Advice for getting of Carnival Legend early in Belize!

[AandBmom]

This will only apply to Carnival guests on the Legend or similar ships.

 

A little help re: getting off the ship early in Belize!

 

DH and I just did a private cave tubing excursion through a well known .com company mentioned on CC. The company asks their clients to get off the ship as early as possible to start the excursion around 9:15am. When we did this they asked how we were able to get off as everyone seems to have trouble getting off early. Well here's what Carnival isn't very clear about: The capers say only those doing Carnival excursions can get off before 9:30am, however really if you go to the follies lounge early in the am (8ish) you can get a number from the girl organizing to get on an early tender along with the carnival people even though you're not doing one of their excursions.

[Redsoxfan11]

We did a cave tubing excursion with a private company as well last year. We were also on the Legend. We did go to the early tender call and got a number. We were originally told that we had to wait after the Carnival guests booardede the tender. I nicely said that we are Carnival guests as well as past guests and hope to be future guests. We were let on without a problem. ;)

[iamgolden]

I don't see where it would do you much good to get off the ship any earlier, there is a time difference in Belize, and they were a little slow getting the storefront open and getting the buses there for the .com company. We got off on one of the first non-carnival tenders and got to sleep in a little and only waited about 1/2 hour.

[AandBmom]

My .com tour started at 9:15 (ship time). We got off the boat on an early tender (around 8:30) which is much before Carnival advertised that we could and we were in perfect time to meet our bus and get going on the tour. The .com company had another tour at 10am, but that 45 minute head start was perfect because we got back earlier than most people and had time to shop, make phone calls from the Pier then get back on the ship for a late lunch.

[savannah2117]

AandBMom-- DId you have to wait for the bus to fill up? I'm just wondering if we are on the ball and get off early,(this will require nagging at the teenagers!!) will we be able to get on with our excursion or just wait for the others? We are doing ATV/cavetubing with Yhonny.

[AandBmom]

AandBMom-- DId you have to wait for the bus to fill up? I'm just wondering if we are on the ball and get off early,(this will require nagging at the teenagers!!) will we be able to get on with our excursion or just wait for the others? We are doing ATV/cavetubing with Yhonny.

 

 

We waited about 5 minutes for Yhonny to see if anyone else was coming then we boarded the bus and were off. Our bus was definitely not full.

 

Enjoy the day, we did very much. The only thing we found was that we were quite hungry by the end. We stopped at a little hut for a beer and they sold ice cream and chips but that's it. Eat a good breakfast before you go.

[LHP]

We got off on one of the first tenders without any numbers because we have a Platinum card.

 

However, a couple who were cave-tubing with us went down and got the number ONE and just went straight to the tenders and got on. They were on the tender right behind ours. The Capers will tell you (if you do not have a ship excursion) not to leave until 10:30am...but NO ONE ever listens to that.

 

Hubby and oldest son and this other couple were all on the 9:15 with Yhony and left promptly. They all had a GREAT time!! They were back at the pier by 2:30pm. Our ship did not leave until 4pm.

[NCTribeFan]

On Glory last week, we simply went down to the theatre early, got in the line, and when I got up to the Carnival person with the tickets, I simply said "cave tubing" and was handed #2 and told where to sit. I didn't tell him we were on an independent tour. After we boarded the tender, I peeled off the "2" sticker and met Major Tom on the pier.

 

Unfortunately, not everyone did that, and we had to wait for a few folks on a later tender. Because of that, we arrived just after a huge group and had a traffic jam in the caves, and didn't have time to stop for lunch.

 

GET THOSE EARLY TENDERS, people!

[alfngf]

On Glory last week, we simply went down to the theatre early, got in the line, and when I got up to the Carnival person with the tickets, I simply said "cave tubing" and was handed #2 and told where to sit. I didn't tell him we were on an independent tour. After we boarded the tender, I peeled off the "2" sticker and met Major Tom on the pier.

 

Unfortunately, not everyone did that, and we had to wait for a few folks on a later tender. Because of that, we arrived just after a huge group and had a traffic jam in the caves, and didn't have time to stop for lunch.

 

GET THOSE EARLY TENDERS, people!

 

Oh thanks for that tip.... I'll have to remember that so we can get off early.

[People_Mover]

Any tips for the Carnival Valor?

[thatlauragirl]

This will only apply to Carnival guests on the Legend or similar ships.

 

A little help re: getting off the ship early in Belize!

 

DH and I just did a private cave tubing excursion through a well known .com company mentioned on CC. The company asks their clients to get off the ship as early as possible to start the excursion around 9:15am. When we did this they asked how we were able to get off as everyone seems to have trouble getting off early. Well here's what Carnival isn't very clear about: The capers say only those doing Carnival excursions can get off before 9:30am, however really if you go to the follies lounge early in the am (8ish) you can get a number from the girl organizing to get on an early tender along with the carnival people even though you're not doing one of their excursions.

 

Just wanted to pass on my experience to you as this was the only thing I didn't enjoy about my Legend cruise in April. We had booked an independent tour and needed to get there fairly early after docking. When I read the Capers, it said if you weren't on a Carnival excursion you couldn't begin tendering in 9:30. I was in a panic. So I went to the Pursers desk the night before and he told me just to get there early and talk to the staff who were handing out stickers. We got up early and headed to the theatre and it was a MOB scene. I really wish they would've had the different Carnival excursions meeting at different locations on the ship because it felt like every passenger on the ship was trying to cram in there. We waited in line forever and finally talked to the crew with the stickers only to be told they told us they couldn't help us unless we had a Carnival excursion. They had us go talk to the asst. cruise director who was standing in front of the stage. We went to her with a copy of our tour confirmation and she immediately gave us a sticker to leave with the next tender and we were on our way.

 

My recommendation would be to get up early, have a printout of your tour excursion and head for the assistant cruise director by the stage. I'm guessing everybody has had different experiences... maybe some were able to tender without a sticker. But we were really sweating this one and definitely wish it was made a little more clear on the procedures for non-Carnival excursions.

 

Hope you have a great time!

[dgack1]

Any tips for the Carnival Valor?

 

 

The Valor has the best method for getting people on tenders. Non carnival groups meet in a certain lounge. Upon entering, you get a tendering number...the only thing is ....you have to have all of your group there. They will not give you a sticker for someone "on there way". We headed to the lounge as it was opening, got our stickers, waited about 15 minutes, and was called to our tender. We were on the first tender off the ship. All of Carnival should follow there lead!!! It was just to easy!!!!:D

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!

[pambud96]

Get to the Follies theater by 8am ship time go to the front and see Bobby (lady) Tell her she will get you a sticker tha will get you on a early tender. By pass everyone else. Because all they will tell you is to go to Bobby she has the stickers. As someone said before don't worry about what time they say non carnival excursions can get a sticker. We were on the 3rd tender and still early for our tour. And yes you have to wait for every one else who also booked the same excursion. The tendering there was painless as several tenders were used.

 

Have a great time The Legend is a beautiful ship.

[sunluva7]

Thought I'd share my experience with numbered tenders on the Imagination five years ago. This is the "Belize" portion of my review from August 2003:

 

"Wednesday-Belize: Belize was a bust - not because of Belize itself, but because the non-ship snorkleling tour we planned, so highly recommended by so many people, left without us! I partly blame Carnival for this. First of all, the ship was late arriving in Belize, and as anticipated, the ship's tours left the ship first. So I figured we'd have enough time to meet the tour people as long as we got on the first tender. My gripe with Carnival? An announcement was made to head to an appointed area to pick up tickets for a tender at 9:00 a.m. and not a moment before, as they would not be passing any out before then. We arrived there at 8:40, expecting a line. Well, they were already passing out the tickets, and those for the first tender were already gone, so we only got on the second tender, arriving at the port after 10:30. We asked around and discovered that our tour couldn't wait any longer and departed. I was devastated, but my family took it well and were just as happy, after a bit of shopping, to return to the ship and enjoy it without the crowds - which I have to admit was very nice after all. The lesson I learned? From now on it's the ship excursions or no excursions! As for Belize, a lot of people were disappointed - except for the shops at the port, there really is nothing there for those who do not want to spend money on an organized tour. I will not be disappointed if Carnival drops this port." (August, 2003)

 

I guess Carnival is still perfecting this crazy tender system...:rolleyes: My ruffled feathers have calmed a bit since I wrote that review, and I may be returning to Belize to see the Mayan ruins next summer - but most likely with the ship, this time.:)

[AandBmom]

Thought I'd share my experience with numbered tenders on the Imagination five years ago. This is the "Belize" portion of my review from August 2003:

 

"Wednesday-Belize: Belize was a bust - not because of Belize itself, but because the non-ship snorkleling tour we planned, so highly recommended by so many people, left without us! I partly blame Carnival for this. First of all, the ship was late arriving in Belize, and as anticipated, the ship's tours left the ship first. So I figured we'd have enough time to meet the tour people as long as we got on the first tender. My gripe with Carnival? An announcement was made to head to an appointed area to pick up tickets for a tender at 9:00 a.m. and not a moment before, as they would not be passing any out before then. We arrived there at 8:40, expecting a line. Well, they were already passing out the tickets, and those for the first tender were already gone, so we only got on the second tender, arriving at the port after 10:30. We asked around and discovered that our tour couldn't wait any longer and departed. I was devastated, but my family took it well and were just as happy, after a bit of shopping, to return to the ship and enjoy it without the crowds - which I have to admit was very nice after all. The lesson I learned? From now on it's the ship excursions or no excursions! As for Belize, a lot of people were disappointed - except for the shops at the port, there really is nothing there for those who do not want to spend money on an organized tour. I will not be disappointed if Carnival drops this port." (August, 2003)

 

I guess Carnival is still perfecting this crazy tender system...:rolleyes: My ruffled feathers have calmed a bit since I wrote that review, and I may be returning to Belize to see the Mayan ruins next summer - but most likely with the ship, this time.:)

 

I'm sorry to hear that you missed your excursion, that must have been frustrating.

 

I disagree though with going with Carnival's excursions as I find if you do your homework in advance you find out how to be successful getting off the ship in time. Carnival does make it sound like you need to wait, but really you don't. The Carnival excursions are crazy priced and instead of putting dollars in the pockets of locals, it goes in Carnival's over-stuffed pockets.

[sunluva7]

I'm sorry to hear that you missed your excursion, that must have been frustrating.

 

I disagree though with going with Carnival's excursions as I find if you do your homework in advance you find out how to be successful getting off the ship in time. Carnival does make it sound like you need to wait, but really you don't. The Carnival excursions are crazy priced and instead of putting dollars in the pockets of locals, it goes in Carnival's over-stuffed pockets.

 

In this case, I did do my homework. I checked and double checked with the .com company and others on the boards to make sure it would work. The ship was late arriving in Mexico, and the customs process took longer than expected, so in that respect, you're correct, it wasn't Carnival's fault. However, they did start giving out the numbered tickets way earlier than expected, which I do fault them for. All I am saying is be careful with the earlier independent excursions - things do happen.