Sunday, July 30, 2017

Breezing Through Summer- Belize

Small Boat, Big Waves
Belize City, Belize
Wednesday, July 19, 2017


These two were such a JOY!

This day was originally planned to be spent hiking the Belizean hills before cave tubing down the river but once Chris's foot came into play we had to cancel. Then we decided to just enjoy the ship but the kids wanted to go to Belize so... off we went. We didn't have any real plans but just wanted to shop the shops and see what we could find! We found a hidden gem!

Morning
I woke up to a pitch black room around 9AM and everyone else was still asleep so I woke them up and we got ready for our day in Belize City. We went to breakfast on Lido like usual where the kids ate the buffet and Chris and I got Blue Iguana Breakfast burritos. Luke barely ate anything because he was too busy looking at the other ship in port, which was the Carnival Glory. This was the only ship anchored off the coast of Belize that day and Luke loved looking at it. The Carnival Glory is a Conquest class ship so we felt like we knew her pretty well!

Poor girl was tired!

The Carnival Glory anchored off the coast of Belize!

We then went to the back of the ship to Deck 5 and the Limelight Lounge to get the tender tickets to get off of the ship. Tip- Belize (and Grand Cayman) are "tender ports" and require a tender to get to shore. The shores and reefs are too shallow for large ships so they must drop anchor 5-10 miles offshore and then have smaller ships or boats bring passengers ashore. I personally LOVE tendering but Chris hates the whole process. If you are NOT taking an excursion via Carnival be sure to listen for the meeting location of the tender tickets and get there early or you will have to wait!

These two did so well the entire trip and there was very little fighting or arguing!

We waited for our tender about 20 minutes before walking back towards mid-ship to go to deck 0 to get on the tender. This turned out to be a lot of walking for Chris and he started to get into a lot of pain but Carnival was very accommodating and allowed him and even the kids and I to go in the elevator and placed him at the very front of the tender boat.

Our tender boat ride was about 20 minutes long and we got rained on as we made our way to Belize City, 9 miles from the ship. Luke was holding on tight the entire way! We got to Belize City and the workers from the tender boat were also very accommodating and helped Chris get to the ramp to get off the boat.

The gorgeous Carnival Breeze!

Luke was holding on tight the whole time but if asked he would say he LOVED it!

Belize City as seen from our tender about 3 miles out!

My world travelers!

The kids and I walked around the city center and went to many of the shops. Natalie and I got our charms from Diamond International and even Luke got one. We took a few family pictures and then Chris went to a restaurant to sit while the kids and I explored more. We found a Belizean dressed up in a sailor costume selling a harbor tour around Belize City. It was $30/ per person and offered FREE WIFI as well as Free drinks and she also gave us the kids for FREE. It was only an hour so we decided it would be a good tour. We waited a little while for the tour to start then boarded this very small boat for the tour. This company even waited for us to arrive so Chris could board first and prop his leg up! The tour included 10 passengers, the captain and a helper. The boat was small and upscale and had a complete covering as well as windows that could be lowered or raised.

We made it to the port!
Welcome to Belize City, Belize!

My beautiful family!


Greetings from Belize City!

The kids wanted coconut water SO BAD but then didn't like it!
Good thing coconut water has healing powers... Chris drank it!

We toured the Belize river and saw fishermen getting ready to go out and fish as well as the harbor to Belize City. We saw a few nice politician's houses as well as a many 3rd World Country sites. We eventually went into the Caribbean to go towards the far north side of the shore. It started to rain and on our way back we were traveling against the current so it was a bit rough. The waves kept crashing into the boat and Luke (and many of the other passengers) were scared. Natalie loved it and thought it was cool. Unfortunately, ALL of our stuff that was tucked way into the bow of the boat got soaked and so did all of us... but it was a lot of fun!

Daddy and Luke were ready for the adventure!


And mommy and Natalie were too!



So many fisherman boats headed out to sea!

A beautiful light house off the coast of Belize City!




Natalie's face after getting soaked!

Afternoon
As soon as we got back from the short tour we went back on a tender to get back to our home away from home, the Carnival Breeze. During this tender ride it rained again and Natalie and daddy, who were at the back of the tender uncovered, got soaked yet again!

Our tender ride back to the ship! 9 miles and 20-25 minutes!

Just singing in the rain!

The Carnival Breeze anchored off the coast of Belize!

Once back onboard, we went straight to Cucina del Capitano since it closed at 2:30PM. The kids ate very well and they loved this dining venue. Afterward we went to change into dry clothes for a fun afternoon. We started at the SkyCourse where Natalie and I each conquered the ropes course yet again. Natalie completed the course 3 times and I went around 2 times. Luke played golf down below the course and had a great time.

Mommy and Daughter ninja warriors... what a combo!

After the ropes course we all went to the WaterWorks. The kids went down the slides many times and really enjoyed the Power Drencher bucket and the mini racers as well. Chris went up to the Serenity deck nearby and enjoyed a nice peaceful and quiet afternoon. I personally had a GREAT time with the kids in the WaterWorks.

FUN FUN FUN!



We loved the WaterWorks!

After a few hours we decided to go to the back aft pool and hot tubs. I sent Natalie to get Chris in the Serenity area and meet us back in the back! She did great roaming the ship on her own and was a great help! We stayed at this aft pool area for quite some time and before we knew it, it was already past 6PM and we missed the Camp Ocean dinner for the kids.

Evening
We all got ready quickly and all four went to the MDR for dinner. Our waitress, LaLa, was very accommodating with the kids and we enjoyed a great meal together. Unfortunately, the dinner was slower than I would have liked and we ended up missing the early magic show so we tried to catch the Dive-in Movie but we were too late for that. We finally found some deck chairs but the angle of the movie was too much for Luke to handle so he started running around and Chris took him to the golf course.

Hawaiian shirt night in the MDR!

She loves making silly faces during selfies!

Like father like son... 2 appetizers!

And a HUGE plate of fried chicken!

Natalie stayed with the pasta!

A round of golf at night with the cool ocean breeze!

After nearly an hour of killing time we decided to go to the candy store for the kids nightly fix. While they were eating their candy we caught the tail end of the 70's Music Trivia and Sing-a-long! Schwartz, the Cruise Director, did a great job and we ALL four enjoyed this a lot!


This was a fun sing-along! And now my kiddos are singing "Freak Out" all the time!

Afterwards we went to the theater to get seats for the magic show. This magician was bad, even for cruise ship entertainers, but Natalie enjoyed him and has since been trying her own magic tricks. After the show we roamed around Ocean Plaza looking for nightly entertainment that was kid friendly but opted to just go to our room. It was an early night for us and we were all asleep by 11:30PM.

Magic Show selfie!

This was a very invigorating trip and a great day full of fun! The next day we would be in Mahogany Bay-Roatan and we had a fully loaded day at the beach!

Thanks for following along and stay tuned for the next post!

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