]

Hi..... this is my first post and I am very happy to have found these boards.....

 

My DH and I are planning a very special 10 year anniversary cruise (without the kids) in April 2008. We are considering the Valor. This will only be our second cruise. Our first cruise was on the Fantasy for our honeymoon in 1998.

 

My concerns about this cruise are the ports of Belize and Honduras. From the few pictures I have seen, these ports seem a little barren and depressed. While I like the idea of seeing more "exotic" ports, I want to feel safe and relaxed and have a good time.

 

Any thoughts on these ports???

[June Bug]

we have only been to Belize of the two and I must say that while the interior of their country was somewhat lush (we enjoyed the small zoo that Harrison Ford helped get going while filming Mosquito Coast there) our other experience was somewhat depressing. This country is very impoverished and while I am glad that I had a chance to see Belize, I wouldn't consider it by any means "a tropical resort". Others may disagree, but I think if you are looking for more "tropical" fun, then I would venture away from this locale. Not really a swimming port of call either. Because of all the mangrove that grows close to the shores of the island, there aren't really any nice beach areas to go to for swimming. The snorkeling is supposed to be GREAT out in the ocean, though, although my husband and daughter went and said the current was so swift that after only 10 minutes in the water, they were several (think 30) yards from the boat that took them out. If you aren't a really strong swimmer, I wouldn't advise this excursion. He said it took all his strength to fight and stay close. Because of the current, the water kicked up much sand on the bottom (about 10 feet deep) and made the water murky and difficult to see any sea life. I'm sure that if the water happens to be more calm then this problem wouldn't occur.

Hope this helps, but I would still seek out more info. After all, I said this was only my experience...however, I did leave there feeling sorrowful rather than "what a fabulous experience!".

[gfsmith]

Hi..... this is my first post and I am very happy to have found these boards.....

 

My DH and I are planning a very special 10 year anniversary cruise (without the kids) in April 2008. We are considering the Valor. This will only be our second cruise. Our first cruise was on the Fantasy for our honeymoon in 1998.

 

My concerns about this cruise are the ports of Belize and Honduras. From the few pictures I have seen, these ports seem a little barren and depressed. While I like the idea of seeing more "exotic" ports, I want to feel safe and relaxed and have a good time.

 

Any thoughts on these ports???

 

 

I have been to Belize 3 times and it is a serious let down if you don't do some sort of excursion. They have excelent snorkeling but other then that there is not a whole lot going on. We never felt unsafe at any time, but we never felt welcome either. The people were just there, not overly friendly , not rude. It was very hard finding belize made goods also as most everything was made in china. The 3rd time we were there we chose not even to get off the boat. Ports don't really matter to us as we just love being on the boat. This is just our experience.

[Eliot Ness]

.......My concerns about this cruise are the ports of Belize and Honduras. From the few pictures I have seen, these ports seem a little barren and depressed. While I like the idea of seeing more "exotic" ports, I want to feel safe and relaxed and have a good time.......

Those are the two ports we are really looking forward to. You should watch the videos that CC member gatorclaw made when they went on the Valor in 2005. While you might not go on the same tours they chose, it is a nice view of the two ports:

 

http://www.gatorclaw.com/voyageofvalor

 

Cave Tubing in Belize is very popular (Jason has a very good video of that in the link posted above), but for Isla Roatan (Honduras) we have booked a horseback riding excursion that ends at Foster's Resort in West Bay:

 

http://www.barriodorcasranch.com/index_files/HTours.htm

 

Here is a nice review with pictures from the Ports of Call forum (post #3 has links to the PICs):

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=174186

 

Here is a link to Foster's Resort (also check out their menu):

 

http://www.fostersroatan.com/

 

Good luck on making a decision, but you should read some of the threads on the Ports of Call forum to find out what all is available (with member reviews) at any port where you might be going, there is a lot of good info posted there:

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

 

John

[cubdaddy]

We have been to both ports on the Valor and loved it! In Belize we booked a private excrussion with X-Stream Cave tours. They were awesome and have a great track record of never missing a boat. The tour takes you on a 1 hour and 10 minute bus ride to where you go tubbing through caves. You have about a 45 minute walk which is really easy and then you jump into a crystal clear river where almost the entire ride back is through huge caves. What a blast. At the end of the tour they give you local lunch for $5 a person. The food was great!

