Private Island Beach Break Questions

[ACBinNC]

I have signed our family (me, DH and 3 DDs-11, 7 and 3 years old) up for Carnival's private island beach break in Belize. I chose the 9:15 a.m. time instead of 10:15 a.m. because I thought it might be easier to get chairs etc. if in the first group, although I would prefer to sleep later? Is one time better than the other?

 

The excusion description online said it lasts for four hours (ie. we would return at 1:15 p.m., however when I printed out my itinerary it said departs at 9:15 a.m. and returns at 3:15 p.m.. Which one is correct? Can we return early or only at the end?

 

Also, how long is the boat ride to the island? Can I take food/bottled water/soda from the ship to the island in a small collapsible cooler or backpack? Can we bring a swim ring for the three year old and snorkeling equipment for DH and DDs? Any other hints?

 

Thanks for your help!

Alice

[Cruzwthme]

Alice,

 

My family and I took this same excursion and booked it through Carnival. In a word, it was a nightmare. I hate to possibly put a damper on things for you, but at least consider it a 'heads-up.' I only wish I'd been informed. I decided to reply to your request due to the fact that I see you have children. We took the 9:15 tour boat to Belize. It is about a 20-25 minute very fast moving boat ride. That's fine if you like speed, but I'm not necessarily crazy about it when I have my two children with me. After all, I am responsible for their safety.

 

I would say yes, the 9:15 is the better choice, because yes, you are there first before the crowd of the 2nd shift arrives. And yes, it does depart at 1:15, not 3:15. The boat tour guides informed us before we got off that they'd be departing and taking us back to the ship at 1:15.

 

You are not allowed to take food from the ship to any of the islands. You can bring bottled water, but they will confiscate your food if you attempt it. I'm not sure on the swim ring. It's possible they will not allow that, but then again, they may not care too. Sorry I can't help on that one. You can bring your own snorkel equipment. We brought ours with us each time. Food and drinks at the little eatery on the island is quite expensive: $5.00 for a hot dog, $6.00 for a hamburger. Drinks were high too. We opted to wait to get back on the ship for lunch, because we'd eaten breakfast beforehand so it wasn't a big deal.

 

Here's my story, and I'm only telling you this so that you can be more aware: We went on this excursion the week of May 21st. We took the 9:15 tour boat, and as I mentioned before it seemed to travel at a high rate of speed. I grew up on boats and in water so I'm quite aware of what's fast and what's not. My younger daughter was seated at the back of the boat where the wake was very large and as I sat watching her I feared that if something happened I'd never get to her in time. I just did not have a good comfort level on the way to the island, and I was happy when our 20-25 minutes was over.

 

Unfortunately, the sky quickly became black upon our arrival and we had heavy downpours of rain. All of the people on the island sat under the outdoor restaurant's roof at the picnic tables hoping the rain would cease, but it didn't. The 10:15 crowd was delivered and they too, ended up sitting at the picnic tables. Everyone more or less looked quite miserable. I brought along rain ponchos so my daughter and I went picking through shells in the rain. We were all anxious for 1:15 to arrive so we could take the boat back to the ship. I guess you could say it was a bit boring considering it was raining. At 1:15 we began to board the boat. To our dismay it seemed not only were the 9:15 crowd boarding, but so was the 10:15 crowd. The tour guide allowed anyone and everyone to board. Before we took off I had a total panicked feeling overcome me. I thought for sure this boat was going to capsize. It was extremely overloaded and we were packed in like sardines. Some of us were not even on the bench seats. We were sitting in the center of the boat on some thing (not sure what it was, but it wasn't a seat), and we were packed very tight. I felt such a fear come over me because I knew we were very overweight and I knew for sure there were not enough life jackets to go around if the boat did capsize. I could see a few life jackets under one seat and had thoughts of what the fight would be like for those if the boat did capsize. Then of course, I was in terrible fear for my children's safety. I was angry and so was my husband. I was to the point of not even knowing how to react or what to do. I just wanted to disappear. Then I saw a cup of beer in the tour guide's hand and that really pushed me over the edge. I felt this tour group was horrendously irresponsible. They packed the people into the back of the boat like you just cannot imagine, and the majority of them in the back of the boat seemed to not care. Many of them appeared to be intoxicated and many others on the boat seemed to be about as angry about it as I was. Off we went speeding away as some of these people on the boat were totally obnoxious in their behavior. In a word, it disgusted me. I say it's one thing to have fun and enjoy life, but it's another to put others at risk for their lives. I counted three times the amount of people on the boat. I got a count of 82 twice and a count of 84 one time. I also took some photos. The very second we arrived safely on the ship my husband and I went directly to the pursers desk to complain. My complaint is absolutely not about the fact that I want my money back. They can keep it! My complaint is that I felt they put my children's lives at risk and mine and everyone else's. I felt the tour group was blatantly irresponsible and both my husband and me let the purser know exactly how we felt. He apologized and before we even got off the ship we were delivered a letter from the Carnival excursion president that they'd investigate this complaint. They said they were going to notify the tour group and Carnival's excursion people would look into it too. I suggested that they hand out life jacket's to each and every person before the trip starts. If you think about it, we should all at least have a life jacket in hand, especially your children. I do intend on following up with a typewritten letter to Carnival in Miami too, because I informed the purser that we feel Carnival is responsible too. After all, they are the ones who are recommending this tour. We put our trust in them and then we get this? How many times have you read on these boards to book through the cruise line for a safer excursion? I see it all of the time. We booked our Jeep-Safari excursion privately on Grand Cayman and I felt 100% safe with our tour guide. He was very responsible, so I guess this is a lesson to be learned.

