Roatan with kids? HELP!

[MamaParrotHead]

Our GLory cruise just got totally SCREWED with the plans for the new Dream. That's a whole OTHER frustrating story in and of itself, but in a nutshell: we're now leaving on a Sunday (can I really send my kids back to school that very next DAY and have them be able to FUNCTION? I know *I* will be dragging @ss tired), from Miami (versus Pt. Canaveral, where we were supposed to be leaving from, which is no biggie but the AIRFARE is noticeably higher) and they changed 2/4 ports (it WAS cozumel, belize, costa maya, nassau and now it's grand cayman, roatan, belize and cozumel). OH, AND instead of transferring the bookings, they CANCELLED all of them so I spent an hour on the phone this morning, rebooking 5 cabins. SUPER. :mad:

 

So, back to square one in scouting out ports and options. Yipee.:rolleyes:

 

Anyway, my question is...is Roatan SAFE? I've heard mixed messages on this. And if any of you have been there, what do you suggest for excursions? I was thinking just beaching it, preferrably somewhere with some shade and snorkeling from the beach. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[Boo's Mom]

Anyway, my question is...is Roatan SAFE? I've heard mixed messages on this. And if any of you have been there, what do you suggest for excursions? I was thinking just beaching it, preferrably somewhere with some shade and snorkeling from the beach. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

We were there in March 07.

We did not feel unsafe at any time.

 

We spent the day with an orphanage....

and we took the kids to lunch at a resort on the beach.

 

I would recommend this resort for your family.

I know that at the time they were selling a day pass.

I believe they even picked people up at the ship?

 

It is the Bay Island Beach Resort.

I think the site is BIBR.com (I think the website is in my review below?)

 

Those giant shells that you buy at the gift stores at the beach? ....

well, those shells were all over the place on this beach.

 

Here is a link to my review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=518965

 

It's not a fancy place.... but it is Roatan, Honduras !

[Boo's Mom]

If you want to post your email address, I can email you a few pic that we took at the BIBR.

[Boo's Mom]

Yes, they are still selling day passes.

Here is the link:

 

http://www.bibr.com/cruiseship.htm

[sas80]

Our GLory cruise just got totally SCREWED with the plans for the new Dream. That's a whole OTHER frustrating story in and of itself, but in a nutshell: we're now leaving on a Sunday (can I really send my kids back to school that very next DAY and have them be able to FUNCTION? I know *I* will be dragging @ss tired), from Miami (versus Pt. Canaveral, where we were supposed to be leaving from, which is no biggie but the AIRFARE is noticeably higher) and they changed 2/4 ports (it WAS cozumel, belize, costa maya, nassau and now it's grand cayman, roatan, belize and cozumel). OH, AND instead of transferring the bookings, they CANCELLED all of them so I spent an hour on the phone this morning, rebooking 5 cabins. SUPER. :mad:

 

So, back to square one in scouting out ports and options. Yipee.:rolleyes:

 

Anyway, my question is...is Roatan SAFE? I've heard mixed messages on this. And if any of you have been there, what do you suggest for excursions? I was thinking just beaching it, preferrably somewhere with some shade and snorkeling from the beach. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

Roatan seemed safe enough to me! The souvenirs are WAY overpriced. If you are stopping at Progresso, get all your souvenirs there, right on the dock. Lots to choose from and reasonably priced.

 

We did victor Bodden Tours while we were there. We had fun.

Lot's of people we knew on the cruise did fins and flippers and they just RAVED about having such a great time there. I wish we had done it!

http://www.finsandflippers.com/en/index.html

[MamaParrotHead]

Thanks for the replies. Pictures would be great. Please send them to mrsmargaritaville (at) yahoo.com. Thanks!

[nybumpkin]

We also took a Victor Bodden tour with our 3 kids then 16, 11 and 8 - it was the 8 YO's birthday, and in our e-mail we told Victor about the birthday - they all went out of their way to wish him a happy birthday! We went to the Iguana Farm, where they can feed the iguanas and see a number of other animals. We also went to Victor's house, where he has animals including monkeys. You can include beach time - a lot of folks mention Half Moon Cay. We didn't do the beach. In all, our kids had a great time and we felt perfectly safe the entire tour. Here are some of our photos (the last is one of Victor's monkeys asleep on my head):

[CeleBrat]

Totally in disagreement, and will probably get flamed....but I can attest that Roatan is not safe. :( Not from a crime perspective--rather from a safety perspective.

 

When we were there in 2004, I was personally involved in a rescue/resuscitation of a fellow cruise passenger while on a beach shore excursion, and the medical response was beyond horrendous. At the time, there was only (1)--YES 1!!!!!! ambulance on the island. It had to be diverted from the other side of the island where is was in the middle of another call. At one point the hotel manager (of the beach we were at) actually suggested that we put the passenger in the back of a pickup truck and head to the hospital. We all looked at each other in amazement and screamed "NO! Get that ambulance here!!" When it finally did show up, after we had been doing CPR for approx 25 minutes, I nearly fell over b/c the ambulance was no more than an oversized station wagon from the 70's. No room in the back for anything except a gurney. No medical supplies available on-the-scene at all. The passenger died. She was a stranger to me, but was a passenger on our ship. I didn't even know her name despite being "intimately" involved in performing CPR on her.

 

The funny thing is, that while we were on the island tour prior to arriving at the beach, we drove past the beach and the tour guide made a joke about how it is soooooo much safer to not be in their local hospital since it wasn't really an award-winning facility. Little did we know....

