Western cruise

[joanne910]

I am cruising with my husband and two kids and wanted to know about reserving a shore excursion in Belize. The excursion would be the Barrier Reef Snorkel and Beach at Rendezvous. Its 3 hrs and 30 mins long. What do you think? First time cruiser

[swimmersonboard]

My husband and I and three kids went on it last month. We really enjoyed it but there were pros and cons. First off the guides WERE AWESOME and the snorkeling was great! The boat handed out free drinks as soon as the snorkel part was over and there was ALOT Of dancing going on. IT was Gorgeous there too.
The cons: The little was TEEENY TINY and there were ALOT of people there. It was a 40 minute ride to the island and 40 minutes back and that was included in the time so there wasn't much time to spend on the island. Our tender got there an hour late so we did not get to go into Belize at all. The little island is not connected to the mainland at all.
We did enjoy it but I think if we go back I would do something differnt to see more of Belize. I heard(and read) EVERYONE on our ship that did the cave tubing say it was WONDERFUL! I do think it is better to have an excursion booked there because they were not tendering people without excursions until all of the excursions people had left the ship. Some of them could not get off the ship until almost lunch,not giving them much time in.

[joanne910]

When you said that you would have an excursion booked there where did you mean. The cruise boat or when you get to Belize?
The cave tubing sounds great but you have to be 12 years old. My son is 11. Do they make exceptions. When you went to the reef was it great sites underwater?

[joanne910]

When you went on the western cruise can you tell me what other places you went to see. We are going to the Grand Cayman, Belieze, Cozemel and Costa Maya. In Cozemel we were thinking about going to the dolphin discovery in the Chankanaab Park. What do you think? Thanks for helping me. We haven't been on a vacation ever like this and we really want it to be great for our kids. (11 yrs. and 15 yrs. ages of children)

[Oggy Boy]

I would do the cave tubing in Belize, dolphin encounter at Chankanaab in Cozumel and StingRay City in Grand Cayman. Your kids will love all three.

Tom

[swimmersonboard]

The online page on the cave tubing did say 12 but then it said a differnt number when we booked our excursions. Some of the snorkeling excursions also had a reccommended age but I talked to them about snorkeling because all three of our kids are competitive swimmers and swim 2 hours, 6 days a week. I felt they would be fine to swim for an extended period of time away from shore and they allowed them to go.

[kmq]

I'm doing the cave tubing next week through coral-breeze limited.com Will let you know if they will allow a 11 year old. I did the Royal Swim last summer. It was great. The best experience ever.Your family will love it.You can book through dolphindiscovery.com. It's alittle bit cheaper than booking through the cruise line. Have a good time