NCL intinerary change - Banana Coast (trujillo), Honduras

So, since the Jewel is mentioned several times in this thread, does that mean it's just the Jewel that is going here for now?

 

We will be on the Sun in November and have not received any emails or notifications that we will be going here instead of Roatan and was just wondering before I book any excursion in Roatan. :)

I think if you haven't gotten a letter yet, you're probably safe, Our Thanksgiving cruise on the Jewel is still going to Roatan, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

DH and I are doing a B2B in Feb. 2015, stopping first week in Roatan, 2nd in Trujillo.

So, since the Jewel is mentioned several times in this thread, does that mean it's just the Jewel that is going here for now?

 

We will be on the Sun in November and have not received any emails or notifications that we will be going here instead of Roatan and was just wondering before I book any excursion in Roatan. :)

Yes, the Jewel is the only NCL ship offering calls there. All the rest are still going to Roatan. The Jewel had a mix offering of either going to the Banana Coast, or Roatan alternating weekly. Seems now a lot of the Jewel sailings are being moved to almost all going to Banana Coast.

Yes, the Jewel is the only NCL ship offering calls there. All the rest are still going to Roatan. The Jewel had a mix offering of either going to the Banana Coast, or Roatan alternating weekly. Seems now a lot of the Jewel sailings are being moved to almost all going to Banana Coast.

I wouldn't say "almost all".

The Jewel's Caribbean season is mostly alternating, except (a) the first four sailings all going to Banana Coast, (b) three in a row around New Year's, and © the final sailing before returning to Alaska is a repeat. Nov, Dec, most of Jan, Feb and Mar are all alternating.

Frankly, with the Dawn sailing from nearby New Orleans to Roatan *every* week during the same season (not to mention the Sun from Tampa every week plus many non-NCL ships every other week), I don't see why the Jewel doesn't just move all of them to Banana Coast.

For the 2015/2016 season, in contrast, Norwegian is planning to debut Harvest Caye, which replaces Belize City entirely for NCL.

NCL has not yet determined whether any of those ships will continue to go to Banana Coast in fall 2015 (though HAL has already agreed to a second season). However, if they do, it will be nice to have a ship (or so) that is going to TWO new-ish ports at once. :)

We are so excited about Trujillo. The beaches look beautiful and haven't been run over by tourists yet. We have booked the 3 bedroom condo with hot tub and mini bar on the roof terrace at The Banana Beach Resort with 3 pools, restaurant, bar, beach, etc. etc. We booked the condo for the night before so we can check in as soon as we get to port. They have a shuttle picking us up at the pier. Since we have an inside cabin on the Jewel the luxury of the condo and regular sized bathrooms will be nice. It's going to cost $200 for 6 people to enjoy the day. So $30 each for the excursion!!!!:D

In Trujillo or Belize?

ETA: Disregard, I see they have one at each stop.

We are so excited about Trujillo. The beaches look beautiful and haven't been run over by tourists yet. We have booked the 3 bedroom condo with hot tub and mini bar on the roof terrace at The Banana Beach Resort with 3 pools, restaurant, bar, beach, etc. etc. We booked the condo for the night before so we can check in as soon as we get to port. They have a shuttle picking us up at the pier. Since we have an inside cabin on the Jewel the luxury of the condo and regular sized bathrooms will be nice. It's going to cost $200 for 6 people to enjoy the day. So $30 each for the excursion!!!!:D

That's a pretty good deal for a large® group! Glad you found something you will enjoy. :)

By the way, there's a *chance* I may be changing sail dates to yours. I'll know in a few weeks (before final payment date, thank goodness).

In Trujillo or Belize?

 

ETA: Disregard, I see they have one at each stop.

This is a privately owned resort. It is not associated with the one in Belize.

http://www.bananabeachbums.com/

Roger that.

I was told that if we didn't make a condo/cabana reservation that we could visit the resort and use the pool for $5.:D

Condos/Cabanas:

*The prices listed on the WEB site include maid service, full breakfast and use of all amenities.

