Grand Princess

[potchak]

My girlfriends and I are on the Grand Princess in Jan and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to private tours that would work for us. We do not get in until 1 pm and leave at 7 so we do not have much time. Does anyone know of a private vendor for the cave tubing? I hate to spend $99 pp on this from Princess, but if that is what we want to do it looks like the only option due to the docking time.

[aggieastrosfan]

A fellow 12/4 cruiser was able to work something out with Wet 'n' Wild. Here's a link to our roll call where she posted the information. Scroll to post #659:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=2405947#post2405947

[potchak]

Any other thoughts? I found one place that says that since the Grand Princess is the only ship in town that day they are still able to do the cave tubing tour, but I am still concerned about missing the ship because it is a 5 1/2 hour tour when that is all the time we will have.

[Kwaye36]

Shorty, I am with you on the time concern. (also hate to throw away $80.00 (x-tra cost for 2 :mad: ) on the ship's tour) Can you tell me which independent you contacted?

I emailed Wet n Wild and they replied... they will do a 1 cave tube, similiar to the ships tour, to stay within the same limited time frame. I am thinking seriously about doing that.

We are Sailing on the Jan. 22 from Galveston.

Kaye

[potchak]

www.coralbreezelimited.com is the one I contacted. They seem reasonable. $59 and includes lunch. They respond very quickly to emails.

[crazeecruzers]

My husband and I are traveling on the Jan 29 cruise as well. We have been looking into coral breezes and are also really nervous that the tour is 5 1/2 hours long and we are only there 6 hours. Maybe since the Grand is the only ship in port that day they will adjust the tour slightly to accomodate the time factor. Maybe cut out the visit to the gift shop (ha, ha).

[Sunrise]

I am on the Grand 1/15 and have the same question. Let me know what you all decide. Also -- how do you know how many ships will be at a port at a given day?

[linda gonzalez]

Belize Cruise Excursions and Coral Breeze have tours for the Gran Princess-check the web-sites-they have other passengers from the ship and will adjust tour times-last year we got stuck on Cay Caulker trying to use the water -taxi so I would go with a tour guide

[parrotheads]

Does anyone know anything about a historic rope bridge near the cruise ship tender terminal. I saw something about it on a roll call but there was no other information. The person who mentioned also said there was a shopping area beside it as well.

[aggieastrosfan]

Does anyone know anything about a historic rope bridge near the cruise ship tender terminal. I saw something about it on a roll call but there was no other information. The person who mentioned also said there was a shopping area beside it as well.

I'm betting that was our roll call you got that from. I'm not the one who knows about it, but I plan on going, and I'll post a review on it when I return!

[cruisesoon]

We were on the Grand last week and the ship's tour for the cave tubing was cancelled because we arrived late. If you are not on a ship exursion you will not have enough time to get off the ship and do the cave tubing. IT will be too late! It took over two hours to get everyone ashore that day. WE just stayed on the ship when our exursion was cancelled. They let everyone off that is doing a ship exursion first. This is one port I would go with the SHIP!!!

[Coral Breeze]

cruisesoon...you are correct there has been a slow process for passengers on the Grand Princess tendering to Belize City. Guests are arriving later than expected. Cave Tubing is one tour that can be operated even with the late arrival. We were able to operate our Cave Tubing tour for our guests...sorry to hear your tour was cancelled. I think the GP is charging aroun $110 or so for Cave Tubing. That is almost double what you can get for through a private operator. We have not missed a Cave Tubing tour for any GP guests since it started arriving in Belize.

We are hoping the GP is working through some "new guy" kinks and will take care of the slow tender process. They improved by one hour from one to to the next....some improvement being shown. I don't want to see everyone jumping on the crowded ship tours for double the price without all of the information. Hope this helps.

[cruisesoon]

We did not even arrive into Belize until 1:45pm and passengers were not getting off until after 2:00 so with it getting dark at 5:15 that does not leave much chance for cave tubing.

[Coral Breeze]

Yesterday (11/29) the Princess' arrival and tendering ran smoothly. Guests were on shore at 1:20pm. We were able to operate all tours. We had hoped the time/tender issues would be corrected. The next few Mondays will tell if this correction is going to become the norm.

 

I get a lot of emails from Grand Princess guests about this issue. I'm only trying to keep everyone informed as to how things are going with this ship's arrival.

