Belize Cruise Terminal??

[ADB]

I've heard they are building a terminal where the ships can doc and it should be open in 2009, anyone else heard of this or back from a recent cruise how are they coming along?

[martinchem]

Check out belizecruiseterminal.com

[CruiserWKB]

There has been talk, but I don't think there has been any construction started yet.

[ADB]

I just spoke to another cruise critic member who was there last week and their is no sign of a new terminal. I guess they may build it one day, that sure would be nice especially for those who have disabilities and can't tender in....they are the ones who miss out. The web site sure suggest that their will be one anytime, maybe they will update it to show the correct info.

[punkmuse]

i was there on 3/11 and i did not see anything that looked even remotely like construction

[kthy66]

Just a little bump and update! You can't see construction going on since the new pier is quite a distance from the current tourist village. On the website there is a picture which looks like Phase II is nearly complete! Also on google maps you can see the Phase I which is the causeway. Go to google maps and type caesar road belize once it comes up go to the left; you will see a what looks like a large industrial area with some structures jutting out into the ocean. Those structures are Phase I of the terminal. Im not sure when the satellite pic was taken but according belizecruiseterminal.com construction is much farther along now!

I will be so excited if we can dock there on our December sailing.. The long tender ride last year from carnival legend really stunk! so much so I wasn't going ashore this year!

[w8ing2cruz]

Where does the current tender take you? Is it Belize City? How far from there is Amebergris Cay? How about San Pedro?

[ncboys]

Where does the current tender take you? Is it Belize City? How far from there is Amebergris Cay? How about San Pedro?

 

 

Ambergris Caye is about a 50 minute water taxi ride from the water taxi terminal in Belize City. The townof San Perdo is located on Ambergris Caye(it's the same place). You might want to look at the island of Caye Caulker. It's only about a 30 minute ride from the Water Taxi Terminal and much nicer(more laid back) in my opinion. You board the same water Taxi(it stops in Caye Caulker first and then goes on to San Pedro)

[Pssunshinegal]

Where does the current tender take you? Is it Belize City? How far from there is Amebergris Cay? How about San Pedro?

 

Because of the time constraints the best way to get to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye is to fly over. You need to take a taxi from the cruise terminal to the city airport. Then it takes 12 minutes to get to Ambergris Caye and when you land you are one block off the beach and right in the heart of the city. You can fly from International airport to AC, but it is more expensive. From city it is $67 round trip per adult and $50.50 for kids. You may even get a discount if you ask and pay cash, not sure if they are still doing that. I can't imagine the taxi from the terminal to City airport would be more than $10-15 US (30-50 Belize).

 

There are many trips from Bcity to AC if not hourly. Edited to add there are 11 flights each way throughout the day. You can make reservations on line at Tropic Air. For the cost of some of the other excursions if you don't want to do them, but want to have a nice day, drink a few beers, have great food and mingle with the locals and many expatriates, fly on over.

 

Love San Pedro and AC, I leave on Monday for a month there.

 

Janice

[kthy66]

Can you give us an update on the cruise terminal while you are there or after you return?

Pics would be great too!!! :)

[crewsweeper]

Can you give us an update on the cruise terminal while you are there or after you return?

Pics would be great too!!! :)

I read a recent notice that Carnival had cancelled its contracts for this new pier due to disputes with the construction contractors. does anyone recall if this is correct?

[Clamshell]

When this new terminal was in the planning process several years ago, the rumor mill was that it wasn't going to allow independant tour guides in. Therefore, after your 1/4 mile hike to the terminal, you would have to go outside it to meet the indy's. (No doubt passing 2 or 3 Diamond Internationals and such). I do hope that whoever said Carnival backed out of it was right.

[crewsweeper]

Well, I did a bit of a search and couldn't find any recent release on the new terminal. So I could be mistaken. However, the Port of Belize website created for this venture hasn't been updated since 2008 and there was a December 2008 news story in the Belizian press that about work stopping on the project due to an internal dispute over who has the rights to the area. Appears that the local businessman partner int he venture was a former Belizian government member now at odds witht he current government. So it might well be that the project is just on hold. I didi note that the initial press releases for this venture began in 2003. Thus the wheels here turn slowly and dispite the website's indication of a 2009 opening, that's obviously not happening.

[kthy66]

Then it will be wonderful day on the ship hanging by the pool! :)

[ADL3]

For people who haven't been, I want to say that the tender process at Belize wasn't nearly as bad as I was anticipating. I had read so many horror stories on here that I was really dreading it but it was quick and easy compared to what I was expecting. I am not saying that some people didn't have a bad time with it, because I totally believe that happens, but I just wanted to give some hope to people who are really not looking forward to it. I worry and get anxious about everything and this wasn't bad for me at all!

[kthy66]

Yeh it isn't really so bad.. We were able to get a tender pretty quickly to shore even though we didn't book our excursion with the ship.. but After hiking through the jungle and cave tubing I had a terrible migraine from the heat so the trip back seemed extra long.. But it is worth the ride ashore if you haven't been to the port. I think its a great opportunity for me to stay on board and enjoy having some quiet time without the big crowds.

[hooperkj]

I tried the email link at belizecruiseterminal.com but got a mail delivery failure. Odd that they still keep a website but have shut down email.

[crewsweeper]

I tried the email link at belizecruiseterminal.com but got a mail delivery failure. Odd that they still keep a website but have shut down email.

A victim of the petty politics and perceived scandals that often accompnay "development" in Central and Latin American countries. Techincally, however, websites often do remain out in the www long after the originators have abandoned them. It the web server housing the site is not s subscription based server, then the site can be up until someone physically takes it down. Emails however are usually dependent upon a paid isp carrier and thus do frequently expire once the isp is no longer getting paid. Don't flame my 20th century tech nomenclature, it's probably the inverse of Moore's Law:o