 

Also, another thing I want to mention. My husband and I watched the 10:15 tour boat come back in after ours came back and we counted the people that got off that boat. There were 18! 82 on the 1:15 and 18 on the 2:15. We also let the purser know that too.

 

What I'd like to say to you is that if you see this happening and it bothers you, ask to get off. I was so upset at the time that I just couldn't think of what to do, but if I had a clear mind I would have gotten off and told them I was refusing to get on an overloaded boat. I would have waited for the next boat rather than risking the lives of my children. Alice, it was just a very scary situation for us, and from the looks of others on the boat they too, felt the same way. I only hope they complained as we did. It seems many people get upset over such a thing but forget about it once it's over. This is one time I wasn't about to do that.

 

I do believe Carnival handled it well immediately so I'm not flaming them. I only hope they carry through with their investigating and I hope they give a stern warning to the tour group about the seriousness of such negligence. The name of the boat was Manta Ray Dream. I hope some way this helps, and hopefully your experience will be one full of good memories.

 

One more thing I just thought of, bring water shoes. My daughter cut her knee up on rocks in the water. We didn't bring our water shoes and she said the rocks on the bottom were very sharp. The swimming section is not smooth and sandy.

 

Take care and hopefully this will not happen to your group.

Tootsie

[caribbean dreams]

Good for you! i am glad you made a complaint, you should also write a letter because this is a serious safety issue.

[ACBinNC]

Tootsie,

Thanks so much for replying to my post. I am so sorry you had to go through all of this. It sounds like a terrible ordeal. We also have a boat and I am a nut about safety. My children are not allowed to ride in our boat without their life jackets. We have a three year old so there are just not many alternatives with her in Belize besides the beach break and we don't want to leave her on the ship. I had planned on bringing her life jacket because she is very small (only 25 lbs.) and I wasn't sure if the tour operators would have one her size. Again, thanks for the heads up. I'm not sure what we will do.

Alice

[Cruzwthme]

Alice,

 

I agree there aren't many alternatives for you on Belize, and personally I would still keep your excursion booked. I'd think after our complaint that this wouldn't happen again. At least they (the tour group) knows that not everyone is going to sit back and keep quiet about such negligence. I'd think they will be very careful for fear that Carnival would drop them as a recommended excursion.

 

If I were you I'd definitely bring along your daughter's life jacket. The thing is that you are aware and can watch for this. At least you'd be prepared for it whereas I wasn'.t Chances are you will have beautiful weather and it will all turn our wonderfully. If it hadn't been for the rain that day this would not have happened because all the 10:15 people would have stayed on the island.

 

Have a good time and please don't worry because that wasn't my intent. I just wanted you to be aware. Take care.

Tootsie