How was the Mayan Mystique cruise?

[Floridiana]

I loved Lamanai Ruins in Belize. Belize City looked run down. We were glad to have something planned.

 

Lamanai ruins are quite far out by bus and I would recommend to bring a snack since lunch was served at 3 pm. We had about 4 or 5 busses and transferred to small boats on the river. The excellent guide pointed out many birds along the shore. At the ruins, we stepped off the boats into howler monkey territory. From high up in the trees they tried to chase us away with their howls, very eerie and a great part of the Lamanai jungle ruin experience.

 

Two negative points: The tender ride was delayed since the local authorities took their own sweet time to show up. I would not have minded - it's part of the travel experience - if the excursion desk staff had had the courtesy to show up in the Riviera Lounge at the time printed on our tickets to keep us updated. A similar 'staff no show' happened on the Island Holiday cruise at the approach to St. Vincent.

 

Our bus had non-functioning windshield wipers; the driver was blindly following the straight road during two tropical downpours. I informed the excursion staff who excused this lapse of safety with being in a poor country. Oceania should inform the bus company that the busses may be old, but must be safe.

[wp bob]

with all the tender discussion, I have that we tender in G Cayman and Belize. any other tender ports on mayan mistique?

[Floridiana]

Just those two.

[wp bob]

I've seen several vendors mention the local time versus ship tme for tour departures. Did you change time to stay in synch with the local port time?

[LHT28]

I've seen several vendors mention the local time versus ship tme for tour departures. Did you change time to stay in synch with the local port time?

On previous Oceania cruises we changed to the time zone we are sailing in.

hoping it will be the same for our upcoming cruise

Hopefully that is still the case

 

Lyn

[JAKUEHNLE]

I thought they tendered in Roatan also.:confused:

[LAexNY]

I thought they tendered in Roatan also.:confused:

 

Apparently that has changed, at least for the 1/13/13 Mayan Mystique cruise. Roatan is no longer shown as a tender port. Works for me!

[LHT28]

I thought they tendered in Roatan also.:confused:

 

We have docked at Coxen hole on previous cruises but I see they now seem to use the carnival dock at Mahogany Bay

I had posted the link to the ports of Roatan ships schedules but the search feature on CC is not working today

Just look for port of Roatan & you should come up with the cruise docking schedule

 

Lyn

[roothy123]

There was an article that popped up on Cruise Critic's Facebook page recently that mentions that Carnival has been very unhappy with the tenders in Belize and/or George Town, Grand Cayman. The issues apparently have to do with over-crowding and price. Here's a link to the story: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5147

 

In Roatan a year ago on Marina, we docked at Mahogany Bay. However, when I checked the port sites for both docking locations a couple weeks before we sailed, both sites listed Marina as being there! A call to Oceania clarified the confusion.

 

On all past Oceania cruises, we have changed to the local time zone. On our Baltic cruise in August, I think that meant 4 or 5 time changes(!), but luckily only an hour at a time, and with adequate reminders from Oceania, so it was no big deal. The cabin steward will place a card on your bed at night reminding you to change your clocks/watches, and time changes will be mentioned in the daily newsletter.

[mrssbi]

On the December 10th cruise we docked at Mahogany Bay. Coxen hole is not a tender port. Mahogany Bay is a great place to dock.

[LHT28]

Coxen hole is not a tender port.

Have not been there since the new port building was finished but in the past some ships did tender there

Just depends on how many ships in port at the same time

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

Our March 18th cruise is now showing Roatan as a tender port on Oceania website :(

 

So I guess it still happens there

[hondorner]

Way back in 2006 we landed at Roatan on the Costa Allegra as an added port when one of the Mexican ports was closed due to rough weather. We docked at Coxen Hole. There was only room for one ship at the dock, and a SilverSea ship had to tender. I remember being amused that we peons (I think we paid only $65/night/guest for that cruise :eek:) were able to walk off the ship while the luxury folks had to tender. It was not even a scheduled stop for us! Obviously, first come, first served. I enjoyed that area, with lots of native craft shops and taxi drivers, and was looking forward to it again.

 

But -- on the 12/10 Riviera cruise, we docked at Mahogany Bay. We were the only ship in port, but the dock had room for at least two ships. If the March cruise is indeed tendering, that probably means there are at least two other ships in that port that day.

 

I was disappointed in Mahogany Bay; just another of the cookie-cutter cruise ports with all the usual suspects. Too clean, too organized, too expensive -- just like the artificial "villages" at Grand Turk (I don't need to go all the way to the Turks & Caicos to visit a RonJon Surf Shop or a Margaritaville), Costa Maya Mexico and Tobago. Just how many times can one visit a Diamonds International ? (answer: none). The only thing that was worthwhile to us was a short nature path as an alternative to the concrete walkway to the beach (or the $12 chairlift ride to the beach). The only reason we got off the ship was to walk off some of the calories; we were back in time for lunch to pack in some more ;).

 

If you want to see the real Roatan, take a tour, or try to find your way out of the artificial village (it's not wasy to find; they want to keep you there) and hire a taxi.

[LHT28]

Don..I found it strange that on O website it has us tendering but on the port schedule we are the only ship at MB

I guess time will tell what is correct :D