*Note: Prices for One Cabana/Two Rooms is for four persons. It is 200 Lempiras ($10)/night for each additional person with a maximum of 10 persons to a cabana. Master bedroom has one king-size bed. Spare bedroom has one full-size bed.

*18% standard taxes are not included in the prices.

We are on the Jewel also. Trujillo ATV. Is it safe?

If you read the thread, you will see that nobody knows, as Trujillo is a brand new port, and none of us will have been there before the Jewel's first visit in October.

I suggest you connect with Banana Coast Tours on FB for more information on that particular excursion.

I suggest you connect with Banana Coast Tours on FB for more information on that particular excursion.

If you do contact Banana Coast Tours through FB I just wanted to let you know that you may need to check your "Other" messages when looking for a reply. When I contacted them a few weeks ago to see if I could book directly with them (you can't) I thought they just didn't reply. Noticed about a week later that it went to the "Other" box. I guess FB thought it was spam.

Hey Everyone,

I have been traveling for some years to Roatan , Copan and recently to Trujillo as well. There are few other options out there when it comes to locals and tours, the main issue is that the port is privately owned therefore the owner of the port has tried to tie down all tours through his tour company from what I gathered a few months ago that I was down there and with online monopoly comes higher prices.

A bit of information about Trujillo since you wont find much on the net. Trujillo is a small town not much going on there, they have some historical sites and beautiful beaches lots of eco -stuff to do such as nature trails, horse back riding and you get the picture. Ive been to the new port and its a bit on the small side for my taste and not much going on inside yet. I would definitely recommend going to downtown trying some of the local food especially the traditional conch soup. There are a few restaurants in town but I've never been disappointed with my meals in town.

The best hotel around is called the Columbus, Banana Beach is nice as well the rest are a bit more like motels for my taste. Im not much into the rustic charm but to each its own.

Here are a couple links that with articles and tours from a few with online presence. Dont expect to find WIFI everywhere in Trujillo since electricity and cel coverage is very sporadic. I hear there are several tour operators from Roatan which I have used will soon be offering their services in Trujillo such as MC Tours and John Bodden tours. You will surely find independent operators outside but take your translators since english is not widely spoken in Trujillo as it is in Roatan. Most of the independent tour company owners do happen to be expats mostly Canadian.

http://www.honduras.com/trujillo/

http://www.trujillohonduras.com/tourism.htm

http://www.hondurasconcierges.com

http://www.bananacoasttours.net/

Any questions you might have or if you need any suggestions glad to help !

I was there with another line in April....... Lets put it this way, of the passengers who got off, all were back before noon......

Its basically a former United fruit loading depot ..... If you like primitive and have a high tolerance for seeing total poverty ... then it might be ok.

Hot humid and desolate....... Why. cheap port fees.... cause there is nothing there...or even close

If you do contact Banana Coast Tours through FB I just wanted to let you know that you may need to check your "Other" messages when looking for a reply. When I contacted them a few weeks ago to see if I could book directly with them (you can't) I thought they just didn't reply. Noticed about a week later that it went to the "Other" box. I guess FB thought it was spam.

And if you do connect with them thru FB please be cautious as it is most likely an open to the entire FB world page

I have seen FB posts on ccl and Ncl FB pages showing date of sail hometown etc.

Nothing like posting that info in the open not to mention having your name and pix up there as well

Just sayin

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I was there with another line in April....... Lets put it this way, of the passengers who got off, all were back before noon......

Its basically a former United fruit loading depot ..... If you like primitive and have a high tolerance for seeing total poverty ... then it might be ok.

Hot humid and desolate....... Why. cheap port fees.... cause there is nothing there...or even close

Clearly, the idea is that the port would develop *into* something that benefits both the locals and the industry. We "early adopters" have set our expectations appropriately (at least I have - I imagine others have as well).

We'll visit the orphanage and relax at a beach run by an ex-pat. Should be fine.

We are on the Jewel also. Trujillo ATV. Is it safe?

Cool Bandidt,

I would say its pretty safe, its sold exclusively through the cruse line and they ususally only worked with insured tours. So I would think you should be alright. I did the ATV tour in Mahogany Bay Roatan and we had a great time.

In Roatan the ports were ports were built by the cruise companies. This port in Banana Coast is a private invester. Outside of the port the town of Trujillo.

I have been considering booking the Jewel out of Houston in November as well but was concerned about this new port. I was really hoping to go to Roatan. It seems that the Banana Coast port was developed (aka man made). Sure, there is a town (Trujillo) nearby but my understanding is that everything around the port is owned and managed by one company. At least that it what it seems like from reading the press releases. I don't have any experience with man made ports or private islands, but it seems to me that you wouldn't get to experience much of the local culture there. My guess is NCL and other cruise lines are moving here because there is a much higher profit margin off excursions that they can control.

 

Has anyone ever been on the Emerald Princess? I see it is sailing out of Houston also but the videos I have seen on YouTube make the cabins seem very dated. I think I'd rather risk it with a new man made port than go on a ship that I find unattractive.

What cruise ship was in Trujillo in April?

We were on the Jewel and visited Banana Coast Oct. 15th. Our tour to the Rio Grande Cascades & Swimming (booked thru NCL) was cancelled because there was "no water". Instead we walked around and found the Beach Road filthy. Plenty of hard sales to get you to take one of their tours or a taxi ride. No inside shops. Instead vendors on the walkways. No air conditioning at the Jade Museum. Don't know about other places because we went back on board. Heard tales of outragious prices for taxi rides up the hill to Trujillo and Spanish Fort. Either take one of the other tours offered by NCL or skip this place for years. Hopefully they will clean up their streets.

We just visited Trujillo as part of the 10/25 sailing of the Jewel. It is very much a new port, and much of the facility is still being developed. Our experience was overall very positive. We did not do any tours, but opted to explore the town on our own. We felt very safe walking around town, even with three kids in our group, ages 8, 12 and 14. The locals were very friendly, and it was evident that the local government was very involved in making the experience positive for all, as police were monitoring all activities, and shooing away panhandlers, or anyone else that was not a legitimate vendor.

That being said, it is still a small town in an impoverished Central American country, and you do need to set your expectations accordingly. Be sure to bring cash ashore, as very few places are able to accept credit cards (even if their signs indicate that they do, as I was surprised at a local restaurant. Fortunately I had enough cash to cover the tab!). The port facility itself is still being fine tuned, as our arrival was delayed for over 2 hours, as the access to the tender docks needed to be dredged to remove the build up of sand and silt that had resulted from heavy rains earlier in the week. NCL did a great job of communicating the reason for the delay, and the procedures that were being done to correct the problem. They also extended to port stay by two hours, to help offset the delay, and allow people time ashore.

Overall, we enjoyed the day, and it was a refreshing change of pace from some of the overcrowded ports that are becoming all too typical on Caribbean itineraries.

We just visited Trujillo as part of the 10/25 sailing of the Jewel. It is very much a new port, and much of the facility is still being developed. Our experience was overall very positive. We did not do any tours, but opted to explore the town on our own. We felt very safe walking around town, even with three kids in our group, ages 8, 12 and 14. The locals were very friendly, and it was evident that the local government was very involved in making the experience positive for all, as police were monitoring all activities, and shooing away panhandlers, or anyone else that was not a legitimate vendor.

 

That being said, it is still a small town in an impoverished Central American country, and you do need to set your expectations accordingly. Be sure to bring cash ashore, as very few places are able to accept credit cards (even if their signs indicate that they do, as I was surprised at a local restaurant. Fortunately I had enough cash to cover the tab!). The port facility itself is still being fine tuned, as our arrival was delayed for over 2 hours, as the access to the tender docks needed to be dredged to remove the build up of sand and silt that had resulted from heavy rains earlier in the week. NCL did a great job of communicating the reason for the delay, and the procedures that were being done to correct the problem. They also extended to port stay by two hours, to help offset the delay, and allow people time ashore.

 

Overall, we enjoyed the day, and it was a refreshing change of pace from some of the overcrowded ports that are becoming all too typical on Caribbean itineraries.

Any pictures of this new port that you can share?

Here is a few pics of Trujillo

Here is a few pics of Trujillo

Where? :confused: