Colon, Limon and Belize City

[garbagemancjc]

My wife and I along with our 2 kids (12 and 13) are going out on the Carnival Liberty on 3/24. We will be visiting Colon, Limon and Belize City. I heard the bus tour in Panama is a long boring ride for kids but they will get to boat thru the canal and that too can be boring for kids this age. I heard the train was more entertaining but I don't know how much of the canal or locks they will see.

I haven't researched Limon and Belize City yet. Any suggestions or advise from previous cruisers would be appreciated.

[wolveptg1]

Just went to all ports last month, we took a cab to the locks and canel, it was nice. You can make it any length you want ,because it could get old. Limon very nice we did the bike ride through the village. Snorkeled in belize a must 2nd biggest reef in the world

[redskin80]

Reda on this site just a couple of days ago that CCL was dumping Limon, because o fthe recent attack on some passengers there.

 

Belize we did the Cave Tubing

[ballinafad]

In Belize a great private is cave tubing and ziplining. The kids would love this. There was a 45 min or so bus ride on a very bumpy road. We then ziplined and then hiked (wear water shoes) for about 20 min. to go cave tubing and then back to Jaguar Paw resort for a free lunch. Got back to the ship just in time to tender. We paid 110 each for the day through ncqadventuresdotcom. They were wonderful and the guide on the bus kept us entertained the whole ride with stories and info on Belize and its history. I think you might also be able to book directly through Jaguar paw resort (try googling it) for slightly cheaper. If you don't book anything I would not even bother getting off the ship as the port is not very nice.

[PaulMedik]

My wife and I along with our 2 kids (12 and 13) are going out on the Carnival Liberty on 3/24. We will be visiting Colon, Limon and Belize City. I heard the bus tour in Panama is a long boring ride for kids but they will get to boat thru the canal and that too can be boring for kids this age. I heard the train was more entertaining but I don't know how much of the canal or locks they will see.

I haven't researched Limon and Belize City yet. Any suggestions or advise from previous cruisers would be appreciated.

 

 

garbagemancjc,

 

Carnival's Two Oceans By RailRoad in Panama is well worth the expense especially with your kid's ages. They'll get to see plenty of the canal (practically all of it) and will enjoy the train ride.

 

Be sure and have them check out the train's viewing platform between the cars.

 

 

In Limon, I'd recommend Charlie Soto. He does an excellent job of tailoring your experience to what you want to see and makes sure you see plenty.

 

Charlie is in white in the center of the pic below and good friends we met on our roll call are on the left. It was just the seven of us and Charlie; not like the masses of folks who did the Carnival excursions. :)

 

 

I think Charlie's website is okeydokeytours.com

[nybumpkin]

Hi garbagemancjc, and welcome! I think you meant Carnival Legend, since Liberty doesn't go to Belize:) . I would recommend going over to the ports of call boards for these specific ports. I can tell you that in Limon we booked the "Train, Boat and Bus" tour through Carnival, mostly so our sons could ride the train. The Tortuguero Canal tour, which is the "boat" part of the Carnival tour, is available through several independent tour operators. In Panama, we took the "Panama Canal and Beach Break" tour through My Friend Mario; our kids especially liked it because they got their "down" time at the beach, but still got to see the canal (not boat through the canal, though).

[LHP]

Belize seems to be the place to do the cave tubing. I would go to the PORT section of the boards under Belize and get some recommendations for the independent operators. Yhonney(I think I am spelling it right) seems to be highly recommended. From what I have read, he takes "getting back to the ship on time" seriously....which can make the trip more fun.

[cruisecastle]

My wife and I along with our 2 kids (12 and 13) are going out on the Carnival Liberty on 3/24. We will be visiting Colon, Limon and Belize City. I heard the bus tour in Panama is a long boring ride for kids but they will get to boat thru the canal and that too can be boring for kids this age. I heard the train was more entertaining but I don't know how much of the canal or locks they will see.

I haven't researched Limon and Belize City yet. Any suggestions or advise from previous cruisers would be appreciated.

