Belize Zoo and Altun Ha with Shore Trips

[Citizen Jane]

Hi Everyone!

 

Posts on this board have made me nervous, so I am hoping you all can help with advice.

 

I have booked a 3-4 person private tour (DH, DD age 5, and SIL, me) for both the Belize Zoo and Altun Ha.

 

The tour operator says the tour will be 5.5 hours. Should I re-book? Our ship (RCCL Enchantment of the Seas) will be in port from 8:00 - 4:00 and the tour is scheduled for 9:00 a.m.:confused:

 

I have booked the tour through Shore Trips, has anyone used them?

 

I'd like to relax and just be excited about the trip, but some of the advice not to book your own trip and discussions of missing the ship have me really freaked out. After Belize it is a sea day and back to Ft. Lauderdale, so we'd miss a chunk of the cruise if we missed the boat.:eek:

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Citizen Jane

[bmacri]

Tour operators are VERY aware of ship schedules.

I was also nervous when we did an independent tour of Altun Ha.

I told the tour guide I was nervous and she promised me she'd have me back to the docks 1 hour before sail time.

She drove us up to the pier at exactly one hour prior to sail time....She knew I was nervous and she knew the best thing for her to do was keep the promise of getting me back in time. She got a tip for that.

[Addictedtwo]

Tour operators are VERY aware of ship schedules.

I was also nervous when we did an independent tour of Altun Ha.

I told the tour guide I was nervous and she promised me she'd have me back to the docks 1 hour before sail time.

She drove us up to the pier at exactly one hour prior to sail time....She knew I was nervous and she knew the best thing for her to do was keep the promise of getting me back in time. She got a tip for that.

 

I agree, the tour company rely on this business and can't afford to jeopardize it. Also the cruise lines tend to put the fear of God into you to make you use their excursions.

We have done 8 or 9 cruises and rarely do we use the cruise ship. We did Hawaii in January 2 week cruise and 5 days in Waikiki we did all of our tours off ship and saved exactly 40% over cruise ship prices and without a glitch.

 

You could call or email tour company and tell them your departure time and I'm sure they will say "no problem", this will at least give you peace of mind.

[SingingPixie]

I took this exact same tour when I was on Enchantment back in January, with Shoretrips. I was nervous as well, which only got worse when I realized that Enchantment (at least on our cruise) changed ship time before we arrived- I had called before departure and RCCL had assured me that we would be staying on Eastern time, so I booked with Shoretrips under that assumption!

 

Even with that hiccup, and with our time in port shortened by an hour (there had been some electrical problem that made the ship move a bit slower than normal), the tour went perfectly. There were two of us in our group, and another couple from the Carnival ship in port the same day. We made it back with plenty of time to shop, and we still made the third- or fourth-to-last tender back to the ship.

 

You'll be fine. Shoretrip has backup drivers that can come and pick you up in case of car trouble, and take every precaution to get you back in plenty of time.

 

If you have a chance, be sure to request Douglas as your guide! He was awesome both at the Zoo and Altun Ha, as well as giving us the grand tour of Belize City and the countryside on the way! We even drove past his house.

 

Have a great time!

[Citizen Jane]

Thanks!!!

[4cruizers]

I use Shore Trips for just about all of our excursions and have found them to be wonderful to work with. They are very prompt in answering any questions you might have, especially regarding time. I was very nervous the first time I used them. I have never had any problems with any of their excursions. We love the smaller groups. I just recommended them to a friend for a deep sea fishing trip in St. Thomas. She also agreed they are a great company.

 

We just took at tour of St. Thomas, as when we had been there before we snorkeled, so we decided we wanted to see more of the island. It was just the four of us. Our driver/tour guide met us in a Lincoln Town Car. He was an absolutely awesome guide.