difference in snorkeling ship excursions? (RCCL)

Planning an RCCL excursion for January in Belize and there are three that vary greatly in price but I can't figure out if they are different areas or what. Slight difference in time for one of them.

basically we want to go to the second largest coral barrier reef thingy

BE31 - Barrier Reef Snorkeling Wonders $64 for 4 hours

BEG6 - Barrier Reef Snorkel and Island Getaway $79 for 4 hours (Starfish ISland)

BEF1 - Sharks, Rays, and ISland Getaway $119 for 5 1/2 hours (is this the shark alley people mention?)

Thanks to anyone

Surprised no one answered this. I'm not sure about your first question, but it does seem from the description that you would be snorkeling at the barrier reef. I have seen it mentioned that Bannister Island is now called Starfish Island so that sounds like a trip to Starfish Island with maybe some snorkeling thrown in? I just got done reading a lot of reviews for this port, in particular I found Mitsugirly's reviews very helpful. Here is her in depth review of Bannister/Starfish Island:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36498626

Your third option definitely sounds like the Shark/Ray alley that people talk about, and that trip likely includes some snorkel time at the reef which sounds close to what you're looking for (and it looks like a lot of fun). Again, a useful Mitsugirly review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44890530

If you weren't interested in the sharks and rays maybe go with the first one? Hope that helps.

The difference is the islands and snorkeling spots. The best one out of those is the Shark Ray Alley and Island. Takes to the Hol Chan Reserve, Coral Gardens, and the funky fishing island of Caye Caulker. We love Caye Caulker.

thanks guys! I'll definitely check out those links :)

We have done the first one and the last one ( although the last was with a private company - same excursion ). The snorkeling is great in both, better on the third but costs double and is farther. That means you spend more time getting there and back not a big difference in water time. Caye calker is a great little island but we didn't have time to explore it beyond eating there. We saw huge stingrays both places, no sharks the first.

All that said I think we will go back to the first on our October cruise. What we want is to avoid the tender to the mainland first that eats up time and go directly from the ship.

Just thought I'd update my last post as we just went to Belize this past week. We changed our minds and went on the Sharks, Rays with RCCL. Just have to say it was awesome.

We did have to tender to the pier first. Easy to find at the pier and had time to use the restroom as there is not one on the boat. The boat is small , more like a fishing boat with only a partial covering. However the ride out and back was pretty smooth. It did rain briefly but they handed out ponchos for us. There were 22 of us so not a huge group.

We stopped at Caye Caulker first so some could put in lunch orders and use the restroom. It's about an hour each way from the pier.

Then went to the reef and snorkeled. The current was a little strong but they put out a rope with bouys for the weaker swimmers. Right away there were lots of rays and several small sharks. They held a shark or two for us to touch ( not near their mouths) so cool! Then they had three guides in the water showing you all kinds of fish.

This excursion was so well run. Even had a medic on board.

After a lot of time in the water we went back to the island. We had an hour and half there. Most had lunch. We wanted to explore instead. We had asked to rent a golf cart for an hour so we could drive around the island. We had plenty of time to do that and it only cost 12.50. We stopped and got a couple of beers after exploring the little island. Rum punch flowed freely on the way back.

Again just an awesome excursion.