 

You wont be going to Limon but too honduras instead

[stlrboo]

You wont be going to Limon but too honduras instead

Not true...! Limon is the port-of call effective 3/08/2007, I believe..;)

[cruisinjerseygirl]

I don't know anything about Limon, but we were in Belize and I can say that there isn't a ton to do there. We did the city tour and the zoo...not worth it...really it's not.. we had a big problem when we got there b/c we left our cash on the ship so I took out my atm card and went to the atm...well the atm card gave me the money but it ate my card..so my DH went to the boat and got the cash while I sat there and waited and waited for someone to come and open the atm machine so i could get my card...everyone that worked there swore that i must be crazy b/c i said that it took my card and low and behold...when they finally did open it, what do you know, my card was in there! So beware of the ATM it could be a huge mess to get your card, took us 3 hours of waiting by it for ours. Anywho...we didn't have a ton of time left so we had to change plans and do the zoo and again I wouldn't really recommend it. Everyone we spoke with that did the cave tubing said it was amazing and supposedly it's the best thing there is to do in Belize so I would say go for that!

[Another Cruise]

Garbagemancjc,

Check out the roll call board. IF it is the Legend you will be on, we have a very active group getting ready for this cruise and there are several people with boys the ages of yours. Might want to see what they have planned.

[rucruizin]

My wife and I along with our 2 kids (12 and 13) are going out on the Carnival Liberty on 3/24. We will be visiting Colon, Limon and Belize City. I heard the bus tour in Panama is a long boring ride for kids but they will get to boat thru the canal and that too can be boring for kids this age. I heard the train was more entertaining but I don't know how much of the canal or locks they will see.

I haven't researched Limon and Belize City yet. Any suggestions or advise from previous cruisers would be appreciated.

 

PLEASE COME JOIN OUR ROLL CALL>:D

 

We have a significant number of kids...several people already have tours booked which you could join.

 

The lockes will be painfully boring for the kids...:( The first time I went through the lockes, I was unimpressed...I was in my early thirties. It is only now that I have realized the wonder of them, and I am interested in it. If you do want to take the kids through the canal, I recommend you get a book...if they like to read, on the trials of those who built the canal. That will give them some perspective.

 

We would love to get to know you, and your family. So again, please come join our roll call. I will put out a special welcome to you!:)

[jean0151]

Well, I don't think Carnival will be going to Costa Rica anytime soon after the incident with the Liberty. We just got back and bypassed Costa Rica and went to Roatan, Honduras instead. We took the two oceans by railroad which was expensive but well worth it. I would recommend cave tubing in Belize which was a blast. Honduras we hit the beach. Enjoy... BTW the incident was 3 passengers were at the beach and 3 Costa Ricans tried to rob them and I believe an ex marine snapped the guys neck and killed him... Unreal...

[cruisetmc]

2 Oceans by Railroad was my favorite tour, loved the train.

 

We also enjoyed the rainforest in Costa Rica.

[JMP1973]

Great ports of call. In Panama we rented a cab for the 4 of us for $60.00 and toured the canal (self tour, cabbie waited) visited a mall and then a fire station. Worth the money. In Costa rica we got off the boat and asked the security guard if he could recommend a good beach, recommened Playa Bonita......quite and has a couple of restuarants on the beach. Had lunch for 2 and 2 beers and it cost a total of $10.00........we asked if he charged us wrong, he said no, only that we pass on his great deal. The guard also arranged transportation to and from the beach for us. In Belize we did cave tubing with cavetubing.com. Check it out. Did a lot of research here and Yhony was great.....hope you have a wonderful cruise!:D

 

Jackie

[nofishforme]

i did the panama canal tour by ferry boat thrugh carnival it was 175.00 and it was well worth it our tour guide new her stuff .you will go thru the miraflores locks and pedro miguel locks then into the canal and the gaylord cut and cross the continental divide and then on to gamboa where you will catch the bus back to colon. the bus ride there and back is very informitave the tour guides from the boat ride the buses back and forth with you some are more informed then others as well as there english but i enjoyed it the buses are a/c the roads are bumby and narrow this makes it very interesting as well if you get my drift .the tour takes all day so there is no time for shopping. they do supply lunch a ham sandwich on a roll with chips and a mint they have huge bins filled with soda and water on ice all you can drink i would take somthing from the ship ..

 

a good book to read to get more informed if you do the tour is

The path between the seas by David McCullough he give the history of the creation of the canal from 1870to1914

[caribbean dreams]

I agree with the other posters, your kids will love Cave tubing in Belize, ours was a last minute decision so we found a private guide at the pier, they have booths set up, you just walk inside and book, it was our family and a few others off the Miracle (who was docked beside us) 13 people and 2 guides, the price was $35pp and well worth it, we were even taken to the Jaguar Paw afterwards for a drink.

 

Honduras I Limon both have great ziplines.

We payed $45pp and was the highlight of any of our excursions.