 

In Isla Roatan (Honduras) we grabbed a cab and went to West End Beach. The cost of the cab was $15 a person but they come back and pick you up for the same price. There are some small shops at West End Beach. The water is great for snorkeling. You can rent snorkel sets there for $10 a day. This area is a resort area and we always felt safe. We had a great cab driver who spoke good english. He told us a lot about his country.

 

Check out our photo link below and then click on the Valor Cruise album. you will see pictures from both countries.

 

BTW, Gatorclaw and his girlfriend were on the same cruise. His videos of the Valor cruise are a lot of fun to watch!

 

Good luck and enjoy!

[noahsark99]

Just back from the Valor....here is my take on Belize and Roatan....

 

Belize - we did cave tubing with cave-tubing.com. We had a great time and felt safe with the tour group. When we returned back to port we only had a short time to shop but the shopping area was nice and no worries there either.

 

Roatan - we booked with boddentours.com. We had Victor himself as our guide for the day. I'm really glad we had something planned. The shopping outside the port is along a busy street and you had to walk a ways to get there. I probably would not have felt real safe by myself or with my children just walking around outside the port. If I were to ever go back I would probably not get off the ship unless I had an excursion of some sort planned.

 

Hope that helps you!!

[Hootsie]

Tabyana Beach in Roatan is amazing. It is one of the best snorkel beaches we have ever been to. In fact, Roatan is our favorite port out of seven Caribbean ports we've been to. You will LOVE it.

[cruisinagainin08]

Thanks for all the posts!!! I have tried to see Gatorclaws videos, but for some reason I cannot open the links. I did look at the other pictures and they did not help sway me either way.

 

I have to admit that I am a person that likes to go places that are very visually appealing. I like nice beachs, blue water, palm trees etc.

 

I am so torn between this cruise and the one that goes to St. Maarten, St. Thomas and San Juan. The only draw back to that cruise is that it doesn't go to Grand Caymen. DH and I have always wanted to go to Grand Caymen.

 

Good thing I have 2 years to decide!!!

[GoinCruisin]

Thanks for all the posts!!! I have tried to see Gatorclaws videos, but for some reason I cannot open the links. I did look at the other pictures and they did not help sway me either way.

 

I have to admit that I am a person that likes to go places that are very visually appealing. I like nice beachs, blue water, palm trees etc.

 

I am so torn between this cruise and the one that goes to St. Maarten, St. Thomas and San Juan. The only draw back to that cruise is that it doesn't go to Grand Caymen. DH and I have always wanted to go to Grand Caymen.

 

Good thing I have 2 years to decide!!!

 

If I had the choice between Grand Cayman and Roatan, I would take Roatan every time. GC in my opinion is nothing special... overpriced, and not much I couldn't see elsewhere. Roatan is gorgeous... and if you take the right excursion and have the right guide, you will love it. We were there on a VERY rainy day during their rainy season, and STILL had a glorious time!!!!! There is alot to learn about this wonderful place... I would go back in a minute. Yes, just like many other ports, there are areas that are not "rich" monetarily, but they are rich in history, culture and people... Give it a chance. It really is quite lovely.

 

 

 

[Mikel1733]

We were on the Valor Last June and enjoyed our stops at Belize and Isla Roatan. We took two trips in Belize, one was a Jungle and Cave tour in which we road out to the areas by bus. Then after touring the caves we each go our own Jeep type vehicle to drive back thru the Jungle. It was a very exciting trip. We then finished at a river and did a cruise down from the river clear out to the ship. Our second trip was to see the ruins and once again we returned by river boat to the ship. On this river we saw monkeys, birds, gila monsters (sp?), crocidiles, and manatees. I thought both excurisons were well worth the money.

 

In Isla Roatan we went to Tabanya Beach and had a beautiful day. You could get massages there (30 minutes) for $25. I also would have liked to try the Zip line tours.

[KansasScrapper]

noahsark99 - What all did the toru in Roatan include? How much was it? Did you just email them to book it? Thanks!

[Hootsie]

If I had the choice between Grand Cayman and Roatan, I would take Roatan every time. GC in my opinion is nothing special... overpriced, and not much I couldn't see elsewhere.

 

I SOOOO agree with you. GC is way over rated.

[GoinCruisin]

I SOOOO agree with you. GC is way over rated.

 

LOL, unless you want some $20 mac and cheese :D Then it's all good, LOL!!!!!

[June Bug]

I LOVE Grand Cayman....if the OP is looking for a more beachy type of tourist resort...then that is the one...the beaches are just beautiful...yes the shopping is pricey, but the snorkeling was fabulous!! I would choose GC over Belize anyday, any time, any place! Never been to Honduras, but if anything like Belize, I won't be visiting soon. Sorry :(

[GoinCruisin]

I LOVE Grand Cayman....if the OP is looking for a more beachy type of tourist resort...then that is the one...the beaches are just beautiful...yes the shopping is pricey, but the snorkeling was fabulous!! I would choose GC over Belize anyday, any time, any place! Never been to Honduras, but if anything like Belize, I won't be visiting soon. Sorry :(

 

Can't say... been to Belize 3 times and have never gotten off the ship. I haven't heard many good things about Belize though, so I don't think I'm missing much, that I would be interested in.

 

And I agree, if the OP is looking for something touristy, GC would work... for me, you've seen it once and you've seen all you need to see, that is just my opinion. It's entirely too high priced, and just "ordinary"... again, my opinion.

[noahsark99]

noahsark99 - What all did the toru in Roatan include? How much was it? Did you just email them to book it? Thanks!

 

Like I mentioned, we booked through boddentours.com and it was $25 per person for the whole day. Your guide will take you anywhere you want to go and will make suggestions as well. We had young kids with us so we went to the Iguana Farm, to Fantasy Island to play with the Spider Monkeys, took some school supplies to a school, went to lunch, went to the beach and did a little shopping. Our guide also took us by his home where he showed us cashew trees, we went to his wife's very little store so we could purchase some vanilla for $1 a bottle. I would have liked to try the zipline (which costs extra) but I didn't want the rest of my group to have to wait for me. Oh, and yes, I just booked with them online.

[Lostn78]

We are on Valor April 30. On Honduras we are going scuba diving with Subway Watersports and in Belize we are cave tubing with cavetubing.com. We booked all online-really very easy. Can't wait!!!:D

[ldpkp]

I just came back from the Valor this past Sunday and Belize and Roatan were our favorite ports. In Roatan we took a cab from the pier and went to the West End Beach. Absolutely gorgeous beach. Our kids snorkeled all day and love this port the best. A guide stayed with us for the day and we got a tour of the island. If you stay in port you will be disappointed. We wish we had done the zip line as well but didn't. I had been in touch with Capt. Van and you can make reservations ahead of time and he will meet you at the port. Or you can get a taxi when you get off the ship. Great time.

 

Belize was my husband's favorite port. We didn't go to the main land. We booked the excursion through Carnival and went to Goff's caye. The boat picks you up from the valor and it is about 10 miles away. It looks like Gilligan's island. This liitle island the size of a football field is in the middle of the most blue beautiful water. You can either snorkel from the island or you go with the tour and snorkel from the boat. We snorkeled from the boat with the current back to the island and then hung on the beach for about 1 1/2 hours. It was beautiful and fantastic. We met people on board that did the cave tubing and they loved that as well. I personally think these are great stops on this cruise.

 

Karen:):)

[chelsea2005]

We went on the Valor last May and LOVED it!! However, we totally dreaded Belize and Roatan.

 

On the bright side, Roatan was a very PLEASANT surprise. At the last minute, we decided to do the Tabanya Beach break. We both thought this was the nicest beach we'd ever been to. We thought Roatan was going to be awful, and it was awesome!!!

 

Belize turned out to be exactly how I'd imagined. I wanted to do cave tubing because I'd read how you must have an excursion planned here, but my husband was not interested in cave tubing. So we took a tender in the early afternoon and just went to a bar called the Wet Lizard right at the dock. BORING, but our fault because we didn't plan anything, and I knew better!!!

 

The next day was Grand Cayman, and it rained all day!!:mad:

 

Oh well, we loved Roatan and of course Cozumel!!

 

Would I sail Valor again....ABSOLUTELY!!! Eastern route though!! Or western, but I wouldn't get off at Belize!

 

Good luck deciding what to do!

Chelsea