ABQrobin

thanks, hopefully everything recovers quickly. I know they depend on these cruise ships and the money. Uggh, I hate hurricanes.

Reminds me of when we got Platinum and took an 8-day for the first time, expecting to get on ship pretty quick. They called all the Diamond, wedding parties, suites, and FTTF people first.... half the waiting room stood up and walked to door. No kidding, it took almost an hour before they called us. So on your Journey cruise, expect something similar! Sorry.

Bridal parties and Suites are always first.

So incredibly horrible looking storm! I know lots of cruise ships are diverting to miss the area this week. Belize is a poor country that depends of tourism and this is going to hurt for awhile depending on damage. I know 9 yrs ago we were on a cruise a week after a tropical depression went thru there and all the land excursions were cancelled due to roads washed out making everything outside of Belize City unreachable. This looks so much worse. Fingers crossed that there is not much damage and Belize can recover quickly!

OMG.... good food.... yeah! Bonsai sushi.... everything! Ji Ji Asian... Everything! MDR.... soups, all of them are delicious MDR.... salmon is usually a good bet Blue Iguana... breakfast arrepas! My hubby is already talking about them. Love their lunch tacos, too, all flavors, great salsas. Some ships have a salad bar at lunch on the Serenity deck... awesome stuff. Our last cruise was Alaska on the Splendor and it is the only ship left with the Indian Masala Tiger... OMG... that place at lunch was INCREDIBLE! By Day 3 of the cruise everyone was eating lunch there, line wrapped around the deck. Wish every ship had that instead of some of the other crap.

Belize...Cave tubing or Mayan ruins... best port to do either. Lamanai is freakin amazing! All the tour guides are full of great information and teach you all about the jungle, different plants, Mayan history. Just can't go wrong with cave tubing or ruins in Belize. Mahogany Bay Roatan... gosh, the island of Roatan has a ton of great excursions, places to go. The reefs are right close to shore so if you want to snorkel, this the place. If you like white sand beaches it is the place to go. If you want to see monkeys and sloths, it is the place to go. And if you just want to stay in port there is a free beach next to the ship, you can pay for kayaking or ziplining right there at port...

I think you have 2 restaurants confused. Bonsai Sushi is a sushi restaurant with no reservations, very casual. Teppanyaki is a big grill where they cook food while you watch and needs reservations. Totally different food and atmosphere.

Personally, we love the Vista and are going on it a 3rd time coming up very soon. It is a new ship, gorgeous top to bottom. Much fancier than the ships you have been on previously. As for the ports, all ports are good either way. Yes, the Celebration will be the NEWEST ship. We have been to all of those ports so it just depends what you like to do in port.

We used Shoreexcursioneer.

I don't know which beach yet, as I said it is booked for next month.

I have the "Fun-n-Sun" tour booked with Victor Bodden next month. We visit the Sloth and Monkey place, then go to a beach club at West end. Check it out. Includes transportation and entry fees at both.

Nope. It will not open in Nov. I had it booked and they sent us a refund and said that the island will not be ready in Nov at all.

there are quite a few great dive operators at Roatan and Cozumel who will take cruisers, but it all depends on your arrival time. They aren't going to hold a dive boat to wait on ships that are after a certain time unless there are enough divers to warrant.

Our one and only time doing assigned dining we had one couple who came late EVERY night. It was so rude. I don't know why the staff allowed them to stay and not tell them to go to YTD room. They finally got the message by day 5 and changed. We haven't done assigned time since.

If you are tendering outside of Belize city, like most of the cruise ships.... no, there are not nice beaches close by for snorkeling. The good snorkeling can only be reached by a boat to one of the islands off shore.

When did I say that????? All I said was that the submarine goes underwater.... the OP asked about a glass bottom boat and I wanted them to kknow the difference.

Glass bottom boat stays on the surface. The submarine in Cozumel goes totally underwater (not for people with claustrophobia!)

Dec-Feb you can have El Norte conditions... which is a northern wind that makes it very cold, lots of heavy wave action, and boats not going out for excursions. Water is too rough to swim. It doesn't happen the whole time, but it does happen and when El Norte arrives it usually lasts 2-3 days.

I assure you, my photos I posted are from La Choza which I took on our cruise Feb 2020.

Might also be La Choza.... in the same area and same architecture. Its our favorite in town.

Diving in Roatan is awesome, he won't be disappointed. Lots of fishlife and nice reefs.

Have you contacted Blue Reef to see if they will pick you up there, or are you planning to meet somewhere else? Also, make sure that you can make a 10am pickup and that they have enough divers to go out. Many dive ops have a required number to make it worth the gas to get to the reefs. No sure which cruise line you are using, but if they have a dive op excursion, then they will pick up and drop off at your pier next to the ship saving you taxi to and from the pickup spot away from cruise piers.

yes, it is possible. Our first cruise was in Oct and when we were there, Belize had been enduring a week of non-stop rains so all tubing excursions were cancelled. That whole region of the Caribbean has rain during Oct-Nov, sometimes hurricanes and such, but you can also have beautiful sunny weather. No way to predict.

It is really easy diving and like diving in an aquarium. Enjoy!

We have been to Bonaire twice for 7-day land vacations, so I can honestly tell you there are ZERO bad dives in Bonaire. It is the shore diving capital of the world as many reefs are just walking distance right off the shore line. We did do both shore and boat dives there and most dives are pretty similar. That said... go with whomever you want for diving there, you seriously cannot go wrong. a video to let you see: