Belize shore excursions - NCL Escape

[rf53]

Hello,

 

I am booked on the Escape sailing on 7/31/2016. This will be my first time in Belize. I have been looking for a good shore excursion, but I am not crazy about the excursions offered by the cruise line. Most of them seem to be sightseeing excursions that don't attract my attention. There is only one beach excursion of 4 hours in duration, but it seems weak compared to what we are doing in Roatan (Maya Key), and in Cozumel (Playa Mia). I won't turn down the beach if it is spectacular, but this one seems... meh.

 

What are the don't miss shore excursions in Belize? Beaches are preferred, but nothing is off the table. I would prefer a cruise line affiliated excursion because they will guarantee that you get back to the ship on time, but independent reliable excursions are acceptable. Suggestions?

[Coastalbreezes]

Here's a link to some reviews of NCL sponsored excursions:

 

http://reviews.ncl.com/4066/BZE/belize-city-belize-reviews/category.htm

 

Also bear in mind that it's about a 20-25 minute tender ride from the ship to shore so plan your timing accordingly. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Tracy

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Hello,

 

I am booked on the Escape sailing on 7/31/2016. This will be my first time in Belize. I have been looking for a good shore excursion, but I am not crazy about the excursions offered by the cruise line. Most of them seem to be sightseeing excursions that don't attract my attention. There is only one beach excursion of 4 hours in duration, but it seems weak compared to what we are doing in Roatan (Maya Key), and in Cozumel (Playa Mia). I won't turn down the beach if it is spectacular, but this one seems... meh.

 

What are the don't miss shore excursions in Belize? Beaches are preferred, but nothing is off the table. I would prefer a cruise line affiliated excursion because they will guarantee that you get back to the ship on time, but independent reliable excursions are acceptable. Suggestions?

 

When I went to Belize with my wife we really enjoyed the cave tubing excursion.

[sid_9169]

If you're the adventurous type, I did an awesome excursion to shark ray alley that left from Ambergris Caye, that included a short flight on a small plane from Belize City to San Pedro... After a 15 minute flight, you head out on a small boat to Hol Chan Marine Reserve for some snorkeling with all different kinds of coral and fish. Then head out a bit further to shark ray alley to swim while surrounded by nurse sharks and rays. Then back to San Pedro, where there's time to walk about the small town and have a nice local lunch, before flying back to Belize City... https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/belize/shark-ray-alley-hol-chan-marine-park-snorkel-air.html

[Texasmotherofthree]

On a previous cruse with RCL we made a stop in Belize. We chose the zip line excursion which was a lot of fun. A long drive, but it was worth it. My in laws took the younger children on RCL's beach excursion. Not sure if it is the same excursion as NCL but the beach was terrible. Everyone complained when they returned to the boat and their money was refunded.

[VideoTech]

Hello,

 

I am booked on the Escape sailing on 7/31/2016. This will be my first time in Belize. I have been looking for a good shore excursion, but I am not crazy about the excursions offered by the cruise line. Most of them seem to be sightseeing excursions that don't attract my attention. There is only one beach excursion of 4 hours in duration, but it seems weak compared to what we are doing in Roatan (Maya Key), and in Cozumel (Playa Mia). I won't turn down the beach if it is spectacular, but this one seems... meh.

 

What are the don't miss shore excursions in Belize? Beaches are preferred, but nothing is off the table. I would prefer a cruise line affiliated excursion because they will guarantee that you get back to the ship on time, but independent reliable excursions are acceptable. Suggestions?

 

My Son-in-Law and his wife did the Lamanai Mayan ruins tour and absolutely raved about it. It's a long day, with a boat trip and a lot of walking, but if you would like to see a good Mayan site, this one is highly recommended.

 

I did a snorkel and beach break ship's tour. Belize has the second longest barrier reef in the world, and the snorkeling was excellent. Since you tender at Belize city, the tour boat took us right off the ship and returned us right to the ship. Didn't have to go into the city at all.

[Nola26]

Bacab Jungle Bike Adventure gives us a nice bike ride, lunch, pool time and a chance to explore botanical gardens and see some animals. Not the beach, but I like the activity and the chance to just chill afterwards or continue to move around the grounds.

 

We also selected Maya Key for Roatan so I feel like we'll have enough beach time.

[no port @ dfw]

It was many years ago but we went cave tubing with "Major Tom" and had a blast. I have no idea if they are still in operation but at that time there were many very good cruise critic recommendations for his outfit (which is how we found him in the first place) in the Belize section of the ports forum.

[popcorn15]

Hi!

I've read a few reviews where people say that the water was rough around the shark/sting ray site. Did you experience this as well? I would love to do this, but I can get seasick quite fast.

[txagfan]

Lamanai is really cool. If you are interested at all in history it's pretty incredible.

[rdhnd]

Hello,

 

I am booked on the Escape sailing on 7/31/2016. This will be my first time in Belize. I have been looking for a good shore excursion, but I am not crazy about the excursions offered by the cruise line. Most of them seem to be sightseeing excursions that don't attract my attention. There is only one beach excursion of 4 hours in duration, but it seems weak compared to what we are doing in Roatan (Maya Key), and in Cozumel (Playa Mia). I won't turn down the beach if it is spectacular, but this one seems... meh.

 

What are the don't miss shore excursions in Belize? Beaches are preferred, but nothing is off the table. I would prefer a cruise line affiliated excursion because they will guarantee that you get back to the ship on time, but independent reliable excursions are acceptable. Suggestions?

 

I would suggest "ButtsUP" cavetubing/zipline ... very reasonably priced and they work with cruise passengers on a regular basis

http://www.cave-tubing.com/

[dcipjr]

We're doing Lamanai in a few weeks when we'll be there. We're on a B2B, so we'll have plenty of beach time on the other ports, and we're looking forward to seeing some historical sites.

[pathubia]

The first time in Belize we went to Goffs Caye, it was great, booked on our own, easy to find:

 

https://belizecruiseexcursions.com/excursion/sun-kissed-goffs-caye-beach-snorkeling-belize/

 

The 2nd time we shopped in the port and had a few beers in a bar at the port.

 

The 3rd time we went to the Lamanai Ruins, booked with NCL, that was great but a LONG day!!