gkrnjlr Posted July 16, 2008 #1 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I posted about Belize and it turned out to be a lot of helpful information, so.....I am now wondering about Roatan. Has anyone here been to Roatan? What are your thoughts about Roatan? Safe? Nice? Another armpit of the world? We're considering doing the Pirates, Birds & Monkeys excursion (through Carnival) OR the West Side Island Tour. Has anyone done either of these and can give input on which would be better with our 9 mo. old daughter? Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathansburden Posted July 16, 2008 #2 Share Posted July 16, 2008 We've been to Roatan and loved it! it's safe as long as your careful and use common sense, my sister had a problem, but she walked off the ship in a bikini to look for a beach on her own. I went on the pirates, birds and monkeys excursion and loved it! There was a couple we met there that had a baby with them and they seemed to have a blast. I'm going back in a few months and am planning on taking my son (7mo. at time of sailing) on the excursion :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 16, 2008 Author #3 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Exactly what I wanted and needed to hear. SOLD on that excursion!!! Yeah I would not think that heading off on your own (in a bikini, nonetheless) would be a good idea. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplephenom Posted July 16, 2008 #4 Share Posted July 16, 2008 The pirates, monkeys, and birds tour was a lot of fun. There is one part of the tour where you can walk across a rope bridge (It's like those things that are at a lot of playgrounds with wooden planks on pieces of rope/cord), and its pretty high up. So you might not want to do that with your daughter. But..there is a normal bridge just maybe 100 feet away, so its no problem to go across that instead. And after the tour, you can stay at the park (and go back and play with the monkeys and birds), and there are shuttles back, so you can leave whenever you want. One thing...you can pet the monkeys, but you can't pet the birds, and I don't think they mention that because the bird really never gets out of its trainers grasp, so most people just have the bird sit on them and walk away. They'll sit the birds on your shoulder/head and its fine. But a little kid (maybe 5?) wanted to pet the bird's back after he had it sitting on his head..the bird spun around and started screeching at him..loudest bird i'd ever heard..and the poor kid ran away crying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 16, 2008 Author #5 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Is this an excursion that we'd be able to take a stroller with us or is it really not stroller friendly there? Did you do the excursion through Carnival? If so, how were you transported to the park? Aww, poor little guy just wanted to pet the bird, huh? The bird has an attitude! Did it take the bird long to calm down and get quiet again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplephenom Posted July 17, 2008 #6 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Yes, we did it through Carnival. We went to the park in a small bus (maybe seating about 20ish?) and it was pretty comfortable. The driver talked about all the places we passed..maybe a half hour drive, or a bit less. Oh, one more thing. On the way back, they won't leave til a bus is full, and that includes the jump seats which aren't exactly fun after a long day in the sun, so it might be a good idea to get on the bus before its full, just so you don't get stuck on one of those. Unless that doesn't bother you- I know a lot of people have no problem with those seats, just thought I'd mention it. The bird was calm again right away, it was the strangest thing. It just turned around spread its swings, screeched at the poor little kid, the turned back around and was ready to sit on someone else. I wouldn't think its stroller friendly, because there is a bit of a climb at the beginning, and the "pirate" part of the excursion involves going through a small cave which is kind of uneven. But I don't have kids, so I don't know- maybe there's some type of stroller that would be good for this situation? Or maybe that's a silly thought and there's not. Sorry I can't be more helpful about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 17, 2008 Author #7 Share Posted July 17, 2008 You've been a huge help! Thanks! We do have a "backpack" type of carrier that holds a child a little elevated above my husband's back. We'll just plan on bringing that with us and she can sit in that! Glad you gave me a heads up on the bus not leaving till every seat is full. Ugh! Is it air conditioned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted July 17, 2008 #8 Share Posted July 17, 2008 OK I need to give you a little food for thought about this port just so you are aware.... I was talking to an online friend about Belize and she mentioned Roatan being more dangerous for children. She said that on her trip, they visited a school house and outside the school was a guard with a machine gun. She asked the guide "Why" the guard had a gun outside a school...the guide said that's because many children are kidnapped and held for randsom. :eek: So just remember, when you are visiting poor nations like this...you aren't in Kansas anymore. ;) I'll let you know if I find more on Roatan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplephenom Posted July 17, 2008 #9 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Glad you gave me a heads up on the bus not leaving till every seat is full. Ugh! Is it air conditioned? I *think* it was air conditioned one way (not very well), but not the other. So..maybe? Oh one more thing...the tour leaves from inside the gated port area, so it's an easy walk from the ship. But, our tour was ready to leave a half hour early. We were shopping around in the port area, see this huge group walk by for "pirates, monkeys and birds," and we figured well at least they'd know where our tour was supposed to meet (since there were several groups leaving at different times). So we ask them..and they say "this is the 12:30 tour, come with us," even though it was a bit before 12. So leaving a little extra time might be a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 18, 2008 Author #10 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks for the heads up cruisinmama06. What you described does sound scary. I hope that we're not going to experience anything like that on the pirates, monkeys and birds excursion. We did book that just today. purplephenom.....we booked it today and were given two options for times......the first was at 9am and was actually $1 more per person than the second excursion set for 10:30. How long did you stay at the park? Was it a quick thing and you were ready to head back? Or did you find that it kept you busy for a while? Thanks to both of you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplephenom Posted July 18, 2008 #11 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks for the heads up cruisinmama06. What you described does sound scary. I hope that we're not going to experience anything like that on the pirates, monkeys and birds excursion. We did book that just today. purplephenom.....we booked it today and were given two options for times......the first was at 9am and was actually $1 more per person than the second excursion set for 10:30. How long did you stay at the park? Was it a quick thing and you were ready to head back? Or did you find that it kept you busy for a while? Thanks to both of you! Just a safety thing- I know nothing's 100% safe, and maybe even more so when you're traveling. But the good thing about the ship tours to Gumbilina (sp?) Park, is that you're picked up in the gated area, and the Park is for cruise passengers only when ships are in port. So maybe that helps a bit. About the times, the tour was about an hour and a half long. After, we bought some food and relaxed, walked around and looked at the items being sold, and went to the beach for a bit. The beach is really calm and pretty, and we probably could've spent longer there, but we decided to heat back around about 3:30. I think if you go back to see the monkeys and/or birds, and go to the beach, you could probably keep busy for a couple hours after the tour, or longer if you really like hanging out at the beach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 18, 2008 Author #12 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks! How often do the shuttles/taxis leave to take you back to the ship? Are the shuttles/taxis for cruise passengers only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplephenom Posted July 18, 2008 #13 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks!How often do the shuttles/taxis leave to take you back to the ship? Are the shuttles/taxis for cruise passengers only? Roughly every half hour. Though the way they made it seem, if a shuttle was full and ready to leave sooner, then they'd leave sooner. Yes, they're only for cruise passengers- straight from the park to to the port, no stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 19, 2008 Author #14 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Sounds great! Thanks for your help! Were you on the Legend? What other excursions (at other ports) did you do on your cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplephenom Posted July 19, 2008 #15 Share Posted July 19, 2008 No, we were on the Valor..but I'm pretty sure they're doing the same ports right now, though I'm guessing that changes when Costa Maya reopens. In Grand Cayman, we did Stingray City, which was great. I know everyone recommends you book this independently so you have a smaller group, but my parents feel more comfortable going through the ship, so we did and I guess we just got lucky. Our guides were great- didn't cram the boat, we rushed out to the sandbar so we had a ton of time with the rays, and had a nice leisurely ride back. And if anyone wanted to stay on the boat, or just stand in the water away from the rays, the guides were willing to bring a ray over for to pet and/or hold. In Belize, we did the ruins. That was interesting, but just wasn't my favorite excursion. The one cool thing was even though Altun Ha is a smaller site, they let you climb the ruins. But I know you mentioned you didn't want to do an all day tour with your daughter. In Cozumel, we did a mini-jeep tour, that had a beach stop, a quick ruins stop (one small ruin), and a light house stop. This was nice because we dot to see a bit of the island, and also was my first time snorkeling. If you are going to Cozumel, and you want to wait to decide on an excursion, its simple enough to do because all the excursions meet at the same place. You can talk to the tour operators and see what would be best for you on that day, and it seemed like there were at least a couple operators that were doing similar tour. I don't know if the Atlantis sub or semi-sub is anything you'd be interested in, but I think both Cozumel and Grand Cayman have it. And they're pretty short excursions, and you have the rest of the day to wander around on your own, or just head back and enjoy the ship. Btw there's a really good picture review of the Legend on the carnival boards from a couple weeks ago. If you're interested, and haven't seen it and can't find it, I'll try and find it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 19, 2008 Author #16 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Oh cool, if you happen to find that picture I'd love to see it. Thanks! It sounds like you had a lot of fun on your excursions. For Cozumel we're considering a beach day.....but aren't sure about getting TO the beach because we'd probably do it on our own instead of as an excursion. We have no problem with going, but I am uncomfortable with putting our daughter in a taxi. The stingrays sound like a lot of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplephenom Posted July 19, 2008 #17 Share Posted July 19, 2008 The carnival board is being really slow for me right now, so i'll try and pull it up in a little while. For Cozumel, you could consider renting a car/jeep. I spoke with a few people who did, and they didn't seem to have any trouble. They were going exploring, not straight to the beach though, but it might be possible. Also, I was ready about a Passion Island excursion... it seems to only be available through the ships though. But it starts with a bus, and then a tender type thing, and there's a buffet/open bar once you're on the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkrnjlr Posted July 19, 2008 Author #18 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Is that the one that our cruise director told us last time was the drunks cruise? Everyone has fun on that we were told! No one comes back sober though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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