Cruising to Belize and Roatan. Anything to do there??

Question

I am taking a cruise shortly with my 3 children. My husband won't be going and I would like to know if there is anything to do while we are docked in Belize or Roatan. Is it safe to walk around? Is there any good shopping? Or, should we sign up for the "beach getaway" that is offered by the ship? Thanks for your advice!

Answer 1

I just got back from a cruise to the "exotic" caribbean this past weekend. It went to those 2 islands as well as Grand Cayman as well as Cozumel (Carnival cruise lines). DO NOT take the tour to the city in Belize. It was a massive disappointment as well as very depressing. I would go snorkeling in the coral reefs or go cave tubing (FYI- cave tubing requires a LONG drive through the forest as well as a 40 minute hike with your tube to reach the site). As for Roatan- I would go to the beach (which I think was called Sapphire beach (it was pretty but not that impressive) this was supposedly their best beach or I'd go to the Iguana farm which was very cool. Going on the Zip line was even better so that might be a better option for you.

Answer 2

I just came back from a cruise and we went to belize. I would not go out of the area where the port is. We made the mistake and went to the market place. The woman in the market place were grabbing the kids and taking them off and thank god we had enough adults to catch everyone. the good thing we did was go cave tubing if your kids are like 8 and older its fun. it is going though caves on tubes. Don't go though the cruise ship though its like $100 dollars. if you go though www.cave-tubing.com it is only like $50 and the men carry your tubes for you, and you are chained together going down river so it is much safer than with the cruise ship.

Answer 3

I would stay with ship planned activities. Choose a shore excursion. I went with my daughter last year and felt very nervous when i saw men with semi-automatics patrolling the shopping areas. I felt more comfortable when i was with the group than when we just went out shopping. It made me realize how vulnerable I was when alone with my daughter. But...on the upside Belize was beautiful, we went snorkeling and my daughter who was 11 at the time, had a fantastic time

Answer 4

You don't want to try to walk around Belize on your own.  There is a long tender ride to get into port, so if you can sign up for a ship's tour that picks you up right at the ship, you'll save time [that would be for "beachy" type things].  The trip to Goff's Caye is great, if you like to snorkel.

Go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards", then check out the "Ports of Call" board - lots of great info.

Have fun.

Answer 5

There are Mayan Ruins, Swiming and thngs like that.  Check out theShore excursions and stay with the excursion or tour .  that might be better if you are a woman traveling alone with children.

Answer 6

what time of year are you going?  the cave tubing was popular when we went during Thanksgiving, but we didn't do it.  I was later glad we didn't.  The water is fed from a natural spring and it's really cold.  The temps were low to mid 70's which was still nice, but the people of Belize were walking around with jackets that time of year.  You have to hike about a mile carrying a tube on your back as well and people back on the ship said this is the rainy season so the trails were slippery and wet.  We wanted to do something pertaining to the history so we took the tour to Xunantunich Mayan Ruins, I have pics here of the tour and also around Belize:

http://www.scgalloways.com/id54.html

http://www.scgalloways.com/id55.html

it included a nice lunch at a small local resort, nothing fancy there at all, but the food was good and they provided some entertainment.  

Also do not travel alone in Belize, pay the extra money for the cruise excursions here, this was formerly known as British Honduras. When we visited the mayan site their were soldiers there for our protection because of the countries bordering Belize.

Answer 7

Diving Belize's Blue Hole is just amazing!

Answer 8

Both cities are pretty small. In Belize you might not want to go out alone with your childeren. We were offered drugs pretty much each time we came there (I worked on a cruise ship) and I heard the same from many passengers.

Diving the Blue Hole is awsome, that is if you are interested in diving (not for beginners). We offered a excursion to Copan, Honduras (Mayan Ruins) while in Belize, which was great.

Roatan has great beaches and on our ship we offered an excursion to swim with the dolphins in a park there.

What ever you decide to do, have fun!

Answer 9

Belize City is not the best place in the world to just walk around, shop or sightsee.  Going on an excursion is the better route.  There are many to do such as Mayan Ruins.  However, another that might be interesting for you and your children is horseback riding in the jungle.

Answer 10

Do the beach getaway. I've went to both ports on a cruise last year and was glad I had planned something. The towns are really small and there isn't enough to keep the kids occupied while there.Or yourself for that matter.