[wendya2J]

Hi Everyone,

 

We were on the grand last week...it was GREAT!!!! It really did take some people almost 2 hours to get off the ship though. This is the one place, due to time constraints that I think it may be worth it to go with one of the ships tours. We did the New Waves Catamaran snorkel and rendevous key,,,it was really fun!!! on the way back there was lots of rum punch, people dancing on both levels of the boat, it was great on the island too!!! snorkeling, kayaks, floating mats,,,,really fun....

 

if you have any questions, just let me know.

wendy :)

[dig21]

Hi Wendy

 

Are you saying that you snorkel from the shore on the Rendevous Caye excursion?

 

We will be on the Grand in February and are looking to snorkel from shore. (My son & I love to snorkel but my Husband is a bit fearful & does not like to be "dropped in the middle of the ocean" so we are looking for a compromise).

 

Thanks,

 

Deana

[wendya2J]

Deana,

 

Its kind of a little of both,,,,they bring the boat very close to shore (we couldnt stand right there, but the water was very calm)...we were very close to the shore and after we snorkeled around the little island a bit, we swam to the island, and then we snorkeled some more. so the island is never far away at all!!! i think this would be a good compromize for you guys and it was a lot of fun,,,we definately didnt feel like we were dropped off in the middle of the ocean at rendevous key,,,,also, when we were in grand cayman, we snorkeled form shore at edens rock and in costa maya we swam out (quite a ways) to a small reef and in cozumel, we snorkeled around at paradise beach, although i hear the dzuhl ha is great from snorkeling from the shore (its a rocky beach).....let me know if i can be of any more help,,,once i get my pictures back from rendevous key, i'd be happy to share them with you!!

 

wendy :)

[magnumcoog]

I was told via email (last week 11/30) from Coral Breeze that they will only do inland tours for passengers on the Grand Princess.

[Sunrise]

Bumping this to the top in the hopes that a recent Grand passenger will post their experiences here. I e-mailed Marvin with Wet and Wild and he briefly told me that they will do a shortened version of teh cave tubing and get back in time for the last tender. I'm interested to hear if anyone from the Grand has used them.

[GrammaZ]

We've booked with Reggie of Reg Tours for the cave tubing and he promised us no problem with getting back to the ship before last tender. Total tour of 4 hours. Hasn't missed a Grand Princess yet. That is assuming we have a reasonable time disembarking. We're sure hoping it works out.

[Reneek]

Since we booked this cruise over a year ago, we have been waiting for GP to post the cave tubing tours. Just fits us and that is what we wanted to do. Now have some concerns after reading reviews on this site and others that the temperatures (atmosphere and water) are of some concern. I have two skinny teens with an intolerance of being chilled -uh-huh spoiled southern girls. I am really not into investing in wet suits - so who has really gone on this trip January/February? Some say you have a chance to change clothes after tubing, others say not.

[39august]

Just an FYI, the Grand was on time last week to Belize. We took the Rendevous Caye snorkel catamaran tour through Princess. You board the catamaran directly from the Grand and return the same way. No tender in. You snorkel intially from the boat, but can wade ashore if you like to the little island where mats are available. I've seen better snorkeling, but it was OK. It would have been much better with half as many people! But the crew is great and the rum punch and music on the return was fun.

[Backfence]

I am on the Grand 1/19. This scheduling is really terrible. I hope Princess Cruises reads these Boards and recognizes the dilemma they've created for their passengers who would really love to see some of Belize, but will spend most of their stay there worrying about schedules! Surely they could re-route - or even eliminate a port - in order to provide a full day in each port. We were in Belize two years ago and LOVED it and having so been looking forward to returning and sharing it with our boys. Frankly, the scheduling is really disappointing.

[poparapro]

I hope the timing problems get solved on the Grand . . . . soon!!

We would like to do the cave tubing so (after reading the boards) I'll check into Reggie @ Regtour or Marvin @ Wet & Wild since they look like they will accomadate us with a 4 hour tour.

If there's any one who has "tubed" with Reggie or Marvin, PLEASE give us some feedback!

Thanks!

[Backfence]

If there's any one who has "tubed" with Reggie or Marvin, PLEASE give us some feedback!

Thanks!

 

We cave tubed w/Reggie 2 yrs. ago and it was fantastic. He's very reliable and I assure you time will not be an issue - he has it down to a science. We would love to go again, but some in our group want to do something else, so I doubt we'll get there this year. But - I highly recommend his cave tubing trip.

 

(We're on the Grand Princess too - so understand the time constraints.)

 

Carol