 

I will never, ever go back there since their infrastructure is not developed enough to support the thousands of cruise passengers that arrive their daily.

 

And yes, I know that there are probably other places in the Caribbean that are equally as underdeveloped. But, because I was personally involved in a situation that ended tragically, I just can't bear to go back.

 

OK-back to the happy conversation at hand...:)

 

CeleBrat

[EBallgrl]

I loved Roatan even though i did not like the company I took my excursion with. The island is BEAUTIFUL! We found the people nice, though some pushy, they were willing to negotiate prices (shopped at end of day). The only time we did not feel safe was on the drive back from our snorkeling excursion because the driver of our van was insane. I have never been that scared in a vehicle EVER. But we made it out alive! :D I can not wait to go back this year...we are using Bodden Tours. That is scary though to know that there was only 1 ambulance back in '04...hopefully since the island is becoming more popular and built up they will have a better system in place now...HOPEFULLY!

[carribeansol]

We took DS (11), DS (8) and friends male (11) and female (7) along with the four adults. We did a victor Boden tour. The tour was the ok. I can not give him credit for the zip lines and Halfmoon Bay. The kids and adults zipped lined at south shore. They had a second cable with saftey line. The workers were great with the kids. We felt safe at all times. Afterwards we went to halfmoon bay. There is a bar, chairs in the sun and shade, great snorkeling and kayaking. NOONE bothered us. Our guide stayed with us and made what ever arrangements we wanted. She told anyone selling items to leave if we were not interested. We are flying there to stay in the cabins for $58.00 a night. They are right on the beach!

[Lowie]

we also went with victor bodden, we felt very safe and had a nice day, the highlight being the monkey at victor's house. the only problem we had was that our driver was taking us in and out of some really poor areas, not much to see and very uneven dirt roads. the van wasn't very comfortable and we just really wanted to get to our destination. we realized that in his pursuit to give us our monies worth, he was taking the long route to every stop we wanted to go to.l he didn't realize that we were actually happy to be rushed through the day.

we saw the orphanage, the iguana's a shipwreck and the drive on the beach to victor's house.

after we walked down the road right outside the port area and bought some souvies. we foung the people not pushy at all and the prices were good. the guy on the street selling conch shells was THIRLLED that we bought $6.00 worth!

[mmbandc]

Our family just got back from a Western Caribbean cruise and our last stop was Roatan Honduras. It was by far the most beautiful island that we visited this trip. If you have children or a mixed group (we had a 5 year old, a 12 year old, a 14 year old, a 70 year old and 3 adults that fall in the 35-45 range) I would strongly recommend going to Tabyana Beach or Gumbalina Park which is also located on Tabyana Beach. The beach was clean, beautiful and had many amenities (showers, bathrooms, gift shop, hair braiding, massages, local artisans selling things on the beach, shallow water and a REEF for snorkeling. Everyone in our group had a wonderful time and each and everyone did something different. The little guy loved the sand and shallow water because there were no waves or undertow. The older kids and adults loved that the reef was right there and the snorkeling was awesome. We saw many fish types that we had never seen before. If you want to do a good beach, you will have to get a ride or I would suggest just booking the tour through the cruiseline then you know the transportation is included. All of the GOOD beaches with nice sand, no waves, shallow water and good reefs are on the opposite side of the island from where the ship docks. Take your group to Tabyana Beach--all will have fun! :)

As for safety, our tour was booked through the cruise lines and we did not feel unsafe. We had 4 members from our cruise group that went exploring on foot around the ship dock area (instead of coming to the beach with us) and they said they did not feel threatened or unsafe. They ate lunch at some local establishment and went to some gift shops in the area. They actually met a young boy who kind of "guided" them around town and was like their tour guide. They tipped him at the end and enjoyed talking to him. I think Roatan has changed greatly over the past few years with more cruise lines coming into port, the security of the guests has to be a concern and priority.

Hope this helps and enjoy yourself!

[FabFam4]

We just returned from our cruise earlier this month - Roatan was the BEST port. We took our two daughters (3 and 8) and they LOVED it. The island is beautiful and the people are very friendly. We went on the Pirates, Birds, and Monkeys excursion and the kids (and the parents) had a great time. I think the highlight was the monkey on our heads :D but the bird on the shoulder was also great.

 

I was a little concerned myself before we went but now I am so happy our cruise bumped Costa Maya for Roatan.

 

Enjoy yourself!

[mousey]

We were there 2 yrs. ago and did the zipline. It was a lot of fun. I don't recall feeling unsafe there at all. We booked the excursion on our own, but for the life of me I don't remember who it was with. It might have been Victor Bodden. Not sure!:D

[the4cannons]

We went to Roatan with our two kids, ages 12 & 9, and never felt unsafe. It was our favorite port, we would book a cruise specifically to visit Roatan. We did the zip line and monkey refuge and absolutely loved it. We had time left after our excursion and walked around and shopped a little. I think you will have a great time there whatever you do - the people were wonderful and very appreciative!:o

[Brooklyn1985]

No Roatan is not safe. I have family there so I am speaking from experience.

 

Book a ship excursion do not sight see on your own.

From the moment you dock you will see beggars at the pier.

Keep your belongings and family close and you will be fine.

 

We went to Gumbalna Park in Roatan, It was wonderful.

[Cheryl H]

We didn't care for it. If you go, you might pack some bug spray. Several of us came back with little welts from invisible bugs. I think I had 6, but there were others who got it worse.

 

Enjoy your trip!